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get-shiggy-with-it · 4 years ago

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Book Drop Boy (Twice x Reader)

✧ pairing: library student worker!Twice x afab!student!Reader

✧ word count: 9.9k

✧ ao3 mirror

✧ warnings: college au/no quirks, maladaptive daydreaming (twice), twice is chaotic af, commits library related crimes, use of the term sweetheart a few times, smut, vaginal fingering/sex, doggy style, afab terms, no pronouns for reader, gratuitous swearing this is potentially the softest thing I've ever written, like she's pretty tame idk what Twice does to me

✧ summary: In which Twice learns that sometimes dreams do come true, except those dreams are just the maladaptive fantasies of a broke library receptionist and, while sexy, also involve more fraud than he expected.

✧ a/n: Hey y'all, this is set in the same universe as my shiggy college piece, but you don't need to have read that. There are some fun little easter eggs though if you have tho. This is like the most tame thing I've ever written and it's way longer than it was meant to be but oh well. Anyway, Twice deserves some love. Enjoy <3

Logically, Jin was aware you probably had no idea who the fuck he was.

But that really didn’t have any effect on the wildly intricate fantasy life he had created for the two of you during his long shifts behind the library reception desk. That, in fact, was the only reason he hadn’t up and quit just to save himself the embarrassment of another loud outburst in the middle of the most silent place on campus.

What was truly more shocking was the fact that none of those said outburst had gotten his ass kicked straight out the door.

But he held out.

If only for you.

Late nights or lazy afternoons you were always in the campus library—studying he assumed or…

'Studying,' because a lot of the time he noticed you’d show up with a drink from the cafe a few blocks down, set out a line of colored pens and not touch a single one of them for hours, content to stare blankly at the chipped desktop. And even that Jin was more than happy to watch.

He did a lot of watching.

Mostly because he wasn’t permitted to leave the desk unattended unless there were piling up returned books which needed to be replaced quickly.

So instead, he pretended to be busy scrolling through something on his old as hell monitor—which was conveniently set up directly across from the comfy chair/desk combo you always managed to grab—and he indulged in day dreams where you’d bring him a coffee from the cafe when you came in and set it on his desk, maybe kiss him on the cheek, maybe loiter by his workstation and play with his hair and—

Yeah.

It was a lot.

But you were always in that chair, always working or pretending to work and you never seemed to notice the uninterrupted hours of staring Jin did, so what was the harm?

If you never knew, you’d never get creeped out—cause it was creepy, he knew that, oh fuckin' boy did he know it was real goddamn weird.

He just couldn’t seem to give it up. Especially when the conditions presented perfectly for some good uninterrupted, totally not stalker-y at all, fantasizing.

Sometimes he thought you might have some mundane superpower that let you always snatch that perfect seat right across from his computer, and made it so the library was just cool enough that he’d get to watch you shrug on that cute extra sweatshirt you always brought. So he could catch a glimpse of some skin—in a totally normal and not invasive way—when your arms went over your head. So he could imagine it was his ratty old sweaters you were wearing just so you could smell him on you and god he really wanted to get close enough to smell you—was that too weird? No. Yes? No.

Not at all.

But the best part, the part that really convinced him on those awful days when he really just could not be bothered to drag himself out of bed and walk the couple blocks to campus just to sit in awful silence alone, in his head alone with the fucking thoughts that made him want to rip his hair out—

What made it worth it was those times every few weeks when your classes would get new assigned readings. Because then you’d have to check out new textbooks, since you were one of those geniuses that had figured out the library kept a ton of those books in stock. Of course you were, cause you were fucking perfect.

And when you had to check out new books, you had to come to reception.

Jin got to watch as your lovely figure moved through the stacks like you were ballroom dancing along the halls of faded, sea-green shelves, almost floating over the linoleum trying to find just the right volume in the right addition before anyone else beat you to it.

It was one of the most gorgeous things he’d ever seen.

Spinner would call him a fucking simp if he ever dared to uttered any of that out loud, but it didn’t matter.

If it was you, he’d simp for fucking life.

And then, you’d walk that fucking glorious ass over to his desk and plop the books down, smiling—cause you were polite like that, so fucking perfect he couldn’t hardly believe it sometimes—and asking how his day was while he checked you out in every sense of the phrase.

In a completely platonic and not freaky way.

So Jin kept coming to work, to that god awful job he really hated and which hated him just as vehemently. He clocked in every day and waited patiently like a fucking puppy counting the hours till its workaholic owner arrived home, ears perking up when you walked through the door and flashed your ID to the attendant.

If only for that.

He’d put up with his boss’ complaints and the weird stares he got when the thoughts just wouldn’t stay in his head anymore and he had to start talking to himself to fill the silence.

If only for that.

Those few hours when he could lose himself in the fake inner life where you were waiting for him when his shift let out, waiting to gather him, tired and understimulated, into your arms. Where you’d sneak into the back room with him just to chat and lace your fingers with his and maybe sit that fucking wonderful ass up on the tables so he could stand in between your thighs and you’d pull him down to—

Yeah.

That was enough.

***

It wasn’t until Tuesday when he had to come in again that week, and he already knew it was gonna suck balls.

Friday he’d gotten another round of complaints from some stuck up fucking business students—it was always the fucking business majors with those silver spoons so far up their asses—snitching to his boss that he’s been ‘disruptive’ and ‘disturbing’ during his last shift.

“Not my fucking fault,” he muttered under his breath, kicking a rock along the side walk he’d picked up two blocks before. “Yes it is. No it’s not!”

Jin groaned and tugged at his hair, wishing he’d brought a Tylenol or something to curb the headache that was already sticking it’s ugly ass claws into his temples. He really, really heavily contemplated just ditching, calling in sick or some shit. Technically he was a student worker, so they had to work with his DRS accommodation and he was actually having a bad fucking time.

But one of his friends had already texted to ask if he’d try and reserve them that sweet ass study room on the third floor and Jin wasn’t really looking to disappoint anyone else this week. Besides, it was fun to abuse his minuscule power. Fun to go corrupt for once. Fight the system and all that.

He liked to think you’d be proud of him for it, based on the kinds of texts you checked out at least.

So, he dragged his sad ass back to the looming library looking far too much like a prison than was necessary and clocked in. Actually, the first thing he did was check the chair—your chair and nobody else’s chair, he might actually make a fucking scene if somebody ever did steal it—and his face visibly fell when you were not occupying it.

It was a bit early, Jin supposed as he paused briefly when he noticed the can of Monster and rando vending machine chips sitting next to it by the reception computer. The sticky note slapped to the top read 'For your troubles' in familiar handwriting and that pulled a bit of a smile from him as he quickly rearranged the scheduling of study room sign ups so the fancy third floor room would be free for the rest of the night.

Then Jin sat, staring at the study room schedules for a moment, feeling his eyes softly glaze over until a hand slapped down on the raised lip of the reception desk.

“Hey bro,” Spinner greeted him with a wild smile and a flurry of bright pink hair.

Jin had to blink a few extra times to get his vision to clear. When it did he saw, horrifyingly, that he’d been staring at the fucking blank screen for two hours without moving.

Why was it that his head was either deadly quiet, devoid of even a single errant thought or so loud as fucking shit at all times that he couldn’t physically keep the thoughts in?

“Hey, dude, what’s up?” Jin asked, running a hand through his unruly hair.

“Aren’t you supposed to like shush me or something?”

Spinner chuckled a bit at his own god awful joke and Jin couldn’t find it in himself to be annoyed, too glad for the company.

“I mean,” he shrugged, popping the can of Monster and ignoring the dirty looks he got for the sound. “I would if I was, uh, good at my job.”

“Which I’ve heard you definitely are not,” Spinner wrapped his fingers over the lip of the desk and leaned back on his heels, swaying side to side idly.

“You’re just figuring that out now?”

Jin didn’t bother watching while Spinner nearly tripped over himself fidgeting as he spun to stand at the little gate that corralled Jin inside like livestock. He was too busy glancing over to check you hadn’t slipped in while his brain had taken a trip to the astral plane without him.

“No, I been knew, but my sources tell me you’ve gone off the rails my friend,” long legs stepped over the wooden partition until the only friend he had who was quite possibly more annoying than Jin himself was sat on the counter next to his computer. “Finally been radicalized have you?”

Jin huffed and sipped his Monster, “Guess it fuckin’ took me long enough.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Spinner was messing about with the stacks of multicolored sticky notes littered across the desk before glancing up to wink at Jin. “So what can I get you to do for me in exchange for free food?”

“Now I really am gonna fucking shush you,” Jin smashed his finger against Spinners grin only to get a hand covered in spit for his trouble.

“Right, right,” Spinner held his hands up in defeat, “can’t have you cheating on your sweetheart.”

“Not my—yes I’m in a committed fictional relationship thank you very much—ugh!”

Jin could feel the heads shooting up from laptop screens and textbooks to stick daggers in his back with their angry stares. Spinner at least had the good sense to look a little fucking guilty for egging him on.

“Sorry bro, I had to shoot my shot ya know?” a hand disappeared into the mop of bubblegum locks in apology.

“It’s fine…” Jin trailed off, mumbling and blushing more than a little profusely as he turned to check the book drop box. “Not like I’m ever gonna fuckin’ shoot mine anyway.”

“Oh we are not gonna have that kinda of shit discussion,” Spinner’s hand shot out and grabbed him firmly by the shoulders, spinning Jin in his chair. “On god bro, we’re gonna get you a date one of these days.”

Jin didn’t dignify that kind of lie with a response.

Spinner once again, had the good sense to not push the envelope any farther.

“And in the meantime, you can come to the League meeting tonight!”

“Your gaming club thing?”

“Yeah, it’s Smash night and we need to fill a space sooooo…”

Jin knew Spinner and his roommate—the same friend who he’d gone study room rogue for—had started a gaming club their freshman year. Spinner had been trying to strong arm him into attending ever since. To, as he put it, ‘socialize,’ and ‘make new friends.’ All things which Jin was patently horrible at and avoided like the plague.

Needless to say, he’d refused every time.

It wasn’t just the whole being alone with like two people he kinda knew in a room full of strangers. Games themselves were just a lot for him. The flashing colors and the loud noises made his head—which was already so fucking full all the time and he really needed to keep any extra scrap of space for extra random facts he picked up about you and your future married life together—get a bit misaligned.

They just weren’t his jam most of the time.

“I’m good, thanks for the offer though,” Jin twisted out of Spinner’s grasp and craned his head to check your seat again.

Still empty.

He sighed.

Spinner continued to ramble and Jin continued to only half listen. It wasn’t as pleasant to day dream when you weren’t there for the added visual aesthetic. And he was trying to not be a dick and ignore the one friend he had managed to keep around over the years. But it was hard when his mind had a mind of its own.

Wow.

Meta.

“Jin?”

The voice—deep and dark in such a dramatically ominous way it might have been funny if it didn’t belong to his permanently disgruntled supervisor—interrupted his already derailing train of thought.

“Oh, uh, hello sir,” Jin stuttered, turning to find Kurogiri leaning against the reception desk with one arm, turning only slightly to accommodate Spinner’s form bolting over the gate and out the library doors.

He did manage to throw a fading, “See ya later, bro” over his shoulder before he disappeared around the corner.

Yeah thanks for the warning, bro.

“Aren’t you supposed to be reshelving the books from the drop box?” Kurogiri sighed, perpetually disappointed in a way that had Jin’s face burning and shame bubbling up in his throat.

He hated this job. He was objectively terrible at it, and so usually he wouldn’t give that much of a shit at not doing it well. Kurogiri just had some type of vibe—like daddy but not in the sexy way Spinner always joked about—that made it really, really upsetting to let him down.

Father figure? Yeah that's what it was called.

“Right, yeah um, sorry,” Jin nodded quickly and leapt from his chair, only mildly bruising his knee on the desk as he reached to empty the book drop.

Another incorporeal sigh was the only acknowledgement he received as he loaded the cart with wheels louder than Jin on a particularly bad day and rolled the pile of books back to the stacks. He paused once more, just before the sea green shelving units swallowed him up, to sneak another futile peak at your chair. But it still sat empty—empty and lonely with no you and cold without your body pressed against the worn upholstery.

Jin felt a chill too, a slow tingling thing that worked its way up from the base of his spine. It drove him deeper into the walls of books, away from the empty spaces.

It was harder to look.

Harder to be reminded of what he did not have.

Of what he’d never have cause he was too much of a goddamn pussy to ever just fucking talk to you—

But then what if he did? What if he did talk to you? What would happen then?

Those were the types of questions he tried to avoid when crafting your intricate, fictional lives together. Precisely because they were the easiest to answer.

You’d realize within the first five minutes or so of conversation—if Jin could even make it that far without embarrassing himself—that he was just a generic brand weirdo that all your pretty, normal, aesthetically pleasing friends would warn you to stay away from and because you were also pretty and normal and not a fucking idiot, you’d have the common sense to listen.

He’d lose you in the blink of an eye.

Your chair would sit cold and empty forever and the imaginary garden he’d been planting for you to come imaginarily home too would wilt and die like all the other happy thoughts in his head.

It was quite the conundrum and one Jin was not keen to solve soon.

Not that things ever really went his way. Cause problems could only be avoided for so long before all that time spent ignoring them came back to bite him full on the ass.

Which, apparently, came this time in the form of what had to be quiet, muffled sobbing drifting in between the shelves from the back hallway.

It was dark here in this section of the building—free of most windows so as not to cause any sunning damage to the books—and Jin had seen more than enough horror movies to know that it was a horrendous idea to follow the ominous crying sounds coming from the bowls of this old as fuck building. But even as he made up his mind to ignore it, the hand currently working one of the returns back into its proper place dropped the book to his cart as his feet slowly turned to face the corridor.

He looked around skeptically for a second, not entirely certain his poor brain hadn’t simply malfunctioned again, as it was wont to do, and fabricated the sound entirely. But as he peaked out from between the stacks, and down the dimly lit hall, he heard it again.

Echoey and soft in the wide, empty space it—was definitely coming from the hall and it was definitely a person.

Jin caught himself moving without ever meaning too, the books laying forgotten as he crept towards the source of the noise and paused just before leaving the stacks entirely. This hall was full of small alcoves built into the centuries old walls and led to the lesser used storage portions of the library that only the janitorial staff and the university librarians ever entered. He really didn’t want to stumble across someone from the special collections department bawling over a damaged or lost manuscript.

But his wayward feet pushed him forward, too sympathetic for his own good. He found himself shuffling down the abandoned hall, peering into each small dip in the walls to find the source of his distraction.

And when he did, Jin was—for once in his life—thankful for his lack of self-preservation instincts.

And cursed his blatant lack in interpersonal skills.

Because it was you.

You curled with your knees to your chest and your head in your hands, shoulders shaking, as you cried into your palms.

The universe had handed him maybe the only golden opportunity he would ever get on right on a platter.

But Jin didn’t have a fucking clue what do with it.

And there certainly wasn’t much time to formulate a game plan as his nervous breathing and sudden intake of breath upon discovering his imaginary lover sniffling right in front of him, had certainly alerted you to his presence.

Your head shot up in an instant, knocking dully against the stone wall with a thud.

“Shit,” you cursed and hands flying up to cover the area as Jin jumped on the spot at your outburst.

“Are you okay?” he asked lamely as you glanced over at him, eyes red and wet and so fucking sad oh fucking god, widening as you realized you’d been caught.

“Huh? Ye—oh uh, yes,” your words came out jumbled, legs unfolding quickly to push yourself off the bench and hands wiping furiously at your eyes. “I’m fine, sorry.”

“You sure about that?”

Jin cringed visibly and frowned at the way you deflated under his stare. God the first fucking time he actually talks to you and he already made an ass of himself.

Spinner’s roommate was such a liar, it really fucking sucked to be right sometimes.

“I mean,” you crumpled back down onto the ledge and Jin took a careful step closer, “no, but yes. Like I’m definitely having a breakdown in the back of the fucking library but I don’t wanna, uh, bother you with that. So, yeah I’m good.”

“You can bother me,” he replied way too fucking quickly.

But he couldn’t really be embarrassed about it. Your voice was just so captivating, and you weren’t talking to him in that raised pitch anymore like you usually did—the way everyone does when they’re trying to be surface level and polite. No this was your voice how you sounded when you were relaxing with your friends or making breakfast in the morning or talking to yourself in the shower (he liked to think you did that, or sang maybe as you worked the soap into your skin, one of the two but he always imagined you filled silences with how fucking pretty you were).

“No, really. That would be weird, right?”

Jin grimaced as you fixed him with a watery yet suspicious stare.

Yeah it was weird.

Everything he did concerning you was weird, objectively. He was definitely being over-familiar and too eager, especially considering you didn’t fucking know him.

But he knew you.

Jin felt like he’d known you for all months he’d spent pretending to be by your side.

And you were crying and he had to do something.

“I mean, yeah I guess,” he mumbled, taking a risk and plopped down on the opposite end of the alcove and resting his head on the wall. “But not any weirder than having a breakdown in the employees only section of the library building on a Tuesday.”

You kept staring blankly for a few moments before the most miraculous thing happened.

Jin had to physically stop his jaw from hitting the floor when the quiet giggle bubbled up from your chest and spilled out into the hall, warm enough to melt even the freezing linoleum floor.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point,” your voice cracked a bit as a few more tears slid like pearls down your cheeks.

“My name’s Jin,” he said, shocked stupid both by your laugh and the apparent success of his comforting methods.

“Oh, hi, well I guess I don’t have to call you book drop boy anymore,” you rubbed at your face again and tucked your legs back into your chest, though it looked a bit more relaxed this time.

Not so trying-desperately-to-fade-out-of-existence.

“You called me that?” Jin asked, brain still functioning at half capacity, only shocked at the fact that he existed as a concept in your head enough to have a name and realizing a bit too late how accusatory he must have sounded. “Shit, I mean it’s totally fine I just didn’t think you, uh, well I mean, like, knew about me I guess?”

You finally smiled and his brain power cut out another fourth at being personally graced by the expression this close up.

“Yeah, you always check me out—fuck sorry not that you check me out, just you scan my books and I just called you ‘book drop boy’ in my head cause I never got a chance to ask for your name but I have it now so that’s cool….”

Your head dropped back down to your knees as you groaned and Jin suddenly felt a lot less nervous than he had a few seconds ago.

You were weird too.

For so long you’d existed on this pedestal thousands of feet in the air, and now you were stepping down from the heavens and onto earth. Not in a bad way! Just, Jin had never really stopped to think that you might be a person too.

Well.

No, he knew you were a person, just he never thought you might get flustered and ramble and be nervous in front of him.

Cause he was a fucking train wreck—the bar was so goddamn low.

It was almost as comforting as your smile.

“Oh, yeah sorry I’m not the best at customer service if you couldn’t tell,” he sighed and ran a hand through his wild hair.

You looked back up with a wry grin, “I don’t know, I’d say you’re going above and beyond right now.”

And you were funny.

He was gonna fucking combust.

“Ha, yeah, I try,” he trailed off for a moment before glancing back at your curled in your corner, fuck he could just imagine sitting behind you, your head on his chest while you—”So uh, did you wanna talk about it or…?”

“Uh, yeah,” you picked idly at the grouting of the stone and mumbled, “I guess it’s not so weird if we’re on a first-name basis.

And that was how Jin discovered that you’d been hiding in the back of the library bawling your eyes out for hours—since even before his shift started. Apparently you’d gotten here extra early, even skipped a class, to snag some super specific required text for your final thesis and right before you got to the shelf some jackass swooped in, effectively hit and running with the only copy of that book on campus.

The book in questions was one of the newer additions that had special added footnotes you needed for your paper and was a whopping 500 fucking dollars to rent from every other place online. You couldn’t afford it, and honestly what fucking student could? But you needed it to complete the paper or you’d fail and Jin very much understood the need for a good breakdown after a catastrophe like that.

“Damn, that’s uh, fucking awful,” he frowned on your behalf as your head hit the wall a second time in frustration.

“Yeah so, I’m like royally fucked either way. Now I just gotta decide which hole I’m taking it in I guess,” you groaned.

Jin’s eyebrows raised at your choice of words but they were apt, he supposed. People really do get comfortable with each other pretty quick when bonding over shared institutional rage.

“Well,” he began, wringing his hands nervously at what he was about to suggest. “You might be in luck cause I’ve recently decided to abuse my library powers for good and I maybe, possibly, could try and see if there’s some strings I can pull?”

You perked up a bit, looking at him incredulously.

Jin felt comfortably full under your stare.

“Seriously?”

The word was soft and it bounced off the walls just as much as it did the inside of his skull.

Swapping study rooms to help a friend out was one thing. But falsifying checkout dates for someone he barely knew—had essentially married in his maladaptive fantasies—could get him fired.

He hated this job but he needed it.

Were you worth the risk?

Of course, he found himself thinking without hesitation.

You were everything.

“Yeah, sure,” he nodded, any lingering uncertainty washing away at the way you looked at him through your lashes. “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.”

“Are you always this nice?”

Jin didn’t answer right away. He was too caught up in how you’d leaned forward on your hands across the bench, peering like he was some exotic animal or a stray cat in the parking lot—all soft wonderment with fingers curling like they ached to grab hold and rescue him from this parchment scented monotony.

“Not always…”

“Should I feel special then?”

If his face wasn’t red before, it was now. Red and blistering under the summer campfire heat that radiated off you—woodsy and warm and so painfully familiar like an old friend’s hand.

“...I guess you—fucking definitely, ” he quite nearly shouted the last bit, startled by his own volume and already mortified at the outburst but then you chuckled again from beside him.

He turned to see you standing and offering a hand which he gladly too if only to feel the weight of your palm against his.

“Well, you’ll have to let me pay you back then.”

“Oh, no you don’t actually—”

You held a hand up and the words turned to ash on his tongue in an instant, mouth glued shut by your gesture.

“Coffee on me or something, there’s a nice cafe a few blocks from here,” you dropped your hand and your eyes were clear now, no sign of the previous afternoon sobbing alone in the hallway. Jin felt a surge in his chest knowing he was the one who did that. “You gotta pass off the contraband anyway, and I don’t think it would be that great of an idea to do it here.”

God you were fucking perfect.

“Can’t argue with that.”

***

Jin was sweating profusely as he snuck past the library attendant, totally inconspicuous and not not all looking like he was doing a single thing wrong in the slightest.

Yeah they definitely didn’t suspect a thing.

The process of fraud was actually a lot less complicated of an undertaking that Jin had expected. All he had to do was search up the book, find the student that had stolen the success of his sweetheart’s educational career and flag his account. They’d get an automated message about the flag, instructing them to return any borrowed items or they’d be forced to pay fines while the account was examined.

Technically he needed administrator credentials to report student accounts, but luckily Kurogiri had his login info written on a sticky note hidden on the back of the monitor. All in all it was a pretty easy job.

The whole thing had taken only a matter of days, in which time you had returned to the library only twice—the first to get confirmation on the success of Jin’s newest descent into low level crime which had set his heart thundering in his chest as you bent conspiratorially over his desk, your face just inches from his.

The second time, Jin had horrifically been absent from his desk, however he was met with possibly the most wonderful sight of his life upon returning from the labyrinth of shelves.

On one of the hundreds of post-it note pads that littered the library reception area, there were scribbles that he was sure hadn’t been there before. He almost tossed it, but upon closer inspection, you’d written your number there and signed just below it. In the cutest fucking handwriting he’d ever seen—cute not for any stylistic reason, but it simply felt that way just by virtue of it being yours—was written the digits and “-for book drop boy”

The noise he made reading that turned more than a dozen heads and almost got him fired there on the spot before any of his indiscretions were even discovered, but he couldn’t find it in himself to regret it.

So, nerve wrackingly, Jin texted you as he nearly sprinted home from his shift after that piece of shit asshole who made you cry had trudged angrily in and dropped off his ‘stolen’ book.

— HEY IT’S JIN!

— from the library

— shit sorry that wasn’t meant to be in caps

— n e way….

— I’ve intercepted the ~package~ so whenever you’re ready for the hand off, I’m good

Most perfect fucking human being to…

Oh my god thank you so much!!!—

Is tomorrow at like 5ish good for you?—

Also send me your order—

so we don’t have to do that awkward waiting in line for drinks bit—

Holy fuck you multi-texted too! Spinner would roll over in his fucking grave, he hated when Jin did that. But there was always so much to say and he could never think of it all at the same time. Plus, you wanted to save him from that god awful silence where you both stand in line next but he can’t talk cause he has keep repeating his order in his head over and over or he’ll blank when he gets to the register so it’s just this painful weird glancing back and forth—

Ugh, maybe all the shit about manifestation that girl who always loaned him exacto knives in his sculpting class always talked about was real.

Cause there was no way you weren’t just heaven-sent, handcrafted especially for him and all his general brand of weird.

The hours which usually flew by without Jin’s notice dragged all that night. He was so full of excess energy that made his hand shake and his thoughts race, not sure what to do with themselves now that they didn’t need to fantasize about you.

He decided to use all that extra motivation to vacuum the kitchen at 4:30 in the morning, much to his roommates' chagrin. She liked to get a nice solid eight hours every night and constantly reminded Jin of this, trying to sell him on that sleepy time tea before bed, though he really hated the smell of camomile.

Magne may lose out on some of her beauty sleep—not that she needed it and Jin would tell her that constantly, even if he did have some patently horrible judgment most of the time so he wasn’t really the best at offering reassurance—but the kitchen would be clean when she woke up so win-win really.

When she did wake up—wandering out of her room looking effortlessly put together in a way Jin could never hope to emulate—she sat at the table, sipping her tea and appraising him worriedly.

Jin was still in his jeans from the day before, hair spiking in every direction but down, and chewing his nails nervously despite losing most of them to the hour or two of early morning floor scrubbing.

“Babe,” she shook her head slowly, “take a breath.”

“Yeah okay,” he sighed and inhaled deeply, letting himself slide off the couch cushions and to the newly sparkling floors on the exhale.

“There, now wanna share what the hell is going on?”

He glanced up at her from the hardwood and groaned as she looked back down, brows furrowed over her glasses.

“Huhh, okay. So that absolute work of art from the library is meeting me for coffee later cause I have trade over this book I sort of stole, it’s a long story, and I don’t know if it’s a date—it sounds like a date, cause that’s where people go for dates and shit—but it might just be to pay me back for stealing the book. And if it is I’ve only ever been on that one date before which was with fucking Spinner like two years ago so—”

Magne held up a hand to quiet Jin before the speed of his words tied his tongue in physical knots. She looked contemplative, taking another soft sip of tea and nodding her head for a moment getting up to crouch on the floor by his head.

“You think too much for your own good, but never about the right things,” she mumbled, smoothing some of the hair from his face. “Does it really matter if this is a date or not?”

Jin blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” she chuckled in that way people do when kids ask them obvious questions—kindly, appreciative of the curiosity, “either way you cut it, you’ll be spending time with this person you like, yeah?”

“Mhm,” he hummed and sat up to face her as she stood.

“A date is just hanging out with a special name anyway,” Magne’s hands were firm but gentle as she hoisted Jin off the floor and onto his feet. “You’ll be fine.”

His shoulders slumped both in mild relief and dejection that he’d waisted so much precious time he could have been preparing possible topics of conversation or strategies to ask you out for real date on worrying over how this first time would go.

How did Magne always fucking know all this stuff?

Other people were such a mystery to him.

To be fair, though, Jin was a mystery to himself most of the time as well.

“Thanks, sorry for not saying anything about it earlier,” he sniffed as she smiled and pinched his cheek way fucking harder than necessary.

“It’s alright, I’m only a little insulted you waited until now to tell me about this massive crush you’ve developed.”

“Yeah it’s got its own gravitational pull at this point.”

Magne laughed at that and Jin felt the room lighten.

“I do expect details when you get back though,” she said pointedly, finishing her tea wandering back to her room to grab her bag. “Spinner asked me, very begrudgingly might I add, to fill in at another of his club tournament things tonight so I’ll be out late.”

“Really? I didn’t think you liked that stuff.”

Jin shuffled over to her doorway and peaked into the neat little space. Magne was rummaging through the meticulously organized closet and frowning as she answered.

“I do, Spinner just doesn’t agree with my battle strategies,” she huffed. “My alignment is far too ‘chaotic’ and ‘recklessly violent’ for his tastes apparently.”

“Oh, yeah that makes sense,” Jin laughed this time just envisioning the two of them stuck on a team. “Well have fun with that.”

“Yeah well,” she brushed by him into the hall, keys jangling as she went and calling over her shoulder. “Text me how it goes, and wear that new button up you got last week, it looks good on you!”

***

Much to Jin’s surprise and delight, Magne was right.

He was fine.

Fine was a bit subjective—as he was most certainly still highkey panicking on main as he got out of his last class and walked the short few blocks to the cafe on campus—but regardless he was perfectly okay.

Of course that all went right out the fucking window in the split second between him walking in and you already staring at the door as he entered. Your eyes widened just a bit and this smile broke out slowly across your cheeks when you waved him over and it was like suddenly every single creepy as hell day dream had just become reality.

It was a little overwhelming to say the least.

His heart may have actually stopped in his chest for a bit and he did contemplate the possibility that Kurogiri might have actually discovered his little plot, murdered him in cold blood and stuffed his body in the records room. This might all just be the afterlife, but that would mean that Jin had gone to some kind of heaven which didn’t really add up with his current tract record.

But it was fine.

Because you were really fucking easy to talk to.

Like, really fucking easy.

It was sorta strange actually, how you seemed to know all this shit he was into before he even really mentioned it.

After you traded off the goods, you both sat in the big comfy couches upstairs in the loft and you listened to him info dump, inevitably getting lost down innumerable unrelated tangents. You managed to keep up well enough though and not question the winding conversation.

“Damn,” he said, sipping at the last dregs left behind in his cup. “How do you know about all this stuff?”

“Uh,” you paused then, looking maybe just a bit sheepishly into your own drink. “I may or may not have spent a considerable amount of time eavesdropping into your conversations while you’re on shift.”

He saw flashes at that moment—dial up sounds going off between his ears.

Jin.exe has stopped working.

“...What?”

You grimaced and hid your face in your hands for a moment, “I know it sounds really creepy, my friends just sorta made a, um, game out of it? They tease me a lot about going to study at the library just cause of the cute guy that works there, so we all kinda stalk you a little bit just—wow this is sounding exponentially worse and worse every second.”

He gaped a bit despite himself as you cringed visibly and Jin tried to discreetly pinch his thigh to make sure this really wasn’t some sort of cruel, cruel fever dream.

“You think I’m cute…?”

He blinked once and your eyes shot up to meet his, a pained, half smile caught between your teeth. “I mean, yeah. I kinda thought I was being a bit obvious, sorry.”

“What no, holy fuck,” he spluttered, face on fire and legs bouncing restlessly against the couch across from you. “Don’t apologize, I have a, uh, staring habit too I guess.”

“I know,” you rubbed at the back of your neck and Jin didn’t think it was possible for you to be anymore endearing. “I’ve noticed, that’s like the whole reason I insisted on buying you a drink.”

“So wait is this a date?”

Jin wished almost immediately that he hadn’t asked, because Magne was right, it super didn’t matter but fucking shit on a stick he really wanted it to be a date!!!!

“Yeah,” you nodded. “If you’d like that.”

“Yes!—ah, I mean, uh yeah mhm,” Jin choked on his spit with enthusiasm, but it did earn him a concerned shoulder pat so he’d take the win.

It also afforded him the opportunity to walk you home after hours chatting until the streets were lit by burnt orange lamps and the cafe was closing. You didn’t live all that far from him actually and when you stopped to point out your door, the two of you were overcome by that telltale, charged silence.

Filled with potential.

Like a gas stove waiting for a spark to go up in flames.

It was you that struck the match.

“So, um, I promise I don’t just, uh, do this with everyone but, do you wanna maybe come inside,” you let your hand trail down his arm and slip into his palm, “I don’t feel like you’ve been properly compensated for saving my ass.”

Jin’s mouth was watering at the thought. He nodded slowly, eyes like saucers as you pulled him up your steps and through the door which shut promptly behind him.

Your place was nice in the sense that it fit you. He wasn’t really paying all that much attention to his surroundings as you locked the door and squeezed his hand in yours, leading him towards the end of the entrance hall.

When he stepped through to your bedroom, you toed off your shoes and he did the same, staring nervously and waiting for you to show him what exactly you meant by ‘further compensation.’

It was exactly what he’d hoped.

You approached him, still in the doorway, and stepped close so your chests brushed together. It was soft, the way you looked at him, sort of fuzzy around the edges while your hands trailed down his arms to place his palms at your waist.

It wasn’t like Jin hadn’t done this before—he totally had and definitely remembered all of it and wasn’t shit faced at all nope—but it hadn’t really mattered before. He knew in theory that he should take the lead, be a gentleman and make the first move and holy fucking god he was dying over there with the desire to finally live out his months and months of fantasies

But what if he did it wrong?

What if he ruined it now when he was so close to the finish line?

He’d never fucking forgive himself for it, and he could goddamn hear Magne in his head.

“You think too much for your own good.”

And he did, and he was right now, cause the room was only dimly lit by the street light streaming in through the window and you were reaching out to loop your arms behind his neck.

Should he lean down now?

Tilt left or right?

What if he clacked your teeth together?

What if—

Your lips were soft and hot against his, rubbing at the stubble on his chin before pressing close in that precious, puzzle-piece way human bodies fit together. He didn’t do much thinking after that.

His hands were too busy digging into the flesh of your hips separated by way to many fucking layers of fabric, and he couldn’t quite stop himself from indulging just a bit. Jin sucked gently at your lower lip, knees going weak at the glorious fucking sound you made in the back of your throat as he licked over the taught skin and tugged it between his teeth.

He could feel you smiling into his mouth, sharing breath and raking your fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. Jin groaned and you—fucking cheeky little bastard—slipped your tongue right past his lips and licked at the back of his fucking teeth like a popsicle in July.

Your hands in his hair hard tugged and his breath was coming faster, lips gliding against yours as the room turned to steam around him.

Through the haze he clung to the few remaining seconds of clarity.

Jin pulled away for one painful second to mumble against your lips.“You meant have sex, right?”

“Yeah,” your voice was barely more than a whisper, but you nodded frantically and rolled your hips against his.

“Ohh fuck, ‘kay good, thank god.”

For once Jin had nothing more to add.

And you weren't exactly willing to give him back his tongue long enough for any interruptions anyway.

***

“Holy fucking shit, look at you,” Jin gasped into your ear.

Both of your clothes had been discarded long ago, and he had your bare back to his chest while he sat propped against the headboard with your legs hooked on either side of his knees. It didn’t afford him the best view, but he got your head resting on his shoulder and pretty moans spilling right into his ear.

He didn’t need to see your pussy anyway.

The slick pouring out of your pretty fucking hole and coating his fingers as he pumped two of them into you was more than enough. His other hand wandered in the lovely expanse of space between your chest and your waist, running softly over the skin and pausing to pinch and roll your nipples just to hear you whine.

His cock was so fucking hard, trapped between your ass and his stomach, twitching every time you thrust your hips to meet the movement of his wrist.

“Jin, fuck please-”

You used his name every time you begged him for more and it was really going to his head.

“You’re so goddamn perfect, I’m gonna fucking ruin you,” he groaned and sunk his fingers deeper into your soaking cunt while his mouth dropped to your neck and sucked hard to mark you lovely skin.

He licked at the indents of his teeth, tasting your sweat on his tongue that tangled with yours again as your hand reached for his cheek and pulled him in. It was less of a kiss and more of a sloppy forming of your mouths that left you connected by a silvery string of spit that flashed in the low light. Jin sighed at the sight, rutting his hips against the cleft of your ass.

Your thighs twitched where they were spread and your hips lifted off the mattress to meet the languid thrusts of his fingers that curled up on every push in to hear the hitch in your breath.

He took pity on you and brought his other hand down to rub circles on your clit, listening for the telltale whimpers and the way your nails dug into his arm to find the perfect rhythm.

“I don’t really—mm, there fuck—feel like I’m paying you back right now,” you mumbled nipping your own trail of stepping stone bruises onto his throat as he picked up the pace and held steady on that sweet bundle of nerves.

“Are you fucking serious?”

He didn’t really mean to full on growl at you then, but just the thought that you’d really believe he wasn’t about to fucking drown in ecstasy just from watching you get off—just from touching, speaking, being in anyway acknowledged by you at all. Jin nudged your head to the side and bit down harshly into the crook of your neck, shuddering as you moaned and arched against his chest.

In any other scenario, he could never really find the right balance between too many words and not enough. The sheer volume of thoughts and interjections that raced like cars reaching the end of rush hour traffic made the formulation of any coherent conversation impossible, but now—

Now with your body so pliant in his hands, so willing and sweet and wanting him.

Wanting him.

What a concept.

He needed you to understand, to know how fucking over the moon, sunshine bright you had him burning.

And for once, he finally had the words to do it.

After all, he’d had months to prepare.

It was surprisingly easy to change your positions, to pull away from you for just a moment so he could roll and cage you on your hands and knees under him, ass in the air nestled against his cock.

“You really don’t think I’m getting anything out of this?” he groaned into you ear, rocking his length against you both for emphasis and because it felt so fucking good.

“Ah, well ya know,” your voice was so wrecked he was desperate to find out how much it would take for you to lose it entirely. “When you put it like that—mmh—I just feel bad you’re doing all the work. ”

You had this cheeky fucking grin on your face when you rocked forward so back so his cock slipped down to your dripping lips. The heat of your cunt was mesmerizing and it took a fuck ton of self control Jin was unaware he possessed to not ram straight into you right then.

“Yeah cause I’ve wanted to for fucking months goddamn it’s driving me insane.”

“What?”

Now that he’d started, Jin couldn’t find it in himself to stop. His hands dug hard into your hips, rocking so the tip of his dick caught your clit and you shivered below him, hot skin sliding with the motion of your bodies.

“It’s all I think about whenever I see you,” he was shaking when his hand reached down to grip himself, spreading your folds and soaking his length in your slick. “When you come in to work I just fucking lose myself thinking about how bad I want you to be mine, my pretty fucking thing to bring me coffee while I work and let me fuck you in the backroom.”

You whimpered under him, face pressed into the mattress as he draped himself over you, chest to back with his breath ghosting over your ear.

“Literal hours I just sit there at that awful fucking job and I only keep coming cause of you, cause I can watch you sit all cute in your chair and watch the way your cheeks squish up when you put your face in your hands and imagine they’re my hands and I’m about to spit in your fucking mouth so you remember who you belong too.”

“I—” you were nearly choking on the drool that soaked through your sheets as Jin lined himself up with your pretty little hole, pressing just the tip into your heat. “I didn’t think you ever—nggh, shit—noticed much about me.”

The corners of his eyes burned as sweat dripped down his forehead, he had to hold back a sob as he sheathed another inch into those perfect walls.

“Notice you? You’re all I fucking think about,” he pressed his lips softly against your shoulder, hands running from your chest to your sides as you took his cock and every word that slipped from his lips without complaint. “I could take such good care of you. I just fucking know it, just please, let me take care of you?”

“Fuck Jin,” your voice was closer to a sob than anything else but he needs you screaming. “You don’t really have to convince me—”

His patience had run out long ago, not even willing to let you finish before he’d sunk in to the hilt, spearing you on his cock with one final thrust. You ass was flush with his hips and his balls hung heavy and tight against the back of your thighs. The strangled little cry that worked its way out of your throat had gooseflesh erupting across his arms where he held you to him.

Jin couldn’t really be sure—it wasn’t like his brain was all that functional on a day to day basis and it most certainly was not now—but your walls clenching around him and that addictive warm, wet feeling milking his cock was on a whole other level than any fuck he’d ever had before.

There was something about the curve of your back against his chest, and the way you seemed to suck him in, drawing his length back in just seconds after he’d pulled out. Some about the feeling of your chest in his hands, of the sweat on your skin that he licked off in a long strip up your spine. Like you really were made for him. As though all those months spent in dream land, concocting your pretend lives together had spilled over into reality, molding you into the perfect shape to take him deep and hard and cry while you came on his cock just like he knew you were meant to.

“Oh, fuck yeah, gonna make you feel so good, I promise,” he mumbled, forehead pressed to the nape of your neck as his hips drew back and he sunk into you over and over again.

He needed you to moan louder, needed your neighbors on the other side of every wall to hear what he did to you, how he fucked you dumb on his cock and made you drunk with the pleasure of it—slutty and perfect and better than any fantasy he could ever concoct.

The room was filled completely with the wet slap of your bodies—his balls tightening up just at the squelch of you taking him—leaving only enough space for your cries and his grunting, no room left for any bitter doubt to creep in and ruin the sweetness in the air.

He could feel the surge growing in his stomach, the tensing in his thighs as his hips stuttered, but he needed you to cum first. Wanted to tip over the edge to the feeling of you spasming around him, so he let a hand slip from your hip to your folds. Jin only paused for a moment to run a finger around your stretched hole, feeling himself plunging into you, before drifting back up to your swollen clit and working the sensitive bud.

The mattress creaked and rocked along as Jin increased his pace, shifting his hips until his tip knocked against something that had your hands fisting in the sheets and your tongue lolling out in between cries of his name.

You didn’t give him much a warning, not that he minded really. Just a muffled shout with your head smashed into the pillows and the tightening of your walls surrounding him before he felt your whole body wracked with tremors so hard he had to wrap both arms around your middle and hold you while he rammed into you.

Jin wasn’t really keeping track of the filth that was pouring from his lips as he brought himself closer to release. A lot of encouragement, that you were taking him so well, cumming so pretty for him, mixed with a lot of thanks—for letting him have this, have you, for not casting him aside like everyone else always inevitably did.

He did have the clarity to drag one arm up and link your fingers together, pressing hard into the bed while blood pounded in his ears and his hips stuttered in their relentless rhythm. When Jin did finally cum, it was a strangely silent affair, all the words and sound that usually roared inside him dying on his lips as his cock spilled milky release deep inside you and your walls fluttered at the fullness.

And then it was as though every muscle in his body changed physical states.

Boneless, he collapsed onto you with a little huff. You didn’t even complain, just squeezed his hand tighter in yours and hummed at the weight of him.

“Well I think that was a, um,” you panted while he nuzzled his face deeper into your neck, “pretty equivalent exchange yeah?”

“I don’t know,” Jin kissed and nipped at the sweet skin of your shoulder, “I think you might have over paid a bit.”

You laughed, the joyous movement of your chest jostled him from your back and had his soft cock slipping from you in a gush of combined release. “I doubt that very much, I didn’t know I’d be getting to take your fucking load as part of the deal.”

“Shit,” he felt his heart seize in his chest, raising up on his elbows to look down as you turned to him. “I’m sorry, I should have asked.”

Your hand came up to stroke his cheek, clammy but welcome. He sat up enough so you could lay on your back and pull him back down to your chest amidst the sweat and cum slicked sheets.

“Don’t worry about it, I would have asked you to anyway,” you kissed the baby frizz at his hairline and if Jin hadn’t already melted into a puddle, then he certainly was now. “If I’d been able to talk at all.”

“Ha, yeah….”

A short silence descended in your dark bedroom. The noise of cars and the occasional shout filtered in through the window, but there was no other sound than your evening breaths. Jin tried not to ruin the peace while he had it.

It was such a rare commodity.

But he couldn’t say he mourned the quiet when you finally spoke.

“Did you wanna stay the night?” you asked in that soft way he always envisioned you would.

Soft so he’d know it was just a courtesy.

That you didn’t want him to leave.

“Uh, yeah, yes I would,” he stumbled over the words a bit, trying not to sound too eager but wanting you to know he would work a thousands shifts at the reception desk if it meant you held him for just a second longer.

“Good,” you sighed.

He felt you scoot down the bed and flopped onto his back so you could settle your head on his chest and drape an arm across his stomach. After another few minutes he felt you go limp at his side, soft and relaxed as you slipped away into dreams.

But though his muscles ached and his eyes felt heavy, Jin resisted the call to sleep.

He didn’t need to now.

You were here, in the flesh, and he could study you intently while his eyes were open.

No need for his brain to conjure up scattered images of you.

Because he had you now, tucked safely under his arm for him to keep and hold and fuck and love the way he wanted.

So there was no more need for sleep.

And no need for dreams.

#twice x reader #twice x you #jin bubaigawara x reader #bee writes #bnha fanfiction #college au #library!twice x student!reader #twice mha #bee.writes

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vicious-vixxxen · 4 years ago

Note

Could I request older, pro-hero Deku with a chubby male s/o who gets ridiculed because people don't think someone of his size is good enough for the Number One hero

((Ah I may have gotten a little too deep with this one, so apologies nonnie in advance for the angst. Topics like this relate a lot to me personally. So here ya go.))

Izuku Midoriya x Chubby!Male!Reader

“That’s...such /bullshit/,” You huffed, fist clenched into the folds of the magazine, before flicking it across the kitchen with a huff- tears already stinging at the corner of your eyes as it landed split open- your face plastered over the centerfold article. ‘Is #1 Pro Hero Deku’s Husband /TOO/ big?’ The article practically shouted up at you- big, bold red letters smeared over your face, hiding the smile you’d had that night. You’d managed to secure a spot at one of Izuku’s favorite restaurants- mostly by promising the owner you’d be in and out of there within half an hour- he wasn’t the type to fawn too heavily over Pro Hero work, so ‘Deku’ being your husband didn’t hold much weight with him. But you’d been excellent patrons of his since they’d opened, in your second year of high school together. So you managed with what seniority you held. And seeing as how Izuku had only been able to snag thirty minutes between patrols, it was the perfect opportunity to scarf down a quick bite, and chat in- what you thought had been- the privacy of one of the uppermost floors of the establishment. But of course, sleazy as they were, the paparazzi had found a way to catch the both of you eating. A little too fast, a little too messily, just to be able to enjoy the atmosphere together, and have ample room to chat with one another before Izuku had to get back to his patrols. Which was fine, for Pro Hero Deku- six foot seven inches tall, two hundred and ten pounds of pure, lean machine muscle. The epitome of health and wellness, and what it meant to be strong. Able. And then there was you. A little too soft around the sides, cheeks /too/ plump/. Stomach /too/ pudgy. Thighs /too/ thick. God, you looked like a pig, food smeared on your chin, a bowl between you and your husband. ‘I guess we know where his priorities really lie’ the magazine quoted, from some random asshole on the street no doubt. Jesus Christ. “Bunch of fucking assholes.” You were angry. Of course you were angry. Fists held over your eyes to keep the tears at bay. But you were sad too. So, so fucking sad that this shit kept happening. Izuku’s management tried and failed countless times to keep shit like this from spreading. But people loved a good slam piece, as much as they adored seeing Deku’s latest accomplishments splashed across every newspaper, and TV report. Sick fucks. Whatever. Water under the bridge, you told yourself. Throat feeling tight, eyes burning with unshed tears, as you took a few deep breaths, and headed back towards your bedroom. Turning out lights in the house as you went, before stripping and crawling into bed. Thoughts running a mile a minute, as you stared up at the ceiling in silence. The only real noise the quiet sound of a car or two passing the house every now and again. You couldn’t help the way your open palms slid against your chest. Pressing, and kneading at the soft, pillowy flesh of your sides, and stomach. Grimacing at yourself, you recalled how fit you used to be during your high school days. What a dynamic you and Izuku had. Fresh on the scene after high school, no one could compare to the two of you. Kiri and Katsuki came close, but never quite managed the spark you and Izuku had. Professionally speaking. But Izuku just kept climbing higher, and higher- your quirk was good, but limited in its capabilities, which meant a halt in your hero placement a year or two after graduation. But you did what you could. You helped people because you wanted to help people, ratings be damned. But the harder Izuku worked, the more help he needed managing the world that came with climbing to number one. So you patrolled less and less, in favor of working with his design team on costume upgrades. Merchandise. Izuku trusting you and Inko to work directly with his management team, as he knew you all shared a hive mind of sorts when it came to design, and marketing. Pro Hero life for Deku was saving people. Kissing babies, and countless interviews. It was grueling, and tiresome, and he needed a team behind him to take care of everything else. So that’s what you did. Long hours spent at home alone, working through the night on various Deku projects. Meant less patrols, less gym time. You had no need for those things when you were kept busy with Izuku’s team, and you did good work! Fuck, you did great work, and Izuku praised you nonstop. Sure you’d gained a little weight at first, but it looked good on you. At least you thought so. And so did Izuku, if the way he drooled all over the expanse of your thighs the first time you’d gotten a night alone in nearly a month was any indication. But as time progressed, you cared a little less about your appearance each day. You took care of yourself, and you were far from unhealthy. But there was no denying you had filled out substantially. You didn’t care, and Izuku didn’t seem to care either...but the media sure did. Closing your eyes suddenly, you took a deep breath. Holding it in for several seconds, before letting it out shakily. Tears finally falling as you did so, and you rolled over to snuggle into Izuku’s side of the bed- face smushed into the other man’s pillow, to breath in the soft scent of his cologne. His musk. Drifting off to sleep sniffling, dreaming of the glory days the two of you held together. Izuku hadn’t planned on coming home tonight at all, it wasn’t in his schedule to. But when he’d taken five to break for a snack, he’d ran into Kirishima at the agency. Chatting quickly, recalling rather suddenly that it had been several days since he’d seen Y/N. Scratching at the nape of his neck awkwardly, hunched over slightly muttering excuses to himself. He may have been big, and strong, but to his friends, Midoriya still held fast to those traits that made him who he was. Even back at UA. One call to Bakugou from Kirishima later, and the two of them were taking Deku’s shift, sending him hurrying home- a smile as bright as the sun on his face as he charged up, and bolted from the agency as fast as he could. Fingers crossed that you weren’t asleep yet. His dreams were dashed, but not unpleasantly so, when he landed outside however, and found all the lights in the house were off. It was late, and he appreciated you getting your rest. Knowing all too well how often you’d stay awake working on things for him. Izuku’s heart overflowed with love for you when he recalled all you did for him. For the both of you. He couldn’t imagine being as cemented in the top spot, as capable of doing what he did, without you there. You and his mother were his whole world, keeping him afloat at even the hardest of times. He...he was nothing, without you. So knowing you were in bed, getting your rest, made him smile. A smile that was soon replaced with a recoiled snarl as he entered the house- beelining to the kitchen for a glass of water, wherein he found the magazine spread out, as though left for him on the kitchen floor. Another one. Another article attacking you. Shaming you. Making fun of you. The kitchen was alight with green sparks as Izuku picked up the magazine, sneering at it when it came clearly into focus, before promptly stomping over and throwing it into the trash. Chest heaving as he sat with the knowledge that you’d probably been worrying over this again all evening. While he was out. Combing the city for villains, while you were here, dealing with...god. Hero suit boots already at the front door, Deku removed his socks as he made his way back to your bedroom quietly- leaving them in the hall- a nasty habit of his he’d never been able to break. Letting himself into your room, his heart breaking at the site before him. He wasn’t sure how long you’d been crying, but it was long enough to leave the salty, humid scent of tears in the air as he entered. And there you were, huddled up with his pillows, breathing softly- face smeared with tears, their tracks glinting back at Izuku as he rounded the bed, and just stood there. Feeling so powerless. Too big. Normally he’d clean up first, but being sure he couldn’t wait one more second, let alone the twenty minutes it would take to shower, Midoriya acted quickly. Removing his Hero suit silently, left in nothing but a pair of fitted boxer briefs- before sliding into bed next to you. Pulling his pillow gently from your grasp, to settle behind his own head, before gathering you up and into his arms. Shifting you almost entirely onto his front, before you stirred. Izuku’s stopped breathing when your eyes fluttered open, and your nose wrinkled- wanting to smile as you noticed the heat beneath you, the strong scent of Izuku’s skin filling your senses. Glancing up at him, your sleep idled mind offered only one clear thought. ‘He’s home’. Try as you might, however, the pressure from earlier in the evening boiled over again- mixing with the overwhelming sense of love you felt at being able to see him. Feel him. Smell him. Just /be/ with him. Everything was still, and quiet, a pin drop could be heard. Until you hiccupped, once, twice, before choking on a sob as you pressed your face flush against Izuku’s chest, and cried. You cried, and cried, and cried. Trying to recall the last time you’d seen him, your sleep clouded mind coming up blank. All you could see was that stupid fucking picture in the magazine. Izuku held firm to you as you cried, eyes shut tight, tears threatening to spill right alongside yours. Old habits die hard, he thought idly. He didn’t shush you, or try and quiet you down. Offer words of encouragement, nor did he berate the magazines, or spew on about how much hell he was going to put them through for this. He simply held you, stroked your back, and kissed the top of your head over and over, as you covered his chest in tears. Finally settling down after a few minutes, and simply breathing together. Your ears pressed against Deku’s wet chest, listening to your husband's heartbeat. Allowing it to calm you. Arms finding their way under Izuku’s body, holding each other now. Tight, almost too much. But neither of you complained. “I love you,” Izuku finally whispered, though it was so full of sentiment- of meaning, almost harshly so, it caught you off guard. “I love you more than the world will ever know, or understand, and I’d drop off the face of the planet tomorrow, and leave them to fend for themselves, if it meant proving to you how wonderfully, beautifully, exquisitely perfect you are to me.” Fucking…”I wanted to /stop/ crying, you fucking jerk,” You laughed wetly, fresh tears spilling down your cheeks as you lifted a hand to swat at the side of Deku’s head- both of you snickering wetly now, as you began to card your fingers through his hair with the same hand. Snuggling impossibly deeper into the man’s chest, as his words rang in your ears. He meant it too, the voice in your head whispered. Your chest tight as you imagined him giving up all he’d ever worked for, just so you’d understand. You never held any doubt that he loved you. As you were, as you had been- however you’d be tomorrow, or the day after. But you struggled a lot, internally. You always had. It would be a struggle you’d live with till the day you died, you were sure of it. But even so, you reasoned, then and there, that if even then, you knew how deeply, and unequivocally Izuku cared for you- loved you. That thing’s would always be okay. No matter what. “I love you too,” you sighed back finally, clearing your throat, and closing your eyes as you felt yourself quickly drifting again. “So so much, ‘zuku.” Peppering Deku’s chest with kisses till you fell asleep, Izuku was sure if his heart swelled any more, it would burst. Waiting till you had fallen back asleep fully, he rolled the two of you over. Caging you into the mattress beneath him, and falling asleep that way. Guarding you even as the two of you slept. Keeping you safe from everyone, and everything. Midoriya’s only other thought, besides you, before he slipped into unconsciousness, was to call into the agency the next day, because he wasn’t going to going in for a while. ((Really enjoyed writing this one, got me in my feels, and made me feel all warm, imagining Deku holding me at the end of a long day, when I could care less about feeling good about myself. Thanks for the opportunity nonnie, hope you enjoy.))

#mha x male reader #mha x reader #bnha x male reader #bnha x reader #izuku midoriya x male reader #izuku midoriya x reader #deku x male reader #deku x reader

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itsclydebitches · 4 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Witch”

Happy Saturday, everyone! Well, it's perhaps happier provided you didn't watch today’s episode lol. Getting through these 18 minutes felt like watching an extended version of a CinemaSins vid. I heard a little 'ding!' every time something nonsensical, contradictory, or just downright stupid happened. My mind became a pinball machine.

Which, in the interest of being fair as opposed to just snarky, only matters if you're looking for something resembling emotional depth in this show. RWBY, for all its faults, is enjoyable as a mindless spectacle. It's when you expect — or simply hope — for anything more that this very fragile house of cards comes tumbling down.

If it’s not clear already, today’s recap contains copious amounts of salt. Fair warning.

With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s dive in. Episode nine is titled "Witch," which is fitting since many members of our group go toe-to-toe against Salem herself. The narrative issues inherent in having your heroes fighting their final boss years before the series is meant to end might have been avoided if it weren't for Oscar's ridiculous, sacrificial attack... but we'll get to that.

We open with a sweeping shot of the Atlas battle, as hundreds of dead soldiers segue into endless grimm. Hold onto that image for a bit. At the end of this carnage is, of course, the mouth of the whale. We cut to Jaune, Ren, and Yang already safely inside.

"Well," says Yang, "that was harrowing."

I'm on the fence about this choice. On the one hand, yes, it's good that RWBY knows it can skip over extraneous scenes. We have NINE characters to keep track of and develop, fourteen if you count Ozpin, Maria, Winter, Ironwood, and now Whitley. Plus villains. There simply isn't time to show every insignificant moment... but was this insignificant? Obviously finding Oscar and escaping Salem's clutches is the true hurdle of this mission, but that doesn't mean getting through an entire army of grimm is in any way a cake walk. I'd be more willing to ignore this time skip if it weren't likewise presented as such a challenge for Winter's team. They have to "clear a path" to the whale, but our trio got there unscathed and unnoticed? The obvious implication here is that Ren just masked them the whole way — supported by his aura breaking later in the episode — but it still feels like we missed an important chunk of this task.

I'm nit-picking though. As said, I’m straddling the fence on this one and, given that, I'm inclined to settle on a, "Good job, RWBY. You're keeping the writing tight," if only because I don't have much else to praise about this episode. Throw the poor, struggling show a bone lol.

Now that they're inside, they realize they haven't the slightest idea how they'll find Oscar. “Like finding a needle in a giant…whale… why did we think this was a good idea?!” Because you and your friends are idiots who no longer bother to think about a situation before throwing yourself straight into it? This isn't me being mean to Yang, she literally says as much later on. Our heroes no longer get by on intellect, strategy, and skill, but rather plot armor and a staggering number of coincidences. For example, Ren.

Yang: Wow, it sure is lucky for us that on our way to this incredibly dangerous mission Ren inexplicably developed a new part of his semblance. Now he can not only mask peoples' emotions, see the true emotions that someone is feeling, pull thoughts out of their head about what they believe about a situation, but can also track someone across long distances through their emotions alone. Even that doesn't actually help us find Oscar, we just got lucky again when, in this maze of a whale, he ran right into us!

Me: So what were you going to do if this meta-world stopped giving you the most contrived solutions in Remnant history?

Yang: Die gloriously, I guess.

What Yang actually says is, "Okay. That's new!" and they enter the literal belly of the beast wielding a shield of convenience.

Jaune is also being awkward again because remember, RWBY doesn't know when to incorporate humor and when to treat a situation seriously. He reminds Ren not to "drain [himself]," he'll help him, and it's clear the scene is hinting at their earlier fight. There's a lot to unpack there, but I want to save it for the second conversation.

For now, we cut to Oscar, curled up in his cell, repeating stories to comfort himself. Yeah that's fine. I could use a broken heart right before Valentine's Day.

“She brushed off her bumps and bruises, for nothing hurt worse than the loneliness in her chest." It's a line from The Girl Who Fell Through the World, which Ozpin recognizes given that he's "lived through" a fair number of fairy tales. He immediately asks how Oscar is holding up — because he's a caring person! — and Oscar admits that he never understood why the girl of the tale was sad upon reaching home again. Now he does: she wasn't the same person anymore. I don't think the fact that Oscar has had both a metaphorical fall — leaving his farm to 'fall' into this war — and a literal one — falling through Atlas to unlock his magic — is lost on anyone. This is a nice allusion to our themes. Yang's speech to Salem later on? That’s something else entirely.

Storytelling done, Ozpin says he thinks "this plan to divide might have run its course” and it's time to try and find a way to leave. I'm sorry, I love my farm boy, but what plan? He didn't do anything. At least nothing that could remotely be termed an intellectual plot. Oscar convinced Ozpin to try and turn Hazel by telling him the world would end under Salem's rule and the only reason that worked is because the story decided to chuck out Hazel's entire character. You know, the one that hates Ozpin above all others, wants the world remade into a non-Academy horror show, can't understand that people make their own choices, is terrified of Salem, and has no reason to trust a prisoner he's currently torturing. Oscar's "plan" hinged on his writers erasing a great deal of work to build a new story that fits said “plan.” He didn't even get Emerald involved, she just — again, conveniently — eavesdropped outside their door at just the right moment.

To be clear, I'm not against a story being written to work in the hero's favor. Of course things are going to be convenient in a happy-ending tale. Someone manages to hold out just as long as they need to, a sword is lying just within reach, you, yes, happen to run into the one person you're desperate to find. This kind of stuff is reassuring, telling its audiences that sometimes things do work out for the best. It's enjoyable... but only provided the hero's entire success doesn't hinge on fate being shockingly kind to them. That's what RWBY has become. A world where Salem doesn't attack Mantle, Amity Tower is suddenly finished, the group can charge into any deadly situation they want to and bank on destiny twisting around itself to ensure they come out of it safely. A hero finding a convenient weapon nearby to defeat their enemy with is only reassuring after we've seen them implement a brilliant attack, struggle, nearly win, but then suddenly be faced with failure, necessitating that little push from coincidence. They earned it. The hero doesn't get to run in blindly and find a Defeat Bad Guy plot point gift wrapped for them at the first sign of trouble. They just die.

RWBY used to be a better written show because that's precisely Pyrrha's story. She charged a Maiden unprepared, without a single plan or hope for success, and she died. That's what happens in a dangerous, internally consistent world, but RWBY has since lost the second half of that formula.

I'm harping on this because this entire episode is built on that foundation of coincidence, something that shouldn't be happening at all, but especially not when you're pitting the heroes against Salem herself.

So yeah, it just gets worse from here.

Back to Oscar. Without the cane magic is the only weapon they have at their disposal, but he's reluctant to use it because every time he does, they merge more quickly.

They... do?

Okay, there are three major problems with this announcement:

I'm pretty sure we've only seen Oscar use magic once: creating that barrier to survive the fall through Atlas. That was the point of his near death experience, to unlock something that had previously been unavailable to him. Yet if he's only used it once, why is he so sure that it hurries the merge along? What's this "every time" business? This confusion could have easily been avoided if the show had just let Oscar use his magic this volume, tackling some other questions and gaps in the process. Let him use it to fight off the grimm in Mantle, giving him the opportunity to admit to at least Jaune, Ren, and Yang that Ozpin is back. He could have used some magic against the Hound with Ozpin's encouragement, answering the question of why he was entirely silent while the two of them got their ass beat. Give us a moment where Oscar uses his magic against Hazel, nearly escaping in the process, but is captured again at the last moment. Basically, his line makes it sound like magic has been this ongoing resource with an established downside when... it hasn’t.

Coinciding with all of the above, how is it that Oscar can suddenly use magic at will? Yeah, yeah, he unlocked it during the fall, but really? You open up the magic gates and from then on out it's as natural as breathing? This is the same issue with Ruby's silver eyes. The story gives these characters incredible powers, but never has them talking about how they work, let alone training them. They just exist, perfect in execution, as soon as the plot needs them. (See: the final shot of this episode.) At least Weiss had to practice her summoning for multiple volumes.

Finally, the question of how Oscar instinctively knows how to use magic could easily be answered with, "Well, he's kind of Ozpin now," but that would require the story to actually explain what the merge is. "We merge faster," Oscar says, but what does that mean? The Ozpin and Oscar we see in this scene are fundamentally indistinguishable from the Ozpin and Oscar who existed at his aunt's house, four whole years ago. They're still separate people, with one controlling the body and the other existing as a consciousness he can talk to. Nothing has changed. The show keeps insisting that Oscar is going through this deep and painful arc of losing himself to Ozpin... despite the fact that he has yet to lose a single bit of Oscar-ness. Has he changed? Well of course, but anyone going through these experiences is going to change. Remove the "merge" aspect and Oscar's confidence or power up is likewise indistinguishable from any of the other characters' developments. Nora is becoming more of an individual this volume. Ren is becoming more powerful in his semblance. Neither have an Ozpin to force that change, it just happens on its own. So what separates Oscar from every other character going through a formative experience? When is “I’m not the same person anymore” due to unnatural magic vs. just growing up?

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy our boy is getting more screen time — and that the cast is actually being kind to him now — but overall his arc is objectively terrible. He bought some clothes, told Ironwood he was as bad as Salem, told Hazel how to access the Relic, and then asked him not to be a villain anymore. Somehow these things are presented as significant moments of growth while the real questions surrounding his merge go unanswered.

“Honestly, I think you’re doing just fine on your own," Ozpin tells him, but he's not. God knows our boy is trying, but this is a moment where Ozpin's self-hatred (and the story's insistence that the younger generation is intrinsically better than the older) is blinding him to the situation. Oscar has made terrible decisions lately, in as much as he's been able to decide anything at all, and now he's rejecting escaping captivity because he's terrified of a concept he doesn't even understand yet. None of that is fine. Reassurance is one thing, but painting this situation as Oscar making better choices than he would with Ozpin's input is insane. He literally just decided to keep them in Salem's clutches indefinitely because something something magic is scary, I guess. Oscar doesn't need a, 'You're better than me' speech, he needs a reality check so they don't both die. Remember back in Volume 5 when Oscar, a brave but idiotic 14 year old, insisted on fighting someone entirely out of his league and Ozpin was like,

then saved him from getting his head crushed in like a cantaloupe? We need more of that. Our teenage heroes need guidance, but because RWBY keeps insisting that every adult they encounter is corrupt or incompetent, that hasn't happened in three volumes. They're just aloud to decide things like, “Let's tell our captor the Relic's password because UwU ~trust~” and then the story bends over backwards to make that work. Instead we could, you know, let characters learn that they can be wrong.

The snow scene was the beginning, but RWBY really went off the rails the day it let Qrow warn the group against stealing from and attacking an allied city, only for them to call him an idiot for doubting them. Now, Ozpin doesn't even get to warn Oscar about stupid decisions, he just agrees with them, reassuring and passive. Never mind the complication of whether Ozpin is even emotionally capable of providing guidance after they labeled him the worst thing to ever happen to them.

Why does RWBY keep ruining my faves 😔

Anyway, we’ve got to stay on track. Oscar has decided to just lie there but, luckily for him, Hazel's redemption — I use that term so loosely — has begun. He drags Oscar out of his cell before we cut to Winter.

She's leading a portion of Ironwood's army, trying to get things ready for when the bomb arrives. Neon and Flynt are a part of her team, sharing scared glances and trying to remain optimistic. It's a legitimately hard-hitting moment, striking that balance between horror and hope. Funny though, I wonder that RWBYJNOR would think of their friends fighting for evil Ironwood...

Marrow, continuing the tradition of insisting that our heroes be both adults and kids simultaneously, looks sadly at the soldiers heading into battle and goes, "But... they're just kids." I would like to remind everyone reading that Ruby is younger than them. Anyone who thinks that these teenagers shouldn't be fighting grimm — the thing they have been training to do as their professional career, during an unprecedented attack on their home — should not simultaneously be looking to the girl who is two years younger as his savior. (Something that, while not overt yet, is very much where Marrow is heading as he continually doubts the Ace Ops and looks to RWBY's group as his new, moral leaders.) I'm glad that, for once, this perspective is firmly called out. Elm arrives to tell him point blank that he needs to figure out his personal ethics later. It doesn't matter because there's an army of grimm out there and monsters aren't going to spare anyone, adult or child. Quit philosophizing and kill some already.

Back to Hazel where we get the doorway shot from our trailer. He's taken Oscar to the Relic, because of course he has. Do I really need to list how convenient this is too? Apparently, "the moment we move that thing, this place goes on high alert," but there’s no alarm for when Oscar is taken from his cell, they enter the Relic's room, or when they use it. What does a movement alert matter if someone can just waltz in and waste the last question themselves? Put some of those endless grimm in the room to guard it, Salem!

Just assume that I am, at any given point in this episode, letting out the longest sigh my lungs are physically capable of.

Emerald shows up, demonstrating both the convenience of everyone arriving when they need to, and the very real danger that Salem herself could come in and discover what they're up to. Hazel has Oscar summon Jinn, only to immediately say that “Actually, I think all my questions are answered now.”

I'm sorry, how does this answer any of Hazel's questions? His driving question was not, "Is the Relic actually a magical object capable of doing magical things?" but rather "Are you telling me the truth about Salem's plans to summon the Gods and destroy all of Remnant in her quest to finally die, thereby changing who I'm going to support in this war?" Seeing a naked, blue djinn does not answer that question.

Hazel's "redemption" is non-existent. He — we — learned about Salem's death wish despite how that contradicts previous lore, then he trusted Ozpin despite that contradicting his entire character, now he joins the heroes because, literally, he sees Jinn floating there. It’s bad enough that Hazel goes from clear villain to sacrificial hero in a matter of in-world hours, but we don’t even get a reason for why that change occurred.

Oh, there's also this:

So Jinn doesn't come out of her lamp unless someone intends to ask a question, but does it for Ruby because she's special, yet still reiterates that this won't happen again. Then Oscar summons her without intending to ask a question, she comes out anyway, confirms that none of them seek knowledge from her, and happily pops back inside her lamp because eh, it’s whatever.

If RWBY had any courage the three of them would be cursed now for toying with a powerful, magical object. Remember the days when Jinn was a little terrifying because it felt like she was warping her answers and we had no idea what she might do to someone who used her carelessly? When she felt like a djinn? Good times.

Or better times, at least.

So Good Guy Hazel and Good Gal Emerald promise to get Oscar out. Never mind all the horror they caused, the people they killed, and that for Hazel, at least, this defection is coming out of nowhere.

Anyone remember that Emerald orchestrated Penny's death? No? Just me?

As they leave it turns out Neo was camouflaged against the wall, because she was also precisely where she needed to be. Does everyone just periodically pop into the Relic room to see what’s going on? At least this time it's not working in the heroes' favor. Remember when I said it's beyond idiotic for Oscar to just hand out the Relic information to known enemies currently holding him captive and torturing him?

Yeeeeaah.

So Neo's got the Lamp. Funny how all of this could have been avoided if Ruby had just put it in the vault like she came to Atlas to do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We return to our trio where Jaune and Ren need to rest because their aura is giving out. Good! These guys fought a battle, fought Neo, fought more grimm, fought the Hound, traipsed through the tundra, presumably fought through more grimm to get to the whale, and have been using both their semblances to look for Oscar. It's about time their reserves started to falter.

Jaune decides to scout ahead a bit, leaving Yang and Ren to talk about nothing of importance. I mean that seriously. Remember a few days ago when I spoke about how, if the snow conversation does come back up, Ren's points would be entirely ignored for a nonsensical “I’m glad we’re friends” speech? Remember how I also spoke about how every emotional beat now is entirely generic and you could replace any character with another and not a single thing would change? Yeah. This is both those arguments in one. Nothing is said about the points Ren made. His problems with how the group has been acting lately and the very real, very deadly consequences it has had are flat out ignored. We went from

"But these aren't the kinds of decisions we should be making because we have no idea what we're doing!"

"Forward, no matter what!"

in a matter of hours, with precisely zero insight into how Ren went from one perspective to the exact opposite. Kind of like Hazel. Because see, RWBY doesn't write arcs, it just writes one thing until it decides to switch it up for something else, with the opposite idea presented as a “resolution” or a “twist.” Our creators writes scenes they know the fandom is begging for without considering how to get a character to that place, let alone how to get them out of it. That's all Ren's speech was, the equivalent of moral fan service. Here's a glimpse of actual character depth and a morally gray situation... now forget it ever happened because we're back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Instead of working through the laundry list of issues Ren raised, Ren instead accepts Jaune's aura help — something they've been doing since Argus — and tells Yang it's okay to be scared. These moments are meaningless and, as said, could have been between anyone in our cast. Ren could have told Nora she doesn't have to use jokes to cover up that she's scared. Jaune could have reminded Ruby that she can depend on him. Yang could have tried to keep Blake and Weiss' hopes up. This scenes ignores the individuality of the characters, like the fact that they just fought over very different world views, to instead favor any dime-a-dozen moment of support. The number of times this volume has rejected the conflict and resolution the group needs for bland, generic reassurances staggering.

Also, apparently Jaune isn't scared at all? I don't think that's as good a thing as Ren seems to think...

Then Jaune immediately rounds the corner, terrified lol.

One of the seer grimm is on its way and he tells Ren to mask them. Apparently he had been masking them before — one of the reasons he's so tired now, trying to do two things at once — but it's only here that they go black and white again. Ren manages to keep it up for a little while, but his aura breaks before the seer passes and they're spotted.

Hark! A consequence!

That was well done. It makes sense and it adds to the stakes. We've seen the insane amount of fighting the group has done since Volume 7, we just established that they're at their breaking point, and then Ren's aura fails him right when he needs it the most. Add this to the miniscule pile of things that were well done this episode.

Salem runs into Emerald and Hazel, the former of which is acting very suspicious when asked if he's made any headway with Oscar. The seer's alarm interrupts them though and... okay. Was I the only one who cackled during this moment? Between Salem's voice acting and the fact that she just yeets herself down the hallway, it came across as really funny to me.

Either way, it is a bad situation. Our trio is trying to figure out what to do, to which Yang responds, "Do what we do best… charge blindly into danger!!”

Ren's aura is broken. Jaune barely has any left and it’s unlikely he could heal right now even if Ren had any aura to amplify. If Ren takes a single hit anywhere important he is dead.

Me, on my knees, surrounded by the ashes of the Hound, the last bit of serious storytelling we had: "For the love of God, the kingdom is on fire and simultaneously dying of cold. There's a grimm army decimating hundreds outside. Half their group is missing and they're wandering lost inside a devil whale, about to have the most powerful being Remnant has ever known personally try to kill them — can we please have their attitudes reflect that?"

The answer, in case you were wondering, is no.

Back to the bomb. Whatever scientists were given this task have completed it and Marrow watches as it's flown out towards the whale. "Come on, Juan" he whispers and I'm all, "Juan?" Apparently it's a callback to last volume when Marrow couldn't remember Jaune's actual name, but it took me hopping onto the RWBY wiki to remember that.

As death via explosion inches closer, the trio runs into Hazel and Emerald. Turns out though that Hazel is really Oscar, disguised through Emerald's semblance. Nice trick! Jaune immediately drops both weapons to hug Oscar and, while that's nice and all, it's also the stupidest thing he could possible do in enemy territory. Also, Oscar has been beaten up by the Hound, tortured with magic, and likewise beaten bloody by Hazel. I was hoping for a tender hug like the one Nora gave him, not a giant squeeze for more comedy purposes. It just feels like RWBY has no idea how to manage the tone of this volume, let alone the torture of a child...

There's the obligatory, "Why should we trust you?" from Yang regarding Emerald joining the team, to which Ren responds, "Because she's scared, just like us."

That doesn't prove anything. Literally everyone is scared right now. There is a war going on. I really cannot emphasize enough how RWBY throws out Deep™ sounding lines that are, upon inspection, absolutely nonsensical. Nora reminding Penny that there are different parts to her personhood, Hazel saying that all his questions have been answered, Ren announcing that Emerald is scared... it's all worthless chatter that has no bearing on their problems: How do I keep from being hacked? How do I know you're telling the truth? How do we know you're trustworthy after you spent years trying to kill us? But of course, because it's RWBY, Ren's announcement is treated as some sort of secret truth that everyone accepts. Emerald joins up.

As they head for an exit we return to Marrow who, frankly, is getting on my last nerve. I know the fandom loves him because he's clearly leaning towards Team RWBY, but does anyone actually listen to what he says? He starts yelling at Winter for sending in the bomb because the trio might still be alive in there, despite:

Seeing for himself the hundreds of soldiers that have fallen trying to keep Atlas safe

Knowing and hearing again from Winter that the only way to stop this carnage is to take out the whale. Given more time, the whole city falls

Sadly announcing to the world that children shouldn't have to fight in a battle, rather than just joining the fray and helping to keep those kids safe

How does Marrow think those kids are going to be able to stop fighting? How does he think he'll get a city to return to? It's no wonder that he's drawn to Ruby because both characters stand around twiddling their thumbs, mourning that things are bad, and blaming others for imperfect solutions rather than doing something to make the situation better. Marrow's disgust at Winter over the bomb is precisely the same as Ruby's disgust at Ironwood over Mantle: how dare you not have a plan that results in both victory for us and zero sacrifices? They want perfection which, yes, is an admirable trait, but their problem is they refuse to do anything until that perfection appears. They’re paralyzed, a trait that’s particularly dangerous when your story insists that perfection will never appear: it’s not a fairy tale. So they just continue to get mad at others for the fact that they live in an unfair world. You want that perfect solution? Think it up yourself. Otherwise, stand aside and let those coming up with something do what they can to make things better.

Marrow goes so far as to drag Weiss into things, trying to guilt Winter with the knowledge that she'll have to relate the death of her sister's friends back to her. Winter, because she's a badass who isn't in denial over the situation, tells him that yes, she will shoulder that responsibility. To Marrow's credit he backs off then, but man. RWBY has legitimate moral questions here — when is holding out for a few worth risking the many? — but they go about exploring it in the most frustrating way possible. I personally have no respect for the guy who wants to announce that Children In War Is Bad instead of, you know, using the power he currently has to protect those kids already neck deep in a battle.

Because John Mulaney remains relevant:

"There shouldn't be a horse in the hospital :( "

"We're WELL PAST THAT."

Marrow is the one going, "There shouldn't be kids in a war :( We shouldn't have to kill a few to save the whole kingdom :( " and everyone around him is like, "No shit, dude! But this is the hand we were dealt! You going to help us, or what?"

Literally all of these characters could have been so much more than what they currently are.

Except Winter. She's doing great.

Now for the final scene. Our group nearly manages to escape the whale, but is incapacitated by some sort of screechy power that Salem employs.

She contorts her body, stretching out her arms to snag Emerald, and the others have a brief, but intense skirmish. Jaune manages to block a blast of magic aimed at Ren with his shield — nice — and Yang dots Salem's face with a bunch of bombs before blowing her sky-high — double nice. Oscar shoots out some magic of his own because, yeah, I guess he can just do that now? It really feels like it came out of nowhere after eight episodes of being the punching bag.

Of course, Salem immediately reforms. She traps the group with grimm arms that come out of the whale, interrogating Ozpin about why he bothers to keep coming back. There's a very sad answer there of, "I don't," referring to his lack of choice in reincarnating to fight her.

Yang interrupts their little tet-a-tet to throw the question back in Salem's face, calling her out on her choices. A great idea but, as always, execution: "because something bad happened to you once upon a time? No one gets a fairy tale ending."

I’m sorry, but that dialogue had me cringing. Like I said before, way too on the nose. There's keeping with the fairy tale theme, and then there's shoving the viewer's face in it. More of Oscar's musings on how he relates to the protagonists of fairy tales, blurring the lines between storytelling and reality, which in turn encourages the viewer to consider how they see themselves in the RWBY cast. Less... whatever this is.

Yang goes on to talk about how many people Salem has taken from her, which upon reflection makes a certain amount of sense if you toss in all the people who are here, but changed somehow due to Salem's influence, as well as acquaintances who died as a result of her meddling: Raven is scared off, Tai suffers as a result, Pyrrha dies, Penny dies, Yang loses her arm and her school. I think the dialogue could have been revised to reflect that better though because what Yang implies is that Salem has killed countless of her loved ones, yet what she says is, "Summer Rose. My mom." Honestly, for the few seconds this exchange was happening my thoughts weren't even on Summer. Yang calls Salem out for killing loved ones and my brain went, "Pyrrha??"

That's how little they've done with Yang and Summer. I know in the past I've argued that RWBY has a "better late than never" situation going on, that I would praise them for making the right writing choices even if they arrive years too late... but now that we're here, I find that it's a hard problem to overlook. Summer is Yang's mom? When's the last time we heard that? Volume 2? Whenever the conversation with Blake was. Since then Yang has called Raven "Mom," focused on that emotional connection (or lack thereof), was excluded from the conversation with Qrow, comforted Ruby after she was blindsided by Salem's taunt, and otherwise hasn't mentioned Summer at all. There is no foundation for this accusation except a few lines about getting cookies as a child and the fact that we're tossing references in now makes me worried that we'll indeed get a grimm!Summer reveal. Better remind the audience that she exists before the twist arrives! Honestly, as much as a part of me wants to praise RWBY for trying to get things back on track, moments like this just ring hollow now. They waited years and now it’s too late. It doesn't help that this is the episode where we shrug off Ren's speech. What will Yang's cutting admission amount to based on this trend? Probably nothing. Summer will become Yang’s mom again in another six seasons.

Salem, obviously, doesn't care. The real Hazel arrives and she orders him to take Oscar back to his cell. Instead, he gives him his cane with a whispered, "No more Gretchens, boy."

Behold, another meaningless line. Hazel hates Ozpin for "forcing" Gretchen on a mission and "getting" her killed. The whole point of his villainy is that he doesn't understand the concept of choice and that bad things can happen to good people with no one able to prevent it. Not every loss has a responsible party attached (outside of, you know, Salem/the grimm). So what is he even demanding here? No more huntsmen schools? That's what you wanted Salem for. No more "forcing" people to fight for you? Ozpin never did that in the first place. Or is it just a strange promise that no one else will die here? RWBY seems to be under the impression that they can just name drop dead family members — Summer, Gretchen — and that's that. Emotional depth created, never mind a lack of buildup or clarity.

Then Hazel punches Salem across the room and she releases every single hero from their bonds. See the theme of this episode: convenience. Hazel shoves a whole bunch of dust crystals into his shoulders and yells that he's doing what Gretchen would have wanted, clearly sacrificing himself so that the others can escape. The battle between him and Salem is pretty decent. I enjoyed the dust vs. magic creativity and the sheer damage Salem can take before reforming. This fight really showcases how not human she is.

It does, however, bring into question Hazel's reveal about her needing an hour to heal at the longest. I mentioned how unlikely it would be that our heroes would get the chance to "kill" her multiple times, yet here we are, just a few episodes later. They got that opportunity and... does it matter? Salem's reforming doesn't appear to slow down at all, despite her head getting obliterated at least three times, so at what point does she need longer than a few seconds to heal? If this was meant to be a potential weakness the group would eventually exploit, we needed to see it here, both for that setup and to keep it consistent with Hazel's story.

Regardless, they fight and at first it looks like a pretty straight-forward sacrifice on Hazel's part, giving the group their chance to escape. Except... Oscar.

"She'll just come after us," he tells Jaune, turning away from him to fight.

I need a list for this:

Of course she's going to come after you. This is not some shocking revelation. At no point has anyone thought that escaping the whale is the answer to all their problems, it just creates one less problem to deal with. Namely, the problem of "Our ally is captured, being tortured, and may give up important intel to the enemy. Oh, also he's about to be blown up with a bomb." Salem coming after them doesn’t matter. What matters is making her plans as difficult as possible as you work to come up with more solutions of your own. This is just a smaller version of the Ironwood conflict: “Well, Salem will just follow Atlas into the sky so it’s useless to attempt escape, or to buy ourselves time.” It’s really not. I know I’ve used this ridiculous comparison before, but if you’re ever chased by a horror movie serial killer hell-bent on your destruction and your reaction to this problem is, “Why run? He’ll just chase us. The only possible choice is to fight him with a 99% chance of our death,” then I beg you to re-evaluate things.

What was the point of coming to rescue Oscar if he was just going to stay behind? The whale is about to be blown up by a bomb and the trio risked their lives ten times over to get to him. If I were them I would be pissed. We went through all that to get you out and now you’re refusing to leave when we have a chance? Thanks for that.

Same with Hazel. Not that I care about the guy, but if I was sacrificing myself for others to escape I'd be pretty annoyed at them randomly deciding not to do that.

What does Oscar even think he's going to do? Kill the immortal witch? The entire point of our series is that they can’t do that (yet).

However, if he is able to do something significant via Ozpin's magic, why didn't Ozpin do that generations ago? Somehow I don't think a younger Ozma closer to the height of his power was in a worse position to attack Salem than a tortured, aura-less kid who unlocked his magic yesterday. The more RWBY reveals about Salem, the more I go, “Okay, but why didn’t his happen [insert any number of years] ago?”

Did Jaune actually leave? I assume he's just grabbing an airship or something before coming back to drag Oscar away, but seriously where did he go?

There's no way I can approach this scene without throwing up my hands and going, "What? WHY?" Which is a real shame because we finally get to see a bit of what the cane does and it’s... precisely what Ozpin's magic has always done? I mean, we saw that green shield five years ago and now there's a giant white beam. Okay.

If the beam just hits Salem with Generic Magic Power then there was never anything secret about the cane, it’s just, you know, Ozpin’s weapon. If the cane does something significant to hurt her we're left with the question of why it took literal generations to use it. Nothing is making sense to me and the only way I can think to salvage this scene is if Jaune runs back in, snags Oscar like a sack of potatoes, and runs out yelling about how he's clearly suffering from a concussion because what are you trying to accomplish here?

It doesn't help that this moment feels... final. Hazel has managed to hold Salem in place. Oscar has unlocked his cane and lands some mega hit right before Hazel passes out and looses his hold. Not only does this feel like a scene that should be at the end of the volume (we've still got five episodes), but also the end of the series. RWBY is building Salem into an unbeatable enemy by giving her more and more powers, and simultaneously eliminating the stakes by having our currently weakest character (in terms of exhaustion/injuries/aura/training) landing a shot like that. Why would you nerf Salem's threat level like that in the middle of a volume? Especially with a tool our group has had available from the start? If the cane does damage, maybe lead with that in the, “Here’s why we should stay and fight” office conversation.

I assume that Oscar's hit will obliterate Salem to the point where both he and Hazel have time to escape, or he obliterates both of them (“Do it”) and that's somehow presented as a better choice than just running while Salem is captured, or the bomb will interrupt things somehow... but it's just so shoddily done. At the very least, if they were going to have Oscar refuse to let someone fight alone, have it be an actual friend he's staying to assist. Having Oscar refuse his own rescue to help Hazel has more than one problem attached to it. We can say what we want about RWBY's themes of forgiveness, but this guy was torturing him just a few hours ago while serving Remnant's version of the devil. Just let him sacrifice himself and move on.

And that's where we end. Oscar powering up, the cane getting all magic-y, and him shooting a crazy big blast that engulfs both Salem and Hazel. I can't believe how not excited I am about my farm boy doing something badass, but here we are.

Overall I think this episode was way worse than last week's. We absolutely had problems in "Dark," particularly when it came to the Hound and the group's blind devotion to Ruby, but at least those moments were cushioned by an otherwise decent episode. "Witch" felt like I was watching something closer to a parody of RWBY, one deliberately poking fun at the fandom's desires: erase all conflict for awkward silly times, your favorite villains are instantly good now, the heroes go toe-to-toe with the main antagonist because why not, throw a bunch of magic in there for good measure, and wrap it all up in some over the top "this isn't a fairy tale" lines. I can see the pieces of a much better episode here — Emerald sneaking Oscar out with her semblance, Neo snagging the relic, Flint and Neon, Hazel attacking Salem — but it simply didn't come together.

I know I said this last time, but I have no idea what we're going to do for another five episodes. Salem slowly reforming from bomb damage as the group tries to keep Penny from opening the vault? The grimm attack halted with the whale gone so Qrow can go after Ironwood? The longer this volume runs, the more I think it was a mistake for them to introduce Salem as a fightable antagonist now. RWBY doesn't know what to do with her besides have her inevitably fall in the final season, so until then she's left being stupid (Relic), passive (Mantle), or, likely, written out of the story temporarily so the heroes can turn their attention towards smaller conflicts and weaker foes. They literally can’t beat Salem yet, but they can’t focus on other problems when she’s around without coming across as negligent, so if you have to find ways to erase her to make room for that... what was the point of bringing her here in the first place? We could have established that Salem is bound to her realm and had her send the Hound and whale to attack Atlas. There, all the fun parts of the volume without her complicated presence.

Well, the next five weeks will certainly be interesting, at the very least...

Until next time 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #rwby witch #mymetas #rwby recaps

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lassieposting · 3 years ago

Note

I am politely begging for some nice domestic ghasdug hcs... It's all I can think abt

I can do you the Endgame Ghasdug AU? That's domestic-y, sort of

- so in lsodm, ghastly gets stabbed twice, once in the back and once in the throat, which are obviously very serious injuries

- and by some fucking miracle he doesn't die, but he spends the rest of the war of the sanctuaries in the icu

- Skug puts in an appearance as soon as humanly possible, not that Ghastly is awake to appreciate it, but it's not as soon as he'd like because as the top surviving general he basically takes Corrival's spot and is In Charge Of Everything during Devastatiom Day etc, so once the war is over he just sort of takes up residence in Ghastly's hospital room and never fucking leaves

- Ghastly can't actually talk when he first wakes up. With Kenspeckle dead, he's under Synecdoche's care, but it still takes a lot of time and energy to heal injuries that severe. His vocal chords are fucked. Skug brings him in a marker and one of his little crime scene notepads to communicate with

- He also loses the use of his legs for quite a while, because the back stab nicked his spinal chord. He's in a wheelchair while the healers figure out how to tackle it, and then he's got a long road ahead of physiotherapy and relearning how to walk. Skug wheels him around and makes sure he gets outside whenever he feels like he needs some air, and deals with having some adaptations made to Ghastly's home so Ghastly won't have to worry about it

- And like? Skug is a torture survivor who never once got to recover. When Serpine tortured him, he died, and when he came back he couldn't eat or sleep or even close his eyes to get away from it. Every time he's been tortured in-series, he's had to jump straight back into functioning like he's not falling apart at the seams a little bit more every time. He never gets to rest. And he will be damned if that's going to happen to Ghastly

- Because Ghastly is Not Okay. He's wracked with survivor's guilt over Anton, he's devastated by Ravel, he's in pain all the time and he doesn't like not being able to do things for himself and he's. Pretty fucking depressed, tbh. He desperately wants to get out of Roarhaven.

- So Skug becomes his advocate (which is quite the change, because Skug is usually something of a bulldozer personality). When people from the Sanctuary show up trying to drag Ghastly back into politics, because nobody trusts China and he's now all they've got, Skug makes damn sure they're turned away at the door, even though he doesn't trust China either, bc Ghastly can't face dealing with them on top of everything else. When Ghastly is writing something down and others keep "talking over" him because it takes so long, Skug butts in and makes them wait. When Ghastly wants to go outside, Skug takes him outside, and synecdoche can just Deal.

- When Ghastly is released from the hospital, it's on the proviso that he's got someone to look after him until he's recuperated and gotten used to his new setup. He's struggling with independence, and Skug is struggling with Val-lessness, so he temporarily comes to stay with Ghastly above the shop. He's got a little stairlift now, for while he has to use the chair, and he's touched that Skug and his adhd brain actually thought of that.

- There's. A long period of depression for Ghastly, obviously, bc he just lost two friends, but Skug is a pretty good distraction. He'll bring home cold case files and get Ghastly to go over them with him, he'll make Ghastly give him instructions while he's cooking bc he doesn't fucking know how to do it, he'll help Ghastly get into and out of the bath and go with him to physio sessions and drive him around aimlessly when he's just Sad and nothing will shift it, bc driving around is good for the soul.

- like they bicker bc they haven't properly lived together since they were boys but it's so good for both of them to have someone else in the house

- And gradually they find their way back to each other through the little pleasures.

- for skug it's falling asleep on the couch with a case file open on his chest to the sound of ghastly's whirring sewing machine, and the smell of home cooking, and being yoinked back into bed by his wrist in the morning because ghastly is tired and cuddly and doesn't want him to leave

- for ghastly it's reaching for something from his wheelchair and skug handing it to him before he even has to ask, and dropping kisses on skug's scars every morning like that will heal them, and sifting through facades to find one whose hair goes the right shade of copper in candlelight

- there's a kind of peace in it, in how well they know each other, in having already seen each other at rock bottom. They dont have to try to hide their weaknesses or their trauma. They trust each other, and lean on each other, and shield each other

- but if Cold Case is on at the same time as Downton Abbey, all bets are off and all hell breaks loose. the last one standing wins the coveted tv remote, may the odds be ever in your favour

#skulduggery pleasant #sp headcanons #ghasdug

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odelschwanky · 4 years ago

Text

A Good Friend (Ichigo Kurosaki x Female Reader)

Word Count: 2372

______________________________________________________

"Hey, guys!"

His voice was unmistakable. The carrot top made his way through the crowd of people to where you and Orihime stood in the hallway. The two of you were close together by the vending machine outside of the classrooms. Her hands were clasped in eager anticipation of Ichigo's arrival and you... well. You leaned against the machine nonchalantly, arms crossed.

"Kurosaki-Kun," Orihime twittered as he came within the vicinity of you two. He greeted her happily and then looked at you.

"Hey Ichigo," you say, glancing at his tie. You never quite could look him in the eye. He always had such an intentional look. When he locked eyes with you, even by accident, his gaze would make you... bashful? You didn't know and didn't feel like sorting that out. Besides, you knew Orihime was in love with him. What kind of friend would you be to try and ruin that for her?

"Hey, (y/n)." He bent down to peek at you, meeting your eyes on purpose. "Why do you have a band-aid on your nose?" You were taken aback by his comment and remembered that you had gotten hit in the face today during gym. You touched your nose and promptly tried to hide it from him, even though he had already seen it. "Don't look," you muttered. "It's dumb."

"It's too late for that. It's okay. It makes you look tough. I like it."

You scoffed and looked over your shoulder, trying to hide your blush. You notice Orihime's demeanor change a bit, her shoulder slumping just a tad. This made you sad. You wish Ichigo would take her hints.

You waited for Ishida and Sado too and the five of you started walking home.

"There's a festival tonight, did anyone want to go?"

Everybody's faces lit up with excitement at the mention of something fun. Internally, you cringed. You hated social outings and the only reason why you had so many friends is that they came as a package deal. You thought Sado was pretty cool because he was sort of like you in the fact that you both didn't talk very much, you two became friends and then boom you had a gang of pals. You weren't expecting Ichigo to be one of those pals, but...

It was almost unanimous, the positive reaction to Ishida's suggestion. Everybody looked at you. I guess I was the only one who didn't say anything, you thought in a panic.

"(y/n), are you coming? It'll be fun!"

Orihime grinned and took your hand and looked at you with her puppy dog eyes. Sado clamped a hand down on your shoulder. "Come with us," he says, rather persuasively.

You looked at Ichigo. He confidently strode with his school bag slung over his shoulder. He glanced back at you and smiled. "Come on, you don't want to miss out on all the fun do you?"

A heat bubbled up in your core. You swear your whole face turned a bright shade of red, just by how hot you could feel yourself getting. You sighed. "I don't know," you mumbled hesitantly. "I don't think the festival is my scene." You weren't one for gatherings. You felt like people didn't want to be around you.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, sighing in exasperation. "Of course a festival is your scene. It's everybody's scene! It's fun." He rolled his eyes and punched you in the arm. "And you never know about these kinds of things. You say that and then you never show up. It's honestly kind of annoying."

You pouted. "No more annoying than you pressuring me to come," you fire back, still holding Orihime's hand. You look at her and her eyes were cast down, directly at her shoes.

"But okay fine, I'll come."

Everyone laughed and the five of you made plans to meet up at the top of the hill come the evening. As tough as you acted, watching fireworks and playing games with your friends sound like something out of a movie, something you were excited for.

***

You cinched your obi around the waist of your yukata and tied your hair up loosely. You frowned at the scratch and bruise on your nose, deciding you weren't going to wear the band-aid to the festival.

You were a bit of a hurry because your bath had taken longer than you expected... because you fell asleep. It wasn't that you weren't excited about the festival, you were just really tired.

Trudging up the hill, you could see everyone gathered there... except for Orihime. You gathered the hem of your yukata so it wouldn't drag in the tall grass. You could see down by the river below the different booths set up for games and food and the station for the fireworks. You approach your friends with a curious look on your face. "Hey, glad you could make it!" Ichigo looked at you deeply. You waved, trying to avoid his gaze. "Your yukata is really nice," he added.

Ishida agreed, commenting on the stitchwork. You had actually made it with your mom a few years back. It was dark blue with dolphins on it.

"Oh, thank you. My mom and I made it...Orihime's not here?" You say, looking around for the sweet girl.

"No, she ended up feeling sick and decided not to come," Ishida said, sounding disappointed. They'd make a dashing couple, you thought. You instantly felt guilty. You were only saying that because you didn't want to accept that she had a better chance than you with Ichigo.

"Well, then we have to have enough fun for her too," Ichigo chimed, corralling the group down the hill toward the games.

"We should bring her something to eat on the way home," you said to Ishida. He nodded. "She'd appreciate that. You're a good friend to her, (y/n)."

You almost threw up. You were definitely not.

***

"Kingyo Sukui!" You yell, running over to the red tent. It wasn't that crowded, much to your surprise. You peered into the pond they had set up, fascinated by all the goldfish swimming around. Their scales shimmered in the lantern light, and you admired them in reverence.

"Hey! Wait up," Ichigo said running up to you. Ishida wanted to go look at something else so Sado went with him. It left you and Ichigo alone, along with your nervousness. "What're you so excited about anyway? You never act like that."

Your tough girl facade quickly melted away, and you were kind of embarrassed at how Ichigo saw you just then.

"Oh," you cleared your throat, deepening your voice to its normal pitch. "I just really want to play this game. Look." You point at the goldfish dancing in the pond.

"Okay, then let's play." Ichigo looked at you with a goofy smile that made you swell with happiness and gave a few tickets to the director of the game. You were each handed a Poi scoop and a bowl and you went to work, a determined look on your face.

"Wow, you're good at this!" Ichigo praised you as you scooped your third goldfish into your bowl. "I'm not all that good," you counter back, noticing a little tear in your washi paper.

"You always do that," he says a little more quietly, scooting closer to you. "You're always discrediting yourself. I don't get it." Your stomach dropped and your mouth went dry.

"There's nothing to get, Ichigo," you reply, plopping the last goldfish, a black one, into your bowl before your poi broke. Ichigo's scoop had broken a long time ago and he didn't get any fish. You turn to him and smile, holding up your fish. "Look." He couldn't help but smile too.

The two of you walk down the crowded row of booths and stalls, the grass muffling your footsteps. The smells of fried foods wafted in the air and lantern light danced on everyone's face. Ichigo's hand brushed your own and you could feel his finger linger a little on your own. It electrified you, sending tingles up and down through your body. You quickly use both of your hands to clutch your plastic bag of fish. "Where's Ishida and Sado?" You quickly say something to distract yourself from what you were feeling.

"Uh, let's go find them. I think I know where they would be."

More and more people filled up the walkway almost separating you and Ichigo from each other. Even though you were pretty tall for a girl, you still couldn't see him over the mass of people. He reached back and felt around for you. You had to hold him now. The warmth from his touch radiated through your whole body, and he squeezed your hand inside his. "Still there?"

"Yes," you gulped.

"Good."

****

"Amazing! I know Inoue would love this!"

Ishida's voice could be heard over everything within a five-mile radius. It did make sense that Ichigo would lead you to a Shateki booth. That's probably the only thing he would be good at. You heard he did archery as a kid or something? You overheard everyone talking about his bow at lunch one day.

"Hey, Ichigo. (Y/n)," Sado greeted the both of you. You give Sado a nod. "Hey, Chad. Are you guys ready to go watch the fireworks?"

Everyone agreed... except for you.

"I think I should go ahead and get home."

Sado and Ishida nodded. I think they could notice how worn out you were already were. It wasn't just the fact that you were outside with a lot of people, but being around Ichigo, as much as it made you happy, stressed you out. There was always a nervous pull in your stomach and that horrible feeling that you were going to break Orihime's heart.

"Bye, you guys. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Reluctantly, they let you go and you made your way to a stand to buy some takoyaki for your friend. You were halfway down the hill before you heard loud footsteps on the stone path back to where you and Orihime stayed. You lived in the building across from her.

"(Y/n)! Hey!"

You turn around, taking care to keep your goldfish and Orihime's takoyaki upright in the plastic bag you were carrying.

You could see it, that obnoxious orange hair shining in the late evening light. Ichigo was running toward you, growing closer. It made you smile and sulk at the same time.

"What's the matter?" You ask this skeptically. Why would he try to catch up to you?

"Listen, I-" Ichigo licks his lips and looks away from you. He placed his hands on his hips and shifted from foot to foot catching his breath.

"I like you."

As if on cue, the firework show began, some small scale sparklers flying up into the dimming sky. Your heart skipped a beat and you couldn't believe your ears.

"And by the looks of it, you like me too. But something is holding you back. Is that true?"

You were speechless. Why did he have you read so well? That irked you, how easily he could see through you.

"Ichigo... I don't want to talk about-"

"Come on! You're always blowing me off! What's so wrong about me that you can't let this," he motioned between the two of you with his hand, "happen?"

You deflated. The tone of his voice was so hurt. You didn't want to hurt him. You didn't want to hurt anybody.

"There's nothing wrong about you, Ichigo... I just..."

"Well? You just what?"

You thought of Orihime, and how she confided in you about how much she loved Ichigo. She talked about him in such a beautiful way, like he was the knight in shining armour of her life. You wanted her to be happy. Not only that, but you wanted Ichigo to be happy. You knew deep down he wouldn't be happy with you.

"I can't be with you because we wouldn't be good together." You couldn't believe the words coming out of your mouth right then. You wanted nothing more than to be with that stupid red-headed boy.

"You don't believe that."

His hand was on your shoulder in less than a moment and he was pulling you toward him. When your lips touched, a crack of thunder erupted and the sky lit up with colorful light. He took the bag out of your hand and pulled you closer, deeper into the kiss with his other arm. The taste of watame was sweet on his lips, and you couldn't help but melt into his touch. Your arms snaked up and around his neck, and Ichigo hugged you tightly.

"You're so oblivious," you say angrily, gently pushing him away.

"What are you talking about? I knew that you've liked me this entire time!"

You shook your head in dismay. Not everything was about him and he needed to understand that.

"No! It's not about me. Somebody loved you before you even met me. And you ignore her every day!"

Ichigo's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"Don't be so stupid," you growl. "You know who she is! You've always known."

You turn on your foot after grabbing your bag from Ichigo. He spoke to you quietly, his voice completely changed. It was no longer confident... just disappointed. "And you're going to take that food to her aren't you?"

You nod sadly, though he couldn't see it because your back was to him. "I am. Because I'm her friend. We're all good friends. And a good friend doesn't kiss the boy her friend is in love with...So this never happened, Ichigo."

He grabbed your hand again to keep you from going. "Please."

"No, Ichigo. You need to talk to Orihime. Because I know deep down you love her."

Ichigo gave your hand a reassuring bittersweet squeeze. "Who says that you're right?"

You shrug. "I don't know. Just leave it be, Ichigo."

You turn and hug him, knowing that you'll miss the feeling of safety and love that you had only felt from him one time. "Goodnight."

He sighed and watched you walk away, not knowing if he could ever have you.

#ichigo kurosaki #Ichigo Bleach #kurosaki ichigo #bleach fanfiction #bleach fandom #bleach fanfic #Bleach Anime

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elias-veturius-laia-of-serra · 4 years ago

Text

A Sky Beyond The Storm: SPOILERY Review

*!!BEWARE!! A Sky Beyond The Storm Spoilers below. And it’s not just a little of them. It is FULL BLOWN COMPLETE SPOILERS! SO BEWARE! DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVEN’T READ A SKY BEYOND THE STORM!*

[CAUTION] This is all my opinion so please don’t leave anything negative. Or send hate or think this is a welcome post to start arguing. I’m only posting this cause sadly my friends have not finished the book yet and it’s been five days since I’ve finished and I have yet to be able to explore how I fully feel about the book. Thankfully writing this tired me out and completely reflected everything I feel! It was the perfect outlet! I also wrote it all in one go just pouring all my emotions out so if the grammar is bad or some things don’t make sense. I’m sorry! I’ll be sure to edit this at some point ❤️

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Wow.

Five years. I had stuck to this series for five years and it’s always given me love, heartache, pain, loss, but most importantly hope.

I want to start off by talking about how happy I was with how Laia’s arc was handled. Usually when you have a “weak” and frightened protagonist their growth is mainly focused on how quick they can shed that image and because something else entirely. How they can become an ultra badass that is able to hack and slice through their enemies and become this killer warrior machine, but Laia Of Serra is not a killer. And that’s been reiterated throughout the books. She feels too much, cares too much, and loves too much. She mourns the for any lives lost even if it is the enemy. She hates taking lives cause she sees no reason to take one even if it is for the greater good. As shown in Torch and Sky, She cries after she accidentally that man. She’s wrecked with guilt when she accidentally kills that jinn. At the people who fall during this war. Laia Of Serra isn’t a killer. She’s hope. She’s love. She’s understanding. And many people do see that as weakness but I love that Laia is able to harness these emotions that make her human as use it as strength. That at the end of the day she isn’t a badass savage girl who lost everything and is out for blood. She’s still just Laia and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Being a big emotional scaredy cat I am I’ve never been able to relate to the big badass skilled warriors that can take down armies of men. I wish to be like them but the reality is I’m not. So I never thought I could see myself being a hero or doing any good if the time for me to be one ever came, but Laia really conveys that strength is more than just being able to shed blood and kill people. That it’s okay to cry, to be scared, to feel sad, and be insecure. Brown girls are always so used to being silenced and taught to behave in order to survive. That’s been our story for a long time but Laia was able to turn our meekness, our fragility, our fear, and our insecurities into something strong. Into something that moves her forward, that taught her how to fight, and that ultimately makes her victorious. The Her final scene with the Nightbringer was beautiful and utterly heartbreaking.

Which brings me to the Nightbringer. I used to hate him so much unable to understand him. I found his anger equivalent to that of an edgy teen that got told “No” too many times. But despite his cruelty book 4 really opened my eyes. Despite all the deaths and rage Sabaa has managed to also convey all his loneliness, his sadness, his hopelessness, his loss, and how all this pain had driven him to believe this was the only way he’d be able to be at peace. To get rid of the world that had been so cold to him. To get rid of a world that made him feel unaccepted and had taken away everything that mattered to him until all he had left was the broken pieces of himself with no one there to help him pick them up. I loved the Nightbringer here. I learned to respect him so much. He’s carried so much pain and loneliness for thousands of years in hopes to gain back what he has lost. I was finally able to sympathize with him and much like Laia - I didn’t hate him anymore. Couldn’t hate him. Of course what he did was wrong but it’s hard to wish more unfortunate things upon someone whose whole life has been nothing but misfortune. I loved his story with Rehmat. Their love though mentioned briefly was a beautiful thing and I found I wanted nothing more than him to be able to be with her again and to be able to feel that love again. I used to cringe and loathe the idea of Nightbringer and Laia being romantic but this book opened my eyes into seeing that that isn’t it at all. I mean yes he is in love with her but that’s just the kind of person he is. He loves. He’s the beloved. He has many loves. As his queen once said, he loves too much. So it isn’t about sparkly forbidden romance. It’s the fact that Meherya had love for all things and to be betrayed because of it had hardened his heart. Laia knows what this feels like. So to see her hold him and tell him it’s okay. That his feelings are valid and the world turned it’s back on him first, but he can’t blame all life for that. That she knows deep within him he still loves, he still hopes, and he must hold onto that. Skies, nearly made me cry. Then by the end when he is able to tell her goodbye with a hand to her cheek and she knows despite everything he still loves her - I nearly started bawling. Because he truly is the beloved and he did not deserve all those who took his love then basically spat in his face. I was happy to finally see him be able to reunite with Rehmat. His one true love and his only queen. Cause I know through her and finally leaving this world - he will be able to finally be at peace.

Now onto the next character. Elias. WHEEEEW! He was as cold as Sabaa promised. So distant and stoic. Reading about him through Laia’s P.O.V. was so heartbreaking. Yet reading through his was ALMOST worse. Where as Laia can’t find her Elias we are able to see little cracks of it. He still looks at her for too long. Lingers at the thought of her for too long. His heart beats faster when she is around when it shouldn’t. He remembers things he shouldn’t. Being around her is too hard because she is everything he had originally fought for. Inner Elias still sees her as his home and his freedom. However his cold demeanor was nearly too much for me! I even almost contemplated unstanning my favorite OTP in the world when he left her to the jinn. Though I think a lot of that mainly has to do with the fact cause we see how much he loves her. He’s risked so much for her so to see him abandon her was like a slap in the face and truly showed how much he has changed, but thankfully there was hundreds of pages left for him to make up for it. And of course in an Elias fashion he did. When the nightbringer had her captive he couldn’t get himself to leave her again. When he saw Laia scratched up after falling into a river and his thoughts immediately thought of ways to defeat this river (I cackled). When he told her he wouldn’t be able to help if she were to get in trouble trying to steal the Nightbringer’s scythe and yet he came in seconds the moment she called to him cause nothing else mattered as soon as he heard her voice. When Elias realized Mauth had completely weakened his first reaction was to run to Laia and while she had been frozen haunted by realizing what she had done it was Elias who ran in front of the storm to get her away from it and nearly sacrificing his life in order to keep her safe. I mean HOW CAN I NOT FORGIVE HIM AFTER ALL THAT!? I couldn’t stop the emotions running through when he was able to finally meet his father. When he was able to see the life he could’ve had if war and pain hadn’t tainted it. Then his final strive to live. Him fully coming back as Elias Veturius and chanting Always Victorious to come back to the world of the living. It was everything! Elias has been a death magnet throughout this series. His whole has made his hands drenched in blood and making him live a life so dirty that he believes at many moments is a life that isn’t worth living anymore. That he’s too damaged. Too callous. Too tainted to be considered worthy of anything, but in the end when the time came he pushed to life. He fought to be more than his mistakes. To be more than a symbol of death. He chose to live.

I will continue with the characters but here’s a short break to speak about my most prized possession: Elaia. So I already explained a good chunk in Elias’s snippet, but we ALL know they need their own portion for one to get their feelings out more clearly. Elias and Laia’s love as usual isn’t easy and broke me time and time again. One minute my heart flutters and I’m on the edge of my seat in hope and then the next it’s like I get a bucket of cold water dumped over my head. Their relationship was especially rough in the beginning. Elias pulled away consistently and though watching Laia try her hardest to break through was admirable it hurt all the more every time it failed. Yet even through all the hurt my heart still fluttered. The way she purposely said things, or did certain things, in order to get a rise out of him was such a delight to watch. Elias and his rocks ended with both Laia and I sad but I still can’t help how wholesome it felt to see them banter. Laia sitting on the boulder in the middle of his “workout”, him casually hoisting her over his shoulder, putting her down, and just to have her spring back up and follow him to continue the conversation. Who knew seeing two people talk about pets could get a giggle out of me. The last three hundred pages I’d say are the best. Cause this is when the Soul Catcher slowly begins to soften up. He lets himself care about Laia more. Lets himself get lost in her more. I had to put the book down after the mango scene just to catch my breath! I won’t lie and pretend I didn’t enjoy all the steamy scenes. I did and nearly fainted at every single one of them, but it was the soft moments between Soul Catcher and Laia that stood out the most. When she was sad and he’d hold her, the way he was so attached to the armlet that thought that he had lost it made him tear his cabin apart, when he went to find her to tell her to leave the waiting place but couldn’t help but stare at her instead, telling her he prefers being called Elias from her, still putting her first then then disguising it saying he is only doing it for his duty to the ghosts, and the way the old him springs up constantly whenever she’s around. Every little detail was a hit to the heart! Especially Laia telling Elias that he had no right to dictate her emotions. He has no right to tell her how to fell. She loves him and she finds him worthy of it and he cannot take that away. He can’t make her stop loving him. It was everything to see her always declaring how much she loved him seeing as she never got to at the end of Reaper. And now she won’t let him stop hearing it. Won’t let him not know it or forget it. Even their sex scene felt more than just steamy smut. It was so wholesome as they laughed together for the first time in a long time, the way he saw her as perfect, and by the end of it to have Laia speak about how she wanted everything with him forever. It made their ending all the more sweeter. I had made so many jokes before SKY about them finally being able to do it, about them practically being married, the wooden armlet being an engagement ring, and them being endgame and hoping that at least one of these would come true. Little did I know every single one would. Little did I know that the ending I have been hoping for but was 99% sure I’d never get was exactly what I’d get and more. Sabaa Tahir has truly spoiled me and I don’t deserve it but I will thank her a million times for it!

Next Character: Helene. Oh boy. Unpopular opinion but I had a strong dislike for Helene for a long time. I thank Sabaa for giving her a P.O.V. though. Cause without it all I and many others would see is colonizer and oppressor. Evil. Wrong. Wicked. I hated Helene in the first book. Tolerated her in the second. Found her likeable in the third. Then ultimately fell in love with her in the fourth. I found book 4 Helene to be the very best Helene she could be. Her finally letting her emotions break through is what ended up captivating me. Her scene as she slayed Karkauns all the while crying gave me chills in REAPER. THAT to me was strength . THAT was what reminded me as badass as Helene is she’s still human. She falters, she makes mistakes, she cries, she wins, she loses, and it isn’t power that ultimately drives her. For her too it is love. Love for family, love for friends, and love for her people. Her friendship with Laia made my heart bloom. I wish we could’ve had more of it! I also wish we could’ve seen it develop more but I also understand that this is the last book and I’d rather spend it seeing two queens getting along then bicker like they had been in the last three books. I loved watching them tease each other, them grin while talking about blasted men, Helene feeling like she can stand taller when Laia compliments her, and Laia ultimately being the first scholar to hail her as Empress. And all her fighting scenes!? BEST FIGHTING SCENES I’VE EVER READ! Helene is ruthless, she is brutal, she isn’t afraid to be stained in blood, and will defeat anyone in her way. I found myself so excited in my reread when I saw I was approaching those scenes. She is flawless in battle and I found myself completely entrapped by her. Slicing off heads, arms, and striding into every battle with her head held high. I was about ready to fight Harper to let her be with me instead! Her P.O.V.s had actually been my least favorite through book 2 and 3. Book 4 made me so happy that I got to go from chapter to chapter like: Oh yay! Laia! Oh yay Elias! Oh yay! Helene! I was able to be excited throughout the whole thing knowing each character was going to give me something good! Also I found her a lot funnier this time around! And Lord knows how I love my women bossy, sarcastic, and blunt. I know a lot of people are angry about her ending. I was deeply saddened by it too. I used to think as a colonizer serves her right to lose everything! Why should I feel bad when she’s scoffed at the lives of the scholars and shrugged her shoulders at slavery for the longest time but of course that ended up biting me in the ass. I understand Sabaa’s reasoning. Helene has took for the longest time. So now it has come full circle for her to experience what that feels like for the other side. All those scholars who too lost a sister, brother, mother, father, and lover that she took away without a second glance when oppressing them. I loved that Sabaa protrays it in a way that before as someone who despised her, I can’t even be happy about it. Instead I am empty. Lost. Hurt. It shows all the more how useless war and vengeance is. We think more deaths and kills will make us feel better. It does not. Instead I found myself days later still haunted by what happened between her and Avitas. And now I wish nothing more but Helene to find happiness. To have more days laughing with Laia and reluctantly letting her braid her hair and dress her up. More teasing and reminiscing between her and her once best friend, Elias. And possibly something new and exciting and fulfilling with Musa. (Which I will touch on in it’s own paragraph haha)

Next: Avitas. Hmmm. Here’s the thing. I don’t hate Avitas. His moments with the shrike were meaningful and his presence is what ultimately led to breaking through her hard exterior. He taught Helene how to be just a girl again. How to feel without being weak. How love can be strength. I loved that he was able to bring out a more vulnerable side of her and show to her that it wasn’t a weakness. Every part of her is strong. Every part of her is beautiful. Every part of her he loves. That moment especially when she declares herself as broken and his eyes are wet with tears feeling for her. That he tells her being broken cannot stop her. It just makes her all the more of a force to reckon with. He was exactly what Helene needed in this time of war. Exactly what she needed to stay tethered to the world and faithful to herself. Sadly however I couldn’t get myself to connect with him. He was so reserved, so quiet, and so serious most of the time. It was hard to gather much from him. The little cracks of his demeanor whenever he was around Helene helped soften me. His fierce loyalty to her alone and understanding that a girl like her doesn’t need protection. She can very well take care of herself but it wasn’t about that. He just loved her too much to ever stop worrying. It ached something fierce within me. His death also haunted me for days and still does. Though I think it did hurt a little less cause I wasn’t attached to him. It was hard to considering how little I feel I still know about him and his thoughts and feelings. Plus his final scene with Elias at the waiting place brought me peace. He died for the person he loved and now he gets to reunite with his family. He wanted to leave and so he did. May Avitas Harper rest in peace and never be forgotten.

Next: Darin. His death ruined me. He was the sole purpose Laia went on this journey in the first place. He was the first person to always believe in her. He was the only family she (thought) she had left. He was one of Laia’s biggest fans and nothing else mattered more to him than her. He based so much of his life pushing Laia forward and encouraging her and getting her to laugh again even during the darkest of times. The way he pinched her cheeks before bidding her goodbye, the way he went back to find Laia and fight beside her, the way he teased her about Elias making the both of us laugh, and how even in his final moments before crossing over he wanted to know how his sister was doing. If she had won. Then being able to pass in peace proudly when he found out that she had. And his final words telling Elias that if there’s one person who can make up for all the love she’s lost it’s him. He will be missed greatly. So much so!

Next: Faris. Faris has been here since the beginning His last scene with the shrike also ruined me. I had to put the book down cause I was so hurt. Faris was a giant teddy bear always spewing jokes and being a clueless but brave boy. To see him go down like that though admirable still broke me nonetheless. Especially despite knowing a lot about them I loved him and Dex very much! I also thought maybe him and Livia could have their own happy ending, but I hoped too hard ):

Next: Livia. I bet you can guess this hurt very much as well. I loved Livia so much. She was such a powerful girl thrust into this world of politics and tyrants and held her own. My love first ignited in Reaper and only shined brighter in SKY. My jaw dropped and once again the book went down when Keris killed her. I was so broken. She was so full of life, witty, brave, sweet, and just as fierce as her sister. I wished she could’ve stayed!

Next: Musa. My FAVORITE secondary character in the whole series. Words cannot describe how much I love Musa and it saddens me to see that he is so underrated. Though I’m happy that even Sabaa says that he is one of her favorites! Musa was a light in every dark moment. I’m always a sap for handsome snarky sarcastic comedic relief characters with a tragic past. I loved that he was the one to always joke first despite how much he hurts. That he was the one always encouraging those around him to fight for love even though he lost his. I loved that he called Laia little sister and how his mere presence around her could make Elias go feral. Surprisingly most of all I loved his relationship with Helene.

Now here is yet another break from character talk to talk about another pair. Musa and Helene. I know it’s wrong. Helene had just lost Avitas and they are two broken people right now. But like said just for a moment, together, they make a whole. I never even thought of a possibility between the two. It felt so random. Awkward even. Though upon my reread I can see the little hints. Musa and Helene practically spend most of the book at each other’s side. They fight together, they encourage each other, they argue, and they see each other. Two people always putting on a brave face no matter how much they hurt. I was surprised to feel myself smiling at their bickering. Helene tends to be an uptight stoic person but around Musa she can’t help but smile and laugh as easy as it is to breathe. The way she endearingly considers him pretty. Around Musa she can’t help but talk about her feelings and him to her. The way she held his hand when they found out about Nikla’s death and how even when Harper went to talk to him he still wouldn’t let go of her. And their final scene together at the end of SKY. SO MANY FEELS! I CAN’T HELP THE FLUTTER OF HOPE I FEEL! Their bickering even cuter! Their vulnerability to each other even more powerful! All the while still respecting their past loves and understanding they can still mourn and yet live and strive for more. Absolutely perfect! Seeing Helene not close herself up after yet again losing in love was such a beautiful thing to me. Her telling Musa she’d like it if he stayed and him obviously happy about it but feigning arrogance instead is so him it only makes me love him more. Makes me love them more. Makes me hope! This could just be Sabaa testing the waters but Helene does still owe him a favor and I hope to the skies above Sabaa will be giving us that tale soon!

Next Character: Keris. I loved how she was handled as well. Learning about her past explained so much and yet erased nothing. I loved being able to learn more about her. I loved being able to see all the suffering she went through that we didn’t know about that turned shaped her into the cruel person she is today. How some of her actions still can’t be fully understood cause Keris herself probably doesn’t understand it either. I love that we are able to see her point of view and understand het and yet it’s plainly obvious that Keris has made her grave. Now it’s time for her to lie in it. It’s such a painful yet satisfying thing to see her reunite with her mother’s ghost. To be confronted by all her misdoings as Karinna looks at her in hope and then disdain upon seeing all the blood on her hands. From then she is unable to see her as her daughter leaving Keris ultimately alone and to confront all the wrongs she had cause to get to where she is. I felt it more fitting that Mirra killed her. Marcus is the one who took the Bloodshrike’s family away from her so it is only fair that Helene got to kill him. While Keris is the one who tortured Cook and her family. Forced Mirra’s hand to kill her own family just so they won’t have to suffer under Keris anymore. So it felt right to me that Mirra finally got to have the last word. I also loved how Mirra was able to take away all of Keris’s pain until she was reduced to nothing but a girl again before she was tainted. Then ultimately passed on. I found this a incredibly satisfying end to her arc.

Lastly: Mirra. I LOVED that Mirra was able to come back. I LOVED that Sabaa wasn’t cruel enough to leave Laia alone. Since Helene had baby Zacharias. Elias has Quin. Laia would’ve had no one. And I loved that Elias and Helene teared up also happy to see that Laia still had one person left. I loved that cook admits to her faults and how broken she herself is. How vengeance took over her and led her astray. But there is no one she loves more in this world than Laia. That she will fight everything and anyone just to ensure Laia will have a place in this world. I also loved her sense of humor. Had me cackling when she demanded Mauth to come talk to her and when she casually calls Elias her son in law. I loved her teaming up with the Bloodshrike! I love the big reveal leading up to it. It was all just so perfect for me!

In conclusion: Do I have my criticisms? Yes. There are a few things I wish to change. I thought Keenan was mentioned too much in the beginning. I found their relationship especially in book 2 very unhealthy so to hear her mention it and him as something to miss made me quite uncomfortable. Though I suppose it’s also just the thought of missing an ally and a friend cause there was a time where she had no one but Keenan to rely on. I wish we could’ve had more Helene and Laia scenes! Seeing her smile in a long time because Elias and Laia had their happy ending did wonders to my soul! I wish we could’ve had more scenes of Elias, Laia, and Helene all working together. I wish we could’ve had more scenes of Elias and Laia fighting side by side. Especially since I’ve always wanted scenes of them fighting together. The ones we got in SKY were EVERYTHING! I just wish we could’ve had more of that instead of them walking in the forest and pages of him being cold to her. I wish Avitas and Elias could’ve bonded more. To see them two be so reserved and yet so happy to be able to meet was such a gift. And yet they only fully spoke in two scenes ): I wish Darin and Laia got to spend more time together. I wish Laia could’ve gotten more scenes with her scythe. Or that we could’ve gotten more scenes of Laia with her bow and arrows. However these are minor things and do not take away much from my overall feeling for this book.

Which is I am in love with this book. It is my new favorite book of all time. Of any other book ever. I think it is the best book in the series and the fact that Sabaa is so proud of it and says it’s the best book she ever wrote. I can’t help but agree and give A Sky Beyond The Storms a sky full of stars. The ending is everything I’ve ever wanted and so much more. It makes saying goodbye hurt less knowing my faves are alive, happy, and have finally found a place to call home. I love that we end off on Elias and Laia getting engaged and walking off to get ready to start a new life together. I couldn’t of asked for a better ending. Sabaa really outdid herself and I hope she gets all the praise and all the awards for this divine book and her flawless story telling. Truly one of the best Kehannis out there ❤️

#A Sky Beyond The Storm

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rocksandrobots · 4 years ago

Text

Of Rocks and Robots Ch. 38 - Paris

Varian found Honey Lemon in the chemistry lab. She was just placing her folder, books, and pens inside her backpack, getting ready to leave.

"Hey," He called to her, "Are you busy right now?"

"Well, I guess not." She said as she zipped up the bookbag. "I just finished taking my final and I got to present my project tomorrow."

"Great!" Varian blurted out, barely giving her time to finish her sentence. "Come with me. I got something to show you." And without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her hand and started to excitedly drag her along with him as he headed out the door.

Honey Lemon decided to humor him and allowed herself to be led down the campus hallways to Varian's private lab on the first floor.

Fred was waiting for them when they entered. Not that he was given a chance to explain anything, as Varian blurted out his own explanation as soon as everyone was in the room.

"I did it!" He proudly crowed. "I got the portal working!"

"You found a way home?" Honey Lemon asked in shock.

"Well, not exactly." He corrected, "I still got a ways to go on that, but I did figure out how to control the spatial coordinates. I took the controller for Srique's miniature portals and programmed it into the main computer here. Now we can go anywhere in the world just by entering in an address. Whatta ya think!? Cool hun?"

"Oh my gosh! Yeah, that's cool! That's like mega cool!" She laughed and gave Varian a big congratulatory hug. "Oh just think what all you could do with this technology. You'd never have to board a plane or drive a delivery truck across the country. This could be the answer to reducing carbon emissions!"

She squealed again with joy and warped Varian in another tight hug, one that nearly knocked the wind out of him.

"Yeah, I haven't thought that far ahead yet." He gasped as she finally let go. "We still need to give it a test run, and that's why I brought you here. Where would you like to go first?"

He gave her a Cheshire grin as he walked up to the computer to enter in whatever destination she chose.

"Oh, I don't know?" She replied, "Freddie, what's someplace you'd like to visit?"

"Oh I'm not going." Fred answered.

"Not going? But I thought we were all going to try it out?"

"Well, we will, eventually, but we need someone to remain here in order to pull the return switch." Varian explained as he walked over the portal and placed his hand upon a long lever that was now built into the turbine. "All Fred has to do is pull this lever whenever we're ready to come home. That'll turn the turbine back on and the computer will just automatically open up a portal to the last coordinates entered."

"Sooo, isn't anybody else coming?" Honey Lemon asked.

"Oh they'll get a chance to go, I'm sure. It's just with finals and everything, it's hard to get everyone together. Besides it's not like we can all go to seven different places at once."

Varian tried to laugh off his excuses, but the truth was he had been planning this for a week now. He wanted to impress Honey Lemon and surprise her with a nice outing. Fred had agreed to help and so they had concocted this harmless little scheme together.

Honey Lemon however hesitated, "Well, I don't know. I still got another final this afternoon and-"

"Oh don't worry, we can come back whenever we want. All we gotta do is call Fred."

"Yeah, we'll be using international cell phones, like they use on navy boats at sea, if y'all decide to go far off." Fred interjected. "And I have the jet and the helicopter, just in case something goes wrong."

"Nothing's going to go wrong." Varian gave Fred a warning look before smoothing things over with a charming smile. "Look, I'll have you back in time for you next final, promise."

Honey Lemon bit her lip in thought.

"Think about it." Varian knelt in close as he persuasively whispered to her. "One day; wherever you want to go. No waiting, no long flights, no cramped car rides, and absolutely free. Your dream vacation. If you could see any place in the world for just one day, where would it be?"

Honey Lemon searched his eyes as she teetered on the edge of indecision. She wrestled with both her adventurous free spirit and her better angels, before finally blurting out "Paris!"

"Paris it is! Fred, you heard the lady, give us a Parisian address."

"Coming right up," Fred saluted as he pulled out his cell phone and looked up a street address they could use.

Honey Lemon could barely contain her excitement as Varian put in the coordinates. She was practically hopping in place as the portal roared to life. Soon the blue circular window opened up and afternoon sunlight streamed through the lab; a contrast to the early morning sun that hung up in their sky behind it.

Varian ran over to double check the turbine, then he gave a little flourish as he bowed and said, "After you my lady."

Honey Lemon held her breath as she tentatively stepped through the portal and out onto a small alleyway. Once fully through, she walked to the end of the alley and looked up. All around her were shops and cute little boutiques, and there was the Eiffel tower standing tall in the distance; looking every bit just like the pictures and romantic movies she'd drool over as a kid.

She gave a little squeak of joy and then started bouncing up and down frantically. "It's the Eiffel tower!" She shouted back to her friends, before hugging herself with joy and twirling on the spot as she laughed with abandonment! "I'm in Paris! I can't believe I'm standing in Paris, France!"

Varian watched her dance with a huge dopey smile on his face, only for Fred to pull him out of the moment.

"Hey don't forget the traveler's checks." He handed Varian a checkbook. "They're good anywhere."

"Oh, yeah. Hey, and thanks again, man. I really appreciate this."

"Oh, no problem, and don't worry about a thing. I got everything under control." He reached out his hand to pat the return lever, only to miss and topple over onto the floor.

"Yeeeaaah." Varian said as his confidence began to falter for the first time since hatching this little scheme. Not that he was given time to rethink his plan as Honey Lemon rushed back to grab him by the arm and drag him through the portal.

"Come on, come on, come ooon," She squealed, "lets go check out the shops!"

And with that Fred righted himself and pulled the lever down to stop the turbine. The portal faded away leaving Varian and Honey Lemon stranded in Gay Paree.

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

Honey Lemon was having the most wonderful day. She felt like she was living in a picturesque romcom. Everywhere she looked it was just like a scene out of a movie; cute shops, lovely parks, and of course famous landmarks abound.

They started the day shopping. Honey Lemon bought herself two new dresses, one of which she decided to change into and wear for the rest of the trip. It was a flowy peach sundress and she wore a matching floppy wide brimmed hat to go with it.

Or rather Varian bought them, using the travelers checks Fred had given them. She promised to pay them both back but Varian told her not to worry about it. That he had already squared everything with Fred and she could pick out whatever she liked.

She decided not to press the matter. Her friends finances weren't her business after all, and also, deep down, she didn't want to talk herself out snagging a lovely pair of earrings that she found on sale.

She also insisted that Varian should buy something for himself. If nothing else than to make her feel less guilty about spending money that wasn't hers. She picked out a waistcoat for him, thinking he might like it. It was a navy blue vest that went well with the lighter blue collared shirt he wore. Although, he opted to keep his purchases in a shopping bag rather than wear it around unlike her.

They must have been a sight at the Louvre toting around paper bags like the tourists they so obviously were. Not that Honey Lemon cared. She would have gladly gotten lost in the halls full of priceless art for days if she had been aloud too. But with finals still looming over her head and only a few short precious hours to spend in Paris, she agreed to take a one hour guided tour.

She fawned over the Venus de Milo, swooned at the Monet's and the Van Gogh's that lined the walls, and she and Varian both had a good chuckle over seeing the Mona Lisa again. When the tour guide brought them into the Da Vinci exhibit, all the two of them could do was share knowing looks at one another and whispered conspiratorially as they shared their private joke. The poor tour guide wasn't as amused as they were. At one point during his lecture on Da Vinici's life, Varian gently elbowed her and pointed at the flying machine blueprints on the wall and they both inexplicably broke down into barely contained snickers, interrupting the tour guide's speech.

Though all in all they had a marvelous time. The only rain cloud that hovered over the party came early in the tour, and didn't stay for long. One of the first paintings shown was Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix. It was an oil painting depicting the French Revolution, or well one of them anyways; apparently France had a lot of revolutions. Honey Lemon respected the artistry of the picture but never cared for such dark and unpleasant subject matter. She wanted to move on quickly from the scene of the bloody battle field and on to something more pleasant to look at.

Varian however stood there transfixed by the painting, even as the tour was starting to move on. On his face he held a curious expression as he studied the painting intently. It wasn't sadness exactly, nor was it anger, but some odd mix between curiosity, shame, pain, and cold furious pride.

He stepped closer as his gaze honed in on one particular part of the image. There was a young boy running behind Lady Liberty, his gun raised high in the air as he dashed towards the fighting, no doubt ready to die for his cause.

Honey Lemon shuddered as she involuntarily made the connection between the boy in the painting and Varian. But she just as quickly shoved it out of her mind and grabbed him by the hand. She forced a smile on her face as she cheerily told him the group was leaving without them and for his part, he allowed himself to be led away from the disturbing piece of art.

Once away from the painting his smiling mood returned, as if the very concepts of 'war' and 'violence' didn't exist and bloody revolutions were a thing of the far past, regulated to history books, and not something he'd taken part in only a few months ago.

After the Louvre, they went to the Eiffel tower. Honey Lemon's heart soared as she stood upon the top observatory.

"Isn't this amazing!" She said as she ran over to the nearest telescope.

"If you say so." Varian chuckled.

"Oh don't tell me you're not having fun." Honey Lemon asked with worry.

"Oh no, I'm having a great time." He insisted. "I just don't understand all the fuss over what looks like a giant antenna. There's taller skyscrapers than this."

"It's about the history. It's an iconic landmark, like San Fansokyo's golden bridge."

"Yeah, but that at least serves a purpose."

Honey Lemon playfully rolled her eyes. "You don't get it. It's the Eiffel Tower , it's the most Paris thing about Paris. You can't visit and not see it."

Varian laughed as he admitted defeat. "Okay, okay, whatever makes you happy. It's your dream destination after all."

"Well, I'm not the only person on this trip. What would you like to see?"

Varian shrugged.

"Oh, come on there's got to be something you always wanted to see?" She pressed.

"In Paris? Beats me. All I know is that in my world Paris is where all the rich nobles come to visit when they want to hobnob and show off. The city of high fashion, splendor, and elitist garbage." He mocked, but quickly changed his tune when he caught Honey Lemon's frown. "Not like that's how things are here, it's just, no, Paris has never interested me. Well except for the various musicals about the French Revolution, but I don't really fancy touring the Bastille." He joked.

"Yeah, I agree." Honey Lemon replied through a strained smile and then quickly brought the subject back on topic. "But still, if there's no place you wanna see, perhaps there's something you'd like to do instead?"

"Well, I could go for some lunch, how about we go get some food after this?"

"Okay, sounds like a plan."

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

Varian did happen to find one thing that garnered his interest on the way to lunch. He discovered a quaint bookstore tucked away among a street full of smaller shops and venues. He eagerly went in and Honey Lemon happily followed.

As she scanned the bargain bin of romance novels, looking for something written in a language she could actually read, Varian hovered over the classics section of the store.

"Molière, Voltaire, Shakespeare…" He muttered to himself as he perused the shelves, "Hey, they got Copernicus!" He joyously called out and Honey Lemon walked over to see what he found.

He pulled out a small paperback with an illustration of the famous scientist on the cover.

"De revolutionibus orbium coelestium," he read out loud as Honey Lemon peered over his shoulder, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spears, man I used to read this book constantly as a kid. It was my favorite, next to the Flynn Rider series that is."

"You read math books in Latin as a little kid?" Honey Lemon asked, both impressed and bewildered.

"Yeah, my mom had a first edition copy. No idea where she got it, but the thing was already a hundred years old by the time it got passed on to me. I had to keep binding it with homemade glue to keep it from falling apart."

"So your mom taught you how to read?"

"Well, I vaguely remember her reading bedtime stories to me at night, so I guess, but reading and other languages always came easy to me. Latin isn't that much different than say, French, and half the court speaks that back home. You could probably learn it easily yourself, since you're already fluent in Spanish."

"You think so? Would ya teach me?"

"If you want me to."

She let out a giggle, not entirely serious with her request and he chuckled along with her, before flipping through the book once more, fascinated with it.

"See, you like art, " he continued "but this," he held up one of the pages for her to get a better view, on it was a diagram of the solar system. "This is what inspires me. Copernicus's findings revolutionized the entire way science was even approached. Galileo, Newton, even that Einstein guy everyone goes on about, all of them built their theories based off this one man's work. Man, what I wouldn't give to have that kind of impact; to discover something that makes an actual difference to people's lives and does something good."

Honey Lemon looked at him in disbelief, "Says the guy who just finished building a working portal."

"Well, I - I didn't invent that. I just built off of Demantius and Callaghan's findings. Now, Demantius, he was also a genius scientist; miles ahead of even Copernicus."

"Yeah, but you just said it yourself, even famous scientists start on the foundation left behind by others. I wouldn't be in school studying chemistry if it wasn't for Madame Curie and Lenore Shimamoto. And yeah Callaghan, and that Dem- Demanty, guy…"

"Demantius."

"Yeah, him, they may have come up with the theories but you actually got it to work . When this gets out you're going to be famous. Like you could win the Nobel Prize, levels of fame."

Varian blushed at that, but then shook his head. "I don't care about awards, but I would like for my inventions to help someone for once instead of just making a mess of everything."

"Well they will. I know it." She gave him an encouraging smile and Varian felt in that moment as if he was ten feet tall. His face flushed and he wore a grin from ear to ear.

He continued to wear this gigantic smile as he walked up to the register to pay for the book and it wouldn't leave his face for quite a few hours there afterwards.

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

"What are you doing?" Hiro asked as he entered the lab. He was looking for Varian but instead he found Fred sitting upside down in a rolling office chair as he scrolled through his phone.

"Waiting for Varian and Honey Lemon to get back from their date." Fred said distractedly. "Hey what's another word for fool that's ten letters long? I'm on a hard level of Crosswords vs Killer Plants and I'm stuck on this one- oh…. Aww man! The Venus Flytrap from Venus just ate my puzzle piece, now gotta do the whole thing over again."

Hiro ignored Fred's complaints about his video game. "Waaait, you're telling me that Honey Lemon agreed to go out on a date, with Varian? Varian ."

"Well, yeah, what else would you call a romantic getaway to Paris?"

"Paris!?"

"Oh yeah, Varian got the portal working. Didn't tell you?"

"No."

"Oh, well he got the portal working. It still doesn't go between dimensions but you can travel anywhere in our world with it. They're using the date as a test run and I'm in charge of bringing them back." With this proclamation Fred righted himself, stood up, and puffed out his chest proudly.

Hiro gave him an incredulous look and Fred returned his doubts with a smug but oblivious smile.

"Aaand how do you do that?" Hiro asked.

"Oh, I just pull this lever right here." He walked over to the turbine to show Hiro what he was talking about. "All Varian has to do is give me a call when they're ready to return and I just give it a yang like so-"

Fred proceeded to demonstrate but as he pulled the lever down it broke off completely.

"Oh no."

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

Honey Lemon and Varian sat outside in the late afternoon sun at a café along the Champs-Élysées. They people watched as they munched on chips and sandwiches, just enjoying the scenery and each other's company.

"You know," Honey Lemon said thoughtfully, "Andre and I always talked about coming here together, but I actually think this was more fun with a friend."

"Andre?" Varian echoed.

"Just a guy I use to date." Honey Lemon tried to shrug it off as she took another bite of her brie and tomato baguette.

"What was wrong with him? Besides being an idiot that is."

"What, no, Andre isn't dumb at all."

"He has to be, to let you go." Varian quipped as he reached for another chip.

"It's not like that." Honey Lemon shook her head. "We met in high school but wound up going to different colleges, that's all. We decided it'd be too hard to keep up a long distance relationship so we just ended things there. There were no hard feelings or anything, just, we fell out of touch."

She tried to sound nonchalant but she couldn't keep the melancholy out of her voice.

Varian frowned.

"So which school did he go to?" He asked.

"Oh he got into Princeton." She chirped. "He's a political science major."

"And they don't teach that at any school in San Fansokyo?" Varian asked, confused.

"Well I'm sure they do, but he got into Princeton ." She waited for Varian to catch on but he only stared at her blankly. "You know, one of the three top ivy league schools in the country? Not just anybody can get into that and it was a great opportunity for him. You don't just turn down a chance to go to Princeton."

Still more confused stares, so Honey Lemon continued.

"Buuut it just happens to be on the other side of the county from SFIT. Which is also a great school. It and MIT are the best schools for STEM majors. I couldn't turn that down either. I'm really fortunate to be there and plus I've made such great friends since I've started going."

She finished off her ramble with a smile and Varian returned it.

"Well good, I'm glad things are working out for you both." He said as politely as he could and then more hesitantly asked. "Do you still talk to him, at all?"

"Oh sure, sometimes we video chat, last time he…." Honey Lemon paused as it occurred to her that "last time" was actually over a year ago, and it had not ended pleasantly for her. "... He just… he got an A on his exam." She lied and left it at that.

In truth he had told her he was dating someone else. They had previously agreed to remain friends and during the beginning weeks of their first semester they had genuinely tried to keep in touch. And while there had been no intentional malice on Andre's part, the casual way he had mentioned his new girlfriend into their conversion had just wrecked her. She tried to be happy for him, but she could no longer bring herself to return any of his calls.

It didn't help matters, being seventeen and living away from home for the first time in her life. She was in a new town, new school, and knew no one at all. The loneliness had been unbearable. More than once she had wanted to call it quits and run home to her mother.

Thank goodness for Business Economics 101. Most majors took the general course at some point and that was where she'd met her friends. They were assigned the group project of running a mock business.

Tadashi, being the natural leader that he was, brought them all together and made sure everyone worked as a group rather than just them each shuffling off to do their parts of the assignment on their own. He even convinced Fred to be their 'guinea pig', so to say, to bounce their ideas off; despite Fred not being an actual student and therefore only an unofficial part of the group.

Still everyone just clicked, and Honey Lemon found both solace and distraction from her lovesick woes. Tadashi had been particularly encouraging; making sure to check up on her even once the assignment was over, inviting her along to things, and making sure to drag her out of her slump whenever she felt like moping. That was just the type of person he was. He never wanted anyone to feel left out.

The thought of Tadashi pained her even more than the thought of Andre. Her first real friend, just gone and in only a few short months.

Geez, had it really been almost a whole year now? When was the last time she'd actually stopped to think about, well, any of it? She had kept herself busy, making sure her friends were okay, making sure Hiro was okay, and burying herself in school work and superheroing that she hadn't let herself process any of it. In truth the past year just felt like one big blur to her.

"Honey Lemon," Varian tentatively called out to her, "are you okay?"

She snapped out of her reprieve and found Varian looking at her with concern, so she slapped a smile on her face and said, "I'm fine. I was just thinking about what we should do next is all."

If Varian had seen through her white lie he didn't show it. "Well we only have maybe an hour or two of daylight left here, which means we should probably start heading back soon. I say we do one more thing and then call it a day."

Honey Lemon nodded in agreement, though she was disappointed that her magical day in Paris was slipping away so quickly.

"So one hour left. What do you wanna do, you're pick." He said.

Honey Lemon didn't even have to think about it, she knew precisely what she wanted.

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

Varian had never felt comfortable in church.

He appreciated the extensive library that the convent back home held, and he acknowledged that the nuns and few monks who ran it were much more proactive in helping the people of Corona than the royals, but the stuffy atmosphere, the endless and seemingly pointless rules, and the blind worship of a being he couldn't see, hear, nor study scientifically left him feeling out of step with rest of his village even more so than normal.

He only ever visited whenever his dad would drag him there, usually on appropriate holidays or when needing to deliver food shipments to the small abbey by the sea, and even then he'd hide away in its study pouring over ancient manuscripts and books. But being the son of the village leader meant he had to stand there, bored to tears, whenever a ceremony had to take place, like a christening, or a funeral, or even the occasional wedding.

Varian didn't begrudge anyone their faith, nor could he confidently claim they were wrong in their beliefs now that he had discovered magic was real, but he still didn't really want to participate. So imagine his dismay when Honey Lemon told him she wanted to visit a cathedral on her vacation.

Well, okay, it wasn't just any old church. Notre-Dame de Paris was apparently a beloved historical landmark the same as the Eiffel tower had been. It was famous for being the center focus of novels, plays, and movies; not that Varian had ever seen any of them.

While it was still functionally a place of worship, visitors were allowed and tourists of all walks of life and personal beliefs frequently toured the bell towers.

This helped to ease Varian's discomfort somewhat, knowing that he wasn't the only person there not conducting themselves in prayers or going to mass. It was still incredibly stuffy and somber though.

As the tour guide dispassionately droned on about flying buttresses Varian quietly weighed the pros and cons of excommunication vs the satisfaction of flipping the man of the cloth off and walking away. Fortunately things never progressed that drastically.

Honey Lemon tapped him on the shoulder and silently pointed to a little stairwell tucked in the corner of the wall at the end of the cloister. She motioned him to follow her and they snuck away from the rest of the group.

They ducked inside the archway and pressed themselves against the wall as they waited for the tour to move on. Once the guide and sound of footsteps was out of ear shot the two teens breathed a sigh of relief and then broke down in giggles.

"Oh man, if I hear the words 'flying buttresses' again I'm going to scream." Honey Lemon joked.

"Yeah that was pretty excruciating." Varian agreed.

"Hey, let's see where this leads." She said as she began to climb the stairs.

"Are you sure we're allowed to go up there?" He asked.

"Well I don't see any signs saying not to." And with this logical assumption the two began to explore on their own.

The stairs led to the north tower. The actual bells were held in the south tower opposite to them and they could see the famous chimes through the large windows as they made their way to the rooftop.

"Will you look at that view?" Honey Lemon breathed as she ran to the edge of the roof and peered over the stone banister.

The sun was low in the sky and bathed the city of Paris in a golden glow. She turned back to Varian and gave him a smile. The sunlight caught in her fiery red hair and sparkled like a halo around her. Varian forgot to breathe for a moment. How could anyone be that beautiful? Sure she was always pretty, but to him that was just a fact of life, like saying the sky was blue or water was wet, but there were times, like now, when she seemed almost transcendent, as if she'd had step down from the heavens itself to bless mere mortals like him with her presence. Yet she, and most other people, didn't even notice. They didn't see what he saw in these moments. They didn't recognize any significance in such mundane scenarios and Honey Lemon herself remained oblivious to the effect she had on him, even as she stole the very breath from his lungs. It was enough to drive Varian almost mad.

"You're so pret- I mean… umm, it's nice." He squeaked once he regained his senses. She didn't catch his flub and only smiled wider before turning back to look at the view once more.

Varian breathed in and out deeply as he tried to calm himself and work up his nerve.

"Okay Varian, last chance." He whispered to himself. "The day is getting away and you'll never find a more perfect moment, so just ask her. You can do this…. I can do this."

After this pep talk he walked over to join Honey Lemon at the banister. She barely acknowledged his approach, as she was too enraptured with the scenery. Varian looked up at her and suddenly became self conscious about his own height. He'd managed to grow a few inches since coming to San Fansokyo, but he was still dwarfed by the tall girl, especially in her high heels. He stepped up onto a broken piece of the mason, which created a nice little foothold on the wall, and leaned over the banister as well. Thus making himself eye level to her.

"I feel just like a princess up here." Honey Lemon suddenly said with a smile.

Varian was knocked for a loop. "A princess?"

"Yeah!"

"But you're a knight. That's way cooler than any princess."

Not for the first time that day Honey Lemon shook her head. "You still don't get it. I know castles are boring to you cause you grew up in one, but for me they only existed in storybooks. Every little girl dreams of wearing a pretty dress or some other nice outfit, while staying in a romantic far away land and being swept off their feet by a handsome hero."

Varian rolled his eyes, propped his elbows on the ledge, and rested his chin in his hands.

"Well I guess that leaves me out." He said under his breath.

He hadn't meant for Honey Lemon to hear that but she did anyway.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I'm not a hero," he reluctantly admitted and to deflect from this he self-deprecatingly joked, "and I guess the less said about the handsome part the better, am I right?"

"Oh I didn't mean it that way!" Honey Lemon quickly apologized. She placed an encouraging hand upon his shoulder. "You're very handsome, and any girl would be lucky to have you sweep her off her feet."

"Really?"

"Uh huh" she blithely nodded.

"Maaybe, even say, a girl like.."

Like you, Was what he wanted to say, but just then the cell phone rang interrupting the moment.

"Hey Fred, what's up?" Varian answered, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. It was a futile effort, especially once he had heard Fred's reply. "You What!?"

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

Varian brooded as he stared out of the airport's window. How did everything fall apart so quickly? He was seconds away from confessing his feelings only to instead have to embarrassingly explain to Honey Lemon why they couldn't return home immediately as promised.

Fred said that he and Hiro were on a private jet to come pick them up, so they weren't necessarily stuck in France, but it did mean that Honey Lemon would have to miss her final. She had been nice about it, but Varian still felt guilty and kept apologizing profusely to her as they left the cathedral and took a cab to the private airport Fred was supposed to pick them up at.

Varian snagged a sidelong glance at the pretty redhead. Honey Lemon was busy on her phone; no doubt trying desperately to contact her professors, or maybe she was just trying to avoid talking to him. Either way Varian sank lower in his seat and hid his face in his hands.

He ran through the schematics of the portal in his head trying to figure out what went wrong. It would have been easy just to blame Fred for the mishap, but Varian knew deep down that wouldn't be fair. He had been the one to build the return lever after all. He must not have secured it well enough or perhaps he needed a completely new system for getting back.

That's when the international cell phone rang once more. Varian got up and answered it nearer to the large viewing window. He acted like this might strengthen the signal, but in truth he just didn't want Honey Lemon listening in incase it was even more bad news.

"Hey Varian" Fred sang out over the other end of the line, "It took awhile for Heathcliff to get the 'all clear for takeoff' signal from the tower, but we're in the air and on our way now."

"Yeah and I already told Aunt Cass we were spending the night over at Fred's place, so your welcome." Hiro smugly added on.

Varian pinched his nose in frustration and bit back a harsher retort to the other boy. "So how long will it take you to get here?" Varian asked instead.

"Uh, I say about ten to eleven hours." Fred responded.

"Ten hours!" Varian yelled. He then noticed Honey Lemon looking up from her phone to stare at him after this outburst. His cheeks burned red and he turned his back to her as he continued the conversion, this time in a harsh whisper. "What are we supposed to do for ten hours? Sleep at the airport?"

"I don't know man, but no matter what you do none of us can get back to San Fansokyo until late tomorrow night. Even if we just turned around and left immediately once getting to France."

"You mean I have to stay on a plane for twenty hours straight and not even get to see the place we're traveling too?" Hiro complained.

"Do you actually care anything about Pairs?" Varian asked in a monotone voice.

"No, not really, but you try being stuck on an airplane for twenty hours. There's no internet up here."

"Then why did you volunteer to come along?"

"'Cause someone has to save your butt, and I wasn't going just leave it to Fred." There was an awkward pause before Hiro hastily added. "Uh..cause... cause traveling alone sucks."

"Ah it's not so bad," Fred encouraged, "I got a tv, game system, and the entire Kentucky Kaiju collection on dvd. Hey, we can have a Kaju marathon!"

"Grrreeaaat" Hiro said in a strained voice, then to Varian he threateningly whispered. "Once this is over, you owe me big. Got it? Like doing my chores for a week big."

Varian rolled his eyes. He never understood Hiro's aversion to housework, but whatever. He was tired of arguing.

"Fine. See you at, like, seven in the morning I guess." Then he hung up.

Varian made his way to the front desk as he pocketed the cell phone.

"Bonjour," He greeted the concierge. "Uh, pardonnez-moi, mais vous savez s'il y a, ummm… des auberges par ici?"

The woman at the desk seemed impressed that he knew French so fluently, even if he did have to stop and remember what the word for "inn" was.

She rattled off a list of options and Varian just randomly picked one out; having zero knowledge about any of them.

"Pourrais-tu...oh what's the French word for telephone?" Varian dug back into his pocket and pulled out the cell phone and mimicked making a phone call.

"Appeler au téléphone?" The woman suggested.

"Oui, Yes, thank you. So it's the same word hun? Neat. Uh, pouvez-vous appeler au téléphone l'auberge pour moi et réserver une chambre? Oh, s'il te plaît."

"How many? Une?" The woman asked while holding one finger up in the air.

"One? Oui. I only need one room." He responded back. "Oh and, seulement pour une nuit."

She nodded and confirmed the booking.

"Merci." Varian said and then walked back over to where Honey Lemon sat.

"I got us a room for the night." He said as he gathered up their shopping bags. "Turns out Fred won't be here until the morning."

Honey Lemon frowned at that but didn't argue. "Where is it?"

"Don't know, some place called the Regency Montmartre. I'm sure the cab driver will know." And with that they made to leave.

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

"Okay, here we are." Varian said as he opened the door to the hotel room

The accommodation was a modest suite decorated in a light and rustic style. As soon as you entered the door there was a bathroom to your right with brass fixtures and a stone tiled shower. On the left was the closet and beyond it the bedroom with a sliding shuttered door that separated it from the rest of the suite. In the sitting area in front of them was a small couch, more of a loveseat really, made of wood with a cream futon cushion on top and a matching coffee table in front of it. In the right most corner of the room was a desk made of the same light wood and a brass chair with a matching cream-colored cushioned seat. Next to it and in front view of the sofa was a pair of glass double doors leading to a balcony with sheer off-white curtains hanging over the windows.

"It's not too bad, is it?" Varian asked as they both entered.

However Honey Lemon let out a nervous "Ummm.." as she opened the sliding door to the bedroom. She hesitantly pointed at the single brass bed, also draped in matching ivory linen sheets.

"Of course." Varian said tightly. "I'll take the couch." He sighed as he dropped the bags on the floor and flopped onto the small sofa. He then brought a hand up to massage his eyes in irritation.

Honey Lemon just stood there shuffling her feet and watched him as she wrung her hands wondering what to do. Varian had been in a foul mood ever since Fred had called to tell them about the portal being broken.

His temper wasn't directed at her nor anyone in particular, she knew, but negativity always set Honey Lemon on edge. Especially if the person in question was usually upbeat and cheery like herself. Whenever tensions would arise, Honey Lemon always felt the need to smooth things over as quickly as possible.

"Well, it is a queen sized bed, maybe we can both sleep on it." she innocently suggested, looking for an agreeable solution. She didn't notice the surprised look on Varian's face as her problem solving skills kicked in and she rushed to the closet. "I bet they have extra sheets and pillows in here. Ah-ha!" She yelled in triumph as she pulled out said bedding and held it up. "See you can take one side with your own covers and I'll take the other side with the rest."

Varian however turned the idea down. "No, no, it's okay. The couch is fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can sleep anywhere." And with that he went back to nursing his growing headache.

Honey Lemon bit her lower lip in worry. The sofa looked anything but comfortable. It might be okay for sitting in, but it was far too cramped to lay across and it wasn't very cushiony. It reminded her more of patio furniture than an actual couch.

She racked her brain for another way to cheer him up. "Well at least we get to spend more time in Paris." She said as she opened the doors to the balcony. From said balcony one could see the busy street below, the tightly packed buildings on the other side, and breaking up the skyline was the famous red windmill of the Moulin Rouge, all lit up in dusky twilight. "And the view is nice." She hopefully added.

Varian finally looked up. "Beautiful" he coarsely said.

Honey Lemon didn't know what he meant. He wasn't even looking at the window but staring past it, intently so. Varian was a hard person to read sometimes. His mind was like a puzzle box, hiding away formulas, inventions, grand schemes, and closely guarded secrets all while appearing earnestly simple and deceptively quaint in his stubbornly optimistic worldview. But there were moments, like when he was busy working on a project or, like when earlier with the painting at Louvre, he was reminded of his unpleasant past, the veil would drop and one could see the man underneath the boyish exterior. The intense focus, the no nonsense attitude, his searing gaze, and dark demeanor all bespoke of a person who grew up too fast and too harshly.

Honey Lemon couldn't help but shiver whenever he would look at her with such a serious glare, as if his piercing blue eyes were looking right through her and into her very soul. To further add to the confusion, the tone of his voice was always so sincere whenever he spoke and Honey Lemon honestly couldn't tell if his comments about the view were genuine, something told just to placate her, or a sarcastic quip.

But like always, when faced with something she didn't want to deal with, Honey Lemon just ignored the incident.

"I'm sorry" Varian hoarsely confessed in what had to be the tenth apology today at least. "I know I promised to get you back home on time and I know that my portal didn't work as well as I hoped it would. I swear the tests I ran before went off without a hitch. I just don't know what happened; if a screw came loose or if Fred pulled on the lever too hard, though probably not I used a titanium steel alloy to…"

Honey Lemon rushed over to him on the couch where he sat, interrupting his ramble. "It's okay. It was just an accident." She insisted as she knelt down and placed a comforting hand on his chest. "You couldn't help it."

Varian placed her hand in his but continued on with his apologetic speech. "I'll call Professor Granville, and explain to her everything. Tell her it's all my fault. I'm sure she can get you an extension on your final."

Honey Lemon pursed her lips as she debated about telling him the bad news, but he saw the trepidation in her face anyways.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"That might work for my chemistry final, but tomorrow was supposed to be my art finals at SFAI." She sadly told him.

"Oh." He said flatly as the light left his eyes and he proceeded to fall back onto the couch; this time staring up at the ceiling and dismay.

"Hey, I'm…I'm sure I could work something out with my art professors. Maybe write about my trip to the Louvre museum as extra credit or something." Honey Lemon couldn't tell if this encouragement was more for herself or for Varian, but she desperately hoped she sounded more confident than she actually felt.

Though it did seem to pull Varian out of his funk, if only just a little bit.

"You… you think so?"

She nodded yes, not trusting her voice to carry the lie.

"So you're not upset with me?"

"Nooo." She assured him. "Are.. are angry at Fred?"

"I mean, I'm a little annoyed, but no, I guess not. I'm more mad at myself then anything."

"Well, don't be." She smiled at him and for the first time since leaving Notre Dame that day, he returned it.

"So got a little more time in Paris, what do you want to do?" Varian asked her, changing the subject.

"I don't know." Honey Lemon laughed, just glad that the awkward atmosphere had dispersed. "I pretty much saw everything I wanted to see."

"Well, would you like to go to a show, or maybe dinner?" He suggested. "It's only 9:30, I bet we could still get a table somewhere. In fact I think the hotel has a restaurant attached."

He got up and walked over to the desk. There was a telephone on top and next to that a brochure listing the hotel's amenities.

"Yeah, it's called the Chez Francois;" he read, "sounds like one of those fancy multi-course fine dining experiences that the French love."

"Oooh! I can wear my new dress!" And with that Honey Lemon jumped up and started to search through the shopping bags for said gown.

"Okay, okay," Varian chuckled at her enthusiasm, "I'll call ahead and make reservations."

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

The dining hall was much like the rest of the hotel. Antique opulence with just a hint of wear and tear around the edges. It was high class, but not in the same way that the seafood restaurant they had taken Aunt Cass to last week had been. It wasn't ostentatious. There was a 'lived in' feeling to the place; a history to it that said it's hayday was long past but its respectable reputation kept the patrons still coming.

Varian felt far more comfortable here, even if the only nice thing he had to wear was the new vest Honey Lemon had picked out for him. Of course he could have been dressed in rags and it still wouldn't have distracted from his good mood as he stole admiring glances at the girl on his arm.

Not that she noticed. Honey Lemon was too distracted by the surroundings and prospect of dining like French high society to pay much attention to Varian's stares.

She was practically vibrating with excitement and it took all of her control not to bounce from corner to corner of the room fawning over every little detail. The waiter sat them down at an intimate table for two, complete with candle light, and she fidgeted with the end of her frilly yellow skirt of her new dress as her head swerved every which way; drinking in the scenery. She literally could not keep still.

Varian softly laughed at her and knelt closer, "Happy?" He asked and Honey Lemon nodded her head enthusiastically which only caused Varian to suppress even more laughter. Nothing made him more happy than seeing her delighted face.

The waiter came back over and Varian ordered them dinner, not that there was much choice. The restaurant served a traditional seven course meal with predetermined dishes. All you did was specify any dietary restrictions or allergies. Varian requested the vegetarian option, knowing Honey Lemon would prefer that.

It wasn't long after that bread rolls were brought out, along with a bowl of mixed nuts for the L’Apéritif course. Their server also uncorked a bottle of champagne to go with the salty snacks.

Honey Lemon looked flustered and confused as the garçon poured the bubbly wine, but was far too timid to protest. However once the waiter was out of ear shot she hissed accusingly at Varian, "What about your promise?"

Varian looked taken aback, "What about it? I promised I wouldn't get drunk at parties anymore, this is just wine with dinner."

"But we're both under twenty-one." She whispered.

Varian unsuccessfully tried to stifle a laugh. "That's only in America. We're in Paris. No one cares here, the waiter didn't even ask for ID."

Honey Lemon rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Oh don't believe me?" Varian insisted, "Check online, see what the age restriction on wine is."

She did and to her chagrin, he was right. "Okay, just because it's technically sixteen here, doesn't mean you get to… to skirt around the rules like you always do."

"Moi?" Varian sarcastically asked as he barely contained his giggles. "Perish the thought dear lady. I assure you there is no rule bending here. You can barely even get tipsy off of a single glass of wine. Besides," He added with a sly smile, "you wanted the authentic French cuisine experience didn't you? You can't very well have cheese and wine without the wine, now can you?"

Honey Lemon chewed her lip before giving in. It was true, she had always wanted to know what real champagne tasted like. She sighed in defeat and then took a small sip of the fizzy drink. She immediately made a face as the bitter undertones of the wine hit her. It was nothing like she thought it'd be.

Varian burst out laughing at the grimace she made, finally losing all pretense of composure. For her part she tried to lightly but repeatedly whack him in the arm with a napkin to get him to shut up, but she was also breaking down in embarrassed giggles even as she tried her best to hide her half-hearted assault.

When they finally calmed down, Varian leaned over and quietly confessed to her, "I didn't order the wine. It just automatically came with the dinner."

She tried to give him an angry glare for his little trick but she couldn't maintain it for long and wound up snorting in laughter. Which only served to send them into another fit of giggles.

"You're awful." She teased.

"I know." He proudly admitted and then added with a laugh. "I'll order us some water if you don't want the wine."

From there dinner proceeded smoothly. Hors d'oeuvres with cheese stuffed figs and mushroom pate on blinis, traditional French onion soup, followed by a lime and mint sorbet to cleanse the palette, and then it was on to the main course, a simple Cassoulet au Gratin plated with a flourish.

It lacked the usual sausage Varian would have added if he was making it back home for himself, but there was something comforting in the cheesy bean and potato dish. In fact most of the meal had been very familiar to him.

French food was not uncommon in Corona. Queen Arianna had been French herself, hailing from the border kingdom of Lorraine, and thus had brought with her French customs, fashion, cuisine, and even the language itself. Supposedly both the nobility and peasantry alike had taken to their new foreign Princess with gusto and accepted the French fad eagerly.

Of course this was long before Varian was born, and the villages on the mainland, like in his own home, still held tightly to their Germanic traditions. But even after ascending the throne and reigning for over twenty years, the royalists on the island capital were still fascinated by the latest trends from Paris and whatever new fashionable interest the Queen took up.

She even had packed the court with French dignitaries, nobles, and servants; including the head chef. Varian could still see in his mind's eye the sniveling lump of a man looking very small and impotent standing before the Saporians. For upon securing the castle, Andrew had ordered the kitchen staff to prepare a victory feast; a grand full course meal fit for a king.

Everyone who had assisted in the previous battle was invited; Saporians, political prisoners, and any citizenry who had joined their side. Varian spotted a whole assortment of people in attendance from rich nobility out to save their own skins to poor put upon servants; like Helmut the tailor, who still held a grudge against the king for locking him in the stockade over nothing more than a mere mishap involving a torn robe.

But the guests of honor were the royals themselves. While everyone gorged themselves on meat and mead, that for some had been denied to them for many a year, the king and queen were seated at the middle of the enormous dining table and forced to eat nothing but the food served in their own dungeons. While Varian ate duck à l'orange, King Frederick had to chew on stale bread. When Andrew gave a toast in his wine filled goblet, Queen Arianna had to drink water from a wooden bowl. As the revolutionaries feasted upon rare and expensive sweets like chocolates and fruit filled pastries the crown was given gruel.

Varian did so relish Frederic's outrage at being served lobster as the 'traitors' fed themselves on the royals' prized venison. Though he couldn't help but feel a tad guilty whenever he spotted the Queen. Unlike her husband, who never stopped ranting and raving and made all manner of threats towards the rebels, Arianna carried herself in regal composure. She remained calm and untouchable even as the Saporian invaders heckled and bullied her. Nothing could get a rise out of her.

His shame turned to anger though when he remembered how she enabled Frederic's worst excesses. She may have been 'nice' and well mannered, but that didn't change the fact she benefited from her husband's violent persecution of the poor. Crouching his atrocities as being 'tough on crime' and ignoring her people's pleas for help might have made her more comfortable with Frederic's lies, but that didn't change the fact that Varian's father was still gone, nor the fact that he wasn't the only orphan that had been suddenly separated from their family in the past twenty years.

So it was with little regret that as the petty and spiteful feast wore down the last course was rolled out; coffee, tea, and cocktails. As Varian nursed his own 'le digestif' he watched the Saporian sorceress, Clementine, serve the royals her own special brew. After drinking which they knew no more of feasts, wars, kingdoms, or criminals. In fact they no longer knew anything at all.

Varian shoved this memory aside as he watched Honey Lemon devour her cucumber and tomato salad with great enthusiasm. He much preferred the present company at this banquet over the vengeful vagabonds and their gluttonous feast.

Honey Lemon, for her part, was far more impressed with the dinner than her date. As the server brought the charcuterie board for the cheese course, she couldn't help but express her admiration for the meal. "This is wonderful! I can't believe all the new foods I've gotten to try. Though I am starting to get full; how many courses are there in a traditional fancy dinner?"

"In this one, seven, but an actual traditional full course meal is like seventeen to eighteen courses." Varian answered.

Honey Lemon's eyes went wide. "My goodness, who on earth could ever eat that much food?"

Varian shrugged. "That's royalty for ya. They waste tons of food, even as their people struggle to grow their crops."

He bitterly spat out this last criticism of the elite, then quickly slapped on a smile when he caught Honey Lemon frowning at him in worry.

"Have you tried the Roquefort yet? Boy does that have a kick to it." He joked as he pretended as if he hadn't said anything at all about his past.

Honey Lemon let him pretend. It was easier that way.

Increasingly Corona sounded less and less like the fairytale world of her dreams and more like a nightmare; and as for Varian, he was most certainly not the perfect prince that she had first imagined him to be. Though he was still charming, disarmingly so.

Somehow, Varian always knew just what to say to get people to go along with his schemes. He had a knack for making bad ideas sound fantastic and convincing you that he had all the answers even when he couldn't be more lost himself. That was how she had wound up stranded in Paris, eating cheese and wine, as she missed all of her finals.

Honey Lemon's stomach dropped at the thought. Oh god, what was she going to say to her professors? Worst; what was she going to tell her mother? Her mom was paying for her tuition to both schools and she most certainly wouldn't approve of Honey Lemon failing her expensive art classes just to go galavanting around a forgien city with some boy. It didn't matter that she was technically eighteen now, nor that said boy was only a friend, her mother would still find a way to shame her for it. Mama Rodriguez was not one to approve of frivolities like boys over good grades.

Honey Lemon took another nervous swig of the wine as she tried to think of what excuse to tell her teachers and the woman who raised her. She immediately made another sour face as it tasted just as bitter as the last time she had tried it.

"You know you don't have to keep drinking that stuff if you don't like it." Varian teased.

Honey Lemon plastered on a wide grin as she tried to calm her nerves. "Hey, when in Paris…" she said as she held up the wine glass.

"When in Pairs…" Varian agreed and clinked his own glass against hers in a toast.

They both took a drink and Honey Lemon shut her eyes tightly as she forced herself to down the nasty concoction. Shoot, if she was going to get in trouble anyways she might as well live it up.

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

Dinner ended with a sweet soufflé for dessert and coffee; which Honey Lemon preferred by far to the previous champagne. By the time everything was done and over with they were nearly midnight getting back to the hotel room.

Honey Lemon could barely contain her excitement as they made their way down the hall. She wanted to laugh, sing, and talk a mile a minute about everything and had to forcibly remind herself not to be too loud, that other guests were sleeping.

This jovial behavior was more due to her natural outgoing personality than any alcohol she may have consumed. Honey Lemon had had more water than wine to drink throughout dinner and Varian was so used to having a beer with most meals that the champagne barely fazed him. In fact neither of them had gotten even close to tipsy the whole night, and it was only the thrill of breaking the rules and getting away with it that made Honey Lemon so thoroughly giddy.

"I never had a day like today." She went on excitedly as Varian unlocked the door to the room. "It was just like out of a movie or a romance novel."

"Except for being stuck at the airport for two hours." Varian sarcastically quipped as he held the door open for her.

Honey Lemon shook her head with a wide grin on her face. She wasn't going to let Varian's usual snarkiness get her down.

"Even that was exciting, taking a trip in a cab to get there. It was like we were sightseeing. I even spotted the Sacré-Cœur Basilica on the way over here."

"What is it with you and churches? Are they a part of your normal romcom?"

"Well it's about the history behind them and the pretty architecture. Though I guess they might show up in a wedding scene." She mused as she sat down and took off her shoes.

Varian gave a chuckle. "Is that where your movie ends, with a grand wedding?"

Honey Lemon ignored his teasing. "Not in a cathedral," she said in all seriousness, "I would want an outdoor wedding."

"Oh and I guess you've got that all planned out already hun? Even before knowing who the groom will be." He joked.

"Every little girl ever plans her wedding out," Honey Lemon dismissed. "that and prom."

"What's prom?"

"Oh it's a big fancy dance you go to in high school. It's the one of the few real chances you get to dress up in an honest to goodness ball gown."

"You know you could just wear a ball gown whenever you wanted to. Nothing's actually stopping you." Varian pointed out.

"Oh sure, I'm just going to go to the grocery store in a hundred dollar full length dress." Honey Lemon snorted and she and Varian both broke down into more fits of laughter.

"Okay, okay," Varian coincided as he grabbed Honey Lemon by the hand and helped her up off the sofa. "So tell me what comes next in this fairytale dream of yours, hmm? How does the night end?"

Honey Lemon blushed, "Weelll…"

"Come on, you can tell me." He encouraged as he gripped her hand tighter and stepped closer to her, his Cheshire smile never leaving his face.

She was still taller than him, even without her heels on, but at least they were closer to eye level now and Varian could probably have kissed her easily if he had gotten the chance too.

But the cell phone rang once more, breaking the spell. Varian screwed up his face in irritation. He was going to smash the blasted thing before the trip was over with, he was sure of it.

"Hello." He answered as he stepped away from his crush. Nothing but static and garbled voices came from the other end. "I...I can't hear you. You're breaking up." he heaved a weary sigh as she turned the phone off.

"I'm going to go down to the lobby and try to call Hiro back." He told Honey Lemon. "I might be able to get better reception there."

"Okay," she nodded. "I'm going to shower while you're gone and get ready for bed." She let out a yawn as he shut the door behind him.

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

Honey Lemon vigorously scrubbed her hair as she tried to wash away her embarrassment and anxiety. She still didn't know what to tell her professors at the art institute and now she'd just made a fool of herself with all that talk about romance and weddings.

Varian had been nice enough about it. He didn't seem to mind her fanciful musings and even his occasional teasing was done out of genuine camaraderie and not any malice. But he was just a friend, the same as Hiro or Fred. Life wasn't really a movie and he wasn't actually her dashing love interest. He wasn't Andre.

Now Honey Lemon just wanted to cry. She was supposed to have done all these things today with her high school sweetheart. Andre had been her first, well first everything, and she had honestly believed they would have been together forever.

Which was foolish, she knew. High school romances never lasted and they had both moved on. She hadn't even spoken to him in nearly a year. Oh, and how her mother would scold her for getting her silly head lost in such romantic notions and getting hung up on a boy.

"You should be getting your degree and a good job, not wishing your life away for some philandering baboso to come waltzing back and making a bunch of empty promises he doesn't intend to keep."

Mama had never approved of Andre, or of any man who caught her daughter's eye. She didn't want her precious little girl making the same mistakes she had made growing up.

Honey Lemon knew she meant well and that she was probably right about needing to focus on school first, but it was still stifling to listen to.

Honey Lemon sighed as she turned off the water and wrapped a towel around her. There was nothing else to do. She'll just have to keep her Parisian excursion a secret from her mother. So long as she didn't let her grades dip, that would be easy enough to do, but if her missed finals did damage to her GPA she'd have to come up with a pretty creative lie to tell the family matriarch, and Honey Lemon was a terrible liar.

She changed into her regular shirt and tights and flopped on the bed. Whatever was she going to do?

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

Varian dragged himself back up the stairs to the hotel room. His conversation with Hiro had been exhausting. The other boy hadn't even really wanted anything, he was just sick of Fred's monster movies and wanted to complain to Varian again.

It has been the usual lecture about not thinking things through with the additional snide jabs at his attempts to romance Honey Lemon going awry.

"When are you going to wake up, man? She is so out of your league." Hiro snorted. "Oh by the way, I updated the terms of our agreement. You're now my personal butler for two weeks, cause I just had to sit through Kentucky Kaju vs Mothman and it is baaaad. Like the worst movie I've ever seen baaaad."

Varian rolled his eyes but didn't try to argue back. He was in no position to weasel his way out of it either, not when Hiro could tell Aunt Cass about his little cross-continental trip.

He didn't care about his aunt finding about his failed date, indeed he might even just ask her for relationship advice cause nothing he tried was working, but he didn't want Aunt Cass finding out about the portal yet. He wasn't ready to tell her about trying to return to Corona. That would just be a huge mess and both boys knew it. As far as their aunt was concerned, Varian was simply working on some new form of clean transportation and nothing more.

He was greeted by the sound of snoring as he opened the door. He quietly shut again behind him and tiptoed over to the bedroom.

"Honey Lemon?" He questioningly called out as he poked his head around the sliding door.

She was dressed in her usual clothing, minus the shoes and cardigan, and sprawled out on the bed fast asleep. Her wet hair was splayed out on the pillow in dark ringlets and a bit of drool was on the corner of her mouth.

His heart melted at the sight.

Honey Lemon was obsessed with fairy tales and unrealistic romances. She wanted grand gestures and to be swept off her feet by a knight in shining armor; ironically ignoring the fact that she herself fit that very descriptor.

And Varian was only too pleased to provide this to her when he could, but for him these were the moments he lived for; the mundane, the ordinary, the unflattering and uncompromising truth that belied the fantasy.

She was real. Not a dream come true, nor a happily ever after ending, but a person. A kind, caring, complex and beautifully flawed human being who actively chose to spend time with him, of all people, and no storybook princess or Hollywood heroine could compare to that.

She interrupted his thoughts as she gave a particularly prodigious snore and turned to lay on her belly, "Pass the bead please…" she hummed in sleep before snuggling with her pillow. It took everything Varian had not to burst out laughing as happiness welled up inside him. She was ridiculous. She was perfect. He thought her even prettier here than she had been at the cathedral shining in the sunlight.

He went to the closet and pulled out the extra blanket. He threw on top of her and whispered, "Dors bien" as he grabbed the extra pillow and laid down on the couch.

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

Six o'clock came far too soon. Varian didn't want to wake up and Honey Lemon really didn't want to get up. He had to practically drag her out of bed, by her feet, just to get her to open her eyes. Only for her to flop back down as he gathered up the rest of their things.

"Come on Honey Lemon, if you don't get up I'll have to carry you."

"Then carry me." She sleepy replied.

She didn't think he'd actually pick her up. But he did and she found herself being cradled in his arms along with their assortment of shopping bags as he strode out the door.

That woke her up.

Honey Lemon knew she didn't weigh much but Varian didn't seem to even acknowledge the difference between her and the paper bags full of much lighter clothes. He was stronger than he looked.

She insisted on being put down and he obliged once they reached the elevator. He handed her her shoes and sweater and after putting these on she took half of the bags. Then they were off.

They grabbed a quick coffee and croissant at the airport, and ran to meet with Fred and Hiro as their plane touched down.

"Welcome to Frederickson airlines," Fred said in a mockingly polite tone, "I hope you enjoy your flight. We have an in flight movie at nine and a mini bar complete with airline peanuts and your choice of coffee, tea, or limited addition Kentucky Kaju gatorade."

"Do you have a bed?" Honey Lemon yawned.

"Right this way, miss." Fred motioned her to follow him to the designated napping area on the plane as he pretended to play stewardess.

Varian and Hiro watched them board as they stood at the bottom of the stairs. Hiro gave Varian a smarmy smile.

"So Romeo how did it go?" He asked

Varian only gave him a warning glare, Hiro ignored it. "I told you." He shrugged, "Out of you league."

"Ferme ta bouche" Varian angrily shot back and Hiro didn't need to know French to understand he was being told to shut up.

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

The ride home went as smoothly as could be expected. Varian called Granville before it got too late and she gave them all extensions.

While she didn't approve of the reckless misuse of Varian's invention she was nonetheless still very impressed with his progress. He was sure to get an A in his final project, working return switch or no, and as for Honey Lemon, Granville assured her that she would speak with SFAI's headmaster personally and try to smooth things over with her art teachers.

Honey Lemon nearly cried with relief. Sure she may have to do some extra work to make up for the lost assignments but that meant she could circumvent her mother's prying questions.

After that phone call the mood on the plane lightened considerably and the teens had a good time playing videos and watching cheesy sci-fi movies on the long flight back.

They touched down in San Fransokyo at around ten that night and Heathcliff drove them all home. As Honey Lemon was being dropped at her apartment Varian got out and walked her to the door.

"Look I just wanted to say I'm sorry again."

"For what?"

"For getting us trapped in Paris."

"Say that again."

"I'm sorry I got us trapped in Paris?"

"In Paris." Honey Lemon emphasized for him. "You took us to Paris, France and it was amazing! There's nothing to apologize for."

"Really?" Varian awkwardly but hopefully smiled at her. "So I didn't screw anything up this time?"

"No." She shook her head with a laugh and returned his grin. "I had a fun time, but I need to go and prepare for tomorrow. I got five finals to make up."

"Yeah, I got three, though I think I've already past one of them with this Paris fiasco. Not sure how that happened."

Honey Lemon snorted, "You built a working portal, you'll never have to worry about failing school ever again. Granville would pass you with honors in everything if it meant making the inventor of portal tech an alumni."

Varian didn't know how to feel about that, not the least of which because he didn't think deserved the credit for inventing said portals, but he didn't press the matter. Instead he told her goodnight and walked back to the limo, not noticing the piercing eyes stalking him from the shadows of the alleyway.

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totallytrucked · 4 years ago

Text

Hello everyone I am here to tell you about the Mexico production of spring awakening

Ok first of all it’s on YouTube! And it’s a proshot!here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFS4RmmGzxE

ok so they have a smaller set than a lot of sa productions but i think it's used really well. it kind of looks like the inside of a church? anyways mama who bore me is very pretty and the girl who plays wendla is melissa barrera, and she's really good. the adult women's dress in this is really good, it's very fun to look at. it's all stripey.

mama who bore me reprise is iconic incredible. the girls are wearing their victorian combination underwear things i love it. during the end part, ilse is just going off during the "mama who bore me" low parts it's amazing jdhjf hnngh.

anyways the boys are all wearing little green pants for their uniform. very cute. i love this moritz (pepe navarrete) he reminds me a lot of vienna moritz (wolfgang turks) like a very cute moritz. the lighting during all that's known? iconic. tbol slaps in this. so good. iker madrid is one of my fave hanschens and that might be due to his riff on "khakis" <3

then the adults come out and they actually hold picture frames whenever they're playing school people which i think is really cool.

the girls come out for my junk and they have such cute costumes and the my junk staging is really good and martha and anna dance together hhnnng gay rights! also martha has such a good voice in this production. ivonne garza your hand in marriage

next is touch me and it's so good in this version and it slaps. the lighting? incredible. the singing? amazing. ernst's solo? (this is a pun because they are saying 'solo' in the song) but anyways ernst's solo is amazing. (arturo valdemar iconic.) ugh it's so good. moritz sock excellence.

anyways i really love this wendla so much she's so great <3 and this melchior (mauricio romero) is also really good. but i mean it's word of your body. it sounds very pretty in spanish though.

anyways here comes moritz to tell them he passed it's very sweet they hug. when hanschen says "the middle terms" either otto or georg hits him with a book which is very funny. and the melchritz hug is so cute jdhgjhd like moritz jumps into melchior's arms like he's a koala and i do not envy melchior having to hold him the entire scene but.

the girls come on and they actually have the medicine ball and thea sits on it i love them. anyways during the dark i know well martha's mother holds a smaller picture frame when talking to her and then the other girls sleep on the medicine ball it's really cool and interesting. martha's voice is very unique in this production, it's very deep. ilse's voice is also really pretty it sounds so good.

and then there were none also slaps in this. moritz </3 :(

once again i come to appreciate the lighting its wonderful. and during the part where moritz goes "they're not my home, not anymore" and the boys start singing in the background, they move from further upstage to further downstage. and the blocking during the part where all the boys join in so good ikfghkjd and the energy? they're like jumping and headbanging hnng lighting!!

ugh it's good.

they use the swing in mirror blue night too it's really cool. and moritz wanders off the stage and it sounds so good ksdjghksj and the cello/bass really came in during this part it's good

the weird mirror blue night choreo is somewhat better because it's faster and melchior looks less confused when he's doing it. i believe also sounds really good. everything in this production sounds really good watch it!

ok act 2

the guilty ones, as customary in this production, slaps. and the choreography is really good.

moritz's hair is thankfully not bad in act 2 (phew) also he has more of metal voice (?) like there's more of a rasp on some notes, esp. the high notes in don't do sadness. it's very good. moritz sock excellence again. and he's headbanging and the energy! yes! dds is faster than it usually is but it's so good.

also ilse (roxana puente) is just so good. and i like her costume. she just sounds so sad and i want to give her a hug. :( and the flowers are really pretty.

and when the two songs overlap it's jisdhfus uhhghghhg watch it! i can't describe it ugh it's so good.

also the audience claps after every song where there's a break and they're so enthusiastic and it makes me really happy

moritz dies and it's sad. he's like crying i can't

also shoutout to whoever arranged the music it's really good there's a lot of strings going on.

left behind as well. and ilse just breaks down crying at moritz's grave and god. :'(

the high notes as well? impeccable. melchior is so good.

the adults come on with their picture frames. mauricio romero reminds me of aneurin barnard in totally fucked, he has similar energy. totally fucked is just so good in this production. the choreography, the lights, the energy, the singing, wonderful. during the second chorus they all do this choreography and it's really good. also hanschen does a riff during his solo and the energy is so good. sfkhjdfkj and stuff flashes on the walls watch it please! people are saying hey and i just dkfjghdjg and the guitar i'm going insane

anyways totally fucked ends. oh hey vineyard scene. ernst is shorter than hanschen in this production which is pretty cute and they're just relaxing on the stage it's really sweet. and the audience isn't laughing too much. which is nice. anyways iker madrid is a more andy mientus-esque hanschen and it works. and the lighting there are like little stars that spin around i just yes! they kiss and it's just very cute. this entire vineyard scene is just very sweet and cute and dkfhglkdjfg hanschen slowly leans in and like caresses ernst's face shhhhskrgjhsj gay rights dkfhdlk

the vineyard scene is very cute. then wendla is pregnant blah blah blah. whispering is super pretty in this one, and i have great respect for wendla because she's sitting down the entire song and it's very hard to sing sitting down. also there's this very pretty violin going along the melody line (or something) and it's *moritz voice* so haunting. and the acting from the adults when they discuss sending melchior to a reformatory is very sad. the boys look like newsies in the reformatory scene it's so funny. always wonderful to see melchy get his ass beat.

when wendla and frau bergmann go to see the abortionist they're wearing these sick cloaks and when wendla screams "mama" it's just heartbreaking :'(

and they pronounce ilse "il-say" which i love.

the fog machine comes out during those you've known which i feel like is a requirement for any sa production at this point. and moritz just comes onstage from the audience and he's sort of bent over it's good! also the lights look really good in this scene which is really cool. and moritz is facing away from the audience when he first comes on and wendla sings to moritz a bit and i just sdkjfghskjdfh!! the drums snap in those you've known it's good anyways

the emotion! moritz leans against melchior i'm going to cry jfkhdjfkh

ilse comes on for the song of purple summer and it's very pretty and i just emotions! hnnfgdk and the stage lights up and moritz and melchior and wendla are still holding on to each other and it's just aaaaahhhhh!!!! moritz and ilse like interact and i'm everyone is like talking to each other and it's so bitter sweet and the harmonies!!

*sobbing* and the last chorus kicks in and i. ok. that was a musical. the audience gives them a well deserved standing ovation that's iconic. everyone go watch spring awakening mexico now.

and they have a totally fucked encore during the bows i'm going crazy. i love this.

tl;dr: sa mexico uses lighting, a great set, and just impeccable performances to create a beautiful and moving experience. it may not be too polished, but you can see the heart in the production.

#another long ass thing #you don't have to read this if you dont want to #I've been trying to figure out if its a college production because it sort of feels like it #i got too excited at the end and it's sort of incoherent but whatever #ivonne garza my beloved #the costumes are so good i might draw the girls from this one #spring awakening #sa mexico

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fangirl-writes · 4 years ago

Text

Enough

Young!Roger Taylor x Reader

Queen is my latest obsession

Warning(s): Domestic fight, violence (Roger punches a wall), swearing. Angst. I used a gay slur in there once (f*ggot). It’s not an important part of the story, but a warning anyhow because I know some people aren’t comfortable with the word.

Notes: Angsty stuff here people. I hope I pulled on those heartstrings, but I added a happy ending so all’s well. Also I have no idea how record players work but I wish I did. Also I don’t think cheating is ever okay, but we all know Roger did it and I wanted to try something a little eloquent and angsty.

Summary: You and Roger get into a fight because you want to know why you aren't enough.

Roger threw his keys onto the table. “You’re being ridiculous, Y/N!”

“I am not! Roger why won’t you just give me an answer!”

“Because I shouldn’t have to! We’ve had this conversation before I don’t know why you’re getting so upset about this!”

“And I don’t know why you won’t just answer me!”

“I’ve already told you-”

“You haven’t told me anything!”

“I’ve told you enough!”

“Which isn’t anything!”

“Why the hell does this matter so fucking much to you!”

“Because I want to know, Roger!”

“It shouldn’t matter!”

“But it does matter!”

“Just to you!”

“Yeah because you won’t fucking tell me anything!”

Roger turned with an angry shout, flinging his fist into the wall behind him. The sound as the drywall cracked made you scream and Roger turned to you, hand still curled into a now bloody fist, the action not lessening his anger.

The silence that filled the air was suffocating as you stood there staring in horror at the look on his face, the blood coating his knuckles, and the gaping hole that was now in the wall behind him.

Roger walked passed you towards the door and gave it an angry slam on his way out.

You broke down, dropping to the floor and sobbing. You were still angry, still hurt, and still scared.

After about an hour had passed you finally got the strength to get off the floor and make your way to the phone.

You dialed the number that you knew by heart and waited as it rang in the otherwise quiet house.

“Hello?”

“Brian?”

“Y/N?” He said, hearing the heartbreak in your voice. “What’s wrong? Has something happened? Did Roger-”

“We had a fight. He walked out and hasn’t been back for a while and I’m starting to worry about him.”

“You’ve had a fight and you’re worried about him?”

You sniffed, wiping at your wet cheeks.

“God, Y/N, he doesn’t deserve you.”

“Would- would you just find him? I-I don’t think he wants to see me but he punched the wall before he left and his hand was all bloody-”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, love. It’s not your fault he blew a gasket, okay?”

You nodded, even though he couldn’t see you, and felt even more tears falling down your cheeks.

“Y/N?”

You hummed in response, your throat tight.

“We’ll bring him home.”

That was the last thing he said before hanging up and you choked out another sob, letting the phone drop from your hand and swing from the cord as you found yourself on the floor again, back against the wall as you sobbed into your knees.

Thinking back on it now, it had been your fault the fight had happened.

It had been about Roger’s endless groupies you knew he fucked every time he was on tour.

You’d talked about it back when you first started dating and you’d told him you were okay with it. You’d talked about it with your friends and family who’d been concerned about it and you’d told them you were fine with it. The other Queen members had asked you about it, offering to watch him for you while on tour, but you’d told them it didn’t bother you.

Hell, eventually you’d convinced yourself you were fine with it.

It was fine. I’m fine. What he does when I’m not around is fine because at the end of the day he always comes home to me. I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine.

Then why. Why. Why did it take that stupid tabloid article to finally make you realize that you weren’t.

You don’t even know what compelled you to pick up the magazine. Usually you avoided picking up anything that even remotely mentioned the boys because you knew most of it would be slander. Calling Freddie a faggot or Roger a slut or John an absent husband. You hated those articles.

So then why? You asked yourself again. Why did you pick up that stupid tabloid?

Maybe it was because it was one of the few that mentioned you on the cover? Maybe it was because you were bored and wanted something to flip through? You didn’t remember and it didn’t matter now because the moment your eyes landed on that article it was over. And, at the moment, it felt like your stupidest decision.

Roger Taylor, Queen’s Sex Machine, Back At It Again.

After deciding his current girlfriend, Y/N L/N, wasn’t enough for the famous rock star, Roger Taylor was seen acting more than friendly with various groupies during his last tour. Our sources were not able to find a reaction from Y/N, making us suspect that she either doesn’t know about his sexual escapades, ignores them, or doesn’t care. How long will their relationship last if Y/N can’t fulfill Roger’s sexual needs? And how long will it take Roger to come to the conclusion he’s had enough of her?

Enough.

That was the word that kept playing back for you in your head. ‘Deciding his current girlfriend wasn’t enough’, ‘come to the conclusion he’s had enough.’

Why weren’t you enough?

You didn’t know how long you sat there, no tears left to cry and a whole in your heart. You felt numb. Whatever anger or sadness you’d been holding onto before was gone and replaced with an ache in your chest that wouldn’t go away.

It took a knock at the door to finally let all the emotions come flooding back to you.

Was that Brian? What if he didn’t find Roger? What if he did? Were you ready to face him again? Would he still be mad? Of course he’d still be mad. What would you say? Would you apologize? No, you don’t have anything to apologize for. Then what? If he was still mad, he certainly wasn’t going to apologize, that much you knew. What if he did apologize? ‘I’m sorry I caused you the worry, I’ll change how I live my life because you want me to’? No, that’s not what you wanted, you didn’t want him to change because of your outburst. What if he broke up with you? What if he kicked you out? You didn’t think you could stand going back to your family or friends and their pitying looks and ‘I told you so’s. ‘That’s what you get for dating a rock star’ they’d say. He finally decided you weren’t enough. Enough. Enough. Enough.

The knocking came again, this time harder and more persistent.

You rose from your spot on the floor and made your way to the door, every scenario going through your head as the knocking repeated.

“Y/N, darling, if you don’t open this door right now I’m going to break it down.”

You couldn’t help the small smile that made it’s way to your lips as you turned the knob and opened the door.

“I’d like to see you try, Freddie,”

Freddie Mercury stood on the other side of the door, a sad smile making its way to his lips.

“Brian told me what happened.”

The smile you tried to keep on fell at his words and soon you were in tears again, wrapped in Freddie’s arms.

“Oh, darling, oh, it’s okay, it’s okay.” He soothed, stroking your hair as you cried into his shoulder. “I saw that stupid article. I thought something like this might happen.”

You weren’t sure whether his words made you feel better or worse.

He brought you into the living room and sat you down on the couch, wrapping you in a blanket before leaving your side to approach the record player sitting on a shelf near by.

You and Roger spent many hours listening to Jimi Hendrix or The Beatles, sometimes even Led Zeppelin if you could talk him into it. He even danced with you to ‘Since I've Been Loving You’ on your anniversary.

You smiled as he flipped through the albums before deciding on one of their own: A Night At The Opera. The one that, arguably, put them on the map.

You closed your eyes as ‘Death on Two Legs’ started playing softly. It wasn’t their most relaxing song, but their music had a way of calming you down. Freddie knew this after seeing you in the studio with them multiple times, absolutely relaxed in the creative environment.

He occupied the seat next to you again, pulling you to his chest as an offer to snuggle into him.

You accepted the offer and smiled softly as you listened to the angry and bitter song. You remembered them telling you it was based on their nasty former manager, Norman Sheffield.

“His loss,” You’d told them back then. “He’ll be forever known as the man who lost Queen.”

“That’s exactly what I said!” Freddie had exclaimed. “It was like a movie scene! You should’ve been there, Y/N. It was a perfect exit.”

“Yeah and then we threw a brick through his window.” Roger added with a smug grin.

“Not our brightest idea.” Brian said.

“Never said any of you were the smartest lot.”

They’d shoved you around for that comment with laughter and good natured retorts.

The memory made you smile, the bad thoughts from before being driven away from your head as you remembered and snuggled against your favorite piano player as his voice drifted through the air.

You wondered if the song would’ve made you angrier if you didn’t know what it was really about and didn’t have the memory attached to it. You supposed it would have but you could only giggle at the lyrics now. It was bitter and mean, as Freddie once called it, but it was a great song.

‘Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon’ came next and you released a breath at the softer tone. The song reminding you of Alice in Wonderland and Singing in the Rain, films that you had watched as a kid. It was a short song, but it did wonders for your mood with its playful and happy tune.

It wasn’t until ‘I’m In Love With My Car’ came on that you realized he’d put the record on the B-Side.

You sat up from Freddie, a frown on your face, mood brought down again.

“Change it.” You commanded.

“Sorry, dear, too comfortable here.” He replied, a smirk on his face.

You bit your lip, near to tears again, as Roger’s song played along in the background. The song he’d fought himself into a cupboard for and that you relentlessly teased him about.

“Freddie, please, I-I don’t-”

A knock interrupted your sentence and Freddie practically launched himself over the couch to get it.

The limber bastard.

You followed him reluctantly, knowing who would be on the other side of that door. The man singing a song about his car.

Freddie pulled open the door to John Deacon who was stood with a frown on his face that disappeared into concern as he noticed you enter the room.

He moved to hug you, which you happily accepted. Hugging Freddie and Deacy was a comforting feeling that you desperately needed.

“Why’s this song playing?” He wondered aloud, more confused than anything.

The comment made you laugh.

“Y/N.”

You pulled away from John to face Brian who was giving you a similar look. It wasn’t pity, but rather a sort of concern. It warmed your heart to think that they cared for you so much.

Were you enough in their eyes?

“We found him walking. Had to take him to the hospital for his hand, but-”

“Is he still angry?”

“No.” Brian said, catching you by surprise. “I don’t think he’s been angry for a while.”

Your eyes swelled with tears as Brian motioned for Roger to come inside.

If you were in a better mood, you would have laughed. Roger Taylor waiting for permission to go inside his own home.

He walked passed Brian, avoiding everyone’s eyes and staring at his shoes.

The song changed to ‘You’re My Best Friend’ but nobody paid any attention to the music.

Freddie had an annoyed expression on his face and opened his mouth to say something until Deacy put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Silently telling him it wasn’t appropriate and that they’d lectured him enough for one night.

“Happy at Home” the song chimed, normally earning a snarky comment from Roger, but it seemed he wasn’t listening or at least not caring about the line for once.

“Come on, boys, I think we better leave these two alone.” Brian spoke up after a minute of silence. “Fred, I’ll take you home.”

Freddie seemed reluctant to leave. Whether that was because he was concerned or because he wanted to witness the drama of it all was unknown, but he followed the other two band members out the door.

You stood in silence for another minute as the song in the background faded into 39. A song you loved.

It seemed to be the kick Roger needed to finally look up at you with his gorgeous blue eyes.

“Hi,” He said.

“Hi...” You replied.

“I’m sor-”

“No.” You shook your head. “No, Roger, please don’t apologize, I don’t want an apology for something I started. No, Rog, all I want is an answer.”

“An answer for what?”

You blinked back tears as you asked the dreaded question again. “Why aren’t I enough?”

Enough. Enough. Enough.

Roger’s eyes swelled up with his own tears and he shook his head with a small laugh.

“Ridiculous, really. You’ve always been enough, Y/N. Always.”

“Then why?” You said, tears streaming freely down your cheeks again. You felt like you’d cried an ocean. “Why sleep with all those groupies on tour? Am I not pleasing you enough? Is that it?”

“No!” Roger exclaimed. “God no, it’s perfect! You’re perfect.”

“Then why?” you asked again, voice raising before dropping to a murmur as you hung your head. “Why?”

Roger took your face in his hands. “Please, don’t cry, love.”

You shook your head, palms digging into your eyes to try to get rid of the tears.

He hugged you to his chest and you felt your heart ache once again because, as mad as you were at him, you longed for his comfort.

“I think I do it because- fuck it, I know I do it because I’m afraid.” He said.

You sniffed. Afraid? Afraid of what?

“I’m afraid that one day you’ll you realize what a twat I am and I’ll come home and you won’t be there. I do it because I’m afraid of getting attached to you, even though I know I already have, because what if you leave me one day? What if you decide that I’m not enough for you?”

You looked up at him. “You're afraid of that?”

Roger feigned laughter, not meeting your gaze. “Yeah, the bloody rock star has feelings. Ha ha.”

“No.” You pull his gaze to you again, feeling about a thousand emotions at once. “Roger, I’ve spent the entire day wondering why I wasn’t enough for you and you’re here telling me that you did all this shit because you think you’re not enough for me? Me?”

You took a deep breath, trying not to cry again.

“I love you, Roger Taylor. And you will always be more than enough for me. No matter how many groupies you sleep with or how many times you hurt me or whatever the fuck those fucking magazines say about you because I love you more than I hate you and sometimes I really fucking hate you.”

Roger smiled sadly at you. “I love you more, Y/N L/N, and I don’t deserve you, not at all. You have always been enough for me and I promise that I will try harder to show you that instead of being the dickhead that keeps breaking your heart.”

You sniffed, burying your face in his chest again.

“Always.” He whispered into the top of your head. “You are always gonna be enough for me.”

“Write your letters in the sand for the day I take your hand. In the land that our grandchildren knew.”

You snuggled into Roger’s chest as ‘39 came to a close, his hand squeezing yours in a sort of reassurance that he wasn’t going anywhere again.

“All your letters in the sand cannot heal me like your hand. For my life. Still ahead. Pity me.”

“I love you,”

It was a whisper, barely above his breath but you heard it and you savored the sound of his confession in the sudden silence.

Roger pulled away from you, much to your displeasure and confusion and walked into the living room, making a beeline for the record player. You followed him, hoping not to look too much like a lost puppy.

He flipped the record and adjusted the needle.

He held out his hand as ‘Love of My Life’ started playing.

You’d have cried if you had any tears left.

You took it and he pulled you into a sloppy sort of waltz that made you laugh. The boy could sing, but when it came to dancing he was no John Deacon. You leaned your head on his chest, taking in his scent (cigarette smoke, scotch, and the smell of his lingering cologne).

“I really am sorry. For everything. I’m a terrible boyfriend.”

“I know. And I’m not going to forgive you, not for a while, maybe not ever, but we can move past it. Just hold me, yeah?”

And he did. He held you for as long as he could.

#roger taylor x reader #roger taylor x y/n #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor #roger taylor x you #queen imagine #borhap imagine #70s!roger taylor x reader #young!roger taylor x reader #ben!roger taylor x reader

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honeypirate · 4 years ago

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-Operation save Bakugou (Summer camp part 2 ) -

—Okay so I know this is really long but I wrote with my phone and I don’t know how to do read more breaks and it has a lot of the show in it and not all is how it is in the episodes I used some of the script and some just how I remember the episodes because I was excited to write. But I had to get to the part where Bakugou is saved because I don’t think I would do a good job writing fight scenes if I made y/n get captured too. Maybe I’ll rewrite part two when I get better haha but right now this is it! I hope you still like it

I didn’t know when to stop like because I wrote in some of the actual show I could keep it going with different things lol I had a hard time so this is what it needed up being.

Also I probably don’t write characters very well I’m still learning. To me I think Bakugou would treat the one he has romantic feelings for differently when they’re alone. But anyway

-To the story-

When you woke up you were falling into the arms of Shoji, apparently some man used his quirk on you to turn you into a small marble thing, you didn’t really understand. Shoji’s other arms were holding Tokoyami. You quickly looked for Bakugou and noticed him in the hands of some patch face villain as they were being warped away, you screamed his name along side Midoriya and you struggle against Shojis hold on you your pain forgotten about. Midoriya is running tho, he’s gonna make it, he has to make it “Stay back, Deku” Bakugous voice makes you start to cry and he looks right into your eyes as he disappears. The summer training camp that everyone was looking forward to couldn’t have been more of a disaster. You didn’t stop quietly crying until you got to the hospital. You ended up needing surgery to help repair some of the tendons in your shoulder that ripped and when you woke up you were in a room with Jiro and Yaoyorozu, with the combination of doctors and Recovery Girl you were able to be up and out in a couple of days, although you’d still have take it easy for a few months and don’t do anything to strain it, limit its use.

Your parents kept you at home for a couple days, your dad still worried and your mom was okay about things, but you couldn’t just sit and do nothing, so you found yourself at the hospital with your classmates in support of the other students still unconscious. During this time you became closer friends with Kirishima, when he brought up his plan of having Yaoyorozu make another tracker for the device she put on a Nomu and you guys go rescue Bakugou, you were one of the first to join him. You knew the risks, you remember Hosu (your blood type unfortunately the one that lasted the longest paralyzed so you didn’t even fight), you knew that if you did this wrong it would reflect badly on the school and heros. But you also knew how smart your classmates were, you knew that if you all worked together you could figure a way to rescue him without fighting. You could be stealth. When Midoriya woke up the few of you went to visit him, you weren’t a part of the gift choosing or you would have suggested something else but Mineta was super excited about it. it was kind of cute but you would keep that thought to yourself. “I brought you a present! its from all of us, it’s a melon!!” Mineta holds the melon proudly. It was shortly after that when Kirishima brought up going to rescue Bakugou, and only you and Todoroki so far will go with. Before you realized Midoriya was crying “i couldn’t save someone right in front of me” he says his voice breaking “then, let’s save him this time!” Kirishima steps forward, you can feel his resolve in the air. Iida is upset “This is something we should leave to the pros! This isnt the time to act like idiots!” He practically yells and you place your hand on his arm softly “we know that” you say quietly and Kirishima turns to face Iida “after I heard that my friend was being targeted, I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything! ...” he takes a deep breath “if I don’t do anything now I won’t be a hero or a man anymore” he sounds so dejected, which is exactly how you feel. Mina pipes in “So, in short, you're planning on getting the receiver from Yao-momo, following it, and going to save Bakugo yourselves?” Kirishima nods and says “yeah” Todoroki speaks up, saying “Even though the villains said we were targets to be killed, they took Bakugo without killing him. They probably let him live, but that doesn't mean they won't kill him eventually. Y/n, Kirishima, and I are going.” “Don't go overboard with your messing around!” Iida says and does his normal arm flails. “We need to leave this to All Might” you didn’t say much, you could see clearly each side of the arguments, but there was nothing that could stop you from going to rescue Bakugou if you could. You were already thinking of ways you could get him without fighting when Tsu’s voice cuts through your thoughts “Everyone, we're all shocked from Bakugo's kidnapping. But let's think things through calmly. No matter how just your feelings, if you're saying you'll fight again ...that you'll break the rules.... Those acts are the same as those of villains” your heart dropped into your stomach. “It’s a reach to call what we want to do the same as villains, we want to quietly go in and find a moment to save him. No fighting. No harm. We want to get him out so that when All Might and the heros get there they don’t have to hold back in fear of harming Bakugou too. If I was them I would go in as soon as possible to get Bakugou out. If that’s so then we can...” you get cut off as a nurse walks in to the room saying it’s time for Midoriya’s exam, everyone went to see Jiro but you went off by yourself to clear your mind and prepare for tonight. You were going to rescue Bakugou tonight.

You, Kirishima, and Todoroki stood outside of the doors to the hospital, waiting to see if Midoriya and Yaoyorozu will show. Kirishima speaks quietly “I wonder what Yaoyorozu decided” you felt nervous “ Well, no matter how restless we are, it's up to her.” Todoroki pointed out. “There she is” you say and when you all look Yaoyorozu and Midoriya come out of the door “what did you decide?” Kirishima asks but before she can respond Iida comes out of no where and punches Midoriya “Why... Why did it have to be you guys of all people?! The ones who stopped me when I acted recklessly for personal reasons...You, who received amnesty with me...Why are you trying to make the same mistake I did? It's too much!” He shouts in frustration. “When I saw your injuries, I also saw my brother in his sickbed! What if your bodies end up irreparable, like my brother's, because of your recklessness? Are you saying that you don't care about my worries?Are you saying that you don't care about how I feel...?” You could feel waves of worry and sadness coming from Iida. You felt his worry. “Iida” you say softly and you can see all of his emotions in his eyes. “Iida. We don't expect to face them head-on and win either. We'll extricate him without fighting.” Todoroki says “In other words, covert action!” Kiri adds “That's the way we students can fightwhile toeing the line on the rules!” You added, confident you could pull this off. Yaoyorozu speaks up “I trust Todoroki. But so that I can stop them if anything happens, I plan to accompany them, as well.” “Well if we can’t come to an agreement, then take me with you as well! am accompanying you because I am not convinced you will behave yourselves. If I think it will turn to combat I will make you return immediately.” Iida was definitely the right one to be the class rep. You nod, completely okay with his conditions. You didn’t want to fight, your body wasn’t even close to being able to fight, so you would do this on his terms.

The reciever said that Nomu was in Camino ward which was two hours away so you��d be there by ten pm and when you got there it was busier than you thought it would be. There were so many people out and about and with the school being in the news recently there was no way you wouldn’t be recognized. The villains also know what you look like, which led you all to getting disguises to look more like adults instead of the teens you were. Todoroki pointed out that Yao-Momo could have just made your disguises with her quirk but she said as a good citizen we had to help the economy. As you follow Yaoyorozu to the destination everyone around you starts to talk about UA as a screen in the square begins to broadcast clips from the schools press conference. “They’re treating them like the bad guys” you say quietly to your friends. Before you knew it you were at the location that the device said, It looked like an abandoned warehouse. “What should we do? We’re out in the open right here we need to make a plan” you say as you pretend to check out a soda machine. Midoriya starts to mutter to himself before he suggests going around the back of the building. “We’re gonna get stuck” you whisper to Yao-momo and she agrees “just keep moving” Midoriya says back to you guys from the front. Once you make it to the back you decide to have Kirishima and Midoriya stand on Iidas and Todorokis shoulders to use Kirishimas night vision scope. The warehouse was full of Nomu, you felt sick to your stomach. Bakugou wasn’t here but what was is terrifying. You were so busy thinking of what you were going to do so you didn’t notice when the Pro Heros arrived, but you did notice when the place exploded and you were knocked to the ground by falling concrete. Iida quickly pulling you next to him to hide. What is going on!? Your body ached and your shoulder screamed, there was a villian who was hurting Best Jeanist, and you and your friends were huddled on the other side of the wall, terrified. Before you could even collect your thoughts you recognized All Might as he busted in and started fighting followed by the rest of the league warping in through some sort of black goo.

You automatically recognized Bakugous voice and your body reacted propelling you to go try and save him. Iida stops you and Midoriya at the same time and then Midoriya reveals the plan he’s thought up. “We can get him without fighting. Iida and I will use our quirks and Todoroki will make a huge ice wall too high for anyone to even think of coming after us, but it all depends on you, Kirishima. It will be up to him to save himself and you guys have a built a good friendship, he needs someone he can trust” all eyes were on Kiri but he was looking right at you “I don’t know if you guys have noticed but...I’m not the one you want. Y/n here has grown closer to Bakugou” his voice sounded, slightly jealous, you blush “if you want him to have no doubts then use her” it was in that moment that they all put all the pieces together and they all looked at you “yes you’re right! Y/n! Can you do this?” you nodded confidently and you all got into position. “Now!” Modoriya says and you’re off. Flying up a giant ice wall going faster then you’ve ever traveled. This was it. You were going to get him back “y/n! Now!” You were being held by Iida as you leaned your body down holding your good arm out towards to blonde haired boy “KATSUKI!” You yelled his name and not even a second later he was blasting through the air towards you, when his hand wraps around your forearm you let out a choked cry. You wrap your arms around him holding him so he didn’t fall. “Bakugou make a blast to..” Iida started to direct him to help us land but Bakugou cut him off “dON’t TELL ME WHAT TO DO” he shouts but does as he’s instructed anyway. When you land you quickly disperse into the crowds downtown, Iida and Midoriya going one way and you and Bakugou headed off in a different direction. When you found a place to blend in with the crowd he turned to you and pulled you into a tight hug “I was so worried” he said softly laying his cheek against the top of your head and your cheek against his chest. Your hands were shaking as they gripped his shirt in your fists “Katsuki” you whispered and pulled back to look up at him and then the words started and you couldn’t stop speaking “I’m so glad you’re okay. I mean I know you’re like the strongest person with your convictions and there’s absolutely nothing that can stop you being the number one hero but I still couldn’t help but be worried. I know it’s a little dumb but I guess I .. I.. just. If something when wrong then I don’t know. ..” you took a breath “I guess I would really miss giving you shit or something” you laughed awkwardly and nervously scratched the back of your neck. He laughed “of course that’s why. And I knew you realized I was gonna be number one. I guess you can be the number two hero or you can be my side kick” he gave you a little friendly flirty nudge before taking your hand in his, he was suddenly very serious and upset, his red eyes like fire staring into your (e/c) ones “y/n I swear to god if you ever do anything so stupid and reckless again I’ll kick your ass” he says and pulls you into another hug and you hide the pain of your shoulder by laughing against his chest “I promise I won’t be reckless unless it’s to save you. I will always choose to save you.” you say softly feeling your cheeks blush you pull away and take his hand “we can probably go and find the others now” before he can say anything you take off through the crowd pulling him along. You meet back up with Iida and Midoriya when the TVs start broadcasting the rest of the fight. Your hand never leaves Bakugou’s, even if you tried to let go he wouldn’t have let you. you end up leaning up against him as you watched the fight unfold, you were shaking a little from exhaustion and your injuries hurting more now that the adrenaline wore off. When All Might turned into a skinny skeleton version of himself safe to say everyone was shocked. You don’t think you blinked for several minutes watching it happen. “All Might” Bakugou whispered next to you. He looked like he was.... losing.

You saw that a few other heros had arrived there as Endevour and Gran Torino were in the corner of the screen. He can do it. He can still beat the villian. Come on All Might kick his ass! Suddenly everyone is yelling and screaming for him, “COME ON ALL MIGHT KICK HIS ASS!” Bakugou yells next to you and you squeeze his hand right and cheer for All Might as well. This energy, All Might had to feel it! And he does! He puts all his power into one arm and then there’s too much dust in the area to see what happened and everyone went quiet. You held your breath and Bakugou wrapped his arm around you pulling you right next to him, you cover your mouth with your hand, eyebrows knit tigether in worry, you don’t even blink as you wait for the dust to settle chanting “all might all might all might” in your head. The cheers when the dust settled were so loud you were sure you were deaf. Bakugou hugged you again, and this time it hurt. You gasp in pain and he pulls back “you stupid idiot! you overdid it and you aren’t healed are you?!” You whisper an apology, embarrassed, then place your forehead against his chest. Your body floods with relief that this night is over. You have Bakugou back, All Might won, everyone you care about is okay. You take a deep breath in, filling your senses with him, your shoulders shake and you can’t help the tears that start to flow. Ever since you lost him in the woods you had been stressed and filled with worry, your heart strained and your stomach felt like it had cement in it. You were overwhelmed for so long and now that the heros won your body flooded with relief and it was even more overwhelming “I’m sorry” you whisper, afraid your voice would crack, he holds you close to him and rubs your back softly “don’t worry” his voice was kind. “It’s overwhelming, I understand” you felt his breath next to your ear and realize he’s holding you and bent around you like he’s shielding you from everyone else. It’s only for a few minutes five tops but it feels like time stops. Him holding you makes it easy for you to calm down and once you’re breathing normal he pulls back and smiles at you, you doubt he’s ever looked at anyone how he’s looking at you now, you can’t help but draw your face closer to his turning your jaw up and your nose brushes against his softly, . . . “There you guys are the commotion must of split us up again” Iidas voice cuts through your bubble and you pull back quick and instinctually blushing and looking at the ground Bakugou takes your hand and laces your fingers together. Iida didn’t act like he noticed anything wrong here he just kept talking, you looked up at Bakugou who was glaring his usual glare at the world and at Iida. “We should get Bakugou to the police and talk to them.” Midoriya nods and smiles at you and when you meet his eye which causes you to blush again. “Let’s go then” Iida turns and you follow, keeping a hold on Bakugou’s hand so you didn’t get lost in the crowd, and partially because you didnt want to lose him again period. You didn’t want to ever let him go. Before you get to the police you stop for a second and keep Bakugou with you “I .. I don’t know if I can let you go..” you whisper quietly and rub your thumb softly across his and he pulls you in close “y/n..” his voice was gruff right by your ear “take a deep breath” you do as he says and he keeps talking “don’t be a damn idiot” you laugh at him, loving that he’s acting normal with you, and he smiles but hides it by turning his face into your hair. His lips softly kiss your temple . “Let’s get this over with so I can take you out on a date” he’s back to keeping his angry mask on and starts to walk again. “I’ll see you as soon as I can” he whispers just to you before he goes off with the police, you give your statement to another officer and hero and then you’re free to go, knowing you’ll be reprimanded by Aizawa next time you see him and you hope he won’t expel you all. You wait for hours for the trains to start up again before you make your way back home with the rest of your friends.

Your parents grounded you. No phones no friends, nothing but homework and house work. Although you were lucky that your parents still had faith in the heros and school, you suffered through the next few days not being able to talk to anyone and you were constantly thinking about Bakugou. When a letter came in the mail, followed by Mr. Aizawa stopping by, you were filled with a flicker of hope. They were bringing all the students to dorms on the school campus. Your parents agreed the moment they read the letter, they knew it would be the safest option if you were going to keep attending UA. When Mr. Aizawa showed up on your door step, they were even more impressed. Your mom bows to him “We really loved what you said during the broadcast and we still have the utmost faith in you heros, we know how hard it must be to have everything scrutinized when you’re doing the best you can. You’re obviously a wonderful teacher, y/n is always talking about how much she loves your class..” you blush and look away “so yes. We will send her to your dorms. We know you’ll protect her”

You run and hug Yao-momo when you see her outside of the dorms, dropping your bags and laughing. “I’m glad you’re okay” you say and smile when Todoroki appears. “You too Todoroki” you add and he ruffles your hair with a smirk before moving in his things. “This is kind of exciting isn’t it?” Yao-momo says and then gets distracted directing her movers who were carrying in an awfully large bed. You smile and look around at the commotion and bend down to pick up your duffel bag but before you can Bakugou swipes it and throws it over his shoulder “there you are” he says and you throw your arms around his neck, you couldn’t help yourself, you pull away embarrassed and pick up your other bag, you weren’t moving in with a lot all you really wanted were clothes and decorations. “Here I am” you say with an awkward laugh and look back up at him. he’s blushing a little, he looked so good it made your heart skip. “I’m so glad to see you Bakugou” you say and you notice the corners of his lips turn up into a small smile for just a split second “let’s get going,” he takes your hand “your shit is getting heavy” he’s back to scowling but it doesn’t reach his eyes this time. He walks you to your room and puts your stuff down and you are practically bouncing with excitement. “This is so amazing Bakugou!” You’re so happy “Katsuki” he says softly and you turn look at him “what?” “I love when you call me by my name. Or even Suki really.” He says and finally meets your eyes as you walk over to him taking his hands in yours “that’s wonderful to know” You were suddenly very glad that your parents let you move in alone, giving you a small moment of alone time with Bakugou. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you Katsuki Bakugou, you’re actually being nice!” He genuinely smiles for what you bet was the first time in a long time. “What’s going on is you make me crazy y/n!” You laugh and then Aizawa opens your door and you quickly step away from Bakugou, Aizawa just sighs “let’s go Bakugou” you laugh again a little frustrated at how you keep getting caught when you want to kiss him. “Meet me tonight” he whispers into your ear and you nod and wave goodbye, apologizing to Mr. Aizawa as he turns and leaves with Bakugou.

You spend what feels like four billion hours unpacking and decorating your room exactly how you want it, you have a wall covered in pictures of you and your loved ones and band posters and color changing Bluetooth LED lights around the tops of the walls, don’t forget black out curtains with black sheets and black comforter, with three extra blankets because you get so cold. When you finished you went down and met up with everyone else in the common area. You sat next to Uraraka when you didn’t see Bakugou right away and when she came up with the plans for a bedroom contest you silently bowed out saying you were too tired and wanted to catch up on sleep, as you were walking back to the elevator you heard Bakugou make up a very similar excuse to kirishima before he caught up to you.

As the elevator doors close he takes your hands and pulls you next to him. “Want to see how I decorated? I think you’ll like it” you say and finally turn your head to look up meeting his eyes “show me” he says and you can’t help the smile spread across your face as you felt the air get heavy with tension. You were so close to him you could smell his scent and sweat, you loved it. you could have sworn you felt little pricks against your palm as you quickly snuck him into your room again. Your lights were set to orange and you closed the door as he took it all in “it’s exactly what I’d expect a losers room to look like” he says gruffly, facing away from you. you feel your jaw drop from shock before he turns around and you see his smirk “that was not nice! I worked so hard on this! And I made the lights orange for you!” You were kind of annoyed and it just made him laugh and he caught one of your hands in the air as you gestured to the lights, closing the distance between you both and wrapping his arms around you in a hug. “I love the lights” he says and takes a deep breath of your hair, he always enjoyed that your hair smelled like rose shampoo. “Can’t seem to get enough of me Suki, if I knew any better I would say you even like me” he laughs again and pulls back to really look at you “you’d be right” he tucks your hair behind your ear and leaves his hand on your cheek, your heart stops, your breathing stops, you don’t blink, you can’t move, is this really happening?? your body is full of butterflies “Katsuki” you whisper and your hands travel up from his chest one resting on his neck one deep in his soft hair “finally” he whispers the moment before his lips meet yours. They’re soft and warm, giving, unlike his personality. Your lips fit tigether in the most perfect way, you moved together like you’ve done this many times before like you knew him better than anyone. A moan escapes your lips and you laugh at yourself, he takes that moment to deepen the kiss sliding his tongue into your mouth. You relax into him, his arm around your back. When you finally pull away and look up at him you’re out of breath and your cheeks are flushed “this isn’t some one time thing right? Because you can’t give a girl a taste of something as amazing as that to just take it away. I gotta have that every day of my life now” you’re on a nervous ramble when he kisses you again softly to kind of pause you before laughing out “you idiot. I’d never do that to you” you blush and he touches your cheek “pink is a good color on you” he kisses the tip of your nose “I thought you hated me at first, which is why I thought it was so funny to pester you” you confess, not really sure why, “you infuriated me. You didn’t care about any of the walls I had up or any of my attitudes. No one other than my parents have shown me that. People always think I’m too angry or think I’ll for sure turn into a villian. They say I’m too loud or obnoxious. That I’m too cocky. Then I realized that you never made me feel like I was anything bad” “that’s because you don’t have anything bad about you” you cut him off and he gives you a quick peck and a shush “let me finish pelase” “sorry go ahead” he smiles “I realized that I wasn’t infuriated, I was enamored. When I heard your voice and saw you fly through the air that night, you were like an angel. My angel.” His lips press softly to yours again and you feel all your anxiety and worries about this being a one time thing wash away. He called you his. “So I’m yours huh?” You cock an eyebrow “that’s what you got from my whole speech? You do realize that I’m not going to say it again right?” He’s gruff again and you laugh “if you’re mine,I’m yours” you whisper into his ear and his arms around you tighten. “I really do like the decorations. The orange lights are a great touch” he says as he pulls you down into your bed to cuddle.

He just wants to hold you, never let you go for as long as he can get away with it. He’s never felt this strongly about anything other than becoming number one. You laid on your back, his head was on your chest and he was laying between your legs, your arms around him playing with his hair and drawing on his back as you both talked about things you loved between kisses. You never knew he was this funny, your stomach hurt from laughing so hard “you’re amazing Katsuki I knew you had some secret hidden qualities but I am truly delighted the more I learn about you. The more you trust me with” his kisses you and when he pulls back you notice his blushed cheeks “you better keep this all to yourself or I’ll kick your ass” his threat was empty but what you had with him was so special you want to keep as much as you can close to your heart “don’t worry baby” you say laughing and as he cuddles into you again you sigh “You should get back to your room and get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow and I can’t get into trouble or I’ll be expelled, you heard Aizawa.” You wiggle out from under him and pull him up to his feet, kissing him softly before you walk him to the door. “I’ll see you in the morning. My sweet girl” he kisses you and after you stick your tongue out at him as he walks off laughing. “Goodnight Katsuki!” You say to him, not worried too much because the only other girl on your floor is Mina and you know for a fact she’s still downstairs. You watch him enter the elevator “goodnight sweetheart” he says and winks at you with a grin before the elevator doors close fully. You would not be able to sleep at all tonight.

Tag list : @succulent-momma

#mha #bnha bakugo katsuki #mha bakugou #mha fanfiction #mha katsuki #bakugou fanfiction #bakugou katsuki fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #bakugou x reader #bakugou x y/n

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specialagentlokitty · 5 years ago

Text

Neil Melendez x reader - Almost gone

A/N: @the-broken-halo-writer I told you I’d do it!! Thank you for letting me use your head cannon!💜

Neil first noticed you when he heard a commotion by the nurses station, so, like any good doctor and supervisor he sighed heavily, ran a hand down his face and started to head over.

He had been called to review a patients charts and check them over since they were due for a lung transplant in a few months, he was going I keeping on eye on while they stayed.

He was ready to call security thinking it was an unruly patient, but that’s when he heard it, the sound of laughing and joking.

He stopped and observed the scene, two nurses wore disapproving looks while you stood there with a bright grin on your face, stood in a pair of jogging bottoms and a hoodie, an oxygen tank behind you, nubs in your nose.

“We’re not letting you out (Y/N), not after the other nights episode.”

“It was a minor set back, I’m all better now!”

“Minor?!” The nurse spluttered, “you had fluid filling your lungs!”

You pouted and crossed your arms with a huff and he nurses did the same which made you laugh, hold your hands up in surrender and nod.

“Okay, Fine, what about jello?”

“For he love of...” The nurse laughed.

“Okay! Okay! I’m going! See you later!”

You grabbed your oxygen tank and started to head in his direction, you sent him a wink and headed towards the elevator mumbling about wanting jello.

Neil quietly laughed to himself and walked over, asking about the patient and their file.

“She’s just left (Y/N) (L/N), if you ever want to find her check the canteen first, she’s always on the hunt for jello.” The nurse smiled handing him the file.

“Thanks, What can you tell me about her? You’ve been watching over since she was admitted last week right?”

“Well, she’s very outgoing, even with her condition. She can’t go outside too much, she tries to run from her therapy sessions, but she’s great fun to be around.” The nurse said happily.

“Lung cancer, admitted last week after she collapsed, given a year to live at least if she doesn’t get the transplant she needs.” Melendez mused.

The nurse nodded sadly and went to check other paitents, but not before telling him your room number and that you were scheduled to have a check up at 3:00pm.

He checked the clock, 2:45pm, 15 minutes to go, so he took a seat at the station and decided to do some more reading on you and your medical history while he waited.

You on the other hand, had different ideas, while the clock drew closer to 3:00pm you had grabbed your Jello and started making your way outdoors.

“Just one walk won’t hurt...” you whispered.

You crept outside and smiled softly, stuffing your jello into your pocket as you slowly started walking around.

You weren’t sure how long you were gone for but when you headed back inside, you found Neil stood at the door, arms crossed, eyes scanning around, when they landed on you he rose and brow and gestured for you to come closer, so, like a scolded child you lowered your head and trudged forward.

“You aren’t meant to be outside.” He noted.

“You aren’t my mother.” You sassed.

Looking up, you saw him wear a small smile. He opened the door for you and took you to the elevator.

“I’m guessing you feel better, I’ve been caught up with what’s happened. I’ll be keeping an eye on you, I’m Doctor Neil Melendez.”

“That’s a footballers name.” You deadpanned.

Neil chuckled and led you back to your room where he checked your respiratory reste, blood pressure and such before heading back to the door.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, same time. No running off, if you need anybtjng or have any questions just ask the nurses, if you want me they’ll get me.”

You hummed and grabbed your phone making him roll his eyes.

Nearly two months passed and he found great entertainment and joy in coming to see you each day.

The pair of you grew closer and closer, you got along more and although you were still unruly Neil had tamed you enough to keep you indoors and in line to a reasonable extent.

He spent a lot of his time in your room, even when he had a break or a day off, and it was something everyone picked up on, even the nurses, but when asked about it he said it was because you didn’t get visitors.

Today Neil was on your floor with Claire, Jared and Shaun, and he kept flicking his gaze to your room.

“You like her.” Claire smirked.

Neil rose a brow, crossed his arms and leant against the desk.

“Who?

“(Y/N).” Jared agreed.

“My patient, no I don’t.” He scoffed.

Neil snuck a quick glance at your room where you were sat reading, and this time it was Shaun that spoke up.

“You keep looking into her room and smiling, if you like her why will you not ask her out, and deny it?”

Neil sighed softly and turned away from your room, connecting eyes with each of the residents.

“It’s against regulations to date a patient.”

“What if she was not a patient?” Shaun asked.

“Then I could ask her out if I wanted.”

Shaun nodded his head and smiled a little to himself. Neil simply carried on filling out the paper work.

“I think you guys would make a cute couple.” Claire beamed before she slipped away.

Jared took Shaun and left as well leaving Neil there in his own thoughts. He carried on sneaking glances at you, completely unaware that you were doing the same.

You liked him, he was cute, charming, kind, friendly, real, you really liked him. You weren’t going to ask him out though, but that wouldn’t stop you from admiring him.

When you spotted him coming your way, you had to bite back the smile and you pretended to ignore him when he walked into the room.

“Hey.” He said softly.

You didn’t reply and bit back your smirk as he stopped, peaking down to connect eyes with you. Quickly raising a hand you flicked his forehead making him Yelp and rub the spot.

“That’s abuse.” He teased.

“It’s only abuse if I don’t like you.” You sassed back.

“So you like me?”

Your face flushed and you shushed him, burying your face in your book.

“Shut up... no... you’re an ass....”

“Of course.” He snickered.

He check your charts and your tank before he headed back to the door.

“I’ll be doing night shift tomorrow.” Said absentmindedly.

It felt weird not seeing him during the day, but Claire assures you he was going to be doing nightshift like he said, and as the night dawned you grew tired, and slipped asleep.

But it didn’t last long, you wake up gasping for air, machines started beeping wildly and nurses rushed into the room.

That’s what Neil walked into the floor to find, he was going to check up on you and he found nurses and doctors flooding your room, and his heart stopped. Questions flew around his head and he rushed over just as they started to leave.

“What happened?” He asked frantically.

The nurses shared a look, and one stayed behind with him while she glanced at your form.

“Fluid.” Was What She said, “it was a lot, she’s been sedated and should wake up in the morning. We’ll have to keep an eye on her during the night, she needs to transplant soon.”

He gulped and nodded, dismissing the nurse as he walked over to your side, slipping his hand into yours as he took a seat by your bed.

He made sure no one was looking as brought your hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to your knuckles and nearly cried at how cold your skin was.

“Just hang in there..” he whispered.

He couldn’t stay, but he kissed your forehead and left and constantly checked up on you, when his shift ended he checked on you once more before heading home with a heavy heart.

He shouldn’t be this worried, it was wrong he knew but he couldn’t help it. The heart wants what it wants... right? And his wanted yours?

You woke up later that day feeling lonely, tired, in pain, short of breath, and you didn’t spend much of the day awake, it worried the nurses, Claire, Jared, it even worried Shaun who spend a while watching you.

That night you slept restlessly, and as the next day came you felt the same. You were sat groggily in bed, dark circles under your eyes, you stared at your breakfast.

“You have to eat (Y/N).” Claire said softly.

“Not hungry...” you muttered, coughing a little.

She frowned and noted that down, glancing at the clock before looking back at you, staring at the window.

“Dr Melendez will be here soon.”

She thought that would cheer you up but it didn’t work, you just carried on staring out the window.

With a heavy sigh she left, closing the door behind her, shaking her head to her friends.

“She won’t eat...”

“She is depressed.” Shaun said, “she doesn’t have the energy.”

“She’s dying Shaun what else do you expect?” Jared hissed slightly.

“Will Dr Melendez be sad if he died?” Shaun asked absentmindedly.

He didn’t wait for an answer, he simply left leaving Claire and Jared to chase after him, all running into Neil who frantically walked into the area.

“How is she doing?”

They knew he meant you.

“She won’t eat, she sleeps most of the time and hardly talks.” Claire filled in.

Neil took your chart from her and made his way into your room, he stopped by the door, you were laid down staring at the ceiling so he quietly walked in and looked at your full breakfast plate.

“Aren’t you hungry?” He asked.

No response, it broke his heart even more.

“Hey, come on, you can talk to me.” He said softly.

Neil leant over you, his eyes meeting your tired and lifeless looking ones. He brought a hand up and pressed it to your cheek, gaining your attention.

“You’ll be okay, just a little longer.”

“I’m dying.” You said, “I really like you and I’m dying...”

Neil’s heart skipped a beat and he smiled warmly at you, a smile so warm and gentle it was beautiful.

“I really like you too, just hang in there okay? A little long, then when you’re all better we can have dinner maybe.”

Your eyes lit up a little, a small smile playing at your pale lips.

“That a promise Melendez?”

“That it is (L/N), but you need breakfast first.”

Neil helped you sit up and you reached out with shaky hands, but he stopped you and picked up the fork with a smile.

“You move fast...” you teased lightly.

“Don’t I know it.” He chuckled.

Neil helped feed you your breakfast and put the try by the door as he walked back over, he check to make sure it was clear before kissing your forehead and stepping back.

“Keep fighting for me, okay?”

You nodded your head.

“I’ll try.”

Though you didn’t get much better and you were stuck in bed, you kept fighting for him. The life returned to your eyes and you smiled more.

He always kissed your head when it was just you too, and there was subtle hand touches and looks when others where around.

“We have a donor!” Claire yelled.

Neil dropped the papers in his hands, mouth agape.

“Serious?”

She nodded happy and handed him the paper, and he read through it before rushing off, running up the stairs to your floor where you were laying practically lifeless in bed.

His smile fell and he called for help, rushing over to you, trying to get you to wake up. You had a donor, but was it too late?

Jared and Claire went to retrieve the lungs from the other hospital while Shaun and Neil prepared for surgery, Neil kept anxiously looking back at you.

“You should ask her out.” Shaun said.

“Trust me Murphy, I will.” Neil said shakily.

He had to calm down, he couldn’t operate like this, so he took some deep breaths and focused on something else. Your smile, your laugh, his anchor.

It didn’t take long for the other pair to get back and the operation was in full swing, they carefully removed your sick lungs one at a time, making sure the healthy lung was in place and properly attached before doing the other one.

Neil anxiously waited but all seemed good, everything was normal, so he sighed in relief and took a step back.

“Closer her up, Murphy your on lead.”

He rushed out and headed back to your room to wait, and that’s what he did. He waited, between attending to others and his usual duties he always found himself back in your room, and after a few days, they could wake you up.

He was there, waiting. No one wanted to disturb so they left to him to it, and when you opened your eyes he was at your side, your hand in his.

“N.. Neil...” you breathed.

He quickly helped you drink something and checked over your stats before nodding his head.

You froze, then you took a deep breath and let it out, tears streaming down your face.

“I told you it would be okay...” he chuckled lightly.

You reached up and hugged him carefully, crying into his shoulder and he shed a few tears of his own as he held you back.

“It was nearly too late...” he admitted.

“I’m.. I’m alive.. I have healthy lungs...”

“Yeah.. yeah you do...” he laughed.

You pulled away and smiled happily, excitement in your eyes.

“I can play games now, and walk more, and slee normally and.. and I can go to dinner with you!”

Grabbing his cheeks, you pulled him down and stopped just inches away from his lips, both do you had your eyes closed.

“You’ll get in trouble...” you whispered going to pulls way.

Neil places his hands over yours and placed them back on his cheeks, then he cupped your cheeks and leant in a bit closer his lips brushing against yours.

“Not anymore... you aren’t my patient... now... you’re Claire’s ...” he whispered.

You wasted no time in leaning in, pressing your lips gingerly to his, smiling into the kiss.

Neil was he one that deepened it a little, applying more pressure before he pulled away, pressing his forehead to yours.

“What am I now...?” You asked softly.

Neil pulled away, and you not answered your eyes. His shone with him and he smiled brightly.

“My girlfriend?” He asked.

Your heart jumped a beat, and laughed in shock and nodded happily.

“I’m happy with that.”

Neil chuckled and leant in, kissing you once again before pulling away again, admiring you before he hugged you tightly, smiling as you hugged him back.

Neil was there for your whole recovery, and after six months, you two will still going strong.

You walked into the hospital for your checkup, and you were crushed in a hug by Claire who dragged you to Neil at the nurses station.

“Yo.” You beamed.

“Hey.” He smiled.

Neil walked around and took you from Claire, hugging you gently which nearly made her squeal.

“I love you...” he whispered into your ear.

You smiled hugging him back, kissing his shoulder before burying your face into the crook of his neck

#the good doctor #the good doctor x reader #the good doctor x you #the good doctor imagine #the good doctor neil melendez #neil melendez imagine #neil melendez #neil melendez x reader

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