#listen she knows he likes it. Couldn’t be me my armpits would hurt like hell but i guess he is different

[moonilit]

I can’t get enough of her carrying her bf like that 😭😭 she just pick him up, like she showing off what she found on the ground 😭

they are a perfect blend between silly and deadly like gbhrgjgv

[bakugousbussy]

Plus Ultra

BakuDeku w/ Lee! Deku & Ler! Bakugou

Summary: Ever since being enrolled in U.A. Midoriya won’t quit saying “Plus Ultra!” Whether it would be meaningful like when he was giving a pep talk, or stupid like when he was trying to open a jar of pickles. And Bakugou was getting annoyed.

-

It started off as a beautiful day. The sun was slowly starting to peak out from behind the horizon, birds chirping a sweet tune, dew resting on the grass.

Bakugou opened his eyes, it was 630AM, he sat up and took a deep gulp of air. Enjoying the morning’s peace and quiet, sighing happily at the scene. Nothing could ruin his day.

Around 730AM, everyone else started to awake and emerge from their dorm rooms and into the common area. Small talk, morning greetings, and the smell of breakfast filled the air.

“Can you pass me the ketchup please?” Uraraka turned to ask Midoriya, while pointing at the red bottle that was next to him.

“Oh yeah of course!” Deku beamed her a smile as he passed her the bottle.

Uraraka fiddled with the cap for about a minute before sighing out loud, defeated.

“Deku can you open it?” She hands the bottle back to Deku, giving him a small smile and looking down at her food, slightly embarrassed. Imagine being a pro-hero in training and losing to a bottle of ketchup.

Deku notices her visual distress, “Hey, don’t worry! You know what you need to do? Go Plus Ultra! Focus all your strength and try again!” He shot her a wide smile.

Bakugou, who was sitting on the couch at the time, listening to their conversation, just rolls his eyes. “Go pLuS ULtRa!” He mocks, whispering to himself.

“You’re right Deku! Hand the bottle back!” Excitement and determination replaced her previous embarrassed face, as she grabbed the bottle from Deku before struggling a bit with the cap, but finally popping it off.

“Deku I did it!” Uravity exclaims, huge smile plastered on her face.

“Because you did it PLUS ULTRA!”

Deku and Uraraka laugh and continued to finish their breakfast before the school day started.

It was 830AM and the members of the Bakusquad were all seated in the common area impatiently waiting for Kirishima.

“Kirishima hurry up!” Mina sighed, looking at the red head.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I forgot about the math worksheet! I have like 5 problems left!” Kirishima responded with a panic, trying to quickly solve the math problems in front of him.

“We’re going to be late for school if you don’t hurry up, then Aizawa sensei is gonna chew us out!” Denki said with a hint of fear laced in his words.

“Tch. Shitty hair, we better not be late because of you.” Bakugou snarled from his position on the couch.

Midoriya sat on the opposite side of the table Kirishima was working on. Deku was engrossed in his hero notebook, writing thoughts, making up strategies, all while mumbling to himself. The green haired boy snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a frustrated sigh coming from Kirishima.

“Kirishima are you okay?” Izuku asked with genuine concern.

“This last problem is hurting my brain!” Kirishima whined, erasing his previous markings and letting out another frustrated sigh when he dropped his pencil from erasing too hard.

“Don’t worry! You know what you need to do? Just make your brain go Plus Ultra!” Midoriya nodded as he gave Kirishima his nonhelpful advice.

The phrase made Bakugou once again roll his eyes. Make your brain go Plus Ultra? How are you even going to do that? That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Nobody with half a brain cell is going to believe they can make their stupid brain go ‘Plus Ultra’. Bakugou thought.

“You’re so right MidoBro!”

Of course Shitty hair is going to eat that crap up. Bakugou finished his thought. Scowl on his face as he scrolled through his phone, angrily listening to the conversation.

“And there, it’s done!” Kirishima sighed in relief as he shoved his now finished math homework into his backpack. “Thank you for encouraging me Midoriya! And thank you brain for going Plus Ultra!” Kirishima happy danced his way over to the Bakusquad. “Alright let’s head to class!”

Time was going by so slow. Bakugou felt like he’s been in the same class forever. When the bell finally rang he jumped with excitement.

Finally, my favorite class. Bakugou thought, a small grin creeping on his face. Gym.

Everyone got changed into their gym clothes and met Aizawa sensei at USJ.

“Okay students, I will be splitting you up into partners and you will have to work together to stay hidden. Me and some of the other teachers are going to try to catch you.” Aizawa stated, monotone.

“Like a game of hide and seek?” Mina asked, excited that training today was more of a game than actual training.

“Correct. The winning team gets a prize.”

Ooh’s and ahh’s filled the air as the students got psyched to play. All wondering what the special prize at the end was. Everyone was determined. It’s gonna be one hell of a game.

Aizawa quickly broke up the chatter. “Listen, partners are:

Aoyama & Ashido

Asui & Hagakure

Iida & Jiro

Kaminari & Koda

Kirishima & Mineta

Ojiro & Sato

Sero & Uraraka

Bakugou & Midoriya

Shoji & Yaoyorozu

Todoroki & Tokoyami”

“Trade partners.” Bakugou asked everyone. No way was he going to be stuck with his childhood friend, turned enemy, turned rival.

“There will be no trading partners.” Aizawa stated, pinching the bridge of his nose in a annoyance. “You have 10 minutes to think of a strategy, you can use the whole training center, there will be a bell that rings after your 10 minutes of planning, when the bell rings, you have approximately 6 minutes before the other teachers and I start hunting. Understood?”

“Yes!” Said all the students unanimously, quickly finding their designated partners and started planning their survival, working together flawlessly.

All except Bakugou and Deku.

“Come on Kacchan I think it would be better to hide in the forest so we can hide in all the trees!” Deku whined at the explosive blonde.

“Tch. No nerd, we’re going to the city.” Bakugou stubbornly argued.

Bickering went back and forth and before they knew it, their 10 minute planning time was up and the bell rang. Everyone started to scatter, running to their chosen areas. Bakugou and Midoriya were too caught up in fighting that they didn’t decide on a place, so they both just ran. No plan, just running.

They ended up in the city area and hid in what seemed to be like a little bomb shelter. It was a little room underground, they had to take some sketchy staircase hidden inside a bar to get there.

Breathing hard, they both looked at each other and nodded, agreeing this was a good place to hide.

As time went by, Deku tried to make conversation with the explosive blonde, but Bakugou just ignored the green haired boy the whole time.

They heard some commotion outside of their hiding spot. Sounds like another team was hiding near us and got caught. Bakugou thought.

15 minutes of hiding passed, and Deku had a huge smile plastered on his face.

“What are you smiling about Deku?” Bakugou asked with annoyance.

“This hiding place is so good! It’s like we’re hiding Plus Ultra!” Deku beamed, hands shaking from all the excitement.

Not that shit again.

“You know what. That’s it.” Bakugou said as he tackled Deku to the floor, both boys landing with a huge thump. “I’m sick of hearing ‘Plus Ultra’ come out of your mouth. Plus Ultra this, Plus Ultra that. I’ll show you Plus Ultra you nerd.” Bakugou pins Deku to the floor and pinning his arms above his head with one hand.

“Kacchan wait!” Midoriya begs, shaking his head while tugging at his hands to try to get Bakugou off, not sure what is going to happen to him.

Bakugou wastes no time as he shoots his free hand into Midoriya’s exposed armpit.

“AHHAHAHA NAHAHAHAHAH KAHAHAHACCHAHAHAN!” Midoriya laughs out, surprised.

“Every time you speak all i hear is ‘Plus Ultra,’ so I’m going to take your advice nerd, and tickle you. Plus. Ultra.” Bakugou teases, with emphasis on the last two words, digging in a little harder into the green hairs’ armpit.

“WAHAHAHAHAIT IHIHIHIHIHI’M SOHOHOHOHORRY!” Midoriya squeezes his eyes shut, kicking his legs miserably.

A distant memory floods Bakugou’s mind. It was back in their elementary days. The two boys were in this same position, Deku a giggling mess under Kacchan. They had just finished school, and Deku was in a rather sad mood, and Bakugou cheered him up with tickles. Things were simpler back then, Bakugou thought to himself, a genuine smile forming on his face as he thought of his childhood. He was brought back to reality when he heard a small scream.

“NGA! KAHAHAHAHACCHAHAHAHAN NOHOHOHOHO MOHOHOHORE!” The broccoli headed boy cried out with laughter, trying to buck the blonde off of him.

Bakugou responded with an evil laugh, and released Midoriya’s wrists, and used both of his free hands to dig into Deku’s ribs. Resulting in waves of high pitched shrieks from Deku.

“STAHAHAHAHAP! NAHAHAHAHA! KAHAHAHAHCCHAN HAHAHAHAHAVE MEHEHEHEHEHERCY! SOHOHOHOHOME OHOHOHOHONE HEHEHEHELP MEHEHEHE!” Midoriya’s eyes started to collect puddles of mirthful tears, as he endured the ticklish torture.

“Tch. Deku, nobody can hear you down here. Guess you’re just gonna have to take it, and go…….?” Bakugou paused, words laced with that teasing tone that Midoriya couldn’t help but blush at. Continuing to assault Deku’s ribs, waiting for an answer.

“PLUHUHUHUHUS UHUHUHUHULTRA HAHAHAHA IHIHIHIHI GEHEHEHEHET IHIHIHIHIT!” Midoriya spat back, shaking his head, hoping the blonde had enough fun tickling the shit outta him.

Bakugou moved his fingers rhythmically, up and down Deku’s ribs, almost like playing a piano, not letting a single rib escape from his tickle attack.

“Oh-hoho, now you’re getting it.” Bakugou couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as he looked at the scene beneath him. “And now for the best part.” With those words, Bakugou stopped his fingers. And Midoriya’s eyes grew wide.

“No no no Kacchan, you know I can’t take it there.” Midoriya blurted out through gasps of air, tired from the previous attack, but still trying to push the explosive blonde off of him trying to protect himself.

“But what’s that thing you always say?” Bakugou pressed his fingers into his chin creating a thinking pose. “Hmmm, oh yeah! Don’t worry! You know what you need to do?” Bakugou’s hands lowered themselves to each side of Midoriya’s hip bones.

“Go.” Bakugou started to knead softly at Izuku’s hips. Resulting in loud giggles from the boy.

“Plus.” Bakugou added more pressure, circling his fingers on the sensitive bone. Louder laughter exploded from the boy.

“Ultra!” Bakugou dug his fingers into Deku’s hips and Deku lost his shit.

“KAHAHAHAHAA-” Deku couldn’t even finish his attackers name before he fell into silent laughter. His hipbones were the most ticklish and he couldn’t last very long once someone started tickling him there. Since they were younger, Bakugou would always use this little piece of information to his advantage.

The green haired boy’s tears finally fell from his eyes, leaving his cheeks tear stained. Midoriya’s arms flailed and tried to remove the explosive blonde’s hands away from his death spot. Failing of course.

About a minute later, the tickling slowed, until it finally came to a stop. Bakugou’s hands resting on the boy’s hips.

Residual giggles left Deku’s lips, and Bakugou hopped of his waist. Deku sat up, enjoying his freedom. Bakugou’s eyes were fixated on Midoriya. His hair a mess from the attack he just endured, cheeks still a little damp from mirthful tears, sweat building on his forehead. Bakugou mentally awed at the sight.

Midoriya could feel the stares coming from his childhood friend, and turned to face him, eyes meeting with each others. Deku gave Bakugou a smile and Bakugou looked away.

“Tch. Don’t think we’re friends or something, I just wanted you to shut it with that Plus Ultra shit.” Bakugou scoffed, permanent scowl plastered on his face. He knew that was a lie.

Midoriya was just about to reply when they heard loud bells, and an announcement that followed. “2 teams left! Who will be the last to survive?!” Both boys heard Present Mic practically scream out.

The game wasn’t over.

[stellarstarwarsimagines]

Lie For Me (Part III of V) (Part I) (Part II)

Pairing - Modern!Ben Solo x Reader

Summary - Something has changed in the relationship between you and Ben. No longer can you say that you hate him. You find yourself wanting to spend alone time with him, and you volunteer to drive out to his parents house out with him to check on Chewy. The question is, does he feel the same? 

Word Count - 5.7k

Warnings - None! 

Something had changed. There was no doubt about it. As soon as Ben walked in the door behind Poe for your movie night, it was different. Normally there’d be a rolling of eyes, a sarcastic comment about how happy you were to see each other that turned to fighting that turned to the two of you being kept in separate rooms until you had both calmed down enough to be in the same area as each other without bickering. 

This time there were smiles, but he seemed . . . weird. Well, weirder than normal. He was leaning to one side and his fingers were twitching as he handed over a bottle of wine to you. 

“Two bottles from you in a row, Solo. What did I do to deserve this one?” You asked, grinning up at him, and trying to put him at ease as you reached for his arm and tugged him inside. 

“You put up with my parents for two hours. I should’ve bought you a whole case.” Ben replied, but nevertheless eased up somewhat, his tense jaw loosening. 

But you shrugged your shoulders. While you didn’t think Ben’s parents were that bad, you also hadn’t been through the same things with them as Ben had, so you chose not to comment on that. “But I got to see your childhood bedroom, and pet your dog, so it was a win for me.” 

“Even though you missed the shrine to Satan?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at you. 

It was going to take some time to get used to him teasing you. “Yes, even if I’m disappointed about it.” You replied, letting out a laugh. Watching your friends get comfortable in your living room in their various positions, you glanced back over at Ben. “Wanna help me with the popcorn?” You asked. 

To your slight surprise he nodded, and followed you into the kitchen. 

While you started getting everyone’s favorite drinks together, you put him in charge of the popcorn. “You know, there is one other thing that I am disappointed about.” You told him. 

“What?” Ben asked, and you could hear the air of curiosity in his voice. 

Once you had the rest of the drinks, you turned around and pouted at him. “I didn’t get to see those baby pictures.” 

He rolled his eyes at you as he started opening bags of popcorn, “and you never will.” 

You crossed your arms over your chest, your pout turning into a bit of a smirk as a thought struck you. “I wonder if Leia could send them to me over text . . . or even email . . .” You pretended to ponder. 

Ben wasn’t buying it though. “You don’t have her phone number, or her email, so I think it’s safe to say that those two options are out for you.” 

“But you do . . .” You replied, taking a couple of steps closer to him. 

He watched you through narrowing eyes, and you knew that he was trying to figure out what game you were playing. “Yes . . .” He answered. 

Taking a chance, you lunged forward, grabbing his phone out of his front pocket and holding it up with a satisfied smile. “In here.” You looked down at the phone, turning your back to Ben for a brief moment and gasped when it turned on at once. “You don’t even have a lock on your phone?! Are you a psychopath?” You asked him in disbelief. 

“I’ve got nothing to hide,” he said, swiping for it, but you moved it out of his way so he couldn’t reach. “Give it back.” He said. 

“I will, as soon as I find Leia’s phone number.” You teased as you started to look for his contacts. “Oh my god, even your apps are in alphabetical order - oof!” You let out a gasp as Ben grabbed you from behind, wrapping his arm around you as he used his other to try and grab his phone. 

“Give it back,” he whispered in your ear in a low voice. 

You were startled, not only by how he had pulled you against his chest with no effort, but by the way that your heart reacted to it. It was pounding so hard it hurt. The two of you hadn’t been this close since you danced together a few weeks earlier, and you had forgotten how . . . nice it was to be so engulfed by him. 

Swallowing, you shook your head, trying not to let how much his embrace was affecting you show. “Make me, Solo.” You snapped back, holding the phone out of arm’s reach, a smirk on your lips, as you glanced over your shoulder at him. 

There was something strange in his expression, almost a challenge as he answered your smirk with one of his own. “You know I can.” Ben replied, and instead of doing what you expected, which was reaching out with his much larger arms and grabbing the phone, he began tickling your side with the arm around you. 

Letting out a screech you began swatting at his hand. How the hell did he know you were ticklish?! He was unrelenting as his fingers brushed up and down your sides from the bottom of your armpits to your hips. You tried to keep the phone out of his reach, but you couldn’t help it as you burst into laughter. He grabbed the phone and shoved it in his back pocket. “That wasn’t fair!” You complained, breathless as he let up on the tickling. 

You didn’t have to see his face to know that he was smiling, but you looked anyway. You glanced over your shoulder to see a cute smile you had never seen on his face. It was a happy smile, a smile that you had caught glimpses of, but never seen in full. It was so contagious, you couldn’t help but smile back. “I know.” He said, and for a split second, you thought he might have leaned even closer to you. 

And you found yourself wanting him too. 

“Is everything okay in here?” The both of you looked up to find Poe in the doorway, looking at the both of you with curious eyes. 

Ben stepped away from you, and you felt heat rushing up to your face at the position that your friend had found the two of you in. “Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?” You answered, maybe a little too quickly. 

Poe’s eyebrow raised as he looked between the two of you. You wondered what he saw on Ben’s face when he did, because you were too scared to look. “We heard screaming. Wanted to make sure the two of you weren’t going at it again.” 

“We’re fine,” but from the tenseness in Ben’s voice, it was clear that the two of you had been up to something. Not giving Poe the chance to ask any more questions, he grabbed the popcorn and made his way out of the room, leaving Poe and you alone. 

He was still staring at you, his eyes narrowed, and you couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable under his gaze. “What?” You snapped, wondering why he was staring at you. 

“Something’s happening between the two of you. I’ve got my eye on it.” He replied, pointing his two fingers at his eyes and then back to you. 

You rolled your eyes, grabbing the drinks, and pushed past Poe back into your living room. 

Movie nights at your place have been happening for several years now. Poe, Finn, and Rose always took up one of the couches while Rey and you took up the little two person loveseat, which left Ben the recliner. It was a system that had been going strong since the first movie night. 

Apparently today, Rey decided to change it. When you walked in, you were surprised to see Rey reclined back, watching you with a little devilish grin on her lips, nodding her head to the remaining spot on the loveseat. 

With Ben. 

Sometimes, your friends were way too meddlesome. You didn’t want anyone to think their little trick had affected you though. You handed everybody their drinks, settling on the couch next to Ben and grabbed the remote. “It’s stand up night isn’t it?” 

“Then Comedy!” Finn spoke up from the couch. 

“Then horror.” Rey said, giving you a scheming look. 

You let out a sigh. Everyone in this apartment knew that you hated horror movies. You were easy to scare, and now you were even more sure that Rey had set this seating arrangement up on purpose. “Fine,” you mumbled under your breath as you flipped it to the stand up show you guys had been watching recently. 

As usual, everyone started drifting off about the third movie. They almost always did, beginning with Rose, Finn, Poe and lastly Rey, but Rey seemed determined tonight to at least stay up until the horror movie started. Probably to make sure you were going to play it. 

She knew you too well. 

When you hit play, you leaned back against the couch, bringing your feet up off the ground, so the demons couldn’t get them, and sighed, knowing what you were in for. You were distracted from your thoughts when Ben nudged your side. You looked up at him to find him holding out your blanket, your security object, towards you. With a grateful smile, you took it from him, wrapping it around you, and not even noticing how much closer you had put yourself to Ben in the process. 

You also didn’t notice the way that he leaned even more into you. 

When the movie started, you knew within the first five minutes that you were in for it. You hated jump scares so much, and that was all this movie seemed to be. Within ten minutes, you had your blanket under your nose, watching with wide eyes, waiting, anticipating the next scare. 

“You know, you can almost always tell when the scare’s coming by the music.” Ben whispered in your ear. 

Looking up at him, you noticed for the first time how close the two of you had gotten. There were mere inches between your faces, and you felt your heart beat pick up with that newfound knowledge. Why was he so close? Why had you gotten so close? You were so distracted; you took a minute to comprehend what he had said. “I - what?” You asked, hoping he took your stuttering as scared, and not having anything to do with his proximity. 

Ben seemed to be unaffected by how close you two were sitting. You could tell no difference in his voice or anything like that, but he also didn’t move away from you like you would have expected. It seemed he was going to continue to surprise you tonight. “Listen to the music. It almost always gets louder, and then goes silent right before there’s a jump scare. Trust me.” Ben whispered to you. 

Deciding to listen for his tips, you turned back to the screen, right in time for a demonic looking ghost to pop out, screaming. 

Letting out a yelp of your own, you covered your head with the blanket, cowering into Ben’s side without a second thought, even as you heard him and Rey, still awake on the chair, laughing at you. “That’s the last time I trust you, Ben Solo.” You mumbled under the pillow. 

“Hey, I did say almost, not all the time.” You heard him reply, and then felt a tug on the blanket, a pout on your face as he tugged it off your head. You had to bite your bottom lip though, when you caught sight of his face, that smile you had seen earlier back on it. It was hard not to smile back at him when he was looking at you like that, but you tried to resist. 

“Still,” you said, crossing your arms over your chest. 

Ben shook his head, that grin seeming to widen as he looked at you. “You, um -” He reached around you, draping his arm across your shoulders and reaching into your hair. “You had some wool.” He said, plucking it out and flicking it away.

Heat flooded your cheeks, and you didn’t even know why. “Oh, thanks,” you replied, giving him a small smile that he returned. 

You expected him to take his arm off of you, but the evening’s surprises continued when he didn’t. It was loose, and you knew you could shake it off if you wanted to, and nothing would be said about it . . . 

But you didn’t. 

Instead you curled into his side even more, tucking yourself into him and his warmth, almost snuggling into him as you let your head rest against his side. Then his thumb started stroking your shoulder, and your whole body relaxed. You couldn’t help but wonder when this change had happened. What moment had you started feeling so comfortable around him when a month ago you would have shoved him away? Just like how it had been hard to pinpoint when your dislike for him had begun up until two weeks ago, it was now hard to determine when you started liking Ben. 

And you knew, deep down, that it wasn’t the type of like you had for Poe, or Finn . . . No. Your heart didn’t react to their touches the way it reacted to Ben. This was a whole different story. 

The fact was . . . at some point and time, that hate had changed to something much more. 

____________________

The loud shrill of a cell phone pulled you out of your slumber. You groaned into the warmth at your side, reaching out until you found the offending object and answered it without a second thought. “Hello?” You mumbled, your voice rough with sleep. 

The voice on the other end of the line startled you awake though as soon as she said your name, because it made you realize you had answered Ben’s phone. “Leia, I’m sorry, we were sleeping, and I didn’t see whose phone -” You shot upright, making Ben groan next to you as you disrupted the position he had fallen asleep in. Partially asleep, his hand slid from your shoulder to your hip, and heat rushed to your face as his hand met the bare skin where your top had ridden up. If that didn’t make you flustered enough, his thumb started rubbing circles into your skin, and you were going to -

“Did you hear me?” 

“Oh, no, I’m sorry, can you say that again?” You asked, attempting to focus on anything other than Ben Solo’s large hand. 

“I’m sure Ben’s asleep, but could you wake him up for me? We need him to go check on the house. The alarm for the gate’s gone off which means that Chewy’s got out again.” Leia told you. 

“Of course, give me a second, and I’ll see what I can do.” Dropping the phone at your side, you placed your hand on Ben’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Ben, Leia’s on the phone. She needs to talk to you.” 

All he did was grunt, which you should have expected. 

Sighing, you began to shake his shoulder more vigorously. “Ben, come on, you’ve got to wake up. Leia says that Chewy has gotten out, and you need to go check on him.” You told him. 

At least one word of that sentence managed to get through his sleepy brain. “Chewy?” He repeated, his voice low with sleep. 

Dear God why was that voice so hot? “Um, y-yeah, Leia says he’s got out. She’s on the phone.” You told him, placing the phone in his hand. You bit your lip as his hand gripped your bare hip for another second as he hoisted himself up, but then he dropped it, bringing it back to his own thigh as if it had never been around you in the first place. 

“Mom?” he said, bringing the phone up to his ear, his voice groggy and deep. “No, you didn’t interrupt a date, but yeah I’ll go check on him.” His mother must have said something else then, because he glanced at you for a quick moment before he responded. “Mom, I can drive fine, and she’s tired too, I doubt she wants to drive out to the house with me -”

You didn’t even think about what you were doing. You grabbed the phone back from Ben’s hand and put it up to your ear. “Don’t worry, Leia, I’ll go with him.” 

“Thank you, Sweetheart. You two please be careful, and thank you so much.” Leia told you. “We don’t know what we’d do if something ever happened to Chewy.” 

“It’s no problem. We’ll let you know as soon as we know he’s safe and sound.” You assured her. Then the two of you said your goodbyes, and you hung up the phone, turning back to Ben. “Well, I guess we better get out of here.” 

He looked exhausted. He was rubbing sleep from his eyes and you could tell that if you let him, he would be asleep again in about ten seconds. “Listen, I know you told my mom you would come with me, but you don’t have to -”

“It’s fine,” you brushed off, standing up and stretching your arms out over your head, arching your back and trying to get a good stretch. “I can see why she doesn’t want you driving. You take a bit to wake up, don’t you?” 

You said so because he was staring at your stomach, looking a little dazed. When you looked down to see if you had something on your shirt, you realized how much your shirt had ridden up when you stretched, revealing a few inches of skin, and pulled it back down. 

“You sure you’re okay? I can drive if you want.” You offered, trying to break the weird tension that seemed to fill the room. 

Ben shook his head, standing up and stared at you for a moment. You had the very distinct feeling that he was trying to read you, trying to figure out why you wanted to come with him on this late night drive when you didn’t have to. You could see the frustration in him, not knowing the answer to his silent question, and yet, he didn’t ask. “Are you sure?” He said instead. 

Giving him a small smile, you nodded. “Yeah, I am. It’ll get me away from all the snoring for a little bit.” You added on, pointing towards Rey and then Poe, the loudest in the room. Was that the real reason? No. The real reason was that you wanted to spend more time with him. Alone time, but you were way too scared to admit that right now. Not without knowing if he was even sort of starting to feel the same way. 

His gaze never wavered from you, almost as if he could sense that you weren’t telling him the whole truth. If he did though, he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he spared a glance at Poe, and then turned back to you. “You should hear him in the apartment. It’s worse.” 

You grinned at him. 

____________________

The drive back to Ben’s parents place was mostly silent, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. The two of you had transgressed to the point in your relationship where you could be quiet around each other and not feel awkward. You spent most of the trip watching Ben, sneaking glances, and then turning away when you saw him turning your head towards you. It was embarrassing, and you felt like a high schooler with a crush. 

You were thankful when you made it to his parents house to escape the tension. “So why aren’t your parents home?” You asked, climbing out of the car. 

“France I think.” Ben replied, making his way up to the front door and unlocking it. 

“You don’t know?” You asked, stopping in the doorway.

Ben’s voice turned tense. “I stopped keeping track of that a long time ago.” Then he turned back and noticed that you weren’t following him. “Are you coming?” He asked, tilting his head towards the backyard. 

Nodding, you hurried after him, following him until you reached the gate that closed off the backyard to the woods behind it. “Definitely seems like he got out.” You said, noticing the lock that had been knocked off. 

“Damn dog is too smart for his own good.” Ben muttered, looking out into the darkness of the trees behind the house. “Guess we’re going in after him.” 

Your eyes widened, eerily reminded of the horror movie that you had watched hours earlier. The wind whistling through the leaves, the crickets chirping and the owls hooting sure sounded the same as it had then. “Uh, in there?” You said, biting your bottom lip. 

Ben picked up on your hesitation at once. “I’ve been in these woods a hundred times. There aren’t any axe swinging murderers hiding out in a wooden cabin.” 

“All it takes is one time.” You argued, eyeing the woods, fingers twitching at your sides. 

He let out a sigh, and held his hand out to you. “I’ll go first. So if they try and take you down, I’m going with you.” 

You glanced at his hand, then looked up into his eyes, eyes that were imploring you to trust him. After that, you didn’t even hesitate, slipping your small hand into his much larger one and letting him lead you into the woods. “So . . . are we going to walk around until we find him, or -”

“I have a pretty good idea of where he’s at.” Ben said, chuckling when a tree branch cracked, and you jumped. “Sorry, that was me.” 

Narrowing your eyes at him, you shoved him with your elbow. “You shouldn’t harm your own people like that.” You joked, reminding him of all the times you had called him a tree. 

Ben rolled his eyes. 

The two of you didn’t say anything else for a stretch, but you never let go of his hand, and the longer you held onto it, the less scared you found that you were. Once again you were struck by how comforting it was to be with him, to have him at your side, something you would have thought you were crazy for thinking months ago. While yes, Ben had been the one to start the feud . . . You hadn’t been the nicest to him either, and you wondered how much time and getting to know each other had been wasted because of that. “Hey, Ben?” You said, giving his hand a squeeze to get his attention. 

“Hmm?” He acknowledged, though his attention was focused on the woods around the two of you. 

“I’m sorry,” you blurted out of nowhere. 

“What?” Ben asked, shooting you a confused look for a moment before holding a tree branch out of the way for you. 

“I’m sorry for being bitchy all the time . . . you know, earlier.” You told him, shrugging your shoulders. After all, you could probably list most of the times that you had been horrible to him, but that would take way too much time. 

Ben stopped at your words, looking at you with curiosity in his intense gaze. “What brought this on?” 

The thing was . . . you didn’t want to admit what was bringing this all on. As much as your relationship had grown, you weren’t positive that he wouldn’t laugh at you if he discovered you had grown feelings for him after all that. “I - uh . . . Trying to be a better person?” You replied, not sounding the least bit convincing. 

He snorted. “Sure you are.” He said, pulling a last branch out of your way and gesturing you forward into a clearing. 

As soon as you stepped forward, you were shocked by what you found. You had to admit, the forest had made a beautiful little natural place here. A small creek babbling from somewhere nearby along with the chirping of crickets filled your ears, and there was just enough moonlight to shine down between the branches of the trees to illuminate the flowers blooming from the ground. 

It was beautiful. 

Even the large, very muddy dog rolling around in the water. 

“Damn it,” Ben murmured when he caught sight of him. “Chewy!” 

The dog perked up at once when he heard Ben’s voice, and ran straight towards the two of you. Of course, you should have seen what was about to happen, but your mind was too distracted by how the moonlight was shining off of Ben’s hair. So you let out a grunt as the dog collided with you, covering you in his mud and licking your face. 

“Chewy get down!” Ben ordered, but instead of doing so, Chewy decided it was Ben’s turn to get kissed and covered in mud as well. 

You couldn’t help but laugh watching Chewy attempt to chase Ben around in circles and get as much mud as possible on him. “Might as well give it up!” You called to him, another laugh bursting from your lips as he almost tripped over a root. Of course his momentary loss of balance was what Chewy needed to jump up and began licking him, covering him in as much mud as you. 

By the time that Ben managed to get Chewy off of him, It was safe to say that the two of you could use a shower. 

“Please tell me you have some spare clothes up there.” You asked, nodding up to the house as you held up your filthy shirt. 

Ben nodded. 

____________________

The clothes that he gave you were so comfortable, albeit large, that you almost wanted to keep them. You sat next to him in the bathroom, you on the counter and him leaning over the sink, both of you attempting to wipe away the remnants of mud from your faces. 

“I bet Chewy was a fun dog to have around when you were a kid.” You stated, shooting him a grin in the mirror. 

Ben shook his head, but a small smile tugged at his lips. “According to my mother I used to ride him.” 

The image crossed your mind of a young Ben Solo, laughing, smiling, on the back of the large dog, and your smile widened. “Oh, there’s got to be pictures of that somewhere.” 

“You’re never getting to see them, and I don’t know why you keep trying.” Ben said, and although his voice sounded frustrated, the lack of tension in his face said otherwise. 

“I refuse to believe that. Given the opportunity, Leia would show them to me in a heartbeat.” You argued, bumping him with your shoulder. 

He bumped you back. “Which is why you’re never going to get the opportunity again.” 

You frowned at him, giving him the best pouty eyes that you could manage. “Come on, Solo, just one. Let me see one picture. That’s all I’m asking for.” 

Your eyes had no effect on him whatsoever. “You look ridiculous like that.” He said, and your heartbeat kicked up as he leaned forward, bringing the washcloth he had been using up to your forehead and brushing it along your hairline. “You forgot some mud.” 

“Thanks,” you said, biting your bottom lip, your eyes trapped in his gaze. There was something so intense about them that you had always found intimidating. They were the same now, but instead of being intimidated, you felt drawn to them. So drawn you almost didn’t notice when he said your name. “Hmm?” You mumbled, not trusting your voice. 

“Why did you want to come with me here? You know that I would have been fine.” Ben asked, confusion clear in his tone as he dropped the hand that had been wiping the mud from your face to the counter, close enough to touch your leg. 

You wanted to lie to him. It should be easy to. You were sure that given the opportunity, you could think of many reasons why you would have wanted to come with him, but right now, your mind was drawing a blank. It was as if his eyes held some sort of spell over you, and you couldn’t speak anything but the truth. “I . . . I wanted to spend more time with you.” You answered, hoping that answer would be vague enough for him. 

It wasn’t. 

“Why? We had just spent hours together watching movies and -”

You cut him off before he could continue. “Does everything have to have a reason? Can’t I like spending time with you?” 

Ben shook his head. “A few months ago you didn’t want anywhere near -”

What part of your brain, or maybe your heart, told you to do it, you weren’t sure. All you knew was that Ben was rambling, and you knew he wasn’t going to stop until you admitted why you wanted to spend time with him. You weren’t sure you knew the right words yet though, so instead, you did what seemed logical at the moment. 

You slid your hand into the hair on the back of his head, and used it to tug him forward until your lips met in a kiss. 

And Ben froze. You felt his whole body stiffen at your actions from the neck your palm was resting against, to the hand that had now curled into a fist at your side. Heat rushing to your face, you pulled back, embarrassment inching through your whole body as you stared into his intense eyes once more. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have -”

He didn’t let you get another word out. A gasp left you as his lips met your own in a passionate kiss that you had never expected him to be capable of. Ben Solo was a man of logic and seriousness most of the time. There had been moments when you had seen outbursts of emotion from him, mostly anger, but this was something else. 

He wanted you. It was clear in the way his hands gripped your thighs and then used them to bring you against him. In the way his lips parted and pulled you in with such emotion that it left you breathless and sent your head spinning as you tried to play catch up. The two of you had kissed at that first party, and while it had been nice, it didn’t even come close to comparing to this. 

Kissing Ben Solo was like kissing an inferno, and there was no way to smother it out. Not that you had any desire to. 

When his tongue slipped past your lips, you let out a soft moan, clutching him to you by his shirt and wrapping your legs around him. You wanted him closer. You wanted to feel every part of him against you, and he seemed to have no problem with that either. As your tongues met, he slid his large hands up and down your thighs. The way that they covered almost the whole entire body part made you shiver in anticipation of what those hands would feel like on your bare skin. Of course, that put the thought in your head of what his bare skin would feel like under your fingers . . . 

Your hands had been resting on the back of his neck, but you slid them down enough to slip under the collar of his shirt onto his warm skin, massaging the muscles that strained under your fingers. 

He groaned. He groaned and he seemed to melt under your touch, his hands slipping from your thighs around to the small of your back, splaying across it. His embrace was so warm, so firm, you felt like you wanted to drown in it and the sensation of kissing him. 

Then his phone started ringing. 

When he let out another groan, this one significantly less pleasurable than the last one, and pulled his lips away from yours, you frowned, not done with kissing him yet. Instead you took matters into your own hands and leaned forward to kiss along his jawline. 

You thought he might push you away, but he didn’t, his hand on your back keeping you pressed tight against his body while he pulled out his phone. “Hello?” Ben said, and you were pleased to hear the strain in his voice. 

As soon as the voice responded though, it was like a switch had been flipped inside of him. Once again you felt him tense up, and curious as to his reaction, you let your lips leave his skin, watching his face. He was avoiding your gaze, looking over your shoulder into the mirror. “Yes, Chewy’s fine. He’s back in the backyard.” 

Well that explained it. He probably wasn’t comfortable letting you kiss all over him while he was on the phone with his mother . . . 

Right? 

“All right. We will. You’re welcome.” Ben said, and then slid his phone into his back pocket once more. 

You looked up at him, meeting his eyes once more, and frowned at what you saw there. Now you would be the first to admit that you didn’t know Ben Solo so well that you could sense everything he was feeling from looking at his face, but there was no denying there was something there that wasn’t before, and you didn’t like the looks of it. 

Your eyes closed as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to your forehead, which normally is something that would have made your heart pound, but instead, you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was . . . off. 

“We should go.” Ben said, his voice soft as his lips brushed against your skin. 

You nodded, biting your bottom lip as you looked up at him, but he didn’t meet your gaze, instead walking out of the bathroom and leaving you there with the gut feeling that the relationship between the two of you had fundamentally changed. Again. 

____________________

The drive back to your apartment was silent, tension thick in the air as you tried to make conversation while Ben replied with one word answers. When you pulled up, the sun was rising, and you spotted all of your friend’s cars there, so you assumed they were all asleep. “Are you coming in?” You asked, your voice quiet in the morning light, noticing how he didn’t turn his car off. 

“I have to get some work done. I’ll see you later.” He replied.  

A dismissal if you’d ever heard one, you nodded, climbing out of the car and up your steps. Ben didn’t even wait to see if you made it inside. In seconds he was speeding down the road. 

Watching him drive away, you couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever relationship could have come from you and Ben was over before it could start.

[cibeewastaken]

Hey can you write some fluff, it can be anything as long it features harry kissing dracos hands 😄💙💙💙💙

hello! this turned out more hurt/comfort, i hope you don’t mind. Huge thanks to @pineau-noir for the beta!

1581 words, eighth year to post Hogwarts, tentative friendship, getting together, warning for brief self-harm

Read on Ao3

-----

The robes felt too small for him, even though Harry had just gotten fitted for them at Madam Malkin’s a few months ago. Grown into such a handsome man, the tailor had said to him. Harry only felt old. 

The bell rang behind them, and Draco Malfoy had walked in, stopped at the sight of Harry, hesitantly looked at him, as though he didn’t know if he should turn back or not. Harry had stared back, wondering if it was a dream.

Madam Malkin had given Draco an encouraging smile and ushered him onto the other platform to wait. Harry had turned back to face the mirror, swallowing; it almost came as a shock when he didn’t see two 11-year-old boys reflecting back.

"Hello,” Harry had said, pins in his clothes, arms stretched out. 

Draco had cast him a quick glance, and let out a thin, shaky breath; no reply. He was still staring straight ahead when Harry left the shop.

They had to share a common room, and there really wasn’t a way for Draco to avoid Harry, not even hiding in his room. The expression on Draco’s face was almost devastating when he saw Harry, who had already claimed one of the two beds. Harry didn’t try to talk to him again even if he desperately wanted to know why Draco was wearing a T-shirt with holes in the armpit instead of silk pajamas like Harry always thought he did. And Harry didn’t talk to Draco even when he came back to his room to find Draco howling on his bed, squished between an also crying Parkinson and a wide-eyed Zabini. Draco’s left sleeve was soaked in blood. 

Harry only crouched in front of Draco and cleaned his wound up with what he remembered from the forest. Wrapped it up as Hermione would. Held onto Draco’s hands like a friend would.

Draco was the first to talk, and this time it was Harry who was crying. Harry wasn’t crying because he had a nightmare, or because he thought about Teddy, or because someone had thanked him for the war. Harry was crying because he couldn’t understand NEWT level Potions and the new professor was too starstruck to listen to Harry when he said he didn’t understand. Harry was crying because he didn’t want to ask Hermione when she was with Ron (which was always). Harry was crying because Potions was very confusing and he didn’t see himself ever figuring out since it didn’t involve killing Voldemort or sacrificing himself. 

Draco took Harry’s textbook from and made notes beside each paragraph, summarizing the welter of information into concise sentences, and drew arrows in green ink to link them all together. By this point Harry had wiped his face clean of tears and snot (on his sleeve) and was watching Draco through swollen eyes. When Draco finished, he turned the book back to Harry and explained the day’s lesson to Harry, reading everything from upside down and setting everything right.

And Harry passed his Potion NEWTs with higher scores than anyone but Draco could anticipate. And Harry celebrated it by looting the kitchen of food and drinks and surprised Draco with a feast by the lake. Though it didn’t take long for words to get out that there was food, and soon they were joined by everyone and more. Someone brought a Polaroid and Harry jumped at the chance. He grabbed Draco’s hand when posing for the photo, grinning at him with heat that felt wonderful in his cheeks. 

“Finally,” Harry said.

“What?” Draco said.

“We’re finally friends.”

Draco stared, unblinking. His hands tightened in Harry’s grip. And the flash went off.

They went into different fields after school. Harry went into Auror training as he’d planned. Draco didn’t know what he wanted now he was on his own. Hermione suggested tutoring in the meantime. I have no qualification, Draco said. Managing to help Harry Potter pass NEWTs Potions should be enough for anyone, Hermione replied.

It wasn’t, but Draco started out small. Teaching a few Muggleborn children that just got their Hogwarts letters some basic courses. Charms and Potions, navigating the wizarding world (which their muggle parents listened in on). Magical Theory. History—recent history.

He lost a few students after that, but Draco was adamant that it was taught.

Harry often went over to Draco’s flat late at night, because he knew Draco would be up scribbling away. Harry would sit by Draco and read his own textbooks, and when Draco inevitably put down the quill to shake his wrist out (the bones making cracking noises), Harry would take it in his hands and knead it. Would feel the bone under it shift. Would circle that wrist between his thumb and index finger, squeezing it, then down to Draco’s forearm, digging his knuckles into the sore muscles, then up once more, massage each finger meticulously. 

Draco would usually fall asleep on Harry’s shoulder around the ring finger, and Harry would press a kiss to his hand. 

It was a Thursday morning when the Auror Department got called to handle a Gringotts robbery. Harry seized up at the mention, mind blanking with fear because Draco always went to Gringotts on Thursday morning to deposit his weekly earnings. No one said anything when Harry tagged along, and no one stopped him when he burst in first (they probably all thought it was what he did), frantically looking through all the frightened faces. Harry didn’t see Draco.

“There were no casualties, thank Merlin,” Ester, one of the seniors Auror on site said. “One missing.”

Harry whirled around. Draco wasn’t in the crowd. “What do you mean, one missing?”

Ester looked at her notes, “One of them went after the robbers.”

According to the witnesses, the robber didn’t go for the vaults, instead they targeted the deposit line and Accio’d people’s valuables off of them. One witness said everything happened very fast, the robbers were in and out in less than a minute, and one of the customers went after them.

“Who?” Harry’s voice broke.

“Someone recognized it as the Malfoy kid.”

It was a sloppy crime. It didn’t take long for the Aurors to track them down at Knockturn. Draco was there, a purpling bruise on his face, locked in a struggle with one man. The Aurors Incarceroused the robbers and Draco fell on his bottom, hands tucked to his chest. 

Harry pushed past the crowd. When Draco saw him, his face broke into a relieved smile. A smile that shuttered when Harry starting yelling.

“What the hell were you doing!” Harry snapped at him. Draco reeled back on the ground, mouth agape. “Why would you chase them?! They were gone!”

“They took my stuff!” Draco said.

“Your stuff!” Harry screamed. “What could possibly be worth more than your safety! ” Windows around them rattled. Harry’s head was fuzzy with anger he wasn’t used to anymore. Everyone stopped talking at Harry’s outburst. Draco’s face turned bright red, and he made a startled noise when Harry snatched away whatever Draco was holding. Harry looked down and everything seemed to fall away. 

It was the photo of them, the words Harry wrote on it were faded (Finally friends!), but it was clear that someone had retraced it carefully, many times since. 

A hand snatched the picture back. Mouth hanging open, Harry looked up at Draco.

“You went after them for that?” he asked, voice cracking at the end.

Draco stared at him, face still red with humiliation, eyes wet. “Yes,” he said. “Fine, yes!” He pushed Harry. Harry stumbled, knees weak. “I don’t need you to tell me how pathetic I am, Potter, so just fuck off and go yell at someone else.” Then he turned around, beelining toward the entrance. 

“He can’t leave yet—” an Auror said, but Harry didn’t care about procedures. He ran up and caught Draco’s arm. Draco turned and shoved him, with little effect this time. Harry stood his ground. 

“God, Potter,” Draco said, every syllable shook violently. Tears streamed down Draco’s face. His whole face scrunched up miserably. “What do you want now? I don’t need you to tell me how worthless this is to you.”

“I didn’t—” Harry tried. “That’s not what I meant. You could’ve been killed.” 

Draco’s fingers clawed at Harry’s grip, trying to pry it off. “Shut up, shut up!”

Harry grabbed Draco’s scrambling hand and tugged, wrapped an arm around Draco’s waist and pressed his lips to Draco’s hand. Harry’s breath shuddered, “I could’ve lost you.”

Draco was trembling. The bruise on his face broke Harry’s heart.

Harry pressed a kiss to Draco’s palm. “I could’ve lost you,” Harry said, voice tight with tears held back. Harry tugged Draco in further, wrapping him in a suffocating hug, burying his face in the warm crook of Draco’s neck, breathing in the comforting citrus soap for a second before turning his face into Draco and kissed him.

“I,” Draco started when Harry pulled back. “I’m sorry.” He sounded confused.

“Don’t scare me like that again.”

“Okay.”

“We can always take more photos,” Harry said into Draco’s shoulder. “Let’s go buy a camera right now. And ten thousand rolls of film.”

“Do you expect me to be robbed ten thousand times?”

Harry snorted an ugly laugh and peeked up at Draco. Draco cocked his head, brought a hand up to cup Harry’s face. Harry turned into Draco’s palm.

Draco’s other hand found Harry’s. “Ten thousand rolls it is.”

[bvidzsoo]

Abiding Darkness (XVII)

 Author: bvidzsoo

 Warning: violence and cursing

 Pairing: Oh Sehun x OC

 Word Count: 3, 912

 Summary:   Belikov Bora is living in Seoul at her grandparents as she had gotten her long awaited scholarship. She’s not new to this world but she’s also not really interested in the famous people of it…so maybe that’s why she gets the shock of her life when a zombie apocalypse begins and she’s stuck with Oh Sehun.

    The deafening sound of the siren sent my heart into a frenzy as I tried thinking logically. Jian looked just as scared as I felt and I clutched her hand, trying to give her any form of comfort. Here we are safe, but if that’s the case, why are these sirens going off? Suddenly, a male deep voice boomed through the speakers hung in the room, one I didn’t notice before.

“Everyone pick anything that could serve as a weapon and head immediately to the Hall room, we are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack and it’s not an exercise!” 

Jian and I looked at each other and simultaneously jumped up from the bed, a hiss leaving my lips when I put too much pressure on my broken shin. 

“Get dressed as fast as possible!” I threw Jian’s old clothes at her as I tried taking deep breaths to stay calm. This isn’t the first time I have to fight the Affected ones, I know what to do to keep us safe. And here, we have weapons, there are soldiers here who know what to do. All I have to do is get Jian and me safely to the Hall room.

The clothes I arrived in here still had dirt and bloodstains on them but I couldn’t fight in loose fitted pants and a simple sweater. Jian ran to my side and I gripped her hand in mine as I placed my crutch underneath my armpit, ready to take off. But before we could get to the door it got kicked open and we both froze. A bloodied, deformed face and black eyes were staring back at us. The Affected one snared and shot forward, taking us by surprise, but it was enough to wake me up from my initial shock. We survive tonight and I’ll do anything it takes.

“Hide in the bathroom, Jian!” I rushed out as I raised my crutch at swung it at the Affected one. It jumped back, cleverly avoiding my attack. I glared at it but quickly glanced back to see if Jian listened to me, which was a mistake. Before I could react, I was tackled onto the bed and the Affected one was snarling in my face. A guttural growl left my throat when the Affected one went to clutch at my neck and I delivered the hardest punch I could at its face. Its head shot up and blood dripped on my face, it disgusted me, but I took the moment of weakness of the Affected one to my advantage and kicked it off of me. However, this one seemed very determined to get me so it was back on its feet in a few seconds, leaving me no time to pick up my crutch and swing at it. For a second we just stared at each other in silence and that’s when I remembered these were people before they turned into these monsters. I was killing once innocent people, people who didn’t deserve to die. My thoughts were all forgotten when the Affected one snarled once again and went to lunge at me. I leaned down a bit and ran towards the creature, hooking my arms around its torso and slamming it against the wall. There was a cracking sound and I dropped to the ground to pick up my crutch before the Affected one could recover from my attack. I raised the crutch and using all the force I had I swung at its head, once again a cracking sound echoed in the room. I winced but swung at it again, harder this time, but the Affected one ducked. I shrieked in frustration and the creature only snarled before kicking my broken shin. A scream full of pain left my lips, the pain just as unbearable as the first time I broke it, but I didn’t back down. If I die, it gets to Jian, and I won’t let that happen. So with a deadly glare, knees shaking, my crutch went through the stomach of the Affected one, pinning it up to the wall. 

“Die, bitch” I snarled at it as it continued kicking around until it just stopped moving. With shaky hands, I pushed the hair that had fallen into my eyes away and turned around to go for Jian. I yelped when I placed pressure on my broken shin but I couldn’t give up, not now. 

“Jian” I called out as I barged inside the bathroom.

“I thought I wouldn’t see you again” Jian cried when she saw me walking inside the bathroom and I opened my arms as she ran into them, “When you screamed--”

“Shh, it’s okay. I would never leave you alone, don’t ever forget that” I gave her a reassuring smile and a kiss on her forehead, “I don’t know how many Affected ones are in here, you have to stay in this bathroom--”

“No, I can’t stay alone--” 

“Jian, if we both go and there’s too many of them, I...I won’t be able to save you, please” Tears filled the little girl’s eyes and I sighed as I felt my heart breaking. I didn’t want to leave her here either, but I had no choice. If I had to die today, at least I die protecting someone.

“I’ll stay here” Jian’s eyes turned hard, a look I haven’t seen on her before and it made me ache that she had to be tough at such a young age, “Give me a weapon”

I looked around the room frantically for anything that could be used as a weapon when I noticed the metal piece that was used as a shelf for the toothpaste and toothbrushes. I hopped to it and ripped it off the wall creating a loud commotion. Jian took it from my hands and gave me a firm nod. I smiled at her and rushed her into the shower stall pulling the curtain so that it would hide her from unwanted eyes.

“When this is all over, I’ll come back for you” I muttered through the curtain and I could see Jian’s head moving in a nod. 

“Go, I’ve got this” Her voice was strong but reassuring at the same time. I sighed and with a last glance at her, I exited the bathroom and closed the door, locking it. No one would get to her, not if that depended on me. My eyes fell on the gruesome scene of the dead Affected one and I limped over, yanking my crutch out of the creature’s stomach, watching as it fell limply to the ground. Good, I have to get to the Hall room now and fight off these creatures until none is left.

The silence in the hallway was deadly as I inched closer to the door and I gulped loudly before exiting the safety of my room that it once offered. My foot was only halfway out of the door when I was tackled into a tight hug, so surprised that I didn’t react.

“You’re alive” The voice was quiet as my brain registered who was hugging me and I inhaled sharply, returning the tight hug. 

“Jian is in the bathroom, we can’t take her with us...not until we know it’s safe” I whispered as Sehun took a step back, arms falling from around me. I craved his warmth, I wanted him to throw his arms around me once again, I wanted to forget about the wailing sirens and about the snarls that were loud in the distance, I just wanted to be with Sehun and him only. 

“I heard a scream and I--”

“The Affected one kicked my shin, I’m fine. But are you--”

“Good. I’m good, let’s go” Sehun’s eyes hardened once again, all warmth disappearing and I sighed quietly to myself. He still didn’t forgive me, he was just scared something happened to us and that’s why he came to check. But I didn’t mind as long as he stayed by my side, I didn’t care if he hated me, I didn’t care if he fed me to the Affected ones to save himself, he was safe for now and that’s what truly matters to me.

The hallways were empty, a sight we didn’t expect. Sehun held onto tightly the bloody metal rod, before he came to check on Jian and I, he had to fight three Affected ones. I tried not to hiss at every step I took, Adrenaline wasn’t as high to take away the pain I felt due to my broken shin. The cast cracked a bit and only just now I realized how strong these creatures are. One kick was enough to create a crack in my cast, no wonder my whole leg was throbing in pain. The sight of my bloody crutch made me dizzy and with a sharp inhale I stopped walking, feeling dizzy I leaned up against the wall. Sehun didn’t stop, he probably didn’t notice my reaction, only when he was almost at the end of the hallway. But I didn’t care, my lungs were on fire, my body was in pain and I would die. For the first time since we got into this deadly situation, I realized that I would actually die. I had no way out, no one would save me. The soldiers had to protect everyone, didn’t have the luxury to protect just me. One moment of them not paying attention to me and I’m dead. Hell, if we get to the Hall room, that is. And I left Jian alone, what was I thinking? She’d be safest with us and in the Hall room not left alone in our room’s bathroom, with a locked door on top of all.

“Hey, are you listening to me?” Sehun’s voice seemed far away and I closed my eyes tightly, “No, you can’t have a pannic attack right now, Bora, focus on my voice”

But it was really hard, I could barely breathe at this point, “We...are...going...to...die”

I heard and saw nothing, until I felt warmness on my cheeks. I couldn’t open my eyes, that would have made me throw up, the lightning was too much, and there was this high pitched sound coming from the now silent alarms that was making my head throbe. 

“We are not dying, listen to me” Sehun’s voice sounded stern but pannicked, “Count with me”

I can’t even think straight and he wants me to count with him?

“One, two, three, four…” His voice was warm, just like his hands, as he counted with me while taking deep breaths. I started following him, his voice sounding closer this time, but I still couldn’t open my eyes. My lungs were on fire but I could breathe again, it hurt. 

“Twenty” I whispered as I started coughing, the needed oxygen entering my system once again.

“Twenty” Sehun whispered after me, “We are not dying”

My eyes opened at the harshness of his voice and I was no longer blinded by the lights, the high pitched sound was gone. His face was just an inch away from mine, his breath was fanning over my face and I was taken aback. I wanted to kiss him, I didn’t care if he hated me, I didn’t care if he fed me to the Affected ones once we stumbled upon them, but I wanted to kiss him one last time. So I did, I pushed my lips against his warm and chapped ones, eyes closing at the fire that spread through my body. I was desperate but so were his lips. He clutched onto my cheeks and pulled my face harder against his, making my lips ache at the force. But I didn’t care, this is what I wanted and he wanted it too. I was the one to initiate the kiss and I was the one to end it. I pulled back, lungs screaming for oxygen once again as I inhaled longly, eyes staring into his. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t pull away. His dark eyes were shining with an emotion I have never seen before and it made me cry, but I couldn’t, not now. So I softly pushed him back and leaned down to take my crutch back into my hands and took off. I didn’t look back, I knew he was following me, but I didn’t look back because if I did, I knew I’d break down.

~~~

    It was safe to say that Sehun and I were lost, we had no idea where the Hall room was so we were just running around, limping in my case, around this bunker. There were many compartments and none were the one we had to find. Sehun let out a frustrated sigh as he kicked his metal rod while walking in front of me. I was getting tired, the pain got worse and if we continued like this I wouldn’t be able to fight by the time we find the Hall room. Sehun stopped walking suddenly and I ran into him.

“What are you--” My words died in my mouth when I peaked over his shoulder, double doors open and snarls and gun shots echoed down the whole hallway. The place was full of them, even with our guns, we’d die. I sighed and closed my eyes to curse quietly.

“We have to help them, my hyungs are there--”

“Yeah, I know Sehun” I muttered and walked past him, pushing away the pain shooting up my leg. If I die might as well die doing something. Sehun started mumbling behind me that he couldn’t let me go inside injured, that I couldn’t fight. I didn’t care, Jian is still back in that room, she still needs to survive. 

“Stop trying to fight me on this one, Sehun” I spoke up tiredly as I gazed at the open doors, “If I do die, I’m sorry that I lied to you. If you don’t want to see past your own prejudice and accept the fact that I was trying to make you happy, it’s fine. But don’t think that I was ever your or EXO’s fan”

Before he could say something, his eyebrows furrowed, I turned around and stepped inside the room. It was chaos, what I saw in front of my eyes was pure chaos. An affected one hurried towards me so I raised my crutch and swung at it with all my force, sending it to the ground. There was a loud cracking sound next to me and when I glanced there, Sehun was glaring at another creature that tried to get to me, his metal rod bloodier than before. My eyes looked around for familiar faces and when I saw Baekhyun waving his arm crazily in the air I gripped Sehun’s arm and started running. I cried out in pain, but I didn’t stop. They were hiding behind some tables that were supposed to keep the Affected ones away from them, but it wasn’t working out as Chanyeol was beating one to death with a frying pan. We were barely a few steps away from them when I was yanked back by my hair, a shriek leaving my lips. The crutch fell from my hand and I pannicked, no crutch means I’m dead. I tried to untagle myself from the creature’s grip when I heard its snarl right next to my ear. It was going to bite me, immune or not, if I bleed to death what did I do? Nothing.

“Bora!” Sehun’s desperate voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked at him. His friends were holding him back, he was trying to fight them off but three held him. Of course they wouldn’t let him save me, he was more precious than I am. And that’s alright. But I’m not dying today. 

I elbowed the Affected one hard in the stomach and ducked, my scalp hurting as it still held onto my hair, I yelped loudly. I turned and kicked it in the knees, sending the creature down to the ground and went to grab my crutch. But suddenly there were shots fired at the Affected one and I jumped as I watched it still its movements. It was dead. I quickly grabbed my crutch and crawled to Sehun, who had his hands out to grab onto me and pull me behind shelter. Once I was behind the tables his fingers interwined with mine and when I tried to pull my hand away he growled and threw me a glare. Did he forgive me? Or was this just because we survived out there together and felt a certain need to protect each other. I hope Jian is alright, I can’t imagine what she must feel right now. 

“Where’s Jongdae?” I suddenly heard Sehun speaking as he looked over his friends, “No. Did we--did he--”

“He’s alive” Xiumin was quick to answer Sehun as he lowered back down to change his ammunition, “They realized that a certain frequency is harmful to the Affected ones, he’s trying to discover which one with a few engineers in the sound room”

“Are they alone?” Sehun’s eyebrows were furrowed in worry and I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“No, soldiers are there with them” Lay answered instead of Xiumin this time as he went back to shooting.

“That’s what I was hearing…” I muttered to myself as I remembered the high pitched sound.

“What are you talking about?” Sehun asked confused as Baekhyun tried moving the table to offer us more shelter.

“When I had the panick attack there was a ringing I kept hearing…” I answered Sehun, who nodded looking visibly more relaxed.

“Where’s princess?” Baekhyun asked as he looked around, eyes finding mine and Sehun’s one at a time.

“I locked her in my bedroom’s bathroom”

“What? We are the most safest here, she’s not--”

“Are we really that safe here?” I snapped, fear of losing Jian crawling over my body. Baekhyun is wrong.

“Look around, Baekhyun, Bora did good leaving Jian behind, we could die at any time” Sehun came to my aid and I nodded along his words. Baekhyun was chewing his lower lip nervously before shaking his head and scooting away from us.

“You did the right thing, Bora” Sehun whispered and I nodded back. Suddenly, Xiumin cursed and ducked down, eyebrows furrowed.

“We don’t have any ammunition left here!” He called out and the boys looked at each other. The deep voice of the commander was heard from our left.

“We are running out of ammunition here too!” We are screwed.

Junmyeon’s eyebrows furrowed and he suddenly grabbed the gun from Xiumin, “Everyone grab something to use as weapon! If Jongdae doesn’t hurry up, I’m afraid we won’t hold on for too long…”

I was already raising to my feet, pulling the crutch out from underneath my armpit, ready to fight for our lives. But Sehun tugged on my arm and I clumsily fell and cried out, feeling as if something cracked inside my shin. I was about to yell at Sehun but he spoke words I never thought I’d hear from him.

“I love you” He said, eyes boring into mine. And just like that, I felt like it was once again just the two of us. No one around us, no Affected ones that were about to kill us all if Jongdae didn’t find the right frequency, no cries coming from the people around us that they have run out of ammunition.

“I love you” I whispered back and his eyes widdened before he pulled me up, a determined look crossing his feature. In that moment I knew Sehun decided he’d do anything to keep me, his friends, and himself alive.

But before the Affected ones could get any closer, they started crying out, their voices horrifying as they echoed around the room. They started clutching their heads and suddenly, one by one, fell to the ground. Everyone looked around, confused, until we saw some men in lab coats running inside the room, with Jongdae behind them clutching a machine gun, eyes wide.

“We did it” We heard him say and everyone started cheering. I let out a breath and my eyes glossed over, I survived. Sehun survived, Jian survived. I turned my head and Sehun was already looking at me, a few tears rolling down his cheeks. I chuckled and he shook his head, pulling me into another tight hug. We were gonna get through this. We could kill all Affected ones now that we know how to stop them. We would survive.

Three months later

        The smell of freshly cooked food was everywhere in the house. As I descended the stairs a smile etched itself on my lips at the loud chatter coming from the dining room. 

Things haven’t been easy after Jongdae discovered how to stop the Affected ones. Scientists worked hard on finding a cure and last month they did, so now instead of killing all remaining Affected ones they were trying to catch them and return them to their old selves. It wasn’t easy, especially for them, but progress was visible. People were less afraid to go out and we started building back up the city and the nature that was destroyed. I was actually leading one of the nature restoring organization, getting a lot of help from Jian’s father. Jian was lucky enough, her father was found and once he got the cure he returned to his old self. It was hard for him, he refused to speak to anyone and see people, but soon enough with the help of others and a good psychologist, he was ready to return to his old life and to his loving daughter. The news on having lost his wife wasn’t easy on him, but he came around. Now, Jian and I hung out daily and Jian’s father, Yesung, even allowed Jian to stay with us whenever she wanted to. He was really grateful for saving his daughter and keeping her alive. Jian became my little sister. 

My parents moved to South Korea to be closer and to help. My father joined the army here and helped catch other Affected ones meanwhile my mother stayed at home with me and helped out whenever she could. As for Sehun and I…

“Slept well?” His low voice was loud in my ear and I grinned as I turned my head to look at him. He lowered his head and pressed a long kiss on my lips. Sehun’s family was well, they were found hiding out in a cabin in the woods a few kilometers away from the city. They moved back into the city once things were better and now Sehun and I lived together in the house my parents bought for the time they were here. After they leave we’d move in to Sehun’s apartment, but right now we enjoyed living as one big family.

“Splendidly, you?” Sehun chuckled and shook his head.

“You know I did too” I rolled my eyes at the wink and cocky smile on his face and cleared my throat to make our presence known.

“Oh, come have breakfast dears!” My mother’s chirpy voice called out and I smiled as Sehun took my hand in his and lead me to the table. 

Things were finally good. No more secrets, no more diary entries. 

The End

A/N: Hello everyone, the long awaited last chapter is here, after a year of not posting it! Sorry for that, for making you all way for so long, but I had a lot going on. I was in my last year of high school so I really needed to study and now I’m in university so once again I have to study even more. Truth be told, I’m kind of done with writing fanfiction as my inspiration was gone for a long time now, and I probably have a major writers block as well. But hey, who knows when it’ll return. I still write fanfiction, it just takes longer to write them. Thank you for following the story of Belikov Bora and Oh Sehun, consider this as my Christmas present for you all! Merry Chirstmas once again guys!

[abluescarfonwaston]

Shapeshifter Au -12

Masterpost

He cawed out to Geralt as he approached. Geralt held out his arm to land on and he did.

“Still too close?” Geralt asked glancing down at Ciri and Roach’s drooping forms. Exhausted. Ciri was half asleep in his arms.

He nodded sadly. He’d found a scout camp not an hours fly behind.

Geralt looked down at Ciri and Roach. “We can’t stop.” His face pinched painfully and he glanced at him. “Jaskier-“

He nodded.

He could shift. He could ride.

They pulled off to the side and he shifted. A few hands taller than Roach with black stockings over his chestnut hair.

Thank you. He told her pressing his neck into hers.

That’s my line colt.

I’m older than you Roach.

I’d never have guessed.

Geralt shifted the tack over to him and he did his best to tolerate the feeling. The few times they’d done this it was bareback and he wasn’t a fan of the way it sat on his back. But it would be better in the long run. Probably.

“I know you’re not a fan of this.” Geralt waved to. The whole situation really. “Thank you.”

He stopped his grooming of Roach’s withers to bump Geralt reassuringly. I might not enjoy being ridden -like this at least- but that doesn’t mean I won’t do it in a pinch. It’s fine.

Tell him he owes me so many apples for this. And some clover grass.

You know you’ll get sick if you eat too much of that. Hm. Apples tho. Not as good as lamb but-

Well that was progress at least.

I’ll make sure he knows Roach.

You’d better.

And they were off.

He wasn’t proud of how quickly he tired but his bones still ached from shifting into the wolf. Less. It hurt less now. But the insistent throb of it wore at him as the hours passed. The grime that still matted his hair itched. Hunger rumbled his belly. Lamb sounded so good right now. He could eat one whole right now, wool and all.

We’re here. Roach interrupted his. Frankly too vivid daydream.

Here? He asked as Geralt turned him off the road into the pinewood forest.

The road home.

Home. They were almost home. He surged forward with it.

“Jaskier.” Geralt grumbled at him.

How much further? What’s it like? What are they like?

She whinnied a laugh at his excitement. Two or three days still colt. Doesn’t have enough grass. Scorpion’s fun.

Days?

The ache in his toes grew that much more noticeable.

They continued on.

Geralt pulled him to a halt and he let his head fall forward panting. They jumped off.

The saddle and bit were removed.

Geralt brushed him down. Picked his feet. He felt. A little cleaner.

“Staying a horse?” Geralt rubbed his neck soothingly as he finished.

No. He leaned into Geralt and let the form collapse under him.

Geralt caught him with a sigh and pet his long ears.

“Does he do that a lot?” Ciri asked. “Turn into a rabbit?”

Geralt shrugged and set about making camp one handed. “He shifts small when he wants to be carried.”

That was. Probably not inaccurate.

No fire again. Geralt had passed him into Ciri’s arms at some point. Her warm hands soothing the pain of the day and he did his best to keep her warm in turn while Geralt worked.

“What else can he turn into? Can he turn into a shrieker? A unicorn? A dragon?”

“I don’t know what a shrieker is. Unicorns are extinct. If he could turn into a dragon he would have by now just to show off. It’s just animals. Bears, wolves, rabbits. The like.”

“What about the griffin?”

Geralt paused. “I don’t think the griffin was. Natural.”

“Why?”

“Because he.” Geralt hesitated as he carried the blanket over, settling behind her. “Didn’t recognize me.”

She looked up at him questioningly as he reached down to pet between his ears.

“But he remembers you now. Right?”

They both nodded.

“So why’d he forget?”

Geralt shrugged.

“Don’t you care? It could happen again! Why didn’t you ask him when he was human!” She turned back to him. “And why haven’t you become human since then!”

He folded his ears back and shrunk down. He. He just-

“If it happens again I’ll deal with it. He isn’t much of a fight. When Jaskier wants to talk about it he will. Talking isn’t his problem, it’s getting him to stop.” He clucked at Geralt. “See?”

He clacked his teeth together a few times before pointedly flopping on Ciri. Look how comfortable I am. More comfortable than you are. Be jealous Geralt. I’m happier than you.

Geralt shook his head at him like he was being Over Dramatic! Which he Was! Because that was his Thing!

“He looked a mess in human form. Probably has some big plan about how he’ll get all fancied up and win you over with his charming smile and music.”

Yes that was the plan.

Ciri’s face scrunched up at that. “Why?”

The drama! He wanted her to like him! He wanted to make a better first impression than the one his dirty unkempt appearance would make. He wanted her to like him at least a fraction of how much he liked her!

“Because he’s an idiot.” He snapped at Geralt’s fingers. “An over dramatic idiot who thinks he has to put on a show to make you like him.”

She studied him. He wiggled his pink nose adorably. Which probably proved Geralt’s point.

“You’re making a production out of this. So it had better be grand reveal or I’ll be immensely disappointed in you.” She threatened him with a yawn.

He purred in agreement as Geralt pulled up the blanket.

“How much further?” She asked curling into Geralt.

“The evening after next we’ll arrive.”

Almost there. Just a little bit longer.

A little bit longer and they’d be home.

 “Fuck” Geralt shifted out from under them, shoving him awake. “Bandits.”

“Nilfgaard?” Ciri whispered grabbing him around the belly which wasn’t comfortable. Support the rear Ciri! This was going to hurt his back!

Geralt crouched over them. Listening. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Plan?” She squeezed him tighter and – nope nope nope! His leg kicked out and she dropped him with a pained start which he was very sorry for except hide- hide –hide run and hide run and hide.

“Jaskier!” He heard his cub whisper shout after him but-

Run hide! Run and hide! Run and hide!

Rabbits were not brave.

He squished himself under the dense cover of a bush and waited.

“What have we got?”

“Horse and a guy with his kid.”

“Easy enough. Let’s make this quick aye? Baz was making dinner.”

Easy. They thought it would be easy. Like Geralt couldn’t lay ruin to them. Wouldn’t lay ruin to them.

Ciri would witness more bloodshed and Baz would eat alone wondering where his unlucky companions had gone.

It was the wolves all over again.

Hungry said the bellies. Easy said the eyes.

It would be a slaughter.

Rabbits where not brave and he wasn’t sure Jaskiers were either. But they were idiots so he darted between their legs and shifted.

He sniffed them loudly and they froze. Eyes and then heads slowly turning towards him.

I have rules about violence Gentlemen. The words coming out a deep growl. Protecting my mate and cub does fit within that framework. But I’d really rather not. If its all the same to you.

They shuffled away from him, clutching their weapons.

He slammed his paw and roared at them. They turned tail and ran. Roach whinnied her terror.

‘Chase!’ The bear and the wolf and the griffin screamed. ‘Hide.’ Whispered the rabbit. It was all that kept him still.

He turned and walked back to their camp. The stragglers fleeing.

Geralt was soothing Roach with axii. Ciri yanked on his arm as she spotted him. Adrenaline and fear rolling off her.

Geralt turned and he watched the tension drain from his shoulders. “Jaskier.”

He smiled back at them. Watching as the axii faded from Roach’s eyes, replaced with recognition. She settled back to her search for grass.

“That’s Jaskier?” Ciri asked. Doubtful.

“Hm.” Geralt confirmed.

She studied him before stomping up to him, hand tucked under her armpits against the cold. “You kicked me!”

He rumbled apologetically but I couldn’t breath and you were breaking my back.

She glared at him. He nosed at her, slowly shoving her into his side. She allowed herself to be tucked into his fur with only a token of protest. The fear scent fading.

“Jaskier.” Geralt returned from their things holding – oh Geralt. “You can’t play like that?” Holding his lute.

He shook his head and dragged Geralt by the arm into his side as well. That would only be significant to us Geralt. Ciri wouldn’t know what the hell we were on about and I’d still look like a disheveled mud rat. Besides she’d get cold and your bedroll’s not big enough for all three of us. Really man.

Geralt plucked a few of the strings. They were painfully out of tune. Really. Had he done any maintenance at all? He glared at Geralt as he curled around them dragging the blanket up over them. Geralt glared back.

“You can’t play like that?” Ciri questioned from insider her burrow of Geralt, fur and blanket.

“It was. What I told him the first time he shifted in front of me.” Geralt explained adjusting them so he was comfortable.

“Oh.” He felt her petting his fur under the blanket. “How’d you met?”

“I’d been hired to retrieve a family heirloom from an infested crypt but it’d been stolen by a group of bandits. I tracked them down and retrieved the sword. But I found something else there too.”

“What?”

“A little lark with a broken wing, clutching a lute like its life depended on it.”

“This lute?”

“No. That’s later.” He told her. “I bandaged it up and kept it in a nest in my saddlebag until it was healed.”

She yawned and sunk heavy into his side.

“Then I woke up and the bird and lute were gone. A single crown on my bedroll where it normally slept.”

“And then, a few months later, I met a boy in Posada, the valley of flowers, at the edge of the world.”

He listened to Geralt recount the tale until sleep pulled her deep under.

“You should have told her that story. You’re better at telling stories.”

Yes. I am. But I like your version quite a lot too.

“You will be human again right?” Geralt mumbled into his fur. “I want you to be whatever you are but I miss knowing exactly what you’re yelling at me for. I miss your stupid raunchy pun infested songs and how you’d complain about your feet being tired but you still wouldn’t shift because you wanted to talk. About nothing. You just wanted to talk.”

Geralt’s hand clenched in his fur and he rubbed his snout against him reassuringly.

“Is it something I did? Is this about the mountain? The griffin? Did I-“

He shoved him slightly to cut him off. Shook his head.

Not everything’s about you Geralt.

“Right. But you will be human again. Someday?”

He nodded.

“Okay.” He listened to Geralt drift off. “Okay.”

He’d get a bath and a haircut and he’d tune his lute and practice some scales and he’d figure out the prefect thing to say and do so that she’d love him even just a tiny fraction of how much he loved her.

That wasn’t how it worked but he needed her to like him. To not be disappointed or disgusted by him.

He longed to be simply human. Then at least he wouldn’t have had a choice. She would have known exactly what he was from the start. No tricking her into thinking he was helpful like a horse or a hawk or as soft as a rabbit or as worthy of trust as the white wolf. He would have just been Jaskier. Simple and human.

Would she feel tricked when she saw him? Would adding a human face mean she wouldn’t trust him to keep her warm? Wouldn’t trust him to listen to her if he too could speak?

He was just Jaskier and he wasn’t sure that had ever been enough.

It would have to be. He couldn’t be anyone else.

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t put his best foot forward. Or at least his best paw until he made that jump.

[mistaeq]

can I request for a josuke x reader oneshot? fluff & angst, it was raining and both of them are in sentimental mode; reminiscing their good times (when they’re both in a relationship) to the end of their break up.. i hope you may blend it with the rain theme (actually inspired by the song “rains again” by solji) thank you🤍☔️

Higashikata Josuke: Rains Again

TW // none

Thank you, thank you and thank you again for this request. I loved writing it, and the song inspired me even more. I suggest y'all read this while listening to the song written in the request, "Rains Again" by EXID's Solji, if you want to get in the right mood to fully appreciate it. Also. It's long. Get ready to cry.

Where Josuke and his s/o meet during a rainy day. Loss of virginity is mentioned, but no worries, there's no nsfw. Fluff and angst, kinda hurt/comfort.

WORD COUNT: 4k

Rain, rain. A rain filled day. I think it'll always be like this for a while. Blankly.

You were all curled up in the bench under the bus stop. You went outside without an umbrella, and all of a sudden, it started raining. The sky started crying again. And again. You knew this feeling. And you hated rain. You hated...

"Shit! This fucking rain... I hate it so much..." a tall figure joined you under that bus stop. He didn't even look at you, he was just focusing on getting the water out of his hair. His precious hair you hated so much. His precious hair you loved so much. "Rain only brought bad stuff into my life... fuck it, fuck it all." he let his bag onto the ground. Then kicked it out of anger.

"It was raining, when I broke up with you." that voice. He'd recognize it between a thousand voices. "Remember, Josuke?" he turned around. His gaze met yours. Your little body all curled up because of the cold wind rain brought with her. He didn't know how to feel about you. Angry? Sad? Maybe sorry? Did he miss you?

"You." he just said. He fetched the bag he had let on the ground, and quietly sat next to you.

"Are you stuck here because the rain, too?" as soon as he approached you that much, you felt nostalgia kicking in. Just stop, you thought. He's been an asshole. Not your fault.

"Yes... well... no, to be precise." he looked like he was about to panic, too. "I just need to wait for my bus back home." was he trying to play it cool or something? His home was pretty close, and it's not that many people in Morioh Cho used the bus. He really hadn't changed, huh. The almighty I-never-make-mistakes Josuke.

Pouring down the rain in my memories of you, maybe i think it also contains good things.

"So... how've you been doing?" you really didn't want to answer that question. You just shrugged, leaning your head against the giant megapixel screen on your right. "Are you gonna ignore me, is that it?" the atmosphere was heart wrenching. You had no guts to face him and meet his gaze twice. You would have cried.

Getting nervous, Josuke accidentally dropped his bag again, this time, his wallet fell off. Right in front of you. You would have stayed still, if you hadn't seen what was in there. You've been fast and picked it up right before he could do that. That receipt. Was he still carrying it around with him?

The day you and Josuke met, the weather forecast said it was meant to be rainy. And it had been. But right before lunchtime, the sun decided to shine over the rain for some minutes. In those minutes, a handsome, kind boy walked in, in your grandma's bakery.

"I'm here because..." he stuttered for a second, when he first saw you, behind the counter. "...b-because my mom ordered some bread... I'm here on her behalf to take it..." you couldn't do or say anything. His gaze had latched onto yours. You stood there, smiling.

"Y/n, what are you... ooh, Josuke! It's you!" hearing you weren't answering to the customer, your grandma came from the back of the bakery, to help. She brought a huge bag of fresh bread, and handed it to him. Josuke, huh?

"Y/n, you know who he is?" despite your grandma talking, your gazes really didn't want to separate. You shook your head. "He's Tomoko Higashikata's son! Josuke!" he had to look somewhere else for a little, he had to pay for the bread. But he smiled, when your grandma introduced him to you. Then finally, he talked again.

"I might want to come here on my mom's behalf some other time..." he then thanked for the bread, took that damned receipt, and winked at you, before leaving.

You breathed. When the sun disappeared after a few minutes and the rain came back, you ran by the bakery's window.

"Grandma..."

"What is it, y/n, dear?"

"Josuke... when he came in, the rain had no power against the sun... maybe... maybe he's my one..."

"Are you in love already, dear?"

"The sky told me..." you believed in the sky.

I think it's raining today, I didn't want to poke you. I'm not really missing you, I just feel a little blue.

"Give it back, what the hell are you thinking about?" he snatched his wallet from your hands. Then took a close look at it and understood. He heard your muffled sniffles, and tried to touch you. "O-Oi, y/n..." you flinched, when he touched your shoulder, and Josuke withdrew his hand.

"You don't have to make me think you care..." you just said. "But if you're still interested in how have I been doing..." you turned right towards him, but your teary eyes still not meeting his. "Bad. I've been doing the worst ever." The look on his face was a mixture of shocked and melancholic. Almost mortified.

You would have never thought the love between you and Josuke could end up to being something like this. Everytime Josuke was with you, the sky was also clear and beautiful. Except when your love was rainy, along with the sky. When you broke up, it was rainy. It was stormy. When you met again, right there on that bench, it was rainy. Because you weren't together.

"Something bad happened?" you just looked at him, at a loss for words. You couldn't understand if he was being an asshole or just too stupid to understand how bad you had felt since your break up. But you knew what he wanted.

He had always acted like this. When he perfectly knew something, but he wanted to hear it from you directly, he'd feign ignorance. That's how you got your first kiss. He was bringing you home, walking right next to you, after a date. You two stopped right in front of your door.

You started swinging a little on your own feet. But you weren't entering that door, standing there smiling like a kid who's just broken something precious and has to soften her parents.

"What is it, y/n?" he smiled back, playing along with you.

"Come on... you know it..." you got closer. "Josuke..."

"I have no clue, what do you mean?" he giggled.

"Are you doing it on purpose? So I have to directly tell you?" you got close enough to get wrapped in his embrace.

"Maybe..." he teased you, moving a stray lock of hair behind your ear. You just needed to take it all off your chest.

"It's been a while since we started dating, and... I feel like I fell in true love with you, Josuke." he was lovingly staring at you, smiling, the same way he did that day at the bakery. "And this was a desperate request for a first kiss."

You stood on tiptoe, when he leaned down, your lips meeting his for a sweet peck. Then two, three, until they turned into a real kiss. His hands cupping your cheeks, and your arms wrapped around his warm torso. You felt so loved and safe. That night the Moon was shining so much you could get blinded by it. Not even a cloud in the sky.

"I love you, Josuke, I love you so much..."

How can I explain this feeling? It's because we were so good back then. That's why I'm feeling a little sad.

"Are you doing it on purpose? So I have to directly tell you?" Josuke looked back, just on the concrete between his feet, as if it became the most interesting thing to watch to avoid your gaze.

"I'm just worrying about how you've been doing."

"No, you're not." your hands were freezing because of the cold wind, so you hid them under your armpits and closed on yourself again. "You're just waiting to hear me cry about how breaking up with you made me feel terribly miserable, just for you to feel a little more relevant."

Josuke couldn't just say anything. Because deep down he knew that maybe he just wanted to hear you say you missed him, that you were lost without him and shit. Because he knew it was true. But he couldn't just accept it. He had to hear it. But also... he really cared about how you had been doing.

He had messed up a lot of stuff with you, and he knew. But it never affected his love. He'd been able to hide it well, but when you left, he was just as desperate as you. He felt miserable and guilty. Terribly guilty.

"Maybe I do want to hear it directly from you." he admitted, swallowing. "But what I've caused doesn't make me feel proud of myself or more relevant someway." he tried to touch you again. You didn't flinch, this time. He was gentle. So gentle. He'd always been. Even when you had bad arguments, even when you broke up, he had never raised or thought to raise a single hand on you.

You got a way to prove his inner and physical tenderness when you felt ready. Yes. You were by your home. You never were by Josuke's house. It was three in the morning, after a date. You were watching a movie, cuddling on the sofa, and then you would have slept together. But that night, you had other plans for him.

"Josuke..." you caught his attention, cupping his cheek with your hand and turning his head towards you.

"I'm here..." he held you closer, and you smiled. He did that for you. He knew you needed him to guarantee you he loved you, every now and then during your date. But it was your turn, to tell him you loved him.

"I feel ready to make love with you."

When I open my eyes with an unpleasant feeling, I know it's gonna be cloudy today, and it'll rain so much.

He gave you the best first time you could ever dream of. You felt pain. Josuke told you it could happen. But it wasn't his fault. He'd been so gentle, you couldn't believe it. Right after that, you had never felt your boyfriend closer than that. He took great care of you, after you finished. Josuke let you sleep on his bare chest, and you could perfectly hear his heartbeat. You loved listening to it.

You couldn't understand why people always talked about sex as something which dirties and ruins you. You felt the complete opposite. As you and Josuke started falling quietly asleep after your first lovemaking, the first ray of sun of the sunrise reminded you how pure your love was. Josuke was the sun that lit up your life. You felt like you did the right thing.

But you should have listened to your grandma, when she told you that nothing could be perfect forever.

In my opened photo album, there's us smiling brightly. It's a little awkward for us.

"Apparently you weren't so proud of being my boyfriend, too..." you commented. Josuke inhaled, to say something, but then he stopped. "Does Tomoko know anything now or did you hide our break up from her too?"

"Come on..." he huffed, but you were irremovable.

"Josuke, does she know?" you saw him pushing his tongue against your right cheek, inside his mouth.

"...No."

"Obviously."

You started doubting of Josuke during a cloudy day. His mom had ordered some fresh bread from the bakery, and you thought he would have appreciated it, if you chose to bring it to him yourself. Morioh Cho wasn't so big, and you quickly found your boyfriend's house thanks to your grandma's directions.

You rang the bell that said "Higashikata", and waited a couple of seconds, before the door opened. Josuke blinked twice. Then went feral.

"What do you think you're doing here?" you got scared, for a second. You did nothing wrong, you just wanted to do him a favor.

"I wanted to see you, so I brought you myself the bread Tomoko ordered..."

"No. Just no." he gently pushed you away from the door. One thing you had to admit. Even when he was angry, he never physically hurt you. "Don't ever do this again. My mom might..."

"Josukeee... who's this cute girl?" A woman's voice caught your attention from inside the house. Tomoko Higashikata was standing right in front of you. You panicked. You felt like you did something wrong, and saw Josuke's forehead wrinkle.

"S-sorry." you managed to say. You gave Josuke the bag full of fresh bread you were holding, and didn't even look Tomoko in her eyes. "I'm just the granddaughter of the bakery's owner. I saw it was about to rain and I thought it would have been kind of me to help the customers with their orders." Josuke was staring at you, taken aback from your words. "Have a good day."

Why would Josuke be ashamed of introducing you to his mom? You tried to think about it in a different way. Maybe he didn't want Tomoko to ask questions about your relationship and wasn't ready yet to introduce you to her? Your boyfriend called you, that night. You asked for forgiveness, and he made you promise you wouldn't have done it again unless you weren't sure his mom wasn't home. The whole day, the sky had been cloudy.

I think it's raining today, I didn't want to poke you. I'm not really missing you, I just feel a little blue.

"Y/n, I would kick myself in my own ass, for what I've done." you giggled a little, for what he said. You sneezed, though. The cold wind the rain brought was about to get you catch a cold. Josuke took off his uniform's big jacket, and wrapped it around your shoulders. "You're gonna catch a cold, y/n."

"Thank you..." you just mumbled. Despite the rain, that jacket still had Josuke's smell on it. You missed it like air. You were about to say something, when your phone rang. It was right next to you leg, on the bench, so Josuke saw it pretty well.

"Okuyasu?" he asked. "Are you friends with my best friend?" you had no intention to answer the phone. Not now, at least. Okuyasu was a sweetheart, and he helped you a lot after your break up. You would have called him back later.

"After that night he got worried and helped me. Or helped us both, I guess... if you cared enough about me to be at least a little sad after our break up." Okuyasu wasn't there, when you two fought and broke up. But you found the courage to confront Josuke thanks to him.

How can I explain this feeling? It's because we were so good back then. That's why I'm feeling a little sad.

You met Okuyasu while you were working in the bakery. You had seen him before, but he had never seen you. Sometimes it seemed to you that Josuke didn't want you two to meet. Or at least he didn't want Okuyasu to see you. But you could totally imagine him being curious about who could Josuke's girlfriend be. And giggled a little with yourself, when you saw him in the bakery.

"What are you up to, Okuyasu?" your grandma seemed to know everyone in Morioh Cho. She was so friendly with every customer. "You don't come here often." The guy smiled.

"I'm going to Josuke's house tonight." you opened your ears. "I'd like to bring something, he's always inviting me by his house and I don't want to seem rude and go there without something for him."

"Also" Okuyasu continued. "Maybe tonight he'll finally tell me who's this special friend of his... you know... he always talks about her, and I'm eager to know more. I hope she's hot, maybe I'll have a chance if she's single." you felt a storm in your chest. Your grandma looked at you, worried. It was happening again. Josuke was hiding your love from other people again.

You soon understood he wasn't afraid his mother would ask questions about you. He was straight up ashamed of you. An awkward silence fell in the bakery.

"Did.... Did I say something wrong?" Okuyasu blushed. You were grateful he was such a chatterbox. He had just told you everything you needed to know about Josuke.

"You won't need to buy anything here, Okuyasu." he looked perplexed. "I'm the friend Josuke talks about. And I've never been so angry in my whole life." he felt his cheeks burn up.

"Is it about what I said about hoping you were hot? S-Sorry, I-..."

"No. It's not about you." you took off the apron you had to wear at work, angrily. "He keeps on telling everyone I'm a good friend of his. Or that I'm just a telemarketer..." you clenched your fists. "As he did when I called him while he was playing dice with Rohan."

"You aren't a friend of his? You hate him?" Okuyasu was so confused.

"I am his girlfriend. And this makes me mad." his jaw fell.

"Woah, is he nuts? If I had a girlfriend like you, I'd tell the whole Morioh Cho in less that five seconds!"

"Please, Okuyasu. Don't show up at Josuke's house today. I will. Tomoko isn't home tonight, is she?" Okuyasu shook his head. "Perfect. And sorry about this."

"No, it's better for you to confront Josuke as soon as possible on this... it's disrespectful of him to behave this way." he gave you his phone number, just in case you needed to talk with someone afterwards, and your grandma let you go home, to get a rest.

Maybe on a rainy day I'll think of you for a long time. The memories of us crying and laughing, really are so beautiful.

Josuke was sitting on the sofa, waiting for Okuyasu. He had already turned the videogames on, and was ready to play with his best friend. Finally, someone knocked at the door. He opened it with a huge smile, but it disappeared as soon as he saw you and your angered expression.

"Y/n? What are you doing here? Okuyasu's gonna be here any minute..." he tried to - gently - push you outside, but you, a little less gently, pushed him aside and entered his house.

"Okuyasu won't show up. I met him in the bakery. Obliviously, he told me everything I needed to know. And I told him not to come here." Josuke closed the door and turned around to face you.

"You're mad."

"I am the mad one? Will you stop telling the people you care about that I'm nobody? All of this is so fucked up..." he sat on the same sofa he was on before, and rested his elbows on his knees, hiding his face on his hands. "Your mom thinks I'm just the girl of the bakery, Okuyasu thought I was a good friend of yours, and even worse, Rohan thinks I'm a telemarketer... are you ashamed of me, Josuke?"

"It's not it..."

"Why else should you be hiding our love from others?" your voice broke, you were about to cry. He felt powerless. Not even Josuke knew what the matter was with himself. He felt coward. But the fact that he was afraid of telling people he had a girlfriend wasn't affecting his love for you. He couldn't find the words to explain it. "Because you do love me... don't you, Josuke..."

It was on his tongue's tip. Yes, I do. Yes, I do, he was thinking. But words won't come out. He did. He did love you. He was truly in love with you. But in that moment, he couldn't connect two neurons and answer.

"Y-Y/n... I..." right in that moment, the loudest thunder you ever heard, was accompanied by a horrible lightning which struck the closest tree to Josuke's house.

You hated rain. You hated storms. Josuke knew. He hadn't been able to clear the sky to you, this time.

"I've seen enough." you let a tear wet your cheek.

Tell her you love her, fucking bastard, just tell her, Josuke was thinking. But it looked like he had lost his voice. You couldn't believe he could let you go without saying anything. His eyes were shocked, his mouth stuck opened, his hands trembling.

"Thank you for the great days you gave me. No one's ever gonna give me such a bright sun again. I love you, Josuke. But I guess I only bring storms into your life." you turned around, and in less than five seconds, Josuke's house's door slammed behind you.

I just feel a little blue, it's not that I want to go back to those times, I'm just feeling out of it and sad the whole day.

"I wish I could have been able to talk to you, that night." Josuke said. "I've been sad, I've been desperate, after you left. I wanted to get over it immediately, because I thought you would have been better, without me... but I found out Crazy Diamond cannot repair a broken heart." the rain began to decrease.

"I still don't know what was up with you..." you answered. "You think you can explain it to me now?"

"The truth is I was just being a coward." he had become a little more talkative. Josuke ran a hand through his hair. They were almost dry. "I was afraid people would have judged me. Or you. And I didn't want this. But the result was the opposite of what I wanted." this was it? He could have just told you everything that night and it would have been okay by now.

You couldn't imagine Josuke had such a mess in his mind. If someone talked shit behind you and him, you wouldn't have cared. But he was afraid this could happen. And you found out after you broke up more than two months ago.

"Josuke..." you were interrupted by a familiar sound. A bus was coming. You felt sad. Did Josuke have to go?

"It looks like my bus is coming." he stood up, then looked at you. "Keep my jacket, or else you'll catch a cold. You'll give it back tomorrow." A sudden ray of sun blinded your left eye, as you widened your eyes.

"Tomorrow...?"

"I'll come to the bakery to take the bread on my mom's behalf. I missed you." you felt your eyes tear up.

"Josuke..." you whispered, again. You approached him, quickly, right before the bus stopped in front of you, and you got wrapped in a tight and warm embrace. You inhaled his sweet smell, enjoyed his strong arms and listened, once again, to his racing heart. "Will I really see you tomorrow?"

"You will. I promise." he gently kissed your forehead, then got on the bus.

I wanna follow this rain and go back to those good days. Once my heart gets there, will you please stay with me?

Once alone, you realized the rain had stopped. A warm, bright sun was shining on you, and you could go back to the bakery. You took off Josuke's jacket from your shoulders, and folded it, walking towards the bakery. You sometimes smelled it, and felt like crying out of happiness.

When you opened the door, your grandma smiled.

"I knew something happened. This sun doesn't come out without a reason." she told you, seeing how desperately happy you looked. "Was it the young Josuke?" you nodded, holding his uniform tighter.

You couldn't see it, because you spent the rest of the afternoon working in the bakery.

But outside, the sky had gifted you the most beautiful rainbow Morioh Cho had ever seen.

[big4girl]

Heyyyy me again! I really loved your last fic so Imma request another, if that's okay! If you're still doing drabbles, could I possibly get a Hiccanna Angel/Demon AU fic with the sentence starter “If you don’t hug me right now I think I might fall apart.”? I'm in the mood for big boi angst lol (also kinda see Hiccup as the demon one here because of the dragon and fire connection, but reversed would be interesting too!)

I think I’ll go for what you suggested since it makes the most sense character-wise! I hope you enjoy!

****

Angels and Demons coexisted as enemies for many millennia. Good versus evil, light versus dark, virtue versus vice, Heaven versus Hell.

And Anna was okay with this. She was old, far older than the human numbers could reach. She thought she had seen it all. But that was before him.

The first time she was sent to Earth was on her first mission as a Guardian Angel. She had been protecting a little girl with brown hair and brown eyes who loved ice skating and playing with her brother.

Anna admired the way the family interacted; laughing, playing, creating. And how they created an orange and yellow light that kept the darkness away.

She listened intently one night when the little girl asked, “Mommy, why do we light the fire?”

The mother tucked her child securely in her bed, the covers pulled up to her chin. “Because there are evil things in this world, things that want to hurt us, and the fire keeps them away.”

Anna’s feathers ruffled at the mention of evil. How could someone even think about hurting people so innocent? Why they had never done anything wrong.

“Like the boogeyman?”

The mother smoothed back her daughter’s hair. “Yes, my love, like the boogeyman. But the fire keeps him away. You have nothing to worry about. And if the fire ever goes out, you have your guardian angel to protect you.”

Anna felt herself glow a little brighter as her ward’s eyes lit up.

“I bet she’s beautiful,” the little girl whispered.

Her mother kissed her on the head and said her goodnight, placing one of the brother’s head as well. How happy they were. How perfect that moment was.

Then that moment ended.

“Be careful,” the mother chided them.

“We will,” the boy replied with a laugh as his sister pulled him towards the frozen lake.

Anna walked carefully along the treeline above them, keeping a watchful eye, but she wasn’t worried. They had done this a hundred times before, what could go wrong?

How she wished she had paid more attention.

The ice cracked under the little girl’s feet, her sobs being drowned out by her brother's reassurances.

Anna couldn’t move, a force was keeping her rooted to the spot and she was furious.

She watched on in anger and fear as the brother coaxed his sister a few steps forward. The ice cracked, the little girl screamed and Anna was suddenly free from her trap.

She flew forward, grabbing the little girl by the armpits and flying her to the other side of the ice where it was thicker.

Anna smiled as the little girl looked around, her eyes finding her brother’s.

It was a blissful moment that was ruined by the deafening sound of cracking ice.

The brother let out a cry of surprise as it gave way under his feet, pulling him into the freezing waters below.

Anna cried out, but she couldn’t save him, couldn’t even touch him. She wasn’t his guardian angel.

“Jack!”

That’s when she saw him.

He was standing on the other side of the pond across from her. He had blood-red eyes and black scales running along his skin. He was frowning and. from a distance, Anna thought he looked angry.

“Hey!” She cried out angrily, leaving her ward’s side for a moment to fly towards the demon.

He disappeared when she reached him. She let out an angry shout before returning to the little girl’s side. Watching her sob as she ran for her parents.

Jack became an angel for his sacrifice.

Anna met him in Heaven. Shook his hand and apologized for not being able to save him. He didn’t hold it against her, just asked for updates on his sister every so often.

Anna would watch over the little girl until she was old and was ready to go.

When she closed her eyes for the final time, Anna was there; her hand out in greeting, ready to take her to Heaven. To her brother.

“I was right.” She said, taking Anna’s hand. “You are beautiful.”

Anna smiled. “I will miss looking after you,”

“You can come to visit me anytime,”

Anna knew it didn’t work that way but didn’t say anything, just smiled and nodded.

They were met at the gates by Jack and her other family members she had lost over the years. The moment she stepped through the gates, she was reverted to her child form, running to hug her brother for the first time in a long time.

Anna would have cried if she were human.

But her heart did feel funny, watching them.

Her next ward was a little girl in Scotland. The girl had a head of curly red hair and a bow and arrows at six years old.

Anna knew she had her work cut out for her.

She watched on from a tree as the little girl played hide and seek with her mother and received a brand new bow from her father, much to her mother’s dismay.

It was beautiful until the little girl screamed.

Anna was up immediately, landing in front of the mother and daughter, using her powers to still the bear until they were safely out of the way. She saw the way its eyes glowed red and she knew that this was no ordinary bear, but a demon-possessed one.

The father and his men charged the bear, pointing spears at it and a rush of panic flew through Anna. No, no, no not again.

The bear moved right past her and she was once again rooted to the spot, unable to move, unable to help in any way.

The bear slashed at the wooden spear, effectively ripping the sharp end of it off.

The father threw the splintered wood aside, ready to take on the monster with his bear-hands.

It roared, ready to go in for the kill.

“NO!” Anna screamed, breaking free of the hold with all of her ability and slamming herself into the bear. It staggered to the side, jaw sinking into the man’s ankle instead of his neck.

Anna watched as the father screamed and the demon came out of the bear.

It was the same one from the lake.

His red eyes met Anna’s gold ones. He seemed surprised, intrigued.

Anna, however, was livid. She lunged at him, only for him to disappear the same as he had before. Anna screamed out in fury.

The father was alive, at the cost of his foot. But he was alive.

And Anna was in trouble.

“Άννα.” 

She was suddenly standing in the blinding white room of her boss.

Not God, much worse.

“Elsa,” Anna replied, turning to see the head Guardian Angel standing before her.

“Άννα,” She repeated, using Anna’s original angel name. “You meddled.”

Anna frowned. “I had to! That demon was going to kill my ward’s father!”

“You cannot meddle, Άννα. You should know better.”

“Come on, I saved somebody! Isn’t that what guardian angels are supposed to do?” Anna argued.

Elsa only gave Anna an icy glare. “I’m sorry. But I cannot allow you to watch over Merida any longer.”

“What!”

"Acts like this have consequences, Άννα.”

“That’s so stupid! It wasn’t even my fault! If that stupid demon hadn’t been there-”

“Enough,” Elsa said sternly. 

Anna cowered underneath her gaze but was still stewing with anger.

“You are on probation from guardian duties. You will be assigned to another job until it is through.”

Anna was on probation for centuries and it felt like a millennium. When she was finally released on another mission, she was assigned a boy this time.

Who was a troublemaker, of course. She always seemed to get those. But Anna didn’t mind; in fact, she was overjoyed because she was always on the move. Being locked up in heaven will do that to you.

Her ward was living the life. Just accepted into college at fourteen and being praised by his brother.

Anna watched on with admiration as the two talked. Her siblings up in Heaven never showed any emotions, perhaps that came with being an angel, but Anna longed for love.

Maybe that made her a bad angel, she didn’t care. Love was a fascinating prospect.

Then everything went bad. Just like it always does.

Anna noticed the fire right after the two boys did. She flew alongside the two brothers, terrified as she watched multiple guardian angels flying around the place.

Where was Tadashi’s? Anna suddenly realized, looking around to find Rapunzel.

She finally caught sight of her near the sidewalk, completely frozen in place, unable to move, to do anything.

“No,” Anna said with sudden terror. “No, no, no, no-”

She turned to find that Hiro and Tadashi had moved, gone closer to the flames.

“Tadashi no!” Hiro cried, latching onto his older brother’s arm.

“Somebody has to help.”

“No!” Anna cried flying forward, trying to catch Tadashi, but it was too late. All she could do was stand in front of Hiro and shield him from the blast.

“Tadashi!” 

Hiro’s cries were faint in Anna’s ears as she looked around the scene. Guardian angels were flying everywhere, following people away from the fire and helping the firefighters put out the blaze, Rapunzel was free from her hold and she was crying, and there was that demon again.

Anna’s eyes landed on him at the steps of the building. He was gazing up at the fire, reflecting ominously in his red eyes.

He wouldn’t get away this time.

“Hey!” Anna cried out.

He didn’t move and Anna flew forward, tackling him to the ground.

He let out a cry of surprise and a grunt as they landed against the hard earth.

“What’s your problem with me, huh? Why do you keep killing the people my wards care about? Every time you’re around one of them dies!”

The demon below her didn’t say anything, just took on her wrath with surprising calmness.

This made Anna even more furious. “You don’t feel guilty at all? Ha. Should expect that from filthy demons like you! You probably take pleasure in killing people-”

“We don’t kill people,”

“What?” Anna asked, glaring at him.

The demon cleared his throat, as the best he could with Anna sitting on his chest. “We don’t kill people. We just cause chaos. Posses them, mess with them, make bad things happen, yes, but we don’t kill people.”

“Then how do you explain-”

“Do you think you guardian angels would let us get that far? We can’t overpower you, you know that. So, how can we kill anyone?”

Anna’s mouth went dry at his words.

No. He had to be lying. He had to be.

“Then how are these people dying?”

“Don’t ask me. Maybe you should take it up with the higher authorities.”

Anna’s world was crashing down around her. Heaven wouldn’t- they couldn’t-

“It’s not the Devil who chooses when people die, Angelface.”

Anna ripped her hands off him, stumbling backward, trying to get away from him.

“Then why were you there? Every time you were there.”

“We’re in tandem, I guess. I’m just a worker Demon. Like you. At least” - he frowned. “-I was.”

“We are nothing alike.” Anna spat.

“Keep telling yourself that, Angelface.”

“Stop calling me that! My name is-”

Anna was transported into Elsa’s room again.

“Άννα.”

“What?” Anna yelled, turning to face her superior, who was stone-face. “What, huh? What do you want from me? Want me to go on probation again? Because I’m sick and tired of watching people die, Έλσα.”

“You interacted with a demon,  Άννα. This is serious.”

“So what? He was some beat demon, there to start a fire that was killing people.”

“Demons don’t kill people,  Άννα. The lord decides when they are to come to Heaven.”

“What?” Anna said, angrier than ever. “But we’re Heaven! We’re supposed to be the good guys! The light! Killing people is wrong!”

“Άννα. Calm down.”

“No! No, why? Why does some unseen celestial being get to decide the fate of good people? Old age, okay, fine, but young people? Children? That’s wrong.”

“We serve the lord, Άννα. We don’t question.”

“Well, the lord can beat it! I don’t care! This is wrong! How can you not see that?”

“I’m sorry, Άννα.”

Anna was cast out of Heaven immediately. Her halo stripped from her, her wings turning a dark black to signify to the other angels her crimes. She would walk the Earth as a ghost.

She hit the ground near where her last assignment had been.

“So,” the demon said, sitting next to her when she came to. “I’m guessing taking it up with the higher authorities didn’t go so well?”

Anna felt something for the first time in her life. She left a million things at once and it hurt.

She turned to the demon with watery eyes and she noticed for the first time that his eyes weren’t red anymore. In fact, they were a really pretty green.

“If you don’t hug me right now I think I might fall apart.” She said.

The request didn’t seem to shock the demon. He just opened his arms and allowed Anna to hug him, to sob into his shoulder.

He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed as hard as he could.

Anna felt something she had never felt before, but couldn’t place the emotion. Over time she would learn, but now all she wanted to do was cry and be held.

“Any chance you’ll give me that name now, Angelface?” he asked softly.

“Anna,” She choked out. “My name is Anna.”

“Nice to meet you, Anna. My name’s Hiccup. And I think we’re gonna be spending a lot of time together.”

[delightfulfics]

A Game of Hide N’ Seek (Steve x Bucky x Peter x Reader)

Hey everyone! Sorry if this fic is a little bit confusing (as well as my other fics) I am to all of this and I am working on improving. Anyways, thank you everyone for the support (I know I have said this so many times but I am just so glad and grateful). You all are amazing. Hope y’all enjoy the fan fiction :)

Summary: Y/N and the rest of the Avengers decide to play Hide N’ Seek and when Y/N and Peter don’t listen or follow the rules it takes two certain soldiers to deal with them.

You had no idea how you got here. Squished between a wall and a mat on the second floor of the Avengers Tower in one of the training rooms, hiding away from whoever was roaming the hallways. You and the rest of the Avengers were currently stuck in quarantine and Peter suggested a great idea to play Hide N’ Seek. At first, everyone was thinking it was a ridiculous but with your help you convinced them by simply saying “is there anything better to do?” Soon everyone was quickly running from the seekers into different hiding spots. 

Since there are so many of them, you all decided who would be seeking with a simple game of rock, paper, scissors. By the end of the rounds, the seekers were Bucky Steve, Natasha, Wanda and Thor. Bucky, Steve and Thor were already seekers before they all started the first round since neither of them knew how to play and they were way too old to understand the concept. They all counted to a minute giving you enough time to get to the best spot you could think of.

Now here you were. Crouched near the wall so if someone did see you, you would have enough time to run and go to another spot. You most definitely didn’t want to get caught. If you did everyone would tease you on how bad of a hider you are. They always teased you (now matter how stupid the thing was). But, if you didn’t get found you could rub it in their faces (and who doesn’t love a little bragging). You smirked as you thought of your future victory but were quickly interrupted as a scream cut through the air. Your eyes widened, knowing that someone must be coming closer. 

“Hello? Is anyone in here...” You quickly slapped both of your hands over your mouth making sure no noise came out. “Oh come on. I know someone is hiding  in here,” footsteps start to approach where you are hiding and you heart starts to quicken with every footstep you hear. All of a sudden, they stop right in front of you. You take both hands off your face and curl your body to make sure they couldn’t see you from behind the mat. “Well, I guess no one is in here. Steve, this room is clear!” You heart slows down as you hear the footsteps fade out to silence. You uncurl and sigh of relief. 

“Guys, please STOP!” You quickly stood up. What the hell is going on? You took a chance and peeked your head out from your hiding spot. You scanned the room but all you could see were tread mills and weights. But, your eyes locked on one of the Avengers, Bucky. Your heart quickened but you knew he would not find you. He was in here earlier teasing you, knowing how you did not want to be found. Your eyes were still locked on the Winter Solider, waiting for him to move. You were just about to put your head back behind the mat when you made eye contact with light blue eyes that were sparkling with mischief. You have been found. Bucky smirked as he looked at your face that was filled with horror. You stood frozen but as soon as he took a couple steps, you ran like hell. 

You didn’t even have to look back to know that he was chasing you. You also knew that you were gonna get caught but, you wouldn’t give up that easily. You twisted and turned throughout the hallways of the tower for what seemed like 5 minutes when you finally lost Bucky. You found one of the labs open and quickly set yourself up against the wall. You sighed, happy that you escaped the Solider. At least you thought you did.

“You really thought that I wouldn’t catch you, sweetheart?” Your eyes widen and you don’t hesitate to start running again but Bucky is quick this time. “Oh no, you are not going anywhere,” he chuckles as he lifts you up and over his shoulder. You shake from side to side and slam your fists on Bucky’s back, trying to get out of his strong grip. 

“Okay. You caught me. Now, you can let me go.” 

“I’m sorry but, I just can’t.”

“Um, yes you can.”

“Oh but, I don’t want to.”

“Bucky, this is not funny.”

“You know what is not funny? Both you and Peter thought that you could just simply run away from us and expect no consequences.” He smirked, tightening his grip against your legs as he could sense your panic. 

“What are you gonna do?”

“You will see.”

After wandering the hallways. Bucky finally stopped and you were still in his grip. 

“There you both are. We were waiting for you.” You couldn’t see Steve but you knew he was up to something. 

“Y/N!! Help me!” You raised your eyebrows in confusion. 

“Peter? What is going on?” 

Bucky set you down on the ground but before you thought of running away he wrestled you to the ground. Pinned under Bucky you looked around and saw Peter right next to you. He was struggling. Both of you were. You both were straddled by two of the most strongest Avengers and you both had no clue what was happening.

“Both of you are in so much trouble,” you turned and looked at Steve with a look of confusion.

“How are we in trouble, Steve?”

“Well Y/N, you both weren’t following the rules of the game.”

“What rules?”

Steve sighed as he grabbed both of Peter’s hands and gave him a stern look. “The rules of the game we just played.”

“There are no rules. Well except one which is run and don’t get caught.”

“Okay then, you both didn’t follow one of MY rules. Which is, when you are caught. You are caught and it is game over for you.”

“Okay, so?”

“So, you broke the rules and you deserved to be held responsible,” you looked up at the Winter Solider and gave him a glare. 

“No we do not ‘need to be held responsible’,” trying your luck you tried to shove Bucky off of you but he was just to strong. He chuckled in response to your weak defense and grabbed both of your hands and held them above your head. You looked at Peter as Steve did the same thing.

“Yo-you can’t hu-hurt us. Mr. Stark would not like that,” Peter had hope, you would give him that but, you both knew what was coming.

Steve gave Peter a smirk in response.  “Who said that we would hurt you?”

You looked at Bucky in panic, praying that he would let you go. But, Bucky put on the exact evil smirk that Steve had and put his free hand up. Your eyes widened as you saw Bucky’s hand form into a claw. You moved your body as far away from his claw as you could.

“What’s wrong, Y/N. You don’t remember this?” You wanted to smack that smirk off of his stupid face. He knew you remembered this. Buck would play a game where if you didn’t listen to him or if you were sad he would bring his “friend” and your worst nightmare. “The Claw” he called it. You had to admit you did miss that game but, you didn’t miss it that much. 

“Well, let you remind you,” not even wasting one second Bucky dig his hand into your stomach, digging and vibrating right in the center. 

“BUCK! NOOO!” You knew that wouldn’t make him stop but, it was worth a try. 

“Okay. I guess I will switch spots!” You screeched as he let go of his hold on your arms and shoved his hands up your armpits. It was always a really bad spot for you but what made it worse was that damn metal arm. 

“MR ROGERS! I AM SO SORRY! PLEASE STOP, I AM BEGGING YOU!” you looked over at Peter. The sight of him screeching and wiggling around to avoid Steve’s fingers only made you laugh harder. Steve looked over at you and noticed that you were pointing and laughing at Peter and his misery. 

“Oh, you think this is so funny, Y/N. Well I will show you something to laugh at. Buck switch places with me,” Bucky took his hands out from under your armpits, looked at you and smirked. He knew you were so screwed. He quickly got off of you to endure the same techniques on Peter.

You looked up at Steve as he slowly sat down and put your arms under his knees. “Steve, come on. You don’t have to do this,” you laughed nervously. Steve sighed and looked down on you. He tsked and reached behind him to your knees. He poked at your knees and smirked. 

“I want to do this,” like Bucky, he also didn’t waste time. He dug into your knees squeezing them like crazy while you were squirming underneath him and laughing very hard. Steve smiled wide, happy to see you laugh. But, he saw that you had enough. 

“I will stop if you say you are sorry and if you promise to follow the rules next time.”

“I- I CA- HAHAHAH” 

“I can’t hear you, Y/N” 

“Steve, she can’t speak if she is laughing that hard.”

“Alright,” he quickly stopped squeezing your knees and started to poke your stomach. 

“I- hehehe am sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” 

“I aMm sorrry for not followingg the ruless and I promise to follow them next time.” 

“Good,” you sighed in relief as Steve got off of you. You rolled to your side, moving your arms to protect yourself from anymore torture. You looked up to see Peter sitting on the couch, sipping on a Capri-sun. 

“Really?” Peter raising his eyebrows in confusion taking a sip from the drink. “You are drinking a fucking Capri-sun as I am being tortured.” 

“Hey! Language!” Cap yelled at you as he left the living room. 

Peter sat back on the couch and put his Capri-sun on the side table. “He left me go 2 minutes before,” you slowly turned away from Peter towards Bucky and glared at him. 

“You didn’t want to help me?”

“No not really.”

“You are such an ass.”

Bucky returned the glare and put his hand back up in “claw form”. “Do you want round two?”

“No.” You grumbled as you got up from the floor and sat on the couch right next to Peter. You smiled to yourself glad for the time spent with your family. But, you would never let them know that. You did NOT want that to happen again. Well, maybe you did.

[writteninsunshine]

Death Is A Beginning Not An End Chp 001/025 - Jerry Dandridge/Ed Lee - SFW

Title: Death Is A Beginning Not An End

Author: Reno

Fandom: Fright Night

Setting: Various

Pairing: Jerry Dandridge/”Evil” Ed Lee (Main), Charley Brewster/Amy Peterson, Past Mark/”Evil” Ed Lee, Charley Brewster/Peter Vincent/”Evil” Ed Lee

Characters: Jerry Dandridge, “Evil” Ed Lee, Charley Brewster, Peter Vincent, Mark, Amy Peterson, Jane Brewster, Adam, Ben, OC: Heather Charles

Genre: Romance/Adventure/Hurt/Comfort/Angst/Drama

Rating: E

Chapters: 1/25

Word Count: 2379

Type Of Work: Chapter Fic

Status: Incomplete

Warnings: Gay, Slash, Yaoi, MLM, AU - Omegaverse, AU - A/B/O, AU - Soulmates, AU - Canon Divergent, Vampire Typical Violence, Omega Ed Lee, Alpha Jerry Dandridge, Alpha Peter Vincent, Alpha Charley Brewster, Violence, Gore, Character Death, Cunnilingus, Blowjobs, Virgin Ed Lee, Vaginal Sex, Threesomes, Pack Mating, A/B/O Dynamics, Vampire Turning, Vampires Feeding, Underage, Charley and Ed are 17

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything except Heather.

Summary: "Every time I find you, I turn you. I won't make that mistake again."

AN: Hey guys, it’s me again! Just thought I ought to say, if you want vague updates and to talk to me more, I have Twitter and Tumblr, too! Twitter is Sunnywritings, and Tumblr is Writteninsunshine! I also have a writing Discord that is currently pretty dead. xD I can PM it to people who want it on FFN, for everyone else, it’s here: https://discord.gg/FyaWw25

So, there are absolutely no stories for my OTP for this fandom, so I have to feed myself content. Hopefully, someone will see it and also want to spread the love for these two. At any rate, I hope you guys enjoy this fic, it’ll be kind of long. I have no idea how long, but I hope that I can do them justice.

Fright Night Fic Masterlist

Chapter One: Bright Lights 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been weeks since the last time he’d heard from Charley, and Ed was starting to get offended. How could his best friend just up and abandon him like this for the popular guys? Mark and Ben were assholes, the worst kind, gaping, infected, disgusting. Ed couldn’t fathom hanging out with the two stoners, but he figured Charley saw something in them because he spent all his time with them and Amy.

Still, Ed was feeling left out. Charley had been so close to him and Adam, and now it was just radio static on his end. He’d decided that after school, he would try to go see if he could get a hold of Charley by going to his house. His parents had needed him at home, however, so he’d gone home to handle his chores and the family trip to Pizza Hut. After his room was clean, the garbage was on the curb, and his belly was full, the sun was already starting to set. Regardless, he was going to see Charley even if it killed him.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have had that thought.

As he walked, he listened to a playlist on his iPod that would hopefully give him the confidence to confront his friend. When he saw Charley’s house up the street, he pulled his headphones out and started to cross over the neighbor’s lawn, jogging lightly.

“Hey!” A rather muscular man snapped at him, standing in the shadow of his house, “Don’t run on my lawn!” The Alpha barked, using the tone he knew would make the Omega listen. Ed paused, staring at him for a moment, just standing on his lawn with wide eyes, not unlike a deer in the headlights.

“What did I just say,” His statement wasn’t a question, but a barked order, and he narrowed his eyes as he crossed his lawn with all the power and grace of a tiger stalking its prey, “Move, Omega.” He growled, finally close enough to touch the teen before him. He’d smelled the Omega on him from far away, but suddenly he was hit with a strong, desperate need to be close. It made him take pause, blinking a little.

He was the one. The one he’d been searching for.

Taking Ed by his armpits, he lifted him up like he weighed nothing and strolled to the sidewalk, placing him down gently on the concrete. Ed continued to stare up at him, somehow feeling safe with the glaring Alpha. It was strange, he didn’t know what was happening to him. Most Alphas made him feel flighty and skittish when they were older, and now he felt like he’d die if he left his presence.

“Stay off my lawn, okay?” The man’s voice was softer, now, a purr threatening to underline his words. “I’m Jerry, by the way.”

“Ed.” Finally, he found his voice, nodding a little, “I… Y-yeah, I’ll stay off it.” 

Ed couldn’t believe how strange he felt right now, drawn to this stranger like he’d known him his entire life.

“Nice to meet you, Ed.” It was hard not to call him something else, any pet name he could. ‘Precious’ came to mind and he had to shake his head to relieve himself of the thought. “Now, get.” He patted the Omega’s back, giving him a little push in the direction he’d been going.

“Yeah.” Ed nodded, still lost in the fog of being near Jerry. He started walking, hesitant to leave, towards Charley’s house, looking over his shoulder as Jerry started for his front door. “Fuck.” He muttered, rubbing at his hip a little as he took the steps to the door at a jog. Knocking on the door, he waited for a minute or so before ringing the doorbell. It hit him as he rang that he didn’t remember walking to the door.

Jane answered after another ring, and Ed smiled at her. Her return smile was tight, almost sad.

“Hey, Ed.” She offered lamely, “Looking for Charley?”

“Yeah, I, uh, I need to talk to him about something.” Nervousness and an odd sense of despair filled him and he closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, “Is he home?”

Jane visibly tried to sort out an answer and Ed knew that meant he was home but had asked not to speak to him. He sighed, shaking his head.

“Nevermind.” 

“No, no.” She sighed, unable to handle the sadness tinging his scent, “ He’s home, upstairs in his room. I don’t know if he’s asleep already or not.” She told him, stepping aside and opening the door up for him. “Come on in.”

With a nod, Ed entered the house, hands in his pockets to keep from fidgeting with them. 

“Thanks.” He smiled, though it was saddened, anxious, it didn’t meet his eyes.

“It’s no trouble, just knock before you go in.” She knew her son needed his privacy sometimes, and she didn’t know what he was doing up there at the moment.

“Yeah, I will.” He almost didn’t want to. Heading up the stairs, he sighed as he came to a stop in front of the other’s room. He knocked twice before entering without waiting for an ‘okay’, afraid he would lose his nerve.

“Ed!? What the hell, man!?” Charley exclaimed, eyes wide as he put down the book he was reading for class. He laid out on his bed, one leg bent up against the mattress., but he shot up when Ed entered the room, “You’re supposed to wait before coming in!” He added, eyes narrowing. “What do you want?” It was clear Charley wasn’t impressed with him just showing up unannounced. Even his mom didn’t warn him.

“It’s not like you’re masturbating, I don’t see the problem. I need to talk to you, asshole.” Ed snarled, crossing his arms and shaking his head, “What’s the deal? You’re just going to abandon me and Adam for those dickweeds?” 

“Man, you don’t get it,” Charley sighed, shaking his head. The Alpha smelled acrid like he was pained, but Ed ignored it the best he could. “I need this.”

“You need this? Why? I don’t think Amy cares who you’re friends with! Those assholes are gonna throw you to the wolves the second you fuck up.”

“They’re…” He wanted to say ‘good friends’, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it in front of the best friend he’d ever had, “Not so bad.” That was the best he could do.

“Not so bad? Not so bad?” Ed’s voice was shrill and it was clear he didn’t like to hear that. “Mark’s been bullying me since grade school!”

“I… I know, but he’s better, now.” He wasn’t actually better, if anything, his bullying had gotten worse.

“He’s just better because you aren’t a target anymore.” Ed huffed, growling a little under his breath. “I can’t fucking believe you. You can’t ever hang out with me anymore? Not even a little bit? Come on, man, this isn’t you.”

“It’s me, now, Ed.” Charley snapped, eyes narrowing, “Grow up, move on, it’s time we both did.” 

Ed had to hold back from another growl, taking a deep, steadying breath and trying not to lose his mind over this. Charley was pissing him off something awful and he was ready to go back to the good feeling he had when he was with Jerry. His thoughts strayed to him and he couldn’t help but bite back a smile. This was no time to feel soft and mushy over a stranger he’d just met.

“You’re a fucking asshole, Charley.” He growled, finally finding his ability to speak. “I hope you rot for this, it’s not fucking fair.”

And Ed was right, it wasn’t fair, and Charley knew that. But he had to keep up appearances. Amy wouldn’t want to date a loser like he used to be. He needed to be cool, and hanging out with Mark and Ben made him cool. It wasn’t like Amy would accept him being friends with Ed and Adam. He had to move on, and he was trying so hard. It wasn’t easy, especially with the scent of despair mixing with the calming scent of rosemary and fire filling his room. Ed was clearly upset and all he wanted to do was hug the Omega standing in his doorway. Soothing him with his scent and a firm hold sounded like the best option, but he went still and glued himself to his bed instead.

“I… Yeah, maybe I am an asshole.” He conceded, shaking his head and standing up. “But you know what? This is my life, now. If you can’t accept it, then I guess you won’t accept that I’ve moved on and that’s fine. I’m not about to abandon my life for you. We can’t be doing... Whatever this is.”

“You’re such a dickweasel, you know that? When they turn on you, and they will, don’t come crying to me. I won’t take you back.” Ed snapped, finally turning on his heels and storming out of the room. It was possible, he realized, that Ed was crying. There was a salty scent in the room, now, and he felt his stomach sink. Charley wanted so badly to call him back, but he heard the front door slam and knew it was too late.

Texting Amy, he hoped she would offer him some form of solace.

[Text To: Amy, 8:07 PM] Hey, what are you up to?

[Text To: Charley Barley, 8:09 PM] Just getting ready for bed, wyd?

[Text To: Amy, 8:09 PM] Ed came over

[Text To: Amy, 8:10 PM] I feel like shit. He’s pissed.

[Text To: Charley Barley, 8:14 PM] Oh shit, u ok?

[Text To: Amy, 8:18 PM] I don’t think so. It hurts

[Text To: Charley Barley, 8:20 PM] U don’t have to leave him u kno. He’s still ur bff.

[Text To: Amy, 8:21 PM] It’s too late now, I don’t think he is anymore. He called me a dickweasel and an asshole and stormed out of my house.

[Text To: Charley Barley, 8:22 PM] It’s not 2 late, apologize.

Her words rang true. He should apologize, but he didn’t think that he could. It wasn’t like Ed was going to respond. He was too angry, now. But he thought he’d try, anyway, at least he could send him a message. He spent a solid five minutes writing and rewriting his text.

[Text To: Evil, 8:27 PM] Hey, man, look, I’m sorry, okay? I just can’t do this right now. I can’t just up and leave, they’ll kill me.You think you have it bad but they would CRUCIFY me. It’s safer having them on my side than against me. I’m sorry they hurt you, maybe I can get them to leave you alone.

At least in his presence, he could help somewhat. Maybe if he influenced Mark and Ben enough, nothing bad would happen.

Ed turned on his read receipts on his phone, leaving Charley on read so he could see how angry he was. What else did Charley expect, an acceptance letter? There was no way after what had just happened that he’d do that. Still, the text on his phone kept him up most of the night, spending time browsing the web didn’t help, either. He ended up on Peter Vincent’s website, as he did, rereading something about vampires in California. It was always interesting to read about it, even if he’d reread this story a thousand times. Maybe he should check something else.

He turned to a forum he was part of, searching for ways to talk to Charley. No one was helpful, all of them told him not to accept the apology. Somewhere deep down, he wanted to. He picked up his phone several times, writing out responses before he ended up deleting them. 

Charley didn’t sleep well that night, either, thinking about what he’d said and how he could make it up to his friend. Maybe they could hang out after school sometime if Evil would even look at him.

The next day in class was horrible, with Ed shooting him looks that told him he wanted to talk, and then glaring daggers at him. If looks could kill, Charley would be full of knives in the back. Even after class, Ed turned his back on him, stomping out of class like it was the best thing he’d ever done.

“Hey, man, you look… Shitty.” Mark commented with a raised eyebrow, leaning on Charley’s locker, “You okay?” He didn’t really care, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

“Uh, yeah. I just didn’t sleep last night.” Not well, anyway. He’d had a nightmare that Ed had died, and he didn’t really know what to do with that.

“You gonna sleep during class?” Ben asked, though he didn’t really mind either way. It wouldn’t affect him. That was what Ben always did when he couldn’t sleep at night.

“I dunno, maybe.” He had social studies next, and that meant he’d probably sleep to the teacher’s droning monotone.

“Cool, cool.” Mark brushed it off easily, “You should get some sleep, and then we’re going out after school.”

“We are?” That would throw a wrench into his plans with Ed, for sure. But maybe it would give Ed time to cool off. With any luck, he’d come to actually accept his apology if he just gave him some time.

“We are. You, me, Ben, the car, some weed.” Maybe they’d troll the mall after smoking a bit. “We could go out somewhere, get some food.”

“Uh, yeah, sure. I’ll be there.” Charley needed some time to think, and maybe the weed would help his mood.

“Alright, see you then, man.” Mark and Ben started for their next class, leaving Charley to his thoughts. He spun the dial and opened his locker, getting out his book for his social studies class. 

He worried that Ed would never accept his apology, and that cut him to the core. All he wanted was for Ed to forgive him and for things to go back to normal, but he guessed this was his new normal, now.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: Alright, chapter one is in the bag! I’m really feeling this story so hopefully I can get through it without any issues. I hope you guys enjoyed it!!

[spilledinkstories]

One Level Down

(writing prompt: you board an elevator of strangers and someone says “thank you all for coming”— I just kind of ran with this one, didn’t take it too seriously... :P )

“So I bet you are wondering why I’ve asked you here,” said the woman in the red overcoat.

I had been planning this specific trip to my university’s library for about two weeks now. I had placed a hold on a rare copy of a book you could only read in-house, and I had been notified of the date of my viewing. It was in a temperature-controlled basement room, and to be honest, I had been feeling pretty great about the whole experience. Like this made me a Real Scholar, or something. 

It was a book on the archeological findings at a famous site in China. I was writing a paper on how a report provided by women versus men often offered different focal points of the ideas of the ancient society, or different perspectives on that society all together. For example, you might get a bigger focus in a report on home life rather than warfare. That was the department’s hope, anyway. This was of course a research question posed by the department, and I had been wondering what on earth could be so different in two reports filed on the finding of a hairbrush, but anyway. The temperature-controlled room sounded cool, and I was all about that academic aesthetic. I kind of felt like it was part of some Indiana Jones movie, doing research of relics and ancient peoples, being involved in the ongoing discourse around history, the relationship between a person digging up some ancient artifact in a remote land, and then tourists paying pocket change to stare at it for five seconds. 

So, you can imagine my surprise when, crammed on an old elevator with several other people in various states of exhaustion, digging for gum in my overflowing backpack to eradicate the taste of crappy cafeteria coffee on my breath, the woman spoke. 

No one said anything for a couple seconds. 

“Really, no one is curious?” She pressed. 

“We got your memo, ma’am,” said one of the young men in a baggy sweatshirt. 

“Didn’t think to question it,” said another.

“Headquarters told me yesterday, I flew out immediately,” said a girl in a voice simply dripping with a thirst to prove herself. It’s worth mentioning that we were six Americans standing in an elevator in London, England.

“Good,” said the woman in the red coat. 

“Why a library,” whined the first boy. “I thought joining up meant a life of excitement, not…books.”

I had to hide my grin, not wanting to be caught. I don’t know if they knew I didn’t know what was happening, but I’ll tell you: I didn’t. I was intrigued though, and figured it wouldn’t hurt to pretend I was one of them for a little while.

“Well, I assume you all brought your paperwork with you, so we won’t waste any time getting started. I’ve booked the main room down here for one hour, so let’s be sharp, got it?” The woman in red spoke with an authority that was positively presidential. We fell in line like soldiers as the elevator doors creaked open, and she marched down a carpeted hall to what looked like a conference room. 

I was beginning to question my new plan, realizing I’d miss my viewing of the book if I stayed too long with these strangers, when someone spoke in my ear. “I haven’t seen you before, but it’s nice to have another girl on the team. Wanna sit next to me?”

“Okay,” I whispered back. 

“I’m Anna,” she said, smiling.

“Ivy,” I whispered back. 

“Sit,” said the woman in the red coat, as we entered the conference room. She stood at the front and fired up her laptop, and had it projecting onto the screen in a couple of seconds. Images of old manuscripts and letters filled the screen, all too faint to read properly. 

“So, I want you to go around the room really quickly, tell me your names, and your departments,” she commanded, turning quickly to the young man sitting to her left.

“Brandon, fact checking,” he said.

“Adam, restoration,” said the one who had whined that it was a library job. 

“Jake, archeology.” This one shocked me, since he was dressed like a stoner that thought pop music would be the death of culture but was secretly in love with Taylor Swift. Maybe they were all disguised look like students, to blend on campus or something…

I gulped. I was sweating now, the skin behind my knees prickling inside my tights. Clearly this was some official thing – the power suit the boss lady had been hiding under her red coat was proof of that enough. The skater skirt I had on was okay, and my baggy green knit sweater hid the Captain America t-shirt underneath, and my combat boots hid my Dr. Who socks…but I still felt massively out of place. The space buns hairstyle really was the cherry on top. The epitome of e-girl wannabe, nerdy art student, who’d invited herself to this meeting. I gulped again. “Ivy, sociology,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t shake. 

“Anna, state department,” the other girl said directly after I’d spoken. She looked polished too, like an intern at a high end tech company or something. Wait. Did she say state department?

“Great, and I’m Dr. Grayson, here on behalf of, well, a few people. Important people. Okay. Let’s get started. The short version is that the manuscripts you see on this screen are actually fakes, and we have to prove it. The long version is that they were  pulled from a recent dig at a site said to house artifacts from the Byzantine empire, and they are to be displayed at the British Museum next month. It’s a political scheme. In essence, the scientists pushing these documents want to present them to the public as proof that an archaic and brutal form of biochemical warfare was commonly used before, in order to try to naturalize it into the minds of civilians, in hopes that if it’s used later they won’t deem it a warcrime that came out of nowhere.” With that, Dr. Grayson began handing out papers around the table, giving us a moment to digest.

Um. 

What the hell had I walked into? I needed to go. I had to get out of there. But how was I supposed to leave without them knowing I didn’t belong? On the other hand, how was I supposed to sit here and listen to the rest of this and then try to walk away, having heard all their plans? Either way I felt like I was done for. I could feel the sweat prickling my armpits and the backs of my knees, and my toes felt slick inside my shoes. My stomach felt acidic, and I could feel it churning and roiling. I was sure Jake and Anna on either side of me could hear my heart palpitating and my breath coming in short, uneven rasps.

“Your handouts outline the task ahead of us. Of course the lawyers are already trying to handle the scientists putting this research forward as legitimate, so we’re not really going to focus on the publicity angle ourselves. Our focus is to prove that this document is a fake. We’re going to analyze it, and we’ll have to dig up some research on warfare of the time, but we’ll also be dispatching our own team to the dig site. We want to see what other artifacts or things they supposedly dug up there. Anything we can do to discredit this.”

“Right, so Brandon and I can team up, if you want,” Adam said.

“I’d hoped so. You two can work on trying to disprove the authenticity of these artifacts. They’re here actually, in the other room. Being cared for. The staff here put them in the maps room.” 

Holy crap…what had I walked into. I had known choosing to go to university in London would be exiting - I’d always loved British culture, but I thought I’d be reading Shakespeare and arguing essays from Ophelia’s perspective…stuff like that. Saying that Lady Macbeth could be construed as a hero, given women’s issues of the times. Not…this.

“So, that leaves Jake, Anna, and Ivy,” Dr. Grayson was saying, “perfect. We’ll get on the jet, and we should be at the dig in about three hours. You’ll be fitted with the proper tools, of course.”

Oh my god. Oh my god. Why had I followed them off that elevator?

An hour later I was seated between Jake and Anna on a very small airplane, taking off from Heathrow. 

“So, state department, huh? Couldn’t stand to let actual scientists get some work done without a babysitter?” Jake tossed this scornfully at Anna, ignoring me who was awkwardly slumped in my seat and wishing I didn’t exist.

“Unsupervised scientists are exactly what created this mess, dumbo.” 

“Wow, I can’t believe you called me that. Dumbo. Ouch. How am I going to be able to focus on my work, with a wound so deep?” 

“Ugh,” Anna rolled her eyes, and turned to look out her window. And by god, I wish she hadn’t, because Jake turned to me instead.

“Cute hair, by the way. You blended in really well. Sociology, you said? What’s your area?” I gulped, my throat feeling like it was made of carpet. I was an introvert to begin with, so honest conversation with strangers posed enough of a challenge. But this was another beast entirely.

“Im interested in women’s suffrage,” I squeaked.

“Of course you are. No, I didn’t mean your disguise,” he said with a laugh. He must have mistaken my anxiety for anger, because he followed with “I mean, we’re all into women’s rights. Don’t get me wrong. I just meant…like…what’s your speciality, like, why’d you get put on this specific case?” 

I wracked my brains so hard I wondered if it was possible to inflict a concussion that way.

“I was in the middle of conducting research on how different teams of anthropologists or archeologists can influence the public image of ancient societies, based on publication and subsequent publicity.” 

“Oh, so you’re from the office of public affairs, basically,” he said in a bored voice. 

“Have you ever been to a dig before?” Anna asked, sounding politely interested. I simply shook my head. 

“Okay, no worries, Jake and I can handle the grunt work, and you can focus on your write-up. I’m sure you’ve got a tight deadline for this.” I smiled appreciatively, blown away that my answer had satisfied them and terrified of making things worse. 

“Wait, I thought Grayson said we weren’t covering the publicity, that they had lawyers on it,” Jake said.

“It’s more academics,” I said vaguely, and they nodded as though this meant something significant. 

Thank the lord we spent the rest of the flight in relative silence, reading through the documents Grayson had handed out. They really just outlined procedures for the dig site, and our capacity there, but Anna had assured me I could just linger to a side with a laptop if I wanted.

We touched down in Genoa around three in the afternoon. 

At least if it was my last day as a free citizen on this earth, I could say I’d gone to Italy with a frankly quite attractive scientist boy. Not a bad last day, as these things go. With mountains on one side and the sea on the other, it was absolutely breathtaking. If I hadn’t been in the middle of an hours-long panic attack, I think it would have been the best day of my life. 

Off the plane, we got into an SUV right there on the tarmac, and as I watched the scenery slip from urban to rural I wondered what had inspired these fake scientists or whatever to even want to do this. What kind of biochemical warfare were they suggesting? Dr. Grayson hadn’t said, and none of the paperwork had said it either. I suppose the others back in London would decode it from the manuscripts, if that’s what they were doing, but…

“So you’re here to report on us, Anna tells me. I was wondering who you were,” Grayson spoke in a quiet voice from the front seat. I said nothing, feeling like my throat was going to swell shut in panic. Was I busted? Would they tie rocks to my feet and toss me out to sea?

“I don’t blame you for not wanting to speak up until we were on our way. The bureaucrats never want the researchers involved, but then they get mad when the researchers say something they don’t like, so what’s the point? You may as well be here and get the proper intel.” She swivelled in the front seat to face me. “Don’t make me regret it, got it?” 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said in what I hoped was a winning voice. I saw a smirk tugging at the corners of Jake’s mouth, and tried to soothe the raging panic in my head and stomach. 

The dig site was honestly kind of disappointing. I had built it up in my head to look like a whole government facility built on a crater in the ground, with tents, scaffolding, desks, the works. But nope. This was just a crater in the ground, with a couple of ropes spanning the width of it here and there, I guess to mark the split between sections or something. That, and a couple of stools and ladders, and it was your run-of-the-mill pit.

“You’ll want this. Don’t forget the back of the neck,” Jake said, handing me a tube of sunscreen. 

“Oh, thanks,” I said, smirking as I took a bit and passed it on to Anna, who began vigorously rubbing some into her face and arms. 

“Tools are in the trunk,” Grayson said, “I’ll be in the car as I have to update the Upstairs. Private phone call, you get it. Get to work.” Anna sprung into action. It was like she was racing Jake to get the tools and pick a spot first, wanting to beat him at every turn. 

“You’re not even a real archeologist,” he grumbled, leaving my side to gather his equipment. 

“Tell that to the state department,” she called, and he looked pissed that she’d heard. 

“Which state, even?” He asked.

“Virginia.” 

“CIA then?” 

“Not necessarily.” 

I said nothing, letting them bicker. I went to the trunk and peered in, seeing a stack of coveralls. I picked on up to inspect it, thinking it might be nice to cover up my outfit that was feeling less and less professional by the second. 

“Good thinking,” Anna said, grabbing a pair herself. All suited up, she pulled a laptop out of a bag and passed it to me. 

“Here ya go, I guess you didn’t get a chance to bring yours.”

“Is there internet here?” I asked.

“Yep, car acts as a router. High tech,” she said. I took the computer from her silently.

The three of us trudged back to the pit, where the other two lost no time hopping in and surveying their turf. 

“So,” I said awkwardly, “we’re supposed to see if we can find any other manuscripts? Or anything suggesting biochemical warfare?”

“Partly, yeah. I’m also going to be inspecting the dig site itself to try to disprove that they found any paper substances. Particles left behind, impressions in the ground, you know.” Jake was bobbing his head, hands on his hip, looking like my dad about to mow the lawn on Sunday morning.

“You can do that?” I asked. He laughed, seeming to think I was being facetious. I wasn’t. I was just clueless, but I guess I’m glad he didn’t see it.

“I’ll just watch you both work for a while, and then I’ll start my write-up. I need to observe to figure out my angle.” I tried to muster as much authority in my voice as possible, as though I’d done this kind of thing before. 

“Yeah, okay,” Anna said absently. A couple of minutes later and some awkward waiting with my hands in my pockets, laptop waiting on a stool, the others had picked work spots and gotten to it. 

The silence was broken only by the sound of shifting dirt, and the occasional ruffle or grunt from one of them. Subtle glances back to the car suggested that Grayson may not be joining us in the pit at all, which was a relief. I watched as Jake poked and prodded at the ground, a look of deep concentration on his face, compared to Anna’s digging with all the fervour of a child told to find treasure in a sandbox. 

There was nothing for it. I went over to the stool, opened the laptop, and started typing. I wrote of the bureaucratic nature of science, as Grayson had put it in the car, and how publication could really be a business. How people had to fight to get their ideas heard. How certain things were deemed more or less important to the government for example, versus the public sphere. 

Basically, I sat in coveralls, on a stool in a pit in Genoa, Italy, and wrote my term paper. 

I tried to spin it so that the finding of a hairbrush, or a kitchen tool, would be treated very differently than the finding of a weapon, and whether or not it was a man or woman who discovered it really made no difference. Both men and women work in bureaucratic systems and in academics in today’s world, and both have access to controlling information. I wrote something like that, hoping if Grayson checked what I’d been working on, she’d see it as a government report on academia, since that was my only thread of legitimacy to work with where these strangers were concerned. After I finished I quickly emailed it to myself, hoping no-one would notice, and then I could just email my professor saying I couldn’t see the book I was supposed to but I’d written a paper for the deadline anyway.

By the time I’d finished my write up it was nearing six o’clock. Jake pulled up a stool next to me, and braced his forearms on his knees. 

“I can’t see any evidence of a real dig here. I don’t get it,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I said slowly, closing the laptop, having quadruple checked that I’d sent the work to my school email and saved it.

“I mean there wasn’t a dig here. This isn’t a real archeological site.” 

“So where did the fake manuscripts come from then?” I asked, wondering how on earth he could tell.

“I don’t know. I also don’t know why Grayson wouldn’t have known that before we got out here.” 

“Well, someone had to be the first to check,” I offered, blushing a little for fear this was a stupid comment. He looked at me, real suspicion entering his eyes for the first time.

“There are scientists in Italy. We didn’t need to fly out here to check it. Something’s up.” In the setting sun, the green flecks in his brown eyes caught the light, and I realized he was younger than I had originally thought. He couldn’t have been out of school that long.

“Maybe Grayson is in on it?” But before Jake could reply to this, Anna joined us in our little corner of the pit.

“Anyone have any water?” Jake passed her some, and she gulped it down before saying, “I’ve been digging for almost three hours and haven’t found a single thing.” 

I felt the familiar surges of panic making their way through my veins, making my ears ring and my head feel stuffy, and making the other two feel oddly distant. 

“Maybe the site has already been cleared out?” I offered, my voice squeaky. Anna passed me the water bottle, mistaking my rasp for thirst.

“How’s it going down here?” The three of us froze, staring at each other. Grayson had gotten out of the car, and hopped into the pit, the heels of her shoes sinking an inch or two in the loose dirt. She shuffled over to us, maintaining her look of authority. 

“Yeah, good,” Jake said, “I think I’ve seen all I need to for a first look.” 

“You’re only getting one look,” she drawled.

“I haven’t found any other artifacts,” Anna said, “I think whoever was here before cleared everything out.” 

“And where would they have put it?” Grayson demanded. Anna fell silent, taken aback. 

“I don’t think anyone really was here before. I think this is a fabricated dig site.” While I didn’t know Jake very well, there was no mistaking the challenge in his voice. Grayson’s eyes narrowed a little, and she took a couple steps closer to where Jake was seated beside me, so she could tower over him. 

“And what are you suggesting, exactly, Jake?” 

“When I’m working I go by Dr. Miller. I’m suggesting that they gave you a fake location to send you on a goose chase, or that perhaps those manuscripts don’t exist at all.”

“Then what would you suggest is in the maps room back in London?” She said dangerously. 

“I couldn’t tell you, seeing as I never saw them in person.” A grin flickered on Grayson’s face. I caught Anna’s eye from where she was standing behind Grayson, and read the worry as a pretty bad sign. 

“Who would want to send me on a wild goose chase?”

“You’re the government official, not me. Who exactly do you work for, Dr. Grayson? And what are you a doctor of, exactly?”

“Political science, it’s just a title. I work for the secretary of defence.” At this, Jake laughed in her face. 

“The U.S. government is worried about some old scroll they dug up in the mountains that suggests some ancient civilization knew how to…what? Poison each other? This is a joke, right?” Jake stood up and strolled away from the group, shaking his head.

“Not poison,” she said quietly.

“Then what?” I asked, immediately realizing I’d broken my vow to myself to keep my stupid gob shut.

“Classified,” she said with an arched brow.

“So again, why fake the site?” Anna asked. 

“The scientists who produced the documents could have said it was here to buy time until the exhibition,” I offered, since Grayson was still staring at me. She flicked an eyebrow up again, and finally broke her stare to turn her eyes on Jake.

“Are any of you wearing microphones?” She asked. 

“No,” we all said unanimously. She exhaled wearily, rubbing a hand over her tired eyes.

“Alright. What I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this pit. The scrolls outline a way of spreading a virus that was apparently employed all the way back then. Given the recent pandemic all over the world, that’s not the kind of thing the public needs to be seeing. But these scientists are convinced it needs to go public. You can see how that would strike fear into the hearts of everyone. They’d all be convinced they were the recent victims of a large-scale government attack.” 

“Who are these scientists? Archeologists, whoever?” Anna said, disgust colouring her words.

“We’re wasting time here, we can talk about this on the jet back to London. I want to see those manuscripts,” Jake said, and he strode to the edge of the pit and hauled himself out. I was shocked that Grayson didn’t counter his authority, and instead followed him. 

I slept most of the plane ride back to London. I’d listened to them bicker and swap theories while we ate our way through a couple of pizzas that were waiting for us on the tarmac, but they’d mostly talked in circles. The more they talked, the less Grayson really seemed to know, and Jake kept saying he needed to see these artifacts.

With the time change back, it was about nine when we landed, and ten pm when we reached the university. I felt better, having slept a bit, but my head was still pounding with exhaustion from the events of the day.

We loaded ourselves back into the same elevator in the university library, and headed one level down. Instead of going to the conference room we headed down another hallway, where the map room was tucked away.

“They said they were still here,” Grayson said, leading us. She opened the door, and I would have been impressed by the collection of old maps had I not flown to the northern coast of Italy and back that afternoon.

“Where are they?” Jake asked harshly. 

“I don’t know,” Grayson admitted. 

“Dr. Grayson, have you worked with either Brandon or Adam previously?” Anna asked. 

“No, I haven’t. I haven’t worked with any of you before.” 

“Do you know who they work for?” Anna pressed. 

“No.”

“They just said fact checking and restoration. That could be government, a university,” Anna was trailing off. 

“A museum, even,” Jake offered. 

“I mean now that I think of it, you didn’t check any of our credentials,” Anna said, glaring at Grayson. 

“Hang on a minute, I knew five people were supposed to be joining me in the map room. I don’t appreciate your suggestion that I’m incompetent. They’re probably out grabbing coffee.”

“But how do we know they weren’t just two random guys on the elevator?” Anna said, wringing her hands. I was beginning to think she was scared that her own butt was on the line here, but mine was too so…relatable. 

“Oh, you’re back, perfect,” said a voice as the door opened, and Brandon and Adam walked in. The room was cramped with all of us standing in there. 

“From what we can tell, they’re real,” Adam said.

“They can’t be, the dig site seemed fake,” Jake said. “Let me see it.”

“I mean, obviously more rigorous testing has to be done than what we can do in a day, but it seems pretty authentic to me,” Brandon was saying as he led Jake over to where they’d been examining a very old, gross looking scroll of paper.

“Who do you two work for?” Grayson asked them, and they looked at her in shock. 

“I work for the British Museum, in the restoration department,” Adam said a little uncertainly. 

“I work for the university here, but I was hired as a consultant by the government,” Brandon said a little pompously. 

“And who do you work for?” Grayson said, turning on me. 

My throat burned. My eyes stung. I felt my head swimming, my palms prickling and my knees shaking. My limbs felt weirdly weightless. They were all staring at me now, and I knew there was nothing for it. 

“It’s like Anna said…I was just a stranger on the elevator. I followed you guys to the conference room earlier half as a joke, and then I got too scared to leave cause I thought I’d get in trouble,” it was all just tumbling out of me, and I didn’t care that tears were tracking down my face. “I should never have gotten on the plane, I should have never even followed you down the hall off of the elevator. I was on my way to look at an old book for a sociology paper I’m supposed to submit this weekend.”

To my absolute shock, Jake started to laugh. Not just a chuckle, he really laughed. Despite myself, I laughed a little too.

“I really was supposed to write a paper on different perspectives on the publications in the archeology and anthropology world, but this took it to a whole new level. I did a write up at the dig site and emailed it to myself to submit for class, but I can delete it if you want.” I looked at Grayson, fear spiking in my gut again. 

“I’ll read it first, but you clearly know nothing so I’m sure it’s harmless,” she said with an eye roll. why had I laughed? Surely ‘apologetic’ and terrified was what I should be going for, not acting like I was gloating.

“Are you gonna lock me up?” I squeaked, fresh hot tears running into my mouth and off my chin.

“What for? So you came to Italy, big deal. If Jake is right and the site is fake, you basically flew with us to see a random hole in the ground. We’ll draft up a non-disclosure agreement, track your phone for a few days, keep an eye on you…to be honest, with something like this, it doesn’t really matter that one little girl knows.” I was a bit offended at being called a little girl, but I took her point. Even if I posted about today all over my social medias, I would be discounted pretty quickly by the public, especially since I had no photos to back it up. Kinda like that history channel guy convinced aliens were responsible for historical landmarks.

“So…” I started, unsure what I was attempting to say. 

Adam pulled a wad of cafeteria napkins out of his pocket. “It’s okay, no one thinks you meant anything by it. You got swept up in it. No big deal.” 

“It still doesn’t answer my question though,” Jake insisted. “Where did these come from? If they are real, why do they surface now? Who found them? And if they’re fake, still who?”

“All I know is my boss gave me the assignment,” Grayson shrugged. 

“What does that mean? You’re blaming the American government for this?” Anna said acidly. 

I sat down in a chair tucked in the corner, glad I didn’t have to pretend I knew what was going on, or that I had any roll in this. 

“Can I go?” I asked, suddenly desperate for silence and solitude. I’d had enough.

“Yeah. We know where to find you,” Grayson said, exhaustion dripping from her own voice. 

I left the room. I walked back down the hallway, boarded the elevator and left the university library. I walked back to my dorm, in a complete daze, unable to process the day I’d just experienced. I’d snuck into some top secret government meeting and flown to Italy to attempt to disprove evidence of an ancient virus spreading technique. 

At least I’d still managed to write my paper, and I’d tried pizza in Italy, so that was pretty cool. 

A week later, with an A on my paper that I’d turned in, headlines broke that people suspected foul play with the pandemic we’d just survived the year prior. People began to suspect that it was brought on by some government or other, but then other outlets said that was just paranoia. Others still said it was old news, and what were we supposed to do about it anyway.

I bought a ticket to the British Museum, and saw the manuscript on display for everyone to see. A little blurb was posted beside it, saying how its authenticity was severely questioned, but it was no doubt real. 

No one seemed to care. I never did find out where those manuscripts really came from.

[repulsivepangolin7]

Fic: Promise me you won’t overreact...

Alright here’s a oneshot like thing I created a while ago. I think I posted it on my AO3 account (under a different pseud...)

Word count: 6 180

“Promise me you won’t overreact…” Luca fought not to grimace.

Street looked his friend up and down, “Are you alright?”

Luca nodded slightly, still trying to hide the same grimace, his left arm hanging limply by his side.

“Luca, are you alright?” Street stepped closer, forcing eye contact with Luca. He noticed the limp arm, noticed a sticky droplet hanging from one of Luca’s gloved fingers.

Luca nodded again.

Street KNEW Luca wasn’t telling the truth, so he reached a hand out to touch Luca’s left arm.

“DON’T!” Luca almost barked as he flinched away long before Street even came close, then he hit his knees when the agony quadrupled from the sudden movement.

“SHIT, you’re not alright.” Street frowned and dropped to one knee beside Luca, “What happened?”

Luca couldn’t answer.

“Luca…” Street gently grabbed on to Luca’s forearm, causing the older man to cringe. “Where’s the blood from?”

“Upper. Arm.?” The shrug he couldn’t act out was present in his voice, “OrAboveMyWrist?”

“Did you get shot? I didn’t hear a gun…” Street frowned, knowing he would have heard even a silenced shot. Then he looked up, scanning above them, “Did you fall or something?”

Luca nodded.

“One of the damn suspects…” Luca paused to let out a slow growl, “-Tossed me out of an open window. Hondo’s still up there.”

“You landed on your arm?”

Luca nodded a little, “Think I broke it.”

“Let’s get you out in the streetlights so we can take a look at this.” Street nodded towards Luca’s arm, “Want me to try to keep on holding it as we walk?”

“It’s gonna hurt like hell if you let go…” Luca gritted his teeth.

“How’s your shoulder? Is it possible for me to help you up if I hook my elbow under your armpit?”

Luca shook his head.

“Okay, belt it is then…” Street figured and scooted around to get a decent hold of Luca’s belt.

Luca nodded.

“On three.”

Luca nodded.

“One. Two. Three!”

Luca found his footing with a guttural growl.

“How are you feeling?”

“Forget it.” Luca frowned.

“Are you ready to walk?”

Luca nodded hesitantly.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 Once they reached the street itself, Street helped Luca sit down on the stairs up to one of the buildings.

“How bad is it?”

“Think I broke it…”

“Well, duh…” Street rolled his eyes, “I meant, where? Just above the wrist and your upper arm? Or are there more to worry about?”

“Dunno…” Luca inhaled sharply, “Wrist feels odd. Might’ve torn something in my elbow? Shoulder feels like it’s been out, but I think it slipped back in…”

“So it is to be considered FUBAR?”

Luca nodded, “Effed up beyond all recognition.”

“We should take a good look at it. You okay if I slice up the sleeve.”

“As long as I can move it as little as possible.”

Street nodded as he took his knife from the holster. “How’s the rest of you feeling? How’s your head? Neck?”

“My arm broke most of the fall.” Luca closed his eyes hard, “Only other part I can tell hurts right now is my left knee. The suspect kicked me in it before I went out the window. Hondo might need help up there.”

A triple set of double taps pierced the semi-silence.

Luca’s eyes shot open.

“Hondo!” Luca instinctively attempted to lift his hand to activate his microphone, but ended up curling into a growling ball.

Street nodded and five seconds later he smiled, “Hondo’s all good, Luca…”

“Good.” Luca said between gasps, slowly uncurling until he laid on his good side. “Why didn’t I hear him?”

“I think your earpiece’s out…” Street smirked and lifted the earpiece into Luca’s field of view, “Now, back to your arm.”

Luca nodded.

“Are you okay with laying in that position?”

Luca nodded, “It’s not the worst.”

“Do you want to sit back up?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Street nodded and started unbuttoning the cuff, before he carefully started slicing up the sleeve. Then stopping right before he reached the elbow. He had exposed the first obvious break, the ulna or the radius piercing through the skin. “I’m going to cover that one up, okay?”

“How bad is it?” Luca had chosen to cover his eyes with his opposite forearm.

“Open fracture above your wrist. Not sure which bone it is. Looks a bit like it could be both bones.”

“Is it crooked?”

“Yeah.”

“Felt like it was.” Luca sighed. “Does it bleed a lot?”

“No.” Street shook his head as he ripped open a package of non-stick sterile compresses, and an elastic gauze. Then he put on some clean plastic gloves. “I think it’s your upper arm that’s bleeding.”

Luca nodded slightly.

Street placed one of the compresses over the wound itself, then he started wrapping it up with the elastic. “This dressing isn’t pretty, but it’ll be a clean layer against the wound.”

Luca nodded, eyes squeezed shut.

“Can you feel your hand? Your fingers?”

“I think so…”

Street let the back of his index run against Luca’s fingers, starting with the thumb “Feel that?”

“Yeah.” Luca nodded, “Sorta painful.”

Street moved on to the next finger, “And that?”

“Still feel it, but nowhere as painful.”

Street nodded and continued, the next couple of fingers had feeling, but weren’t too painful.

The pinky finger was.

“F*** that felt like touching an electric fence! At the bear pen, at the zoo!” Luca cried out once he regained the ability to speak coherently again.

“Okay…” Street nodded, “I’m going to slice up the rest of your sleeve now.”

Luca nodded.

Street started cutting the fabric, and didn’t stop before he had uncovered Luca’s entire shoulder.  “Did they have knives?”

“What?”

“Knives? Did the suspect use a knife?”

Luca closed his eyes as he thought back.

“Or anything else sharp…” Street added as he placed another compress on a wound. “Your upper arm is obviously broken, but I don’t think it was an open fracture…”

“Obviously broken?”

“It’s shorter, and a little angled.”

“Okay.”

“Wound looks more like it was from a knife or something slicing across.”

“I think I had a close encounter with a vase…”

“Glass vase?”

“Yeah.”

“Broken?”

“Definitely was afterwards…”

“Okay. -I need to be able to wrap some gauze around your arm, think you could move it a bit out from your body?”

Luca pressed air past his lips, then he met Street’s eyes, “You’re going to have to help me back to a sitting position.”

“Okay, I can do that.” Then he paused again, obviously listening to the comms, “They’re all done up there.”

“Good.”

Then he activated his mic, “Good job, Luca’s down here. Messed up his arm pretty good in the fall.”

Street listened to the reply for ten seconds or so.”

“Broken in at least two places. Some bleeding. Moderate or severe pain, by the looks of him.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Luca, you told me not to overreact, but there’s a lot of space between overreacting and not reacting at all.” Street narrowed his eyes on his older buddy, “Your arm looks pretty bad, and you are in pain.”

Then Street spoke into the mic again, “Could be nice to have one of you down here to help me.”

Then a few seconds passed as someone answered again.

“Super, see you in a bit.”

“Who’s coming?”

“Hondo.” Street smiled, “Deacon’s keeping an eye on the suspects.”

Then someone came around the corner, “Heard you ran into some trouble…”

Luca glanced over, “Chris!”

“How are you doing Luca?”

“Hurts like hell…”

“Think you can help me support his arm once he’s seated?”

Chris nodded, and hunched down in front of Luca, “You want some help sitting up, tough guy?”

“Yeah.”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “There, all patched up.” Street winked, “Think we’ll be able to move your elbow so that we can put you in a sling?”

Luca glanced down.

“What do you think?” Chris asked behind him, rubbing a hand against his good shoulder.

“-We could try…” Luca sighed, “But I’m not sure it’ll work.”

Street nodded, and cradled Luca’s forearm. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be…”

Street hadn’t moved Luca’s arm an inch before he started ‘tapping out’ with his good hand.

“Stop?”

Luca nodded, and Street placed his arm where it had been rested earlier.

“You want us to call for an ambulance?”

“No, I’ll just ride to the hospital with you guys.” Luca glanced down at his arm, “I’m not unable to move, I’m not actively bleeding out or dying… I don’t need an ambulance.”

Street nodded.

“We should probably call ahead to the hospital and let them know you’re coming.”

Luca nodded slightly.

“Do you want to sit up front, or in the back?” Street asked as he nodded towards Black Betty.

“Front.” Luca answered quietly, “But you’re going to have to clip me in.”

Street nodded, “Sure thing.”

“And whoever’s driving her will have to drive SMOOTH!”

“Sure!” Chris nodded, “If I drive I’ll drive as smooth as I’ve ever done. If anybody else drives, I’ll threaten them to drive smoothly.”

Luca smirked.

  SWATSWATSWAT- SWATSWATSWAT

 “So, how was nightshift?” Cassie asked Andrea as she sat down to get report.

“Pretty quiet. But we got in one of LA’s finest.”

“Oh?” Cassie looked up, “An officer?”

“LAPD S.W.A.T.” Andrea nodded. “Room 24.”

“What’s his status?”

“Alert and oriented. Busted up arm, smaller injury to one of his knees.”

“GSW or…?”

“Fall from the second or third floor, I don’t remember…” Andrea admitted as her eyebrows crept close together, “Landed full weight on his left arm. Multiple fractures in his arm, ligament and other soft-tissue damage.”

“And his knee?”

“Possible patella fracture.” Andrea shrugged.

“Possible?”

“He’s scheduled for more imaging later today.” Andrea explained, “He was in a lot of pain, and the tech didn’t wan’t to push him more than necessary.”

Cassie nodded, “Is his pain handled well?”

“He got OxyCotin depot, 10 mg, two hours ago. He hasn’t slept much, but the two last times I checked in on him, he told me he felt alright.”

“So, is he one of the patients we should be a bit up front with? Offer up PRNs?”

“I think he qualifies as the ‘tough man, no-feel pain’ type, yeah…” Andrea answered, making her voice deep to imitate the stereotype.

“Got to love macho men…” Cassie rolled her eyes. “Is he NPO?”

“He’s not restricted of clear liquids yet. And the doctor said he could take pills per os until 11 a.m.” Andrea, “-If he gets surgery today, it won’t be before in the afternoon.”

“Okay. Is he set up for any fluids or anything?”

Andrea shook her head, “Just pain management right now.”

Cassie nodded, “And our other patients?”

“21-2 has been up most of the night, delirious. Jen has been in there as one-on-one this shift, I think they managed to get John in for the dayshift.” Andrea looked down at her list, “23-1 requested extra pain meds at 02 and 06… Antibiotics is hanging in 25. 27-2 FINALLY had a bowel movement. The rest has been sleeping tight the entire night.”

“Oh, who would’ve thought one would be so damn happy for someone else taking a crap back in nursing school.”

“Amen to that…” Andrea nodded.

“Alright, if there’s nothing else… Then you should get home and sleep, you’re on 2 out of 3 right?”

Andrea nodded.

“See you tomorrow morning, sleep well!”

“Have a nice shift!”

“Thanks!”

Then Cassie turned to the computer to read through the nursing notes since her last shift.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 She knocked lightly at the door before she opened it.

“Hey!” the man inside answered her.

“Hello. I’m Cassie.”

“I’m Luca,” the man grinned, “You’re the dayshift nurse?”

“Yeah.” she nodded, “How are you feeling?”

“Pain is alright, but I’m going a bit stir-crazy from laying around here.”

“I heard you were part of S.W.A.T., I guess you’re more accustomed to running around and being high on adrenaline…”

The guy chuckled a bit, “Yeah, well… Sitting still and doing nothing has never really been my strength. Right now I don’t really have a choice though.”

Cassie nodded, “Is your arm in a good position?”

Luca shrugged his good shoulder, “Can’t complain.”

“And your leg?”

“Can’t complain.” Luca repeated, “I was going for more pictures later, right?”

Cassie nodded, “That seems to be the plan. -The report said you had fallen out a window.”

“Yeah, tossed out of one…” Luca nodded, “Third floor.”

“You look like a capable guy, I’d hate to see the person who ‘tossed’ you out a window…”

Luca smirked, “Well, he did kick my knee first, I was a little preoccupied trying to figure out if I could put my weight on it or not…”

“What answer did you come up with?”

“Well, I limped along on it a bit afterwards.” Luca scrounged up his nose, “Putting weight on it wasn’t all bad, but straightening and bending it was not cool. The doctor suspected I might’ve broken my kneecap…?”

“Yeah, that’s part of the extra pictures we wanted to take.” Cassie nodded, “The x-rays suggested there might be a fracture there, but the image wasn’t good enough to be sure.”

Luca nodded.

“And they also wanted more detailed pictures of your arm and shoulder.”

“CAT-scan or MRI?”

“Both.” Cassie answered, “CT to get a detailed view of your fractures, to prepare the surgeons better. And an MRI so they can check for ligament and other soft tissue damage.”

“Cool.” Luca nodded, “Look, I’ve got a plate and eight screws in my right tibia… Will that be okay with the MRI?”

“Yeah, as long as you had the surgery in a US hospital in the last 40 or so years…” Cassie nodded, “Surgical titanium won’t cause you problems during the scan, but it might cause some local disturbance in the scan.”

“Six years ago, this very hospital.” Luca smirked.

“Do you have any other metal in your body?”

“No.”

“Ever been shot?”

“A couple of times, but that’s either been through and through, or just graze wounds.”

“Have you had x-rays to confirm that you don’t have any metal left in your body from those bullets?”

Luca nodded, “Yeah, no trace.”

“That’s good.” Cassie smiled as she looked over the room, “Now, is there anything I can help you with?”

Luca blushed slightly, “Actually… Uhmm… Could you get me a urine bottle, or a catheter… Preferably a bottle.”

Cassie nodded, “Sure thing. I’ll find a urinal bottle.”

“Thanks. My ears are pretty much bubbling.”

“Okay, I’ll go find it straight away.”

“Thanks.”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 Luca managed to dose off every now and then, and soon enough it was 2p.m.

The extra set of pictures had been taken, some doctor had been in and explained their findings.

Cassie the nurse had been in and out a few times, twice giving him pills, once giving him some injection to deal with the pain. And a few more times just to make sure he was doing okay.

Right before 2:15 she came back again.

“Hey.” Luca smiled.

“Hey, how are you doing?”

Luca shrugged, “Not too shabby, whatever you injected me with earlier kicked in quickly. -And it works wonderfully.”

Cassie nodded, “I had a chat with the doctor, figured you could use something a pinch stronger.”

Luca smiled, “Thanks.”

“So, the doctor sent his evaluation earlier. Looks like you’re not going in for surgery today.”

“Oh…”

“So, you’re no longer fasting.”

“Right.” Luca nodded as he absorbed the news.

“Bottom line, dinner is just around the corner, and I wondered if you’d like salmon or chicken.”

Luca nodded, “with potatoes or something else?”

“Pasta or potatoes.”

“Could I get salmon with pasta?”

“Sure…” Cassie nodded, “And what would you like to drink? Water, milk, juice, coffee, tea?”

“Water and coffee, if that’s not too much of a hassle.”

“Milk or sugar in that coffee?”

“Nah… Just black.”

Cassie nodded, “Alright, I’ll be back soon.”

Luca nodded.

 SWATSWATSWAT-SWATSWATSWAT

 There was a knock at the door, and five people pretty much stumbled into the room.

Luca couldn’t help but grin.

“Hey bud…” Chris grinned, “How are you holding up?”

“Ah, you know…” Luca offered up what he hoped was a confident smirk, “Bored.”

“Well, I figured you wouldn’t be up for any videogames, so I didn’t bring your PSP…” Street shrugged, “But I brought my iPad so that you can watch Netflix and YouTube…”

“Thanks!”

“How does it feel?” Deacon asked as he nodded to the massive cast and bandage wrap covering most of Luca’s left arm.

Luca clicked his tongue, “I feel like the look of it speaks for itself.”

“Yeah.” Tan tilted his head as he studied the parts of Luca’s arm which wasn’t covered up, “Your fingers are pretty swollen, and bruised…”

Luca nodded a little, and glanced down at his bare shoulder, “-And my shoulder is pretty much black.”

Hondo nodded, “Does it help having it up on those pillows?”

Luca made a noise to let Hondo know he was uncertain, “I think it throbs a bit less.”

Hondo nodded, “So, are you getting surgery?”

Luca nodded a bit, “Yeah, but not today. Could be tomorrow, or later…”

“So, you’re bedbound in the meanwhile?” Street asked.

Luca nodded, “Pretty much, apparently broke my kneecap as well. But the doctor figured I’d be able to walk around with a brace or a cylinder cast on it. -But he wanted the swelling to go down a bit first.”

“How is it now?”

“Swollen and locked straight by a short brace.” Luca sighed, “Doesn’t hurt too bad, though.”

“That’s good.” Deacon nodded.  

Chris looked over at Street, then Tan, “Hey guys… What if we go grab some extra chairs…”

“Good idea…” Street nodded, and the three youngest left the room.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “Now…” Hondo started as he sat down in one of the chairs, “How are you really feeling?”

Luca’s face dropped. “Honestly?”

Deacon nodded.

“I’m scared.”

Hondo nodded as well.

“Right now it feels like it’ll never be alright…” he admitted, wiping at his eyes with his right hand, hating the fact that his eyes were watering, “Like, there’s no one that wants to guarantee me it’s going to be just like it was, or even remotely close.”

“It’ll be one heck of a recovery…” Deacon shrugged, “But you’re tough enough, and certainly hard-headed enough to make it.”

“He’s right man…” Hondo winked, “You’re one of the most stubborn guys I know.”

“I don’t know…” Luca nibbled on his lower lip a bit, “Maybe I’m getting too old for this…”

“If you are, what am I…” Deacon chuckled.

“You’re younger than me…”

Hondo chuckled, “Well, at least it doesn’t seem like that, most of the time.”

Luca let out a sound which could sound like a laugh in some way, “Thanks.”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “How do you think he’s doing?” Street asked Chris as they rested in some chairs they had gotten permission to bring into Luca’s room later. They figured they’d give the old guys some time alone.

“Luca’s tough…” Tan commented.

“Yeah, but it was a bad break.” Chris sighed.

“Two bad breaks, that we’re sure of…” Street tapped his fingers against his thigh, “Possibly more. And then there’s all the other damage there might be.”

“Somewhere between 180 and 200 lbs landing directly on one arm from the third floor window…” Chris shook her head, “That’s a lot of force…”

“He probably weighed somewhere over 1000 lbs effectively at the impact.” Tan mused, then fished his phone out of the pocket, “190 lbs, 85 kg… 23 ft drop, approximately 7 meters. That means… His velocity at the impact was 11,7 m/s… That equals an energy of about 5800 joules, which is very close to 600 kg, which again is about 1300 lbs.”

“One moment I didn’t see the phone in your hand, and it scared me a little…” Street admitted.

“It’s scary enough with the phone…” Chris chuckled, “Poor Luca, he really must be in some serious pain.”

“That’s for sure.” Tan nodded, “Good thing he didn’t land on his head, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have been at a hospital then…”

Street’s face paled.

“Well, he didn’t, so let’s not think about that.” Chris said, looking between the boys.

“House felt weird without him tonight.” Street shook his head.

“You didn’t stay with Molly tonight?”

“No,” Street shook his head, “It was late, and I had already agreed with her that I’d crash with Luca if we didn’t get done before midnight.”

Chris nodded.

“Regretted about an hour after I went to bed.”

Tan nodded as well, “Yesterday was a tough one…”

Chris looked towards the door to Luca’s room. “This ain’t right…”

Tan looked up with a questioned hum.

“Luca, being this injured,” she shook her head, “It’s not right. He’s like the cool uncle when you were growing up, who shifted into one of your best friends when you ended up being an adult. He’s the guy who’s supposed to be unbreakable… Seeing him like this doesn’t feel right.”

Street nodded slightly, “Yeah, you’ve got a point.”

Tan also had to agree.

“One thing’s for sure, he’s going to be on light duty for a good while.” Street said, as he rested his right ankle on his left knee and crossed his arms.

“That’s going to suck for him…” Chis sighed.

“Yeah, just think of how much it sucks for us when we’re forced to go light duty due to an injury.” Tan scowled down at his own boots, “As far as I know, the three of us don’t suffer from dyslexia. I honestly believe my greatest fear would have been light duty if I had dyslexia…”

“-Well, it’s not like he can’t read…” Street shrugged, “But of course, it sucks…”

“It’s not that he can’t read…” Chris shook her head, “But he uses much more energy on that than what the rest of us do, Street.”

“Yeah, well… Guess you’ve got a point.” Street nodded.

Chris nodded, mostly to herself.

“How much longer do you think we should stay out here?” Tan asked looking towards the door.

Chris checked her watch, “Another minute and we should be in the clear.”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “Man, I can’t wait to get better…” Luca blew out a breath, “Or, at least I can’t wait to have the surgery and be allowed to start moving around again…”

The two other men nodded understandingly.

“-And I can’t wait for this to stop hurting so immensely.” Luca added, “At least it’s not the worst pain I’ve been in. That being said, it’s enough to really drive me nuts.”

“I really wish there was something I could say to help, but I know words won’t help with the pain.” Deacon sighed.

Luca nodded, “I know one thing that would help…”

“Yeah?” Hondo looked up.

“Some nurse will come by with more pain meds in like thirty minutes…” Luca said, looking up at the clock on the wall.

“Do you want us to go ask if you could get your meds early?” Deacon asked.

Luca let his head loll side to side on his pillow, before he picked his answer and nodded at Deacon, “Yeah. That’d be great.”

“Alright, I’ll be straight back.” Deacon nodded and left the room.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “There, that’s our clue…” Chris nodded towards the door as it closed again, and Deacon headed towards the nurses station.

 NEW CHAPTER

 It was a few days since her last shift, so she was excited to see how many of the patients she recognized. If she was lucky there would be some of the same faces there today as last time, and if she was out of luck the whole ward could have been changed out.

She was already at her regular fast pace as soon as she stepped into the hospital. She took the shortcut down to where they picked up their scrubs, then she walked double-pace to the locker room. She stripped down and hung her clothes in her locker, then she hopped into her white uniform.

She stepped into her colorful joggers, and shoved her pocket protector-nametag combo into her chest pocket. Then she shouldered her backpack and marched towards the stairs.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 She walked into the ward as she secured her nurse watch to her shirt. Then she walked to the board which told her which group she would be on that day, which turned out to be her regular one. Straight up orthopedic.

Then she walked to the right charge room to have a quiet cup of coffee before her shift started.

“Mornin’ Cassie!” Derek grinned.

“Morning!” Cassie smiled back, “How was the night?”

“22-3 and 30 has both had a bad night.”

“Pain?”

Derek shrugged, “30 is definitely pain. 22-3, I’m not as sure. Could be attention- or drug seeking…”

“Okay.”

“So I feel like I’ve been running a marathon between those two rooms.” Derek yawned, “24 has called a few times, also pain related… Which is very understandable…”

Cassie looked down at her sheet of paper, “Still the Luca guy?”

“Yeah.”

“It says he’s NPO…”

Derek nodded, “Yeah. Poor guy still haven’t had his arm fixed…”

“No…”

“Yeah…” Derek sighed, “His humerus displaced yesterday, which caused additional bleeding.”

“Bleeding?”

“Yeah, poked through the skin.”

“So he now has two compound fractures?”

Derek nodded, “They reduced the fracture, debrided and irrigated it. Then they placed him in a cast splint which covered a lot more.”

“How many times has he called tonight?”

“Just four times.” Derek nodded to himself, “22-3 and 30 has called like 50 times.”

“Well, guess they make SWAT guys tough.”

“Or maybe they just use tough guys for SWAT…” Derek shrugged, “They certainly make the SWAT girls HOT…”

“His teammates stopped by again?”

Derek nodded, “Anyway, he’s still on  I.V. antibiotics”

Cassie nodded, “Has his I.V. been changed recently?”

Derek checked the computer, “No, it’s three days old.”

“So, check it and maybe put in a new one…”

“Correct.”

“And he’s scheduled for I.V. antibiotics at 8?”

Derek nodded.

“How long is it since he got painkillers?”

“About an hour and thirty minutes…”

“Anything on any of the others?”

“Nothing you can’t easily read in the notes.”

Cassie nodded.

Then they sat there for half a minute in silence.

“So, are you done now?” Cassie asked.

“Crap, NO!” Derek got up in a hurry, “I’m supposed to give report on group 4 as well!”

Cassie chuckled.  

 SWATSWATSWAT

 Luca woke up as the nurse knocked at the door. He was still a bit groggy as she opened the door and walked in with a blood pressure machine in tow.

“Good morning.”

“Mornin…” Luca blinked hard as he tried to clear up the room around him.

“How has the night been?”

“Had to give in and ask for something extra to manage the pain a few times. Otherwise good.”

“And how is the pain now?”

“Laying completely still? On a scale from 1 to 10?”

Cassie nodded.

“3 I guess.” Luca tapped the fingers of his good hand against his knee which he had rested against the railing.

“And the peaks?”

“Before I got the last dose of painkiller, or after?”

“After.”

“6, maybe 6.5.” Luca yawned.

“And before?”

“Think I hit an 8.5 earlier… And just laying here was a solid 5.”

Cassie nodded, “Are you ready for some measurements?”

Luca nodded and held his right arm a bit up from the mattress.

“Wanna bet on your blood pressure today?”

Luca smirked, “Low-ish, bled a bit yesterday.”

Cassie nodded, “So I heard… What happened?”

“I’ve been having these muscle spasms…” Luca swallowed thickly, “Unfortunately my muscles were a bit stronger than the cast. Tore my shoulder out again, and my upper arm collapsed.”

“That must’ve been painful.”

Luca nodded as Cassie placed the BP cuff on his right upper arm. “The new cast splint seems more heavy duty…”

Cassie nodded, “Well, I’m turning on the machine now, so you’re going to feel some pressure around your arm.”

Luca nodded.

The machine whirred a bit as it filled the cuff with air then let it slowly out again, before it repeated the cycle twice. Then with a little triumphant ring the machine showed the pressure.

“What was it?”

“103 over 59…” Cassie answered and marked it down on her paper.

“Fits with the bleeding yesterday…”

Cassie nodded a little, “Yeah, but I’d like to get that a bit up before the end of my shift…”

Luca nodded, “Yeah, bet I would feel a bit better in general if we managed that.”

Cassie removed the cuff from Luca’s upper arm, she coiled the cord neatly and placed it back on the trolley. Then she picked up the thermometer, “Just going to swipe this across your forehead…”

Luca nodded, “I bet 99 flat.”

She looked at the little screen after she was done, “Nope, 99,5.”

“It’s still good though?”

“Yeah, still within the norm.” Cassie nodded and placed the tool back on the trolley. Then she grabbed the pulse oximeter.

Luca held his fingers up for easy access, “97”

Cassie smirked, “As pulse or saturation?”

Luca thought a bit, “Saturation.  Pulse, 74.”

“Saturation, 98. And the machine says your pulse is 86.” She replied and jotted it down.

Luca nodded and turned his wrist out so Cassie easily could palpate his pulse.

Cassie’s fingers found the pulse after she discarded the oximeter.

Luca laid in silence as she counted, only moving his right foot rhythmically.

“And I agree with the machine, mostly…”

“Just mostly?”

“I’d say 90, but that’s close.” Cassie smiled and wrote that down, as well as 16 respirations per minute.

“You have good warm hands.” Luca said as he looked up at her.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Luca smiled, “You have the best hands here.”

“Bet you say that to all the nurses.”

Luca shook his head slightly, “Nah, you’ve got first place, and that murse with glasses and a mustache is on second place.”

Cassie grinned, “Yeah, Josh is great.”

Luca nodded, “So, I’m not getting anything to eat today either?”

“No, sorry.”

Luca nodded, “Well, do I at least get some fluids?”

“Yeah, Plasma-Lyte, and I.V. antibiotics.” Cassie nodded, “And maybe a transfusion, depending on your bloodwork.”

Luca nodded, “Alright, cool!”

Cassie wrote down the time as well, before she pushed the blood pressure cart out in the corridor again. Then she walked over to the window and picked up the wash-bowl. “How do you feel about freshening up a little? And get a new gown…”

“Sounds great.” Luca nodded, “Honestly I feel like I ought to take a proper shower, but with this arm, that’s not happening. My hair feels sticky as all h*ll.”

Cassie chuckled a little, “Well, I don’t think I have time to help you with that straight away, but maybe afterwards if I manage to get ahead of my schedule… Then maybe I could help you do something about that situation.”

Luca smiled, “Thanks.”

“No promises though.”

“No, I know.” Luca nodded, “You guys are awfully busy.”

Cassie offered up an apologetic smile as she filled up the bowl with water. Donned a pair of gloves and wrung up the cloth.

“So, do you feel up for doing as much as possible on your own today? Or?”

“Oh, I can’t admit to being in a weakened state…” Luca grinned and reached out to get the cloth, “Hand that over to me…”

Cassie handed it over and Luca washed his face and neck.

“Do you want the towel to dry your face as well?”

Luca carefully shrugged his right shoulder, “Sure. Could you wring this up for me again?”

“Sure thing.” Cassie nodded and exchanged the cloth for the towel.

After patting down his face and neck, Luca placed the towel beside his hip, then he attempted getting the hospital gown off of him. His project was not successful.

“Want some help?”

Luca looked up, offering up a lopsided smile. “Looks like imma need it.”

Cassie nodded, and gently tugged it away from where it was tucked under Luca’s left side, before she tugged it away from under his right side and slid it off his right arm.

“I’ve never been more happy with the weird design on these gowns.” Luca joked.

“It’s pretty handy when you’re not completely mobile.” Cassie nodded, “And the fact that you can just tug it under your side without threading your arm through a sleeve if you’re not up for it, is also a very neat trick.”

Luca nodded.

Cassie rolled the old gown and tossed it in the sink. Then she wrung up the cloth and handed it to Luca again, who washed most of his chest and waist, and carefully under his left arm, before he attempted to wash under his right arm with his right arm.

A few seconds later he gave that up, and looked over at Cassie, “Could you help me a bit?”

Cassie nodded, took the cloth and wrung it up before she helped him with the part he couldn’t reach on his own. Then she helped him dry off. “Want me to wash your back?”

“Could you?”

“Are you able to sit straight up?”

“Yeah…” Luca nodded and reached for the bed control and started to raise his back to a point where it wouldn’t take much energy for him to sit all the way up. He didn’t get all the way up there before he had to call it quits. “Cassie, could you… Could you move my arm a little?”

She nodded and walked around the bed to the correct side, “Tell me how to help you…”

“I don’t know…” Luca sighed, “Can you try to ease it forward at the same pace as the bed?”

Cassie nodded, “Just let me know if I’m doing it wrong.”

“-Oh, you’ll hear me…”

Cassie nodded and gently cupped two hands under Luca’s injured arm. Then he pressed down on the button until he was almost upright.

“Thanks.”

Cassie nodded and released the arm with one of her hands to fluff the pillow it would rest on. “Then slowly down?”

Luca nodded.

They managed to place his arm on the pillows without any mishaps. Then Luca sat up the few remaining inches.

“Ready?” Cassie asked as she wrung up the cloth once again.

Luca nodded, and Cassie went to work. She made sure to be gentle near his left shoulder, but allowed herself to have a bit harder hand when she washed the remainder of his back. Pulling a content hum from Luca as she did.

“How’s that?”

“Awesome.”

“Good…” Cassie smirked, and reached for the dry towel. “Now, do you want to sit up for a bit, or do you want to lay back down?”

“Nah, I can sit up for a bit.” Luca decided as he leaned back against the elevated back of the bed.

Cassie nodded and placed the cloth in the water-bowl before she reached out for the clean gown. Then she helped Luca get the gown around his right arm and tucked behind his sides.

Then she wrung up the cloth once again, “Would you like to use this on your privates?”

Luca nodded and reached out for the cloth, then he stopped short. “Actually, I might need some help getting this mesh-boxer thing off first…”

Cassie nodded and placed the cloth back in the water, before helping Luca.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “Thanks…” Luca smiled as he finally rested comfortable in fresh clothes, “That actually made me feel a bit better. -A bit more tired, but also a bit better.”

Cassie nodded, “I’ll be by with some meds and fluids soon, and later we’ll see if I can do something about that hair of yours as well.”

Luca nodded, “It’s seriously turning into a nest…”

Cassie smiled, “Try to get some rest in the meanwhile.”

“Yes ma’am!”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 For once he didn’t end up waiting all day, only to learn that the surgery was postponed once more.

Instead he was wheeled into surgery a quarter past nine.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 Cassie knocked on the door and walked in a little while after Luca had returned from surgery.

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Like my head is still swimming…” Luca yawned, “How did the surgery go?”

“You know what, I haven’t had time to read the review of the surgery. I’m not sure if the surgeon has finished writing it either.” Cassie admitted.

Luca nodded, “I think someone tried to tell me how it went earlier. I didn’t really catch it.”

Cassie chuckled, “Yeah, that propofol and fentanyl combo will do that to you…”

Luca nodded lazily.

“How’s your pain level?”

Luca shrugged his good shoulder a bit, “One… Barely…”

Cassie smirked a bit to herself, mentally repeating ‘that propofol and fentanyl combo will do that to you’.

“That’s good.” She smiled, “Are you hungry, or do you want to wait a bit before eating?”

“Nah, not hungry. Just tired.”

“Okay, I’ll let you sleep the remainder of the anesthetic off. You know how to use the call button if you need anything.”

Luca nodded a bit, then yawned again.

[xxsovereignsarayaxx]

Supernatural - Road to Revenge

Summary: Nicole 'Nikki' Williams tried her best to bury her past, but what happens when something jeopardises that? What happens when she is forced to become everything she once hated? Will she change for the better or will she turn back into that person once more? Because they all say the road to revenge is a dangerous one. Just how dangerous is it? Word Count: 2023 Warnings: None.

Family don’t end in blood; but it doesn’t start there either. Family cares for you. Not what you can do for them. Family is there, for the good, the bad, all of it. They got your back. Even when it hurts. That’s family.

I jolted awake, feeling the body next to mine sweaty and thrashing about, words laced thick with a mix of sleep and panic left the lips of the person I care so deeply about and I felt powerless because I couldn’t help. Pulling back the covers my dainty hands worked hard trying to get a hand free from the clutched covers – I knew it was dangerous trying to interfere with a night terror but they were getting more frequent and longer each time as the nights passed on, what were a few minutes now lasted almost an hour maybe more. It was at that moment Sam had burst into our room like he had done times before in order to try and comfort his brother and myself, he always had the same look on his face, his eyes filled with panic and pain as he saw what was happening to his brother and again powerless to help. All we could do was be there for Dean but at night he was vulnerable but during the day he became recluse and defensive always looking for a distraction whether that be a case, alcohol or sex. 

“Dean? I need you to wake up.” I said softly but just loud enough in hopes for him to hear.

“Dean.” Sam said, still stood in the hallway illuminated by the lights in the bunker.

Dean continued to thrash his body about the bed, sweat beaded from his forehead and slid down on his pillow, his grip slightly loosened on the clutched covers but immediately latched onto my wrist squeezing tightly, it felt like my wrist could snap at any given moment, the sheer pure strength that Dean had for his fight instincts were frightening as I felt my entire body being pulled towards him. Wincing at the pain Sam had rushed over sitting on the edge of the bed and offered me his hand to balance out the pain, to which I gladly took, I gave a weak smile in an attempt to try and calm the younger Winchester. But it was getting too much and I felt tears well up in my eyes and slip down my face and bounce onto the mattress.

“Dean, please I need you to wake up.” I said with a whimper.

Somehow my prayers were answered and Dean bolted awake and looked around he noticed both me and Sam, he took a shaky breath and ran a large hand through his hair. He then noticed his iron grip on my wrist and let go so quickly like he had touched something hot. 

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled and turned away the look of shame and guilt riddled his features. 

“It’s ok.” I replied softly to him trying to reach out to comfort him, but Dean turned away ashamed. Sam placed an innocent kiss to the top of my forehead and brushed the strands of hair covering my face, then got up and made his way to his older brother and gave him a hug, using my index finger I wiped the stray tears that had stained my face and then rubbed my wrist to try and soothe the angry pain that had been flowing throughout, in a matter of moments while in complete silence Sam had left the room closing the door, the click and the sound of mine and Dean’s combined breathing filled the room.

Letting out a sigh Dean asked “I did it again, didn’t I?” breaking the silence still looking anywhere but at me because he was too embarrassed of what he had done.

“It wasn’t as bad this time Dean.” I replied softly trying to sound hopeful.

“Nikki, I hurt you again.” He admitted angrily a hand shooting up to cover his face. I let out a small sigh, I knew he was hurting, I knew he was guilty for what he had just done and for his actions in the past but it didn’t change how I felt about him. I still loved him for everything that he is. I inched ever closer and gently put my arms around him and rested my head on his back even though his navy blue t-shirt was drenched in sweat and clung to him like it was a second skin. 

Dean Winchester was a man to whom he was marked with a curse and we as a family had no idea how to get rid of it. 

We sat together for a few minutes until I registered that his breathing was getting calmer, when I felt he was at a point I shuffled around once more so I could see his face, his eyes were red at the point of bursting into tears. “Hey, listen to me. I’m fine. I’m ok.” I said to reassure him using his hands to touch different parts of my body as a sign to him that I was not fragile like he thought in his dream state.

“What if next time I don’t wake up? What if next time it’s your throat and not your wrists?” Dean asked, sounding panicked. “It won’t come to that Dean.” I replied to him placing my hand on his cheek. 

“But what if it does?” He asked again, his breathing had intensified once more. 

“Then we deal with it.” Rubbing my thumb on his cheek.

“You could do so much better.” Dean mumbled a moment later.

“I could. But I won’t. I want you Dean Winchester and only you.” I told him, planting a kiss to his cheek. 

In the morning I woke up to an empty bed, letting out a grumble as I was never a morning person, I stretched around under the sheets, I finally got up and out of bed. Running my hand through my thick brown hair, tugging through a few knots and then proceeding to rub the sleep from my eyes I made my way to the kitchen as the smell of bacon wafted through my nostrils. Padding through the hallway I noticed that Sam was still asleep not like I blamed him the past few weeks had been tough on all of us, Dean was frustrated with his actions and his sleepless nights, Sam had been disappearing throughout the day and it confused both me and Dean but we had assumed it was down to a new lady friend Sam was yet to introduce to us. I was tired of looking through countless lore books to find ultimately nothing. As I made it into the kitchen I saw Dean plate up some bacon. 

“Now that is a sight I never get tired of seeing.” Dean said with a cheeky smile eyeing me up and down. Chuckling at him and heading to where the caffeine was, I poured some of the delicious substance into two cups and made my way to the table sitting opposite Dean as he ate his mornings work. 

“How did you sleep?” Dean asked sheepishly. 

“Other than the fact I woke up to a cold and empty bed I slept ok, the bacon though makes up for the absence.” I replied playfully, reaching out to Dean’s hand pinching the half eaten piece of bacon from him. 

“That was mine.” He said to me. 

“What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is also mine, Winchester. You should know that by now. I teased. Dean leaned over and kissed me – hard. It felt like he had been starved and he relished in my touch, our mouths moulded together perfectly like they had done so many times before. I reluctantly broke the kiss due to lack of oxygen in my lungs. “We shouldn’t really do this here, we prepare food here.” I panted. 

“Your right, let’s take this somewhere else.” Dean said leaping from his seat holding my hand. 

Once again Dean used sex as a distraction. 

A week later it was back to work looking for cases and flicking through files that were yet unread. Sam had gone out again which left me and Dean in the library, he had his feet up on the table with a whiskey glass in hand as he scrolled down on the laptop in front of him. Tossing the file I had just read into the cardboard box on the floor, I then proceeded to pick up another when the door to the bunker opened and closed and I looked up seeing Sam make his way down the spiral metal staircase. “That lady friend of yours is keeping you busy.” Dean mocked his little brother. 

“Uh yeah.” Sam replied taking off down the hallway, noticing the odd behaviour I also got up from my seat. Dean looked up from the laptop shooting me a look. “I’ll be back in a minute.” I promised to Dean with a smile, he nodded his head and downed the remaining contents of his drink. I hurried to Sam’s room and softly knocked on the door and walked in closing it behind me.

“Yeah I’ll call you back.” Sam had said to the other person on the phone and then the call ended he then stuffed his phone into his jean pocket. 

“Either that lady friend of yours is very, very demanding or you’re hiding something Samuel which is it?” I asked him taking a seat on the edge of his bed, Sam had propped himself up against the desk that was in his room, while he had his hands tucked underneath his armpits. 

“Nikki it’s nothing.” Sam attempted, looking at me in my general direction.

“Sam I wasn’t born yesterday, you of all people should know that. Care to explain your absences, over the past few weeks?” 

“Dean’s not getting any better Nik.” Sam interrupted.

“Don’t you think I know that? You look like hell Sam but you won’t get any sleep if you don’t make it to bed. What’s going on? Why are you just disappearing without warning?” I asked him, hoping he would give me an answer.

“I do that sometimes…”

“No Sam you don’t, after all the years I’ve known you. You just disappearing like you have been doing isn’t something you do.

“I’ve got people working on a cure for Dean.” He admitted. Tilting my head in confusion. “People? Like who?”

“Just people Nikki, I didn’t want to get your hopes up hence why I kept quiet.” Sam replied softly running one his large hands through his brown hair.

“There’s keeping quiet and then there’s keeping secrets Sam.” I snapped with a huff crossing my arms.

“You’re going to just have to trust me on this one Nik.” Sam said to me, sighing. 

“We’re meant to be family Sam, I know whatever you’re doing is for Dean, you think it’s worth pushing everyone away for it. But don’t come to me when it blows up in your face.” I said angrily, getting to my feet and making a beeline for the door, I reached out for the handle and turned to look at him once more. 

“Please don’t say anything.” Sam uttered a plea.

“This conversation isn’t over.” 

After the conversation with Sam, I was pissed. We often confided in each other and the fact he kept this from me hurt. But if he was trying to help Dean and was not off getting laid I suppose I couldn’t be as angry as I wanted to be. I headed over to the kitchen, my need for any form of alcohol was needed. Beer? Whiskey? I’ll take whatever I could find. Opening the door to the fridge when my phone started to buzz in my pocket. I fished it out looking at the caller ID.

I let out another sigh which must have been my hundredth sigh of the day.

“This day just keeps getting better and better.” I said with sarcasm dripping from lips to the other person on the phone.

To be continued… 

[tsukoyomi-fumikage]

Injured (Teachers)

S/EraserMic S/SnipePlasm (If that’s even a ship?)

Prompt - Aizawa and Snipe finally understand the term ‘We’re fucked’. 

IMPORTANT NOTES -  Snipe’s name I have given him - Sogeki Shotto, meaning Snipe-Shot. I think it sounds good, just not too well for translation. I'm sorry, I couldn't find his real name.

.

Aizawa slid along the floor, eyes red and sore under his goggles as he dodged yet another attack from the hardening-quirk user. Everything hurt, he'd concluded as his feet touched the ground, shoulders and hair slumping momentarily as he stopped using his quirk to rest, managing to jump out of the way of a flying fist even with his eyes closed. Snipe, another teacher from UA, was opposite the villain, and as Shota disappeared into the shadows momentarily, he listened as gunshots rang through the air, ripping it in half and sending waves of sound into the forest around them. They should have known that a metal-quirk user would be no match for someone with a gun - Snipe couldn't do anything at the minute, and was in serious trouble without him.

The cowboy was grunting as he swerved and dodged the mans oncoming fists - Aizawa risked opening his eyes momentarily to watch the fight, wincing as the much smaller man was knocked off of his feet and slammed into the ground. It reminded him so much of USJ - Snipe had been one of the first heroes on scene, and had saved the lives of Jiro, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu and Midoriya, and yet here he was, mask partly smashed and hair matted with blood as he was thrown against a tree, landing roughly on his hands and knees, coughing wetly before glancing back up at the villain.

"Where's your friend gone?" His boots dragged through the dusty ground, kicking soot up at his most likely bruised face. Snipe only coughed more, but shakily tried to grab his gun, only to be grabbed by his hair and slammed face first into the floor in response, his hat long forgotten on the dirt. "He had an amazing quirk you know - you, however, are nothing compared to me."

Finally having rest enough to attack again, he leapt forward from his hiding spot, finding himself on the mans back, canceling out his quirk instantly. The villain growled under him, whirring around, Shota trying to stay on like he was at some form of rodeo, clenching his fists tightly in the man's hair, pulling at it: it wasn't exactly a hero move, but Shota couldn't really care less. Suddenly, big hands grabbed his wrists, and he was flung over the mans head, whooshing through the air before coming to land shoulder first into a tree. Pain shot up his arm, and he hissed sharply, throwing his head back in agony as it continued growing sharper and sharper. However, he still had a mission to do. "You asshole!" The villain roared, stomping towards him angrily.

Looking up, he used his quirk again to quell the man's own. "Shotto, now!" He didn't know if the younger teacher was even awake at the minute, but his theory of him being so was quickly shown to be true when the villain stopped moving, gave a choked cry, and fell to the ground, lifeless, a bullet lodged deep inside his forehead. Slumping to the ground, he panted harshly. "We weren't the best heroes for this." He commented quietly, trying to ignore the white-hot pain in his limb. "Were we, Sogeki?"

A soft laugh burst through the tense air, followed by a groan of pain. "Yeah, definitely. Wonder if this is what that Tetsutetsu guy is gonna be like from class 1B. I would hate to fight him."

"You and me both." Aizawa began to feel uncomfortable as his shoulder began to warm up, as if having a fever of its own. Looking down at it, he raised the clothing to find that his shoulder joint was sticking out of where it was supposed to be, pressed tightly against his flesh, as if almost trying to escape. Bile rose up into his mouth, but he suppressed it, swallowing harshly. "Are you good?"

Snipe sighed, and the rustling of leaves indicated that he was getting up. "I think I've got a concussion and probably some broken ribs, but I'm all good." Aizawa looked over at the blue, now redish, haired male, who was clutching at his chest, making his way slowly over to the other hero. "How are you? Trees are pretty solid last time I checked."

"Think I've dislocated my shoulder pretty badly." Even with the pain, he could clearly see how the smaller was moving, was not liking how Snipe stumbled trying to get to him. "And maybe done something to my back. Sit, Shotto-" The smaller looked like he didn't want to listen, but he followed instructions since he was superior being the older male. "-You shouldn't try to walk, I think that concussion is pretty bad."

Huffing, the man removed his mask, placing it onto the floor. His face was bruising up, brown eyes reflectively watering from the punches, nose dripping blood that he raised a hand to swipe at. "Do you think you can relocate your arm?"

Aizawa grimaced. "I'll get Toshinori or another hero to help me once they get here. Honestly-" He huffed out a dry laugh. "-They're so slow compared to us."

"Well they aren't assassin heroes." Snipe snorted, then winced as his nose began to bleed more. "They should be here soon anyway."

.

"Shotto, Shota, are you guys okay?" It was Ectoplam's metallic voice that awoke the pair from their slight dazes. Aizawa looked up at the pro, and narrowed his eyes as his shoulder pulled, joints threatening to burst from reddened skin.

Snipe grinded his teeth awkwardly - it was one of the few times they ever got to see his face, so he wasn't used to expressing his emotions for others to see. "We're good." He said slowly, running a hand through his stained red hair. "Aizawa's shoulder needs relocating though."

As if the Gods had heard his words, Toshinori, as All Might of course, burst through the undergrowth, huffing, followed closely by Present Mic and Vlad King. "Holy shit dude!" Hizashi squeaked, noticing the blood of both his friends and the victim on the floor. "You guys took one hell of a beating."

Ectoplasm crouched down, digging his hands under Shotto's armpits before dragging him up so he was standing. A hiss escaped his cracked lips, and brown eyes found black as the cowboy looked back at Aizawa. "You gonna be alright, partner?"

Eraser smiled. "I'm good, go with Ectoplasm now, Snipe." He wanted as little people as possible to listen to him as he got his shoulder relocated: Cause he know's its going to hurt. Watching as Vlad and Ectoplasm secured the smaller hero between them, helping to walk him away and back into the forest, he let out a sigh.

Now. Here it goes.

All Might quickly understood what he had to do, and knelt down reaching out his warm, large hands to maneuver the much smaller hero down onto the floor, head in Yamada's waiting lap. Long fingers stroked through his hair, and Aizawa felt the number one hero take hold of his shoulder. "Do you want me to countdown?"

He grit his teeth. "No."

The raven-haired hero didn't get a response, so he focused on his breathing and keeping his face pressed into the crook of Hizashi's lap. The hands tightened, and his joints began to protest. Aizawa tried hard to bite back the cries, but soon he was sobbing openly as it was brought upwards, getting ready to sharply align the joint with it's socket. "It's alright." Hizashi sounded pained himself as he listened to the whimpers below him. "Almost done."

All Might brought his arm across to his other shoulder around his back. After pressing his fingers to his neck, a loud pop was heard, and a rush of relief flooded through his veins. Obviously, it still hurt like an actual bitch, but the discomfort was gone, and he twitched his fingers momentarily, but soon enough his eyes closed, voices around him muffling before he fell unconscious, slumped against a fretting Hizashi.

.

"You may be the dumbest teacher I've ever met." Recovery Girl scolded softly as she dabbed at Snipe's head wounds, gaining a soft hiss from the man. Ectoplasm and Vlad were seated a few metres away from the gurney, wide smiles on their faces as the cowboy was treated. The small woman turned to face them. "Don't think you're getting off so easily!"

They both flinched back, and Sogeki let out a choked laugh. "I'm sorry, Shuzenji-san. We didn't know what his quirk was, it was quite the surprise bursting through the bushes to find a metal man waiting for you." He limply gestured to his guns, laying holstered on a nearby chair with his damaged mask besides them. "I'm not exactly the best at metal-quirk combat."

Snipe swore the woman was looking older as the minutes ticked by. She had watched them all grow up, of course she'd feel like an overprotective mother towards them. Chiyo Shuzenji would never change - not till she died, and Shotto loved her for that. "Just be more careful next time."

Ectoplasm shifted in his seat. "Does he need to stay the night?"

"Yes." She rubbed a cloth through his hair, taking away most of the blood before reaching back for some bandages. "I'm not liking that concussion at all."

Snipe sighed in annoyance, but leaned back into the bed when she finished. Ectoplasm got up and thanked the woman as she went to go find and drag Aizawa to a bed. "You really got a number done on yourself." The tooth-faced grin wasn't something many were used to, but Snipe couldn't help but smile back at it.

"You should see Aizawa-Chan."

.

Eraser panted harshly as he was laid on the bed, curling up onto one side, blinking hazily out of his eyes. He could hear voices, multiple ones, talking, muttering, 'Is he alright?', 'Dislocated shoulder', 'pain medication?'.

A hand found it's way into his hair, tangling their fingers within the locks, grounding him. His arm was grabbed by the elbow, and Aizawa momentarily wondered what the people surrounding him thought of his scarred wound from Shigaraki before pain took over as his shoulder was jolted around.

"You could of at least done it properly!" That was Recovery girl, hissing out her frustrations at someone. A small 'thwack' was heard, and he chalked it up to her hitting said someone over the head. "His arm is more damaged now because you tried to relocate it."

"It wasn't my fault!" Wow, for the number one hero, he sure did sound scared of the tiny graying woman. "He told me to do it!"

A very, very long drawn out sigh emitted from the nurse. She did not sound happy. "Yes, Toshinori, and what happens when someone is in a lot of pain and wants it to go away? They don't think clearly."

Aizawa huffed, looking over his shoulder from where he lay to glare hazy daggers at the group of people, minus Yamada, who was still stroking his hair, looking mortified. "I'm still in said pain." As soon as the words left his lips, a needle was slid into the crook of his elbow, and Chiyo quickly connected it to a machine, slowly pumping in what looked to be morphine. "Thanks." His vision was getting hazy again as the drugs took over, and he let his head rest comfortably against the soft white pillows.

"No worries, you problem child."

[hannitizer]

To Have a Home part 13

Summary: After Draco is found guilty of an attempted murder, he is sentenced to the Lupin’s house with hopes he’ll finally understand what it means to have a family. Only problem? Draco doesn’t want it.

A/N: Hey Y’all! Here is part 13 to my story. I hope you all enjoy!

Here’s Part 14!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, so what you’re going to want to do is put these two things under your armpits, and then swing your legs forward, like this…” 

Draco watched as Isla swung her body forward on the crutches. Her jacket had been discarded on one of the chairs. Remus sat next to him, a puzzled look on his face. 

“Isla, are you sure that you’re doing that right?” 

She stopped mid-swing. “Do you want to do it, Wolf Man?”

“No no, it’s just… interesting. That’s all.” 

Isla turned to Abigail. “What do you think, Gail?” 

“Why don’t we let Draco try it out? He’s got to do it sometime.” 

“There’s no way that you’re going to make me do that like some… pathetic muggle. I won’t do it.” Draco threw himself further into the couch, icy glare hitting each of them.

While Remus and Abigail looked at each other concerned, Isla laughed. 

“Okay, Draco, listen up. Just because you’re throwing a temper tantrum doesn’t mean that everything gets to go your way. If it were up to me, I’d slap you a good one…” She looked over to Abigail’s stern face. “But because it’s not up to me, I won’t.”

Isla walked over to Draco, crutches swinging under her arm. She looked like she was ready to whack him with one, so Draco took cover behind Remus, trying to make himself as small as possible. Her looming presence was intimidating, something that scared him. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly, though. 

“Please don’t hurt me!” He cried out, almost visibly shaking. He felt his breath come short, and it was getting harder and harder to convince himself to breathe in and out. 

Before he could hold onto Remus, Isla was on him, taking him by the shoulders. 

“Jeez kid, I would never hurt you like that. I was only kidding; I wouldn’t hurt you unless you gave me a reason to, and believe me, it has to be one hell of a reason. Are you okay?” 

Draco didn’t respond, not moving at all in Isla’s arms. He looked from Isla to Remus, who was still sitting next to him, a pleading look in his eyes. 

“It’ll be okay, Draco. I’ve never seen Isla hurt anyone. She may look intimidating, but deep down, she’s a softy.” 

Isla hit him square in the chest. “Shut up Mooney. If you keep talking, I’m going to personally feed you to a dragon, and that’s a promise. I don’t care if you’re married to Abigail or not.” 

“Let’s all take a deep breath, okay?” Abigail came from behind, a tray of juice and biscuits in her hands. She placed it on the dining room table before walking over to the group. “Draco, let’s try those crutches. Do you think you can do that?” 

Draco looked at all three of them. He didn’t want a fight, but he also didn’t want to be carried by Remus everywhere, especially when he needed to use the bathroom. He slowly nodded his head, letting himself be helped by Remus and Isla onto the crutches.  

After a few shaky moments, Draco was able to balance, his boot in the air and his arms wrapped desperately around the armholds. Isla held back a snort as Draco attempted to move forward, though he struggled immensely. Remus stood in front of him, and Abigail in back. Together they made an almost-sandwich around him, arms out ready to catch him. 

It took a while, but eventually, Draco was able to get the hang of walking around on three legs instead of two. He felt almost like a pendulum, swinging back and forth. He had managed to make it from one side of the living room to the other. It took a lot of encouragement on Remus and Abigail’s part, but he had done it in the end. Draco flopped back onto the couch, dropping his crutches to the floor.

“No more,” he said, “I don’t think I can do anymore.” 

“Oh, come on, Draco. Don’t be such a wimp.” Isla sat down next to him, picking up the crutches. “You can try a little more.” 

“Why don’t you walk over to the table. We can have biscuits and juice then.” Abigail added, sitting down at one of the seats. Remus joined her, so that left just Isla and Draco on the couch. She handed him the crutches with a wink, walking over to join the Lupins. 

 After struggling to get himself on the crutches, Draco managed to hoist himself on and he slowly made his way over to the table. He took his time, carefully placing his okay foot on the ground followed by the two crutches. He smiled to himself, finally getting the hang of it. 

It was like the time Luke had finally mastered the force. Or when Bilbo makes it to the lonely mountain. Or when Jo March…

What he didn’t see, however, was the bit of carpet one of his crutches had got caught on. He flew forward, colliding head-first into the kitchen table. Before any of the adults could even pull their wands out, Draco’s arm caught the side of the biscuit tray, sending biscuits and juice flying. 

He landed face towards the ground, nose pressed flat. He let out a yelp of pain, struggling to hoist himself up. 

“Oh my goodness, Draco! Are you alright?” Abigail was already at his side, trying to help him up. Isla was spelling the broken cups and biscuits away, and was about to dry his shirt when Remus suggested getting a new one entirely, going upstairs to fetch one. 

“My face hurts.” He mumbled, trying to shield himself from Isla as she leaned down too. 

“How about I get these out of here.” She said, taking the crutches and putting them next to his couch. 

Abigail had already spelled his throbbing nose, which was hurting less already, and was looking for any other injuries. Remus returned shortly with a nice, long-sleeved off-white sweater. It was the one that he had seen Draco burrow in before, and he knew that, even though Draco would never admit, it was his favorite. 

“Here,” he said, tossing it down to him, “put this on. It’ll feel nicer.”

Draco scootched away from Abigail, and took off his shirt, struggling a little to get it over his head. It only took a moment, however, and he put the sweater on, rubbing his fingers over the soft fabric. 

It also took a moment for Isla to notice something that didn’t sit well with her. She frowned, pulling out her wand once more.

“Draco,” she advanced slowly on him, hoping that it wouldn’t upset him like before, “What is that on your back?”

He frowned a bit, craning his neck to look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Those marks, on your back, what are they from?” She prodded once more. 

Remus carefully moved his shirt up in the back, much to Draco’s annoyance. 

“Let go of me, mudblood!” he cried out, trying to shimmy out of his grip, but he only shushed him.

Isla lit her wand up, showering his back in light. What she thought she had seen was very much there. Scarring ran across his back, in every which way. Abigail gasped, immediately pulling out her wand to see if she could fix it, but everything she tried did nothing to it. 

“Draco, what happened to you?” Isla asked in the quietest voice she could manage. Draco, in response, fought against Remus once more, screaming at him to let him go. 

“No, Draco, you need to tell us what’s going on.”

“Was it someone you know? Did you do this? Someone in your family? A friend?” Isla tried probing harder, but Abigail held her arm up. 

“Draco, did someone use sectumsempra on you?” 

He paused fighting for a moment, looking up at her. “Potter used that… One day in the bathrooms at Hogwarts. But Professor Snape healed it.” 

Abigail’s face read puzzled for a moment. “That’s what it looks like, but if Snape was the one to heal you, it shouldn’t have left that bad of scarring… Where did he hit you?” 

Draco looked down. “... He hit me square in the chest. I didn’t think I was going to live; I thought I was going to die right there on the bathroom floor. Potter was lucky Professor Snape was around…” 

“Abigail, can I talk to you… Privately.” Isla stood up, extending her hand for Abigail to grab on to. 

“Remus, why don’t you get Draco situated back on the couch? I’ll be back in a moment. Draco, if you ever feel pain, let me know.”

The girls walked to the office just down the hallway as Remus lifted a hesitant Draco into his arms. As soon as the door closed to the boys, Isla started looking at the books that lined the walls. 

“This doesn’t add up…” She mumbled under her breath, “Scars that deep shouldn’t come from half a year ago.”

“And if he was hit in the chest, the scars wouldn’t show up on his back. There’s got to be something going on that we aren’t seeing.”

“Well, Draco’s not going to be cooperative about it. Did you see him in there?”

“Yes, Isla, I know,” Abigail sighed, “I”ve been dealing with this for the better half of the month.”

“I don’t want to leave him like this, but I don’t think he’s going to talk about it today.” Isla said, giving up her attempt to find the book she was looking for. There had to be well over a thousand books in the room. She was surprised that Remus and Abigail could find what they were looking for half of the time. 

“How about we both look into it, and we’ll talk about it when we find something. Until then, I’ll just keep a closer eye on him, see if he says anything.” 

“Good idea. I should get back to the house anyways. I left Alex watching our surprise guest this morning, and Tonks is probably mad that I’m not helping her track down Narcissa.” 

“Do you have any news on her?” Abigail asked, perking up when she heard her name. 

“Nothing much. We have a few places that we’re looking at. We think that Voldemort might just have her at the Malfoy manor, but you can never know for sure unless we can actually get there, but that’s a whole other issue for a different day.” Isla pulled Abigail into a tight hug. 

“Bye, Abigail. Stay in contact, and keep that baby safe!” 

“Shhhh, I haven’t told Draco about them yet.” Abigail whispered. 

“Well, get on that!” called Isla, opening the door of the office. She gave Remus a hug goodbye as well, and ruffled the hair on Draco’s head before letting herself out the front door, walking to the border of the property, and aparatting away.

[riverboundao3ff]

Riverbound, Chapter 3

You are THE GUARDIAN again, and you feel like a whole army of Chuck Norris clones used you as their punching bag.

This in itself is not out of the usual, given your lifestyle and who you are as a person, but when you try and move to get up a stabbing pain tears down your left side. You suck in a sharp breath, which also turns out to be a horrible idea as your broken ribs scream profanity into your soul. God damn it, what-

Everything comes back to you before you even finish that thought.

The cholerbear. Somebody saved you, and then… brought you somewhere?

You force your eyes open. The ceiling is spotted with bioluminescent fungi that fascinates you into almost ignoring your wounds. A blanket is draped over your body, which is nice because it’s kind of cold in here.

A jade green blanket.

Wait, is this…?

Something lifts from your lower shoulder, and you look over to see a familiar handsome face staring back. His slow smile lights up the whole room.

“Lanque,” you get out.

“The one and only. Welcome back to the land of the living, darling,” he says softly.

Despite the massive amount of pain you’re in you can’t help but grin right back. Lanque had been one of the last friends you had made on Alternia, and while you two weren’t best buddies or anything you’d ended up being his unofficial date every time he needed somebody to go with to a party. The first time was to make it up to him for snitching to Bronya, and then it just kind of snowballed from there. You needed somebody to show you how to have a good time, and he needed somebody to help drag his drunk ass back to the caverns in the morning. It was a perfect symbiotic relationship.

“I’d give you a hug, but I can’t really move right now. Did you save me?” you ask.

He shook his head. “No. Lynera found you nearby after a cholerbear threw you into a tree. You needed stitches so she came and got me.”

Stitches? Damn. Carefully, you reach over and feel your side. From the bottom of your armpit to about one-quarter of the way down your side was a bandage, and underneath the bandage you can feel something thick holding the broken skin together. It’s so sore to the touch you instantly regret moving at all.

Lanque scowls and bats your arm away. “Don’t, I worked hard on that. Two of your ribs are broken on the same side, too, so don’t even think about trying to run off again.”

“Yessir,” you snipe nasally, doing your best imitation of a freshly-recruited private responding to their drill sergeant. Lanque gives you a look that would have killed a lesser Guardian.

Something about what he just said finally gets processed in your brain. An extremely important question almost has you leaping off the couch in a panic as you fully turn to face him, wincing as you do so. “Oh, shit! Lanque, you were the last person I saw before I disappeared, right? How long have I been gone?”

Dark green eyes widen almost comically. “You mean you don’t know?”

“No, I don’t know, why would I ask if I don’t frickin’ know?” you snarl.

“It…” Lanque shakes his head. “Babe, it’s been nearly six perigees.”

Six perigees? That was over a full fucking year! “I what?! Please say sike, dude, I am begging you. Lanque, no.”

A large hand splays out across your chest and pushes you back down into the couch. “Stay. Down. It’s been six perigees, four weeks, and three nights since you disappeared. I know because Daraya keeps count.”

“Oh my God, I’m gonna go find a nice ray of sunshine and roast myself to death,” you moan. “I can’t believe I fucked up that bad.”

“Look, I don’t know what happened to you, but I know that whatever happened wasn’t your fault. I know you never would have left us on purpose,” Lanque insists.

You grab the pillow closest to you and scream into it for ten seconds straight. Then, you fluff it out and put it back where it was.

After you take a couple more deep breaths, you move on to the next most important thing. “You said Lynera saved me from the Cholerbear? She wasn’t injured, was she?”

Lanque snorts. “Of course not. Any animal with half a brain cell knows to not mess with us. Where there’s a jadeblood, there’s a cloister not too far away.”

“Good.” If somebody had gotten injured because you were being stupid you would have never been able to forgive yourself. “Thanks for stitching me up.”

“You’re more than welcome. Don’t make me have to do it again.”

“No promises.”

Lanque rolls his eyes, but there’s no exasperation behind it. He doesn’t meet your gaze, either, even when you turn your head to fully look at him.

“What?” you finally ask.

“... What happened to you?”

He’s being patient, and you appreciate that. Not just anybody got to see this side of Lanque.

You then begin to realize how badly all of your friends will want to know why the hell you up and dropped off the face of Alternia.

“Isn’t that the million dollar question?” you say, morbidly amused by your entire situation. “It’s a hell of a story. I want to tell it with everybody here, though, because I only want to have to tell it once. Some parts are going to be really bad and I will cry and make it awkward for everybody.”

Lanque nods, staring off to somewhere far away.

“And once my ribs heal, we’ll go crash some rich fuck’s party like old times. I’ll introduce you to some of my other friends, too. I think you and Tagora would get along famously,” you add.

One corner of his lips twitches.

“He’s a lawyer and one of the slimiest bitches I know on this planet. One time at his hive, I put on this lotion that made my skin glow, because I could, and he took me outside so I could see the full effect. His black crush lives nearby and walks up to Tagora to antagonize him or whatever. He didn’t see me until I was like ten feet away because he wasn’t wearing his glasses. He, his name is Galekh, and he’s this huge indigo guy,” you start giggling like an idiot even though your ribs feel like they’re actively trying to escape your body. “He took off running and shrieking like a wiggler. That dumbass thought I was a rainbow drinker.”

That did it. Lanque fell over, muffling his laughter into a pillow.

The fact you got Lanque Bombyx to crack up over some stupid story was well worth the agony in your side, but you decided calming down was the best course of action before you passed out again. You still couldn’t stop smiling, though.

It’s a couple of minutes before the two of you can look at each other without losing it. God, you had missed this so much. Just… hanging out with somebody you cared about because you could, not because you were being the puppet of some god, or because you were a lonely little gremlin with nothing better to do.

Lanque chills out when he sees you flinch every time you snicker. “Alright, darling, you got me. It’s good to have you back; it’s all dreadfully boring when you’re not around.”

“Call me the mitochondria, because I’m the powerhouse of this cell,” you agree.

“I have no idea what that means, but sure. Listen, Lynera went to go get the others just before you woke up, so I think-”

A door slams in the distance, and by the sound of it it’s the one in the closest stairwell. The echo of swift pattering feet follows.

“Good timing,” you say, but your mouth is dry.

Lanque nods and squeezes your shoulder.

The lock on the study door turns. Lynera slips in, sees that you’re awake, and she covers her mouth as her pretty eyes fill with tears. She’s here, and right behind her are Bronya, Daraya, and Wanshi.

If it wasn’t for Lanque holding you back you know your stupid ass would have launched right off the couch to run to them. You must look like shit, sweaty and bloodstained and countless little scratches everywhere. There’s a new scar on your exposed right forearm from when Dirk tried to teach you how to swordfight. Your hair has grass in it, and you’re pretty sure you lost an alarming amount of weight during your travels. Whoops.

The first one to move is Bronya, who comes forward to stand beside Lynera, whispering your name like she can hardly believe what she’s seeing. She’s still regal and beautiful, and you smile when you notice her increasingly anxious gaze flit across the cuts, the bruises and blood.

Wanshi’s jaw is pretty much on the floor. Wait a damn minute, is she taller now? Is she… no way. She’s up to Daraya’s shoulders. Your baby grew up while you were gone.

She grew up, and you weren’t there, and fuck, you think you’re going to cry-

Lanque signals for her to come over, and she obeys while furiously blinking back tears. She grabs his outstretched hand first before taking yours. Delicately, with a cautiousness you’ve never seen in a kid that young, she climbs over your legs to curl up next to you on your good side. You wrap an arm around her and pull her close. Her hands form fists in your hoodie.

You look up, and Daraya is still staring at you.

Please come here, honey, please. I won’t leave you again.

“Daraya,” you rasp.

Abruptly, she stiffens, sucking in a shaky breath, and then she’s storming over to you with her fangs bared. She goes down on her knees with a thump that would have easily broken a human leg. The sound rattles in your jaw.

You reach out to her, and then she’s wrapping both arms around you and sobbing hysterically. Christ, you’ve never heard anybody cry like that before. It sends shards of cold metal raking through your chest. They hurt more than a broken rib ever could.

Your face is wet with tears, too, but it feels damn good to let it out.

:::

For a long while you just let these kids cry on you, and sometimes you’re awake and sometimes you’re in that gray area between consciousness and sleep. You hear Bronya and Lynera talking to themselves about something, but you’re too out of it to care, and if something juicy was going on you trusted Lanque to fill you in on the tea.

“Psst. Hey.”

You smile and crack open an eye. “Hey yourself.”

Wanshi stares at you in awe, her cheek squished up against your stomach. “I can’t believe we’re in Lynera’s study. Lanque always told me she kept dead bodies in here, but I don’t see any.”

You side-eye Lanque, who gives you his best disarmingly attractive grin. Unfortunately, it works.

Daraya raises her head and wipes away some smudged mascara. “No, that would be too obvious. She totally keeps the bodies in the empty seadweller pools.”

“Guys, come on,” you protest.

Wanshi sticks her tongue out at you, and Daraya snickers wetly into your hoodie.

“... Like, really? If I was a jadeblood, and I killed somebody, why would I keep the body in the caverns?” you ask as seriously as you can.

All three of them turn away to pretend to cough into their sleeves when Bronya and Lynera look over at the sound of Daraya letting out the most undignified snort you’ve ever heard. You accidentally giggle as well and let out a pained squeak when your side flares in response.

The two head jades are on you in a flash.

“Alright, you three, quit it,” Bronya orders, but she’s smiling, too. “The faster their ribs heal, the sooner they can rejoin us and their other friends. How are you feeling?”

“Like the time I met Nihkee Moolah at a muscular theatre event and she wiped the floor with my carcass,” you tell her cheerfully. “Actually, that hurt way worse, so I think I’m good.”

“... That sounds like you had a very interesting night.”

“Oh, it was.”

Lynera peered worriedly from around Bronya’s shoulder. “We’re so happy to have you back, but… why did you have to go?”

“I didn’t want to,” you sigh. “I was kidnapped.”

Five pairs of reflective yellow eyes snap to you in a heartbeat.

“You what?” Lynera shrieked. Lanque hisses at her to be quiet, and she glares at him before sitting down next to a wide-eyed Daraya.

Looking at your friends, you realize that in order to tell the entire story you would have to start from the end, not the beginning. “Look, what I’m about to tell you… it’s going to sound completely insane. But I swear on whatever trolls hold holy that I am telling the truth.”

Bronya’s lips part, like she wants to say something, but then she just nods.

So you tell them.

No matter how hard you try, you can’t bring yourself to tell them everything-- the fact that you’re now the First Guardian of this universe, or how you pulled it away from the rest of the universe to protect it, or the extent of Ultimate Dirk’s full power. You also don’t tell them about the rebellion they’re about to fight in, and how only fifteen sweeps in the future their names will be erased from history, only to be remembered in the most secretive of documents.

You do tell them about meeting your other friends on Earth, as well as your adventures on future Alternia. You tell them about how you saved both planets from playing a deadly game that would have destroyed both civilizations. You even manage to explain the extent of Doc Scratch’s manipulation, the abuse you endured at his hands, how you eventually escaped and lost your memory in the process.

This part totally fucks with the trolls. Wanshi dives under the blanket when you recall the mirrors on all of the hallway walls that watched you like eyes, no matter where you went in that hellish dimension. Bronya and Lynera look absolutely horrified. Daraya starts staring at a pillow resting on your leg like she wants to shred it to pieces. Lanque is stone-faced and still.

“... and so I finally get away from Ultimate Dirk, and then I go make sure Regular Dirk is okay, because he’s a good kid. Then I go make sure everybody else is okay. I was terrified that he or Scratch was going to come back and… hurt people.” You don’t mention how you then peaced back out to the void of space for who knew how long. “When I was certain that the kids were going to be okay I decided to see if I could still go back in time to see you guys. And I could.”

A long, long moment of silence follows that.

Daraya is, of course, the first one to break it. “... Holy fucking shit.”

“Daraya, language,” Bronya growls, but her eyes are haunted.

“Yeah, I’m going to need a drink after this,” Lanque mutters, viciously scrubbing his face with both hands. “You’re telling me that the multiverse theory is correct, gods are real, and you have near absolute control of time and space.”

“Uh-huh. Wait, trolls have the multiverse theory too? Wow.” You made a mental note to tell that to Rose so she could have another excuse to talk with Kanaya.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all that. If any of those two monsters try and show up, I’ll shove all of my knives through their throats,” Lynera snarls, tearing holes in the cushion she’s gripping with her claws.

Wanshi stirs from underneath the blankets, and one little hand shoots into the air to give you a thumbs-up.

You smile and pat her arm. “Don’t worry, I don’t think they’ll be coming for me again. They had their fun.”

Bronya sighs heavily and claps her hands together. “Well, it’s late morning, and I know Daraya and Wanshi have class tomorrow-”

Wanshi shrieks in protest and Daraya turns to face her leader with an ugly glare. “But-!”

“No buts! We’ll all take turns keeping an eye on our friend while they recover. I know we’re all very excited to have them back, and perhaps you can use that as motivation to work harder during schoolfeeding so you can come visit as soon as you can,” Bronya declared. Her tone left no room for arguments.

Reluctantly, Wanshi and Daraya disentangle themselves from you and gave you the longest hugs of your life.

“I’ll be here tomorrow,” you promise. “Study hard, okay?”

Wanshi sniffles and nods, and you give her hand a squeeze before she shuffles away to wait for Daraya by the door.

You reach out for Daraya and pull her into another embrace. She squeaks, a little caught off guard, but you hold her tight and whisper in her ear.

“Text Tyzias.”

She freezes, finally understanding. “Got it.”

You watch her go, proud as hell when you see her hold herself a little higher than when she came in. Bronya clasps your hands and does the same. The strain of holding it together for everybody else must have exhausted her, you think guiltily. You vow to be as small of a burden on your friends as absolutely possible.

Lanque is the last to leave. He doesn’t say anything, but he does gently smooth the hair back from your face before heading out the door, turning the lights off as he goes. Your stomach flips around itself like a slinky.

You try really hard to not think about that, and also the fact that he was the one to cut away at your sports bra so he could stitch you up. Yes, you know about that. Yee-haw. Oh, hey, the ceiling has a crack in it.

Lynera calls your name from the other end of the study. “Do you need more blankets?”

“No, thank you, though!” You’re already falling back asleep. Everything that just happened over the course of the night hits you at once, leaving you utterly drained.

The sound of something big being dragged over stone catches your attention before you can fall asleep. You look back to see Lynera in her nightgown-- she must have changed in the bathroom-- hauling a recuperacoon over to the couch.With practiced ease, she hops up and slips into the hole at the top.

“Good morning,” she murmurs. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

In that moment, you knew that everything you went through to return to your friends was worth it. The injuries, the loneliness, the trauma. It was all worth it. You were sure of that.

You close your eyes and let yourself be happy, just for a little while. “Me too. Good morning, Lynera.”