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crashdevlin · 3 years ago

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Leftoverture 3- Carry On

Author’s Note: Don’t get me wrong, I loved the finale, but I was thinking about how much I miss Dean and I couldn’t stop thinking about ways I could have him back so…I’m going canon divergent while being as close to canon as possible. ‘Cause that’s how Cassie do. This is where Leftoverture officially crosses over with Crash Into Me!

Summary: Sam tries to convince Dean to talk to his widow, but it takes a visit from an old friend to get him to do the right thing.

Pairing: Dean x OFC

Word count: 3755

Story Warnings: angst, Post-barn scene sads, mentions of major character deaths (Dean and AU!Sam), mentions of depression, memory fuckery,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, get off the phone. Who are you texting?” Dean asked, looking over at Sam’s thumbs tapping out a message.

“I’m...just letting some people know that you’re back, okay? What?” Sam defended, pulling his phone out of Dean’s reach as his brother tried to grab it.

“She better not be part of that group text, Sam. I will kick your lanky ass.”

“Dean, come on.”

“She has mourned me! She’s probably just starting to get okay and you want me to break that? Not to mention the kid. How are we supposed to explain to her that I’m just suddenly not dead anymore?” Dean pulled over onto the shoulder and glared at Sam until he rolled his eyes and sighed, hitting the X to take his sister-in-law’s number away from the list that included Bobby 2.0, Jody, Donna, Charlie 2.0, and Garth. “Thank you.”

“It’s only been a month. You think she’s starting to get over you already?” Sam finished tapping out his text as Dean pulled back onto the interstate.

“I think I’m a threat to her life as long as I’m in her life, man. I mean, that’s why it took us so long to get together in the first place, because I knew that me being a hunter was gonna put her in the ground and it was just lucky for all of us that it put me in the ground before her.”

“Don’t say th-”

“It’s better for her to think I’m still dead!” Dean exploded. “If she knows I’m alive, she’ll come back to the bunker and she’s gonna end up dead and that’ll be on me! Okay, it’s better if she thinks I’m dead and we keep it that way!”

“So, I guess you’ve made up your mind on this one?” Sam asked.

“Yes!” Dean nodded, somehow still keeping his eyes on the road. “You know what, yes, I’ve made up my mind. Because she deserves to live a life that I’m not ruining. She never wanted the job to encroach on her life, or Rebel’s, okay? Fuck, if I ended up getting that little girl hurt, I could nev--and you know she only agreed to marry me in the first place because Chuck was gonna kill us all anyway and he’s not a problem anymore and what happened to my ring when I bit it? You didn’t burn it with me, did you, because that was a really good silver ring and if you melted it with me, I’m gonna be pissed.”

Sam shook his head in disappointment. “Your wife was wearing it on her thumb last time I saw it.”

Dean sighed and licked his lips. “It’s better this way, Sam. I know you don’t see it, but it’s better.”

“Right. You, uh, you remember when you guys were ‘just friends’ and she started dating that asshole that didn’t know what ‘no’ meant?” Dean’s jaw clenched tight at the memory. “You remember how pissed off you got that she was dating someone, let alone a Dom dickbag like him, and how you spent the entire weekend trying to get dirt on him to use to get her to dump him?”

"He was tryin' to put things in her while she was drunk! He deserved a bullet through the skull for that shit and he's lucky she wouldn't let me go talk to him."

"Yeah, I know. He was a piece of shit, but you didn't know that when we got there. You just didn’t like him because he was dating her."

"I'm a good judge of character and she is not. She dates douchebags. She always has. I mean, look at her cheating son-of-a-bitch ex-husband. If she's dating them, they're douchebags."

Sam rolled his eyes, obviously catching Dean’s self-deprecating undertone in that sentence. "Okay, but you're just gonna let her date someone else? You're gonna let her find some other douchebag to date that you won't be able to save her from?"

"I didn't save her from Mike or Drew. She was already half out the door on both of them before I interceded with either. And I know what you're doing and it's not gonna work." Dean pointed his finger in Sam’s face. "You're not gonna get me all jealous so I go find her because I'm afraid of her getting over me and moving on. I want her to move on. I want her to have a good life. That's the whole point here, man."

"Dean, she's not going to move on. She's gonna be devastated the rest of her life because you aren't-"

"So, we should make it worse by putting her through it twice?!" Dean snapped. "We should make her have to watch me burn another time, right? We should make her clear her shit out of the Bunker in a few years too? We should make her live with the hope that one day I'll manage to make it home again? We should put her heart back together just to shatter it into pieces again when I die permanently? Fuck you, Sam. I can't do it to her. I just...no."

Sam took a deep breath and shook his head sadly. "Fine."

"It's better this way. It's just better."

"Sure. It’s better.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was something cleansing about a simple werewolf hunt. Sam was being a little overbearing, but Dean understood why. Sam didn’t want to see him die anymore than he wanted to die again. There were only two wolves and they went down easy. It was a textbook hunt...just like the vampire cult should have been.

Sam shook away memories of the night in the barn and followed an energized Dean out to the Impala. It wouldn’t happen again. Not anytime soon. Dean was around to stay. Sam would make sure of it.

“So, hit the motel, pizza and beer, head back to the bunker in the morning. Did you report my death to the fire department because I’m still wanting that job and I’ll have to think of one hell of an excuse if you told them I died.” Dean shrugged, continuing before Sam could respond. “I’m gonna need to come up with an excuse either way, but an excuse for a month of radio silence is easier than an excuse for comin’ out of the Lazarus Pit, ya know?”

“I...didn’t say anything to them, Dean. It was really low on my list of priorities to tell the Lebanon Volunteer Fire Department that Dean Campbell was dead.”

“Awesome. I’ll figure out what to tell them. For now...pizza.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No, I know, it was a crazy situation, but I honestly think getting lost in the Yukon without a cell phone was probably the best thing that could have happened to me." Dean laughed into the phone as he walked into the library. "Yeah, exactly. Never gonna take a warm, dry bed for granted again. Well, thank you so much for understanding, Captain. I'm excited to get training. That's gonna be...yeah, I'm gonna be there. Thanks again."

Dean smiled as he tucked his phone into his pocket. "He bought it. Thanks for putting those fake Canadian news pieces up. Appreciate it."

"Okay, but what if someone else searches your fake name, Dean?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "You think she's Googling me?" He stepped forward and looked down at Sam sitting at the library table. "She Googles me and she'll find a story about a man named Dean Campbell getting lost in the Yukon and surviving on moose and wolverine and melted snow. No pic, no identifying words. She'll look at it, say 'It is a miracle this guy survived' and then she'll move on to the next search result, okay? I don't understand why you're all up in my business about this but-"

"You don't miss them?" Sam asked, pushing his hair out of his face and leaning forward.

Dean bit his lip and shook his head. "No, I do not."

Sam stood and looked down into his brother's eyes. "Well, I do."

"Well, they're staying gone." Dean patted his brother's shoulder and walked toward the hall. "Good talk."

He sat on the edge of his bed and ran his hand down his face. Of course he missed her. Of course he missed the little girl he treated as his own daughter...or...the other Dean treated like a daughter. It was just too difficult. Explaining to his wife was one thing, an easy thing. She’d come back in a heartbeat and it would all be fine between them. She wouldn’t care that he wasn’t exactly the same in body, that he had different scars and a slightly different pattern of freckles or that his hair wasn’t quite right even after trying to make it work for four damn days.

She fell for him because of how he treated her, how safe she felt with him, how he made her feel. All of that was in the memories. How he felt about her was in the memories, too. He loved her in a way he'd never been able to let himself love anyone else. She was so much different than any other woman he'd considered making a life with because she was like all the best parts of them all mixed together. She was smart like Cassie Robinson, badass like Jo Harvelle, understanding of the Life without being part of it...with a kid, just like Lisa. He remembered that...and he knew that he'd never find another woman like her.

That was okay. He didn't really want another one: another woman, partner, wife. He couldn’t see himself opening up like that to someone other than his short little badass. And Sam was right that he didn't really want her with someone else, either...but she deserved it. She deserved to get over him and move on to greener pastures. So he had to stay away. For her good, he had to stay dead.

For the good of the little girl, too. If he just came back from the dead, it would completely fuck that little girl's understanding of life and death. It would fuck her up for life.

Dean sighed, picking up his phone and kissing his lock screen; the picture they took on the beach for their honeymoon. He held the phone over his heart for a minute and lied back, staring at the ceiling until sleep took him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean smiled as he sat in a folding chair on the side of a soccer field, watching a short blonde girl dribble a ball between her feet on the green grass. "She's gettin' good," he commented to himself.

"She missed tryouts this year," a familiar voice said. Dean gasped a little as he turned in his seat to look at the angel in the beige trenchcoat. "They moved back to Florida too late for her to be placed on a team."

"Cas? Are you--is this--this is a dream."

"Yes. But...my presence is not." Castiel smiled as Dean stood and wrapped him in a hug. "Jack saved me from the Cosmic Entity from the Empty. We've been improving Heaven."

Dean pulled back and sniffled as he slapped a hand on Cas' shoulder. "Man, where have you been, then? We've missed you."

"Angels stay in Heaven now. Jack and I thought it was best to keep our interference to a minimum." Cas chuckled. "I'm not technically supposed to be here now."

Dean licked his lips. "Well, then...what's with the, uh, Freddy Krueger you're pulling?"

"Dean requested it. He knows what's been happening on Earth, that you've taken on his memories and essentially become him, and he knows that you are avoiding Cassie."

Dean scoffed and stepped back from the angel. "I'm sure he's got an opinion on all this."

"He does. He has a strong opinion on what you're doing and what you should be doing." Castiel stepped closer. "He told me to tell you to get your head out of your ass. He said that, if you have his memories, you're in love with her too and you need to go to her. He knows you couldn’t live with losing her forever...so don't lose her."

"Cas, she's better off without me."

"Is she?" the angel challenged. "Because she’s Dean Winchester’s widow. Doesn't that put a target on her back?"

Dean pressed his lips together in a thin line and looked away. She could handle it...right? "She's got protections...and we taught her to fight. She's gonna be fine."

"Dean told me to tell you that if you don't get in his car and drive to Florida, he's going to 'rip your pansy lungs out'," Cas said, doing air quotes. Dean scoffed. "He was very adamant that you go to her."

"Fine. But it's gonna hurt her. I'm gonna hurt her." Dean was absolutely serious but Cas just smiled and shook his head a little. "Hey, uh, Cas? Before you go...I'm...I'm not gonna get to see you again, right? So, don't you think we should talk about-"

"I think that would be a bit redundant." Castiel’s smile brightened, crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. "Dean and I have spoken at length about my sacrifice and the words spoken before Billie and I were taken to the Empty."

"And?"

"And Dean Winchester’s Heaven is full of people who love and cherish him...who see him for the hero he is. He never believes he's going to hurt any of them. You should learn from his example."

"DEAN! Look!" Dean looked behind him to see the girl kick the soccer ball at the goal. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face.

"Great job, Youngblood!" he shouted before turning back around. The angel was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean smiled tightly at Sam as he walked into the kitchen the next morning. “So, uh...I’m gonna take a few days...drive down to Florida.”

Sam’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah...Castiel came to me in a dream last night. Said the original me is up there in Heaven and he’s very unhappy with my choice.”

“Really?” Sam was obviously amused.

“Yeah. I don’t know if it was really him or not. Maybe it was just my brain kickin’ me in the ass but...I’m gonna go get ‘em back.”

“Thank you. I was hoping you’d come to your senses.”

“Yeah, yeah, anyway...I’ll be back in a couple days. I’ve got training on Monday so...it’ll be a short trip. Maybe she’ll come back, maybe she won’t but…” He shrugged. “Don’t know ‘til I go talk to her.”

“Good luck, man.”

Dean nodded before heading to the garage. He had plenty of time to get nervous as he drove toward his in-laws’ house in North Florida. A month wasn’t too long. She’d gone longer without him in the past, but...he was alive back then. She knew he’d be back eventually.

He parked the Impala down the street. He wanted to see her before he talked to her. He needed to see how she was working through his death...if she even needed him. Dead Dean told him to go, but if she was moving on, he’d just get back in the car.

She was on the porch when he arrived, coming around the neighbor’s house to hide in the shadows around the side of her parent’s house. “It’s still hard. I don’t think it’s ever not gonna be hard. I still keep wanting to hear that damn Impala coming down the road. But even if I did hear it...I know it’d be Sam.” Dean bit his bottom lip. She was still mourning him. “I don’t know, Manda, but Erik has been a godsend.” His eyebrows went up. Who the fuck is Erik? Did she move on already? “He’s the only reason I get out of bed most mornings. He’s been helping a lot with Aria, driving her to school in the morning and making breakfast. Oh, he makes the best pancakes.” She gave a small chuckle. “Not that I need pancakes. I’ve put on, like, fifteen pounds since he died. Yeah, that is a lot. Erik doesn’t think so either...and Dean wouldn’t care...but I care”

Dean watched her shrug before shaking her head. “I don’t know. He seems nice but...my parents didn’t even know Dean and I got married, so of course Erik doesn’t know. He doesn’t understand...but he’s helping anyway.” She sighed and hummed a little into the air, staring up at the moon. “It’s still just really hard.”

Dean watched as she finished her phone call to her best friend and kept looking up into the night sky. He had to force himself to step around the side of the house and toward her. “Who’s Erik?” he asked. It was the only thing he could think to ask. Green eyes behind thick, dark glasses went wide as she turned to look at him.

“Dean?” she squeaked.

“Mostly,” he whispered as she threw her phone to skim across the grass and launched herself at him. He closed his eyes as she wrapped her arms around him, overwhelmed by the feel of her warmth against him. “Come on, Crash, I taught you better than this. Where’s your silver and holy water, baby?”

“Inside,” she sobbed out into his chest. “But I know you’re you. I can feel it.”

He pressed his lips to her hair and took a step back, leaning down a bit to look directly into her eyes. “I am me, but I’m also...I’m also not. Can we...can we take a walk?”

“Of course!” she agreed, sniffling and wiping at her eyes under her glasses.

They started to walk out of the yard onto the street. “Okay, but before I get into my whole thing...who the fuck is Erik?”

“Oh, he’s a maintenance guy, works with my dad. When I moved to the Bunker, Erik rented my room.”

Dean nodded, his lips pursed. “So, he’s your parents’ tenant and you’re letting him take your daughter to school?”

“My parents trust him...I trust him.” She stuck her hands in her pockets and shrugged. “He’s a nice guy...and he’s a writer, too. He was shocked by the number of notebooks I have. He used to do all of his writing on his computer, but he’s started writing in notebooks since I showed him the versatility of handwriting a story. He said it was like going back to simpler times.”

“Okay. I guess...so, he’s just…”

“He’s just a guy that lives at the house.” She looked over at him as he jammed his hands in his jacket pockets. “So, how are you back? Sam burned you. You shouldn’t be back.”

“You remember when Chuck was destroying the other universes and the other versions of me and Sam showed up? They were fleeing their world.”

“I remember. Sam wouldn’t take his hair down.”

“Right, well...um…” He cleared his throat. “Couple weeks ago, Man-bun Sam died in South America. Werewolves...and Dean couldn’t take it and he did a full wipe of his memories so that he wouldn’t have to remember and Sam went to Rowena to get her to fix it. Her version of fixing it was to give him, give me, your husband’s memories.”

“So, you’re-” She stopped in the middle of the street and turned to look at him. “You’re not my Dean?”

“Of course I am. I’ve got all of his memories. I’ve got all of his love.” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Slightly different body...and a different soul. Your Dean is in Heaven. But I’m just like him. I’m exactly like him, Crash.”

She swallowed and searched his face for a few moments before she looked away. “The day we met...why was I crying?”

She was quizzing him, testing his memories, seeing how much like her husband he really was. “Mike left you,” he said quietly. “It wasn’t the first time...or the last. Rebel was about...two years old and you were tryin’ to hold yourself together. We shared some beer and talked about the monster Sam and I put down...and you gave me your number.”

“You, uh, you had a tattoo that I designed...it burned so you don’t have it now, but what-”

“I’ll get the rune again,” he interrupted. “So you can astral to me again.”

“Oh, it is you,” she whispered.

“It is me.” He wrapped her in a hug again and she grabbed at his jacket to hold him to her. “I don’t know how to go about this, though. How are we gonna explain to the kid that-”

“I-I don’t know.” She pulled back and shook her head. “I don’t know if she even caught on to the fact that you were dead...all I said was ‘gone’. I just said you were gone.”

That might make it easier. “Is she back at the house?”

“No. She’s with her father. It’s just Erik and my parents at the house right now.”

“Do your parents know I died? I’m just trying to determine if we can go in or if I’m sleeping in the car tonight.” He smiled at her as she sighed and looked away.

“I told them you broke up with me.”

“So, can I come inside?”

“You’ll have to sleep on the couch...unless you wanna sleep on the floor in Aria’s room. I’ve been sleeping with her on her loft bed since Erik has my old room and bed and all that.”

He smiled and headed toward the house, her hand in his. “She still have that big pile of stuffed animals under the loft?” She nodded and he smirked. “Then I’ll sleep in her zoo.”

She led him into the house and started up the stairs. They were halfway up the stairs when the door to the room that used to be hers opened. “Cass?” a voice asked. Dean stopped in his tracks.

“Didn’t mean to wake you, Erik.”

“It’s okay. I was just worried when you didn’t come back in. Are you-” Shadows fell over Dean and Crash as a figure stepped to the top of the stairs. “Oh, shit.”

Dean’s eyes narrowed as he stepped around his wife and up a few stairs. “What the hell are you doin’ here?” he demanded.

“You’re dead,” the blue-eyed man squeaked.

“About as dead as you’re about to be, Chuck.”

~~~~

The Kitchen Sink - @emoryhemsworth @flamencodiva @wasabiwitteks @rainbowkisses31 @rissbennett @mariekoukie6661 @officiallyunofficialperson @dolphincliffs @mrs-meghan-winchester @gayspacenerd @foxyjwls007 @ilovefanfic86 @marvelfansworld @f-yeahfandoms @wonderlandfandomkingdom @hhiggs @sev3nruby @hobby27 @paintballkid711 @divadinag @thewhiterabbit42 @fantasymyth-1 @queenoftheunderdark @cosicas-cuquis @superfanficnatural @letsby @supernatural-bellawinchester @onethirstyunicorn @swinchester27 @chalicia @screechingartisancashbailiff @death-unbecomes-you @dayasvalkyrie @paryl @wereallbrokenangels @the-american-witch @that-one-gay-girl @tatted-trina6 @sunshineandwings86 @lunarmoon8 @wheezyeds @vicmc624 @couldabeenamermaid @vulgar-library

#cassie writes stuff #leftoverture #spn fanfic #dean winchester #sam winchester #post barn scene #angst

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devil-in-those-eyes · 4 years ago

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A Break(Up)? Mat Barzal

Wow, okay, so I thought about this last night and it turned out to be a lot more angsty than i thought it would be. Hope you enjoy!

You weren’t really sure how you and Mat got to this point, you haven’t even been dating that long but the fight was something else. You and Mat never seemed to fight, but then it meant all your past problems seemed to fester and roll into this big row. You didn’t mean for it to happen and you kept asking yourself how you got to this point. Thinking back on it, you understood where he was coming from, but now you weren’t angry, instead you were heartbroken because you didn’t know if the relationship could be saved.

As you stood in your kitchen, you could hear the fight begin all over again. It was loud and heartbreaking from the very beginning, unsure of how it even started the tears breached your eyes but it didn’t stop Mat in his tracks, it just made him fight harder.

You followed him from his bedroom and into the family room, his suitcase rolling behind him as he walked in his suit. “Mat, just stop.” You begged.

“Christ, Y/N, she’s just an old friend!” Mat blew up, tossing his bag of gear by the door and turning to face you.

“She’s an ex-girlfriend, not a friend!” You argued. “And you’re going out of your way to see her!”

Mat rubbed his forehead, groaning. You stood there, worry building inside your stomach because Mat didn’t tell you, no you found out because she texted him saying she cant wait to see him. You didn’t believe Mat would have told you and that was continually hitting you square in the chest. You knew Mat wouldn’t cheat, but it made you wonder if he was unhappy in the relationship and it was making you second guess everything.

Eventually, Mat looked up at you. There was sadness inside his eyes and his jaw unclenched as he watched you reach up and quickly wipe at a tear. “Maybe we should take a break.”

His words hit you like a ton of bricks. A break?

“When I come home, we can talk.” Mat breathed.

You tightened your jaw until it hurt, looking to your left and at anything but him. What could you possibly say? You didn’t want a break, but you weren’t going to keep showing him weakness. Not when he had a pretty blonde waiting for him in Vancouver.

Mat lingered for a second, waiting for you to respond. Wondering if he made the right choice, but seeing you standing there and looking so small in his blue Islanders shirt made him want to ditch the road trip coming up and stay here with you.

Eventually, he moved. He took his bags and was out the door.

To you, a break meant break up. Especially when you haven’t really spoken to Mat. His trip was only a week and a half long, but you visited his apartment to get his mail and when he texted you, asking if you had, you answered simply with one words. You didn’t want to think about him visiting his ex-girlfriend, and how seeing her might be the grass is greener on the other side. But you figured since neither of you talked about the fight, he didn’t call and you certainly didn’t, you figured it might really be over between the two of you.

Your friends told you to just wait until he came home, urging you to just pick up the phone but what did you really do in the first place to deserve a break(up)? You asked him if he was really thinking of seeing his ex-girlfriend and then it started in on how he had no space. You two didn’t live together and for the most part you only stayed over on his rare days off.

Despite the two of you maybe over, you got together with the other WAGs to watch the last game of the road trip. They ended it with a game in New York, playing against the Rangers. You didn’t tell anyone what happened, but they could tell something was up, especially when you stayed quiet when they were all swapping stories of what the boys had gotten up too.

You felt like you were just walking around life. You went to work, went home and hit the repeat button. You just wanted Mat to be happy and you prayed that it was you he would be happy with, but if it wasn’t, you didn’t want to stand in the way.

Maybe you two were moving too fast. You were twenty-four and he was a year younger, he was a hockey player and gorgeous. Maybe he should be out exploring life with other women, instead of planning for a future with you. You held back the tears when the realization hit you, watching Mat skate around and play the game that ended up being his life.

When you got home, you held the tears back until you got into bed. It took you a long while until you stopped crying and your body gave into exhaustion.

“You going home to Y/N?” Tito asked after him and Mat walked out of the arena and to the bus that’s been carting them from city and city and would bring them back to their own arena, where their cars have been sitting.

Mat felt his chest collapse in on itself when he remembered what he was going home too. He had been praying since the moment he left Long Island that you would at least stay at his apartment while he was gone, and the more the hours ticked into days the more he wished he was coming home too you.

“Yeah, Grace said Y/N was at her place, watching the game.” His reasoning was that his place was closer to Anders than your own.

In all honesty, the second he walked out of his apartment, dropping a bomb in your face, he texted his ex-girlfriend and cancelled on her. For a few days, he was carrying around the weight of what happened, but then that weight brought itself into the games and he just couldn’t get his head in it. It was then that his captain pulled him aside and made him talk about it. It was a long talk and after, Mat felt better but he didn’t know how to make things better with you.

He didn’t know how to bring up what happened, so he settled for asking if you would bring up his mail whenever you had time to swing over. He asked silly questions, things he knew didn’t matter but he was looking for any reason to talk to you, but your replies were short and distant and you didn’t pick up the one time he tried to facetime you.

When he walked through the door of his apartment, it was too quiet. Normally, if you were there he walked into warmth. The apartment would smell like the dinner you made, the lingering scents of coffee, maybe even an uncorked half bottle of wine. Instead, your shoes weren’t at the door. Your keys weren’t hanging up and his doorman told him he hadn’t seen you in days.

Mat walked further into his apartment and found a cream basket sitting on the coffee table, the only light came from the kitchen, but from what he could make out, it was his things. Three sweatshirts, ones he gave to you because he knew you’d get more use out of them. A few ties he had been missing and wondering where they went, forgetting he left them at your apartment. And his cologne he kept there for nights you missed him while he was away and for when he slept over at your place.

This was you returning his items.

This was you taking the break as a breakup.

Losing you suddenly felt more real to him, you had been slipping through his fingers before he even had the chance to try and hold on to you. Mat felt like the apartment was closing in on him, his heart shattering into a million pieces. He could no longer wait until the next day, he didn’t care that it was 1 in the morning.

None of it mattered if it meant losing you, all because he was an idiot. Mat rushed out of his apartment and got into his car, taking the fifteen minute drive to your place. He didn’t mean for seeing his ex-girlfriend to be a problem for you, nor did he feel like you were suffocating him in the relationship when he reminded himself of the nights he secretly wished for you to be more clingy. He took your cool and self assured outer shell for granted, believing it was okay, when he should have known that reconnected with an ex and not warning your current girlfriend was a huge fat no.

By the time he was banging on your door, tears filled his eyes. He couldn’t stop feeling like he was going to faint. He didn’t care if he woke up the whole building, he was seeing you, even if someone called the cops on him.

The banging wouldn’t stop and for a while, you thought it was your headache, but when you rolled over, you realized the banging wasn’t in your head and it sounded like your front door was going to fly off the hinges.

Thinking it was an emergency, whether it was family or a friend it didn’t matter, but you flew out of bed. Snatching a sweatshirt off the floor and running to the front door. You unlocked it and ripped it open, but what you saw in front of you stole your breath away.

Mat was panting, like he just ran thirty miles. His eyes were rimmed with red and his cheeks were pale.

“Mat, what’s wrong?” you asked, just shocked to see him at two in the morning.

“You’re not leaving me.” he stated, shaking his head. “You’re not.”

“Mat,” you started.

“I don’t want a break, I don’t want a break up, I don’t want you to pack up my things and give them back to me. I don’t want to be strangers with you, I don’t want,” Mat’s voice broke and he cut himself off.

Your own tears filled your eyes and you squeezed the doorknob to keep yourself grounded. You didn’t have any time to prepare for Mat as he stepped into you and grabbed the back of your thighs, squeezing them until they wrapped around his waist and he dug his face into your neck.

A quiet sob raced out of your mouth as you wrapped your arms around his neck, one of his hands touching the small of your back. Your fingers dug into his long hair and you felt him shiver into your body, his breath tickling your skin.

“I love you, baby.” He whispered into your neck, holding you as all the other emotions rippled through you. “I’m never letting you go.”

“Don’t walk away from me again,” you whimpered, getting shirt damp with tears.

Mat pulled his head back and touched his palm to your cheek, wiping at the tears the way he wanted too 10 days ago. His heart broke at the sight of you, eyes swollen and crying, lip worried raw. “I’ll never do it again, I promise.”

You nodded and Mat leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to your mouth. When you pulled back, you dug yourself into his neck again, squeezing his body. Mat stepped further into your apartment and kicked your door shut.

“You gonna let me stay the night?” He asked, reaching and flicking the lock over after realizing neither one of you wanted to let go.

“You can stay forever.” You grumbled, your words muffled by his skin.

Mat smiled softly to himself, heading towards your bedroom. “I’ll take you up on that invitation.”

#mat barzal #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal smut #mat barzal x you #mat barzal x reader

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itsjustmyfantasyroom · 4 years ago

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Riddler part 3

Master List

Warnings:talks of broken heart, once again all Spanish is from google, swearing, talks of domestic violence and dealing with grief

WC:1355

Enjoy x

After dinner you guys shared a cab home. Rafael walked into his apartment and sat down on the couch turning on the TV. He wasn’t really paying attention to it, he was thinking about you. He finally seen another side to you tonight, a side he was pretty sure you hadn’t shown anyone else. Yes you grew up with 12 boys, which you used as an excuse to cover the real reason you acted like that. You had been hurt, just like him. It was easier to be a smart ass and not be liked then to try and be nice and be hurt. You just wanted to be loved. So did he, by you.

Next morning you got up and dressed for work. You needed to be at Rafael’s office by 8 for last minute prep with Amanda with court starting at 9. You pulled up at the court house at 7.30 and walked into Rafael’s office. Carmen wasn’t there yet, but he was, you could smell him.

“Morning Counselor ”

“Morning Detective” he smiled at you. He looked at you different today. Different in a good way. Like something had changed.

“I grabbed you a coffee, hope I got it right” he point to the second cup sitting on his desk.

“You’re the Best. Thank you” you took a sip “Just right” you smiled back at him

“Puedo hacerte una pregunta?” (Can I ask you a question?)

“Si Adelante” (Yes, Go ahead)

“Esta Noche (tonight), have dinner with me? Win or lose”

“You mean win Counselor. Si por que no (Yes why not)” you smiled at him.

“You know quite a lot of Spanish Detective, I like it” you laughed

“I’ am full of sorpresas (surprises) Counselor” you winked at him

Court went in your favour and the perp was found guilty. Your testimony went well and Rafael was pleased with you and Amanda.

“You both done great. Well done.” Just then Amanda’s phone rang and she walked away.

“So dinner tonight?” he asked

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it”

“I’ll text you the address later. Meet me there after work”

You and Sonny finished at 4 and you weren’t meeting Rafael till 6.30, you got home to shower and changed. Something was different about Rafael today, he was different with you and you liked it. You looked up the restaurant he sent the address too, it was another Spanish one. You had just the right outfit.

You didn’t wear many dresses or skirts, only when you went out for girl’s nights. You pulled out a black short skirt, it sat mid-thigh and had two frills layered, coming off the hem. Very Spanish style. You then picked a white sheer non see through top that was tight fitting, had capped sleeved and tucked it in. You grabbed a pair of black slides and a clutch. You left your hair straight, did your make up and walked out the door.

Your cab pulled up right on 6.30. For the first time in a long time you had butterflies. This feeling was foreign to you. The last time you felt this, your heart was broken in two. Just then Rafael walked straight past you towards the door.

“Rafael” you yelled out and he looked around to seen you standing there. His eyes flew open and his mouth dropped open looking you up and down.

“Y/N?”

“Come on Barba, what? Too girly for you” you laughed at him and walked towards him “Some hombre guapo (handsome man), asked me to dinner at this Spanish place. Thought I better make some effort”

“And I’m glad you did, you look beautiful. Do you always dress like this outside of work?”

“What no, only on girl’s nights with Amanda”

You guys walked in and got seated at a table. You both ordered quickly and sat back relaxing and talking. Your drinks came and you took a big sip to try and tame the butterflies.

“So, who was the asshole that broke your heart?”

“I ‘am sorry what?”

“What to forward for you? I know you heard me” his trade mark smirk came to his face.

You looked at him in his eyes and then took another sip of your drink.

“It’s going to take more than one drink for that story” you huffed and laughed at the same time. Rafael called over the waiter and ordered two shoots. You both cheered and shot them down.

“He was my old partner, my first partner” you paused “We started to see each other pretty much as soon as we were partnered. You know the whole love at first sight bullshit” you huffed and he nodded back. “Things were good for about 18 months, we hadn’t meet each other’s parents yet, thank goodness, he only met some of my cousins. Of course things were good till they weren’t. We got a call one night to a domestic violence case. He really done a number on her. They had a two year old and 6 month old, beautiful little kids. We managed to get them out that night and into a shelter. We didn’t know she took her phone with her. He rang her the next day and she went back to him” you paused, Rafael lent forward to grabbed your hand, you holding his back. “We got the call a week later reporting gun shots from the address, we went back and well you know the rest” you took another sip of your drink. “Things fell apart, he couldn’t handle what I was going through mentally after what we seen, or rather he didn’t want to handle me. I was hard work he told, someone he couldn’t take home to his Mum, too damaged” you took another sip of your drink sighing “Next thing I knew he had asked to be re-partnered and I was reading his engagement announcement in the paper. He ended up with our captain’s daughter, 3 weeks after he broke up with me, they were engaged 6 months later and as they say the rest is history.” You looked at him shyly having a drink of water feeling all the sips of drink going to your head.

“He didn’t know what he had”

“No Rafael, he knew what he had. He just didn’t want it. I haven’t been in a relationship since. It was my first and will most likely be my last” you laughed.

“You don’t always need to be so strong” he said back to you squeezing your hand.

“If I don’t I’ll fall apart and no one will put me back together. Anyway, enough about me, who’s the bitch that broke your heart?” he raised his eye brows and lifted his hand from yours to order another round of shots.

“We have had somewhat the same experience. Love at first sight, for her to choose my best friend over me”

“Are they still together?”

“Less and less. He is in jail for talking to underage girls plus other stuff, she stands by him”

“Well….more fool her, the grass isn’t always greener” you shrugged your shoulders, “I guess it all worked in my favour in the end”

“Why is that?” he raised his eye brows at you.

“Well I’ am sitting here with you, you’re not at home playing husband Barba. Cheers to me” you took a sip of your new drink and he gave you a smile.

Rafael paid the check much to your protest, you were both standing outside waiting for your cabs to come. You both hadn’t noticed the time, it was 11 and you both had work tomorrow, you starting at 8.

“I had a great time with you Rafael” he smiled to you and took a step closer

“Podemos hacer esto de nuevo? (can we do this again?), but maybe not a weekday” you both laughed “Sábado? (Saturday?)”

“Si, soy libre (Yes I’ am free)” you answered back.

“Great it’s a date” he lent in and hugged you, kissing you on the cheek.

“Wait-a date? Like an actual date?”

“Yes Detective, like an actual date”

Tags: @detective-giggles @beccabarba @thatesqcrush @the-baby-bookworm @dianilaws @scarletsoldierrr @lv7867 @permanentlydizzy @averyhotchner @infiniteoddball @ritajammer21

#ada rafael barba #ada barba #rafael barba #rafael barba fanfiction #rafael barba imagine #rafael barba x yn #rafael #barba #barba fanfic #barba x reader #law and order svu #SVU fanfiction #SVU FANDOM #svu fan #nbc svu #rafael barba x you #Raul Esparza #reafael barba x reader #rafael barba x reader

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frostsinth · 4 years ago

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Burdened by the Stars - Pt. 1

Huzzah! A new story! I have had this one in my thoughts since about halfway through Royal Flush, and am happy to finally get it underway. I’ve already got most of the next part written, so I hope to keep ahead of myself that way I can post more regularly again.

Please enjoy this new (and old!) cast of wonderful characters. Tell me what you think! Drop an ask, reblog, or comment! Check out my MasterList for more of my stories, and please feel free to BuyMeACoffee while you are there to help out.

All the best!

The sun was a blessing warmth that day, shining bright in a clear blue cloudless sky. The gardens looked almost endless, and I had to admit I was impressed with the gardeners’ skill to maintain such a vibrant green despite it being nearly the middle of winter. Of course, a fair bit of that was due to the addition of a pair of goblin gardeners a few years back, who imbued some of their innate magic to make the gardens far more beautiful year round than they had ever been. With their aid, the grass grew thicker and greener. The blooms grew larger and more colorful. Everything seemed to have a beautiful sparkling splendor.

Despite the loveliness of the gardens, and their impressive expanse, I was, as always, innately aware of the towering white stone walls surrounding it. One would have to squint to see them from where I stood, but I felt their press as plainly as if I were standing in a four by four box. My own personal gilded prison.

Not that those walls had ever succeeded in keeping me in for long, I thought to myself with a tickle of amusement, crossing my arms as I watched my two Ladies in Waiting struggle to notch their arrows. I had never found it too much trouble to sneak out when I put my mind to it. But I would give my older brother some credit, as he had gotten quite good at two things over the years; convincing me to stay in, and, when that failed, hunting me down to drag me back.

Honestly, I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. I just wanted to explore! I wanted to see far off places and go on adventures of my own! Nothing ever happened at the castle! There was only ever stuffy, boring nobles and endless soirees and balls and galas. I had no head for politics, no patience for court affairs, no interest in parties. I couldn’t sit still long enough for anyone’s satisfaction, nor did I like wearing the fancy dresses. Certainly I was often told I was clever enough to outwit most anyone, but I just lacked the focus. It was a hollow old song who’s tune had long run dry to my ears.

My brother did try. He was always trying to engage me in court life. And I knew he wanted me to be happy, in his own way. He just didn’t understand my wanderlust and adventuring spirit. He loved being King, and running the country. And he was good at it; the best in centuries many said. Our Kingdom prospered, our people flourished. For him, there was nothing more exciting than negotiating contracts, solving disputes, or meeting foreign dignitaries. He would try to appeal to my curious nature. Come meet this fellow, my brother would say, he’s from the far off Kingdom of somewhere or other. He’ll tell you all sorts of fascinating stories!

...They were never interesting people. I could almost predict how quickly I would become bored with them by how highly my brother sang their praises before I met them. But we had vastly different tastes, my brother and I. Though when I was younger, I had always admired him. My serious and indomitable older brother, more than 20 years my senior. Still, despite his cold and stoney exterior to the outside world, he was the one who had taught me to shoot a bow. And he had always been there to support me, whatever new interest or hobby I picked up each week. He made a point to spend almost every dinner with me, and to listen to everything I had to say. But when he looked at me, he still saw a Princess. A fine Lady of the Court, not a discontent prisoner. And the older I got, the less and less he seemed to see it.

This afternoon I was especially restless, as I knew it would be soon time to go to the castle where I usually spent the winter months. My travel had been delayed this year due to weather, and I was anxious to be leaving. Especially as my older brother and his spouse had a few younger foreign nobles that they seemed particularly interested in pressing into my company. I nearly groaned at the memory of them. Boring, all of them! One was from a fishing kingdom, but he had never met a pirate! Nor did he even seem remotely interested in discussing them. Another journeyed from beyond the mountains, near the deserts of Sandspire. And yet seemed more prepared to wax poetic about my hair than discuss the inter politics between his Kingdom and the Nessiim.

“Your Highness!” Called one of my Ladies, waving her little arm at me and bouncing up and down in her overly sparkly shoes. “Did you see that shot? I believe I’m getting better!”

I waved my hand back to the small goblin standing a few yards away, smiling. “Keep your elbow tight, Safa, and you’ll hit the target every time!”

My other Lady, Lisbet, giggled behind one delicately gloved hand, giving Safa a light and playful shove and saying something I couldn’t quite hear from the garden gate where I stood. The goblin squealed, her grey-green skin becoming flushed far darker than before, and attempting to poke her human counterpart with the end of her bow. Lisbet merely laughed louder, swatting her back with her own. They were doing well. Neither had much of a hand for such things; their arms were far too unpracticed at pulling the bowstring, and their fine clothes tended to get in the way. But still, it was amusing to see them try. And it never hurt that they might learn a thing or two in the process.

I watched them quietly for a few minutes, leaning over the short wooden fence that separated the open field where we had set up a makeshift target practice from the vegetable garden the kitchen utilized. The two had been incredibly good sports about entertaining me today; both willing to look like absolute fools as they attempted to replicate one of my favorite pastimes. I knew they weren’t trying very seriously anymore, but I didn’t mind. I rubbed my hands together, clearing the dirt from my palms left over from picking some produce for our afternoon snack. Cucumbers and melons were always more delicious picked straight from the vine. I considered my bounty, sighing deeply to myself. It certainly wasn’t all bad being Princess. I knew I should be grateful for living in such a beautiful white stone castle, being waited on hand and foot without a care in the world. And I was!

But I swore I would trade it all for just one great adventure.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I almost didn’t hear the soft crunch of boots on the gravel behind me. Originally I must have passed it off as just a servant running an errand on the path lining the outside of the garden or a guard making their rounds. Then a large, broad shadow passed over me, bigger than any I was sure I had ever seen before, and I spun in surprise.

The man standing behind me was tall. Taller than me, taller than either of my older brothers who were not small people. I ventured to guess he was close to seven feet, either just shy of or just over. His shoulders were broad, almost the width of two men standing side by side. And their breadth was certainly no illusion of his clothes, seeing as he wore next to none. His chest and shoulders were bare save for a dark leather pauldron on one side with a pair of thick straps that were cinched tight to his muscular torso. About his waist he had heavy furs wound back and forth into layers from his hips down to nearly his knees, but I could see his thick thighs through the slashes cut into either side to allow ease of movement. He also boasted a huge axe strapped to his back, possibly as long as I was tall, and a matching dagger on each hip.

Certainly this man was no castle guard, based upon his garb alone, but despite all that, it was not his clothing nor weapons nor size that made my eyebrows flick up in surprise. The man’s flesh (most of which was quite visible to my curious eye) was a deep, yellowish green. Like a lemon still halfway to ripening, though a fair bit darker than one. Besides that, and his broad, flat nose, as well as the mohawk of hair neatly braided down the top center of his head with short shaved sides, a pair of sharp looking little tusks protruded out from behind his lower lip.

The greenish skin and prominent brow originally had me thinking ‘goblin’. But combined with the small tusks and his gargantuan size? I quickly corrected that to ‘orc’. Though this was only a homely guesstimate, as I had never met a real orc before. A pair of bright green emerald eyes settled on me briefly as he approached, then flicked over my shoulder to consider my Ladies. Perhaps I should have been afraid of him, or at the very least wary. Yet instead I found myself intrigued. He carried himself with a slow saunter, confident, but not aggressive. And though he looked completely out of place in his furs amid the polished stones of the fine castle, he didn’t seem particularly on edge himself. Perhaps a bit exasperated, but otherwise relaxed. I shifted, cocking one hip and leaving just one brow raised. Wondering just exactly who this man was, and why he was wandering around inside the castle grounds unaccompanied.

He paused beside me, and I considered him from head to toe as he placed his meaty hands on either hip. I watched him looking over my Ladies again, then he jerked his rounded chin at them.

“Which one of them is the goblin Princess?” He asked, his voice thick with an accent I had never heard before.

I almost laughed out loud at his question, privy to information he apparently was not that made it intensely humorous. But I quickly hid my smirk and turned to consider my two Ladies in Waiting with him. Certainly they looked quite regal and elegant; Safa always preferred large poofy dresses, most almost twice her size, despite how much I preached their impracticality. She also boasted an over the top hairstyle that was the current goblin fashion and gave her an extra inch or two on her height. Meanwhile Lisbet, who’s tastes were much more subdued, looked no less refined in her lovely scarlet frock on top of cream and pink skirts that brushed the grass as she walked. She had also done up her hair in a delicate braid, with a few long cherry blonde curls flowing loose over her shoulders. Both had more than a few bobbles and bangles, and they squeaked and squealed like typical high class ladies who had never needed to worry about a thing in life.

“That depends on who’s asking.” I returned to the stranger, leaning back forward on the gate again over my crossed arms.

The young man gave a snort, and shot me a look out the corner of his eye. I wondered if he was appraising me now. In comparison to the bright and decadent Ladies across the way, I was sure I looked quite plain. A cream colored sleeveless blouse that looped around my neck and a soft lavender skirt complimented my dark umber skin. Topped with my soft white fur shawl to keep off the chill that I had pushed back out the way of my arms while I worked. My own hair, a wild auburn that was so dark it was nearly black, was pulled out of my face with a simple maroon ribbon and nothing more. It spilled around my head in an untamed cloud of softness, each tiny curly fluffed out to be almost indistinguishable from the next without close inspection.

“I mean her no harm,” he assured me after a moment, “I have come very far seeking to be heard by the King.”

I looked him over again, and couldn’t help feeling my curiosity having been thoroughly piqued. “And what does that have to do with the Princess?”

“Who are you to her?” He growled. At first I was surprised by the tone, but I quickly realized it was not in an unfriendly manner. It was almost a secondary quality to his deep voice and thick accent.

“Oh, we’re very close.” I confided in him, nodding conspiratorially to hide the twitch of my continued amusement. “She doesn’t do anything without taking my counsel first.”

“Hmm.” Green eyes turned back to consider me more carefully, and I could see the same spark of interest in his own eyes. “And you would help me?”

“Depends on what you need help with, I suppose.” I mused in return.

He sighed heavily, then took his hands from his hips and crossed them over his chest. “I’ve come to speak for an alliance between my people and the humans. The King is… reluctant.” He jerked his chin at Safa and Lisbet again. “But if I marry the Princess, I can change that.”

I nearly fell over in disbelief. “You want to marry the Princess??”

He scoffed, his brow scrunching up angrily. “What? An orc can not marry a Princess?”

I laughed, unable to contain the ridiculousness of his proposal. “Is that what you are then? An orc?” I scoffed at him myself, my voice becoming heated. “And I can’t believe Val… erm, I mean, the King, would even suggest that!”

“Yeah, I’m an orc!” The big beast shot back proudly, then hesitated to reach up one hand and rub the back of his neck sheepishly. “Well, half orc, anyways. And King Valeri-whatsit didn’t exactly suggest marrying the Princess… I did.” He glanced at me out the corner of his eye once more. “And he would have laughed me out of the room too. But I think he might be half stone.... He’s hard to read.” He grumbled and shifted his weight. “So what’s her problem? Who am I rescuing her from?”

“Rescuing her?” I exclaimed, still off balanced from his first admittance to begin wrapping my head around his second question.

“Princesses always need rescuing.” He pointed out patiently, as if it were a common fact of life. “Is there a monster here? Or some… riddle or something that she can’t solve?”

I hid a smirk, shaking my head. “Nope. Nothing like that around here.” I kicked the fence with my toe. “Just a regular old boring castle.”

He chewed that over for a moment, scratching one finger on his chin as he did. “Hmm. I suppose her brother the King must be secretly wicked or something. Maybe he never lets her leave the castle.”

My eyes jerked up to him in surprise. As I watched though, he seemed to be chewing on his thick lower lip, and his brow was scrunched. Just thinking out loud then. A coincidence he had nearly hit the truth of the matter perfectly square. I glanced back at my oblivious Ladies, then to the half-orc.

“So you fancy yourself her rescuer then?”

He nodded, becoming more confident as he thought about it. “Yeah. I think that’s how it works.” He gave a hefty shrug of his shoulders. “I mean, I don’t want to marry some soft, spoilt Princess, but if I rescue her then the King will have to listen to me.”

I would have groaned, and had to fight hard to resist narrowing my eyes instead. What an arrogant prick! Honestly, who did he think he was! I brushed my hands down the front of my dress, straightening.

“Soft?” I scoffed again. “Spoilt?? And who says she needs rescuing!” I argued bitterly, moving to open the gate beside me. “I think the Princess is quite capable of taking care of herself, thank you very much.”

“Hey, wait!”

I jumped slightly, turning to find his hand scooped around my upper arm. His grip was firm, but gentle, and his skin seemed a warmer color against the contrast of my own. I glanced at it, blinking stupidly for half a second before looking up at his face. He too seemed to realize perhaps he had been a bit forward, and dropped his hand. Suddenly looking more uncertain than I had yet seen him. I paused, considering him. He shifted sheepishly.

“You ah… you said you were going to help me.”

I snorted. “I said that depended on who you were.” I crossed my arms, craning my head back to look up at him with my lips set in a stubborn line. “And you never actually said who you are.”

He gave me a small grin, baring his small tusks at me. I couldn’t suppress the little jump in my pulse at the sight as his whole face lit up with the smile. He stood a little taller, spreading the breadth of his shoulders out then solidified his footing. The stance of a soldier, I noted. A stance my other brother had taught me during our sparring sessions. He looked… big. And I couldn’t deny the impressiveness of his fit body. I realized he was probably about my age, or maybe a year or two older at most. But I shook myself internally as my eyes lingered on him perhaps a moment longer than necessarily appropriate and brought my gaze up to meet his as he opened his mouth to speak.

“I am Erramun Klin’wahid, son of Unvar, of the Broghuz Valley.” He proclaimed proudly, then thudded one fist against his broad chest. I raised one brow, and he tilted his head to the side. “So, now you know me. Will you help me?”

I considered him again, a small frown settling in the corners of my lips. Was I supposed to recognize that name? And how exactly did one get rid of an unwanted orc suitor? I didn’t want to have to call the guard, that was far too dramatic for my tastes. Nor did I think I could wrestle him, given the disproportion of our sizes. I would have to use my wit to win this encounter, and I started to tinker with the notion as soon as I had properly assessed the situation. Then a thought occurred to me, and I had to work hard to hide my smug smirk. Instead, I gave a flourished sigh, placing my hands on my hips. As if I was giving in to his request. His lips twitched eagerly.

“Have you ever heard of the Masiir flower?” I asked him innocently. He shook his head, but his bright green eyes filled with curiosity. “Well, it’s very rare. So rare, it only grows in one place! Out past the craigs of Almayit, deep in the forest of Pyejara.”

“What is the point of this flower? Flowers are useless.” He growled, frowning and sneaking a glance over at my Ladies.

Safa and Lisbet had just noticed our visitor, and I saw them huddling close together fretfully. Whispering quickly to one another. I relaxed my stance, showing them clearly I was not concerned, and hoped they would stay put for the time being. It wouldn’t do for them to reveal my hand to this stranger.

“This particular flower is famed for its beauty.” I explained. “But it grows in such a dangerous place, very few people have ever seen it. If you got one for the Princess, she’d have to talk to you, no?”

Erramun frowned, and looked over at Safa and Lisbet again. “For a flower?”

“Not just any flower!” I insisted, building quickly upon my lie, “The Masiir flower is supposed to be the flower of unity! It’s a symbol! And it’s magic!” I added, because hell, why not? If it got him out of my hair, all the better. “Just look for a big flower with white petals that have purple tips, and a red stem.”

The half-orc ‘hmmed’ deeply, a rumble that seemed to form deep in his broad chest. I saw him glance over at my Ladies again. Perhaps he scowled, but I couldn’t quite tell from my angle. After another bated breath that remained trapped in my throat, he gave a sigh as strong as a gale force breeze.

“I suppose Princesses must really like flowers… And that would make her marry me?”

I would have blanched at the word, had I been working so hard to pretend otherwise. Instead, I had to swallow a bitter sneer at the notion, hiding my disdain for it with an assured nod. “Very few Princesses would be able to refuse you if you brought her back a Masiir flower.”

After a few more quiet moments of deliberation, the man nodded resolutely. “Then I will just have to go get this flower.” He shot a charming smile to the watching Ladies, who erupted into feverish sputters and squeals. “Speak well of me to the Princess, yes? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Oh, of course, Mister Erramun.” I replied, cupping my hands in front of me as a smug smile tugged at the corners of my lips. More than a little satisfied my ploy had worked so seamlessly.

He thumped his fist across his chest, then reached out and scooped up one of my hands so quickly I almost didn’t notice the gesture. My eyes quickly widened in surprise as the half-orc bent low. Pressing a light but warm kiss to my knuckles. I could feel his small tusks scrape against my skin as he did.

“Thank you for your help.” He told me, still bent over my hand, green eyes dancing in the afternoon sunlight. “I am in your debt.”

I shook my head quickly to hide the slight flush rising to my cheeks. “Think nothing of it. But you should get going!” I tugged my hand quickly from his grasp with the pretense of gesturing towards the main gate. “Almayit is at least a day’s ride from here!”

He smirked a little too smugly for my liking at my rushed words, then looked over my shoulder again. His expression shifting into confusion.

“But who-”

“I must be going, and so should you!” I told him before he could ask. I didn’t want to give him an answer for it. Especially if it might put one of my Ladies in danger in the future. “I’ve already spent far too long lingering here to speak with you.” I waved my hand again. “Off you go! And best of luck.”

I turned, gathering up the basket of melons and cucumbers and scuttling quickly through the gate. I was glad to hear it clunk behind me without delay. Meaning the man had not followed. Still, I didn’t dare look back just yet, though Safa and Lisbet were watching like hawks on my behalf. I stopped a few feet away from them, finally giving in to the burning desire to peek over my shoulder. But Erramun was already almost out of sight. His broad shoulders seemed to catch the sunlight vibrantly as he walked away. Which left the air catching in my throat again. I didn’t realize my Ladies had taken the liberty to close the remaining gap between us until they spoke.

“Your Highness!” came a gaspy breath, and I turned to see Safa with her usual excited bounce peering up at me. “Whoever was that??”

I scoffed, shaking my head and passing her the basket. “Just a fool, that’s who.”

“A handsome fool.” Lisbet added, leaning to look around me and watch the half-orc disappear around the corner. I could see the flash of interest in her honey brown eyes.

“And tall!” Safa added, sounding just as interested.

“Everyone’s tall to you.” Lisbet shot back, which had the smaller goblin lady squealing in displeasure. Lisbet only laughed, then turned back to me. “What did he want then, Your Highness?”

“Eh?” I mumbled, my eyes still stuck on the spot where Erramun had just disappeared. I blinked a few times, then realized what she had asked me. I quickly cleared my throat. “Oh, erm… nothing. He was just lost, I think.”

“He seemed quite smitten with you,” Lisbet teased, taking up my hand and skimming her fingers over my knuckles, “At least based upon that little kiss he gave you.”

I snatched my hand back, scowling at her a little. “Oh posh. I told you, he’s just a fool. Don’t think I’m as boy crazy as you two to fawn over some knuckle kisser.”

They both laughed at that, and after a moment, I couldn’t help my own little smile. Then I cleared my throat, shaking my head.

“Come on.” I told them, turning and marching off back towards the castle. “We’d best get going, the day is not so young anymore!”

I noticed them exchange an alarmed look out the corner of my eye before darting after me.

“Where exactly are we going, Your Highness?” Safa asked breathily. She always was a little winded trying to keep up with our longer legs.

“To the goblin kingdom.” I announced. “I’m tired of waiting for Val to make up his mind that I can go. There hasn’t been new snow on the ground in days. I’m leaving now.”

Especially because I wanted to make sure I was long gone before that Erramun fellow got back. If he did… I felt a pang of unease on having sent him on such a dangerous wild goose chase. I scoffed quietly to myself; he was a big lad. He could handle himself. Or, more likely, he would realize it was just not worth it, and would return to his own lands. Which might be even more the case when he searched in vain for a flower that I had simply created on the spot.

“B-but… But Princess Morgana! King Valerianus said-”

I shook myself loose from Lisbet’s grip as she went to grab for my arm again. “Liz I am 22 years old! I don’t have to wait for my big brothers to decide when to ship me back and forth between them like some annual royal tithe.” I skipped up the castle steps and brazenly shouldered open the door. “I’ve been packed for days now! So if you don’t want to ride horseback the whole way, you might want to go to the stables and have them get the carriage ready.” I spun lightly on one foot, grinning at them as I walked backwards towards the main stairwell. “We leave in an hour.”

Safa groaned lightly, slowing with a huff and placing her free hand on her hip. I laughed, turning around to sprint up the stairs, two at a time. I would have to change into my riding slacks before we could leave, and have the servants bring down my bags. Not to mention my Ladies’ things. But having made the decision after days of restless waiting, I already felt lighter than air.

“Honestly I’m surprised King Valerianus was able to delay her as long as he did.” I heard Lisbet sigh as I rounded the corner at the top.

“We’d better do as she says and get the carriage.” Safa replied. “I am not riding horseback.”

I laughed again, and I heard them both intake a sharp breath of surprise as it echoed about the hall. But I was sure they would recover quickly from their shock. Safa and Lisbet had been my Ladies in Waiting for over a decade. They both knew me well enough to know I preferred they always speak their minds, and not to try and change mine. With the promise of departure lightening my step, I felt my heart skipping with delight. It was almost enough to push the thought of my strange wayward visitor from my thoughts…. Almost.

...

UPDATE: Part two HERE

#slow burn #Burdened by the Stars #new fic #monster romance #monster lover #monster boyfriend #orc #half-orc #monster x human #terato #exophilia #orc lover #orc boyfriend #frenemies #Royal Flush Sequel #li'un ma shkio

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marshmallow-phd · 4 years ago

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Catching Rain

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Minseok x Reader

Summary: You were more than satisfied with your life. You attended a nice college, had nice friends, a nice boyfriend. That’s what your life was: nice. You weren’t looking for anything more, so what were you to do when this seemingly harmless boy walked into your life and turned your nice little world into one much more dangerous?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Epilogue

The sound of your pencil tapping lightly against your notebook must have been annoying those around you, but you were too focused on the digital clock hanging above the professor’s head to care. Bright red numbers stole your attention; each time it changed you sat up a still straighter, scooted closer to the edge of your seat. The darkness of the room didn’t help. Even with the projector shining the notes you were supposed to be absorbing did nothing to block out the beacon. You were starving.

Okay, maybe not literally, but you were definitely ravenous. Breakfast had been the last thing on your mind this morning and now you were paying for it severely. A headache brewed right under the surface and your stomach gurgled and bubbled from the emptiness. The thought of leaving early did cross your mind, but that would have been rude, not to mention highly inconvenient since you were seated near the middle of the small lecture hall. It was best to avoid the dirty looks and low curses from those that you have to crawl over to get the stairs on the edge.

“And that ends the lesson for today.” The professor walked over to the side and flipped on the light. The sudden brightness made you squint, but it was worth the relief you felt. He’d ended the lesson a whole ten minutes early. You packed your belongs as quietly as possible while still keeping a listening ear. “Please look over chapter six, sections one and two before next class, there will be a two question quiz over the passages.” You scribbled a reminder down in the corner of your notebook and hopped up out of your seat. You weren’t the only one who had called it quits for the day even though the professor was still talking. “Don’t forget the first outline of your project is due next class as well, if it’s not turned in then it’s an automatic twenty percent deduction.”

Standing in line to shuffle out from the row of desks, you made a mental note to go over your outline one more time. You were already on the third stage of the project – gathering the necessary sources for the paper – but it was still a good idea to count your ducks and make sure they were lined up nicely.

You hurried to the cafeteria. The moment you were inside you hopped in the first line you saw, not bothering to take the time to consider your options. The line you were in was for the salads and sandwiches; boring food it was. Your stomach didn’t care if your taste buds weren’t going to be blown away today, it only needed sustenance. With your tray full, you moved over to the cash register and paid for your meal before finding a free table.

“Hungry much?”

Willa slid into the chair across from you, her own tray holding the spaghetti special. The buttery garlic smell drifted over to you and made your mouth water. You chewed slowly on your bland sandwich. Maybe later you could stop by for an afternoon snack….

“Already started without me, I see.” Eric dropped his bag in the half booth beside you and kissed the top of your head.

You smiled up at him. “Early bird gets the worm.”

“But the second mouse gets the cheese,” he countered as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

You leaned around him and stared at the long lines forming across the way. “I don’t think that second half applies here. You better get going before all the good stuff is gone.”

Erik followed your gaze. “Oh, crap. You’re right. Be right back!”

After swallowing a mouthful of noodles, Willa sighed. “You two are so cute.”

You snickered under your breath, but didn’t reply. Erik and you had met in World Music Appreciation your freshman year. In class, he was the slightly loud, slightly obnoxious kid who sat behind you with his friends. Somehow – and to this day you still weren’t sure the steps that led to it – you ended up in their study group for the final exam. You found that the boy who sat behind you was indeed funny, but also intelligent, generally entertaining to be around. After passing the exam that was much harder than any introductory music class should have been, you found yourself going out for celebratory pizza with him that morphed into your first date. The two of you had settled into a comfortableness with each other and you were happy.

As if trying to contradict you, Minseok’s face made an appearance in your mind. You shook the image of his smile away. That… that wasn’t good.

“Not hungry anymore?” Finally through the line, Erik sat down beside you and cracked open the can of pop he’d purchased. You looked down at the half-eaten sandwich in your hand. You hadn’t realized you’d stopped eating. The grumbling of your stomach hadn’t completely subsided, however, the bread and meat combination was no longer remotely appealing. Was this your “grass is always greener” moment?

To wave away the thoughts, you became playful again, reaching over and plucking a lob of cheese off the fresh slice of pizza on Erik’s plate and tossed in your mouth. “No, I just decided that your food looks better.”

“Well, then here.” Erik picked up your plate, took the sandwich out of your hand and slid his tray over to your side. “I’ll eat this.”

“No, Erik, give it back.”

“Seriously, (y/n), it’s fine.”

“Holy crap.”

Willa’s soft outburst stopped the playful argument in its tracks. “What is it?” Erik asked after taking a bite of your sandwich. Giving in, you nibbled on the pizza as you waited for the answer. Your taste buds cheered in victory. This was much better.

“A couple campers were attacked last night in the woods.” Willa’s eyes were trained on her phone, scanning the article that fed her the information. Whatever words she was reading, they must have been bad. Normally, Willa was the more upbeat, nothing-gets-her-down type. It must have been bad.

You leaned forward on the table. Your happy mood at the better-tasting meal as disappeared, replaced by worry. “What was it? Does it say?”

Willa swallowed thickly. “The one that was still awake said it was a wolf. A really big wolf.”

“The one that was still awake?”

“Yeah. I guess there were three of them. One died and one’s in the ICU. The third was only sort of injured when the park rangers found them.”

“Maybe he did it,” Erik said skeptically.

“I thought the same thing, but the police say the scene was consistent with an animal attack.” She clicked the lock button on the side of her phone and put it down. Her eyes flickered to you then back down at her food. It didn’t take a telepath to figure out where her mind had gone.

Erik threw an arm around your shoulders. “See why I don’t like the idea of you going out there by yourself?”

Guilt sunk your stomach. Now you really didn’t feel like eating. To try and hide it, you smiled up at him. “I’ve always understood, but you’re right, that’s a scary thing happen and it could happen to anyone.”

Satisfied, Erik removed his arm and turned his focus back to eating. You continued to pick at the cheese in order to throw off any suspicion. While the guilt of lying was still there, that wasn’t at the most forefront of your thoughts. As plausible as it was, you hoped that it wasn’t your wolf that attacked those people. Well, the wolf didn’t belong to you, but you couldn’t image such a creature killing a human being. He’d seemed to gentle and sweet to be able to do such a thing.

It was an animal, you reminded yourself. They ran on pure instinct. Besides, you didn’t know the whole story. Perhaps, if it was the same one you met in the clearing, he was provoked. Idiots were always teasing animals, whether at the zoo or the park. It was quite possible that the campers brought it upon themselves.

No. You shouldn’t think like that. A person died. Sighing, you pushed the tray away from you.

“Full?” Erik asked. You nodded and he picked up the remains of the pizza, devouring it in only a few short bites. You giggled at the grease stain left in the corner of his mouth. With the napkin, you wiped it away and started to feel somewhat at ease again.

Minseok was devastated. There was no other word for it. This- this was not a possibility he had imagined. How could fate be so cruel?

As he stood near the entrance of the cafeteria, he’d been overjoyed at spotting you, sitting alone at one of the hybrid tables near the middle of the large crowded room, devouring the food in front of you like Chanyeol at his favorite burger place. For a moment, he’d considered walking over and saying hi, but thought better of it since he wasn’t alone. Jongdae was chatting about his classes, laughing merrily with Jongin and Yixing beside him. All the noise was a simple hum in Minseok’s ears. His fellow students were nothing but blurs his peripheral; only you were in focus. One foot started your way despite his previous hesitation, but then another girl sat down across from you. He took that as a sign to slow down. Then a guy joined you, placing his bag down as if he owned that space beside you, and kissed your head. You beamed up at him.

The ground shook beneath his feet, vibrating his whole body. An elbow connected with his stomach and made him flinch. “Hey, you okay?” Jongdae asked.

“Yeah,” Minseok lied as he turned away from the sight that caused his blood to boil. The wolf had never been so hard to fight before. Human. He had to be completely human here. “But I think I’m going to take my food back to the lounge.”

“What? Why?”

“Is everything alright?” Yixing tilted his head in that way he always did when he was trying to read through the expressions on their faces. It was irritating at times, especially when they didn’t want to talk about whatever was bothering them. He meant well, but he wasn’t learning to become that kind of doctor.

“Yeah, yeah.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, Minseok forced himself to turn away before he stormed across the cafeteria. The sure fire way of having you reject him would be to slam your boyfriend against the wall. Jongdae opened his mouth to counter, but Minseok was already moving into the line, grabbing a faded red tray still wet from the washer and sliding it across the three metal bars that kept the herd of college students at bay. He swiped up a plate with a lukewarm slice of pizza and kept going. Bypassing everything else, the last thing he grabbed was a can of flavored coffee from the open fridge before going to the register.

Jongdae pouted as Minseok waved goodbye and walked out of the building. His grip on the tray was strained, knuckles pale and tendons popping out from under the skin on the back of his hands. This complicated things well beyond the obstacles he already had in his way. And here he had the fairytale in his head, thinking he would simply meet you, continue to “coincidentally” run into you and get to know you until the two of you naturally fell in love and then… well, he didn’t exactly have a plan after that, but now that would really have to be put off while he figured out how to get past step one.

Arriving at the mathematics college where he spent most of his time, he made his way through the halls until he found the lounge reserved for the GTAs. There were tables where they studied and put together lesson plans as well as couches where more naps occurred than other types of casual reclining. Against one wall was a stereo equipped with Bluetooth while a TV and game console sat across the way. It was a room where they could relax and bounce ideas off each other. The place was empty at the moment, most of the usual occupants either in class or eating lunch with their friends.

Minseok sat down at one of the tables. He aggressively chewed on the pizza as he tried not to think about what he saw a few minutes ago. And here he thought eventually telling you that he was a wolf was going to be the hard part. A large group came in then, happily talking amongst themselves. Spotting Minseok, they joined him. Sungkyu took the seat to Minseok’s right and dropped a heavy binder on the table.

“Sometimes I wonder why I took this job,” Sungkyu grumbled.

So much for peace and quiet. Oh, well, hopefully this would serve as a nice distraction. Minseok could go back to planning his next step later, once he’d calmed down a bit.

“Having fun with the freshman?” Minseok teased. As GTAs, that was the main group they taught. Not all classes were bad, but it usually took a while for some of them to realize that college was much more serious than high school.

“Actually, it’s not a freshman.” Opening the binder, Sungkyu pulled out a few papers stapled together. A sticky note covered the name written at the top, but the red ink that dictated the score was out for the world to see. “She’s close to our age, a senior, but she put this class off until the last minute. And I’m starting to see why. I don’t want to fail her, but….”

“Just give her an extra credit project,” Varya suggested between sips of her peach tea.

“Like what?”

Changmin was the first to have an idea. “Have her put together a project that applies the math to whatever her major is.”

Sungkyu wrinkled his nose at the idea. “That sounds complicated. She’s an arts major.”

“Get someone to help her with it.”

“Are you volunteering?” Varya snorted. Changmin was… charming and used it quite well, to put it mildly. “Who is it? Maybe I’ll help.”

Sungkyu peeled back the sticky note. “(y/n) (l/n).”

Minseok nearly choked on his food. Was this fate giving him a Get Out of Jail free card?

Varya shrugged. “Never heard of her.”

“I’ll do it!” The word were out before Minseok could figure out how to say them without sounding overeager. Everyone at the table was staring at him, confused. He wasn’t the kind to volunteer for these sort of things. He wasn’t the kind to add additional interactions to his schedule; he was too much of an introvert for it.

“You hate any sort of tutoring,” Sungkyu pointed out.

“I need it… for my resume.” He didn’t even have a resume. At least not a serious one. The last time he’d put together the paper bragging about himself was for a class three years ago. The file was probably somewhere on his laptop, but he doubted he would ever actually add something like this to it.

While Changmin and Varya still eyed him curiously, Sungkyu simply shrugged. “Whatever. This is only if she agrees to do it, anyway.”

“If she wants to graduate, she’ll do it.” Standing up, Varya threw out the remaining ice in her reusable cup and slipped her bag over her shoulder. “I’ll see you guys later. I’ve got a research paper that’s not going to write itself.”

In an overdramatic fashion, Changmin placed his hand over his heart and looked to the ceiling. “If only they did. My school career would be so much easier.”

Sungkyu rolled his eyes. “And yet completely negate the purpose of it all.” Changmin wasn’t bothered by the comment at all, pulling out his phone and scrolling through his social media as he leaned back in his chair. Sungkyu replaced the sadly scored paper and closed his binder. “Are you free tomorrow a little after four?” he asked Minseok. “I want to try and catch her after class. I’m sure she’ll agree to do the extra credit, but maybe having you right there to say you’ll help will nudge her if she’s on the fence about it.”

“Absolutely.” There was no way Minseok was going let this opportunity go. Maybe this was the better way to go about it. The two of you would be spending time together while he helped you with this project; endless time just you and him. He could get to know you, learn about what you liked and disliked, where you saw yourself going and where you’d already been. Then he could properly fight for your heart, win his mate over the right way. The excitement of what awaited him was almost too much. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

You wanted to disintegrate there in your seat.

Right on the front of the homework you just received back was a sticky note asking you to stay back after class. Never had you want a period to not end, to go on and on in a cycle of torture. You knew it was about it your recent grades. It wasn’t as if you weren’t trying. But this subject had never been your strong suit and recently it had been harder to grasp the concepts. You were an arts student, a photographer. When were you ever really going to need to know how to find the function of x after this?

Unfortunately, the end came and you stayed seated while the younger students happily skipped out of the classroom. When it was only the two of you left, you got up and walked over to the desk.

“That bad, uh?” you said in an attempt to lighten your own mood.

Sungkyu, at least, seemed a little sympathetic. “I’ve seen worse.”

“Well, not everyone can be a math genius.”

“No. That’s why I’m going to give you a chance to make up the points.”

You perked up. This was… somewhat good, given your mind had wondered if he was going to suggest you drop the class for now and try again later, under a different teacher. “Really?” You couldn’t help but feel like a rabbit jumping for a carrot hanging in the air. “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”

“Good.” Sungkyu reached behind him and plucked up a sheet of paper before leaning back against the desk. “I’ve got an outline here that’ll explain the project in detail.” He handed it over to you before continuing. “The basics, though, are pretty much just write a paper of how the subject relates to your major.”

You’ve got to be kidding me. Clearing your throat, you said, “O-okay. I think I can do that. Except….”

“You don’t know where to start?” Sungkyu guessed. You nodded. “That’s alright. I’m not going to make you do it alone. I’ve enlisted some help for you. Minseok?”

In from the hallway strolled in the very same Minseok you’d run into the day before. There was no way…. You nearly laughed out loud. This couldn’t possibly be a coincidence, could it? But the manner in which he shyly waved at you and fidgeted from foot to foot told you that it might be.

“Minseok will help you with the research and come with ideas. He’ll also help you with the examples that way you get all the points. Is that alright?”

Your stomach did a backflip. This meant the two of you would be spending time together – alone. Which wasn’t anything unusual; you’d had project partners of the opposite sex before, but none of them sent your heart leaping either. Perhaps it would be best to keep this on a need-to-know basis for the time being. Smiling, you looked at the expectant GTA.

“Peachy.”

#exo #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #minseok x reader #kim minseok #xiumin #exo werewolf!au #exo werewolf au #exo supernatural au #exo series #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #Untamed Wolf Universe #Catching Rain

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leerongrong · 4 years ago

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of broken arms and annoying neighbors.

Pairing: Lee Donghyuck x Reader

Word Count: 1.9k

Summary: In which your summer isn’t filled with adventures and laughter but more of annoying neighbors and falling from windows.

Requested: yess from this drabble game. feel free to send a request! // babysitter!au + enemies to lovers +prompt 37 with hyuck or jaemin,, i cant really decide,, thank you and i love your blog uwu xoxo

Summer started just over a month ago, prompting all school kids to lay back and enjoy the sun, ditching school work and forgetting homework. Sunshine shone from above, shinning on your uncovered head while you’re walking to the house address on your phone.

While your friends had all went away to vacation; some going to Bali for a summer tan, others going to their grandparents’ house in the suburbs, you had decided to stay put in your house, prompting to get a job and gather up money for a brand new speaker you’ve been eyeing since last week. The gadget had been just a bit expensive, your money lacking and your parents won’t give you any of theirs, telling you to work for it instead.

The neighborhood you’re walking through is one of the high end ones; flashy marble white buildings owned by the likes of business men, and women. The first time you walked through, you’d felt a little awestruck at their infrastructures, even at their too big swing set just by the park. You guessed this was what people meant when they said that grass is always greener on the other side.

You, yourself came from a humble back ground. Your dad a small office worker with 8 to 9 hours of work, while your mom’s a stay at home wife who cooks and sells some of her paintings as a hobby and now to add to the addition, you’re a babysitter who works for a well off family with 2 adorably well mannered kids. You had started working just over two weeks ago, along with taking care of kids, you had to do a little house work but all and all you love the job that you have.

Although the one thing you can’t stand about the job is one little thing, or should you say person. He goes by the name Lee Donghyuck.

The neighbor next door who made it hell even on your first day of work, breaking one of the house owner’s window, as a welcome gift. Your first encounter hadn’t been good to start with, more so when you threatened to call the police on him. Ever since then he’d always get on your nerves, pressing on the house’s doorbell multiple times and fleeing when you came to open the door.

You hadn’t been innocent yourself, you had purposely baked a chilly and pepper pie that smelled like strawberry and jam, pretending to put it out on the window to cool it down. You had the best laugh of your life when you saw him eat it and cough his guts out.

The steady pace you put on proved to be a hassle. You’re sweating buckets by the time you reached the Smith’s front door, the sun’s still beating down on you while you’re twisting the door knob, eyebrows furrowing when the door won’t open. “Sam? Lynn? Guys it’s me, open the door!”

“Nope!” Two heads pop out of the kitchen window, both kids laughing and smiling at you. Sam’s the 7-year-old brunette with his two front teeth missing, while Lynn’s the 6-year-old blonde with pigtails. The two kids have been a wonder for you to babysit, both of them following your every rule and staying out of trouble. That is until today.

“Guys, c’mon,” You groan, “The ice cream I bought is going to melt if you don’t let me in.”

You’re suppressing a smirk when both kids pop up at the sound of ice cream, the two having a secret little meeting while they go on to discus about their multiple favorite flavors. “What flavor did you bring?”

“Rockyroad.” The sweat sliding down your neck has you desperate to get out of the sun, desperate enough to send the kids your best puppy dog eyes. Little Lynn’s eyes waver for a small moment that has you hopeful, only for that hope to be crushed when Sammy shakes his head and locks the window from the inside.

You’re scoffing at your fate while Donghyuck’s having the time of his live, hand propped up to hold his phone onto his ear while his eyes take in the way you’re jumping and trying to climb your way up to the second story window. The line on his phone finally connects and he’s spewing comments the moment Jaemin’s voice breaks through.

“Bro, she’s climbing up a window!”

“What do you mean you don’t believe me?”

“Come over here and see it yourself, then!”

“Are you a burglar or something?” His eyes are scanning your form, taking in the way you’re climbing up swiftly as if it isn’t your first time. He’s taking in the way your shirt and shorts ride up every time your hands reach up to grab at a ledge. “You’re hot tho.”

“What’d you say, Hyuck?” Donghyuck almost flings his phone out the window when he hears Jaemin’s voice on the line, only remembering too late that he hasn’t pressed the end call button just yet, finally realizing that Jaemin probably heard him calling you hot.

The multiple excuses on the tip of his tongue are pulled to a stop when he hears your scream from outside his window, and it takes everything in Donghyuck not to scream too because an arm shouldn’t be bent that way.

He’s sprinting to your side in seconds, and Hyuck crouches down slowly when he sees you’re still looking at your arm in a daze. “Hey, are you okay?” He’s refraining from slapping himself because you’re most definitely not okay.

Your eyes are focused on him for a minute, head bopping down to look at your hand. The adrenaline in your system is slowly wearing off, a sluggish feeling seeping into your bones and pain shooting up your arm. The scream that escapes you not only make Donghyuck jump but also make Jaemin come running from three house down.

“Oh My God.” The three words come pouring from your lips like a prayer, repeating it again and again while your eyes are still focused on your arm and the way it’s bent, some places slowly turning a smudge blue and purple. The tears start falling down in a quick pace and the way you’re looking at Donghyuck, makes him want to cry too.

“Don’t touch your arm!” Donghyuck all but screeches when he sees you reaching down to your weirdly angled arm, “Are you stupid!?”

“There’s a spare key under the bench,” He screams, “How did you not know that? Even I knew about it!”

You aren’t sure who calls the ambulance, your vision blurring until all you can see is black. Your ears only comprehend Donghyuck’s screams and the sound of sirens invading your senses. “Don’t you dare die, you hear me?! People are going to think I’m the one who killed you!”

“Get a summer job they said,” You grumble, “It’ll be fun they said.”

“Well they didn’t say anything about falling out a window and breaking an arm!”

The next few weeks are spent in your bedroom, based on doctor’s orders. You thought your summer would be filled with adventures, laughter, and maybe a hint of love and you’re still bitter that yours has been filled broken arms and annoying neighbors so far. Although you can’t complain about the later, since the incident, Donghyuck’s been visiting you in his spare time along with Jaemin and the two of you could now be classified as best friends, although you’re not sure what you and Donghyuck are.

The lingering touches and affectionate teasing are too much for you to think of.

Three knocks are heard and your door opens to reveal your mom with a batch of cookies in her hands, a smile spreading on your lips when another head pops into view. “You have a visitor, sweetie.”

The first few moments with Donghyuck alone in your room is awkward, both of you shuffling around while no one utters a word. The sun’s still bright outside, some of its rays shinning in through your opened window and into your room. Donghyuck shuffles closer to you when the sun’s rays hit him on his face and you’re snorting at the view.

“Are you Dracula or something?”

“That’s rich of you to say that,” He snorts back, “As if you don’t look like a mummy right now.”

The awkwardness bursts when you both start laughing, Donghyuck even going a degree of falling off your bed. The air is calm for a while, Donghyuck helping himself to a few of your mom’s cookies while he also passes you some. It’s only then do you see the sight of a black marker in his pocket.

“What’s that for?” Donghyuck’s half way to taking a bite from his cookie when he stops for a moment. A sight of red covering a bit of his cheeks, and you’re squinting to see if he’s blushing or if you also hit your head when you fell.

”Ya know- I haven’t written anything on your cast.”

“Hyuck,” You groan, “It’s being removed soon.”

He’s shrugging his shoulders and you’re trying to see his hidden intentions when he twirls the marker between his fingers, the motion capturing your attention instead. “Still want to sign it.”

“Fine, But if it’s something bad I will literally throw you out my window.”

His body covers your cast from view, completely blocking you from seeing what he’s scribbling on your hand. You’ve only seen Donghyuck serious a handful of times, and you didn’t think he would look this serious if he’s only signing your cast. “Why’re you taking so long?”

“You remember that time you fell really hard and broke your arm?”

Of course it’s like him to answer a question with another question, one of his traits you’ve seen countless of times back when you two were still enemies trying to spite each other. You know he’s been trying to do it less since you cussed him out for it but you know that old habits die hard.

“Of course,” You roll your eyes, “How could I forget?”

“Well I kind of fell that hard for you too.”

Your head shoots up the second the words leave his lips, and your eyes bug out when it registers in your mind that Lee Donghyuck just used a pick up line on you, it just registered in your mind that Lee Donghyuck, your previously annoying enemy, may have a crush on you, just like you him.

And it only registers in your mind the words he wrote on your cast may be the sweetest thing he’s ever asked to you.

“Do you wanna go on a date with me?”

Bonus Scene:

“It’s totally clear you didn’t come up with that pick up line all alone.” The two of you are laying on your bed, Donghyuck’s head on top of your lap while your, now free, hand tangles themselves in his hair, softly tugging at the roots and giggling when he groans from your actions. “It totally reeks of Na Jaemin.”

“Well, didn’t you want to know how i feel?” He’s propping himself up on his elbows, pouting exaggeratedly in a mock cute fashion. “Besides, I said it. Me. And you liked it. Does it even matter?”

The slight red on his cheeks make you squeal and you’re flopping on top of him. Donghyuck lets out an oof when you wrap all your limbs around his, his mouth curling up into a smile when you press a sweet kiss onto the edge of his lips.

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snowflake-of-destruction · 4 years ago

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Grass is Greener // Sibling Shenanigans 1/3

“I might be getting a divorce!” The signs of truth were there. Kairi had a cat carrier in each hand, Astrophe, the princess too good for a carrier, laid across her chest with claws dug into her shoulder, and the long strap of a duffel bag crossing her chest at a slant with the bag itself balanced against a cocked hip. Kairi’s shadow and liner were smudged and eyes too bright. Her smile was forced. Her hair was coiled in a complicated knot, but with several strands fallen out and curling slightly with damp and stuck to her face and neck, and she was wearing a short black sequined dress with tennis shoes and no socks. She was a definite picture.

However, her lines were delivered with the air of someone announcing that they had won an all expenses paid trip to Port Royal, and not that the life they had built was crumbling around them, so Axel thought he could be excused when it was with an exasperated sigh and a, “What happened this time?” that he welcomed his little sister through his front door and not a sympathetic and concerned, “Tell me what happened.”

“You know how Vanitas was supposed to be gone this weekend?” The carriers were already on the floor and Kairi and Vanitas’s manx, Ali, had, by all evidence Axel could see, turned to smoke and reformed outside the wire barred door as soon as it was set on the ground before Kairi had even bent to unlatch it, Astrophe running after his sister. “Is Stuffing shut in the bedroom?” All of Kairi’s cats knew Turkey was monarch of the realm, and they were proud aunts and uncles to the litter (Pumpkin, Gravy, Cranberry, Potato, and Biscuit, all of whom were supposed to have gone on to new homes by now, but Kairi suspected were to become permanent fixtures since Axel had not been able to “find the time” to secure appropriate homes so far since “They can’t just go to anyone, Kairi, and I’m not sending them to your broken home either!”) but Kairi’s old wirehair cat, Tillac, who Axel assumed was in the other carrier, and Stuffing had a rivalry that stretched back years.

Axel didn’t even bother to nod, opting instead to ask, “Is Xion okay?” as he closed the door and then addressed his sister’s other question while bending to pick up the shoes she’d already kicked off so he could place them on the shoe rack by the door which she never remembered to do. “No, I don’t keep Stuffing shut up unless I’m expecting Tilly, which I wasn’t.” The last was said with a pointed look. “I see you had your hands full, but would it have killed you to call?”

Kairi gaped at him. “Axel, I just took the kids and left my husband, and you manage to take his side by implying the only reason we could have argued is if I had planned something untoward in his absence, insult one of my dearest friends, imply you care more about Xion than your own sister, and whine about how my showing up is going to impact the plans I know you don’t have all in the space of seconds? Axel, your baby sister is distraught!”

“Yeah, but is Xion okay?” Axel repeated without pause. “She’s sensitive.” He dropped the shoes in their proper place and let out a belated snort. “Untoward? Are you using a word of the day calendar so you can impress the hubby’s friends?”

Kairi released Tillac to go harass Stuffing until Turkey put her in her place, stood up, and tugged the hem of her dress down and readjusted the bodice to try and wrangle everything into a more presentable place. “Not all of us spend our days communicating only in grunts, brother dear.”

“Hey!” Axel gasped in mock offense. “I’m trying my best to teach Demyx human speech, but sometimes I have to meet him halfway.” He opened up his arms and gestured with his hands for Kairi to come hug him, an olive branch she immediately accepted, tripping over the cat carriers to throw herself in his arms. “Now tell me what happened and we can get drunk, or I’ll go threaten the bastard with a weed whacker or something.” He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back. There wasn’t enough information yet to establish whether this was a you’ll work it out moment or a you really shouldn’t go back this time with a side of you could do so much better, so he left no follow up.

“It’s really not that bad,” were Kairi’s first words and Axel could have provided commentary, but led her over the couch instead. Presumably, that meant Xion was fine. “It’s my fault. I picked a fight.”

He waited a second for more details, and, when none came, he urged her along. “Atta girl. Knock some teeth out? He has too many.”

“Axel, please.”

“Didja, blacken one of those creepy gold eyes?” Axel forced an exaggerated shudder to go with his words. He didn’t have to do much to make it happen. He’d found Vanitas unnerving ever since Kairi introduced them (or, rather, failed to, since “Guess who got married in Vegas?” did not an introduction make).

“His eyes are hazel and they are gorgeous.” Kairi sighed, picking up a wandering kitten from the arm of the couch and sitting them on her lap to cuddle (Pumpkin or Cranberry, but with Kairi’s hand covering the the top of their head while she scritched their scalp, there was no way to check the marking).

“Sure, if you’re a hawk. I bet all the lady hawks go crazy.”

“That’s my husband,” Kairi warned.

“Yeah, but for how much longer?” Axel scoffed, brushing his sister’s fight with husband off again, something he still wasn’t sure he wouldn’t regret later, though Kairi’s glare was weak enough he was confident that he would be called to post bail because Kairi and Vanitas were picked up for indecent acts in the back seat of a convertible in the middle of a car show by next week. It wasn’t like this was the first time Kairi had shown up on his door, claiming things might be over. There was a bit of a girl who cried wolf situation at this stage. He picked up his half finished beer from the coffee table and took a swig. “And I’m just saying you have bad taste. Xion excluded. Do you want to put your duffel and the carriers in the guest room?”

“I don’t have bad taste. You have bad taste,” Kairi fired back and Axel couldn’t help but picture her at eight years old with a missing tooth and a haircut she’d given herself because he had dared her. “Your last boyfriend was literally a serial killer.”

“You have to kill three people before its serial and he was only convicted of manslaughter. Honestly, it’s like you never had a bad relationship before.” Axel’s easygoing reply of the standard line didn’t match the sudden flicker out and fade of amusement from his eyes.

“You do better with bored housewives.” Kairi patted his arm, and it was almost like an apology. “I’ll get the luggage in a minute.”

“I do fantastic with bored housewives,” Axel corrected, “but I’m usually only interested in their husbands.”

“Oh! Speaking of,” Kairi tucked her legs beneath her and sat up straighter, predatory look entering her eyes, “You started work for Xion’s brother-in-law today, right?”

Kairi smiled suddenly with too many teeth--maybe she was well suited to her husband after all--and Axel found it took all his focus to swallow his beer without choking. It occurred to him that the thermostat might have been broken, because the room was getting humid but the air hadn’t kicked on. “Weren’t you distraught?” He furrowed his brow like a good concerned big brother. “Didn’t you have a fight with your husband? You may be getting divorced. I know we don’t talk about things that bother us like a normal family, thanks Dad, but that’s upsetting news! I’m distraught! My ears are wide open.” He took one of Kairi’s hands in both of his and there was a meow of protest from Pumpkin. “I’m listening.”

Kairi pulled away and resumed important kitten petting duties. Unlike before, where her petulance was for Axel taking things too lightly, her frustration now seemed to be at internal sources. “Sora invited me away for the weekend. Most of that duffel was already packed.”

“What about Xion?” Axel whined his bias. “She was in…” Axel made an okay symbol with his thumb and index finger and whistled between his teeth for effect, “fine form when I saw her earlier. She was wearing this petal pink bodycon number so short I saw that starfish you’re always talking about, and I think she cut her hair again, or at least did some different product. She was wearing that perfume you got her too. I thought you guys had something planned tonight.”

“Maybe she was going out with Ventus.” Kairi was dismissive enough in tone, but her lips pursed when they were done with the words and Pumpkin made a complaining noise like he’d been squeezed.

“Who?” Axel oozed false innocence and confusion.

“Her husband...fiancé...boyfriend...whatever,” Kairi waved vaguely, more obviously disgruntled by the moment.

“Not whatever. Just because you skipped a few steps with ol’ Vani the Vain, doesn’t mean there is a distinct difference between those three things, typically one that matters to most people.”

“Just those in the relationship,” Kairi countered.

“And those with...what’s the word?” Axel pretended to think as Pumpkin abandoned Kairi in favor of him, and two more cats came bolting into the room as if summoned, sensing Dad was handing out love. “Morals? Boundaries? Restraint?”

“Van and I do have restraints…” Kairi hummed, trailing off once the joke was made and clicking her tongue to lure Potatoes to her.

Axel howled protest and screwed up his face, playing along, glad Kairi was distracted again before she could get sad. “ Too much information even for us!” When Kairi giggled--with grateful eyes that said she wasn’t really that amused, but was trying because she saw he was working hard to keep things light from the moment she’d walked in the door--Axel declared that part of his job done and reoriented back to allowing Kairi to tell her story. “So Vanitas was supposed to be gone so you made plans with Sora, and you were just going to leave the cats? “

“Xion was going to check in on the cats,” Kairi clarified the important part.

“You were going to have Xion catsit while you went traipsing off with the flavor of the month?” Axel stretched his mouth and widened his eyes, daring his face to stick in the clowning expression. “You’ll never get her to leave Airvent and marry you instead that way!”

“I’m already married...for now,” Kairi tokenly defended her marriage.

“Doesn’t count. He didn’t get my blessing...and he never will.” Axel was quick on both parts of the rejoinder.

Kairi ignored him as he expected her to and started to confess in a rush, “So Vanitas announces that he’s not going to the conference anymore; something about him finding out some of the last second substitutions in presenters and articles being presented when his was declined in the peer review stage...He was still published, but it’s a whole political thing with being featured in the conference. Anyway, he had to boycott on principle, so he’s home, and he told me to get ready because we were going out to dinner and we were going to order multiple bottles of wine and get kicked out of our favorite restaurant because he’s already a disgrace…his words. He gave me the opening, and I took it, because I’m panicked Sora is going to show up at the door.”

Axel raised his hand like an obedient child in a classroom to be called on, but just went ahead and interrupted even when he was ignored. “Isn’t Sora the yoga guy? Couldn’t he defeat Vani Vain with the power of friendship and love?” He hadn’t met Sora. Kairi was quite adamant that he wasn’t allowed to after he’d been a little more than politely amused at her stories. It was a fair ask since Kairi had, rightly, assumed that the only reasons Axel wanted to meet Sora were to see if he could make him cry for the fun of it, warn him off his sister, or, if he proved to be as attractive as Kairi said, sleep with him himself.

Kairi continued as if the interruption hadn’t happened. “I don’t take it right away. I get dressed, start to do my hair, and then I start throwing things from the vanity and yelling about how he can’t just order me to doll up like that’s all I am, his doll, waiting pretty on a shelf, ready to play with when he remembers I’m there. I point out he never asked me to come to the convention with him, and after we had such fun at last years’.” Axel snorted, knowing that story, and the pattern of being blocked out continued, “And I know how many spouses come along now. I think I accused him of having an affair. I really don’t know. I half blacked out. A spirit took over, and when I came to, I was packing a bag and insulting his paper because he still wasn’t getting angry enough fast enough to justify me leaving.”

“It sounds like you handled the situation brilliantly,” Axel complimented. “So did you call Sora and tell him to pick you up here, or is the weekend off? Am I on catsitting and husband deflection duty?” He wasn’t seeing a problem yet, not even something that warranted Kairi’s overdramatic divorce line, though a troubling thought did occur to him. “If he smacked you, shoved you, laid a hand on you in any way when you started yelling at him, I will do more than threaten him with the chainsaw. He’s dead. Demyx will help me hide the body. He knows a guy, and he owes me. They both owe me. Plus, I learned some tricks from my ex.” He softened his concern and threats he was prepared to follow through with in jokes.

“Stop thinking the worst of him at every opportunity,” Kairi snapped, and Potatoes rubbed his head against her stomach to calm her. “He just...took some low blows of his own and things escalated more quickly than I wanted them to.” She shifted uncomfortably.

“Like what?” Axel responded carefully, not wanting to supply guesses when it was a losing game, even if he came from the angle of listing reasons anything Vanitas could have said was untrue.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kairi insisted, which was a prime sign that it did. “I just might be here a few days for real after Sora and I get back. He’s coming to pick me up in an hour.”

Axel was silent a moment, assessing whether he should push Kairi to talk or hope the weekend healed the wounds, then nodded and gently lifted all cats away from his body. “An hour doesn’t give us much time. Go sit at the dining room table. Go!” He shooed her.

Kairi complied without asking for explanation and Axel went into the kitchen, grabbing two wine glasses down from the cabinet and an open half a red from the fridge. On impulse, he grabbed a few empty beer bottles from his recycling pile as well and stuck them under his arms. He continued their conversation as he rejoined his sister. “Do I get to meet Sora or is he supposed to stay outside and honk? Put your head down on the table and look listless.” He poured the barest hint of wine in the bottom of the glass he put in front of Kairi, and did the same for the one he put in his spot at the table. He arranged the empty beer bottles with the eye of an artist. “Let me go get my phone. Look sadder, but not so sad it’s unbelievable.”

“If you want to meet Sora, take one of his classes.”

Axel snapped a series of pictures to choose from, talking to himself, “She’s doing fine, Vanitas. We spent the evening talking. Of course. I’ll send you a picture.” Raising his voice a few decibels, he gestured back to the living room. “Go lie down on the couch, cover yourself with the fleece from the armchair, put a cat or two on your chest, and close your eyes. We’ll shoot, ‘don’t come over now, Van, she’s sleeping,’ next and then you can change into sweats and grab some board games from the closet. I’m assuming you’ll be too mad to answer phone calls from him anyway, but do you want to take your hair down and get it wet in the sink for some, ‘No, she just got out of the shower, why are you so creepy needing evidence?’ safety shots?”

“You’re seriously the best brother ever,” Kairi leaned up on tiptoes and pecked Axel’s cheek on her way into the living room.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Roxas was watching you today from the upstairs window,” Kairi tossed out nonchalantly. “Xion texted me about it. He wants to smell your hair and cook you dinner.”

“He what?” Axel stuttered and nearly fumbled his phone. So much for a steady hand and unflappable cool. The Howe he hadn’t met yet, having spoken with Isa Howe during his initial looks around and estimates for the yard, had come outside after Xion had left, and all but admitted to watching him at least as long as to comment on Xion detouring to chat with him a minute before she went to her car, and, sure, Axel had purposefully peeled off his shirt and rolled down his overalls to his waist after Roxas had went inside, hoping he was still watching, but he hadn’t seen any proof, and their brief conversation had spent a moment on shock of shared acquaintances (“You know Xion? I knew you were Kairi’s brother--she recommended you--so it makes sense since they’re close, but that’s wild. Small world.”) and then stayed in the professional (apparently Roxas had been the one who had done the sketches Isa had shown Axel of what the garden in the backyard was supposed to look like when he was done). Maybe Axel had noticed that Roxas had eyes the exact color blue as the delphinium hybrid he had presented at his last flower show (had to keep up the street cred that he was more than just a lawn service guy and a tree and hedge trimmer somehow--even if that sort of thing was his bread and butter), and that he was pretty cut since he hadn’t bothered with a shirt when he ran outside. And perhaps, when the sun caught his hair he looked like an angel out of a renaissance painting. None of that meant anything though.

“He wants to cook you dinner,”Kairi repeated, cavalier. “Be gentle with him. I think it would be his first time out of the box in awhile.”

“I’m not…” Axel pinched the bridge of his nose, counting to keep from getting angry and only managing to count the problems he had with what Kairi was suggesting. “Is this why you recommended me to your friend? Are you my pimp now?”

“He needs a fling.” Kairi had the nerve to shrug. “You are an accomplished flinger. The only person you’re seeing right now is Demyx, and he’s just a friend sleeping in one of your spare rooms….He is still just a friend sleeping in one of your spare rooms, right?”

“Most nights.” Axel left it ambiguous whether Demyx spent the odd night elsewhere or whether the friend lines sometimes blurred. “And my best tree trimmer.”

“That’s what I heard from Ienzo.” Kairi proved the Emberson comedic timing lived well in her. “So what’s the problem with Xion and I wanting to give Roxas a hot gardener fantasy to brighten up his life? He’s a friend.”

“So many things are wrong with that, Thalassa Shell.” In times so serious, Axel had no choice but to bring out family pet names.

A beat passed. Kairi didn’t apologize for the idea like she was supposed to. Axel didn’t harp on it more. Another question fought its way out of his throat. “Incidentally though, did he say anything else about me?”

#grass is greener verse #fanfiction #axel #kairi #kingdom hearts #akuroku #not really akuroku but ya know gotta warn people #vanikai #kaixi #GIANT THANK YOUS TO EVERYONE WHO ENJOYS THIS #AND ESPECIALLY ONES THAT CREATED THINGS CELEBRATING THE NONSENSE #snippets

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kazekis · 5 years ago

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Good For You - Persona 4 Fic

Yu awoke, blinking the sleep from his eyes, realizes he isn't in Inaba anymore. His old house stares back at him and the darkness presses against him, suffocating.. His stomach tightens as he looks around the room and he shakes his head to try and get his mind cleared of unwanted thoughts. Getting up and moving to the living room, he sees a familiar figure. The figure, a female, has her hair long hanging in front of her face and her head bowed low. Yu knows exactly who this is and yet prays his eyes and the darkness were tricking him. He hadn’t seen her in so long that he hops silently he’d forgotten what she truly looked like, his mind attempting to just fill in the blanks. “Mother…?” He hesitantly speaks up. While she doesn’t turn around, her head does lift up, reacting to his hushed voice.

“Yu.” She replies softly and a bit raspy. No matter how nice her voice sounds, it sends chills down Yu’s spine, too little memories of it to tell him what it was hiding. “Why are you back here? I thought you left for good when you found someplace new.” Yu stood silent. “Not even going to speak to me?” Inquires the woman when there was no response.

“I’m sorry...I don’t know why I'm back here…” With no memory of returning there, he truly doesn’t know why he is back. She looks back at him for a split second, a piercing glare stabbing through Yu before she turns away from him.

“So…” She starts and Yu’s head drops knowing unpleasant words are coming. “You found a place where the grass is greener, and you jumped the fence to the other side.” She whips her head back as she yells. “Is it good?! Are they giving you a world I could never provide?”

“....I didn’t...you were never…” Yu starts, his forced calm falling and his fear rising to the surface, threatening to bubble out.

“Hah, well i hope you’re proud of your big decision, I hope it’s all that you want and more! Now you're free from the agonizing life you were living before!” Yu flinches knowing that it’s true that he likes it much better than his old house. He shakes his head anyway mustering the courage to speak once more.

“If you are just going to yell at me... then I should go…” The silver haired teen inhales before continuing. “You were never..around so I didn't see why I should stay…” He takes a few steps away from her even as his voice got louder.

“Well then, there you go! You say what you need to say! Now you can walk away. It would KILL you to have to stay trapped when you’ve got somewhere new you’d rather be!!” She screams, frustrated. “Well I’m sorry you had it rough, that I’m not enough!” The teen flinches once more. ��Thank God they rescued you!” The woman says sarcastically.

Yu opens his mouth to protest but nothing comes out, the confidence from earlier evaporated and he feels powerless. This is when he noticed another presence near him. The teen spins around and behind him stands a girl with short, light brown hair. In the dim lighting, her green clothes stuck out and Yu’s eyes widen in shock and relief. “Chie, you’re here! I-” He cuts himself off when he notices that something is off. That she seemed utterly pissed, her hands clenched into fists at her sides and shaking from the effort of remaining still.. “...Chie?”

“Yu...Does it cross your mind to be slightly sorry?” His eyes widen...What…did I do…? Why is she mad…? He thinks, caught off guard. “Do you even care that you might be wrong?” Her eyes narrow at Yu and she continues, louder and more angry. “Well was it fun? I hope you had a BLAST while you dragged me along!!” Yu’s head drops down again as a realization comes to him…

She was talking about him dragging her along in the Midnight Channel shenanigans. I didn’t want to make her upset… If I knew she didn’t want to come along, I wouldn’t have taken her…! His thoughts are interrupted by another voice. Whipping his head up once more, there was a boy beside Chie now. He has brown hair and dons their school uniform. “Yo..suke…” Yu mumbled in surprise.

“So you say what you need to say, and you play who you need to play!” Yosuke starts. Yu shakes his head and holds his head, nearly crying. “And if somebody's in your way, crush them and leavе them behind!” When Yosuke says this, the dam breaks. Tears start falling down his face hot and burn a trail.

“Well I guess if I’m not of use, go ahead you can cut me loose! Go ahead now I don’t mind!” Both brunettes shout causing Yu to shake his head more violently. He can’t handle the thought of his friends being angry with him! His mother interrupts, adding to the downward spiral of emotions.

“I’ll shut my mouth and I’ll let you go, is that good for you? Would that be good for you?” He shivers at her voice and looks back to her. Chie and Yosuke come to stand next to her and starts to shout in unison with her.

“I’ll just sit back while you run the show, is that good for you? Would that be good for you?!” The three yell at him as the silver haired teen shakes his head and covers his ears. “So you got what you’ve always wanted, you got your dream come true! Good for you! You got a taste of a life so perfect, so you did what you had to do, good for you! Just good for you!” Yu can’t handle it anymore, he snapping and yelling as well, overlapping the three.

“All I need is some time to think, but the boat is about to sink, can I erase what I wrote in ink?! Tell me how can I change the story?!” He asks, as if they’d hear him and answer. “All the words that I can’t take back, like a train coming off the track! As the rails and the bolts all crack--” Yu grips his head, desperate to block out their yelling, he manages to yell louder than them, “I’ve gotta find a way to stop it, stop it! Just let me OUT!”

They don’t listen and Yu’s legs give out, but instead of hitting the ground, he continues to fall. The sound of them yelling soon becomes non-existent as he falls further. When it seems he’s hit some type of ground, he sits up. Now in his room in Inaba, he looks around nervously, tears still filling his eyes. He sighs in relief as he realizes it was all a bad nightmare, but he continues to cry.

Despite it being a nightmare, it scared him shitless. So he just cries out, and he doesn’t expect a response. However, there is. A knock on his door, and a few familiar voices call out his name. It was the two of the three who were just yelling at him, moment’s earlier, Yosuke and Chie.

#yu narukami #souji seta #yosuke hanamura #chie satonaka #persona 4 #deh #dear evan hansen #good for you #angst #mathiaswrites

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nakajeno · 6 years ago

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❦ fake love | eleven [ prev. // next ]

idol¡au | au masterlist

mystery texted revealed, bet most of y'all predicted this one lmao – also, this isn’t the full story (intentionally), that will unfold as we go. if y'all only just joined don't read this chapter B, u gotta go through the suspense everyone else did x

The other trainees were kicking up a fuss about a newbie coming in: you didn’t care much at first, too focused on training hard yourself. But it was inevitable that you started seeing him around more often; the only people you gave much attention was Yoongi and Namjoon, and this guy was about to form a team with them – of course you couldn’t avoid him. You weren’t particularly trying to, you just didn’t like the idea of making efforts with anyone other than Yoongi and Namjoon. You were polite when you had to be but ignored him when you could. Until one day when you were watching over Yoongi and Namjoon’s practice. He walked in with a small towel hanging over his shoulder, an almost empty water bottle in his hand and sweat dripping down his face – so much sweat that you wondered if that was where all his water went. Without any hesitation he slid down the wall next to you, somewhat limp with fatigue. You knew that feeling so you didn’t blame him for getting his aiming wrong and sitting slightly too close for acquaintances. He finished the rest of his water after he sat down, but you noticed he didn’t seem satisfied. Though he didn’t complain, you handed him your unopened water bottle. Despite how he looked, you assumed his thanks would come out breathy – but instead he still sounded as bright as he did when he introduced himself to you for the first time.

“Yoongi, you missed the timing again!” You half yelled in slight exasperation. Yoongi ducked his head, resting his hands on his hips and sighing in defeat. You knew he was trying his best, so you never got too worked up like your dance teachers would – but at the same you knew if you were too nice it wouldn’t get any better.

Huffing, you pushed yourself off the ground and next to the breathless boys.

“You good to go again?” You asked, they nodded.

With their permission, you started the music from the beginning again.

“You’re going too quick,” you told him, getting in position. “It’s one and two and three…”

You danced with them throughout the whole song, counting the movements as you did to create a guideline for them to follow. After going over it a couple times together, you returned to your spot on the floor and watched over them again.

“Good!” You praised when Yoongi finally got the hang of the timing.

“You know what you’re talking about,” Hoseok cooed, impressed.

“I only counted them in,” you explained, feeling like you didn’t do enough to deserve the praise.

“I dunno,” he shrugged, unconvinced. “I could probably do with some of your schooling.”

You sighed, muttering to yourself, “when will BigHit introduce an experienced dancer.”

You didn’t see it but Hoseok turned the corner of his mouth into a smirk, shaking it off the moment you pushed yourself off the ground again.

“You guys look tired; do you want to take a break?” Noticing how worn out Yoongi and Namjoon were, you offered. Turning back to Hoseok, you jerked your head to the middle of the room, “your turn.”

Hoseok smiled a little bit, standing up and shaking his limbs in preparation. The action caught you off guard a little bit, but you thought nothing too much of it.

Placing yourself slightly ahead of him, you looked at him in the mirror, “you think you can do what they were doing?”

He nodded. You turned on the music.

You had stopped dancing maybe 40 seconds into the song when you realised this punk knew a little more about dance than he cared to let on.

“You’re good,” you almost questioned in disbelief. Looking at his cocky expression, you narrowed your eyes – he knew he was good. Better than good. He was better than you.

From the corner of the room you heard chuckling – you gave them both a stern look and they fell silent immediately. Hoseok dabbed his sweat with the towel that was still slung over his shoulder, arrogant smirk still appearing on his lips as he did so.

“I meant what I said, I could use some schooling,” he said between sips of the water you gave him. “If you have time I could do with your help watching over a routine for me. You have a keen eye.”

It had been a long day. All four of you were exhausted, laying side by side in the middle of the practice room. Your heavy breathing made sweet harmonies. Bearing the silence for a short while, you all caught your breath and let your sweat soak back into your clothes and skin. Quite easily you could have fallen asleep beside them; the room was peaceful, and you were already averaging at 4 hours sleep per night.

“It’ll get easier, right?” You asked which ever one of them cared to respond.

They remained still for a while.

The first one to say anything was Namjoon. “I don’t know if it’ll get easier,” he sighed. “But it’ll be worth it.”

If you had the energy you would have nodded. Instead, you let your eyes flutter closed letting out a heavy breath. Suddenly you began thinking of the end result: debut. It’s the most prominent thing you all had in common. Though you couldn’t completely relate to them. They were going to debut together – without you. One thought drifted to the other before your mind turned selfish, almost wishing that they didn’t leave you here alone. But before you had the chance, you cut yourself off mid-thought and sat up abruptly, surprising the boys previously laying peacefully at your side.

“Let’s dance,” you some-what demanded.

A harmony of groans flooded the room.

“We’ve been dancing all day,” Namjoon whined.

“No,” you shook your head. “Let’s fun dance.”

Not waiting for their response, you jumped off the ground and to the speakers. Flicking through your music, you selected a song you knew they wouldn’t be able to resist.

Greetings, loved ones,Snoop Dogg’s voice blasted in your ears. You smiled as they wriggled in despair upon hearing the familiar tune.

Your first target was Namjoon, singing along to the song as you approached him. “I… know a place.” You started.

“Where the grass is really greener,” he finished, allowing you to pull him off the ground.

You thought Yoongi would be harder but the moment you crouched in front of him he gave you his hand, silently asking you to pull him up too.

You still weren’t that close with Hoseok, only just becoming friendly and all but you couldn’t leave him out. Timidly, you walked up to him. Kneeling down beside him, you poked at the side of his lifeless figure. Hearing incoherent mumbling, you leaned down closer to get a better listen. Just as you had gotten close enough to make out what he was saying, he switched suddenly from humming the lyrics to screaming them in your ear. From shock you fell back, him doing the opposite and springing off the ground. As if teasing you, he jumped around you in a circle, yelling California Gurls at the top of his lungs. Your face fell in your hands in laughter at his stupid jumping dance. You weren’t phased when he wrapped his hands around your wrist just in time for the second chorus.

It was undeniably your favourite memory: dancing around silly, rapping lyric by lyric alongside Hoseok while Yoongi and Namjoon took turns dancing in the centre of the small makeshift circle – the highlight was maybe Hoseok swinging the towel that was conjoined to his shoulder around like a mad man. In that moment you weren’t tired, you weren’t worried about your future, or being left alone – you were happy.

In contrast to that memory, one particular night you were sat alone in the practice room at around 2:00am (you weren’t keeping track). Frustration was building up inside of you with every passing second – you weren’t getting any better, BigHit had no plans to debut you and you were quite simply tired. You were sat in the middle of the practice room, sitting in a pool of your own sweat, just staring at yourself in the mirror for what you can only guess was at least half an hour. It was the lowest you had felt to date: not knowing if this was worth giving up your youth, not knowing if you were even talented enough, pretty enough, lucky enough. Not to mention the line-up for Namjoon and Yoongi’s group was increasing: as was the distance between you and them. In your lowest point he was there. He walked through the door – that stupid towel hung over his shoulder, sweat drenching his hair – and fell down beside you; his aim was still unfortunate. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t even look at you. Suddenly you felt like he was maybe invading your thoughts, is that why he was mute? He must have been. How else would he have known? You tried not to let on that you were sad; you remained still and quiet, figuring that was your best disguise.

“What are you worried about,” he asked finally.

“Nothing,” you croaked, your voice growing hoarse from the lump in your throat and not having said a word for hours.

He nodded understandingly, “you don’t have to say anything unless you want to.”

“I don’t,” you stated, what could be easily mistaken for, bluntly.

Maybe it was the silence that was making your heart feel heavy: or maybe just the fact that you were too embarrassed to even say why you were sad in case he thought it was ridiculous – were you being ridiculous? Were you overreacting? Why were you so sad if this was so stupid? You couldn’t think straight. You wanted to talk about it, honestly. You wanted everyone to know how you were feeling. For whatever reason you just wanted to be comforted, but at the same time felt like you didn’t deserve comfort.

Hoseok looked at you like he could see the cognitions turning in your head. He felt sad. The conflicted expression on your face made him hurt: he didn’t know why, it just did.

He hummed, as though he were contemplating what he was about to say, pulling his knees to his chest and leaving his arms wrapped around his calves. “Sometimes I’m scared I’m not good enough.” He admitted. “I think about how replaceable I am, and I get scared. Sure, I have dance… but if I can’t do anything else then I’m nothing more than a backup dancer.”

“You’re more than a backup dancer, Hoseok,” you sighed, not believing that he would doubt himself so much. Looking down in your lap where you were twiddling your thumbs, you added, “You’re one of the most talented people I’ve met, don’t say that about yourself.”

“It’s easy for others to say but it’s how I feel,” he sounded normal at first listen, but you noticed the underlying insecurity.

“I’m scared too,” you revealed quietly without giving it much thought. Your fingers fidgeted with the lose threads on your bottoms, keeping your gaze there to avoid his. “I’m going to be alone here one day, and I don’t know how long for. It could be months, years. I want you guys to be happy and live your dreams, but I don’t want you to leave me.”

“No one is going to leave you. We’ll be here,” he assured.

You shook your head, scrunching your nose to keep from getting worked up. “No, you won’t. Yoongi will be gone, Namjoon will be gone, even you’ll be gone.” You lifted your head and looked at yourself in the mirror. “I can’t help but wonder if I’ll ever go any further than this.”

“Y/n, listen to me,” he leaned closer to you, you saw him in the mirror. His eyes were wide in seriousness. “We will be here.”

“No, you won’t,” you repeated louder and more sternly this time as you started to cry. Feeling embarrassed for crying, you hid your face in the crook of your arm.

You didn’t move when you felt him wrap himself around you. You wanted to complain but you wouldn’t have been able to say anything without it coming out broken and muffled.

“I’m telling you: we’re not going anywhere,” he said in a low tone. “And you’re going to debut. You will. I know it.”

Before, you were tense in his arms, feeling slightly uncomfortable, but somewhere along the line you noticed yourself relaxing and relying on him: if he were to move away all of a sudden you would have fallen on the floor. But he didn’t move away. And you didn’t fall.

Since then you had gotten closer to Hoseok – it was hard not to. He made you laugh until you cried, and he was a good dance partner: aka the only one that could keep up with you. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly when you started liking him more than a friend: at first you didn’t admit that you actually did like him like that. But it was hard to dismiss the feeling that you cherished him in a different kind of way to the way you cherished Namjoon and Yoongi. Eventually you accepted your feelings but kept them to yourself nonetheless, unsure of whether or not they would be reciprocated.

But something was different that day. Maybe it was a force of being caught up in the moment – or maybe it was you subconsciously being sick of putting aside your feelings for so long. Whatever the reason: you kissed him.

It was a normal day, a normal dance practice. Everything was normal.

Both of you had been dancing for maybe four hours without a break and you were finally feeling it. You groaned exaggeratedly when the song ended for the billionth time.

“One more time,” Hoseok suggested, noticing you walk to the back of the room to where your water bottle and phone was calling your name.

“I can’t, Hobi, let’s take a break,” you whined out of breath, crouching on the floor and looking up at him with a screwed-up face.

“Come on,” he echoed, waving his arms to come here.

Ignoring his calls, you crawled towards your phone. He let out a huffed chuckle and stormed towards your goal before you did. Tauntingly, he held you phone high in the air, knowing you wouldn’t be able to reach it – even if he wasn’t really that tall.

“Please,” you pleaded, falling on the floor, pouting to appeal.

“Don’t try and act cute.”

“I’m not acting, though.” You smiled. “I am cute.”

He let out a laugh of disbelief. “Come and get it,” he wiggled your phone in the air, raising his eyebrows up and down knowing full well that you didn’t have the energy for this.

You narrowed your eyes at his challenge: not liking how he was belittling your ability. Letting out a frustrated sigh, you gathered your energy and hopped off the floor. He took one step back with your every step forward.

“Don’t cheat,” you warned, moving quicker.

Your switch in pace didn’t bother him, he had dancers’ feet after all. It had escalated and he was jogging backwards around the practice room just to taunt you. You sulked, not wanting to run around when your fuel tank was empty. Maybe you would have been more agitated if he hadn’t been leaving his cheerful laugh in his trail. You were so distracted by his happy expression that neither of you saw the bag lingering behind Hoseok, ready to trip him up. And it did. He fell backwards on the floor, his mouth forming the shape of an ‘O’ as he descended. Your hands had come up to cover your mouth before he even hit the ground. As soon as you heard the thud, you ran to his side. His eyes were closed – you panicked. Kneeling up and leaning over him, you rested one hand on his chest and used the other to tap his cheek.

“Hobi,” you called, frantic. When he didn’t respond, you hovered your ear above his mouth to check his breathing. He was breathing fine. You your face back ever so slightly to look into his now open eyes. Your eyes widened in fright, frozen in place with the shock. He only huffed in amusement, his breath bouncing back in your face.

Then you kissed him.

#fake love #bts social media au #social media au #kpop social media au #bts scenarios #bts #kpop scenarios #kpop texts #kpop #bts texts

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kenyagami · 6 years ago

Text

Welcome to the first chapter of my new fanfiction, Agents of Beacon.

This story takes place in a Modern AU, to explain, in this version of Remnant the Grimm are still around, but Aura, Semblances, and Huntsmen are not. Well, they are, but that's for the story to tell you.

If this specific type of Modern AU (that being with all the fantasy elements being hidden to the general public and all the tech is equivalent to ours) isn't a thing then I'd like to call it the "Agents AU" but I'm not sure if I can get away with that.

I hope you enjoy

- Ken

Agents of Beacon

Chapter 1

Roman Torchwick sat alone in the office of one his many warehouses through the city of Vale. In front of him was mountains of paperwork all of which containing information from the most expendable grunts to the locations of his safehouses, to the route he'd take to said safehouses. The master criminal had to sift through each and every one, checking for any and all mistakes, approving or denying any transfer requests, and making sure everyone was paid. Running a crime syndicate was just as complicated as running any other business. Torchwick absolutely despised this part of the job. He thrived off the thrill of his crimes, the sadistic pleasure of abusing the weak, but at the end of each day, he had to force himself into his office to becoming a sodding paper pusher. Normally he'd bitch and moan to his direct subordinate, but she was out doing god-knows-what.

Actually, Roman couldn't remember the last time he saw Neopolitan, his sexy mute assassin. He had sent her off to deal with some officer who was getting a little too close to locating him, but that was weeks ago, she should've been back by now.

"Eh, she'll show up eventually. The girl is durable as hell, probably just off with some new plaything." The gentleman thief thought aloud. He was a crime lord, he wouldn't allow himself to worry about anyone but himself. That was dangerous in this line of work. Speaking of work, the man dressed in his signature white overcoat and black slacks returned to the paperwork in front of him. It was an employee evaluation sheet for some newbie. His place of employment read "Tony's Pizzeria." Some shitty Italian restaurant he owned to clean his money, couldn't put "professional criminal" on anything official obviously. A sudden knock on his door brought his attention back up.

Roman had spent so long looking at sheets of white and black that he had forgotten the layout to his own office. The room wasn't anything too special, it was your standard drab office you'd find anywhere else, with two not too comfortable wooden chairs in front of his similarly made desk, and a black leather couch beside a low coffee table being the only furniture in site. The far door had a plain glass window with the word "Office" printed on it, allowing him to see who dared bother him at eleven p.m.

On the other side of the door was a young girl in red, her hair was jet black with red tips, and her eyes were a strange, dull silver. Her face displayed her trepidation of being a defenseless child in a crime lords main base of operations in the shady part of the city, and in her arms was a beaten and bruised Neopolitan. Roman jumped out of his chair and rushed towards the door, cane in hand, ready to kill the one who dared to hurt Neo. The completely calm and not concerned at all master thief slammed his office door open, shattering the glass and scaring the crimsonette even more.

"What. Happened." He stated more than asked, the girl holding Neo looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I-I was being harassed by some guys in white and she j-j-jumped in and s-s-s-saved me. After she beat them up, some guy in black and a white mask came and completely beat her." Her explanation was short and full of fear and stutters but Roman understood. However, he was just as confused. Neo saved her? Why? And guys in white and one in black? What the hell was the girl talking about? Now that Roman looked at her, she couldn't have been older than seventeen, what was she even doing here?

"What's your name?" Roman continued.

The girl sniffled and whipped her tears, eyes regaining life.

"Ruby Rose."

Three years later

Ruby Rose stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room, going over her outfit for the day. Her style hadn't changed much from her early days, sticking to goth and punk inspirations. Deciding that everything was in order, the red and black-clad girl grabbed her signature red cloak and headed downstairs. Walking into the living room, she spotted her father, Taiyang, in the kitchen. The nearing fifty, still ridiculously in shape, security guard was setting down a full plate of breakfast food for him and his daughter on the dining room table when notice Ruby.

"Heya there, Rubbes, got time to eat before you head out?" The old man had a youthful voice like he never aged past his prime. His looks supported this line of thinking, his blonde hair still full and vibrant, blue eyes still held that childlike wonder. He sat down, ready to devour his delicious creation, Ruby joined him, her empty stomach her only motivation at the moment.

"I'm sure I do, but if not, whatever. Jaune and them will understand. It's my first day off in months!" The twenty-year-old stated before engorging herself with the food.

"Well, be sure to tell them if you think you'll be late." Her father reminded her. He wasn't one for rudeness, and he instilled that into his daughters. The two ceased conversation to finish their food, both of them eating quickly, without either of Ruby's mothers around they lacked any and all manners. After they ate, the two placed their dishes in the sink and walked together to their vehicles. Ruby sent her longtime friend, Nora, a quick text instructing her to inform the others that she would be late.

"Oh, Dad, while it is my day off, I have to head to the office to pick up something I left, I'll be late getting back. Don't worry about cooking for me I'll pick something up for myself." The brunette informed Taiyang.

"Alright, Rubbes, guess I'll see you tonight then." With a nod to show he truly understood her, Taiyang got into his truck and headed off to work. Once he was out of sight, Ruby got into her car and looked over the message she received earlier once more.

"Red, I need you in today, after all, got to meet someone and I'd like both my girls there."

"Damn it, Roman. What the fuck." Ruby complained out loud. Torchwick already keeps her busy with the paperwork and sparring with Neo left her sore all over. She was truly looking forward to her day off, and now she'd have to cut it short. The throbbing return to her head, and with an exaggerated groan, she collected the aspirin from her glove box, took 3 and headed to the meeting place to find her friends. What the hell could be so important that Torchwick would call her in? Was this individual he was meeting that dangerous? Or did he just want to dump more work on her? She had no way of knowing until she got there, so with a resolute sigh, she turned on her Bluetooth to clear her mind.

After about twenty-five minutes of driving from her suburban neighborhood into the metropolis known as Vale, she reached her destination. Ruby grabbed her phone, locked her car, and entered the building with a sign that read "Junior's Grill." The familiar restaurant had a modern aesthetic and a black and white color scheme with splashes of red. Junior, the owner, originally wanted a homey wood cabin look, but his daughters took complete control of designing the place and made it what it is today. Speaking of the two, the girls in red and white were the first to greet Ruby as she entered.

"Hey, Ruby!"

"Hi, Cutie." Melanie and Miltia called out simultaneously.

"Oh, hey, Melanie, Miltiades!" Ruby called out excitedly.

"Ugh, Ruby, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Miltia?" Miltiades responded indignantly.

"Sorry, Love, how've you two been?"

"Better now that we've seen you, you haven't been to Daddy's club in months," Melanie answered this time, wrapping her arm around the red tipped girl's waist. Miltia was not far behind her twin, allowing Ruby to place an arm around each other as they walked further into the store.

"Again, sorry, my boss has been working me to death. Your dad's lucky. I haven't seen him around in weeks." Ruby openly complained as she noticed Junior whipping down an empty table not too far off. She and the man had an odd dynamic from an outsiders point of view. The crimsonette would often poke the older bearded man, and he treated her like a third daughter, the oddity being that she was a seemingly normal girl who had no business dealing with a bar owner and information broker. The relationship was started by Ruby's lovely older sister, Yang Xiao Long, whom often went to the man to help locate her bounties.

"Grass is certainly looking greener over here."Junior laughed, the man was normally quite busy managing his legitimate restaurant, nightclub, and information so it was nice to not be bothered by Roman.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna still with my friends for a bit girls, I'll see you when I can." Ruby dismissed the Malachite twins and turned the corner of the large establishment. More tables, some filled, greeted her. The table furthest back and against a large windowed wall seated her multicolored companions. The one in pink was the first to notice the brunettes approach.

"RUBY!" Nora called out, jumping up and tackling the young girl. With an "oof" the air left Ruby's lungs as she landed on her ass. The other 3 were quick to stand and help the two redheads up.

"Hello to you too, Nora." Ruby weezed out. Nora giggled as she cuddled deeper into the crook out Ruby's neck.

"Sorry, bout that Ruby," Ren, a tall black-haired man of Asian descent in green, apologized for Nora, "It's just been so long." Ruby simply laughed it off, finally sitting down next to Pyrrha.

"It's no biggie, used to it by now," Ruby answered with a wide smile. "Actually kinda missed it."

"Well, we have certainly missed you." Pyrrha, the unofficial mother of the group clad in gold and red, injected.

"Yeah, what's been keeping you so busy?" Jaune, a blonde meek boy sporting a black hoodie and jeans, leaned forward, curiosity clear in his voice.

"Oh, just work, so much paperwork!"

"Really? What could possibly be so demanding?" A concerned Pyrrha asked, the crimsonette obviously couldn't just respond "Oh, y'know, running a crime syndicate." but she hated the thought of lying to her friends. The five of them had been together since early high school.

"Nothing too bad. C'mon, I don't wanna think about work right now, what have you guys been up to?"

While the concern didn't any of their faces, they knew they wouldn't get anything from the crimsonette. Three years ago, maybe, but ever since she got her new job, Ruby had changed. Before Ruby was quiet, shy, and genuine, now she was loud, confident, and deceptive. She had somehow gotten much stronger, though none of them ever seen her go to any gym, and she learned how to fight somewhere along the line. Ruby became quick, no one could touch her if she didn't want them to, and any opponent, no matter the size, would lay at her feet if they challenged her. The four of them tried, again and again, to find out what had changed in her life to cause this but she'd never answer them. The only thing that kept them from forcing the answer out of her was the fact that she was seemingly fine, better even, and that she never once lied to them.

There were plenty of times where Ruby would simply change the topic, or leave if pressed too hard. Quickly, her friends learned to stop asking, although it eventually came back up. After agreeing to let it go for the hundredth time, the conversation moved to much more pleasant things. They talked about Pyrrha's modeling career, and how she was steadily becoming more popular outside of Vale. Ren mentioned that he had finally gotten his therapy license, and Nora got a job at her favorite gym as a personal trainer. With the both of them working they were able to afford their own place and had not so recently moved out of Jaune's home. The aforementioned blonde still worked at the same bookstore with their other friends, Sun and Neptune, who Ruby was told were also doing fine. After talking for about an hour, laughing at Nora's antics, and sharing books to read with Jaune, the fivesome was approached by Junior.

"Hey, Ruby, I gotta talk to you real fast," Junior announced.

"What's up?" Ruby responded.

"Uhh, you sure it's fine? Right here?" Junior asked, gesturing to the others at the table. The crimsonette gave them each a quick glance before turning back to Junior, inquiring on what the topic of discussion was.

"Something our shared boss wants you informed on, nothing too sensitive," Junior answered her.

"Alright, spill," Ruby demanded, suddenly seeming superior to the older man.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Junior replied, shocking everyone in the restaurant, "Shits been gettin' rough out lately," He lowered his voice in embarrassment as he continued, "People are reporting sighting Grimm around lately."

"Grimm!?" The fivesome whispered in horror. The Creatures of Grimm were a plague. Their predatory nature against humanity as a whole earned them notoriety among the everyman. They took on many shapes and sizes but shared just as many traits. From their soulless, blood-red eyes, to the boney white plates that covered each species. They used to be a commonplace disaster, but far from recent advancements in technologies and Dust have kept them far from any city. They were still routinely hunted by each kingdom's military, however, since the longer a single Grimm lived, the stronger and more intelligent it became.

"Yeah," Junior continued, "In the city. They just appear, kill, and then vanish. People report them mainly in the shitter parts like where homeless gather and the police don't take them seriously."

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief at this, "So, its just crazy talk. if the police aren't worried, we shouldn't be either right?"

Nora and Pyrrha regained some of their lost color at this, but Ruby quickly dashed all hope in them with a firm "We aren't police." Ren didn't let the comment slide.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we shouldn't shove this off as a drug addict's ramblings, Junior, finish." Ruby was curt. Her demeanor had changed as soon as Junior began, she seemed tense, ready for a fight. Junior didn't let anyone ask her why.

"Last thing is that some people are stating that others are 'superhuman.'" No one interrupted this time, "They say that they take bullets like nothing, glowing when shot, and healing super fast. Heard they move faster than a normal person, stronger too. No explanation on that."

Ruby moved her gaze to the floor thoughtfully, and Ren seemed to recognize what Junior was talking about.

"Glowing? Is it a shared color?" Ren leaned forward, tense after hearing what Junior had to say.

"No, each one reports a different person having a different color. If it helps, only two people have been seen in total, and their colors are white and green."

"I have to go," Ruby announced suddenly, surprising everyone.

"What, why?" Both Nora and Pyrrha asked.

"Work." That was all Ruby said before she was gone.

Vale, the capital of the Kingdom and named after said kingdom, was fairly large. The upper district was where the city officials and rich resided, it was full of large buildings, skyscrapers, and banks. Fancy restaurants and opera houses added to the pretentious and snobby vibe one got by being in the general area. Most people living there were of the one percent, being bankers or aforementioned city official. They lived in expensive mansions, drove expensive cars, and wore expensive clothes. They lived their lives thriving off of gossip and using money to solve any problem, completely ignorant to the needs and worries of the middle and lower districts. The middle district was exactly that, middle. Everyone lived in middle-class homes, drove middle-class cars, you get the picture. It was what people thought of when they heard the word "city." Full of schools, movie theaters, clubs, and suburban neighborhoods. It was the perfectly normal life, who could ask for more?

Blake Belladonna could. She currently lived in the lower district of Vale, and she hated it. The streets were dirty, full of waste and homeless people. Only every other building was even livable, the standard being filled with holes and crumbling to dust. Luckily, it wasn't her permanent home, that being Menagerie, another, smaller kingdom. So, what was she doing in Vale? Simple, White Fang business. Adam Taurus, a red-headed bull Faunus, and she came here to take over the Valeian faction and get them back in order. Adam quickly gained a loyal following here and took the title of Faction Leader no problem. What bothered Blake was what came afterward. In their three year tenure here in Vale, Adam had changed. Not abruptly, but steadily, like a poison. Slowly he became more angry, violent, and ruthless. The orders he gave were more harsh and deadly. Even now, Blake sat alone on a tall office building, scouting out the routine of a senator she was meant to assassinate.

The thought alone disgusted her. The White Fang Blake knew and loved was a peaceful organization. They only wanted equal rights for Faunus, a race of humans with animal traits. The girl in black and white was a cat Faunus herself, sporting two black cat ears under her signature bow. Every day, in every kingdom to various degrees, Faunus were discriminated, segregated, and abused only because they were different. The White Fang was made to fight against this, in a peaceful manner. With protest and demonstrations, they actually began to make progress towards equality. Then Adam stepped in, while he was only a leader to the Faction in Vale, other like-minded individuals were popping up all over Remnant. His mercilessness was already spreading with the organization, Blake's current mission was proof of that. Speaking of, some movement down below brought Blake out of her trance.

On street level was Senator Isaac Black, he was the swing vote on a bill that discreetly allowed Faunus to be forced to work overtime without compensation. It was obvious to anyone that actually read the damn thing, but who bothered with that? It didn't affect the general populace, so it truly didn't matter. The Faunus didn't know what killing him would accomplish, would it send a message? Of course, but was it a message the White Fang wanted? No, it couldn't be, this wouldn't help the Faunus whatsoever. This event would fully mark them as a terrorist group, which would certainly do them no favors.

Blake watched her target enter his car and drive away, harboring no intention to pursue him. She sat down on the edge of her perch and looked at her hand, a light purple glow emanating from it. It was her Aura, an outward manifestation of her soul, or so Blake was told. It made her stronger, allowed her to move faster, protected her from damage, and gave her access to her semblance, Shadow. This was supposed to be the White Fang's secret weapon, Blake only saw it as a tool for war. Only Adam and her possessed Aura, but it gave every member of the White Fang in Vale the confidence to attack their oppressors. That, and the new uniform and masks that Blake refused to wear. With the masks, the guilt of their new terrorist actions didn't weight on the once normal citizens that made up the White Fang. Blake had a front row seat to the White Fang's painful transformation, and it angered her to no end.

"Hey there, Kitty Cat." Which is why she contacted this old drunkard.

"I kindly ask that you never call me that ever again." Blake deadpanned. The old man just laughed at her and took a seat next to the black Faunus giving her a chance to look him over.

His hair was black and unkempt, eyes red, both in color and bloodshot, and his chin was decorated in scruff. Blake could tell he was muscular, but his black business suit covered it well. His white undershirt was unbuttoned at the top, only being held in place by a blood red tie. The Faunus had a feeling that he didn't choose this style on his own, mainly because he looked extremely uncomfortable in it. However, it still made her feel underdressed. Her white sleeveless shirt, black vest, and white shorts suddenly felt inadequate. With a large sigh the feeling left, she requested to meet him again for a reason.

"So, can you really help me, Mr. Branwen?" Blake asked as the man reached for a flask in his inner pocket. Though, he paused once he registered what she said.

"Alright, listen, I won't call you anything cat related if you don't call me 'mister,' deal?"

"Deal. Qrow it is."

"Great, so, to answer your question," he paused to sip his flask, "Yeah, I can help you, but you're gonna hafta help me first."

Blake gave a nod of approval, not wanting to interrupt the man. "This isn't from Beacon, this is from me. I got a niece that lives here in Vale. Real sweet little monster. Haven't seen her in a long time, and I heard she's gotten into some real shit."

Another pause, another sip.

"Her dad and friends are all worried to no end, and I'm a busy guy, I can't just drop in and check on her. That's what I need you for." Qrow looked over to Blake seeing if she understood what he meant.

"So…" Blake began, confused, "You want me to… follow her?"

"Close. I want you to be her friend."

Blake gave the old drunkard a blank stare, slowly processing what he said.

"What?"

End of Chapter 1

Well, that's chapter 1. I honestly can't wait to hear what you have to say, and to finish chapter 2.

Next time, we see what Yang is up to, and follow team JNPR as they worry over Ruby

-Ken

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #fanfic #ff.net #rwby ladybug

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ideadice13 · 4 years ago

Text

Instead I’m ok

Listening, to old conversations

Doors shut on past thoughts and secret talks

I would say a word you would repeat it back

Then act like it was a personal attack

You say to speak my mind

And then in short time

Acting like everything was fine

Did it mean anything those words we spoke

Just hearing your name makes me choke

But I guess I’ll just sit tired and broke

Tea parties and sweet cakes

Bowls of rice with sweet potato flakes

Holding hands stealing glances

Begging for more chances

One was nice beautiful and kind

One left me broken unable to find

What I did do wrong this time

I kept my thoughts to myself

All alone in my head I just felt

It would be easier to keep my secret

You seemed happier, I felt defeated

I wanted to tell you truth of what was in my head

On the summer nights when we shared the same bed

All I could do was reach for you and this is what I said,

Hey, I’m ok

Are you sure?

Yeah I’m ok

The grass seems greener on the other side

Time passed and everything seemed fine

I had the love of my life next to me

And then out of the blue you right in front of me

These feelings I had from so long ago

Came flooding back punching my ego

So then I ignored all the signs

Hoping with all the space and time

Things could go back to way they were

But you reminded me so much of her

White rabbits and playing cards

Watching you from afar

Pretty dresses and curling our hair

Laughing at stories we both shared

One was nice beautiful and kind

One left me broken unable to find

What I did do wrong this time

I tried to hide how I felt

Until your words made my heart melt

Your soft gaze and stunning eyes

Convincing me everything was fine

Talking at screens for hours and hours

How I can recall such laughter

Mint chocolate chip Italian ice

How those days seemed so nice

I sat across from you holding back tears as I was ready to tell you all my fears,

Out of my mouth these are the words you could hear

Hey, I’m ok

Are you sure?

I’m ok

I wanted scream to you what was in my heart

Hear the reasons we shouldn’t part

Like the full moon high up the sky

I wanted you to hear what was on my mind

All those years ago I stared at you

Feelings I had that could never follow through

Wish I could give into those aches and pains

Like the falling rain on the window pains

Hearing the thunder booming in my soul,

You claimed telling the truth would help let it go

You would ask me once then again and again

Are you angry or scared, happy upset, confused alone, or fucking fed up of all the games and lies

Instead, I am ok

Are you sure?

No, instead I’m ok

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ireviewuread · 4 years ago

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I published a book! | Speed Dating, The Story of Dating 10 guys in 3 months

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I am an Author

Publishing a book has always been my ultimate goal in life. I have been talking about writing a book for as long as I can remember. That was one of the reasons for the degree the I pursued and for being a freelance writer.

I always thought that my book writing dream would only be accomplished later in life but the opportunity came quicker than I expected. Although I was swarmed with datelines, I grasped the opportunity and started writing the book about my singlehood.

Why did I publish a book about dating stories?

Writing is the deep expression of so many parts of myself. These pieces contain emotions that I could not express and memories that I could not get back. Throughout the journey of dating these 10 guys, I revealed bits and pieces of my crumbling soul on The Ugly Writers. Part of me always wanted to tell the world the crazy experience of how I dated 10 guys in a short span of 3 months but the other part of me restricted myself from doing so because the conservative part in me said it’s not right. It was ironic since I started my Online Horror Dating Stories Series on IreviewUread in 2018. I guess, they were right about being young and reckless.

Eventually, when Fashion Potluck’s Awards Season rolled out, I decided to take a leap of faith and write My date proposed to me....Naked . It was the best decision ever. I continued to contribute articles like Is the Grass Greener on the other Side? and Bad Kissing = Bad Sex? Kissing 101 but the first article of the FP Awards season still tugged at my heartstrings. You know how when you felt like you got your calling you have to go towards it? This was mine.

I took a leap of faith and started writing a book about my adventures of dating 10 guys in 3 months. The process from idea to book felt surreal. The book got published in under a month. The feeling of this dream going from a distanced goal to an accomplished one was hypnagogic. I still feel like I am in a dream. Part of me does not want to let the dream go for it was always a goal I want to accomplish later in life. I still want to accomplish this dream later in life but in the form of a memoir - The story of my life - and not just my love life.

Speed Dating, The Story of Dating 10 guys in 3 months

One of the questions I get asked about this book is, “Are these stories real?” I considered lying and saying they are not but they are real. I lived through them and it was a thrilling rollercoaster. I did not write these stories to get back at the guys that did not choose nor to boost that I am popular among the guys. Instead, I wrote these stories to entertain and to create an open dialogue among women.

Although Singapore is considered a modern and open society, there are still many actions that are condoned here. One of them is for women to have more experience than men or for females to date multiple males at the same time. I feel like society is still very close-minded about women trying out the field without being attached.

I understand that this mindset is something that I am unable to change but I hope that through this book, women who want to try the field but are afraid of being judged remember one thing - I did it first and I wrote a book about it. If I can humiliate myself publicly you can find your soulmates privately, just don’t let them know.

There are 10 stories in this book. Some stories are longer some are shorter but all of them are sprinkled with a pinch of humour. At the epilogue, I have included 10 things I’ve learned from dating 10 guys - 10 things I wished I knew so I did not have to go through the dates I’ve gone through.

All in all, this book acts as a full stop to my Online Horror Dating Stories series. I will not produce any more Online Horror Dating Stories posts. It was a short but great run.

Summary of Speed Dating The Story of Dating 10 guys in 3 Months

From the thrilling ride of going through multiple stages of dating to being proposed after barely a week. Join Shi Hui as she brings you through a series of modern-day dating.

Meet Noah, the crazy emotional train wreck; Caleb, the charismatic hunk; Derek, the overly-possessive part-time boyfriend and more.

Inspired by the stories of my earlier dating adventures, Speed Dating The story of dating 10 guys in 3 months, is a collection of failed dates throughout her lifetime or in this situation, 3 months, I was a late bloomer but I learned quickly.

This book is a collection of the insane stories that you’d share with your friends at the bar and then you laugh about it and move on. Yes… the stories of me.

With a touch of humour, I bring to you – Speed Dating The story of dating 10 guys in 3 months.

- Speed Dating The Story of Dating 10 Guys in 3 Months

If you are a fan of Romance-Comedy movies, this book would be a great addition to your shelf for like the book, my love life is a rom-com. I also created an Instagram account for the book so all book promotions, book selfies or any sneak peeks of the book will congregate there. You can get the book directly from me through my Ko-fi page, Amazon, Ukiyoto or Google Play. I hope you’ll enjoy the book as much as you enjoyed my Online horror dating stories!

Get your copy of - Speed Dating The Story of Dating 10 Guys in 3 Months

Ukiyoto eBook | Ukiyoto Flipbook | Amazon Kindle | Amazon Paperback | Google Play

Get the book from me with the Author’s Signature on it - Ko-fi

Follow my book on Instagram - @SpeedDatingTheBook

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#book #speed dating #Romcom #launches #Speed Dating The Story of Dating 10 Guys in 3 Months #dating stories #shtb

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nzstories · 7 years ago

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Short Story- Dreamer

My eyes open to see sapphire skies, low and racing clouds, wind chasing sunlight. Trees line hills like lolly pops, their birds singing in harmony and fruit shining, ripe beyond perfection. My sword is curved to match the bend in my knees, reaching to the ground like a third leg of steel.

I caught a rumor circulating the nearby villages, within a marketplace overwhelmed by chatter. Live chickens even talked up a storm and the food could satisfy on aroma alone. Every voice clung to the ears as much as the mind, a tale of woe or delight or intrigue that left one with tingles on their lips. One which I felt compelled to investigate, follow to its unpredictable end, was the story of a cyclops.

I’m supposed to find him here, on the rolling back of the Earth goddess, Ara. I wear a dress of silver and silk, trimmed with dried herbs that I heard makes the giant’s flesh soft. The cyclops is two stories tall, or so I heard, and though my bare feet and sharp nails will make me an agile pest, I worry he’ll squash me whole. My heart punches my rib cage, the vibration is awesome.

I see a bald, wrinkled, greyish-tan head poke through the trees. It looks leathery and can see over some lolly pops with a veiny, lidless eye. The cyclops begins running as soon as it passes the crisp vegetation, lifting dirt and saplings with each gallop. He climbs the hill quickly, excited like me.

Soon we’re eyes to eye. He stops just before me, 5-10 meters away, and we look each other up and down. He wears no clothes, a gnarly crooked cock dangling beneath his overgrown stomach. That’s his first mistake.

I reach to my side and pull out a shuriken, throw my bladed star at his ankles and it sinks in. It’s not deep but he twitches, steps forward to catch himself, and I dash. Letting out a yell that wakens each cow and sheep in the kingdom, the monster raises his hands in the air with fists clenched by hate. I leap up between his legs and cut the dangling eyesore clean off.

He screams again, a cry really, and slams his arms below to crush me and perhaps eat me later. I strafe, dodge, tumble to the side and feel his attack in the ground below. My sword lodges into the back of his leg and he kneels, showing teeth filed and his eye beginning to change color. As I feel a steady heat rising all around me, I claw up his back with my nails, plated with silver, the perfume of my dress dragging across his tenderizing skin.

As I make my way to the beast’s throat, the blade in my mouth and my arms gyrating like a mechanical will, his eye changes red, his teeth extend. I only know this because as I reach the purchase of his bony, burning shoulders, his head spins round and reveals a double joint. His skin is slowly boiling and I don’t know what’s happening.

Clearly he’s no ordinary cyclops, but it’s too late to care now. As he takes a bite at my arm, ripping clear through my flesh and removing my once-loved appendage, I swing wildly with my other hand. The cutlass clears his squishy throat, burning my blade as my charred feat push off. He gurgles, unable to scream, and I land behind him as a torrent of gold erupts from his wound. It showers me with riches and triumph, the blood of my arm alerting me to my next quest, and I feel a strength in me awaken.

I hold the cutlass by a golden hilt, my arms long and tone with muscle. The hill I stand on now dwarfs any other, the only competition for miles is a mountain capped with snow. I’ll go there tomorrow, but today, I fight.

My eyes open. A whitish room welcomes me back to reality, sleep dripping from my mind painfully slow. I detach three chords and suckers from my head, flip a switch on the Dreamer next to me, saving my progress and turning it off. This lovely little machine changed my life: it’s the greatest aspects of dreaming and virtual reality rolled into one. I go to bed 6 hours earlier than I used to.

I eat my cereal in silence and scratch at the window; the sky is a dull blue that makes me question whether God even knew what she was doing. I don’t taste the nuts and oats and non-dairy milk sloshing around my enamel and gums, the texture’s OK I guess.

I wear a yellow dress with a pink sash across my waste, glittering, feeble heels and my hair is stabbed by two sticks that protrude taller than I. Makeup fails to bring out my eyes, my lips, my nose or cheeks, not like in the Dream. I try to buy brighter and brighter clothes, but it’s futile.

As I wonder to work, no one important notices me. I get smirks and crude comments, a friendly smile here and there and maybe a “good day”, maybe something vulgar. How boring. How so many people can exist without one clever line or story, even a single moment of clarity where they conjure up some whit that makes their existence mean anything to me, I’ll never know. God, what have you done with your life?

I work as a waiter, or paid smile, an actress maybe. I’m hired to give people the illusion they have friends, or perhaps a servant, that beautiful people surround them in a grey and subpar world. I’m not paid enough to be interesting, or maybe I don’t know how to be. Maybe someone should write up a backstory and motivation and plot for me, like those people in the Dream.

Even rudeness is uneventful, as unstimulating as kindness. I feel in the day like I’m buried deep beneath the sand, and all the mobs and horses fail to trample me. I feel vibrations down here, echoes of a world I once knew, but see none of it.

On my way home, going down the hill I worked so hard to get up, worked so hard for no reward, I now see distant mountains and a sea between us. The summits seem low and water an awful, dirty brown. There’s a vibrance missing in them, a significance the world seems determined to never live up to. God, the almighty designer of this once unique world, called in sick on her last day. The day she was meant to finish, put the polish on and fill in the gaps, assign each person a hook that would make them all tug and pull at each other with satisfying tension, connection, she gave up. Maybe she knew humans would get to it eventually, create the Dreamer and finally escape her failed science fair project. Why stay where the grass isn’t greener? What use is this world now?

#creative writing #literature #macabre #eutopia #distopia #future #technology #story #aventure #drama #philosophy #fantasy #dark

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