#like. PLEASE don't get put off by how weird the first few chapters are. I was too. but it's worth it I promise

[vulturevanity]

Read Not So Shoujo Love Story on Webtoon if you want an ass kicking

[cressidagrey]

Stars all aligned - Chapter 15

Summary:

If there was one thing that both Azriel and Zahra Archeron had in common, it was that they were both very good at blending into the background.

They just never thought that their family were going to be the ones who never saw them at all.

Warning:

Penultimate chapter! Bashing of like...every IC member, though we have now reached the point where Rhys and Cassian are the good guys, discussion of chronic pain, discussion of Infertility, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Underage Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Accidental Baby Procurement

If any of this triggers you or makes you uncomfortable, please, take care of your own mental health and don't read it.

(Lovely dividers thanks to @sweetmelodygraphics)

She overheard Rhys and Cassian. 

Feyre didn’t mean to eavesdrop…actually she just meant to tell her mate goodbye, as Nesta, Elain and her were meeting for tea at one of the many teahouses dotted around Velaris. 

It was weird…the more they did realise how badly they had fucked up with Zahra…the more the three of them tried to at least keep close with each other. 

Feye’s eyebrows rose in surprise as she heard Rhys and Cassian’s conversation.

She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but the two of them were being rather…loud.

She heard Cassian’s voice first, his tone animated as he spoke. “You can’t be serious,” he exclaimed.

Curiosity piqued, Feye leaned in closer, her ears straining. 

Rhys’s voice came in next, his tone serious but filled with a hint of amusement. “I assure you, I am quite serious.”

Feyre could practically picture the smirk on his face as he spoke.

“They got married?! And didn’t bother telling us?!?” Cassian’s exclamation nearly made Feyre jump. The shock in his voice was palpable.

Married? Who got married?

No. No. No, no… had Zahra…and Azriel… had her sister…had they?

She got the answer seconds later. 

"Yes,” Rhys answered simply, amusement threading through the word. “Azriel and Zahra came home a few days ago, all filled with newly-wed bliss.”

And Feyre was done.

This wasn’t funny. None of this was.

Ignoring the conversation still going on between her mate and Cassian, Feyre stalked out of the River House, her footsteps heavy on the cobblestones. Her heart raced as she tried in vain to control the tempest of emotions within her chest. 

She was supposed to meet Nesta and Elain for an afternoon of shopping...they were supposed to try and get their mind of the fact that Azriel had pretty much kidnapped their fucking sister and now this.

As Feyre neared the small shop, her and her sisters had arranged to meet up, she paused to take a deep, steadying breath.

Her emotions were still roiling inside her, a mix of anger, confusion, and frustration. She couldn’t even really put it into words why…why this upset her so much. She pushed open the door to the shop. Her sisters were waiting for her, their faces brightening as they spotted her. “Hey Feyre,” Nesta greeted, her eyes narrowing slightly as she took in her sister's expression.

"Azriel and Zahra got married," she blurted out.

Elain and Nesta gasped almost simultaneously, their eyes widening in surprise.

"What?," Elain exclaimed, her mouth agape.

Nesta looked like she'd been slapped, her eyes narrowing slightly. "When?" she demanded, her voice low.

“A few days ago, I overheard Rhys and Cassian," Feyre answered weakly.

Nesta's expression darkened, her voice dropping to a low growl. "Damn him," she muttered, her lips curling. "I’m gonna rip his balls off.”

Feyre struggled to maintain her composure. She could feel her own anger simmering beneath the surface, but she wasn’t sure if it was because of Azriel and Zahra’s sudden marriage or the fact that no one had told her beforehand.

She couldn’t help but feel betrayed…couldn’t help but… 

"It's just...it's so unlike Zahra to just...run off and do something like this," Elain murmured after a moment of silence. Nesta’s eyes flashed. "And Azriel. Why didn't we know?."

"Maybe because he knows we would’ve tried to stop them," Feyre said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I just…aren’t they going at it way too fast?” she said weakly.  

“They barely know each other. Who knows what Zahra’s actually getting herself into?” Nesta agreed back.

“She didn’t even bother telling us,” Elain whispered.

"Well, why should she?” Feyre said weakly. "She's an adult. She doesn't answer to us."

Nesta’s expression hardened. "We’re her family," she insisted. "We have a right to know." “Are they still in Rosehall?” Nesta asked.

“No, they came home a few days ago,” she answered absentmindedly and then came up short. 

Wait, what?

They came home. Home to Velaris. Which meant that their sister was…

She jumped up, Nesta and Elain scrambling after her, as she strode towards Zahra’s house. 

The last time she had seen the cottage…it had been clean but downtrodden. Now though…Now though it seemingly sparkled. 

Feyre's breath hitched in her throat as she took in the sight of the house.

It looked…good.

Better than good. The walls that had been patched up before, now gleamed with fresh paint, the windows gleaming with their new panes of glass.

The house looked like a home. There were little bits and pieces dotted around the outside, like the rocking chair on the proch and the windchimes hanging from the overhang…Thoughtful little touches that hadn’t been there before. 

“Is this where Zahra lives?” Elain asked. ”It’s a bit small, isn’t it?” she wondered but Feyre was already walking up the steps of the porch, her sisters trailing behind her. 

Her heart was in her throat as she approached the front door.

When she reached the front door, she knocked. It took only a moment, but then the door swung open. Standing in the doorway was Azriel. Looking absolutely furious. 

His face was set in a fierce scowl, his jaw clenched. His eyes flashed as his gaze flicked from Feyre, to Nesta, to Elain. "What are you doing here?," he growled, his voice low and dangerous.

“What do you think?,” Feyre snapped back. She could feel her own anger rising to match Azriel's, her skin prickling. "We came to see Zahra.”

“She doesn’t want to see you,” Azriel said sharply.

Feyre bristled at his words. "She’s our sister."

Azriel's gaze darkened. "She's also my wife,” he snapped. “And she doesn’t want to see you,” he repeated. 

"How do you know?," Feyre shot back, her hands balling into fists. "Did you ask her?"

Azriel let out a humorless laugh. "I know her quite well," he ground out. "I’d like to think I have a pretty good idea of what makes her happy.”

“You are locking her up!” Feyre snapped sharply. Azriel was locking Zahra up. He was keeping her away from everybody.  “And you are keeping her away from people that care about her, and you think that will make her happy?!”

Azriel reared back like she had slapped him and his expression darkened even further, his eyes blazing with anger.

"How dare you?," he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "I would never keep Zahra captive.I would never do that,“ he whispered.

“Let them in,” came Zahra’s voice suddenly behind him.

Feyre’s head snapped up to see her sister. She looked…well. Non the worse for wear at least. She was dressed in a comfortable woolen dress, with the sleeves pushed up. 

Azriel’s face twisted as Zahra stepped up beside him, her eyes dark. “Let them in, Azriel,” she said softly, her hand coming to rest on her mate’s arm. Azriel’s gaze flicked to Zahra, his eyes softening for a moment.

Then, with a huff of irritation, he stepped back from the door, gesturing for Feyre and her sisters to enter the house.

***

Zahra should have known that their peace wasn’t going to last.

Zahra had hoped for a peaceful day with her daughter and Azriel, but those hopes were dashed by midday.

Azalea was sleeping in the bedroom, stretched out all over the big bed, because their daughter didn’t really seem to enjoy the crib at all. (And quite frankly, neither Zahra or Azriel had it in themselves to insists that she sleep all alone, when they could just let her sleep in the big bed with them and Azalea would snuggle up to them.) 

A couple of shadows had self appointed them as Azalea’s babysitters and would alert Azriel and Zahra whenever she woke… or as much as twitched. 

Right now, Zahra was in the kitchen cooking, trying to make these spicy meatballs Esmeray had showed her how to make and Azriel, was keeping her company while catching up on paperwork. Azriel's hand had stilled on the page he was writing, his eyes distant.

Zahra noticed the sudden change in his demeanor, setting down the bowl of meatballs she had been forming.

“Az?,” she questioned quietly. Concern laced her words. Azriel didn’t respond, his focus firmly fixed on some point in the distance.

"Your sisters are coming," he said, his voice flat.

Zahra felt her heart seize. How did they …she bit back a curse. “You’re certain?,” she asked warily, though she already knew the answer to that. Azriel’s lips pressed together, forming a thin line of displeasure. 

Right.

Zahra couldn't just ignore them for the rest of her life. Even when she wanted to.

Or maybe she didn't want to ignore them for the rest of her life, But she also wasn't particularly looking forward to talking to them about what had happened to her.

"Do you want to talk to them?" Azriel asked her. He was giving her the choice. Respecting any decision she would make.

"I don't but I will," Zahra gave back flatly.

Azriel’s stoic demeanor didn’t waver, but his hazel eyes were filled with understanding. “You don’t have to,” he told her quietly, his voice gruff.

“I know,” Zahra said with a sigh. “But they’ll never leave me alone until I do talk to them.” She was certain of that. 

“You don’t owe them anything,” Azriel told her sharply. Zahra glanced at him, feeling a small measure of joy at Azriel’s defense. Her hand found his, a silent thanks for his support. His grip was warm and comforting, a stark contrast to his hardened expression. 

“Maybe not. But they’ll keep coming. If I don’t talk to them now, they’ll just come back later.” She sighed. She hated how right her words sounded.

“If you don’t want to deal with them, I’ll do it,” Azriel told her.

Zahra raised her eyebrows, a flicker of amusement crossing her face. “And what would you say? ‘Get lost’?” she suggested drily. 

Azriel’s face turned serious, the shadows swirling around him like a cloak. “If necessary,” he said seriously.

Zahra chuckled despite the situation, the sound almost a bark.

The knock at the door sounded in that moment. Startled, Zahra exchanged glances with Azriel.

It could only be the sisters.

Azriel let out a heavy sigh, rising from his chair and stalking towards the door. Zahra watched him go, her heart thudding in her chest.

She could see how furious he was in every fibre of his being.

His voice was harsh as he opened the door, the words sounding like a growl.  "What are you doing here?"

She could feel the protectiveness pour all over their fledgling bond. Zahra could feel how furious he was on her behalf.

And there was also that little inkling of fear that was rearing it's ugly little head. She didn't truly want to see her sisters. She didn't want to talk about what happened to her. She had been willing to take that particular secret to the grave. 

And now there it was, out there to be gawked at, to be used to pass judgement at her.

“What do you think?” Feyre's voice was equally harsh.  "We came to see Zahra.”

Zahra watched Azriel, her heart thundering in her chest. It seemed like Feyre’s words had struck a chord with him, the anger rolling off him in waves. She could feel his rage through their fledgling bond, a fiery storm of protectiveness that coursed through them like a cyclone.

“She doesn't want to see you,” Azriel responded, his voice sharp enough to cut glass.

"She’s our sister," Feyre responded, and Zahra's teeth clenched against themselves. Was she really? Was she really their sister?

Zahra watched, her breath caught in her throat, as Azriel bristled at Feyre’s words.

“She’s also my wife,” Azriel told her coldly, his eyes blazing.

He stood like a wall in the doorway, his broad frame filling the space, his shadows circling him like a cloak.

They had never treated her like she was. They had never...never truly accepted her as one of their own. Feyre had…for a time… but then Feyre had been probably too young to understand everything that had gone on...Nesta hated her. And Elain...Elain was embarrassed by her existence.

Zahra's hands balled into fists, her nails digging into her palms. Azriel’s words struck a chord deep within her.

She had been treated by her sisters…as a nuisance. An inconvenience.

Nesta had never hidden her animosity, her eyes burning with resentment whenever she so much as glanced in Zahra’s direction.

And Elain had hidden her embarrassment behind a veneer of sweet innocence, but Zahra had always seen through it.

“And she doesn’t want to see you," Azriel said at that moment, his words harsh but truthful.

"How do you know?," Feyre demanded. "Did you ask her?"

Zahra’s heart skipped a beat, her head snapping to Azriel as if to confirm what she had just heard. His jaw was clenched, his anger evident.

Her stomach churned as she heard her sisters speak. She could already see the situation deteriorating, the tension building.

 "I know her quite well,"Azriel said through gritted teeth. "I’d like to think I have a pretty good idea of what makes her happy.”

“You are locking her up!” Feyre snapped at that moment!  “And you are keeping her away from people that care about her, and you think that will make her happy?!”

What?!

But Zahra didn't really hear that. All her attention was on Azriel...on Azriel who had flinched at the barbed words shot his way.

And the anger built in Zahra's chest.

He had never locked her up. He had done everything in his power to give her choices, to give her agency...to make her feel like she was in control. He had done nothing to lock her away.

Zahra could see the anger flare in Azriel's eyes at Feyre's words. She could feel the tension radiating from him.

And then...then she saw him flinch. A small movement, so fast she almost missed it.

But she saw it.

Her heart swelled with anger, a red-hot fire burning within her. How dare they?

How dare they think that he had mistreated her?

And she could feel how even just the insinuation of this...how much this was hurting her mate, her husband. "How dare you?," Azriel whispered "I would never keep Zahra captive. I would never do that,“ he whispered. She could hear the desperation in his voice. She could hear how hurt he was.

And she was done.

"Let them in," Zahra said icily, crossing the room to stand next to him, facing her sisters. “Let them in, Azriel,” she said evenly, her hand coming to rest on her mate’s arm. Azriel stared at her, and she pushed all the love, all the adoration she had for him onto him at that moment.

He huffed but he stepped back from the door.

Zahra felt a wave of gratitude for Azriel wash over her. She wanted to thank him for defending her, for standing up for her...but she knew he would shrug it off. Still. She would tell him. 

Her gaze sharpened as she regarded her sisters. “Come in,” Zahra said coolly, stepping back to allow Feyre, Elain and Nesta to enter.

Zahra watched, her expression stony, as her sisters walked into the kitchen. Elain’s eyes darted around the room curiously, while Feyre’s gaze lingered on Azriel, who had taken up a stance near the door.

Nesta met her eyes with a defiant glare, her chin held high. Zahra gave a silent sigh. Of course Nesta would be the most difficult.

"What do you want?" she asked flatly, crossing her arms.

"What we want?" Feyre echoed weakly. "Zahra, we..." she trailed off, searching for words.

But Zahra was done. "What do you think gives you the right to show up here? To berate my husband like that?" she snapped. "Azriel has done nothing but protect me, to shelter me. What gives you the right to talk to him like that?!" she demanded

"I...I don't want you to be in a...situation like me," Feyre said weakly. "Zahra, we didn't even know the two of you were friendly and now you...you married him!" 

"I am an adult. I can manage my private life how I see fit," Zahra shot back, her voice icy. “He’s my mate. Besides, it's not like you actually cared about it before.”

"That's not true," Feyre protested.

Zahra just rolled her eyes. "Look, I get it," she said drily. "You feel bad because you found out that I wasn't a homewrecker with loose morals after all," she told Nesta drily. "But you hate me, so for you to show up here and berate my husband about keeping me locked up is ridiculous," she spat out. "And you, Elain...you have made it very clear what I meant to you when you invited Feyre and Nesta to our father's grave but not me." She had no idea where this was even coming from. But decades of pent up frustration was bubbling to the surface. “And Feyre…we all know which sisters you prefer to spend time with, so what are you even doing here?”

Zahra was fuming. Her heart was pounding furiously beneath her ribcage, her hands balled up into fists by her sides as she confronted her sisters.

But a small part of her was satisfied. Seeing them flounder, seeing them realize how wrong they had been. It was almost cathartic. She could feel Azriel's eyes on her, and she glanced at him, taking in his stoic expression. For a brief moment, she wondered what he was thinking, but she didn't have time to dwell on it as she turned back to her sisters.

"I did not choose to be born a bastard," she spat out. "I did not choose for our father to betray your mother with my own. I did not choose to be an embarrassment that needs to be hidden away from your suitors. I did not choose any of it. And believe me if I could chose, I would have chosen to grow up somewhere else." Zahra was on a roll now, the truth pouring out of her like a torrent. She could see the shock in her sisters' eyes, the realization of how they had treated her sinking in. But she wasn't done. She still had more to say, more to get off her chest.

"But I couldn't choose. Instead, I was stuck in that house with you three. Being a constant reminder of your father's affair. Being the outcast, the embarrassment." Zahra's voice cracked slightly, the pain and hurt from all those years coming to the surface.

She clenched her fists, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

"I endured it all. The looks, the whispers. I endured being the bastard, the one no one wanted. But I survived. And now..." Zahra's voice trembled. "And now I'm married to the male of my choice. A male who accepts me, protects me, and loves me." Zahra's gaze darted to Azriel briefly, the depth of her affection for him apparent in her eyes. "And you three want to take that away from me? You want to come here and accuse Azriel, one of the best, most caring, protective and noble men I have ever had the pleasure to meet...you want to accuse him of mistreating me?" Zahra's eyes flamed with indignation.

She took a step forward, her eyes blazing. "No. I won't let you. Azriel has given me more freedom, more support, and more love than I have ever known. And I will not let you come into our home, into our life, and slander him with your false judgment!"

Tears glimmered in Zahra's eyes, but she held her sisters' gaze, her determination unwavering.

There was a long silence. Her sisters were stunned, their faces pale. Zahra felt the weight of her words hang in the air, the raw emotion still pulsing through her veins. Azriel's gaze was heavy on her, his presence a steady anchor in the midst of the emotional storm she had unleashed.

And only then, she realised that golden glow that was covering her...like a thin film, clinging to her skin.

Zahra felt a shiver course down her spine as she realized what was happening. The power, the ancient magic that had lain dormant within her for so long, was stirring once again.

It seemed that her emotional outburst had provoked it, and now it was reacting, awakening in response to her strong feelings.

Zahra's hands trembled as she looked down at them, the golden aura visible as it enveloped her.

The glow seemed to pulse with each beat of her heart, responding to her emotions. With great effort, Zahra calmed herself, taking deep breaths to quell the anger that had initially sparked this power. Soon, the aura flickered and faded, once again sinking back beneath her skin.

Zahra looked up to find her sisters watching her, their eyes wide with shock and fear. The weight of their stares was almost crushing.

"So I ask again, what do you want?" she asked, her voice icy.

Zahra could see her sisters exchange quick glances, their faces still shocked. None of them had anticipated this turn of events.

"I am sorry," Elain blurted out suddenly. "I didn't know."

Zahra blinked, surprised that Elain of all her sisters was apologizing.

"And what could you possibly have not known?" Zahra asked, her voice still hard. The anger hadn't completely left her yet.

"I...I didn't know that you...that...that affair wasn't..."

"It wasn't an affair at all!" Azriel snapped at that moment. Zahra looked over to Azriel. His hands were clenched into fists, his eyes narrowed in anger.

It was clear that he was furious. And Zahra couldn't help but feel a surge of affection for him in that moment.

But she also knew that an outburst from him would not help the situation. She looked back to her sisters, her eyes searching their faces. She could see the shock and confusion there, the dawning realization of how wrong they were.

“It’s wasn’t an affair, It was an arragement,” she corrected her sister drily. 

"How can you call it that?" Feyre breathed out.

Zahra shrugged. "Because that's what it was," she gave back, her voice harsh. "I let myself be raped. I allowed it to happen. I let him do whatever he wanted to me and in return, we didn't starve."

Zahra's words hung heavy in the air. The truth, laid out bare and stark. She could see the horror and shock on her sisters' faces, the disbelief in their eyes.

It was a truth Zahra had never spoken out loud, never allowed herself to fully acknowledge. But now, in this moment, she felt strangely calm. As if saying the words, finally giving voice to her pain, was a release.

"I endured it because I had to," Zahra continued with a bitter laugh. "You all have no idea what I went through. You never bothered to ask. And I didn’t tell you. I hid away all the evidence of what he did to me, all the wounds and the bruises and the pain. And you were too busy burying your heads in the sand, too busy pretending I didn't exist."

Zahra's voice trembled slightly, but she pressed on. "But now, for the first time in my life, I have some resemblance of happiness. I have a mate who cares for me, protects me. I have a daughter I love. And you..." Zahra's eyes burned as she looked at her sisters. "You want to take that away from me?!"

"You have a daughter?!?" Nesta blurted out, staring at her. 

"Yes," Zahra said, her voice cold, "a daughter. A beautiful, wonderful daughter. Azriel accepted me, married me, even though he knew my secret. Even though he knew and he never judged me for it or scorned me…He gave me a family, a home. And I will not let you take that away from me."

[hypnagogics]

how soon is now? | part two

READ THIS FIRST 🇵🇸

previous chapter. series masterlist.

♡: hallway crush!ellie x uni student!reader

☆: the long-awaited second part of this godforsaken fic (lawd she’s given me trouble). appreciate y'all's patience as always, i'm a chronic procrastinator and perfectionist but what can i do. after this, i'm gonna take a break from this series. not saying i'll never write more, but wanna work on some other stuff for a while. thank you for reading! pretty please don’t hate me or show up at my house waving torches and pitchforks for this ending ok luv u gays in my phone. + a big thank you to @total-dxmure for helping me w/ some ideas for the last little bit!

♧:5.7k word count (lawd)

◇: sfw! miscommunication (sawry). fluffy moments, angst lowkey…both of yall cry at one point or another, reader has anxiety in the last chunk. modern au but joel isn’t alive in this, and they discuss it. maybe some rushed points here and there, i’m not really the proudest of this but needed to finish it anyway. potentially horrendous pacing but ok i think that’s all? idfk i may give y’all a little epilogue eventually, but don't dwell on it for the time being!

4 months later 

Your friendship with Ellie was evolving wonderfully. You two were studying together frequently, and both your grades in the ghastly astrophysics class increased exponentially. Although that wasn't the only thing that was increasing at a rate too fast to fathom. Your crush on her. It was ripping you apart like wildfire, Ellie was proving herself to be such a wonderful person inside and out, and you were slowly but surely nearing your limit of how much it could build before you burst. A movie spin off of the Savage Starlight series had come to streaming, and Ellie had invited you to her place for a movie night so you two could watch it and discuss if it was a faithful entry in your beloved series or not. 

Dressed in some comfortable pjs and armed with snacks of all kinds, your favorites as well as hers, the time had come and you were at her door. You straighten your posture and put your hair back in place, must look presentable, then knock, knock, knock.

You could hear some faint shuffling behind the door, then a few thudding steps until she opened it for you. She was dressed in an old, worn Nirvana tee, and red checkered pajama pants, damn she looked good, even when she was dressed with less effort than usual. 

Ellie looked so pleased to see you, leaning on the doorframe. Why did she have to look so good all the time? “Hi! I’m so glad you came, ooh this is gonna be so fun.” She invited you in and took the snacks from your arms and placed them inside her room. “Oh yeah, I also put up some decor too so we can get into the Savage Starlight spirit.” Her eyes were wide and twinkling and when she stepped aside to let you see, she really had made her room so welcoming and comfortable.  

The lights were all off save for LEDs around the room’s perimeter set to a dreamy violet hue, sparkly fairy lights draped around the frame of her bed which was set up so cozily. Her laptop propped up on a pillow, the sheets arranged in a nest-like formation with two spaces for each of you. She even had a few dinosaur stuffed animals placed in a row so they could watch too.

You were so flattered she'd do that and make the atmosphere so nice for the two of you, you could just tackle her in a hug and never let go.

The thing is you were scared she'd perceive that as weird and you didn't feel like dying of embarrassment, not today at the very least. Save that for another day, maybe. Oh, how you wanted to squeeze her so bad. Your imagination had to do for now. 

She was standing there so proud of how she arranged her room into a mini theater, and you beamed at her, silently thanking her for making it so dim so she couldn't see your flustered expression in full.

“Ellie this is amazing!!” “You like it?!? These stupid lights kept on falling off but since this is an important occasion for us both I didn't give up. All for our love, Daniela.” She manipulated her voice and waved in the air with two fists, closed her eyes and put her hand over her heart, just being as dorky as ever.

Oh gosh, hopefully it wasn't going to be awkward. Sure, the two of you had grown to be great friends, but were you that close to be just, relaxing in her bed together? As long as your imagination didn't run too wild and you didn't overthink anything, it was going to be a fun time. Just two pals watching their favorite series, nothing more, nothing less.

She threw herself in the mess of comforters with a grunt, and saw you were hesitating. She patted the empty space next to her so you'd join her and the movie night could begin. “C’mere, don't be shy.” Well, no shit you were going to be shy. Suck it up. 

You crawled in next to her, unable to look her in the eyes, while she got everything ready and rubbed her hands together excitedly. “Man, if they do our girl dirty, we’re gonna have to give someone a knuckle sandwich, you with me?” Her jokes and easy going vibes always made her so fun to be around, but unfortunately for you, you fell harder for her every time. “Yeah, Ellie. A knuckle sandwich for all of them.” You retorted with a chuckle. Once both of you were settled, she pressed play and so it began.

As the movie played, the two of you laughed and debated every plot twist, cursing the directors for not portraying your queen Daniela how she deserves, and snacked on candy until your stomachs hurt. It was going so well, the friendly hang out both of you needed after so many responsibilities in life. An escape. Occasionally sneaking peeks Ellie’s way, she was just so marvelously pretty. The shadows dancing on her features, illuminating her side profile perfectly, her long eyelashes and button nose, who wouldn't get lost in admiring her?

Of course you could never fully relax around her, or forget the crush no matter how hard you tried to push it down and just be friends. Every time she shifted next to you in the bed you felt your heart seize and the butterflies in your stomach turn into hornets. At this rate, they were going to turn into whole birds for fuck’s sake.

Nearing the end of the movie, the two of you were so invested, so captivated in the events, totally spellbound.

But then the film took a more emotional turn that wasn't in the comics. Daniela and her father had an absolutely vicious argument which left the two of you speechless watching it, which luckily got quickly resolved right after the two characters had a near-death experience together.

You weren't one to get emotional over silly, trivial things like fiction, but the way they showed this entire sequence was nothing short of heart-wrenching. You snatched up one of Ellie's patterned pillows and hugged it tightly to your chest, because cuddling her would have been much too bold for the likes of you. But what you’d give to do that instead.

Seems you were not the only one touched by the scene, as you began to hear some light sniffling from next to you. Looking over at Ellie made your heart break further into a million pieces. She looked lost in thought with thin lines of tears streaming down her plump, freckled cheeks. 

You froze for a moment, not knowing the limits of your relationship with her and how you could comfort her best. So you cleared your throat and mumbled, “That was so sad…” You watched as she avoided your gaze and wiped at her face with the collar of her t-shirt, “Yeah, this kind of stuff hits me, feels a little personal y’know.” She has never opened up to you about her struggles before, in the short time you’ve known and gotten close with Ellie, it always seemed like she was there to help you out, not the other way around. This could be your chance to show her that you are there for her as well, and that she can always count on you.

Being curious but at the same time not wishing to pry too much into her private affairs, you quietly asked with the most gentle tone of voice you could muster,” You don’t have to, but I’m here if you ever wanna talk about it, Ellie.” You watched her out of the corner of your eye, anticipating however she reacts.

She stayed quiet for a beat before sighing deeply, and whispered, “We were having a fun time, I really don't wanna be a burden.” Her voice quivered, heavy with emotion, what could possibly be troubling her this much? You wanted to take all her pain and bear it yourself, she didn't deserve any sort of misfortune ever.

“You can tell me, don’t worry about anything, okay? I just want you to be all good.” You were comforting her so smoothly, putting her needs and well-being first as if it was always second nature, as if you two have known each other many lifetimes over, two souls meant to float together through the journey of life. Well okay, that was probably a bit much.

There were a few more seconds of silence as you let the question ring in the air, not wanting to press and jeopardize your cherished friendship with her. 

You continue observing her, almost seeing the gears turning in her mind, the scales of reason tipping to one side then another, as she contemplates whether it’s worth spilling. Eventually, she does.

She roughly rubs her face then pauses the film playing on her laptop, sighs and huffs, before beginning to speak her story, all while looking away from you.

“Okay I don’t like to talk about this kind of stuff, but I trust you. A whole lot.” Your heart fluttered and face heated up at her comment, but you ignored it because there was something much more important on the table now. She continues, speaking quietly but quickly to get it over with. 

“So, when I was a kid, I was an orphan and to be honest I don’t really remember my early childhood much at all, but when I was 14 my adoptive dad, Joel, took me in. And it’s been just us since then.” She stops to take a breath, then resumes reluctantly. “And well, we’ve had a pretty rocky relationship for a good chunk of these years, I never knew how to express my gratitude to him, y’know, for basically saving my life, numerous times at that. He was always my rock, and I appreciate him every day. He taught me so many things, and I don’t know what I would’ve done if he hadn’t come around. I was pretty hard to deal with back then.” She reminisces with an exhale of air, and you see her eyes refill with tears. “But I’m really bad at expressing that, and will kinda, lash out I guess when I’m met with kindness or tricky situations.” 

You nod, listening patiently, and place your hand on her shoulder ever so gently, as a result making her raise her head to give you a small smile. 

Ellie chuckled deeply, it almost sounded forced, then started to slowly wrap up her story. “And it seems that scene kinda hit me, because the wounds are still raw, or whatever.” 

She sniffles again but doesn't respond, so you delicately inquire, “What do you mean?”

“He died last year.” Oof.

“Oh my, Ellie, I’m so sorry, are you-” She interrupts your condolences. “No need for that, I’m fine. Well, taking it day by day y’know. In the beginning it was really tough, I was angry at everything but most at myself for being such a jerk, and now I can't turn back time and tell him all I wanted to.” While you take a moment to think about what to say, she hums to herself and remarks, “That actually felt good to get off my chest, I haven't told anyone about it.” She lowers her voice so it’s barely a whisper. “Didn't have who to tell.”

“Sure you're okay? I'm always here for you.” You find your voice back to soothe her some more, to which she smiles at you again, only this time it actually seems genuine. There's definitely a lot of pain behind it, but the relief that she doesn't have to deal with the burden alone was evident on her face. 

“Yeah, thanks. I guess I hadn’t processed anything, and that part of the movie made it all come out, damn I hate emotions sometimes. But I appreciate you being here for me. You're really easy to talk to, and I feel better now.” 

And you would've never in a trillion years anticipated what her next move was going to be, you were so caught off guard, the realization lagged and it didn't immediately register. 

She moved to sit on her knees in front of you, then threw her arms around your torso in a tight embrace. She hugged you. Clutched you so firmly against her own body, her strong hands landing in the middle of your back, where she rubbed in a circle. She smelled so nice, and was as warm as one of her heated stuffed animals. 

Due to the surprising nature of the motion you let out a dumbfounded gasp, then returned the hug allowing yourself to rest your head on her shoulder. You wanted to stay like this forever, until the end of time, it felt nicer than you could've ever imagined.

The thought crossed your mind that she could feel the buzz pulsating through your body, you swore your heart was slamming against your ribcage so hard it was going to grow wings and simply fly right out of your chest, and join hands with hers.

While you were occupied with the way she felt against you, so close like this, chest against chest, and how your cheeks blazed with an inferno hotter than a thousand suns, you heard her grumble against your ear. “Not gonna make that same mistake again, and from now on, I'm gonna tell the people I appreciate just how much they matter to me.”

You were much too stunned to speak, but she wasn't. “So thank you again.” She finishes her little speech and pulls away first, but not before giving you one last big squeeze and letting out a noise of contentment as she does so, then shuffles over to her previous spot in the bed. 

Not taking notice of the way you were at a loss for words, or about to set the room on fire with how flustered her actions made you. Her obliviousness was a common theme, it seemed. She clears her throat and claps, grabbing some more candy for herself, then says happily, “We still got the rest of the movie left, then we can do whatever after. I really wanna know how this ends.”

Naturally, your head is spinning, but you were too caught up in your thoughts to continue paying attention to the movie as much as you were before.

You felt awful for her, yet somehow, felt as if your crush on her had quadrupled in size yet again. You saw through the guard she put up, she broke down those walls and opened up to you. You were honored she trusted you so much, and only hoped that would never change. That, coupled with how remarkably good hugs she gave, has led you to the realization that you were properly in love now, things had gotten real. This was trouble. You vowed to always be there for her for whatever she could ever need, you'd drop everything to teleport by her side if you could. 

Goodness, what were you possibly going to do now, instead of giving you the ick, or helping you with the task of getting rid of that stupid infatuation you were so plagued by, every experience felt like a deliberate ploy to just make you fall even further for her. You couldn't help but wonder just how much love a person can feel for someone, because it only continued to grow. 

A couple days later.

Sitting in the cozy campus cafe, you were revising all your coursework. It was giving you a massive headache, but the warm and hazy lighting aided it a touch. The walls had cute plastic vines crawling up and down, and even though there was chatter all around you from the other patrons, it wasn't a distraction and in fact acted as some sort of white noise, everyone was talking in a nicely muted tone, it all blended to create the perfect ambience. 

You waved down the waitress to get yet another cup of coffee, your third one of the night, that’s healthy, before trying to resume with your aggravating studies. 

To your dismay, you've used up all your brain power for the evening, and could not force yourself to continue no matter how hard you tried. Maybe a few moments of peaceful people-watching would get you back on track?

You sip on the hot drink, then lean back against the comfortable booth seat to begin scanning around.

In one corner directly on the opposite side of where you were sitting, there was an elderly couple. They looked so in love, dressed in matching outfits, feeding each other as they shared a dessert, holding hands and conversing with a hushed tone, nodding and looking into each other's twinkling eyes. So cute, you hoped that was going to be you in the future. 

Moving your line of sight to watch beside the couple, there was another student, their books and computer were scattered across the wooden table, piles of pens and pencil cases near falling over. They seemed to have fallen asleep, unmoving with their head laid tiredly across their crossed arms. The sight made you chuckle out of familiarity, you really felt for them, studies were hard. 

But then a sound caught your attention. A bright, husky giggle fought its way over the ambience, reminiscent of a certain someone. 

Your heart jumped, your ears perked up and you immediately became insistent on scouting her out among the patrons, this was a necessary mission. 

Feeling highly nervous and antsy, you try to drown out the noise and focus on where she could be, and quickly enough, you find her.

Ellie in her natural habitat, she was so mesmerizing. Sitting far away from you where you could get a good view and hear snippets of conversation if you focused hard enough, but not close enough where she would notice your shameless gawking. She was sitting with a group of a handful of her friends, who all appeared to be gossiping and laughing with each other, you couldn't tear your eyes away.

Her smile was gorgeous, and you knew that, but there was something about just being a spectator which fascinated you, you could stare at her all day. Her energy lit up the entire room, and made your heart race.

Snapping out of your trance and trying to not be so obvious with your staring, you tried to look occupied, tried reorganizing your notes while still keeping an ear out to listen. Occasionally glancing over as  well. Yes, it's true that eavesdropping is wrong, but you couldn't help yourself. Anyone would do the same, right?

The group's passionate discussion was making you extremely curious however, and you strained to hear what they were talking about. Among the muffled chatter, you heard a woman’s voice say the word crush, then an outburst of laughter, the loudest guffaw from Ellie herself. 

You felt the budding panic start to form in your chest momentarily, but swallowed the lump forming in your throat and took a sharp intake of breath to calm yourself at once. They could be talking about anything, there's no need to jump to conclusions just yet. Fumbling around your bag for your headphones to listen to some of the song recommendations Ellie had given you, you’re led to discover that they are, in fact, dead. Of course. 

Despite any and all wishes to stop eavesdropping on them and mind your own business and abide by what they say, ignorance is bliss, you simply couldn't. She was too damn captivating. Like a painting in a museum, like a statue at a town’s center, one that people stopped in their tracks to admire. 

The way her eyes sparkled and gleamed under the warm lighting, her cheeks tinted a faint rosy hue from the exertion of laughing so hard, her sweet smile. She was too perfect. God, you hated crushes, being infatuated with someone to this degree couldn't be healthy. But what could you do? Just look at this angel.

Fidgeting nervously while still being entranced by the group of friends, you heard a man’s voice say the words “there’s no way”, followed by Ellie howling even harder than she had the whole time you've been watching them, and punch him forcefully on the shoulder. 

The curiosity was going to swallow you whole, it was like a car crash you couldn't look away from. You felt your palms begin to tremble and sweat with worry, and anxious assumptions of all kinds running through your mind, were they talking about you? No, they couldn't be, you're just overthinking it. Relax, relax, relax.

You tried your hardest to control your breathing and soothe your spinning mind so you wouldn't spiral, until you heard something that absolutely shook you to your core.

The same woman from before, not Ellie, in a highly teasing tone of voice said your name.

You felt frozen, this couldn't be happening. All your worst fears were coming true at this very moment. You had to get out of there right away, this was too much to bear. Curiosity really did kill the cat didn't it, you wished you didn't comply with the morbid desire to know everything. 

Panic-stricken like a deer in headlights, near hyperventilating at this point, the final straw was all three of them erupting into laughter simultaneously, with Ellie through gasps, going "oh come onnnn”.

Yeah that was it. Hot tears started pricking your eyes and you vigorously blinked them away before they started streaming down your face, as if you needed to be humiliated even more. You felt sadded, torn apart, betrayed. Sick to your stomach too. This time, for once, you really thought you had something going for you. From your perspective, albeit through rose-colored glasses, you were convinced she was being genuine with you all this time. How could you not be? 

The late night study sessions, the air thick with tension, the conversations draped in a sleep-deprived haze, the walks to class together, the first fated interaction, the looks you two shared from across the huge lecture hall; the looks where you two just knew when to share a glance, was all of that fake? Was she leading you on purposefully because her friends thought it was funny, that you were a joke?

The tears threatened to spill and your stomach twisted painfully with the world-shattering realizations you were just served with, and you angrily shoved your belongings in your bag.

You were too caught up in your panicked frenzy to notice how disruptive you were actually being, your textbooks thumping and keychains jingling, but frankly didn't care enough to meet the numerous pairs of eyes observing your misfortune. Who could blame you, your whole world and everything you've known just crumbled before you. 

You slung your bag over your shoulder noisily as a choked sob made its way up your throat, then speed-walked out of that cafe. You were never going to be able to go in there again unfortunately, shame, their pastries were so good.

Right as you tried to step through the door it got stuck, because the universe was being really nice to you today, and as you tugged on it to get it to open, you heard the friends lower their voices, but you could still make out a jumble of hushed words sounding something like, “oh no, is that…” Great, great, fucking great. The only solution to this was to change your name and ride up to Seattle for goodness’ sake, maybe throw yourself into a volcano as well just because. 

Finally the door swung open after what felt like eons, and you stumbled outside into the chilly autumn air, feeling goosebumps spring up all over. Where you were going, you didn't really know. This cafe was new, so it would take some time to figure out navigation so you stood dumbly in the middle of the front lawn as you tried to orient yourself.

Once you think you've got it, you start your agonizing trek back to your little room, screaming inside of your head, until you're harshly yanked back mid-footstep by a vice grip on your arm. What the fuck was it now. 

Ellie. The sight of her only made your tears increase in quantity and the emotion in your chest tighten. She looked a little disheveled, her eyes round like saucers, and she was gripping onto your arm so hard as if you were going to run away. You wanted to, but she still had a magnetic hold on you, even after all that turmoil. 

Talking was painful with how much you were trying to keep a hold of yourself, but you managed out a choked, “Ellie, what?” 

She looked befuddled, shaking her head ever so slightly and scrunching up her eyebrows, her gaze boring right into yours and following whenever you tried to break it and look elsewhere. Her hold on your arm softens, and moves to rest on your shoulder. “What do you mean what? You ran outta there like you were chased by a lunatic or something, what the fuck happened?”

Her tone startled you a little, why did she care so much? Noticing you jolt, she sighs and mellows her speech. “Sorry, what I mean to say is, I'm worried. Are you okay?” 

You worried her? Heat rushed to your cheeks as you fought to break the increasingly uncomfortable eye contact, and all you could do was shrug. Your lip started quivering and you were losing the fight of keeping your composure, how wonderful. Despite everything she was being so sweet, way too sweet. You felt helpless at this point. 

The words started pouring out of your mouth like a waterfall, you were properly sobbing now, falling apart and hiccuping as months and months of emotion spilled over. 

You were blabbering about how you loved the friendship you formed with her, but how hurt you felt that she’d laugh about you, every possible insecurity just tumbled out of your lips, as you wiped at your teary face and runny nose and glanced at Ellie ever so often. 

She let you talk for a bit until she saw you get even more upset, that's when she got a step closer to you, squeezed both your shoulders gently and kept a stern tone of voice to get your attention.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, slow down, I don't know what you're saying.” But you couldn't stop crying. Bottling up emotions was definitely a bad idea, because they were bound to burst sooner or later and unfortunately, you reached the breaking point. Sucking in some unsteady breaths as an attempt to regulate yourself, she was watching you patiently yet still cautiously. 

Your voice was weak and shaky, but you were slowly feeling a little better. For the first time during this interaction, you meet her eyes. Why was she always so pretty? She was sculpted just to spite you, you were convinced. Tears welled up in your eyes once more, but you blinked them away. “Um…Ellie…” She nodded expectantly, wanting to know what was wrong. But you could not complete your sentence as yet another bout of ache washed over you.

To snap you out of it once and for all, Ellie grabbed your face. The sheer disbelief of her action was enough to stop your tears luckily, and she held your gaze while she used her thumb to swipe at the stray teardrops adorning your cheekbones. You wanted to die, what was going on?

Once your panic was replaced with fluster and stupefaction, she let you go, but was still standing really close to you. You felt jittery from it all, nervous, embarrassed and in love and everything under the sun all at the same time. You stared at her, then looked away, then looked at her plump pink lips which were set in a questioning pout, then back up to her sympathetic greener-than-grass eyes, fuck, fuck, fuck. The intensity of the situation had caused any sense of judgment or critical thinking to long, long gone, and so your body moved on its own and before you had a chance to form a solid thought or process what you were doing.

Smooch.

You kissed her. 

Mouths colliding like magnets as you held onto the sides of her face, fireworks igniting in every single part of your body. Cradling her jaw as you closed the space between you two, the hurricane of emotion coursing through your veins as your lips caressed hers, and time felt like it had stopped. The months and months of excruciating pining had all led up to this very moment. 

She instinctively kissed you back, you felt her breaths fanning your face. You were about to ascend to another dimension. Lingering against her for a little longer, you forced yourself to regretfully pull away, and laughed loudly at her state now. 

Her lips were parted and she was gawking at you, you had broken her completely. Your own heart was working overtime, you were panting from the adrenaline of the situation, and could only hear the blood rushing in your ears. 

She seemed to be in a coma, doing nothing but staring and breathing. You punched her arm playfully, your voice breaking.

“I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU FUCKING IDIOT.” 

An frustrated confession tore itself from your throat, even the world's strongest iron bars couldn't contain it. You wiped at your face with your sleeves, a sad attempt to clear it of the residual salty tears that never once stopped their journey out of your eyes.

The sadness had left you, and you felt lighter now, truthfully. Had no idea how you would ever face her again after all this, but at least the cat was out of the bag and you had gotten that off of your chest. You both stood there in silence, now what was wrong with her? What a dork. Sucking on your teeth and kicking a pebble on the ground you admitted finally, “So, yeah. That's what's been troubling me, I guess.” 

Her pupils were dilated and huge, as she scanned all over your features, her mouth opening and closing as if she was having an internal battle of what to say. She stood there almost appearing miles more shocked than you somehow, she looked as if she was going to have a heart attack and die on you, you found it funny, but concerning at the same time. 

You watched her for a moment more, before accepting your disappointing fate and bidding her a goodbye. You cleared your throat. “Okay then. Cya in class. Bye.” You turned on your heel and began the walk back to your room, but this time for real, and didn't look back at her. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't, you wanted to leave this whole fiasco in the past. That chapter was closed, it seemed. 

The only thing left to do now was call your bestie, Abby. She has been your cheerleader through this whole thing, through all this time, gave you advice and brought you back to Earth, and you needed her support now more than ever. 

Right after you reached your dorm she was there in no time at all, after receiving your distress call she scrambled into action, with chocolates and boxed wine in hand. Maybe you should just date her instead at this point. Who else was left for you?

You talked and talked and talked to her about everything for so long, talking the night away just like old times, and she sat and listened to your every word, patted your back reassuringly as you weeped into her shoulder, then tucked you into bed at the end of it all. She left only when she was sure you'd relaxed fully.

You didn't fall asleep quite yet, and stayed awake thinking, pondering life and staring up at your ceiling. It turns out angrily confessing to the girl you've been infatuated with forever by impulsively kissing her and letting the whole campus know it was a tiring thing after all. You really did cause a bit of a scene, when you thought about it in hindsight.

But what was this all like from Ellie's perspective? You wished you could know what she thought, or at least gotten some sort of formal response. Her friend storms out of a cafe, kisses her and screams she's in love with her? It's certainly understandable she'd feel a little lost, or under great pressure to give you an answer. Her reaction did make sense though, after being met with such a shocking revelation. Wow, now that you were really thinking about it, she still did not know why you ran out of the cafe like that. You wished you could turn back time and redo this day, shame that wasn't possible. Were you two ever going to have a discussion about this, or had you just lost a friend for life. Oh no, you pushed that thought away as quickly as it appeared, you didn't have an ounce of energy left over to dwell on it.

You'd work out what you were going to face her next later, a very well-deserved visit to dreamland was way overdue. You felt your eyelids grow heavy and your breathing slow, so you turned on your side and snuggled into your bed, eventually falling into a deep, deep sleep.

Meanwhile on your bedside table:

Bzz, bzz, bzz. 

lovely taggies: @lasting-lover @radioheadfan699 @sophie-thefrog8 @machetegirl109 @ellieschair @aouiaa @wavesgocrash @tangerinngi @elliesbitchvenus @amiorca @dinaissoprettyoml @rxreaqia @camicocom1a @elliesexual @smelliewilliams @boobdrug @writing-on-a-bathroom-stall @bready101 @yourelliewillms @ap3arll @bunnyrose01 @elliesactualgirlfriend @paranoiero @sakiigami @4ftergloww @ellstronaut @vqxen @desireesfics @lez-zuha @dyk3ang3l @iluvellie0089 @tphmnv @seraphicsentences @seaseasalts @biblically-accurate-ellie @deliriousrn @pxterpfx + a very special tag to @fleshunger hehe :)

if i wasn't able to tag you, investigate the issue somewhere in your settings!

[arcadia-of-pluto]

Twist of Fate; Chapter One

Pairings; Rafayel x reader, Xavier x reader, Zayne x reader, Sylus x reader (Love and Deepspace)

Word count; 4,495 (sorry it's so short, I'll try to post three chapters today)

Themes; isekai, eventual smut

Rated; 18+ for swearing and some mature themes

Notes; To make things easier to read, I'm going to use emojis for who is texting.

Y/n 🩷

Rafayel 💜

Zayne 💙

Xavier 💛

Sylus ❤️

Hi everyone! This is my first time posting to tumblr so please be gentle with me! If you like this, then let me know! It would be greatly appreciated. My upload schedule will be every weekend (so either fri, sat, or sun!) Also, if the story seems similar, it's going to be verbatim with the story, just with my own embellishments to it. Without further adieu, I hope you enjoy this first chapter.

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Masterlist

A bright light shines within the dark room. There you lay in bed, playing a game on your phone late at night before bed. The soft background music coming from your speaker as the game loads up. You press ‘enter game’ as images of three men make their way across your screen, each one holding a special place in your heart.

Who says you need a real man? Fictional men are where it's at. They can't cheat on you, can't leave you, can't lie to you. It's a lot better than having to stress over a real person and worry if they'll leave you the next day or not. You know from experience, having two boyfriends in the past and neither lasting longer than six months- both breaking off the relationship before an anniversary. Screw men– well, besides the three on your screen right now. They were fine. Oh, and the fourth one being added a month from now.

The game loads in and you get a greeting from one of the men on screen. They take turns showing up in the Destiny Café, each able to say hello every time you log in. It was always sweet to see what they'd say, how they'd react, or any new text messages you'd get from them. You could even change their phone nicknames! You had Xavier, the sweet tired and aloof silvery blonde haired man, saved as Princess since you thought it would be cute. He'd definitely be embarrassed if you called him that. Zayne, the seemingly cold childhood friend and doctor, was saved under Snow Angel; you honestly didn't know what to have his name as that but it would just be amusing to see his reaction to it. Then there's Rafayel, the purple haired sassy and charming painter, who was saved as Nemo- again, very original. But Nemo works nonetheless. As you smile and send your daily stickers to each man to see their reaction, you get a new notification at the top of your screen.

“A new message?” You murmur, noticing that it's contact is unknown. The message was coming from the game. “It must be some new event. Weird…I wonder why there wasn't an update for it?” You back out of your message with Rafayel and click on the new message from the unknown sender.

:’Will you enter the game?’

“That's it?” Your brows furrow and you sit up in your bed, your phone lying in your lap as you scratch your head. “Wait..” You click on the message to reply and your keyboard pops up. “That's…” Usually, to reply in game, you get a choice between a few predetermined answers but for this…You just get to answer how you want to?

’What do you mean?’ You text back before reaching over to put your glasses on. Maybe you should've gone to bed earlier, it kind of feels like you're hallucinating.

You hear the chime of another message rolling in, and you look back down at your phone.

:’Yes or no? Hurry and pick one.’

This time the keyboard doesn't pop up, you only get three options.

ロ Yes

ロ No

And…

ロ Why?

You don't even think twice before pressing why, and the answer comes back quicker than you expect.

:’Please take care of them for me.’

You let out a scoff before running a hand through your hair. This must be some sort of elaborate prank. There's no way this is a part of the game, and even if it were there'd be no explanation for it. Is this the dev's way of getting back at you for sending so many support requests? Before you can think much about it, suddenly you feel more sleepy than before. Your eyes tiredly blink as you try to grab your phone to at least plug it up and get off of the game before you fall asleep, but instead you're lulled to sleep by the soft, melodic tune of Love and Deepspace.

Then a light so bright that it burns your eyes even though they're closed appears. It's hard to even force your eyes open, but when you do, you notice it's a big, deep crimson eye. Similar to the one you'd see in game. Your blood runs cold as you try to look around this unfamiliar area, but all you see is darkness. A dream? Yeah..this must be a dream. Although you've never been able to actively move in a dream before, there's a first for everything!

Right when you finally calm yourself down, you hear it. A loud explosion, the feeling of embers licking at your skin. Your ears are ringing, and you feel a sharp pain on the right side of your face. The darkness fades, and you're left with the blinding light of the sun against your back and your body lying on a pavement. Just lifting your head up to look at your surroundings feels like an extreme workout, everything about your body feels heavy. Sluggish. Though your left eye widens as you realize you're laying in front of a burning building. Something shining in the sunlight catches your eye, and once you grab the object, you find it harder to breathe. It was a dog tag with a charm on it. An apple charm with a star design in the center, and in the center of that was a ruby gemstone. The words ‘When U come back’ were written in cursive on the dog tag.

“No way..” you manage to croak out, the necklace clutched in your hand as you try to push yourself up, but the pounding in your head and the pain coming from your eye are no match, and you end up laying face down on the pavement in front of the burning home until you pass out from the pain.

Being passed out had its perks. You finally had a chance to think and put together a few puzzle pieces before you woke up. So if memory serves, what just happened was your- no, the main character's childhood home just blew up right after her best friend and basically brother Caleb stepped inside and her grandma, who adopted them both, was inside as well. They both died, and supposedly a mafia-like group called Onychinus was behind it because they were tying up loose ends as Grandma was a former researcher and scientist, experimenting on children and modifying them with aether cores. But the main character wasn't badly injured after the explosion, which never made sense honestly. You're that close to a building exploding, and you only get off with trauma and minor scrapes? That doesn't seem right…and honestly, the pain made it feel all the more real. If you were in a dream, that pain most likely would've woken you up.

So coming to terms that you're inside of the game was a bit easier that way. Though the bigger problem lies with your evol. You wouldn't even know the first step to using it, let alone resonating with another person. And firearm training. You've never shot a gun before, but you did take self defense and fighting lessons a few years back, but you can't exactly punch a wanderer. They're durable monsters that can shoot ice or anything at you and, some even have blades for arms…

“Great, it seems like she's waking up now.” You hear the deep, yet cold voice of a man. Then, you hear the higher pitched voice of a woman, “Finally! It's been three days, I just hope she doesn't insist on going back to work..” “She won't, doctor's orders.” The male voice says before you hear a door close.

Your eye slowly opens before you have to squint to adjust it to the bright white lights. A hospital? You try to sit up and the woman next to you rushes to help you. You have to turn your head to look at her since she's on your right side. Your right eye was also bandaged since all you can see is darkness out of it. The first thing you notice is her short bob cut. “Tara?” You say, your voice sounding a bit raspy and you tilt your head to the side. “Thank goodness, Y/n! We thought you'd never wake up.” She seems excited, bubbly and sweet…just like her character in game.

“That's..” Before you can finish your sentence, you start coughing. “Here, let me get you some water!” She hands you a plastic cup and you take a sip before continuing, “I…can't remember much.” You squeeze your hand in a fist, the sound of metal clinking together has you looking down at your hand. “You never let go of that. You've been holding it since..” Tara trails off and you're caught off guard by a sudden surge of emotions. You take a shaky breath as to not start crying, since that would definitely hurt your right eye before you look up at the ceiling. “I don't recall how to use my evol, how to shoot a gun…Can I still even call myself a hunter?”

“Y/n…” Tara sighs before taking your free hand, “Things can always be retaught, we're all just glad you survived. You should be glad to still have both eyes being that close to the explosion!” She smiled at you before handing you your phone. “I can't stay here long, but your phone has been blowing up for the past three days so make sure you check it out.” She pats your hand and stands up. “I'll visit later with a coffee or something for you.”

“The patient is advised to not have anything caffeinated until after being discharged.” A voice comes from the door before he steps inside.

Black hair, glasses, hazel green eyes, tall…

“Doctor Zayne,” I greet him with a small smile, suddenly more nervous and I turn to look at Tara. “I'll see you tomorrow, Tara?”

“Sure! That is, if I don't get a call about a wanderer..Metaflux readings have been crazy as of late, so we've all been pretty busy- but that's not to push you into coming in or anything! Your health matters more to us at UNICORNS so only come back when you're ready.” She says before leaving the room.

“How are you feeling?” Zayne asks as he comes closer, taking a seat where Tara once was. His eyes scan your whole body to make sure you're okay before landing on your face. He leans forward to take the bandage off of your right eye and you wince at how bright the light is for your non-adjusted eye. “It'll probably scar..” he murmurs, presumably to himself.

“I'm..” You trail off, sighing before you decide it's best to tell the doctor the truth. “I'm fine, but I can't remember-”

“Can't remember what?” He cuts you off, almost seeming more worried about just what you can't remember, which makes you laugh a bit. “Calm down, I was getting to that. I can't remember how to use my evol, use my gun, or anything to do with wanderers.” “Hmm..are you sure it won't come back with time?” Zayne seems to have calmed back down as he's now writing everything down on a clipboard. “I'm sure of that.” You clear your throat, looking back down at the necklace in your hand before running your thumb across it.

“I don't mind relearning everything but I won't be as good as I was before, that's for sure.” You lean your head back and Zayne quickly corrects you, gently tilting your chin back down. “If your wound reopens, we'll have to use stitches so be careful.”

“You'll get better at it in no time. Don't forget that I'll help you out.” Zayne says before standing up. You take a glance at the clipboard and it seems like he added ‘post traumatic stress disorder?’ as a note. You guess he assumes your forgetfulness might be caused by that, but you knew otherwise. “I'll leave you so you can check up on your phone.”

With that, the doctor leaves the room and you can finally let out a sigh of relief. It seems he didn't notice anything was off with you. He was honestly the hardest hurdle since he's known the main character for a long time, but you've noticed you tend to act like her to begin with so maybe it wouldn't be as hard as you thought.

You finally decide to put the necklace down on the table next to you, your hand aching from having held it so tightly and grab your phone. There was no code on it so you easy got into it, might as well put a code on it now..and now you go to check your messages. 45 missed calls from Nemo…Nemo? Your brows furrow and you flinch because, of course, that hurts the wound on your face so you quickly straighten your face out. The nicknames are the same as they were in your game. 11 missed calls from Princess, 55 missed messages from Nemo, and 5 missed messages from Princess. Zayne didn't leave any since he works at the hospital… though on the day of the incident, he did leave two missed calls and a reminder of a doctor's appointment.

You decide to check up with Rafayel first since he's a certified drama queen. You don't scroll too far up but the most recent text messages are just him being pouty that his ‘miss bodyguard’ is ignoring him.

🩷 :’Been in the hospital for three days, sorry!’

You decide that's sufficient of an answer before nearly jumping out of your skin as he immediately calls. You laugh before answering the call, being bombarded with questions the moment you press the green button.

“Which hospital, Miss bodyguard? What happened? Are you okay?”

“One question at a time.” You laugh before you start coughing and have to take another sip of water from the plastic cup. Your throat was a bit achy from not being used for three days.

“Which hospital?” Rafayel sticks with his first question, his voice void of his usual playful banter. “Uhm..” you look around for a moment, not exactly remembering the name of the hospital in game before spotting its name on the whiteboard in front of you. “Akso Hospital, room 205.”

“Got it.” Then silence. “Uh…Rafayel?” You say, taking the phone away from your face to notice he had already hung up. You shrug it off before going to your messages with Xavier. Most of the messages were just asking if you wanted to go hunting with him, sending locations, and the most recent one was from a few hours ago with him asking if you were okay.

🩷 :’At the hospital right now, been out for three days! Sorry about that. I might need some help soon though.’

Xavier doesn't immediately call like Rafayel did, instead just exchanges a few texts with you.

💛 :’what happened? are U alright? is it’

🩷 :’Is it what? I'm fine, a bit sore though. I got caught up in an explosion three days ago and have been out since then.’

💛 :’..nevermind that how can U be okay if u were passed out for 3 days? what's the extent of your injuries?’

🩷 :’Just a few bruises, scrapes, a sprained ankle, and…’

💛 :’and what?’

🩷 :’I might have a cool new scar over my eye!’

💛 :’thats not funny..what hospital, i'm coming now.’

You pause your messages, knowing he definitely can't come now if Rafayel is. None of the love interests have ever interacted in the game before, so you're not sure of the consequences just yet.

🩷 :’I'm probably about to sleep again! You can visit tomorrow, the doc gave me some pain medicine that's making me a bit tired and I wanted to talk to you.’

💛 :’alright as long as ur okay. i can wait as long as you need.’

You pout, trying your best not to gush over how sweet Xavier is, and drop your phone as your room door suddenly opens to reveal an exhausted looking, purple haired man. His shirt was haphazardly buttoned, his hair tousled as if he just got out of bed, and panic written all over his face.

“You didn't think to describe the details of your injuries to me?” Are the first words out of his mouth before he shuts the door behind him, walking deeper in the room to grab your plastic cup to drink some water. “You've been out for three days, you shouldn't even be sitting up right now!” He sits down on the chair next to the bed and you reach toward him to try and fix his shirt buttons. The tips of his ears turn red and he pushes backward on the rolling chair. “What're you doing- you're a patient.”

“Your shirt..” You drop your hands into your lap with a small smile.

“Oh-” Rafayel clears his throat, turning the chair to fix his shirt before he rolls the chair back up next to you. With his hand gently cupping the right side of your face, he murmurs, “How did this happen?”

You assume he's probably in shock since you were never scarred like this in any of the past lives you shared with him.

“An explosion from my..” You trail off, lips pressing together in a thin line as you find it hard to say what happened, even though you know they're not your actual family. “..my childhood home. Two casualties.” You finally finish your sentence, not meeting Rafayel's bluish pink eyes as he still cups your cheek.

The silence is almost deafening before Rafayel sighs and drops his hand. “I'm sorry for your loss.” He finally says. “Do you need a hug?”

You quickly shake your head. “If I hug you, I'll cry and I really don't need to..irritate my…” You can't seem to get your words out as your eyes water and no matter how hard you try to stop it, your cheek stings as salty tears run down your still healing wound. Rafayel moves to sit on the side of the bed, guiding your forehead to rest against his shoulder as his arms wrap around you. “We can always get your doctor to fix it, huh? It won't do you any good if you keep your feelings all bottled up now, will it?”

You can't seem to stop crying, even as your breath stutters in your chest and you find it harder to breathe. Sure, you cried when they died while playing but for it to affect you like this? Maybe it's because someone offered to be a shoulder you could lean on.

“Focus on my breathing. Don't hyperventilate on me now, miss bodyguard.” Rafayel murmurs, hand still patting your back as your tears eventually fade and you fall asleep.

Rafayel pulls you back from his shoulder, moving you so you're laid flat on the bed before he grabs a soft tissue to wipe your face, wiping the trail of blood coming from your wound since the salt from your tears irritated it. He then leans forward to kiss your forehead. “I'll see you soon.”

The next time you wake up, your eyes are puffy and your nose is stopped up.

“I see you cried yourself to sleep.” Zayne comments, tilting your head by your chin so he can examine your wound. “You irritated it.” He sighs. “If you don't cry anymore, it'll probably be healed up in two weeks..then you can cry all you want.”

“Well, I'm sorry, I had to cry.” You say with a pout, knowing it's not his fault. “When can I be discharged?”

“After today, your ankle should be better to walk on so tomorrow? But if you want to start work again, I'd say another few weeks.” Zayne finishes writing something down before standing up. “I also did a routine checkup on your heart in case that was the reason you can't use your evol and I don't think that's the case. I believe your evol revolves around your emotions so if you're not confident in it, it won't work.”

“Thank you, Zayne.” You say before taking a sip of the iced coffee that Tara left for you thirty minutes ago. Then you finally shoot Xavier a text to say he's free to come to the hospital whenever he wants, that you'll be discharged tomorrow.

Not even a minute after you sent your message, there was a knock on your door. You look toward the noise before smiling behind your hand. “Come in.”

A silvery blond head pops in from the now opened door before he comes in and shuts the door behind him. “How are you feeling today?” He asks, his soft tired voice sounding a bit more emotional than usual. “Mmh, pretty good. I'd probably feel better if you came a bit closer.” You say, leaning over to pat the chair next to your bed. He quickly comes to sit down, almost as if waiting for the invitation.

“Your eyes are swollen. Did you have a rough sleep last night?”

“No, I..” it's probably best to keep telling the truth for now. “I just cried myself to sleep.” You shrug, trying to play it off as nothing but Xavier isn't falling for it. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“If I cry myself to sleep again, will you hold me?” You ask, raising your left brow before laughing to yourself. “Just thinking about what happened, not being able to save anyone, getting hurt like this…” You feel a hand on top of your own and turn to look at Xavier. “It's not your fault.” He finally says after a moment of silence. A small smile tugging at his lips before he changes the subject, “What is it you wanted to ask me?”

“Oh right!” You sit up before turning your body to face him. “I need you to teach me how to use my gun…and how to fight….aannnd how to use my evol.” You name off each one and tap on your fingers to count them off.

“You..forgot all of that?” His head tilts to the side before he nods his head. “Alright, I can do that. Is there anything else you need?”

“Uh…can you pick me up tomorrow? I don't know where our apartments are…or how to drive my bike either.” You rub the back of your neck and smile sheepishly.

“What else did you forget?” He lets out a small laugh.

“All of Linkon?” You say before adding, “I mean, I remember names but I don't remember where anything is..like Azure Square, UNICORNS HQ, Twinkle Toys, Meow's Café..”

“Don't worry, I'll help with anything I can.” Xavier smiles, his thumb rubbing across the back of your hand.

“Thank you, that means a lot to me.” You smile before looking down at your phone as it buzzes. Rafayel. He's- on his way?

“Actually, could you get me a friend for tomorrow?” You ask, a smile tugging at your lips. “A..friend?” His head tilts to the side until you say, “Can you get me a fox plushie and bring it to me when I'm discharged tomorrow?”

“I-” Xavier laughs before nodding, “Of course I will.” He stands up, looking toward the door. “I'll leave now though, since you seem a bit restless, but I'll make sure you get all the plushies you want.”

Not even five minutes after Xavier leaves, Rafayel is in the room. Almost as if he felt a disturbance in the force that someone was with his lady right now. “Was someone just here?” He asks, trying to act nonchalant as he sits down in the chair.

“No?” You phrase it as a question before you nod your head. “Yeah, the doctor just left. He was upset that I irritated my wound but, at least, I'll be discharged tomorrow! I can't go back to work for another two weeks though.”

“So does that mean my bodyguard is still out of commission?” Rafayel pouts, a hand on his hip. “Well, that's a shame. I had an art expo to go to in a few days and I was wondering if you'd join me.” “Ah…about that,” you clear your throat before telling him all about the troubles with your evol and even not recalling how to use a gun. “Why don't you try resonating now?” He asks, placing his hand on top of yours. “But what do I even do?” You murmur, closing your eyes.

“Do you feel all of that energy coursing through your chest? Try to direct that through your body to your fingers.” Rafayel whispers. “Think of it like paint. If you pour paint on a flat canvas, it spreads all out like crazy. You have to take a paintbrush and direct the paint to where you want it to go. So your evol is the paint and you are the paintbrush.”

That…helps but doesn't help at the same time.

You take a deep breath, trying to silence your mind to be able to focus but it's difficult to have dead silent thoughts. Instead you try to imagine the energy moving from your chest all the way to your hands, which were clasped between Rafayel's much bigger ones. Then, you finally felt it. You were resonati-

You flinch as you’re bombarded with a few blurry memories of your past life with Rafayel; Well, if you didn't know, you would've just been confused but since you played the game, you knew they were of your past lives with him. Though they were blurry, so you didn't catch anything besides a soft ‘my bride’ at the end.

My eyes blink open and you take one hand away from Rafayel to rub your temples. “I think it worked but..” you look at Rafayel, who was uncharacteristically silent. Maybe he saw the same images too?

“Hey, did you see it too?” You ask, which finally gets his attention. “Huh, see what?” He tries to brush it off but you don't let him. “It was kind of blurry but I remember seeing you��in a purple outfit? Oh and you said something at the end.” You tap your bottom lip with your index finger, pretending to try and recall what you saw when, in reality, you only saw a blurry Rafayel. You never saw specific details like that. “You said my bri-”

Rafayel covers your mouth with a hand. “That's enough of that.” His ears were red and he wasn't looking you in the eyes. Then he clears his throat. “Anyway, I'll contact you soon about the expo since you seem to resonate just fine and then maybe I can show you around Linkon City to try and jog your memory.”

He leaves as quickly as he showed up, clearly embarrassed by what you were going to say.

“Cute..” you say to yourself, laughing into your hand before wincing and touching the right side of your face.

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

That's it for the first chapter! Since I wrote this on goggle docs, I wasn't sure just how short the chapters were but they'll get longer as we go on! I have a few chapters piled up so even if I don't write for a few weeks, I'll still be able to post. I'd love any feedback or even any explanations of the features on here to make the reading experience a bit better. I've never posted to Tumblr before so I've been just copying what I see from the tags and word count so I think I've done pretty well for my first time. I would love to learn how to do a masterlist though and also a next button, I guess I just have to link the next chapter on it? I'll have to test it out so please bear with me and I hope you enjoyed- and stick around for the chapters to come! 🩷

[samandcolbyownme]

TRIGGER WARNING: This one shot will contain mentions of a knife. If you are at all uncomfortable with that type of thing - PLEASE SKIP THIS CHAPTER!

Summary: Anon request - "Jake smut with knife kink????"

Warnings: SMUT18+, KNIFE PLAY!, strong language, teasing, hair pulling, scratching, biting, dirty pet names, unprotected sex, begging, praising, use of a knife during sex, maybe some breeding kink, filth.

Word count: 3.9k | not edited

I will going off the 'trying every fast food fried chicken sandwich' video on Johnnie's channel, but I will be adding some stuff to make you fit into the story - but I did shorten it a lot to not make it as long. Enjoy !

You sat in the chair behind the camera as Jake and Johnnie prepared to start recording. You and Jake had plans to hang out, but he totally forgot he already had a date with Johnnie to rate chicken on a scale of one through five.

"Have you ever wanted a chicken sandwich-"Jake cuts Johnnie off, "yeah." Johnnie continues, "well now you can-"

Jake stares into the cameras trying not to laugh, "yes."

"Well today -"

Jake interrupts him again, " yep."

Johnnie says nothing else as he leans over and grabs, what looks to be the handle of a knife. You and Jake both stare at him as he struggles to open it. You watch as Jake closes his mouth and reaches over to take it from Johnnie's grasp.

In one swift flick, the silver blade pops through, revealing its sharpness. Johnnie raises his hands, "Okay. Okay. Take it easy."

You felt relieved that Jake was staring at Johnie while holding it because that gave you time to get your cheeks back to a normal color. That was one of the hottest things you've seen Jake do, even if it was just as simple as him opening that knife.

It still got your mind going and blood pumping a mile a minute.

Jake glances at you as he sets the open knife on the table and you smile at him, sitting up as he looks away because a nasty and dangerous, yet super sexy thought, sneaks its way into your mind.

You don't even know how Jake would react to what you just thought of, but you knew that you weren't going to stop thinking about it until you got an answer from him.

You pull yourself from your thoughts and wind up listening to a very strange, yet normal Jake and Johnnie, comment, "..and and we're gonna be putting lots of meat in our mouth and we're-"

Your weird look turns into quiet laughter behind your hand as you watch Jake's face change quickly into a caught off guard confused stare.

He blinks a few times and looks at you and just shakes his head as Johnnie continues to ramble on. Then, the conversation turns into dissecting frogs before Johnnie says something about his merch.

"I'm proud to be an Americas favorite lady.." Johnnie sings and you just stare, thinking about why you agreed to sit in on this when you knew it was going to be hard to be quiet.

.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.

"Alright, the first one we're trying is- mm-blah- uh- fuck." Johnnie looks down and Jake points to him, "Ha. You stuttered this time. Ha, ha."

You watch as Jonnie stares at the table for a few seconds in silence before he reaches for the knife again, and your eyes instantly move to Jake.

Jake watches as Johnnie struggles again and you pull your bottom lip between your teeth as Jake reaches over, waiting to watch his thumb slide up to open it once again.

"It's got a child lock on it." Jonnie says right before Jake takes it from him, popping the blade out of the top.

You don't know why, but you are so turned on by Jake opening the knife. You thought the first time was bad, but the more he does it, the more you feel like you can't breathe.

Jake closes the knife and hands it back to Johnnie, watching as he finally figures out how to open it. Jake raises his hand as he laughs, "Okay, okay. Now I'm scared."

Jake glances over at you and back to Johnnie, "Now I'm scared."

"Who stuttered what?" Johnnie asks in a funny voice and you can't help but laugh.

"Let me see that." Jake says and your eyes snap back to his hand that's reaching out for it, "Let me see that."

"Wait wait wait." Johnnie says and Jake drops his hand, "Come on. It's not a toy."

"Well it's real, it's dangerous, and illegal." Johnnie says and that just fuels the fire.

You watch as Jake takes the knife, laughing as he sets it down. You look up, eyes meeting his as he sets it down and you tilt your head with a smile.

He squints his eyes, picking up that there's something going on with you and you cross your leg over the other as you lean back against the wall.

He smirks slightly before going back to doing the video.

Every time Jake laughs, you smile because it's like you fall in love with him all over again, even the weird comments, you can't help but love him more.

.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.

You have your head resting on the wall, watching Jake do his reviews when all of a sudden your eyes go wide and your hand slaps over your mouth.

Jake looks at you, tilting his head before looking over his shoulder.

"Hello!" Johnnie, or as you call it, his alter ego, Timmy yells. Jake's eyes go wide and he snaps his head back to you, "Oh.. my god."

Jake covers his mouth as Johnnie walks up, grabbing the sandwich, "Chicken sandwiiiiich." He screams as he clings to it for dear life.

Jake's hand is still over his mouth, "Oh my god. No way."

Johnnie continues to scream before taking an obnoxiously loud bite. Your hand slowly moves off of your mouth as you try to contain in the laughter.

You were super turned on, ready for this video to be done, but now thanks to Timmy, you were no longer focused on Jake dragging a knife across your neck.

"Holy shit." Jake lays a hand on his chest and drags it down to drop it into his lap as Johnnie slowly walks up to him, "If I just sit still, he won't know I'm here."

Your eyes flick back and forth from him to Johnnie, "oh my god. This isn't real." You whisper into your hand, "Holy fuck."

It's quiet, all but the sound of Johnnie eating as he walks up to Jake. Jake's eyes are on you, fighting to not look at Johnnie.

Johnnie leans down, "Want eat?"

Jake laughs, "No." he turns his head to look at Johnnie, "Get back." Johnnie moves back and yells something that's muffled by the food in his mouth before touchdown slamming the sandwich onto the floor.

Jake's mouth drops as he leans over, looking at you for help. You shrug, "I don't know what you want me to do. We just have to.. wait it out."

Johnnie leaves the room and you sit there staring at Jake, "What the fuck was that?" You watch as his fingers drag on the table against the knife and he looks up at you, "I'm going to stab him."

You laugh slightly, "Oh my g- Jake. No you're not going to stab him. He can't help it." You hold back your laughter as Johnnie walks back into the room.

And that feeling you had before returns, all it took was for him to touch the knife.

"Anyways." Johnnie says walking back into the room, like nothing even happened.

Which makes it a lot funnier.

You lean back against the wall, falling back into your thoughts after Johnnie's little Timmy outburst.

.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.

Johnnie picks up a hammer, holding it up and Jake quickly picks up the knife, giving you a quick glance. 

You bite down on your lip, watching as he brings it up and opens it with no trouble.

You wanted him. And you wanted him to play with it, press it up against your neck.

Drag it down your body.

You wanted him to tease you with it.

Do whatever he wanted to you with it.

You never thought you'd bring a knife into sexual pleasure, but hey. Things can change, right?

A short time later, they wrap up the video and Jake stands up, "I hope you know you're cleaning this up yourself."

"What? Why?" Johnnie groans with a laugh, "No, don't answer that. I had an outburst didn't I?" He hangs his head and sighs loudly.

"I swear to god you're schizophrenic." Jake shakes his head and turns to face you, "Ready to hang out?" You nod, "Yeah, but first.." you lean around him and grab the knife off the table, "Close this for me."

He gives you a confused look but complies, taking the knife from your hand, closing it with ease, "Can I as-"

You cut him off, "Not here."

He tilts his head, "You're being weird."

You roll your eyes, "If anyone's weird here it's-"

Johnnie lets out a random scream and Jake spins you around, "Let's get out of here before he sees us." He pushes you forward and you walk out laughing.

Jake lays his arm over your shoulder, "So are you going to tell me what's brewin' in that noggin of yours.. or do I have to guess?"

You bite your lip, resting your head back onto his arm, "I mean, you can guess."

"Does it involve sexy time?" He wiggles his brows and you laugh, "that's not a guess, but yes, babe."

He pushes open his door and walks you in, turning around to close it.

"Okay. I'm just.." you sigh, looking up at him, "I'm just going to say it because it's a pretty.. wild request."

He holds up the closed knife in his hand, "It doesn't have anything to do with this.." he dangles the knife in his fingers, "..does it?"

You bite your lip, locking your hands together behind your back, "I told you it was a wild request."

He purses his lips together, eyes moving to the object in his hand, "You.." he laughs slightly, looking back to you, "You want me.." he points to the knife, "To do.. what exactly?"

"I'm not asking you to stab me, Jake. Just.." you walk up and take the knife from his hand. You try to get it open, "there really is a child lock on this isn't there."

Jake smirks and takes the knife from your hand, holding it up between your bodies and he flicks it open.

Your eyebrows raise and you bite your lip, "Uh huh." You nod, "You are so hot when you do that."

He smirks, looking away and back to you with a smile, "Oh shucks." He raises his shoulders and tilts his head all cute.

You move closer to him, wrapping your hand around his wrist, "I just.." your eyes move from the knife in his hand, up to his eyes, "I want you to, I don't know, intimidate me with it.. tease me with it."

"Isn't.. this a little bit dangerous?" He stares down at you and you shrug with a slight smile, "I mean, yes it's dangerous." You grab his shirt and move closer to him, "But that's what makes it fun right?"

A smirk toys with his lips as he brushes hair from your face, "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. I trust you." You tilt your head back, "We don't have to if-"

The sudden gentle graze of the blade across your cheek shuts you up instantly.

Jake's eyes bounce from your eyes to the knife resting on your cheek, "You know.. you have such an angel face." He bites his bottom lip, "But these thoughts you have, baby.. they're the devils thoughts."

He bends down, quickly lifting you up. Your legs circle his waist and you look down at him, "Only for you, baby."

He smirks, "I sure hope so."

He walks you over to his bed, moving his hand with the knife before letting you fall backwards onto the bed, "What do you want me to do?"

You lean up onto your elbows, "You're holding the knife, babe. You're in control."

"Oh shit. Okay." He laughs slightly and twirls it in his fingers, "if I see blood." He points the blade towards you, "I'm stopping."

"Deal." You smile and lay back, watching as he moves in between your knees after taking off his shirt. He drops his hand, dragging the point of the blade gently down your fishnet covered thigh.

He reaches up to undo your jean shorts, slowly pulling them down your legs until they're off and dropped to the floor.

You watch as he picks up the knife, slipping the sharp side of the blade against each thin piece of fishnet, cutting all the way up to your hip.

He moves to the other side, "I hope you didn't like these."

"I have more." You glance up at him, biting your lip as you feel the loose fabric sliding off your legs. He moves up, leaning down to press his lips against yours.

"How do you-" you reach over, pulling his hand with the knife over, "Just.. like. This." You lay the blade against your neck, "Just enough pressure for me to feel it."

"You're fucking crazy." He smirks and you tilt your head back, "You love it."

"I love you." He pulls the knife away, crashing his lips into yours. Your lips move in sync as his hand slips under your shirt, a small moan slipping from your lips as his fingers twist and pull at your nipple.

"Please don't tease." You whimper out.

He sits up and pushes your shirt up. He reaches over picking up the knife and dragging it down your torso, "I thought that's what you wanted?"

You fight back a smirk, knowing he's right, "Mhm."

He smirks, slipping it into the thick band of the fishnets, "Thought so."

With a swift swipe up, the band splits. He finishes cutting the fishnets and pushes the loose pieces away.

He spreads your legs more and you bite your lip as you feel the blade rest against your clothed pussy. Your eyes lock onto his and he drags it down, "Jake.."

Your words are barely audible, "P-please."

Your adrenaline was pumping. Any second that blade could puncture your skin, but the amount of trust you have for Jake, especially when it comes to you, make it even better.

"Please what, baby?" He drags the knife gently down the inside of your thigh, "Where do you want it?"

"Anywhere.." You breathe out, "I just.." you whimper as he presses the flat side against your clit, tapping a few times. He tilts his head, continuing to tap, "You just what, baby?"

"I need you." You move your hips slightly, "Please."

He leans down, kissing up your torso, "Fine." He rolls over, sitting his back against the headboard, "But you're ridin'."

You sit up, slipping your shirt up over your head, "okay." You smirk at him, kicking off the torn fishnets before moving up to straddle him.

He reaches behind you, making sure to gently drag the blade down your spine. You arch your back slowly, pushing your chest out and he kisses in between your boobs.

"You are so fucking hot." His other hand moves to grip your ass, squeezing before sliding it around to pull the band of your panties outward.

He drags the knife over your hip before slicing the band of your panties. You watch as he moves to the other side, cutting it and letting it fall between your legs.

He looks your body up and down and slides his hand up your back, gripping the back of your neck before pulling you in for a kiss.

Your hands move to the sides of his neck as you grind down on him, earning a low groan.

Your hands slide down, undoing his jeans before moving off of him so he can kick them off. He moves his boxers down and pulls you back over, "I hope you know, I love watching you ride me."

He spits into his hand, moving it down to rub the outside of your pussy. You moan, gripping his shoulders as his fingers move to rub circles on your clit, "Fuck."

He moves his hand to hold his cock steady, "go ahead babe."

You let out a loud moan, clenching around him as you sink down onto him. Your moan is cut short by a gasp from the knife against your neck.

"Why didn't I think of this?" Jake groans as you slowly move up and down, "This is fucking.." he groans, eyes gawking at the knife pressing against your skin, "Do you like it?"

You moan out, "Yes, yes."

"Tell me what you like, babe." Jake moves his hips upward and you sigh, "I love how you hold this knife against my skin."

"You look so fucking hot." He drags the knife down your neck and over your boob. He moves with your motions, pressing it a little harder into your skin.

You let out an excited whimper as you dig your nails into his shoulders, biting your lip as you roll your hips into his, "Jake.." you moan out, "You feel so good." 

He tilts his head back and you act quick, taking the knife from his hand and pressing it against his neck. His eyes widen slightly as his hands move to grip both of  your hips, "Fuck." He swallows, keeping his jaw up, "You're such a demon." 

You giggle slightly, a moan following quick as you sink all the way down, letting his cock rest inside of you, "You're so hot." You lean in, pressing your lips to his as you gently drag the knife down his skin. You replace the blade with your lips, sucks a mark into his skin which earns a low groan from his lips. 

He slides his hands up to the front of your shoulders, pushing you back as he leans forward. He pins your wrist down by your head before he starts thrusting into you, "Fucking shit." 

You arch your back, moaning loudly as your legs tighten over his thighs, "J-Jake." You gasp, "So c-close." 

He slips his hand up, taking the knife back into his possession. He leans down, holding up his weight on his forearm as he drags the knife down the side of your torso, "Cum for me." 

Your breathing shutters as the knife grazes over your skin. Your eyes roll back as you tilt your head back, whining loudly as he kisses down your neck, biting and nipping at your skin. He proceeded to give you a matching hicky, groaning lowly as he feels you tense around him. 

You let out a loud moan, digging your nails into his back as you cum. His thrusts slow down as he guides you through your high and then come to a stop, "Hands and knees baby." 

Jake pulls out, sitting all the way up to watch you lazily roll over. He lays a hand on your hip, biting his lip as his eyes gaze down to your soaked pussy on display, "You're so fucking wet." He brings the knife up, dragging it down over your ass and tapping it gently against your pussy. 

You gasp, trying not to move. Your fingers ball up the comforter underneath you, whimpering as you grow more impatient for him to be inside of you again.

"Please.. you whimper out, "Jake.." your words are breathless and Jake loves it. 

"Please what?" He moves the knife up, dragging it down over your other cheek. 

You sigh, "I need you." 

He rises up to lean down, pressing his lips against your shoulder, "I want to cum in you so bad. Fill you up completely." He groans at his own words, "Fuck, you would look so sexy pregnant." 

Jake has never said anything like that before. You guys were always careful, you didn't think he was thinking about anything like that. 

"W-what?" You ask, making sure you heard him correctly. 

"You heard me." He leans up, dragging the knife down your spine as he moves his hips to rub the tip of his cock against your pussy, "Would you like that?" 

You push your hips back, biting your lip as you try and think, but your mind is so scrambled right now, "I-I-" you gasp as he thrusts into you, knife pressing into your skin, "Yes." 

"Yes what, y/n?" Jake reaches up, gathering your loose hair into his hand, "want me to cum in that pretty pussy of yours?" 

You nod against the hold he has on your hair, letting out a whine when he pulls harder, "Fuck, yes. Yes. Yes!" 

Jake bites his lip harder as he starts thrusting, groaning as he watches you push your hips back to meet his thrusts.

He drops the knife, moving his now free hand to grip your ass, "That's it."

He lets go of your hair, moving it back to lay on your hip, fingertips digging hard into your skin, “Fuck, I’m so fucking close baby.”

You moan in response, moving your hips up and down repeatedly until he grabs them, pulling you fully down onto him as he pushes all the way in.

You squeeze his cock, moaning as you feel him coating the inside of your pussy white.

“Fuck.” He sighs, “That was surprisingly fun.”

You laugh as you lay down on his bed, “It was.” You look back at him, watching as he picks the knife up to close it.

“Open it, again.” You bite your lip as you watch him smirk, switching the blade open, “Wanna see me do it again?” He jokes, but you nod, “I could watch you do it all day.”

“Really?” He asks with a laugh, “What’s so hot about it?”

You sit up, “Just you.. and that knife.. it just.. gets me going.” He moves to stand in front of you, resting the blade under your chin, “You know I can’t let Johnnie touch this again, right?”

“I would hope not.” You smile and lick your lips, “That would be kinda weird now that it’s been on .. places.”

Jake laughs and closes the knife, “Yeah, that’s going to the dresser drawer with its new friends.” He walks over, opening the drawer that you store all of your other sex toys in.

You shake your head, “I’m stealing a shirt.”

“Yeah, take whatever you want babe.” Jake smiles at you as he shuts the drawer. As you go through his closet, there’s a knock on the door, “Jake, where’s your knife? I want to practice opening it. I can beat that fucking child lock.”

You and Jake lock eyes and it’s instant laughter.

Johnnie is silent for a few moments, “You didn’t have to laugh at me, holy shit.”

“Sorry Johnnie.. that knife is out of commission.” Jake yells as he tries not to laugh.

“Aw, did you break it? Stupid fuck.” Johnnie yells and Jake sighs, “You’re the stupid fuck, but yeah I guess I broke it.”

Jake looks at you, shaking his head as he smirks.

.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.

I know this was long awaited, so I thank you for being patient and for reading. I hope you enjoyed 🖤

Likes and reblogs are appreciated!

[minustwofingers]

exoplanet p.3

pairing: ellie williams x fem! reader (ur a girly girl in this one!!) (she/her pronouns)

summary: you’ve won the life lottery as one of the few people on earth with parents who gained admittance to the most prestigous safezone in the world after the outbreak. but after a lab accident sends you out to jackson, wyoming, real life hits you fast. it’s a good thing that a hot lesbian finds u. (lol). mean ellie at first, slowburn, enemies to friends to lovers, fem reader asf

warnings: (PLEASE READ!) explicit language, violence, description of a medical procedure sans anesthesia, recreational drug use (idk how else to put it ellie gets absolutely zonked in the beginning), reader overthinks asf and is a little neurotic but that's why we love her x

a/n: hey guys! thank you so much for the wait! it's been genuinely insane how sweet and incredible all of you are. i've never felt so appreciated for my writing!! also, some notes: this chapter is heavily inspired by my last relationship. sorry if it's not as immersive bc of it! and also i don't have ANY medical knowledge so...cast a blind eye when u get to that scene

part 1

part 2

tags: @prettyplant0 @666findgod​ @sawaagyapong​ @rystarkov​ @buzzybuzzsposts @addisonnie @galacticstxrdust @parkersmyth @pinkazelma

wc: 6.6k

enjoy x

“One more time.”

You gave Ellie a withering look from where you were sitting at the end of her bed.

“Please,” she said, drawing out the s. “Just once more. I promise.” 

“Fine.” You rolled your eyes—a habit of hers that you were quickly picking up—and took in a deep breath. “Fuck.” 

Ellie lost it, peals of laughter bouncing off the walls. “Another one. Say something else.”

“I don’t understand why you think this is so funny,” you said.

“You say it so weird.”

“I enunciate,” you clarified. “I don’t ‘sound weird’. It’s called pronouncing every letter in the word and not having a lazy mouth.” 

“Please,” she gasped. “At least say bitch. You haven’t said that one yet.”

You looked her dead in the eye. “Bitch.”

If you weren’t already certain that Ellie was high out of her mind by the smell of her room and the general haze in the air, the way she howled with laughter and fell back on her bed would’ve made you entirely positive.

This was new. You’d begun to hang out with her in her room after dinner—that was normal—but when she’d knocked on your door smelling heavily of weed once you’d said goodnight to Joel, you were nothing less than shocked. Of course, she had none left for you. Which was probably good, because only a sober mind could navigate a night sitting on Ellie’s bed without doing something really, really stupid. 

“I can’t believe you call me weird,” you said, tucking your feet under her and giving her a pointed look. 

“You’re so lucky you didn’t grow up where I did,” Ellie said, wiping a tear away from her cheek as she tried (unsuccessfully) to rein in her giggles. “You would’ve been eaten alive, good lord.”

“What were you like as a kid?” you asked, resting your chin on your knees. 

She considered for a moment, growing more somber. “Um…I don’t know if you would’ve liked me very much.”

“What do you mean? Of course I would’ve liked you.” 

“No,” she said, swiping at her face so she pushed a strand of hair away. “I don’t think you would have.”

“Why not?”

“I was…” She paused, picking at her cuticles. “Back then I didn’t have anyone. I was an orphan, you know. My parents were never in the picture, so I was the only one I could count on.  I was really rough around the edges and could be nasty. But I probably would’ve ignored you like I did everyone else. “

“Everyone? You didn’t have anyone? No friends at all?”

Ellie blinked, and her gaze remained fixed on her hands. “Basically, yeah. I mean, there was one girl, but that’s…I don’t want to talk about that right now, actually.” 

“That’s okay,” you said, reaching forward to touch her knee. She flinched at the contact but didn’t brush you away. The image of a young, scared Ellie living somewhere alone made your chest ache. “You don’t have to tell me.” 

“What were you like?” she asked, tilting her head and meeting your eyes. 

“Hmmm…” Mirth crept into your tone. “What do you think?”

“What do I think?” Ellie echoed, her eyes cloudy as she thought. Then a small smirk formed on her face. “Oh god, were you one of those spoiled brats? Were you a mean girl?” 

“God, no,” you said, raising your eyebrows. “Not mean.”

“Then what?”

You paused. “I was really shy, I guess. And quiet, too. I didn’t do much but read for a good 10 years of my life. I used to have awful pronunciation because I would spend more time reading than talking to anyone. But I think I would’ve liked you.”

Ellie shook her head.

“Yes,” you said. “Maybe I would’ve been a little scared of you. I probably would’ve never had the courage to talk to you. But I would’ve liked you, I think.”

“Scared of me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? I was a kid.”

“I was mostly going off of how I felt when I actually first met you,” you said, shrugging. 

She gasped theatrically. “You’re scared of me?”

“No!” you said, smacking her knee. “That’s not what I mean. You’re just really intimidating.”

“Intimidating?” She looked at you incredulously. 

“You’re so tough,” you explained, feeling heat grow in your cheeks. “You seem just—I don’t know, just so capable. There’s nothing you’re too afraid to face, nothing you’re too afraid to say.”

“That’s not true,” she said lightly. 

“Well, of course I’m sure there are things that you’re afraid of,” you amended. “But you hide it so well. You just seem so…fearless.”

“Hm,” Ellie said, letting her head rest against the headboard. “I think you would’ve made me a nervous wreck. If we’d met when we were kids, I mean.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I’ve never met anyone quite like you before. You’re just so untouched.” She winced. “God, no. That sounds gross. I just mean…I dunno. I wouldn’t have known how to act around you. You haven’t had to harden up like everyone else I know.”

“Are you saying I should develop trust issues or something?” you asked, your voice a teasing lilt.

“You know,” she said, nodding seriously, “That is part of it. It was really off-putting how quickly you trusted me. But I guess that’s just a product of where you grew up.” 

“Yeah,” you said softly. “I wonder how I would’ve turned out if I’d grown up like you.”

“Can I be honest?” Ellie asked. 

“Sure.”

“I don’t think you’d still be here if you were me,” she said, her eyes crinkling. “No offense. You just have zero survival skills. I swear that shit has to be genetic. I’ve never met someone more averse to violence in my life.”

You sighed, pressed your hands deep into Ellie’s comforter as a thought hit you. “I think if you’d been born in my position, you would’ve been greater than anything either of us could ever dream of. Much greater than me.”

“Definitely not,” said Ellie. “There’s no fucking way I’m studying the way you apparently do. I honestly think I’d take being an orphan over the study schedule I saw in your bag.” 

She was of course referencing the time table you’d roughly sketched up the morning before you’d ended up in Jackson. It was blocked to the minute, citing the study content and the location of said study session. She’d been beyond horrified to see it. 

You laughed, nudging her socked food with yours. 

“Is there music? In Terranova?”

“Oh,” you said, startled at the abrupt change of subject. “Uh, yeah. Of course. I listened to it all the time.” 

“I used to have a Walkman,” she said, leaning back as she reminisced. She was lying flat on her back now. “It ended up breaking a while ago, but it was like my child.” 

“Have you ever seen a movie before?” you asked, sitting up rigid straight as the thought occurred to you.

“Duh,” she said, giving you a weird look. “Do you think I live under a rock?”

“How many?”

“Hm.” Ellie began counting, ending on her second hand. “I think 6?”

“You’ve seen a total of 6 movies in your life?” 

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to see more?”

She shrugged. “I mean, I guess. It’s just tough to find CDs that are still functional after so long.”

“Hold that thought,” you said, holding a finger in her direction as you stood up.

“Hey!” she called as you bolted out the door. “Where are you going?”

You came bounding back to her room in a matter of seconds, your laptop in your hands. 

“What the fuck?” she said. “Isn’t that your homework thing?”

“Yes,” you said, feeling around for an outlet, “But I also have a ridiculous amount of movies downloaded on this. Our dorm wi-fi is shit and I have way too much storage on this thing, so I just download, like, every movie I’ve ever wanted to watch.”

“Your dorm what?”

You waved your hand. The last thing you wanted to do was explain to her how the 802.11 standard allowed wireless connections a few years after the outbreak. “Not important. Here, come look at this.”

Your laptop roared to light with the help of your charging cord. Quickly, you typed your password in and opened your downloads. Ellie hovered over your shoulder, squinting at the screen with confusion. 

“Here,” you said, opening up the album that had everything you had seen for your entire university career and passing the laptop to Ellie. “Use the touchpad—there, yeah—to navigate. Press to click. These are all movie files that I’ve seen. We can watch them on my laptop. Some of them were filmed in Terranova, too, so they’re post-apocalypse.”

She perused the selection you had for quite some time, the glow of the screen lighting up her face against the dim room. “Okay. This one.”

And thus began a tradition. Each night after you’d finished showering and Joel retired to his room, Ellie would come knock on your door and ask if you wanted to come over. You’d talk for a while, then open your laptop and pick something out to watch. Ellie was never high after the first time, which was unsurprising considering that there definitely wasn’t a way to get any in Jackson. Where she found any the first time was still a mystery to you. 

~

A week or so after your first patrol with Ellie, Joel had taken it upon himself to teach you how to shoot. You were surprisingly not as bad as you’d expected, but the rebound was tough to get used to, and you were still hung up over the whole “killing living things” part. 

Your first patrol—first real one—came quickly, and before you knew it, Ellie was handing you the same gun you’d dropped the first time with a suspicious look. 

“Don’t kill one of us with that thing,” she warned. “Be smart, okay?”

“Sure thing, boss,” you said to her, mock saluting as best you could while you were leading Japan to the mounting block.

She rolled her eyes. “Please act normal or I’ll make you carry around that glorified pocket knife instead again.” 

The patrol began as usual, Ellie leading you down the same path you went last time. It was a beautiful day out, with the early spring sun filtering through the evergreen trees that populated the woods and birdsong filling the air. 

Though conversations with Ellie were getting easier (given that it actually seemed like she wanted to talk to you now), you were still starstruck. Nothing that you did and nothing that you thought could get you to stop seeing her the way you did. You were routinely distracted by everything about her. It was a wonder that you could even function as a normal person around her, much less handle a weapon and a horse. 

You two had nearly made the full rotation when your surroundings exploded in action. 

“Fuck,” Ellie hissed as someone behind you two fired a shot that narrowly missed Shimmer. 

You whipped around, gun in hand, to see two men—two normal men who weren’t infected. One held a bow, the other a gun. 

The one who had fired the first shot never even stood a chance. He was down on the ground seconds after you’d seen him, Ellie’s aim taking him out before you could even ready your gun. 

The second man notched an arrow and managed to draw it back and release into the air right as Ellie’s bullet struck him, sending him falling back. 

“I don’t think there’s any more,” said Ellie, slightly breathless as she scanned the forest. “Sometimes outsiders pull this shit—try to kill us for our supplies. I’ve never seen them this close to the wall, though. I’ll have to tell Maria and Tommy.”

Normally, you would’ve felt up to making some sort of sarcastic comment about how that was a really unconcerning thing for her to tell you and that you actually felt so much more comfortable going on patrol knowing that there were also just run-of-the-mill people trying to kill you, but a twinge in your lower body distracted you. 

Slowly, nervously, you looked down. Air immediately left your lungs. 

“At least we’re done,” Ellie was saying, wiping her hands off on her thighs and slinging the gun over her shoulder. “What a crazy end for your first actual patrol, huh?”

When you didn’t answer, she turned to you and saw the arrow sticking out of your side, 

“Shit,” said Ellie, jumping off Shimmer and reaching you in seconds. “Shit, shit, shit. Oh god.” 

“Am I going to die?” you asked, staring starstruck at the blood escaping the outline of the arrowhead. You couldn’t feel anything anymore. Were you in shock?

“No,” said Ellie firmly. “Absolutely not. Do you need help getting off?”

Before you could answer, she was already helping you down, carefully avoiding the protruding arrow. 

“Listen,” she said, back to being her unwavering self, “We’re right by the wall. I’m going to help you walk in, and then I’ll grab some supplies, okay? Don’t try to pull the arrow out. You hear me? Don’t.”

Swallowing hard, you nodded. She helped you walk the few steps to be carefully concealed by the wall, then grabbed the two horses and darted past you, making a break for Maria and Tommy’s cabin. 

In a haze of confusion, you could see Maria running out, holding a box out to Ellie in exchange for the reins of the horses. Ellie said something that made Maria point towards you. She nodded, then ran back to you.

By the time that she’d reached you, the shock had begun to wear off, replaced by the stinging pain from the object that had impaled you. It was worse than anything you’d ever felt before in your life, and it took all you had not to keel over. 

“Hey,” she said, reaching out to grab your face so you had to look at her. “Don’t be afraid. I’ve done this before, okay? I’m, like, the master. It’s going to be alright.” 

“Done what before?” you managed to grind out. 

Ellie let go of your face to dig through the box Maria had given her, producing a needle, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and what looked like a spool of thin thread. 

Horror slowly trickled through you as you realized what was about to happen. 

“It doesn’t look all that deep,” Ellie was saying as she examined the arrow. “So I don’t think it’s hit anything. It’s just going to be a nasty hole. I’m going to pull it out now, okay?”

You let out a strangled scream as she grasped the arrow’s end and yanked it out without warning.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Ellie repeated. She threw the arrow over her shoulder and knelt so she was hovering over you. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” you gasped. You were most certainly not. You couldn’t quite get your eyes to focus, and your heart was beating out of your chest. 

“Alright,” she said firmly, grasping your shoulders and pulling you up so you were slumped against the wall. “Sit up straight, alright? Also, this is going to hurt.” 

At first there were just snipping sounds as she cut part of your shirt away—then something cool and wet pressed to your wound. You cried out again as a fresh white hot pain bloomed in your middle. 

“I know, I know.” Ellie’s voice was consoling as she reached up to brush away the sweaty strands of hair stuck to your forehead. “Just a few more seconds.” 

“Fuck—off—” you gritted out from your teeth. 

Ellie’s eyebrows shot up. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Just this once.” 

She released the alcohol-saturated cotton pad, throwing it aside and fussing with the thread and needle until she was satisfied. 

By the time her fingers were ghosting over your abdomen again, you couldn’t pull your eyes away from the puncture wound and the needle she was wielding. 

“Don’t look,” said Ellie. “Pick something else. You don’t need to watch.” 

“I hate needles,” you whispered, choosing the air over her shoulder to be your focal point. 

There was a prodding at the top of your wound, and you hissed. 

“I can’t say I’m a fan myself.” 

Something pierced through your skin, and your midriff exploded in pain. 

The edges of your sight went fuzzy, stars forming in the corners of your vision. Someone that sounded suspiciously like you cried out. Your cheek rammed up against something solid and warm. 

Once the initial sting had faded, you realized that you’d slumped into Ellie, your face buried into her neck. She didn’t make any move to push you off, instead just taking one hand to brush up and down your arm with a feather light touch. 

“You're fine," she said firmly. "Everything's going to be fine."

Your fingers curled around the hem of her shirt as the needle exited through the other end of your wound, pulling another whine from your throat. It was easier to not feel like you were about to pass out when you were crushed into Ellie, clinging onto her and just focusing on the way she felt against you. 

“Hang on, I'm almost there,” she muttered a few stitches later. You’d quieted down, only letting out the occasional gasp as she pulled the thread through. “You're doing so well. Just one more.”

Now that you were more conscious, you had no idea how she was managing to stitch your side while you were nearly on her lap, but she continued to weave her needle through your skin, pulling it taut. 

“And done,” said Ellie. You felt her take another cotton square to swipe against your skin. 

You laid against her for a few more moments, panting as the shock slowly began to fade. She shifted, and for a moment you were sure that she was going to shove you away, but then the hand she’d lifted hesitantly rested on your head, her fingers parting to card through your hair. 

“How did you learn how to do that?” you asked, your voice muffled from where you were pressed against her. 

“Trial and error.” 

Her joke was enough for you to finally let go, sitting back against the wall. Her hand slithered out of your hair, resting back in her lap. 

“Shut up,” you said. “That’s awful.” 

Ellie shrugged. 

“I’m sorry,” you said, feeling the bumpiness of the stony wall press into your back. “I have a really low pain tolerance.”

“So I’ve noticed,” said Ellie, the side of her mouth quirking. 

“I’ve never been hurt before,” you heard yourself saying. “Like, beyond the occasional splinter or bee sting or accidental scrape or ankle sprain. It’s just not something that happens.” 

“Must be nice.”  

You smiled sadly. “Yeah. It’s not nice being weak, though.” 

Ellie looked away from you then, silent as she packed up the first-aid kit. Then: “I don’t think that’s true.” 

She’d said it lightly, like it was meant to be an offhand comment, a throwaway addition that wouldn’t be remembered by either of you. But the sentiment still struck you, twisting your heart.

You were less capable because your survival had never required anything more. You were weak because you could be. 

Her voice from the night she’d been high floated back to you. You haven't had to harden up like everyone else I know. 

Out here, weakness was a luxury few could afford. 

“Not so untouched anymore, huh?” you said, since you didn’t know how else to respond.

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t,” quipped Ellie. “But if I were you, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it. I still consider needing to be held to get 4 stitches as being soft. You haven’t changed a bit. No offense.” 

Your cheeks burned bright red. “I—”

“I’m teasing,” she said before you could defend yourself. “Arrow wounds suck. I get it.” 

“Right.” You turned away, keeping your gaze fixed firmly on the ground beside you. With feeling more yourself came the inevitable shame at what you’d just done. What had you been thinking, touching her like that? Grabbing onto her like that?

This was going to haunt you for the rest of your life. 

“Don’t make that face,” said Ellie. “I’m sorry for saying that. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. It really is fine.” 

It was not fine. It would never be fine. You wanted the thugs to come back to life and finish you off, and then have the earth open up and swallow you for good measure. 

Ellie probably thought of you as an overgrown child. You doubted that there was ever a point where she could see you as anything equal. If she ever knew how often she appeared in your imagination, she’d probably be disgusted.

She called you pretty a contrarian voice in your head reminded you. Don't you remember?

But maybe she hadn’t meant it. She hadn’t said it explicitly: “Y/N, I think you’re pretty.” She just hadn’t argued when you’d pointed it out. Maybe because she was being nice, or maybe because she was actually being sarcastic. 

“You were really brave, okay?” said Ellie. “Your first armed confrontation and you did well.”

“I didn’t shoot anyone.”

“It could have gone worse,” said Ellie. “You could’ve accidentally shot me. Or died. And neither of those things happened, so that’s successful in my book.” 

“That’s very glass half-full of you.”

“That’s me. Ever the optimist.” 

You snorted.

~

That night, Ellie knocked on your door and asked you if you were up for another movie. You found yourself sitting on her comforter, plugging in your computer and booting it up minutes later.

Physically speaking, it had always been a little awkward to fit two people on her twin bed if they weren’t right next to each other, given that your laptop screen was a very unimpressive size. When you’d first started watching with her, Ellie would rest against the headboard, her legs stretched out in front of you while you would sit with your legs crossed, positioned sideways so you weren’t accidentally pushing her legs off. 

But after the day you had had, your back was sore and your whole body ached. Sitting on something soft without any back support as you angled yourself to look at the screen was quickly proving unsustainable. 

“Pause,” said Ellie about ten minutes in. You’d been watching an older sci-fi flick—Ellie’s choice. 

You complied, leaning forward and pressing the spacebar. “What’s up?”

“Are you even comfortable sitting like that?”

“Yeah,” you said.

“Liar,” accused Ellie, crossing her arms over her chest. “Don’t think I don’t see you ‘discreetly’ cracking your back every 2 minutes. It’s ruining the movie.” 

“Sorry,” you said, shaking your head and smiling in exasperation. “It’s from all the years I spent hunched over a textbook.” 

“You know, you can sit up here,” she said, patting the space beside her. “I don’t bite.”

“Jury’s still out on that,” you said, though by the time Ellie let out a laugh you were already unfolding your legs and moving so you were next to her. 

She leaned forward, grabbing the bottom half of the laptop and lifting it. “Hey, do you want a blanket?”

“Sure.” 

Ellie’s other hand grabbed the edge of her comforter and held it up. 

Hesitantly, you slid your legs under and watched as Ellie did the same, awkwardly holding the laptop in the air before you were both settled enough to rest it on your covered right thigh and her left.  “Better?”

When you nodded, she reached her tattooed arm out and pressed play. The audio picked back up, but you couldn’t for the life of you focus on the movie.

When Ellie had asked if you’d wanted a blanket, you were expecting her to toss the throw blanket that would really only fit one person at you, not invite you to get under the blankets with her. That was significantly more intimate.

You two were sitting close enough that your sides were touching, from shoulder to thigh. You could feel her chest lift with each breath, feel the heat coming off of her.

After a while, Ellie properly laid down, taking the laptop and hoisting it up so it rested on her lower abdomen as she settled into her pillow.

You gulped, your eyes flickering between her face and the screen. Ellie’s gaze was fixed intently on the screen, her eyes half lidded with exhaustion.

You could be tired too. You weren’t, of course—your heart was racing a thousand miles an hour. But she didn’t know that. It was normal to lay down next to her, right? You’d done that with Irena more times than you could count, and it was never weird. Yeah, you could do that. 

Also, if you were totally horizontal, you would stop getting distracted by the sliver of her skin that her crooked shirt showed of her chest. 

In a moment of blind courage, you scooted down so your head was lying right next to Ellie’s. She didn’t seem to react, just extending her hand from under the covers to steady the laptop as it wobbled from the movement. 

Her sheets smelled like the soap that you used to wash your hair—a cottony freshness that had the slightest hint of lavender. 

“Are you going to fall asleep on me?” asked Ellie after a while, her voice nothing more than a whisper. 

“I could ask you the same thing,” you responded, equally quiet. Then, because you hadn’t made enough rash decisions for the night, you angled your head so it rested in the space right above her shoulder. 

She inhaled sharply but didn’t move. On her next exhale a piece of her auburn hair tickled your forehead. 

“How’re your stitches?” she asked suddenly, like she'd just remembered.

“They’re okay. I think. As stitches go.”

“After this is over, I’ll check on them,” she said. “Don’t let me forget, okay?”

“Okay,” you whispered, suddenly feeling shy. It was one thing for her to cut off your shirt and see your skin when she was trying to save your life while you were mentally gone. It was another thing altogether to pull up your shirt without adrenaline coursing through you.

You didn’t pay any attention to the rest of the movie, instead hyperfocused on the rhythm of Ellie’s breathing and the fact that if you moved just a little your chin would be on her shoulder. 

Her mention of the stitches wasn’t helping at all, either. Now all you could think about was the embarrassing way you’d basically tried to crawl under her skin, burying your face into her and clutching at her clothes like you were a child.

A part of you was disappointed that you hadn’t been more lucid at the time. If you had, you would’ve been able to clearly remember the softness of her skin against yours. You would’ve been able to enjoy it for what it was—the only time you’d be able to touch her like that.

Because you couldn’t go around just grabbing onto her shirt and getting into her lap. That was a one-off, the only time that the rules were waived. You couldn’t touch her like that now, now that you didn’t have any excuse. It wasn’t allowed.

But sometimes you wanted to so badly that it hurt. 

The movie ended abruptly, wrenching you out of your thoughts. 

“Hey,” whispered Ellie. “Sit up so I can see.”

Reluctantly, you pressed yourself up from your back and began rolling up the hem of your shirt. Ellie twisted to face backwards, her thin top riding up and showing part of her back as she reached for the lamp.

Once golden light returned to the room, Ellie turned back and bumped your hands away. She bent over, tilting her head so that she was looking at the stitches straight on.

They didn’t look bad, you had to admit. Though you wouldn’t consider the actual experience of getting the stitches a 5-star experience, Ellie had clearly known what she was doing. The surrounding flesh didn’t look angry or irritated, and she’d pulled the stitches just tight enough without it puckering. 

She prodded at the side, then gave a satisfied nod. “Looks good. What did I tell you? I’m really good at this sort of stuff.”

“I think you would’ve made a really good doctor,” you said once she’d sat up straight again. “Under different circumstances.”

“Is this you telling me that you don’t think I’m a good doctor now?” she teased. 

“Your bedside manner could use some work,” you offered.

Ellie laughed then, shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest. “Yeah, yeah. You lived. You'll get over it.” 

“Did you go to school?” you found yourself asking, hung up on the thought of Ellie as a potential medical student. If she’d been in one of your intro biology classes, you never would’ve been able to pay attention. That was a fantasy you could shelve away for later. 

“Sort of,” said Ellie, looking down at her arms. “I went to a military prep school run by FEDRA. I didn’t graduate though—obviously. I was long gone by then.” 

“Right,” you said, remembering that she’d mentioned that she’d been 14 when she’d left Boston. “And what was it like?” 

She paused, opening her mouth before closing it. “It was—unkind. Joel's told me about schools before the outbreak. It was nothing like that. There were some normal classes, but most of it was meant to prepare us to be soldiers.” 

“Is that where you learned how to do sutures?” 

“Among other things.”

Terranova had no military academies, given that there was hardly any military presence. The founder of Terranova had bodyguards and there was a police force that controlled the borders, but it was nothing like Ellie described. With invisible borders and a social order that valued peace and tranquility over all else, there was no real danger posed to any of the citizens. 

But from what you had learned from movies and books and comments from older people, you had gathered a very dim picture of what a military academy looked like—harsh, strict, and cruel. 

“I’m sorry you had to grow up like that,” you said. 

“It’s okay.”

“Is there anything you would want to study? If you could?” 

Ellie’s eyes closed. “Yeah. There are a couple things.” 

She did not elaborate. 

~

It didn’t take long for you two to settle back into your routine of meeting in her room each evening and watching one of your downloaded movies. Following the night after you’d gotten your stitches, you wouldn’t even have to ask—Ellie would pull up her comforter and let you slide in next to her without giving you a second glance.

You’d also gotten over the fear of touching her. Now, when you flopped back so your head was on her pillow, you’d adjust until you were nestled into the crook of her neck. She never once reacted to it, remaining perfectly still unless she was adjusting the laptop or messing with the sound. 

Because it was normal, of course. You and Irena would rest your head on each other’s shoulders sometimes. That was something that friends did. 

One night a week or so into April, you and Ellie made a harrowing discovery: there was only one movie left in your collection that you two hadn’t seen together. 

“Damn,” said Ellie, furrowing her brow. “And there’s no way to get more on here?”

“I’m afraid not,” you said, frowning. “To download more or stream one, I’d need either an Ethernet cable or a wi-fi connection. Neither of which function out here anymore without cell towers and maintained cables.” 

“Right,” said Ellie, though her face told you that she didn’t understand a word that had come out of your mouth. “So—this is it?”

“Yeah.” Your finger hovered over the play button. “Savor it, I guess.” 

When you settled back and into her side, the heavy weight of dread settled into your stomach. Now that you’d finished showing her your entire collection, it’s not like she’d have a reason to invite you over every night. And there was especially no reason for you two to lie so closely together unless you were both trying to watch something on a small screen.

Once again, your excuse to touch her was gone.

You pressed closer to her as your mind raced. There was no way that Ellie didn’t see what you were doing as platonic, right? Was it possible that she was creeped out by how touchy you were but just tolerated it to be nice? 

Maybe. You swallowed hard, keeping your eyes fixed on the screen. Ellie didn’t see you like…like that. She spoke to you like you were an obligation, a burden. Because you always had been. You’d been a responsibility thrust on her by a father figure who felt like he was indebted to you from that stupid bag of coffee you were lucky enough to bring. 

Oh, god. Had Joel told her to befriend you? Had he asked for Ellie to pretend like she enjoyed spending time with you and to put up with your privileged, soft-hearted nonsense? 

The knowledge that you were spiraling wasn’t enough to stop you. You did the best that you could—tried to remind yourself that it’d been a while since she’d looked disgusted with you, recall that she was outspoken enough to tell you to fuck off if you did something she didn’t like—but it was to no avail.

Ellie reached forward and hit pause on the movie, thrusting you both into silence. 

“Is everything okay?” she asked after a moment. 

“Yeah, why?” 

“I can feel your heart going, like, crazy fast.” 

You froze. “Oh. Uh, yeah. I was just thinking.” 

Ellie pushed the laptop off of her, sitting up to give you an odd look. “About a near death experience or something? You running a marathon up there? That shit’s not normal.” 

You laughed nervously. “It’s really nothing. Just an, uh, suspenseful movie.” 

Which was actually really stupid of you to say, because you were watching some obscure Tarkovsky film that did nothing but pan over burning buildings and pensive men. For the past 5 minutes, there had been nothing on screen but the back of a car driving through traffic with minimal sound. Also, it was in Russian, and the English subtitles made zero sense.

There was a reason why this was the last movie you chose.

“This is the most boring fucking movie I’ve ever watched in my life, so you’re a dirty fucking liar,” said Ellie. Then her face pinched in worry. “Wait. Have you taken a look at your stitches lately?” 

Before you could answer, she was grabbing a flashlight off her nightstand and yanking the comforter off you. She was pulling your shirt up when you finally found your voice.

“Wait!” you said, grabbing the bottom of your shirt and yanking it back in place. “It’s not—I don’t have an infection, okay? There’s nothing wrong with me. I really was just thinking, okay?”

“About what?” She reached back to place her flashlight back on the stand without taking her eyes off you. 

“It’s nothing important.”

“If you say so.” 

She picked the laptop up and placed it back on her thighs, lying back down. You followed suit, but this time you didn’t touch her, opting to keep as much distance as you could so she wouldn’t hear the stuttering of your heart. 

Not even 5 minutes had passed before Ellie sat up to pause the video again.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No. Why?” 

“You’re acting weird,” she accused, but there wasn’t much conviction behind her voice. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean that you’re acting weird,” she repeated, shutting your laptop off and moving it to the bottom of her bed, despite the protests that left your lips. 

“I don’t understand,” you said. “I’m just watching the movie. I’m not doing anything. “

“You’re not watching the movie,” she said. “You weren’t even looking at the screen. What’s got you so bothered? Did I do something?” 

“Of course not.” You pulled your legs under you so your legs were crossed and your back was against the wall. “You don’t need to worry. It’s honestly fine. I’m sorry if I’ve done something to imply otherwise.” 

Ellie rubbed the bridge of her nose, sighing. “You stress me out. You can just tell me, you know? No need to be so cagey. I promise I’ve heard worse.” 

“Don’t be so quick to say that.”

“Okay, now you have to tell me,” she said. “I’m never going to know peace again with a hook like that.” 

You were about to open your mouth to tell her that it was stupid and that it didn’t matter, but something stopped you. 

That was the coward’s way out. That’s what you’d always done—hid your feelings and concealed your emotions. That’s how you’d been raised. That’s how you thought everyone was. But now that you’d spent 2 months in Jackson, you’d realized that some people actually just said what they thought. And that, in the grand scheme of things, it was a better system than the Terranovian culture of superficiality.  

Just because the you 2 months ago would have shook her head and changed the subject didn’t mean the you now had to. 

Maybe this you could be different. Maybe, for once, this you could be brave. 

“I really—” You stopped yourself. Saying I really like you didn’t even begin to encompass what you felt for the girl sitting across from you. To distill the sheer magnitude of your feelings down to four words felt criminal. The swell in your chest that never went away whenever you were near her could never and would never be adequately represented in the puny offerings of the Latin alphabet and the English language, and if you were going to do this, you were going to do it right. 

You dared to look up at her for a moment. She was completely still, her green eyes reflecting the dim moonlight from outside. Once you met her gaze, you couldn’t bring yourself to pull it away.

“I’m really sorry that I’m putting you in an uncomfortable position for saying this,” you began (because old habits ran deep, and you would rather die than be impolite), “And I totally understand if you don’t want to talk to me after this. And I’m sorry for not telling you earlier.”

“As much as I’m sure that this is some sort of cultural cornerstone for you, please spare me the 6 foot long disclaimer script,” Ellie drawled.

“Right.” You gulped. “Anyway. As I was saying.”

“Any day now.” 

At that moment, she had never looked more perfect. Your eyes had adjusted to the dark lighting, so the weak moonlight that spilled in from the window above her created a halo around her head. 

“It’s you.” Your voice came out tiny. “You’re all that I can think about, and I don’t know what to do.”

There. It was off your chest.

For a moment, it was as if you’d suspended time, stopping Earth on its axis as you both held your breaths. There was nothing but silence and the occasional wooden creak of the old house’s foundation in the wind. 

Ellie’s face betrayed nothing, save for something in her eyes and the disappearance of the smirk that had been on her lips moments before. 

Then she spoke, her response whispered.

“Come here, then.” 

final a/n: NOW HOLD ON before you show up outside my dorm with pitchforks and torches 🗣️🗣️🗣️ i'm so sorry but this was a necessary evil as this was going to a massive scene without the chapter break. also a disproportionately massive chapter compared to the other ones coming out. i write very quickly and should get the following part out in a timeframe similar to the first 3 parts. thank u for reading ! tell me what you think abt this chapter while you wait x

[silverynight]

Welcome home

<---Previous

Chapter 2

Since Katsuki goes really often to Izuku's side of the building, his coworkers are now used to his presence and don't even react when he's there. The first few times though, they were slightly scared because of his reputation; sure, when he gets angry he can be scary, but he's not really a bad person.

"Almost done, nerd?" Katsuki leans over his cubicle, looking particularly smug that day.

"Yes," Izuku smiles back at him; Aizawa texted him back about the other pro hero and said it didn't matter if they didn't have a name yet. He mentioned something about calling the new head of Endeavor's agency himself.

The green haired man shakes his head at his computer; he knows Aizawa is irritated about not having everything ready for the new mission, even though he says it's fine.

"Did you like it?"

Katsuki's words bring Izuku back to the present, and he looks a bit confused when he notices the red eyes staring at his neck.

But then he remembers the device.

"Yes!" He grins before his momentary excitement disappears. "How did you know about this?"

There's a moment of hesitation, but then Katsuki smirks again.

"Who doesn't?"

Izuku presses his lips together, having the weird feeling that he's missing something, but he has a few files to write.

When he's done, he makes sure everything in his station is in the right place before picking his backpack and hoodie up; with a smile, he walks out of his cubicle and says goodbye to his coworkers.

"Finally! You took ages!"

"You could've gone to your apartment, you know," Izuku smiles, watching as Katsuki shakes his head at him.

The pro hero could've left, but Izuku is glad he didn't; he finds it oddly sweet when he waits for him. He does that every time their schedules aline, which is not that often.

"Midoriya!" One of his coworkers stops him, prompting Katsuki to narrow his eyes at her immediately. "I was wondering if you'd like to–"

Katsuki puts an arm around Izuku's shoulders then, and she stops mid sentence; her eyes notice the necklace.

"Yeah? What is it?" He insists kindly. Perhaps she needs help with something; Izuku likes to help his coworkers. He has time, Katsuki can wait a bit.

She shakes her head while blushing.

"It's nothing! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Alright, if you're sure!" However, Izuku is already being dragged towards the exit. "Kacchan, you're really impatient today..."

"I don't like her."

Izuku rolls his eyes, but he's glad they're heading to the parking lot now and she can't hear him.

"So where are we heading today?" He asks, feeling himself getting more hungry within each second.

"Wherever you want."

"I chose the last time we went out."

"So?"

This is exactly one of the reasons most people online get everything wrong about pro hero Dynamight; Katsuki is actually very kind and always puts Izuku first.

He's grateful they decided to start over, and now they're good friends.

"Kacchan..." Izuku trails off as he notices the scratches and bruises on the pro hero's arms. Even though he can't see his back, he knows he has a couple there as well. "Why didn't you let the paramedics patch you up?"

As they get out of the parking lot, Katsuki looks at Izuku momentarily with an amused smile on his face before facing ahead again. He takes one of his hands off the steering wheel to pinch Izuku's cheek.

"They usually take ages," he says as if that's a good response. "Besides, I'm fine."

"They are there for a reason, you know?" Izuku sighs. The concern is obvious in his tone. He doesn't like it when Katsuki doesn't take care of himself. "If they're just scratches, they probably wouldn't have taken too long."

"I wanted to see you."

The sincerity in his voice makes Izuku blush and look away; of course, it's normal for a friend to worry about him, but sometimes Katsuki has this look in his red eyes... it's so intense it makes Izuku feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"I'm not going anywhere," Izuku says after a while. "Please, let others take care of you."

"I leave that to you."

Izuku sighs, and Katsuki chuckles in response before stroking the other man's cheek with his thumb.

"Fine. We're going to your apartment then," he mumbles after a while.

"So you can patch me up?" Katsuki has a triumphant smirk on his face that makes Izuku narrow his eyes. He shouldn't be happy about getting hurt! "Nice. I'll make katsudon then."

"Really?" The asks, feeling his bad humor vanish in seconds.

"Of course, nerd."

***

It's a good thing he has done this a couple of times, otherwise he'd be really flustered at the moment.

Katsuki has taken a shower, and now he's patiently waiting for Izuku, sitting at the edge of his bed, with only a towel around his waist.

Even though they are friends, Izuku is not blind and admits the pro hero is very attractive; it seems the years of training and working as a pro hero had paid off because Izuku is sure his chest and back are only muscle mass now.

He's also taller and broader than Izuku; of course, Izuku goes to the gym, but he's still thin and small compared to his friend.

To push those thoughts away, Izuku goes to where Katsuki keeps his first aid kit before walking back in the bedroom, relieved that the bruises and scratches are only on Katsuki's back this time. That way he doesn't get to see Izuku's blush.

Actually, it's not only that, but the way Katsuki goes quiet and keeps staring at Izuku whenever he cleans his wounds that make him flustered. Despite being loud and grumpy when it comes to someone patching him up, Katsuki calms down and relaxes when Izuku does it.

And those red eyes never leave Izuku's face, which is why he's glad this time Katsuki's back is the only part that is hurt.

When he's almost done, he hears Katsuki sigh, and for a moment he worries he has another injury he hasn't told Izuku about.

"I'd like for you to patch me up for the rest of our lives."

"Of course, Kacchan!" Izuku smiles, taking a few steps back and moving around so he can finally face him. "We're friends after all!"

Katsuki doesn't smile back, but he nods, looking more tired than ever.

"I think I should leave you to rest; you had a long day at work..."

"Nonsense! Do you think I can't handle a simple katsudon?"

He's back to normal, Izuku thinks, relieved. Maybe he imagined the whole thing.

Chuckling, he goes back to the living room and sits on the couch while Katsuki changes. Izuku is kinda relieved when he sees him wearing pants and a shirt.

"I think you should stay," Katsuki mumbles then, rubbing the back of his neck.

"If this is about my apartment I–"

"No. I mean, I hate your place," the pro hero admits, cutting him off. "But this is not about that; I think it'd be nice for you to... sleep over tonight, like we used to do. And tomorrow you can go back to your shitty building."

Despite the numerous insults to his apartment, Izuku smiles back.

"That'd be nice! No, wait, I don't have extra clothes with me..."

"That's okay, I'll let you borrow some of mine to sleep in and we can throw that into the washer machine, I have to wash a couple of shirts too anyway. They'll be ready for tomorrow."

"Can we watch an All Might documentary while we have dinner?" Izuku asks, already excited about the plan.

Katsuki rolls his eyes.

"Sure, you nerd."

"Great! I'll take a shower!"

He chooses one of the guests' rooms; yes, Katsuki's apartment has a couple of those, a laundry room and three bathrooms. He has never told Izuku how much he had to pay for his apartment, but he can definitely take a guess.

When he steps out of the bathroom, he finds a black shirt and shorts. They're really comfortable, even though Izuku is swimming in the shirt.

The kitchen smells delicious already.

"Do you need help?"

A couple of things happen when Katsuki turns around to look at him; he drops the chopsticks he's holding, curses and turns bright red as Izuku rushes towards him.

"Are you hurt, Kacchan? Do you need to rest?"

"No," he grumbles, looking away from Izuku. "I just got distracted. I'm fine!"

"Do you want me to help you?"

Katsuki's cheeks turn pink again, but this time he narrows his eyes.

"No, you're just a distraction."

Izuku pouts, but he leaves and sits on the couch. His mistake is making himself too comfortable because the next thing he knows is that someone is calling out his name and stroking his cheek.

"I didn't spend my time making this so you didn't eat it," Katsuki mumbles, irritated. Although Izuku notices concern written all over his face as he blinks his eyes open. "Besides, I know you haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

Izuku is too tired to ask him how he knows that; he moves a bit before taking the bowl and chopsticks in his hands.

It smells delicious.

"Thank you, Kacchan!"

"You're welcome," the pro hero smiles fondly at him before adding: "Now scoot over!"

"Do you have tea, Kacchan?"

"Already made you a cup."

"You're the best!"

"Of course I am!"

After he finishes his katsudon, Izuku curls up on the couch; he must've been more tired than he thought because he only manages to watch half of the documentary.

When he wakes up though, he's back in the guest room, lying on the bed. There's a mouthwatering smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen so he walks out as fast as he can.

"Good morning, nerd!" Katsuki smirks; Izuku can tell he's in a very good mood. "Your hair looks like a bird's nest."

"When does it not?" He mumbles, moving closer to the pancakes. He's not hundred percent awake yet so he's not sure the chuckle he heard came from Katsuki. "Honey?"

"Yes, baby?"

Izuku suddenly feels very much awake now. His face turns pink as Katsuki starts laughing like the devil he is.

"I-I meant the bottle of honey!" He stammers. "I want to know where you k-keep it!"

"I know, I know," the pro hero grins, still enjoying his little joke. Izuku pouts at him, but that makes him laugh again. "Third cabinet, nerd."

Izuku forgives him because he put blueberries in his pancakes and those are his favorites.

***

He has a meeting with Eraserhead or Aizawa (as he knows him) that morning; the first time he met the man, Izuku got really nervous, but he realized quickly that even though he's a strict boss, he's fair and kind.

"Midoriya, there's been a change of plans," he says as soon as he walks into his office. "Pro hero Shoto is coming in a couple of hours to learn about the missing students' situation, and I want you to gather all the information you have on the case and explain everything to him."

So the pro hero they chose to send is Todoroki Shoto himself.

"Sure! Do you have his contact information? I need to select a few documents so he can–"

"Actually, I'd like for you to explain it to him in person. Time's running out and I think you're the one who knows more about this case at the moment. You can use this office."

"Oh," Izuku mumbles, slightly nervous. He's about to meet the number two and he doesn't want to make a fool of himself. "Sure!"

It's alright, he has to push his fanboy self away for a moment. He needs to be professional about this.

***

As he gets all the information necessary for the case ready; he makes sure to reread the key points so he doesn't miss anything important during his conversation with pro hero Shoto.

Alright, he's slightly nervous about it; the pro hero with mismatched hair usually looks serious during his interviews and even though Izuku has the feeling that he doesn't quite know how to interact with the public, he's also afraid that he's a person with very little patience.

And Izuku tends to get on people's nerves when he rambles, or at least that's what his old classmates used to say about him.

He was a very solitary person during high-school because of that; he knows it's different now and that people actually like him, but sometimes his insecurities come back, especially whenever he remembers how some of his classmates treated him for being quirkless.

He's glad Katsuki wasn't there to see that.

Izuku closes his eyes for a moment, reminding himself that he's not in school anymore; things have changed. People don't treat quirkless individuals like that anymore.

Well, most of them don't.

He's sure pro hero Shoto doesn't; so far all heroes he has met have been really kind and good to him.

Especially Katsuki, but that's not a surprise since they're friends now.

"Are you alright, Midoriya? Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

Izuku blinks his eyes open again and mentally thanks Bushida for talking to him; he's at work, he should be focusing, pro hero Shoto will arrive soon.

"No, I'm fine!" He smiles, making a dismissive gesture with his hand. "How can I help you?"

It's weird to see her there, since she's from human resources.

"I don't want to bother you, but they told me you got your device," she mumbles, pointing at the necklace. "And I just wanted to remind you of the agency policy regarding relationships. Surely, my coworker mentioned you had to fill certain documents in case you started dating someone working for the agency as well, right?"

Izuku blinks a couple of times and tries to process the information she just gave to him. Yes, he knows about that already, but he's not sure why she's bringing it up now or what his device has anything to do with it.

"Yes, I know, but I'm not dating anyone at the moment."

She chuckles, just like Hatsume did when he asked about Dynamight's symbol.

"Good one."

"No, I'm not joking..." He insists, trying to make her understand with a look. "I'm single."

"But Dynamight gave you a device to keep you safe!"

He blushes. This is a serious misunderstanding he needs to fix immediately.

"No, this is from the agency! Hatsume put it on me the other day, I'm sure everyone has one–"

"No," she shakes her head and shows him her own bracelet, the one she said was a gift from her fiancé, another pro hero working for the agency. "These are benefits the agency offers pro heroes in case their families and significant others need help. They can get the standard ones for free, but if they want to design their own to make it original or romantic, like my fiancé did for me, they get charged extra for it. Yours looks even more expensive than mine."

The blush deepens and spreads down his neck. Izuku shakes his head. This is about his apartment, isn't it? Katsuki is still worried about that.

He needs to have a serious conversation with him soon.

"L-Listen, I know what this looks like, but Kacchan... I mean Dynamight! We are just friends. He just... gets overprotective sometimes!"

Bushida looks at him like she can't quite believe what he's saying.

"Well, okay. But if you two start dating, tell him you need to fill the documents I sent to your email, sign them and then send them back to me, alright?"

"Sure!" Izuku nods. "But that won't be necessary!"

"Whatever you say, pretty!"

He wonders if he should text Katsuki telling him he wants to talk as soon as possible, but then he gets Aizawa's message.

He's here.

I'm coming! He texts back before grabbing a few files he printed beforehand... he thinks those will be enough to show pro hero Shoto.

His conversation with Katsuki can wait.

***

Next--->

Patreon

[unknownperson246]

a part two of a monster

ignore the inbox thingie it was just a reminder to myself to make a chapter 2 😭😭

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

A Monster Chapter 2

Words: 1,207

Warnings: *angst* *vampire slash* *pregnancy* *cussing* *wedding day* *public humiliation* *arguing* *grammar*

Don't mind the grammar. Grammarly wanted to be an asshole today.

☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆☆ ★ ✮ ★ ☆

You were sitting in your room that you shared with Slash. You were half asleep and you remembered that It was your wedding day. you grip your bed sheets and cover yourself with your blanket. You and Slash are getting married after 3 months of him turning you into a vampire. You were a groupie for a lot of bands but Slash was selfish and he turned you into a vampire so he could keep you as a pet forever. You hated him for it so much until you decided to move on. He gave you the love you haven't gotten from your mom or your dad or anyone in your life. Everyone used and treated you like you were just a piece of ass but Slash truly did love you so he decided to tie you to him forever. You know it was selfish and you were mad at him but over time you decided that it's not so bad. Slash had invited several people to your guys’s wedding. He invited Axl, Steven, Izzy, and Duff. He also invited Rachel Bolan and Sebastian Bach. You were on edge and very nervous. A few days before your wedding you found out that you were 12 weeks pregnant after you and Slash did it the first time. You wanted to give your child everything you didn't have. You loved it so much already. You did have a lot of questions about if it was going to be half-human or full-vampire because when Slash fucked you you were still human. You didn’t tell Slash because you were nervous about his reaction. You take sips of animal blood that Slash had poured for you in a cup earlier. You had a strong urge to light a joint and smoke it to take the edge off but you didn't want to harm your baby. You continue drinking the blood and Slash walks into the room. You have a weird feeling. You feel sick. You run to the bathroom while gagging. You throw up all the blood you drank into the toilet. Slash follows you. He grimaces at the sight of you puking.

“Hey, what's wrong, are you okay?” He asks you while holding your hair up and rubbing your lower back.

“Yeah I’m fine,” You say in a cold tone. You push Slash away from you and you get up.

“Look I just want some space please just leave right now,” you say to him with watery eyes.

“Is it the wedding jitters?” He asks you.

“Why are you avoiding me?” Slash mutters under his breath. He walks away anxious thinking something is wrong.

You ignore his question and just push him out. You still resent him for turning you into a vampire. You just told yourself it wasn't that bad to get over it but a part of you was angry at Slash. You weren't going to tell Slash until at least after you both got married. You had to get ready. Your wedding was in a couple of hours. You had your white silky dress that was very simply hung in the closet you and Slash shared. You did your makeup and your hair. You put the dress on and walked out of the room. You didn't care about how you looked, you just wanted the day to be over and done with. You looked like you were attending a wedding. You did not look like the bride. You and Slash are supposed to be the center of attention but you don't give one shit.

You sit on your dresser tapping your foot anxiously. You wanted to run away but you knew you couldn't hurt Slash like that. You both know that you couldn't have a day wedding because of the aggressive sunlight that seemed to kill you every time you went outside so you decided to do it at night. The time was finally here and you and Slash held your hands and read his vows to you.

“I will always be here for you whenever you need me. I love you and I love this baby” He says holding your lower belly in front of all the guests. You were shocked and dumbfounded. You were panicking and you wanted to run off. You didn't like being in front of millions of people. You found it nerve-wracking. After a couple of moments you and Slash are officially married and you run inside the mansion that you and Slash owned. Slash follows behind you.

“Hey, what's wrong?” Slash asks you while having a strong grip on your wrist. “How did you know about the baby? I didn't tell you” You say pissed off. “Calm down I just had an idea because you were puking for weeks and you were really moody. Vampires can also sense things like this” Slash tells you holding you by your waist.

“Well, at least that's over now that I don't have to tell you. I’m not going back out there” You say sitting on the couch. “Y/N that's rude,” Slash tells you.

“I don't feel well. I feel like I'm going to die any day now. All I want is my bed and some blood. Also, fuck you for turning me into a monster.” You yell at Slash.

“I can see how this is all affecting you. You are  still pissed off about me turning you into a vampire.” Slash yells back at you.

“Look, I don't want to argue with you on our wedding day. So let's just go back out there and act like we're happy and we can continue yelling at each other later” Slash says calmly while he holds your hands. 

You both get back outside. It was time for slow dancing with your new husband. He held your waist and you put your hands on his shoulders. You both danced slowly to a soft rhythm of music. Everyone's attention was on you after Slash announced that you were pregnant. After a couple of hours, the day you were dreading was finally over. You undid your hair and you removed your makeup. You feel something painful. It was a sharp and uncomfortable pain in your lower abdomen. Your hands clutch your lower belly and scream in pain.

“Slash! It hurts” You cry 2 times. 

He heard your cries from the bathroom and he rushed inside to find you on the ground holding your stomach. “What's wrong?” He asks, concerned.

“I feel a sharp pain. What if the baby is hurt?” You ask Slash while holding on to his shoulder with your other hand while the other one is attached to your belly.

“You sure it's the baby? Shit. I think the baby is draining you of your blood.” Slash suggests an idea.

“Well, we can't go to a human doctor,” Slash says while picking you up from the bathroom floor. “Well, no shit” You utter in pain.

“Here, just lay down on the bed and if the pain gets worse then I know a doctor. He’s human but I trust him.” Slash says while petting your hair.

“Just breathe honey” He whispers in your ear after he lays down next to you.

You take deep breaths in and out.

[fangirldreams101]

Coming Home pt. 5

DBF! Daryl, Rick, Shane & Negan x Reader

TW: Severe age-gap, older men

Chapter Index

Rick cursed, going to shield you from Shane's sight with his body.

"What the fuck do you think yer doin?" he seethed at Shane's cocky smile.

Rick's rage skyrocketed as he noticed Shane's eyes glance at your body underneath before he shrugs, "You should be thankin' me. Her good ol' dad was gonna be the one to come in and check on ya'll. Givin how ya were lookin at her earlier, I kinda figured it'd be sumn like this."

"Thank you," Rick grit his teeth, "Now leave."

"Nah, I dun think so. What would good ol' dad say knowin' his friend was aboutta fuck his little girl? Dun think he'd be too happy about it, but that's jus me," Shane drawled, picking at his nails.

"Shane," your timid voice called out, still in shock over what just happened, "please don't tell him."

Shane's cocky demeanor softens at the sound of your voice, and he sighs, "Gorgeous, I wouldn't do that to ya. 'N Rick, stop standin' over her like a rabid dog and let her dress herself."

Rick practically growled at Shane's words, kind of proving his point. You gently tapped the man above you on the arm, a quiet signal that it was okay. Rick sighed, tucking himself back into his pants and helping you put your clothes back on while trying to protect you from Shane's unwavering gaze. It was no use however, Shane's dark gaze drunk in every ounce of exposed skin he could. You heard him take a sharp inhale of breath at the brief glimpse he got of your wet pussy. Rick also heard it, whipping around and glaring the younger man down.

Shane cleared his throat and motioned for you to grab the drinks. Rick snatched a few off the counter, the blue balls clearly bothering him, and you did as well, taking a few into your grip. You guys began to head out of the room with Shane the last one to leave, grabbing the remaining bottles and giving a small chuckle.

As you guys approached everyone else, your dad exclaimed, "The hell took you guys so long?"

You felt Rick freeze and Shane took a step forward about to speak up, when your voice sounded out, "I accidentally dropped 2 of the beers and they shattered on the ground. Rick was helping me clean up cause the glass got everywhere."

"Aw, you didn' get hurt, did you," your dad ask, concerned as Rick and Shane looked at you in astonishment, marveling at your quickly thought out lie.

"Nope," you said cheerfully, "everything is all good now. They were very...helpful!"

You all kept the façade up as you went to your seats and settled down. You tried to ignore the dampness between your legs and Daryl's curious gaze. Daryl's eyes kept switching between you, Rick, and Shane, but when Shane gives him a smirk, he scowls and goes back to eating. You all easily reenter the current conversations at the table and time goes by until the incident with Rick feels like a weird fever dream. Even though Rick caught you a bit off guard, you were super pleased to know that at least one of the men you were interested in was willing to get with you. You hoped that once the party was over, you'd be able to have a talk with him and maybe make it a reoccurring situation.

Dinner did eventually begin to die down, with the folks with children the first to head out. Next were the couples, tipsy and giggling amongst themselves, probably going home to have some fun. Everyone helped clean up after themselves before heading out, and eventually the remaining group went outside to the porch to rest. Your Dad was having a conversation with Morgan and the local priest, Gabriel. You decided that this would be the perfect time to go talk to Rick but as you went to find him among the remaining people, Daryl sought out your attention.

"Hey," his gruff voice called out, "gotta momen'?"

You sighed, "What's up, Daryl?"

"Ya migh' be able ta pull the wool over ya daddy's eyes, but don'cha lie ta me," he leaned in, "Wha were ya doin' w' Rick?"

Your face flushed and you harshly whispered, "None of your damn business."

"'m jus tryna look out for ya. I care about cha," he mumbled, his eyes searching your own.

You maintain eye contact, getting lost in his desperate gaze before huffing, "You had your chance."

Rage flared in Daryl, "The sunnabitch touch ya?"

His head whipped around, searching for the sheriff. You grab his arm roughly and bring his attention back to you.

"What I may or may not be doing with him is again, none of your business. Don't you dare start anything," you hissed.

Daryl blinked at you. Internally he was fuming, but seeing your angry gaze directed at him was enough to reel him back in. He nodded and you took that as your chance to leave. The porch surrounded the house so you went to go look for Rick at the sides but as you did, you bumped into another person you were trying to avoid,

Shane chuckled as he grabbed onto your arms, "Whoa there, gorgeous, where ya runnin' off to?"

"Shane please, let me be. It's embarrassing enough that you saw me... that way," you mumbled.

Shane leaned into your side, whispering into your ear, "Was it? Cuz I found you to be mighty damn cute."

He presses a fast and hard kiss to the side of your head, "If you ever want a real man to treat you good, I will never say no to someone as lovely as you, gorgeous.”

You stammer a little as Shane saunters off into the night, throwing a grin and wave.

Rick comes up behind you, "We need to talk."

You beam up at him and he feels a pang of guilt knock through him. You follow him and you both find a quiet nook.

"So I-," you both began, and you let out a light laugh, not noticing the grimace Rick had.

"You first," you smile but Rick shakes his head, indicating that you start.

"I, uh, really enjoyed what happened," you said bashfully, "and I was hoping we wouldn't let this be a one time thing?"

Your hopeful tone and shining eyes made Rick feel like the worst person in the world, and maybe he was.

He shakes his head sternly, "This can never happen again, (Y/N)."

You gaped at him, "W-what?“

”Yer dad is my friend, you could be my daughter's age. What I did was vile. I'm so sorry for doin' that to ya, w' what's been happenin' w' my ex-wife and the kids, it jus' took a toll, but it dun excuse my behavior. I should've never-"

"Enough," you sighed, "we did it. You didn't take advantage of me, I wanted it."

"I can't believe this is happening again," you murmured, running your hands through your hair.

Rick's brow furrowed, "Wha' was tha'?"

"Nothing. Forget it. Okay. That's fine. Have a good night, Sheriff."

You walked away, reentering the house and going straight to your room. After both Daryl AND Rick now rejecting you, you think you needed a break from older men.

Taglist: @eternalrose81

[gizm0-gadgetz]

Oki doki! I don't really have a name for this au so if yall think of one lemme know. Call this the first chapter of my Post DTTM New Texas time travel fic I guess?

I don't know how well the concept is worded in this but I hope yall enjoy. Please please please lemme know what ya think

Under the read more (spacing might be a bit weird as its copied from my docs

    When Jonny came too he was pissed. This was supposed to be the end, why was he still alive? It was like the universe was just trying to rub it in that he'd be alone…yet he felt someone else next to him. Somebody quite cold. Slowly and with much more effort than he expected he rolled over onto his back and sat up, having to do a double take at what he saw.

   The entire crew was there, presumably knocked out themselves. Nastya was sitting closest to him, her body radiating a cold chill. Carefully he put a hand on her shoulder, almost jumping at the lack of warmth. He didn't let it dissuade him and carefully began searching for a pulse. It took a moment to find, he wasn't the greatest at it in the first place, but soon enough he found a pulse. It was slow but there. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and began to check everyone else in the area. Everybody who had a pulse normally still had it. They were all alive and all together. 

    That was that problem solved now where were they? It was a large empty clearing, a dry planet it seemed. Something about it nagged at him, like it was framiler. He tried to focus in on any noises and smells traveling in the wind which was harder to do than he expected. Perhaps he'd run out of practice? His ears twitched, alerting him to the sound of his friends starting to move. 

    He looked over to see Ivy slowly sit up and try to orientate herself. She brushed some dust and sand out of her hair and metal plating as she looked around before locking eyes with Jonny. Neither of them knew what to do for the moment, just staring at each other before finally he made a move. He practically launched himself at her to pull her into a tight hug, not saying a word. It took her a moment to process before she hugged back. 

    “Where are we?” She finally asked once he had let go. He just frowned and she seemed to get the message. “Should we awaken them?” With a simple gesture to the crew they agreed and began to shake everyone else awake. It wasn't too hard, most everyone woke up quite easily. Soon it was just the Toy Soldier left who didn't seem to respond to anything. 

    “Shit. How do we wake it up?” He looked to Ivy for ideas since everyone else was still adjusting. She stayed silent for a moment, staring at its body intensely as she analyzed the situation. 

    “It stopped pretending.” 

    “Yeah. Can we make it start again?”

    “I think so.”

    “How?” 

    “Pretend back.” 

    “And how do you suggest I do that exactly?” Jonny had to fight an eye roll at the simple suggestion. She paused to think it over before snickering quietly. “What? What did you come up with.” 

    “Well the most effective way, a 90 percent chance I believe, would be to give it a little kiss!” 

    “Wha- i- it's always kisses with you people!!!” He groaned, ignoring the rest of the crew's snickers as he crawled over to the toy soldier. After a moment he frowned and gave it a little kiss on the forehead. It seemed like nothing happened for a good few minutes before suddenly its eyes opened and it shot up like a bullet, hitting Jonny as he was still kneeled over it. He tumbled backwards holding his head. “Motherfucker!!!” 

   “Oh! Sorry Jonny old chap!” It held its hand out for him, clearly not picking up on his glare as he took the hand and let himself be pulled up. Once its hand had been taken the Toy Soldier pulled his friend into a tight hug, lifting the man off the floor ever so slightly. The others just watched as he attempted to wiggle his way out of the embrace, it being none the wiser of his escape attempts. “Lovely to see you again!!” 

    “Toy soldier, drop him.” It frowned but released the first mate from its grip, looking to Nastya who had given the order. “Thank you. Now, where are we exactly?” She turned her attention to Brian and Ivy, both of which were trying to work on recognizing the area. 

    “I do believe there is a town nearby.” Ivy clarifies after a long moment of silence. “Do you feel it?” Brian nodded and began walking toward something. 

    “Hold on, we can't just be going off into the middle of nowhere!” Jonny called out, having to sprint to catch up with his long strides. Brian paused for only a moment, scooping Jonny up in his arms once he was close enough. “Hey!! Hold on a fuckin’ second!! Put me down, bastard!!!” 

    “It's better than staying out here in the middle of nowhere. What's the worst that could happen?” Nastya's breath was visible as she spoke, the intense difference of the hot climate and how cold she was obvious. 

    “Shes got a point.” Ashes chimed in, catching up with the group. 

    “Theres a lot we need to discuss too.” Raph added; stretching as she walked. “Wouldn't that be better over some drinks?” Jonny didn't awnser right away, just staring at the group from over Brian's shoulder before sighing. 

    “Fine.” He grumbled, his tail flicking like that of an agitated cat. “Just…” Suddenly he sat up fully in Brian's arms, eyes narrowed and ears twitching. A low growl reverberated in his throat. The rest of the Mechanisms were confused. Clearly something had caught his attention but they couldn't see anything. 

    “Jonny?” He didn't respond even as Brian shifted to try and make them look eye to eye. Clearly whatever had his attention was important in some way. “What do you see?” 

    “I know where we are.” He finally clarifies as they continue to walk. “and we are going to stand out a lot. Now the problem is when..” He sighed and closed his eyes, ears twitching forward toward the horizon. 

    “Well, spill. Where are we then?” Ashes paused to light a cigar, missing the framiler taste. Jonny doesn't answer right away, instead shifting in Brian's arms so he could see ahead better. He was squinting in the bright sun's gaze, eventually deciding to pull his goggles over his eyes to focus.  

    “When would be a better question.” He grumbled mostly to himself as the town started to come into view.

    “Looks like Vegas almost..” Tim pointed out as they approached. “Old party city on earth. Filled to the brim with gambling alcohol and all that fun stuff.” He explained after getting a few confused looks. 

     “Yeah…that's one way to describe this place.” Jonny sighed and climbed out of Brian's arms, this time allowed to do so. He did a wide gesture to the whole place as he began to talk. “Welcome to New Texas,” choosing to ignore the soft gasps coming from a few of his crew, he continued. “You're almost all going to stand out a lot just for being tall. I'm the taller side of average here.” 

    “No way. Really?” Tim had his doubts as he looked over his significantly shorter partner. 

   “Yes!! If you don't belive me you'll see in just a minute!!” He turned around and stormed toward the city, his tail betraying just how agitated he was about it. 

    “Well…I belive its about time we learn about Jonny.” Ivy pointed out as she began to follow the man. 

    “Oooh, do you think we can learn about his medical history here?” Marius chimed in with an excited look on his face. 

    “That would be wonderful!” Raph clapped her hands together with a big grin, the others simply choosing to ignore their interest in the topic. They kept walking until they reached the edge of town, proceeding into Jonny who had stopped. 

    “Something wrong chap?” Toy Soldier asked as it followed his gaze into town. After a moment the man just sighed and turned to face his companion. 

    “You look too clean, you're gonna stand out.” It didn't even have a chance to ask what he meant before he pulled him down by the shirt and took its hat away. He took a moment to ruffle its carefully styled hair before letting go. “That'll do for now. Right, listen up. As your captain-”

   “First mate!” 

   “-You need to listen to me. Especially here.” For once he didn't even react to the jest. “This place is…shit. People here are gonna try and trick ya and rob ya at every moment. Just…keep a look out i guess.” He sighed, his gaze drifting back into town. “Blasted timelines.” After a moment he shook his head and ruffled his hair up. “Lets go to the bar.” He didn't even wait for a response before heading further into town. They had to hurry to catch up, lest they lose him in the crowded streets.

    “Wow…he wasn't kidding.” Tim mused as he walked, paying attention to where he was stepping.  

     “So many of them-!” Raph squealed, barely able to contain her excitement. 

    “Until we know exactly what is happening you are not touching anybody.” Nastya’s tone left no room for discussion on the subject. She pulled her coat closer, glad she still had it as the cold had permeated her bones.

     “This certainly explains a lot about our first mate!” Toy Soldier exclaimed, looking around with an eager smile. Eventually Jonny finally stops outside a larger building in the center of a crowded street. He took a deep breath and looked back to his crew. 

    “Right-” 

     “This is One-Eyed Jacks??” Tim interrupted, looking up at the sign. 

     “Yes. As much as I absolutely detest this place...they serve good drinks. Just…don't do anything stupid.” Jonny takes one last deep breath before opening the door and stepping inside. Everyone started following him in before there was a soft thunk. Turning back they saw tim holding his head, having clearly hit the door frame on his way in. Jonny just stared at him for a moment before chuckling which quickly turned into a proper laugh. “Should'a ducked jackass-” Tim only grumbled, still holding his head as he ducked this time before purposely stepping on the smaller man's foot. His hand flew to his holster only to find it empty. Right. He had thrown it away a while ago. “Yer a lucky bastard Tim.” 

    “Jonny.” Nastya scolded, looking down at him and then at Tim. “You already said we will stand out, do not bring any more attention to yourselves.” 

    “Yeah yeah…” He grumbled, hating the fact that she was right. Once he had taken the moment to calm down he led his group to the edge of the bar and took a seat on the farthest end he could get. It was clear to anyone paying attention he was very fidgety compared to normal. “Ashes ya got gold?”

    “Always.” They dug into their pocket and pulled out a wallet, glad to see the papers weren't burnt. “Not in the mood for violence huh?” He just watched them as they took the seat next to him. After a moment he answered with a shrug. 

    “‘M too tired.” He spoke quietly, a very rare occurrence for himself. Tim decided to just stand next to Jonny, leaning against the bar as everyone else took a seat. Nobody knew what to say as they waited for a bartender to spot them. 

    “Good afternoon gents, and ladies of course.” A voice spoke up as someone approached. Jonny had to stop himself from growling as he recognized the man behind the bar. “Can't say i've seen yer faces ‘round here before ‘nd I know everyone. What can I get ya?” It was pretty easy to figure out that the bartender was the “one eyed jack”, owner of the casino and bar. The eyepatch made it quite obvious, confirmed by how much Jonny tensed up. 

    “Just whiskey,” Ashes decides to take the wheel before Jonny reaches over the bar and strangles the man.

    “For all of yall?” They just nod as he reaches under the counter and pulls out a bottle of whiskey. “Never seen yall ‘round here before. Where'd ya come from?” 

    “We came from outer space!” Jack pauses pouring a glass and looks at the Toy Soldier who only smiled. He was certainly intrigued, especially as Ashes elbowed it. 

    “Soldier! Don't answer random questions.” They scolded, watching as it paused for a moment before nodding and doing a mini salute, a signifier of having taken an order. Jack takes a moment to finish pouring the nine glasses before looking at them again, this time taking in as many details as he could. 

    “So, outer space huh? We ain't get many of those ‘round here too often. What brings ya to our lil’ town?” Clearly he was trying to sound nonchalant about it all despite being very interested. They could all see it from a mile away. 

    “None yer business jack.” Jonny grumbled before very quickly slamming his drink back. The man's ear twitched as he turned his focus to Jonny. 

    “Visitin’ after ya left huh? Ain't a very common thing to see. Dunno I've ever seen someone come back.” Jack leaned over the counter right in front of Jonny. Everyone just watched, unsure of what to do. If a fight broke out there was no saving the guy as Jonny was clearly barely holding back. “I can hear it in yer voice. Yer from ‘round here.” Jonny didn't answer, just staring at the man for a long moment before reaching over to Ashes and swiping their cigar. 

   “Wh-Jonny! You could just ask for your own!” They gently punched him in the shoulder but didn't bother taking it back as he took a puff.

    “Taking yers is more fun.” Jack opened his mouth to say something before his attention was pulled away by someone knocking on the bar. Someone set an unmarked envelope on the table which Jack slipped into his pocket without a word. They didn't get much of a chance to look at the stranger before they disappeared through a door behind the bar. Jack watched them leave before turning his attention to the group again. 

    “Anything else I can get ya?” Jonny just shook his head. 

    “No. We should get going.” He could feel the rest of his crew look at him weird, after all they hadn't been there long and he almost never left after only one round of drinks. Quietly he just gestured to the door, mouthing something about explaining in a second. It took them all a moment to understand but soon enough Ashes was paying the tab and they were out in the hot sun again. 

    Jonny wasted no time in walking away, clearly having his mind set on something and not sharing what it was per usual. Since he was essentially their guide the rest of the mechanisms had no choice but to follow, each with varying levels of curiosity on where he was going. After a few minutes of silent walking he took a turn into an alleyway. 

    “Okay, what are you doing Jonny?” Nastya eyed him suspiciously as he pulled himself on top of a dumpster. 

   “Gonna check somethin. Stay put.” It was strange to hear him so serious as he climbed up the side of a building and onto the roof. He paused to look down at the group, once again gesturing for them to stay before walking across the roof and out of view. 

    “Well thats not suspicious at all.” Ashes scoffed, lighting a new cigar as Jonny hadn't given theirs back. 

    “Should we be following him?” Marius fidgeted awkwardly with his coat tail, unsure of what to do.

    “We should give him a few minutes.” Brian piped in, startling a few of them. He had been very quiet since they arrived in New Texas and had been the last to finish his drink. If Brian was encouraging something it usually meant he had an idea of what was happening so they agreed to stay, at least for the moment.  

    Still they couldn't help but wonder what he was up to that climbing onto a roof was the best way to go about it. Clearly he'd taken that path many times as he got up with ease. It was just more mystery about his actual backstory. 

[gadriezmannsgirl]

Not Like Others -P.G (2)

Not me ending this as soon as I got home and did all my homework a bit rushed at 1:35am knowing I had to wake up early today✌🏻😌✨😁 But still I fell asleep with my phone in hand, so I didn't posted it on the time I had finished😭🥴 and now I'm off of work and decided to take a little breather from Uni work. Anyways... I hope you enjoy it! Please, let me know what you think of this! And I want to hear/read you guys out, what do you think it'll happen in the series?!

|Chapter I| |Chapter III|

Summary: When you get the chance of meeting Pablo Gavi, you don't seem to react as the rest of people would do and that attracts him to you

Two Weeks Later

Being the new girl was absolutely awful, everyone is looking at you, talking, whispering about you, judging the way your looks without getting to know anything from you first. You hated it and you hated being in the spotlight.

You had a week going at the Universitat de Barcelona and you were still pretty much alone since no one has got closer to you for anything. You now remember why you hated the thought of moving to a new country, this was exactly what you imaginated and exactly what you disliked.

Walking into the cafeteria, everyone turned to look at you once more, you sighed grabbing your lunch and going towards the table that was in the back, ready to eat. Have you said you hated being in this kind of spotlight?

Because you had done a revalidation and equivalence of your recent college studies in Canada for the transfer, you were now in your third semester (two semesters behind of what you actually were), where the UB had been the first one interested in you and opened their doors, accepting you into their university family. You were currently sat at one of the tables eating your lunch and enjoying some words of Colleen Hoover “Regretting You” when two girls and three boys stood in front of you

"¿Les puedo ayudar en algo?" (Can I help you with anything?) You said

"Yes, ¿Podemos sentarnos contigo?" (Can we sit with you?) The red haired girl said with a small smile

"Hemos estado queriendo acercarnos desde que llegaste pero no sabíamos como" (We've been wanting get closer to you ever since you came here but we didn't know how) The sunkissed skin boy said showing his dimples as you nod witth a light smile

"Sure" You made space for them to fill the table

"Anastasia Rodríguez but everyone calls me Ana" A dark haired girl with glasses said

"I'm Olivia Montero" The red haired girl said doing a peace sign with her fingers

"Jonathan Ontero" A blonde guy smiled

"Eric Wolf" A dark haired boy with deep blue eyes said

"Antonio Figueroa" The sunkissed boy said

"Nice to meet you guys, I'm Y/N Santos" You smiled softly

"Have you got any other friends? What do you think of the Uni?" Jonathan asked as you shake your head laughing

"You guys are the first ones to come by" You admit shyly "And it's huge, I keep on getting lost" They laugh "but it's really pretty"

"Is that why you came late to Paint II?" You nod shyly

"I think the professor doesn't like me though, he keeps on putting this bitchy face whenever I appear on his vision" They laugh

"No, that's his face. I promise" Eric chuckled as you nod laughing quietly

"I'm sorry if this may sound a bit out of place, but it's so cool and at the same time so weird to have a Canadian between us"

"I'm not" You shook your head "I'm Spaniard"

"You're even cooler then!" Ana exclaimed making a few heads come to where you were sitting, Jonathan sushed her as she softly pushed her finger up to her lip in a quiet motion. You couldn't help but laugh

"Lo siento" You said as they waved you off with a smile.

They kept on talking and it was safe to say you liked them, they were really funny. You don’t know how or when but after the lunch they had spent the rest of the day with you. Anastasia claiming you as one of them now, you smiled and accepted. You had enjoyed the day with their jokes, occurrences and got a hold of the whole system at college because of them.

They reminded you a little bit of your old friend group but instead of being five (six including you), your old group consisted of four, two and two. However these guys were chattier than ever and you loved that too seeing that you also loved to talk.

“Oh, Y/N! One of my friends is doing this party this Saturday, you should come!” Jonathan said as you all were meeting after the last class of the day.

"Party?" You ask "It's their birthday?" He shook his head

"More like a celebration" He added "He's in a team and wants to do a celebration for this big win" You nod processing

“Oh gosh! Yes, that’s such a good idea! You can socialize more, get to know people and even Barcelona!” Olivia said as you shook your head lightly

"I don't know" You said doubtly "I know nobody in there and I'm sure you guys will do your thing" You waved your hands around "The last thing I want is one of you stop spending a good time to practically babysit me and no, señor. That's not happening" You shook your head and also shook your finger side to side as they all smiled

"You're cute if you think we won't spend THE greatest time over there" You smiled blushing lightly at Eric

"Also, you're cute thinking we'll give up on the first try" Ana wrapped her arm around your shoulder "You just have to wait, you'll be crazy for the party"

And three days later you were tired of waiting. The persuasive method of these guys was extremely annoying and you were already guessing the words that could come out of their mouths, each one, taking turns on who was the one speaking next.

You could even say you had dreamed with the: 'You have/gotta/should come to my/Jonathan's friend party! It'll be awesome and we'll all be there, pretty please' words.

And when Antonio opened his mouth you instantly shushed him off.

"I'll be there" You said to him as he smiled nodding fist bumping the air

"I knew it!" He exclaimed a little bit too loud

"If you already knew the various artistic movements, Mr. Figueroa, I ask you to come up here and explain some of them" Miss Alba, the professor of Modern Art, told him in a monotone voice and her facial expression was up in interest as everyone turned around to look at you both. You looked down in shame and blushed hard as Antonio stuttered

"I-I...mmm"

"The most seen, used and that we can qualify as importants are cubism, futurism, surrealism, impressionism, expressionism, art brut and a few more" You spoke up with determination, you had already seen this curse back in Canada and you had nailed every test, quiz, popquiz, presentation and essays.

"Well done, señorita Santos. Now, señor Figueroa, le aconsejo que preste un poco más de atención a la clase y deje de hablar con Y/N, entendemos que es una chica muy bonita, inteligente y es nueva aquí, pero por favor, para los chats existen las horas de descanso" (Mr. Figueroa, I suggest you to pay a little more of attention to the class and stop talking with Y/N, we understand she's pretty, smart and new girl here, but, please, you can do that bit of chatting on your resting times) If you had blushed you were now rainbow coloured, Antonio had murmured a quiet "Sure, professor" and sank back on his seat as you heard the laughs of the whole class came in embarrassing the two of you

"Happy?" You whisper ask "You embarrassed us!"

"No, I embarrassed myself. You saved your ass answering to that question" He said with a light smile on

You shook your head and smiled lightly

"Good thing is" Antonio said softly leaning over you "... You'll go to the party" You smile nodding

"You did it, guys. I'm going to the damn party" He fist bumped the air again

"¡Joder que si!" He says as you sush him once more

"Stop that!"

...

You wonder how you got in this position.

Antonio said he was going to give you the lift but his car suddenly broke down and he was coming later because of it. Jonathan and Ana were already there since the evening helping Jonathan's friend out, Olivia was going with her boyfriend and he was driving her. And Eric had a last minute issue with his grandmother so he couldn't go, nothing too big though.

You didn't trusted going in cabs alone, you never liked it, ever since you were little and saw that a man had kidnapped a woman like that you had hated it, and on really weird ocassions you were going into one but you always had to be on the phine with someone or messaging.

Your parents were busy at the traffic and you were stuck, you thought of pulling out from the party but you also hated it, giving your word and then not fulfilling in what you said.

So, with a call to your mom letting her know you'll go there walking and a google map direction from Jonathan you decided to grab your keys and walked all the way there. It was 4:30pm so the sun was still visible and when you realized the walk was 25 minutes away, it got better and didn't think to much of it.

But how the hell did you decided to get to the party on foot was the best option if you only had two weeks and three days moved in the Catalan streets?

...Guess who ended up lost?

You sighed once more, the map only confusing you even more, you were supposed to be at El Camino street but you saw around you and you were at the Las Palmas street. You sighed in defeat.

"I'll die today" You murmured sighing

You tried to go up to people and ask them directions but you were either too shy or they didn't stopped not even to give you the time.

You were about to call desperate to any of the guys or even your parents to take you either back home or towards the party when you saw three boys across you eating a cup of ice cream.

This was your chance to get all sorted out and hopefully go to the right way towards the house.

"Hola" You touched one of the guys shoulder when he turned around his expression was full on scrunched up, it seemed like he was bothered by your presence and you smiled at him "Lamento molestarles" (Sorry to bother you, guys) You said softly to direct yourself towards the guy who's shoulder you touched and face was scrunched up "¿Quería preguntarte si tu podrías...?" (I wanted to ask you if you could...?) He cut you off harshly

"No estoy disponible para fotos o autógrafos ahorita, lo siento. Estoy con mis amigos en una salida y queremos pasarla bien" (I'm not up for pics or autographs right now, sorry. I'm with my friends and we just wanna have a great time) He said and you furrowed your eyebrows before laughing lightly

"¿Okay? Eso está perfecto. I wanted to-" (That's perfect)

"Please, no autographs nor pics"

"¿Autógrafos? ¿Fotos? I'm sorry, who do you think you are?" (Autographs? Pics?) You asked laughing lightly

"Like you don't know who I am" He said not believing it

"I don't know actually! Are you that important for me to ask for a pic or something?" He stood there without saying anything

"I don't believe it. Just go please, I'm not in the mood right now" He said and you sighed shaking your head

"Ay, hermano. ¿Sabes? Olvídalo. Was going to ask you to give me this address because I'm new here and most likely, lost; but nevermind" (Oh, bro. You know what? Just forget it) You shook your head watching his face fall a bit once you showed him your phone with Google maps on "Gracias de todas maneras" (Thank you either way) You said "Lamento arruinarles la tarde" (Sorry to ruin your evening) You said once more before turning around

"Oye, no. Lo siento, déjame-" This time you cut him off by showing your palm

"Don't worry, have a nice day" You smiled politely "Try not to be an arrogant asshole next time, maybe" You left them hearing the calls from the guy but you didn't paid attention to him too busy looking at your phone trying to guess if it's right or left

"Hola" Someone said behind you, you turned around seeing one of the guys that were along with the arrogant brunette "Disculpa a mi amigo. Es un poco quisquilloso" (Hi. Excuse my friend. He's a little peaky)

"Un poco arrogante, diría yo" (A little arrogant, I'd say) He laughed nodding

"Only sometimes" You hummed

"That's not nice at all, then" You say crossing your arms across your chest "So...?" You ask hinting on him to tell you the reason why he had come up to you

"I'm willing to help you out find the address" He said and you nodded taking out your phone, showing it to him "You're close, five minutes away tops"

"Really?" You ask impressed watching as he laughs nodding

"This is Las Palmas street, the next one is El Camino. It says here you take a turn on the left and at the end of the street there's this residence, it's in there" He smiles as you nod smiling too

"Okay okay, cool. Thank you so much. I'm sorry for ruining your evening"

"You didn't ruined anything in fact, I'm sorry for Gavi's behaviour" You smile shaking your head

"Is he really known? Or he was just taking the piss out of me?" The guy stays quiet for a bit as you shook your head "Well, nevermind... Just tell him to come down from that cloud of his, please. Arrogancy doesn't look nice at all" You said as he nods pointing gunfingers at you

"Got it" He smiled "I'm Diego, by the way. I hope Barcelona is of your liking"

"Thanks, it's really gorgeous... I just have to learn the streets" He laughed as you smiled waving at him "Gotta go, bye! And thanks once again"

"No problem at all!" That's the last thing you heard from the guy before you're walking away.

As you followed instructions from him, you indeed realized you were a block away from El Camino street, you smiled once you saw the big white house as Jonathan had described. You texted him letting him know you were outside, music was being heard from the inside and you smiled grew when you saw Jonathan came out opening the door for you.

"Y/N! I'm glad you are here!"

"I know, I'm glad too! I came here walking and got 'lost' and then there were these guys, one of them was an incredible hijo e'puta but the other helped me out"

"First going out, first party, first fight, first lost and first almost everything today... Checked from the list" You smiled shaking your head "C'mon, let's introduce you to Alejandro, my childhood best friend" Once you got inside, Jonathan's eyes were dancing across the people inside here "¡Balde!" He yelled across the upbeat song "There he is"

You walked next to him until you stopped in front of two guys who were talking and laughing in their world

"Guys! This is Y/N, the newest member into the Uni club" All four guys smiled

"Soy Alejandro" A black skin boy said hugging and giving you two kisses as you did the same "Alejandro Balde, es un placer conocerte. And this is a friend of mine, Ferran Torres"

You greeted the short haired boy just like you did with Alejandro

"¡Bienvenida a Barcelona!" Ferran said as you smile

"¡Gracias!"

"Y/N, mi casa, tú casa" Alejandro said "The kitchen is over there with the drinks and food, the backyard" He was pointing to everywhere he talked "And if you need the bathrooms, let me know, going to the downstairs bath in a party is a bit awful" You laugh nodding and agreeing with him

"¡Gracias!" You said once more

"Don't worry, hope you have a nice time!"

Yeah. You hoped that too.

After a long while drinking some Coca-Cola, dancing, eating a few snacks and overall having a nice time with your friends and Jonathan's buddies, you all sat down outside to enjoy the starry night

"Oh! I just remembered!" You said "Jonathan told me you guys were doing some celebration. I really don't know what you guys have achieved but congratulations" Ferran, Alejandro, Eric and Pablo Torre laughed lightly

"We're football players"

"That's nice!" You open your eyes lightly "And what did you guys won?"

"La Supercopa España" Pablo said as if nothing and you nodded once again "We're first team players"

"Really?"

"You don't watch football?" You shook your head a bit ashamed

"I don't really like it that much" They faked hurt "Sorry!" You all laugh "I rather hockey tho"

"Nice sport" You nod

"It truly is" You smile remembering your team "And which club you guys are in?"

"FC Barcelona" You smile got bigger.

Yes, you didn't liked football but that doesn't meant you don't know the game or the different leagues of it and Barça was a really good and skilled team. You knew your rookies about it, not many but enough to defend yourself.

"Really cool" You said "Well, then... Congratulations on the win guys"

"Gracias" Ferran said "Let me just say... Having us a friends, you'll end up falling in love with football"

"And most important, terminarás siendo una Culé" (You'll end up being a Culé) You shook your head smiling softly

"I don't think so... Gotta stay loyal to my hockey and my Mapple Leafs" They laugh

"Nah, ya verás" (you'll see) Alejandro said shaking his head

"Lo veré" (I'll see) you all laughed

"Let's see that now, then. We'll be waiting for you" Ale said

"Waiting for me when and where?" You asked

"You're invited to the next game at Camp Nou, Y/N" Torre said as you nod

That sounds good... I mean, what could possibly happen? It's just a game with your new friends.

"Deal"

°°° °°° °°° °°°

Taglist: @gaviypedrisbride @stuckinaf4nfiction @elijahslover @azzpenswrld @anastasia-nova @pixwls @footballerficsposts @dessxoxsworld @berriesarenice @chaotic-taco-collector-blog @mystic-aquarius @bisexualbith @sideeblogsstuff @http-isabela

I'm doing a taglist for Not Like Others, if you want to be there, comment a little "NLO taglist, please" and I will know that you wanna be included in it and you will be. Like I said in the beggining, I truly hope you guys like it, let me know what you think. Please, feedback is really important to me because it lets me know you like my works, it helps me with writing and makes me feel nice knowing all the effort I put in these little stories is worth it. With this being said, I read you guys, take care!

[randomperson99sworld]

Hope

~ Chapter 5 ~

Summary: Dean and Sam Winchester save a young woman —Natalie Johnson, from a coven of witches who are after her deceased grandmothers spell book. At first Dean doesn’t trust her, will he ever? Natalie is just simply a woman who gets roped up in the supernatural world from a mistake her grandmother made.

Pairing: Dean x OC

Warning: Age gap, slow burn, smut (not until the later chapters), language, gore.

Word Count: 2,737

A/N: Please feel free to leave comments! I love reading them. This is my last chapter for the night. I’ve worked all day on these lol

A Few Days Later:

Things had mostly gone back to normal between Dean and Natalie, or at least as normal as things got in the bunker. Dean was still gruff with her, his words often clipped and his tone carrying that familiar edge of impatience, but there was something different now—something softer beneath the surface. Maybe he'd been too hard on her. Hell, he knew he had. He couldn't help it. It was how he was wired—tough, gruff, always on guard.

He'd been the same way with Jack. The kid had never deserved the kind of crap Dean had thrown at him, and Dean knew that now. But it was his defense mechanism, the walls he put up to protect himself from losing more people. Still, after that blow-up with Natalie, he'd been trying—really trying—to be less of an ass. It didn't come naturally, but for her sake, and for Sam's, he was making the effort.

A few days had passed since their argument, and there had been no sign of the witch or the Dark Scroll—the cursed spell book that had gotten Natalie tangled up in all this. She'd been working hard, though, tracking leads and piecing together the book's history. Every time Dean walked past her at the war room table, she was hunched over her laptop, scrolling through old records, auction listings, and black-market websites.

"It's close," she'd said more than once. "I know it's close, I just don't have anything solid yet."

The Dark Scroll had a long, twisted history. Used exclusively for dark magic, it had been passed around for centuries, causing chaos wherever it went. Natalie's grandmother had been the last known owner, but since her death, the book had vanished—likely sold off with the rest of her belongings. Natalie was determined to track it down, though, and Dean couldn't help but respect her determination, even if he still had his doubts about her.

That morning, Sam had burst into the war room with fresh news. "We've got a new case," he said, setting down a stack of papers in front of Natalie. "There's something weird going on in a small town just outside of Lawrence. I think it might be connected to some kind of supernatural entity—a Djinn, maybe—but I need your help with the research."

Natalie glanced up from her laptop, rubbing her tired eyes. "Djinn? Like, grant-wishes-but-then-twist-them kind of Djinn?"

"Exactly," Sam nodded, sifting through his notes. "People have been going missing after making wishes at this creepy old wishing well. I need to cross-reference the town's history with known Djinn activity in the area, but I also want you to keep working on tracking down the Dark Scroll."

"Two things at once," Natalie muttered, stretching her arms. "No problem."

Dean leaned against the doorframe, watching the exchange with crossed arms. "Think you can handle that, geek?"

Natalie shot him a look, half-amused, half-annoyed. "I've been handling it so far, haven't I?"

Dean grunted, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "Fair enough."

Sam shot Dean a warning look, but there was no real heat behind it. He was starting to notice that while Dean was still gruff with Natalie, the edges had softened just a little. That, in Winchester terms, was progress.

"I'll be in and out, checking with local contacts," Sam said, gathering up his gear. "Dean and I will handle the fieldwork, but we'll need you to stay back and monitor everything from here."

"Yeah, yeah," Natalie waved him off with a playful roll of her eyes. "You know I'm your tech support. I'll handle it."

The hours ticked by, and Natalie found herself juggling two tasks—tracking down leads on the Dark Scroll while simultaneously researching Djinn lore and cross-referencing local legends for Sam and Dean. She wasn't sure how she'd fallen so easily into this routine of remote support and hacker extraordinaire, but somehow, she had.

Sam had gone off to investigate the case, leaving Dean behind with her at the bunker for a few hours. He'd been unusually quiet, working on weapons maintenance while Natalie clicked away at her laptop.

"I think I've got something," Natalie said suddenly, her voice breaking the silence. Dean glanced up from the silver knife he was sharpening, his eyes narrowed.

"On the case or the book?"

"The book," she replied, scrolling through an old auction catalog from a black-market dealer. "It was sold off to some collector in Massachusetts a few months after my grandmother passed. I'm trying to track where it went after that, but... it's slow."

Dean set down the knife, wiping his hands with a rag. He stared at her for a long moment, his face unreadable. "You really think this book's gonna solve all your problems?"

Natalie frowned, not sure where he was going with this. "No. But it's important. You know that. If this witch gets her hands on it, a lot of people could die."

Dean sighed, leaning back in his chair. He knew she was right, but the whole situation still didn't sit well with him. His instincts screamed that they were walking into another mess, another disaster waiting to happen. But that was their life, wasn't it?

"I get that," he muttered. "I just hope you're not getting too wrapped up in this."

Natalie gave him a curious look, sensing a rare moment of honesty from him. "You think I'm in over my head?"

Dean shrugged, his expression guarded. "I think... this life doesn't give a damn about what you're good at or what you care about. It just takes. And sometimes, it takes everything."

Natalie studied him for a moment, her frustration softening. She knew Dean was still processing everything—Charlie, Jack, everyone he'd lost. She could see the weight of that loss in the way he looked at her, in the way he tried to keep his distance.

"I get it, Dean," she said quietly, her tone softer than before. "You've been through a lot. More than anyone should have to deal with. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying. This book—it's not just about stopping the witch. It's... it's about my grandmother. I can't just let it go."

Dean stared at her for a long moment, then finally nodded, his gruff demeanor slipping just a little. "Alright. Just... be careful. We've lost enough people."

Natalie gave him a small, grateful smile. "I will."

Hours later, Sam called in from the field, his voice crackling through the comms. "We found the Djinn's lair. It's bad, Dean. People are trapped in their heads, reliving some kind of twisted fantasy."

Dean cursed under his breath, standing up and grabbing his jacket. "We'll handle it. You got the antidote ready?"

"Yeah," Sam replied. "But we'll need Natalie to monitor the security system here. We need to make sure no one else gets caught in the crossfire."

Natalie sat up straight, already switching gears. "I'm on it."

"Thanks, Nat," Sam said, his tone appreciative. "I don't know what we'd do without you."

As Dean prepared to leave, he glanced over at her, his expression still serious but no longer hard. "Keep us updated. And... good luck with the book."

Natalie nodded, her fingers already flying over the keyboard. "Good luck with the Djinn. Try not to get yourselves killed, okay?"

Dean chuckled under his breath, a rare sound that surprised even him. "No promises."

And with that, he was gone, leaving Natalie alone in the bunker once again, tackling both the hunt for the Dark Scroll and the Djinn case, her mind buzzing with activity. But for the first time, she felt like maybe, just maybe, she wasn't just a liability or a tag-along.

She was part of the team. And that meant something.

As the hours wore on, and the case unfolded in real-time over the comms, she couldn't shake the feeling that they were getting closer—closer to the truth about the Dark Scroll, closer to finding the witch, and closer to figuring out where they all fit in this strange, broken world.

But for now, all she could do was keep pushing forward.

Natalie sat back in her chair, rubbing her eyes as she scrolled through another old auction listing, her mind wandering. She couldn't help but think about how insane all of this was. A few months ago, her life had been completely normal—working as a cybersecurity analyst, living in her apartment, never worrying about things like witches or cursed books. Now, she was smack in the middle of a supernatural war zone, all because of a dusty old book her grandmother had bought on a whim.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, she thought, glancing at the laptop screen where she'd been piecing together the history of the Dark Scroll. She had told Dean this over and over: her grandmother wasn't a witch, not some secret sorceress hiding spells in her attic. She was just a woman who had an interest in the strange and unusual—kind of like the way people collect crystals or tarot cards, even if they don't believe in them.

Natalie could still remember her grandmother laughing when she first brought home the spell book.

"It's probably nothing," she'd said with a dismissive wave. "But it's a conversation starter, at least."

But now Natalie was caught in this mess—hunted by a witch coven because of that book. It was surreal and terrifying, and sometimes, when she was alone like this, she couldn't help but feel a pang of anger and grief. Not at her grandmother, but at the sheer unfairness of it all. If her grandmother had known what this book would bring into her life, she would've never bought it.

And yet, here Natalie was—tied to a spell book she barely understood and a witch who wanted it more than anything. Every lead felt like another dead end, and she was getting frustrated, though she'd never admit it to the brothers.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Sam's voice coming through her earpiece, his tone tense.

"Natalie, I need your help. Now."

Natalie snapped out of her reverie, immediately shifting her focus. "What's going on, Sam?" she asked, her fingers already flying over the keyboard.

"We've run into a problem," Sam's voice crackled. "The Djinn's stronger than we thought. We're in the lair, but we can't get the hostages out. We need more time."

Natalie's pulse quickened. She glanced at the monitors, tracking the security feed she'd hacked into earlier. "I'm pulling up the museum's internal system now. What do you need me to do?"

Dean's voice came through next, harsh and breathless, like he'd been in the middle of a fight. "Get those damn doors locked. Keep anyone else from getting into this nightmare. We've got enough on our hands in here."

"Got it." Natalie's fingers danced over the keys, her mind focused and clear now. She hacked into the security panel, overriding the local control system. Within seconds, she had full access. "Okay, I've locked down the outer doors. No one's getting in or out."

"Good," Dean grunted, his voice tight with strain. "Now we just need to figure out how to kill this son of a bitch."

Natalie continued to monitor their movements on the security feed, tracking their progress through the museum's darkened halls. She could see flashes of movement on the grainy cameras—Dean swinging his machete at the twisted, shadowy form of the Djinn, Sam pulling unconscious victims from their nightmarish dream worlds. They were holding their own, but just barely.

"Dean," she called through the comms, "the Djinn's moving toward the west wing. You need to head that way before it traps more people."

"We're on it," Sam replied, panting with effort. "Just... keep those cameras rolling. If it moves again, let us know."

Natalie's eyes darted across the screens, scanning for any sign of movement. She felt the familiar rush of adrenaline—the same rush she'd always felt when she was cracking a code or hacking into a system for work. Only now, instead of stopping a cyberattack, she was helping two hunters fight off a supernatural threat.

This wasn't the life she'd chosen, but it was the life she had now. And somehow, she was making it work.

The Djinn was relentless. Dean and Sam were moving as fast as they could, but it was clear from the strain in their voices that they were running out of time.

"Natalie, do we have any other exits?" Sam asked, his voice tight with exhaustion. "We need to get these people out before the Djinn circles back."

Natalie scanned the museum's blueprints. "There's an emergency exit in the north hall. It's not on the usual maps, but I can get it open."

Dean's voice cut in, rough as gravel. "Get it open now."

Natalie hacked into the emergency system, overriding the locked doors. "It's done. You've got five minutes before the system reboots. Get those people out."

"Good work, Nat," Sam said, relief clear in his voice. "We're almost done here."

Dean muttered something under his breath—something that almost sounded like praise. Natalie smiled to herself but didn't press the issue. They were in the middle of a life-or-death situation, after all.

As she continued monitoring the cameras, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye—something darting across one of the screens. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Dean, heads up. It's coming back your way."

Dean's heart pounded in his chest as he and Sam dragged the last of the hostages toward the emergency exit. He could feel the Djinn's presence getting closer, the air growing colder and thicker with every passing second.

"Here it comes," Sam warned, gripping his silver knife tightly.

The Djinn emerged from the shadows, its eyes glowing an eerie blue as it stalked toward them, moving like a predator ready to strike. Dean stepped forward, machete raised.

"Come on, you ugly son of a bitch," he growled. "Let's dance."

The fight was brutal, the Djinn moving faster than either of them had anticipated. It lashed out with supernatural speed, knocking Sam to the ground before turning its glowing eyes on Dean.

Natalie's voice came through the comms, urgent. "Dean, you need to aim for the heart! It's the only way to kill it!"

Dean gritted his teeth, dodging the Djinn's next attack. "Yeah, thanks for the tip."

He lunged forward, swinging the machete in a wide arc. The blade caught the Djinn in the chest, slicing through flesh and bone. The creature let out a piercing scream, its body convulsing before collapsing in a heap on the floor.

Dean stood over it, breathing hard, his muscles aching. "That's right. Stay down."

Sam groaned from the floor, pushing himself up. "We good?"

Dean glanced around, the tension in his body slowly easing. "Yeah. We're good."

Hours later, after the Djinn case was wrapped up and the hostages were safe, Dean and Sam returned to the bunker. Natalie was still at her laptop, her eyes tired but alert.

"How'd it go?" she asked, looking up as they entered the room.

"Djinn's dead," Dean said, collapsing into a chair. "People are safe. Thanks to you."

Sam gave her a grateful smile. "Seriously, Nat. You were a huge help. We couldn't have done it without you."

Natalie smiled, feeling a little warmth bloom in her chest. "Well, I try."

Dean leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. "So... any new leads on that damn spell book?"

Natalie sighed, shaking her head. "Nothing concrete yet, but I'm close. I can feel it."

Dean huffed, but there was no real edge to it this time. "Yeah, well. Keep at it. Sooner we get that thing, sooner we deal with this witch."

Natalie nodded, her determination renewed. They still had a long way to go, but for the first time in a while, she felt like she was making progress—on the book, on the witch, and maybe, just maybe, with Dean too.

As the night wore on and the bunker settled into its usual quiet, Natalie couldn't help but think that, despite everything, she was exactly where she needed to be.

[elacular-kink]

Poly-techhic -4: A Little Lunch and Seltzer AU

So, when I wrote Chapter 4.5, I saw how Olivia teased Susanna and thought "Hey, good idea, character that I write! Let's write that!" So, in this alternate universe version of chapter 4, Susanna is the one who gets the hiccups during their date instead of Kiran. I've also written it twice, once from Kiran's perspective and once from Susanna's. I'll see if I can sorta get both on one post via reblog, but if not I'll double up like I did with the shower story.

The Kiran chapter's first few paragraphs are retreads of part of Chapter 4 to set the scene, so I'll put those in a different color if anyone wants to skip to the new stuff.

Last ramble: This is the last bit of Poly-Techhic I've written so far. That doesn't necessarily mean there won't be more, and it certainly doesn't mean there won't be more hiccup stuff in the future, but my muse is on its contractual lunch break, so I can't say when.

Character Sheet

TW: Anxiety, Painful hiccups, menstruation (mentioned) Kinks: Hiccups, Embarrassment

Susanna and I had just arrived for our date at the French restaurant whose name neither of us could pronounce. The man in the tuxedo looked past me at Susanna as she entered. "We don't wear hoods in this establishment, sir."

"M-ma'am!" I corrected him, blushing.

"It's cool, Kiran," Susanna pulled her hood down and I saw that, rather than laying flat or being mussed like it usually was, her hair looked like it had been styled with gel or spray, a perfect gently punkish messy spikiness to it. As Susanna unzipped her hoodie, I saw that she was wearing a white button-up shirt underneath, the arms cuffed past her elbows in an imitation of short sleeves, and the bottom tucked into her khakis and strapped down with a leather belt. Oh god, she looked so dapper. How was I supposed to cope? "I don't mind what people call me, and I figu—uh..." She'd started tying her hoodie around her waist when the maître d' took it from her and hung it up on a coat rack instead alongside mostly suit jackets. "Uh...yeah. Okay. That works."

The tuxedoed man sniffed and turned. "This way, ma'am and ma'am." He showed us to a small table and placed a set of black leather-bound menus in front of us. "I'll need to see ID if you intend to drink."

"Nah, I'm good. I'll just take water."

"Hmph." He took a note.

The idea of asking for soda in an establishment like this made my stomach ache. I was glad that I had at least managed to eat a little lunch; the idea of that ache making any noise made me feel even more ill. "I-I'll take water as well, please!" The maître d' made a noise I didn't know how to interpret and walked away. Susanna rolled her eyes as he left, and that helped me calm down a little.

For a while, the two of us chatted about the restaurant's (stuffy) atmosphere and its (expensive) appetizers, but it wasn't long before we were interrupted by someone who was, thankfully, not the maître d', and who placed a wine glass of water in front of each of us. "Uh, thanks man," Susanna said. He nodded without saying anything and walked off quickly. "Is this...classy?" She picked up her glass and tilted it around.

"I...suppose? I'll be honest, rules of etiquette were never something I was able to keep track of very well."

"Pff. My god, poor etiquette? You bad girl, you." I could feel myself blushing under her smile. "Well, whether it's classy or not, it'd be weird not to clink these." She held her glass out and I picked up my own and tapped it against hers before I took a sip. I was a bit surprised to realize that it was seltzer, but I supposed that would explain why even the water on the menu had a price.

When I looked back at Susanna, she was swirling the water in her glass and sniffing at it. "Ahh, essence of tap. Hydrogen and...notes of oxygen I presume?"

I stifled a small giggle as she took a sip. "Why yes, with a surprising hint of carbon di—" Before I could finish speaking, Susanna choked and started coughing, putting the glass down as quickly as she could. "—o-oxide? Susanna, are you okay?"

"Yeah—k-kuh, yeah Kiran, I'm fi–*eek!*" A tiny, high-pitched noise forced itself out of her and her eyes went wide. Her face was unbelievably red and she slapped both hands over her mouth. After a split second, she sucked in a breath of air and held it, shutting her eyes tight.

"Susanna?" She opened her eyes and nodded at me, then rocked back silently and shut them again, another tiny noise audible in her throat. She held up one finger and I nodded back, even though she couldn't see me. I couldn't take my eyes off of her though. Every few seconds she kept jolting, and it seemed like they were getting faster and harder. She held her breath for a worryingly long time. I half wished I'd taken out a stopwatch, because it had to be over a minute, probably over two.

Eventually, she let out her breath all in one massive huff, though she kept both hands over her mouth, just barely containing a high-pitched little "*mmp!* S-sorry." Without her bangs or her hoodie on, her cute, flushed face was a little hard to ignore. I kept accidentally meeting her eyes, and they looked almost...scared. "Be right b---back." Without elaborating, she got up and rushed off deeper into the building.

"...okay," I said, long after she had gone. I was barely able to wait five minutes before I felt compelled to pull out my phone. Texting on dates was horribly rude as far as I was aware, but if she wasn't at the table, it seemed like it would be okay? And honestly, I was worried.

Queen of Illusion: YOU BETTER TELL ME HOW THIS SHIT WENT WHEN YOU GET BACK PLEASE TELL ME YOU FUCKIN KISSED HER AND THEN KISS ME (IF YOU WANNA)

Kiran (Kiki): Maya?

Queen of Illusion: WTF are you doing texting me And yeah

Kiran (Kiki): I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do!

Queen of Illusion: Hold up What stupid shit is Susie doing?

Kiran (Kiki): I don't know! She disappeared deeper into the building!

Queen of Illusion: wait Where the bathrooms are?

Kiran (Kiki): I don't know, maybe?

Queen of Illusion: That mother fucker Gimme 2 seconds ill fix this shit.

Kiran (Kiki): Is she okay? Does she need a pad or a tampon? I carry those.

Queen of Illusion: oh shit thats super helpful tell the whole team that But yea shes fine Just really fuckin stupid I told her to get her ass back to the table or Id throw her switch in a blender And she knows im crazy enough to do it

Maya was still typing, but when I looked up, I saw Susanna coming back over. She looked very small, shoulders pulled in and her head bowed down, and she speed walked over to our table and sat down in her chair with a hyperefficient stiffness. Also stiff was the way she kept jolting backward, her shoulders jumping, her head snapping back, and her whole body rocking. "S---sorry Kiran. *mmk!*"

"It's...fine?" I wasn't sure quite what she was apologizing for. Her face was still unbelievably red. "Are you...are you alright?"

She nodded before her head was abruptly jerked back again. "Got th---the h-hic---cups. Sor---ry."

"...oh!" Oh, that made sense. Susanna must have been sensitive to carbonation like Maya was. Did she not know that about herself? I'd never seen her drink or order soda, so why didn't she say as much when we talked about it?

...actually, considering that Maya was the one who had brought up hiccup triggers, I could see why she would want to keep that to herself right then. 

"Oh, okay. N-nothing you need to be sorry for, Susanna. D-do you want me to try and get you some regular water?" She looked up at me and nodded slightly. "Alright...alright." I looked around for a waiter who didn't look busy. The restaurant wasn't crowded, and the maître d' had left his post to wander among the tables doing...honestly, it wasn't clear to me at all what he was doing besides occasionally staring at us in an intimidating manner. But I couldn't see any other employees who weren't occupied, and Susanna looked so uncomfortable and was jolting so hard. So I steeled myself as best I could, straightened up, rolled my shoulders back, and then walked over to the man in the tuxedo. "Excuse me, sir." He sniffed at me. I wanted to shrivel up and disappear, but I forced my back to stay straight. "My—" Wait, shit, what was I supposed to call her? Fuck fuck fuck—

No! No panicking right now. She needs you.

"My date would like some still water, and I'd prefer to get it sooner rather than later."

He stared at me. I was glad I'd straightened up. It gave me an inch or two on him, and he clearly didn't like that. "...off-menu requests cost extra."

Susanna better not have heard that. "That's fine. And I'll tip for a prompt delivery." He sniffed, then walked back towards the kitchen, and I walked back over to our table and sat back down. As soon as I was in the chair, I slumped again, and I felt Susanna's hand land on mine. I smiled at her, or at least tried to. "I'm alright, Susanna. Hopefully, we'll get you some water soon."

She exhaled softly and nodded. "Th---thanks." There was an audible thump in her chest and she rubbed her sternum, looking pained. Her little body was being so violently rocked...I really did wonder if she was going to hurt herself. And her face still looked so red and feverish.

The not-exactly-silence that fell between us felt horribly awkward. "Well, I...suppose that you'll need some of Olivia's hair now." She stared at me, and at least her looking confused was better than her looking scared and in pain. "F-for your voodoo doll. It stopped working. It's not transferring your hiccups right now." After a moment, she smiled. Susanna smiled and she shook with quiet, soft laughter and it made me feel like I was glowing.

Then she "*HNK!*—nnf!" jerked back harder and shut her eyes tight, rubbing her throat.

"Susanna, are you in pain?" She looked at me and shrunk in on herself before she nodded. "Is holding your hiccups back causing that? Would letting them out help?" She cringed, then motioned for me to come over. I joined her on her side of the table and saw that her spasms were throwing her hard into the uncomfortable-looking back of her chair. I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I put both of my hands on her shoulders and gripped them. With her next hiccup, I just barely managed to keep her from hitting the back of the chair again. God, she was so strong. Her whole body was so unbelievably strong. And she was looking back and up at me. "I—um, sorry, is this okay?" She nodded again, and my heart rate slowed at least a little. "You're being shaken so hard, I just...thought this could help."

She turned away and shook with almost silent laughs again. "S---sweet." Before I could stammer out a request to elaborate on that, she took out her phone and started typing on it, holding it awkwardly high so I could easily read from behind her.

Susie Q(eer): That'd help, yeah, but I don't think the people around here would appreciate it. Especially not tuxedo douche.

"I-I don't care about that!" That came out of me louder than I meant it to, but I ignored my blush, just lowering my voice as best I could. "Certainly not more than I care about your well-being." After a moment, she put a hand on one of mine and gently nuzzled into one of my arms. I may not have trusted my ability to comprehend body language, but I felt safe assuming that whatever this was was very affectionate. My heart clearly felt safe assuming that, considering how it was bursting and melting all at once.

"Erm, your still water, ma'ams." Our waiter came over and placed a glass of water in front of Susanna, who quickly grabbed it and took a large swig. Unfortunately, barely a half-second later, she jerked back into my hands again. "Also," the waiter was cringing. "Um, other patrons have requested that you please take your seat, ma'am."

"I—" I wasn't sure what to do, but before I could worry too much about it, Susanna gently patted my arm and gestured for me to go back to my seat. She jerked back into me again before I could, though. Her hiccups were so strong..."No, I don't believe so." The waiter blinked at me, and Susanna was looking up, shocked. I gently pulled her to her feet, keeping a hand on her back. "This restaurant isn't what I was hoping it would be. I'm sorry, Susanna. Please let me take you somewhere better suited to the two of us."

I walked over to the maître d' and paid with one of my least important credit cards. This place didn't deserve the dignity of giving me gold points. "Don't forget your companion's...jacket."

"Of course. Thank you, sir." I put as much venom in my voice as I could, then took Susanna's hoodie and helped put it on her before wrapping an arm around her shoulders again. There wasn't really a need to do that, but she wasn't complaining. She even leaned further into me once we were outside again.

Despite those actions, I heard Susanna sigh. "I'm s---sorry, Ki–*EEK!*–Nnuuh!" She covered her face with both hands, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"N-no, I'm sorry!" I shook away my giggles as best I could before sighing. "I'm...sorry for laughing, for one. You're just..." I could feel my face warming. "...You're just really cute."

"Mnnf. *HMK!*" She leaned into me more, and my nerves kept pulling giggles out of me.

"But beyond that, I'm...I'm sorry about that restaurant. I wanted to take you somewhere that...that you might not have been to a place like yet. A-and I know that I'm very privileged with how much access to money I have, so that's something that I can provide you if we go on a date together and—"

"'Prov---provide me'?" Susanna squinted up at me. "You–*HOOP!*–Nn!" She covered her face again and I couldn't help it. I just pulled her into my arms and against me. She was so cute. Her back jolted into me, and for once it felt really nice to have such a soft belly for her to hiccup into instead of something hard that could hurt her. She made more tiny noises, then pulled her face out of her sleeve-covered hands. "...*MMK!* You don't ha---have to provide---nnnghf. *MMK* Provide me anyth–*UK!* th-thiiiing. Fuck."

"But I want to." I realized that we had idly walked to a small park block and looked at the nearest bench. It looked uncomfortable, especially the back, and I sat down on it and confirmed that fact. I couldn't let Susanna sit and hiccup back into that. But what other option— "...Susanna? Would you like to..." I uncertainly patted my lap.

The light was too dim to be sure, but I thought her face went even redder. Even so, she nodded. "S---sure, but–*HNK!* d-don't let m---me hurt you."

"I won't." I hoped I'd be able to keep that promise if need be, but more than that, I really really really hoped I wouldn't have to. She slowly, gently eased onto my lap, and I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back against me. She was so small in my grasp. "...but just to be sa–OOF!" I was shocked by the force one of her spasms pushed back with. "S-safe, you should stop holding your hiccups in." After a long moment and a few rough jolts, she nodded. I could hear and feel her start to breathe more deeply, seeming to have to make an active effort not to try and mute herself. High-pitched *HEEK*s and *HNK*s and *HK-llp*s squeaked out of her, but her motions were far gentler, more bounces than jerks. One of my arms was resting on her stomach while the other had ended up across her thighs (which I really hoped she didn't notice or object to) and it was interesting just how much I felt her move, and how much more fluid even her herky-jerky hiccup motions were now that she wasn't trapping everything inside of her chest. "Yeah. There you go. Good—" My face practically lit on fire as I realized what I was about to say, and I buried it in the back of her hood. But I couldn't not finish my sentence. "Good...good girl."

After a split second, I felt her laughing against me. Her chuckles came tangled up with hiccups, but I didn't mind, and it seemed like, at least to an extent, she didn't either. Once her laughter calmed, she sighed. "S'just emb–*UCK* emb-barrassing. *HNK-lk*."

I sighed back. "I can see why. I'd be mortified." It took me too many seconds to realize what I'd just said. "N-not that I'm saying you should be! Y-you don't need to be embarrassed, Susanna, I just—" I hid my face in the back of her hood again, glad that the hiccups mostly moved her chest and torso rather than snapping her head back. "I just understand why you would be. B-but you don't need to be. It's just the hiccups. And you shouldn't have to hold them back any more than Olivia does."

Susanna made a noise I didn't know how to interpret. "Oliv---via has to h–*OLK*–g-guh. Hold them ba–*UCK* all the time. *HMK!* I'm...*hmp*." She leaned forward and pulled down her hood, resting her head against my chest afterward, and I wondered if she could feel exactly what that was doing to my heart. "I'm lucky, in a way. *HMK-mmp* To be someo–*UK* someone she doesn–*nnt* have to hide ar–*HUP* around." She hummed softly, and I could see her purse her lips. "*hmk* Never really tho–*UCK* thought about it like tha–*hup* that before."

"About what?"

Even under the dim light, I could see how red her cheeks had gone. "Ah...ah–*HUP*–p-puh...It's kind–*AUK* kinda hard to expl–*HUCK* explain."

"I suppose most things would be with a case of the hiccups like that."

Her face...her face was still so flushed. "Yeah. *hmp*. Not having the–*eek-up* these would definitely make it easier. *hmk*. Do you..." She shook in my arms with a few nearly silent hiccups. "...do you thi–*ic*–ink we could stay like thi–*ic-olp*–this until they're gone? *hmk-mmp*. I'll tell you af---after that."

I simultaneously hoped that she stopped hiccuping in the next few seconds and that this case never went away. But either way, I loved getting to have her body against mine, no matter how it was moving. "That sounds good to me. Thank you, Susanna."

"No. *hmk.* Thank you, Kiran," she said. After that, we just sat in the park together while she hiccuped, and I thought that made for a far better date than the restaurant ever could have.

[little-teacupss]

Their good fairy pt 3-part 1 of castle coming

Maleficent x Fay x Hades

Note: Hello everyone! Once again, I want to say thank you to @giveityourworst. Thank you so much for all the tips you've given me and inspiring me to even make this story, please go give them some love and check out their stories, an amazing person, lovely writer, so once again I want to say criticism is welcome, but don't be a prick about it

Warning: AK and VK relationship, and Poly

Summary: Fay questions if Hades and Maleficent are going to ask her to castlecoming with it being only a day away

Note 2: part one here, part two here, part three of part 2 here

Note 3: This is a two parter. Because so much is happening in this chapter, I'm gonna save the actual castle coming for part 2

___________________________________________

Fay looked in the mirror and did a small turn to see the back of the dress. It was a soft baby blue with periwinkle accents, but at the moment, she wasn't even sure if she'd need a dress seeing as neither Hades nor Maleficent had asked her to castlecoming.

"Why do you look so glum, Fay?"

Bridget said as she carried a few different dresses over to the changing room to try on, Fay gave a small shrug as she continued to look herself up and down in the mirror. "Do you have a date, Fay?"

Fay pursed her lip as she turned her head to look at Bridget and shrugged again. "I thought maybe I would, but I guess not."

She let out a soft soft sigh before going back to the changing room and changing back into her clothes, then she headed to check out the dress. "Red, would suit you, Bridget."

Fay says as she comes back over to where Bridget is trying on the dresses, Bridget twirles around in the dress before putting her hands on her hips. "You think so?"

Bridget says as she twirled in the mirror to see how the skirt of the dress would fair while dancing. "This one is lovely, but something about it just isn't right."

Fay walked over and looked at the dress before letting out a humming sound. "It's beautiful, but I don't think it'll be easy to move in."

Bridget nodded along to Fay's critique. "I think I'm just going to go with the first dress."

After dress shopping, the two walk around the town for a bit before Bridget excitedly looks at Fay and gently grabs her arm. "Wait! Earlier, you said you possibly had a date. Who is it?"

Fay's mouth gaped a little at the sudden question. This also didn't give her much time to think of a good excuse or cover-up story. "I was going to with Apollo, but he may not be able to make it."

Fay looked in a different direction away from Bridget's face afraid if she looked at the other girl she'd crack and be the first to find out about her being with some of the most feared VK's at Merlin academy. "You and Apollo! I never thought you two were so close."

Fay gulped when she heard the very energetic girl say that. "Well, we just were going to go as friends, nothing more."

She nervously explained to Bridget, who was hardly listening and mainly thinking about the fact that Fay and Apollo possibly had something going on, when in reality they didn't, but she didn't know that. "I mean, you both are really smart, and he's the god of the sun, poetry, music, healing, and the list goes on, so your, like really similar in being really important!"

Bridget said as she listed off random characteristics about the two as they walked down the cobbledstoned path.

Fay checks her wrist-watch and turns to Bridget. "You know it's getting late maybe we should head back."

Bridget agrees but gives her a weird look and arches her brow. "I guess so, but where were you last night? You didn't get back till 8:40 pm. and basically snoozed during the entire sleepover."

Fay nervously gulped. As her eyes widened, she carefully turned to face the princess while rubbing the back of her neck with an uneasy smile. "I was taking a walk, I love watching the sunset over the Enchanted lake."

Bridget nods, wondering why the fairy is acting, so strange, but then her eyes light up, the Princess of Heart's excitedly jumps up and down, grabbing Fay's arms as they walk through Merlin academy's entrance. "You were at the enchanted lake with Apollo, right?"

Bridget squealed as she bounced up and down, her eyes beaming happily as she stared at the fairy who thought she was about to faint, then Bridget said. "Well, I hope he decides to go with you. Anyway, I have to go bake some treats for castlecoming."

Bridget sweetly said before prancing off down one of the many hallways of Merlin Academy, Fay let's out a sigh as she leaned back, letting her back hit the wall as she rubbed her temples, then she heard a snicker, looking to her right she's met with James Hook, who has a very amused look on his face. "I wonder what Hades would think to the wee fairy having a date with Apollo?"

Fay was under the oppression. Hook had no clue that she was seeing Hades, but with him suggesting he'd tell Hades about her little white lie, her eyes still widened in fear before she calmly said. "Why would he care?"

Hook chuckled as he circled around the nervous fairy before running his hook along her jaw. "Why, you know how those gods are always in competition, you could say?"

He then backs away before making a dramatic exit by bowing and then sweeping his hook along one of the tables, making random decorations fall to the floor, and so Fay follows after Hook desperately. "But why would Hades have to know?"

Fay asked, and she followed the whistling pirate around, who turned to her. "My, my lassie, why do you care so much?"

He crosses his arms with a mischievous smirk as he rests his chin on the round part of his hook as he waits for an explanation. "Because wouldn't Hades perfer to find out on his own, rather than having to have someone tell him?"

Hook lets out a hum as he considers what the fairy had to say, then he looks up to Fay, his brown eyes meeting hers. "Hm, I wonder, is there something going on between you and Hades?"

He leaned forward as he mocked her with a teasing tone, trying to get the fairy to crack, Fay looked around nervously as she pursed her lips, Hook was growing more excited as he realized he might get the nervous fairy to spill, but then the rest of his group appeared behind him. "Capture yourself a little fairy, Hook?"

Morgie asked as he put an arm around Hook's shoulders, while Fay managed to regain her composer and looked at the group of VK's, her eyes traveling to Hades and Maleficent before back to Hook. "No, I was just leaving."

Fay squeaked out before she tried to move around the group of VK's. "But you were just telling me about your wee date to castle coming."

Maleficent and Hades looked at each other before turning their full attention to Fay, who was currently trying to walk away from the situation. "Who was he again? Oh yes, Apollo, was it?"

Hook said teasingly to Fay, completely unaware of what was occurring behind him, as Hades hair lit up in blue flames and hands balled up into fists, while Maleficent looked at Fay and then back to Hades, she carefully moved from Hades and over to Fay. "Really now?"

Maleficent asked as she circled around the other fairy with her arms crossed, giving her a pointed look. "Care to tell us more?"

She continued in a mock tone, her green eyes showed anger, and hints of betrayal, meanwhile Hook, Morgie and Uliana looked between the three people, Morgie and Uliana shared a look of confusion, while Hook's eyes went wide now finally putting the pieces together. "Hey, Morgs, Uli, wanna come look for my boots?"

Hook said as he ran down the hallway. Bridget had gone down earlier, Uliana and Morgie at each before following after Hook, now leaving the couple to settle things. "My nephew?"

Hades whispered as he stepped closer to Fay, who wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole as she wished she could take back the entire day. "It's not like that at all."

Fay pressed as she leaned against the wall, with her arms crossed over her chest, while Maleficent put a hand on the wall next to her barricading her there. "Why would you tell Hook, your going to castlecoming with Apollo, when your going with us!"

Maleficent hissed as Fay as she gave her a disapproving look, her green eyes narrowed at Fay. "If you didn't want to go with us you could've just said so."

Maleficent turned away from Fay and Hades, with her arms crossed clearly very hurt. "Mal, it wasn't like that at least let me explain."

While Fay and Maleficent were trying to hash things out, a few steps away from them was Hades who wasn't listening to the two as they spoke and was instead blinded by rage, slowly turning from his blue color and into a fiery red coloration, before turning away from the two girls and stomping down the hallway

Finally, Maleficent turned around and looked at Fay with a somber look in her eyes. "I was upset when we heard, Hook talk about you possibly seeing Apollo."

Fay threw her arms around the taller fairy, who also wrapped her arms tightly around Fay. "I didn't want anyone to find out about us, so I lied about possibly having a date with someone else because you and Hades haven't asked me yet."

Maleficent nodded as the shorter fairy explained. Everything then the two looked over to where Hades had been standing, to see he was no longer there, both quickly start running through corridors, and all the way to the courtyard. "If we hurry, hopefully we can stop him from burning down the entire academy and burning Apollo to a crisp."

Maleficent said as they ran through the courtyard and to the front of the academy where a crowd formed a circle, one half being cheering VK's, and the other side was AK's some cheering while others observed. "You got some nerve Apollo!"

They heard a deep voice shout over the many voices coming from the crowd, as they weaved through the many bodies, before they saw Apollo who had a light force field surrounding him whole a circle of blue fire surrounded him. "What hell is your problem, Hades!"

Hades didn't say anything, but the flames surrounding Apollo grew more intense, some areas the source field and fire met causing eleteic to spark in some places.

Back in the crowd, Fay and Maleficent watched closely, Fay looked up to Maleficent with a worriedly expression. "How are we gonna stop them?"

Maleficent looked at Fay for a moment before observing and sizing up their options. "Do you have your wand by chance?"

Fay quickly dug into her satchel, pulling out her wand and spell book. "Now what?"

Maleficent looked from Hades to Fay before gently grabbing Fay's shoulders and leaning down to her level. "You have to make it rain, you can do this."

Maleficent gently turned Fay, so she was facing the commotion and watched as Fay waved her around around, before it began to sparkle as she flicked the wand towards Apollo and Hades as she said, "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"

A few girls let out dramatic screams when the rain started to pour down, snuffing out the ring of fire, and the fire on Hades, who turned his head to look at the two girls, while Apollo let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Fay."

Apollo said quietly, not hearing the low growl sound from Hades or the piercing glare he held for the fellow God. The two girls quickly made their way to Hades while Apollo made his quick escape. "It was a misunderstanding."

Fay said to Hades as they approached him. She crossed her arms and looked up at him. "If you'd of just let me explain everything, I would've told you what actually happened."

Maleficent nods as she holds Fay's hand before reaching over and grabbing Hades. "You should hear her out."

Maleficent says to Hades as she brings Fay's hand to Hades before letting both their hands go and slightly stepping back. "I'll leave you two alone now."

They two watch as the dark fairy leaves and goes on her way through the front entrance, leaving the two of them alone, Fay then brings her attention to Hades. "Would you like to sit down?"

He lets out a small sigh as he allows Fay to lead him to a stone bench where the two sit side by side. "I'm sorry, I never should have lied to Bridget about who I was going to castlecoming with. Well, I didn't even know if i was going anyway."

Hades gives her an uneasy look as she starts to explain. "Why wouldn't you of went to castlecoming, you'd be going with Maleficent and I."

He said as he closely peered into her brown eyes, confused as to why she wouldn't of been going to castlecoming, the fairy pursed her lips as she looked down to her lap where she was fiddling with the ends of her dress. "Because neither of you asked me to go, I had no idea if you wanted me there or not seeing as I only joined your relationship four months ago."

Hades carefully brought a finger under the fiary chins and made her look up at him, as he gave her a soft look. "Of course we want you with us, your all we ever think about."

Fay carefully wrapped her arms around the god of the underworlds neck, careful not to poke the little spikes on his leather jacket as she felt him wrap his arms around her waist. "I'm so sorry I used Apollo in my lie."

Hades nodded before pulling back slightly and pecking her forehead, and then pulling her clsoe again. "I shouldn't have gotten so heated, not without hearing you out first."

The two sit there for a while, just enjoying the rare moment of intimacy just between the two of them. After a while, they hear a pair of heels clicking down the cobblestoned pathway. They both look over and see Maleficent carrying a plate with a piece of pie. "I'm glad you two made up."

She says before sitting down next to the pair and sitting the plate in Fay's lap, to which Fay gently moved aside so she can hug the now bashful Maleficent who says. "I'm glad we're all together again, and not brawling it out."

She then wraps her arms around Fay, looking past Fay and smiling at Hades, who is observing the two, Maleficent then picks the plate up and hands it back to Fay. "Consider this your invitation to go castlecoming with us. It's blueberry."

Fay happily accepts the blueberry pie and digs into it immediately. As she relishes in being with her two favorite VK's at the Academy, it wasn't perfect, to say the least, but that's the part Fay loved most about them and she didn't want it any other way

___________________________________________

Hello!

Thank you so much for reading this series. Now, this is part one of the castlecoming. Part two will be coming out soon. Hopefully, I had a little hard time writing this one, but I had some help from the amazing @giveityourworst, go show them some love, their an amazing story teller and person, I couldn't of started this story if it wasn't for them, they were my inspiration for this story and they've contributed ideas that I've put in this story, so make sure to show them some love!

Anyway thank you so much for reading and ba bye!

[artisttrova]

Guess who wanted to upload the first two chapters of one fic and work on the one I've already teased? And guess who did neither because they've got a debilitating migraine?

Yup, yours faithful

So because of this, I'm actually gonna post the first chapter here in it's entirety cause fuck it! We ball.

From the fic with a work title "Broken Nest" (I've rewritten it dozens of time and I don't care anymore if the language is shit, neither do i care about any possible grammar mistakes). This is a modern AU

The people sitting around the table sighed in joy and surprise. A second later, Sakura was surrounded by her girlfriends, all squealing in joy simultaneously, forming a very merry cacophony of sounds. Sasuke was trying his hardest not to get suffocated in his friends' arms. Naruto and Rock Lee even started crying. A moment later, Sakura's tearful mother trapped her in a bone-crashing hug, repeating time and time again how happy she was to hear the news, while her father patted Sasuke on the back and started to talk about how he would be a ‘proper’ father to him. Sasuke had to stop him from speaking as the man was getting carried away quickly.

Orochimaru was standing not far away from everyone, twirling a soda can in their hands. They heard Sasuke softly but firmly tell Kizashi that he had a parent and scoffed.

Orochimaru only rolled their eyes when they next heard Mebuki quietly say "But that freak didn't even come up to congratulate you" followed by a louder "Mom, don't say that...I'll explain" from Sakura.

They kept their silence. They would surely be offended, too, if anyone reacted to the news of their children's firstborn in the way they did. Much less the ‘parent' of their daughter's husband.

Thankfully, no one really cared about their presence, and the situation fizzled down as fast as it came up. When everyone had calmed down a bit and scattered in small groups again to discuss the baby boom that had recently hit the town, Sasuke slipped away from everyone, approaching Orochimaru, all while Sakura took her parents to another room to talk.

"Is everything all right? " Sasuke asked quietly.

"Don't worry about me, it’s your day. Congratulations again on the new addition to the family." They smiled amicably as they looked around the room. "I thought surely people would figure out I knew ahead of time, but it seems like Sakura’s mom took it to heart."

Even standing a good few feet away from the entrance to the guest bedroom, both Sasuke and Orochimaru could hear Mebuki and Kizashi berating Sakura on the fact they didn’t learn the news first.

"She'll have to deal with them, they're her tribe. We had good reasons.” Sasuke answered, seemingly unbothered by the sounds of his enraged inlaws. "You know I just didn't want to make the news a surprise to you due to... everything."

Orochimaru sighed with a smile, allowing themselves a second of proud arrogance that they had raised Sasuke quite well. As well a deeply traumatized, orphaned teenager could be raised. They sipped the soda, grimacing at how overly sweet it was.

"I'm happy for you, Sasuke." They looked at the boy and put a hand on his shoulder. "Even if it doesn't seem like it.”

"I know." He smiled awkwardly. He was still not used to physical touch from anyone, but his wife. Sakura just seemed a weird exception from most of his weird societal deficiencies. Well, she and Naruto.

Both Mebuki and Kizashi stormed out of the room, glancing daggers at Orochimaru. Sakura followed, only sheepishly smiling at her husband.

"At least you only have me to deal with." Orochimaru chuckled, as they looked at Sasuke.

They tried to play their feelings off as a joke but didn't succeed much. The tin can crumpled slightly under their fingers.

“I take it, he keeps acting like an idiot?" Tilted his head Sasuke, noticing the forced nonchalance.

"Let's not talk about that, please."

"He's no stranger to me either. I want to know." He sighed. "Sakura says he quit not too long ago..."

"Yeah." They nodded."As far as I know, he's basically out of work now. So much for all the talk about the need for a doctor at the orphanage..."

"Does he even visit?" Sasuke frowned.

"He still comes once a week and takes Log somewhere fun. We don't talk outside of that arrangement. And by that I mean I refuse to talk to him." They grimaced as the girls laughed again as their husbands approached the group. Some leaned forward, kissing their wives on the forehead or temple, and some hugged. Sasuke felt a squeeze on his shoulder.

"It's been six months, right? And things are not moving in any direction, as it seems." Sasuke got their attention again.

"I guess. He's been acting weird lately, but it doesn't mean much to me anymore.” They set the empty can on the table. "I don't know where to throw it, is that okay if I leave it here?"

"We'll clean it up, no big deal." Sasuke waved his only hand, "Can you elaborate on the weirdness?"

"This is not the best place or time for such talk." Orochimaru turned away from the party completely, deciding not to annoy themselves any further, and crossed their arms, "Recently he's just been nagging me about allowing Log to stay at their place. All the while refusing to speak about the divorce and figuring out the visitation times. He's dragging this whole process out, even though he started it. He won't even allow my lawyer to go through his documents... Guess he's just scared I'd take sole custody, which I never even intended."

“I don't think this is about custody at all,” Sasuke mumbled.

“Well if he's trying to win me over by being annoying, he's not doing a good job.”

"Why not allow him to take Log for a couple of days anyway?" Sasuke shrugged. "From what I know, he's a great dad."

"Yeah, but he lives with Urushi, and from the rumors that reach me from the orphanage, they haven't done anything, but drink and go clubbing since Kabuto packed up his things and left our...I mean my house. I refuse to put my child in these conditions."

"I understand." Nodded Sasuke.

Orochimaru glanced nervously at their watch. They were beginning to notice people's slanted glances at themselves a little more than usual. Their sour face stood out a little too much amid everyone's joy.

"I have to go." They muttered, "Log is home all alone, and... I don't want to spoil your party."

"You're not gonna spoil anything." Sasuke looked around, causing several pairs of eyes to immediately turn away from Orochimaru. "This is an important moment in my life. I couldn't imagine not sharing it with my parent."

Orochimaru smiled as they looked into Sasuke's eyes. When did he become so tall and grown up? He was almost half a head taller than they were now, if not more. They couldn’t fully comprehend how he'd once been a small, malnourished boy who lunged at their cooking like a hungry animal. They were never good at cooking. Even now that they have gotten better at it, Log still refuses to eat almost everything they make. Sasuke was just an unfortunate little thing when they decided to take him in and now, there he was, with his own house and a family, still standoffish as ever, but so grown up and matured.

"I'm not your parent, I'm your guardian. You have a real family."

"Oh, come on." Sasuke waved his hand. "We both know that Itachi can hate you all he wants, but he was a juvenile delinquent and that's why he lost custody of me. You, on the other hand, at least tried to give me a good life and continue to help to this day. You are as much family to me as he is.”

They looked away a little embarrassed, hiding a smile.

"Thank you. But I still need to get home. I'm scared Log will freak out. There was a storm on the forecast." They tucked a strand of hair behind their ear.

"Okay." Sasuke nodded. "Sakura really wanted to give you some food to go, so…"

Orochimaru nodded and headed for the exit. “I'll wait at the porch.”

They saw no point in saying goodbye to anyone. No one but Sasuke and Sakura even said hello to them. However, the click of their heels before they stepped out onto the porch let everyone know that they were leaving.

Orochimaru took out a cigarette and lit it a little further away from the entrance. They'd given up cigarettes completely during the pregnancy and after Log was born, but lately... They've been craving a cigarette. Still, they never smoked in the car or at home, not wanting their son to inhale the smoke or smell, but smoking near the gas station on their way home or near a grocery store was for now their favorite part of the day by a long shot.

Orochimaru looked at the sky. Behind the painfully similar houses in this painfully plain neighborhood, all painted in cheery pastel colors, the gray, cloudy sky seemed even gloomier.

They sighed, remembering how they and Kabuto used to sit together in the pillow house with Log, with a flashlight and a book while a storm raged outside the window.

Log's fear of thunder was a surprising development for the family. He had been born in such weather that it seemed he shouldn't have been afraid of thunder. They even had a blackout in the middle of labor, the storm was so vicious they had to deliver a child in the candlelight. Yet, it was nonetheless endearing to help him through his fear. Something about being the source of comfort for their little guy was endlessly heartwarming.

They sighed, walked over to their car, pulled out an ashtray, and tossed the cigarette bud in it after extinguishing it. They wouldn’t litter at their son’s house.

"Ah, there you are! " Sakura materialized behind them, holding several bags. "I've packed you some snacks to go! There's soda, chips, two containers of mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, fried sausages, pork chops, salad..."

"Sakura, how much do you think me and Log are eating?" Orochimaru laughed.

"Don't interrupt me! "Sakura exhaled loudly through her nostrils. Orochimaru saw Sasuke behind her back, visually signaling them not to argue. "So, there's also, uh..."

"Yogurts." Sasuke helped her.

"Yes! Yogurt. My mom got me a yogurt maker and thought maybe Log would like it. He doesn't have a lactose problem, does he?"

"No, he likes yogurt." Orochimaru smiled.

"Great! " Sakura cheered. "There's also crackers and a couple of pieces of cake. Mom brought so much food, I didn't know what to do with it. I've done a lot of cooking myself...at least take this and eat it with Log, I know you don't like cooking. I’d feel better if you ended up throwing it away, rather than me, 'cause, you know, I see mom so rarely and I adore her cooking…"

"Thank you, honey." They took the bags from her hands and stacked them on the passenger seat after turning around and hugging her. "Congratulations again. I can't wait to see you as a mother, Sakura, I think you'll fit the role very well.”

"Thanks! " She laughed, taking a step back from them and folding her palms together, "I'm so glad we moved closer to you now. My parents definitely won't be moving out of their backwaters any time soon, and I'm so glad I can at least consult with you during the pregnancy."

"Honey, call and text me with anything you have, I know how much pregnancy fuels paranoia, and I'll always help you with anything."

Sakura looked at them, got some air into her chest, and threw herself at them, folding her hands around their shoulders again. Orochimaru smiled as they hugged her, catching Sasuke's pleased look.

"I'm so glad you and I have found common ground." She sighed and pulled away. "The beginning of our relationship was a disaster. "

"You two were just too young," Orochimaru laughed. "Right, Sasuke? Who brings a bride into the house at 16, huh?"

"We didn't get married at 16, didn’t we?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I can see why you were so skeptical of me back then." Sakura turned to Sasuke, "We were… young."

“Well.” Orochimaru walked to the driver's door. “That was a temporary flaw.”

The drive from the Uchichas' house took less than ten minutes. Orochimaru tried to concentrate on the road, but somehow, their thoughts kept returning to tonight's party. How sad Sakura looked the night before when they admitted that they couldn't look at the pictures of their wedding anymore. How Sasuke jokingly promised to "talk to Kabuto with his fists" if he didn't come to his senses and act like a normal father. How Sasuke and Sakura worried about their journey home and asked them to text them as soon as they arrived. They knew they started showing more and more obvious signs. They knew people could see the weight of their situation affecting them.

Their thoughts, one way or another, came down to Kabuto.

All the narrow streets with cute shops they passed held so many memories. The bakery where Kabuto always ordered cakes for their son's birthday. The café where they went for coffee every Sunday, even before their child was born. They couldn’t help, but get choked up, thinking how a few years later, hot chocolate and éclairs have been added to their usual Sunday order. They shook their head, trying once again to think only of the road.

The yellow leaves falling from the trees were sticking to the windshield and getting stuck in the. Who thought planting so many trees was a good idea?

"How dare they not ask you in advance." Kabuto's voice sounded in their head. They must have repeated that dialog a thousand times. For some reason, the medic liked trees.

Suddenly, something black ran out into the road. Orochimaru hit the brakes, holding their breath in surprise. They jumped out of the door, walking forward to see what was it they almost hit. There was a very scared black kitten sitting a few centimeters away from the car.

"Why did you run out into the road, you silly?" They picked up the kitten and moved it to the lawn next to the sidewalk. As they approached the car, a drop of water hit them on the nose. They sighed.

The rest of the way was much calmer. However, there was still this stupid pain in her ribs they felt whenever they were in this part of town. This stupid longing for what once was ordinary. By the time they pulled into the parking lot next to the house, it was pouring.

They didn't feel like going to meet their child while they were still shaken up. They exhaled and leaned back in the driver's seat, trying to push themselves to relax.

They didn't even want to look in the direction of their house. They remembered how much happiness and love the building had held and how much misery it had brought them now. They remembered how they and Kabuto had just bought this house, how they had made plans for renovations, and chosen wallpapers and flooring. How Sasuke, who was already living apart from them, had scoffed at the pastel purple colors that had been chosen for the interior of the house and how Kabuto had always argued with him for the same reason. How they had painted the walls in the nursery together, but Kabuto had been constantly distracted by hugging and kissing them, holding their still round belly. How they arranged the pictures, arguing in animated whispers about where their wedding photo would look best, while Log slept quietly in Kabuto's arms.

They hated going back to the house that smelled of dust and delivery food, remembering how they'd always eaten dinner together before, the three of them, and how Kabuto had enjoyed cooking and discussing the week's menu with them. Hated sleeping in a bed where the fucking memory foam mattress still couldn't seem to forget the outline of the other person. They hated how Log was constantly worried, now that his routine was disrupted, how he lost focus in school because of it, and the way all the teachers looked at them as they signed the paperwork to homeschool the boy. They wanted to scream when their sweet son whispered to them about his daddy and whether he would be living with them again for the first time. They hated that they couldn’t possibly tell him the answer.

They opened their eyes, only now realizing that tears had been streaming down their face all along. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and at the same moment, they slammed their fists exhaustively against the steering wheel.

How could he do this? How could he just leave everything behind? How could he leave the two of them?

They drew air into their chest, feeling like it was becoming harder to breathe. Their throat felt like it was being squeezed.

Kabuto had always been there for them. He was there for them when their arms stopped working because of a back injury. He spent hours doing exercises with them, patiently enduring their tantrums of fear and hopelessness. Had it not been for his persistence, they would probably still not have regained mobility in their fingers. He had been involved in the delivery of their child himself and was attending to their every need for months before the birth as if they were made of porcelain. He had stayed up nights and nights in a row, sitting with Log when he was sick. He had comforted them when Log had fallen face-first onto a piece of glass on a walk and then explained to Log that his scar wasn't scary when the kids on the playground started refusing to play with him.

He'd taken up so much space in their lives, and now it was as if there was no life left.

Now he was finding it difficult to maintain life with them. Now he suddenly needed "time apart" and "to feel young and alive again." At least that's what he said. Orochimaru was sure he just wanted to find someone younger and start a family with them.

They desperately wanted a second child, but nothing worked. The doctors just shrugged, there was nothing wrong with either of them, as it seemed. Orochimaru hadn't taken testosterone long enough to get pregnant, not to mention that they had never taken high doses. Their first child had even been conceived without stopping the use of hormones. Kabuto was also healthy. Nothing indicated what could have been the problem.

They were just unlucky.

At least according to the doctors.

Though Orochimaru certainly blamed themselves and only themselves. They were born with a defect and only exacerbated their condition with hormones.

Kabuto denied it, but how could he deny the obvious?

They hadn't been able to get pregnant for a year before Kabuto left.

Not counting a few miscarriages, of course. Most of them, very early. Except for the last one.

It ruined them both altogether, after which they decided to stop trying. For their good.

Sasuke had called specifically, warning them about the nature of their party tonight. He knew they were still sore about the topic, and even Sakura agreed with his decision to warn Orochimaru. Still, they had come after all. Decided to be with their child at such an important moment, even though it ended up as Sasuke thought it would. With a meltdown in the car.

They were wiping their face from tears when suddenly they heard a quiet banging on the car door. They turned their head sharply, seeing a yellow child's umbrella outside the window. Immediately they opened the door.

"Log? Why are you outside?" They asked fearfully.

The boy stood there, sniffling, tears streaming down his face. He was in his favorite blue dinosaur pajamas and rubber boots, holding tightly to the handle of his umbrella. Outside, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

The boy couldn't squeeze out a word, clutching the umbrella even tighter in his hands as thunder rumbled behind him.

Orochimaru jumped out of the car and scooped the child into their arms. Quickly grabbing the bags from the passenger seat, they slammed the car door shut and pressed the button on the keys, setting the car on alarm.

They practically ran into the house, dropping the packages on the floor at the entrance as they went and setting the crying child on the floor.

"Honey, why did you go out in the rain? Were you so afraid of the storm?" They began to talk, wiping tears from Log's chubby cheeks. He just shook his head.

"I was afraid..." The boy was still choking back tears. "For you."

Orochimaru sighed and sat down on the floor in front of the boy. Log squelched his nose and wiped his tears with his hands, clearly scared out of his mind, struggling to cope with his emotions. They reached forward with their hands.

"Come here, sweetheart." They smiled, the way they only smiled at their son. Log was always easily reassured by their soft, friendly smiles. The boy took a step forward and fell into their arms, and they scooped him up immediately. Log buried his face in their wet coat, gripping the fabric tightly with his hands, and they placed their palms on his hair, gently stroking the blond strands. "It's okay, baby, it's okay. Mommy's here for you now. Sorry it took me so long, I'm just a little tired.”

"Have you been crying?" The boy asked, snuggling against their chest as they pulled off his rubber boots.

"No, what are you, I just... "Their gaze met their son's. They realized they didn't want to lie to him anymore. "Yes. I was crying."

"Why?" Log sniffed.

Orochimaru looked at their son, struggling to form an answer. They’d prefer not to answer at all.

In general, Log was difficult to talk to. Long before he and Kabuto broke up when they were still together but already were visibly growing apart, Log had begun to withdraw into himself. Less talking, less playing, less socializing with the kids. But after they broke up, something in him finally broke. One-word sentences and a distant expression became the norm. His therapist argued that it should have passed with time, that he'd just taken the breakup to heart…

It's been half a year. Just recently, he had started smiling again, talking to other children on walks, clapping his hands, and jumping up and down when he was happy. Barely so, but still, it was progress. But Kabuto just had to ruin it, to ask to visit him more and disturb his routine. Orochimaru could not say no. But they could see that their son had begun to regress. The mood swings and unreasonable hopes for his father's return were not good for him.

It was just painful.

"Is it because of Daddy?" The boy asked them quietly.

"Yeah." Orochimaru sighed, mentally berating themselves for allowing themselves to act like that in front of a child. His and Kabuto's problems weren't about their son. Shouldn't have been his burden. They'd tried so hard to keep him from the bitterness of realizing their family was crumbling... but they couldn't.

Log got to his feet, stepping back, giving Orochimaru a strangely thoughtful look.

"I miss daddy, too."

Orochimaru swallowed the lump in their throat and averted their gaze. They got to their feet, pulling off their high-heeled shoes. Log looked at them attentively. They couldn’t bear talking about his father. Not to him at least.

"Aunt Sakura sent over a lot of goodies," They spoke up, picking up the bags, and putting on a cheerful appearance again. "What do you want for dinner? There's mashed potatoes, mac and cheese..."

"Is it my fault Daddy's not coming back?" Log suddenly asked.

Orochimaru froze with the bags in their hands. The boy looked at them with his childishly sincere big eyes, now filled with a sadness that was so inappropriate for his sweet face. They walked past him, putting the bags on the table. They had to be silent for a second, gathering their thoughts so they wouldn't just start crying in front of him again. He shouldn't feel this way. No child deserves this.

"No, honey. Daddy loves you. He loves you very much." They saw the boy look at them with a silent question in his eyes.

Why.

"It's just..." They pulled out a container of sausage. "Daddy doesn't love me anymore. He wants to try living without me around. That's why he doesn't come often."

Tears treacherously rolled down their cheeks. Log immediately ran to them, hugging their legs. He just couldn't reach any higher. They reached lower, picking him up in their arms and kissing his cheek, smiling sadly.

"It happens." They began. "Adults are very stupid and rarely know what they want. Your dad thought he was happy, but he realized he wasn't. Now Daddy looks for happiness in other people and other things. But you, honey, will always be his happiness, as you'll always be mine too."

"Why aren't you his happiness anymore? " Log tried to repeat the gesture that Orochimaru was making, awkwardly brushing the tears away from their cheeks, causing them to start smiling.

"I don't fully know myself. I'm not sure your dad knows the answer either. He just feels that way." Orochimaru sighed and put Log down on the ground. They looked at the bags. "Shall we have cake for dinner tonight?"

"Yes!" The boy was immediately enthusiastic.

"Great, it's decided! " Orochimaru clapped their hands. ”Now you and I are going to wash up, get changed, and go watch Bluey and eat cake, right?"

Log started jumping in place from excitement, upon hearing that he was also going to be allowed to watch TV while he ate. That was normally strictly forbidden.

"Well, go to the bathroom and wash your hands and face, I'll get you some clean pajamas and come over, okay?"

The boy nodded cheerfully and ran to the bathroom.

"Don't run! You'll slip!" Orochimaru shouted back at him and sighed.

They looked at their reflection in the mirror, hanging at the entrance of the house, not that far from the kitchen, and shook their head.

They should also wash their face.

[justatypicalwizard]

Wants Within | S. Shinazugawa | Chapter 10

✦ Sanemi Shinazugawa x femReader!, college au, reader is adult

✦ Synopsis: You're a college student taking classes with a very strict lecturer- professor Shinazugawa. Because of an unfortunate even you got on his bad side so now you're trying everything to regain in his eyes. Well, you most certainely didn't expect that kind of attention.

✦ Word count: 2,8k

18+, minors do not interact

You had the feeling that you're sitting too stiff, your hands are too sweaty, your legs are like wood. Everything was off about you when he pierced you with his gaze. Panicking out of excitement, you instantly grabbed your phone, the screen illuminating your face as you checked the time.

''Nine minutes.'' You breathed out quietly, not looking at him.

''Mhm.'' He nodded with affirmation.

You were stiff fidgeting with your fingers. You could not think about anything to talk about. He was so close, so good looking, everything was dark, the only light source being the city lamps seen from the vast windows of his apartment.

''The semester nearly ended, you must have written all of your exams already, didn't you?'' He started and you were grateful he picked up the university topic once more.

''Yes, I don't have anything else to pass. Everything went well.'' You answered in a stiff manner.

''And how did you like my classes?'' His prying voice echoed in your head.

''They were interesting. I've really learned a lot of things.'' You started, feeling your breath shallow. ''Sometimes you were more demanding and... hard to please, professor.''

''You think I'm hard to please?'' You couldn't believe he caught that one not relevant phrase that you used because you were out of ideas.

''I just phrased out myself in a poor way, what I meant was...'' You wanted to explain but he interrupted you.

''I know what you meant, Miss Y/N.'' You literally had no idea whether he is still talking about the university or maybe...

Realising you're once again thinking about weird stuff you blushed hard. He saw it even in the dim light lurking out of the windows.

''What do you have on your mind?'' The white haired man didn't ask, he demanded an answer.

''Nothing in particular.'' You squeaked out.

''No need to lie to me.'' His slick voice smacked you with realisation.

Finally, you looked him in the eye. He had a smirk on his face, as if he had won something he really badly wanted. Your face expressed pure shock and guilt, you felt exposed.

''No need to be ashamed.'' He added upon seeing your facial expression. ''You're not the only one.'' Shinazugawa purred, looking innocently to the side.

Blinking a few times, you asked yourself whether you were the first person he treated that way... or maybe just the next one. Could Shinobu be right?

''But you're the only one not annoying me with your behaviour.'' He whispered, giving you a glance from under his long eyelashes.

For Shinazugawa this was now or never. He risked a lot, but his lust was just too big.

Then, just as you were about to say something in your defence, you heard something pop. Turning your head to the windows, you saw thousands of fireworks, erupting in the night sky. They covered all the stars with their colourful pieces. Something blasted next to your head and you spotted Shinazugawa opening the champagne bottle. Standing up, he poured you one glass and the other one for himself. Lifting it up in the air, he waited for you.

''Happy new year Miss Y/N.''

''H-happy new year.'' You mumbled.

''Answer me. Do you want this?'' His gaze pierced you.

''Hm?'' You were unsure of what he was asking.

Realising it, he moved closer to you, towering over your form.

''You're a smart girl, but I think I need to put this one more bluntly.'' Bending over slightly, he moved his face closer to yours, his hot breath tickling your ear. ''Do you want to go to bed with me?''

Your throat clenched as the answer desperately wanted to get out. Your mind was hazy with lust.

''...yes.'' You whispered.

His lips clashed with yours. You felt him taking the glass out of your hand. The world around spun as you focused on his mouth seeking entrance into your. He was not about to go slow. His hands sneaked under your thighs, picking you up. Still, kissing you he made his way to his bedroom.

Throwing you on the double bed, he looked upon you, his eyes glistening in the darkness.

''Turn around.'' he demanded and you obeyed.

Feeling his weight on the bed behind you, you saw his hands sneaking around your waist. He explored your body, grabbing and squeezing whatever he liked. Soon, the zipper of your black dress was undone and he was slipping it off of your arms. Helping him out, you freed yourself from the garthment. The man opened your bra and you were left only with your panties and stockings. Feeling exposed, you tried to cover your breasts with your hands but he didn't let you.

''Are you gonna hide from me now, after what you agreed to?'' He purred into your ear, making you loosen your arms.

Groping your breasts he kissed your neck. Moving his chin upwards he caressed your cheek with his face.

''How do you want me to take you?'' The white haired asked.

''I don't know.'' You answered, gasping as you felt him pinch your nipple.

''So, should I pick?'' His voice was heavy with lust and he seemed very pleased with where this was going.

''Yes.'' You mumbled.

''Okay.'' He snickered. ''If you would like me to stop with anything just say 'physics'.''

With that he grabbed your head and pushed it into the soft bed sheets. His other arm sneaked around your hips, pulling them up so that your ass was as high as he wanted it to be. Grabbing your panties he pulled with force, ripping them on their seam. A gasp escaped your lips when you felt a cold breeze on your folds.

He put one finger in his mouth, slicking it good and not waiting for any answer, he circled his fingertip around your entrance.

''Tell me to do it, I want you to please.'' He growled smacking your ass with his free hand.

A squeak found its way out of your throat.

''Please.'' You mumbled.

''Please what?''

Making up your mind, you decided that the last bits of shame were about to leave your body and mind.

''Please finger me, professor.'' You were ready to get what you wanted, but Shinazugawa suddenly stopped massaging your pussy.

Pushing his hips into your and his chest into your back, he once again hovered over your ear.

''Let's get one thing straight. If I'm about to rail you, you call me by my first name and you know damn well what it is.'' Pushing himself up he once again started to rub your entrance.

''Please, finger me... Sanemi.'' The sound of his name, so lewd in your lips, drew him crazy.

Sanemi pushed his long finger all the way between your walls, earning a gasp from you. He pushed it in and out a few times, stretching you. Then, he started to seek. Moving around in you slowly, he waited for that one hitched breath that was about to come out if he found it. Feeling him around in you, you clenched the bed sheets. Not knowing what to expect you just waited, grunting from time to time. Then, it hit you. He brushed around something that sent a faint signal down your spine and legs. It was not an explosion of pleasure but more like the first step. You gasped and tensed your tights which made your walls clench slightly.

This was the sign for him.

Bending over on you, he went back to that place making your hips start to move. The pleasure slowly, shyli building up in you. It was a light sensation that felt like it could be lost anytime. Sanemi was not about to make that happen. Seeing you picking up the game, as your body pushed into his, he clenched his fingers around your neck, pulling it up, arching your spine in a delightful manner. Moving his lips to your neck he whispered.

''Tell me where it feels the best baby.''

His teeth sunk into your skin and a new wave of pleasure escalated from your warm bottom. His other hand found your right breast and pinched on your erected nipple. Shinazugawa shifted his weight on you, standing on his knees and using the grabbing hand to steady himself. The three places where you felt a slight pain and overflowing pleasure mixed and made the sensation in your pussy triple.

Now it didn't feel like it was about to vanish, it was very physical and overwhelming. You felt your walls squeeze lightly and his snowwhite hair tickled your ear. Wanting to know how it feels, you tighten your kegel muscles and a loud moan escapes your lips. Breathing heavily you were not able to squeeze those muscles any longer, the sensation that it gave, pairing with his finger and mouth, was just too much.

''You ever had an orgasm?'' He asked, also panting a bit.

''Not really, agh, I don't think so.'' You spat out between your deep breaths.

''Then I'll give you your first one.'' He snickered into your ear. ''Clench them, open and close, the way you want, but don't stop.'' He ordered you and you did as he wanted.

Tensing your muscles once more you groaned from the amount of pleasure you felt. Doing as he told you, you soon found your own tempo that paired with his, making your lips part and soft moans escape them. The feeling built up making your head light. Your legs tensed more and more with every second, the muscles in your tights twitching from time to time delicately. Your hips moved side to side, brushing over his. His teeth and tongue marking your neck, making you feel absolutely wonderful. You knew it was going to leave marks, and that's what drew you over the line, the feeling of being his small, small, obedient slut.

You felt higher and higher as your body gave out more and more signs of the upcoming.

''Sanemi, ugh!'' You wanted to say something but the sound of his name made him bite you hard. ''I think I'm-I'm, mmm, is it not better to come, uh, together?'' You finally spat out.

''Oh baby, if you were squeezing me like that I would burst in a second. Let yourself relax first. If you want to give me real pleasure, say it out loud when you'll be cumming.''

Groaning at the sound of his voice you only lasted a short while.

An extreme wave of pleasure flushed through your body, from your core upwards. You were no longer in control of your own muscles as they acted on their own. Every tense sent a new, pleasing wave. Moaning out loud, you let yourself sink in that feeling.

''Sanemi!''

You gave your legs a break, falling on the bed, experiencing new parts of your body. After a few seconds your core stopped throbbing and you slowly started to focus on the world around you. Yoru head was spinning slightly as if you were intoxicated and your arms and legs felt relaxed, the warmth of your core calming down.

The man pulled his finger out of you, standing up slowly, looking at your lying form. He helped you up, holding you tightly, both of you sitting on your knees.

''How did it feel?'' He asked, pleased.

''Good, you made me feel good.'' You smiled, pushing your head into his chest.

He laughed slightly, turning you around on the bed. You looked him up and down, waiting for more.

''Are you just going to stare at me or will you finally undress me?'' He gave you a raised brow look.

Blushing, you took one of the buttons of his black shirt into your hands. Undoing it you revealed more and more of his toned chest. His muscles were standing proud in front of your face. Wondering how you achieved this, you let out a small sigh, done with your work. Helping him slide the shirt down, your breasts pushed into his exposed chest, as you looked at him. The man patted his belt. Quickly, you unmade it and he slid it out of his pants. You went to work with his trousers. Grabbing the button holding them on his hips you brushed his erection, realising it's there. Blushing hard, you proceeded, undressing him fully.

''Oh.'' A shocked sound left your throat as you standed, face to face with his erection. It was bigger than you expected. ''How will it fit?''

''You're a skillful girl, you'll manage.'' He smirked, proud of himself. ''Do you want to please me now?''

Nodding, you knew what to do.

Grabbing his penis in your hand, you moved your palm up and down slightly. Giving the tip a shy lick, you circled your tongue over it. Taking it all in your mouth, you sucked lightly, matching the movement of your hand. His beck straightened up as he was pleased with what you were doing. Speeding up a bit you sucked him more pushing his tip all around your cheeks from the inside and deeper in your throat. Unfortunately, you felt a blockade at the end that gave a gag reflex.

''Do you know how to deepthroat?'' He asked, looking down on you and caressing your cheek.

''No.'' You shook your head, taking him out of your mouth. ''Never done it.''

''I can teach you if you want.'' He glanced down. ''But you don't have to if you're not feeling like it, it's not easy.''

''I want to try.'' You bursted, excited.

''Okay, just be careful.'' He nodded. ''You need to take it further slowly. Sit comfortably and relax your back. Breath between pushes, when I'm out of your mouth. Try to surpass the gag reflex, pushing yourself a bit more every time. If you think it's too much just push out, I won't move until you say it's okay for me to do so. Most important, relax your throat, don't make sounds and focus on your breath. If you do that, you should be able to take it. Remember, it will still burn no matter how good you are in it so be sure you want to do it. It may hurt your throat afterwards.'' He gave you the instructions.

Focusing on your goal, you took him in as deep as you could. Feeling the tight sensation you pushed a little bit more, gagging instantly. Trying once more it was the same. The third time however, you felt like you could go a bit further. Repeating this action on and on you took more and more of him, feeling his taste deep down your mouth.

Meanwhile, Shinazugawa stared at you, your eyes closed as you learned how to please him. His manhood drips with your spit and disappears further in your mouth every time. To be fair he thought you wouldn't be able to do it, but he felt the back of your throat harder and harder within minutes. It was hard for him not to slam himself into you, yet, he didn't want to hurt you so he fought with himself, waiting for the moment. Closing his eyes, he relaxed and focused on his lower parts, experiencing all of your mouth. A small moan escaped his lips.

After some time you caressed the side of his hip making him open his eyes. Looking down he spotted your lips touching his pubic mound. Letting out a small laugh he tangled his fingers into your hair.

''Good girl, you learned really quickly. Now move faster.''

Doing as he asked you, you started to pull and push, picking up on your speed. Soon, you had a nice tempo, opening your throat for him everytime. Yes, it did hurt but you didn't care. The sensation building down in your pussy was more important.

Pulling out completely, you locked eyes with him.

''Deepthroat me.'' You stated.

''I think you're not ready...'' He wanted to oppose.

''Fuck mu throat NOW. You'll repay me in a while. Fuck my throat, please, Sanemi.''

''You really don't know what you're playing with, don't you?''

He grabbed the back of your head, pulling on your tangled hair and slammed himself down into you. Tears built up in your eyes and fell down your cheeks but he felt you relax even more. Seeing all the signals, he started to ride out your mouth, feeling his tip caress your back. Panting and moaning he pleased himself with you, you gladly accepted it.

Your body was limp and your head held tight by Sanemi, but you felt wonderful. You felt used just in the way you wanted.

Suddenly, he pulled out, not ending in your mouth.

''I want to fuck you.'' 

SERIES MASTERLIST