#my brain is jumping ideas left and right omg

[pinkleaaves]

Also another food for thought:

A The Wilds Christmas

My all time favorite Christmas is The Family Stone*

So like just a giant “what if” scenarios

I’m thinking it’ll have to do with Shoni and Leatin getting together

Also it’s Post Islands bc I don’t think I could avoid that in this

Have sprinkling in some of the Boys bc background characters

The only scene I can currently think of:

Henry is being Henry and just spewing shit about siblings and understanding their betrayal

But Rachel goes full fucking defense mood bc he’s talking Shit abt Nora and ONLY she can do that

[rosenclaws]

Hi! 👋

I saw your requests were open and I was wondering if I could submit a request?

The reader is a shy artist who is a friend of Wades. She carries a sketchbook with her everywhere to sketch new pieces, but she doesn't show her work to people unless it's to Wade.

She and Worst!Logan become friends and slowly develop feelings for one another, but they won't say anything to each other because they think that the other wouldn't want them. Until Worst!Logan finds her sketchbook by accident and finds the book is filled with sketches of him. Worst!Logan confronts her about it, but she's a stuttering mess, and they end up confessing to each other. And please make it extra fluffy. Maybe throw in a kiss or a makeout session. Your choice lol.

Thank you and have a good day! 😊

Hidden Feelings and Hidden Sketches || Worst!Logan Howlett x Reader

warnings: drinking, swearing, wade making suggestive comments, make out sesh towards the end, reader gets drunk and logan helps her out. Logan also calls the reader sketch. It got kinda suggestive at the end I apologize sldfjka

a/n: Hi!! This idea is adorable omg I love it, I hope it was fluffy enough for you I have to admit I'm not great at writing pure fluff. I also hope wade is funny because I am not funny so its hard to write his dialogue sometimes. I also altered the plot a little so i hope its okay

You never quite understood how you and Wade became friends. He was possibly the biggest extrovert you have ever met and you were the exact opposite. He saw you once at his favorite diner with your sketchbook and he jumped into the seat across from you.

Yapping on about your art and if you drew often and that he once tried to paint but the class didn't appreciate his art and asking if you'd paint him naked as a present for his girlfriend. Which you declined very quickly.

He wouldn't leave you alone, talking and asking you all sorts of things. You getting a few words in and him covering the other 98% of the conversation. He left with the promise of seeing you again and disappeared before you could say anything else.

It was an odd experience that's for sure but you liked Wade. Sure enough he kept coming back and a friendship had blossomed. He invited you over to dinner multiple times but you always declined, choosing to meet at the diner instead.

Slowly he got you out of your shell around him. Cracking jokes and sometimes putting him in his place when he went a little too far. You showed him your sketchbook after a while and he gushed over your drawings. Begging you to draw him at his best angles and you would sometimes give in.

When he disappeared for a while you got worried, that is until he showed up with a new dog and a very handsome new friend. You couldn't take your eyes off of him. Wade spotted you and waved but you didn't even notice.

"I know right, he's like a tall glass of rage filled water." Wade sighs as he sits across from you.

"I uh what?" You hug your sketchbook close to your chest as you rip your eyes away from Wade's new friend.

"Oh don't pretend like you weren't eye fucking him the second he walked in here, not that I blame you." Your eyes widen as you start to stutter. Your face heating up as you stare at the pancakes in front of you instead. A loud grunt catches your attention. You can barely meet his eyes as your brain is too busy being embarrassed by what Wade had said.

"You can sit on my lap angel cakes." Wade pats his leg but gets shoved to the side as his new friend sits down across from you.

"Logan this is my friend, be a good kitty and play nice." Logan rolls his eyes and chooses to ignore Wade. He does look at you though, burning a whole through your skull.

"Hi Logan," You say shyly.

"Hi." A few beats of silence pass until Wade breaks it as usual.

"Well aren't you two the life of the party, if you excuse me I have to go relieve myself." Wade stands up and instead of asking Logan to move, starts to climb over the man.

"What the fuck?!" Logan hisses as he grabs Wades shirt and tosses him to the ground. You can't help the laugh that escapes your mouth as your friend flops to the ground.

"So rude." Wade shakes his head and heads off to the bathroom. Silence falls once again as you awkwardly push around the pancakes on your plate.

"What's that?" Logan asks, nodding towards your sketchbook. You grab your book and shove it into your bag.

"Nothing! It's uh, just a sketchbook it's nothing don't worry about it." Logan raises an eyebrow as you panic in front of him.

As if you couldn't feel more embarrassed. You debate on waiting for wade or just leaving to save yourself but Logan makes the choice for you.

"You don't have to stay, not holding you hostage." He sips his coffee as you let out a shaky laugh.

"Not much of a talker." You play with your fork as you look up at Logan. He's much more handsome up close.

"Neither am I." He offers a small half smile and you return it. He's still incredibly intimidating but maybe you can stick it out a little longer. Logan's food comes and the two of you eat in a comfortable silence and when you're done you work up the courage if he'll be here tomorrow. He holds the door open for you as you step outside.

You clutch tightly onto the strap of your bag as you wait for his answer. He lights a cigar and you try and suppress your smile when he says he will be. As you part ways you realize that Wade never did come back from the bathroom.

That sneaky bastard.

-on

The diner uh, meetings as you called them, with Logan were amazing. His grumpy exterior was hard to crack but eventually the two of you started to become friends. Being with Logan started to become your favorite parts of the week. He was more than the tough guy persona he put on. What surprised you the most is that he seemed interested in you too. Well you know as friends.

Logan could appreciate someone who liked the quiet. He never pushed you out of your comfort zone, never made you feel uncomfortable. He was just Logan. Call it what you want but it was only a matter of time before you fell head over heels for that man. Not that you'd ever tell him.

How could you?

He's a superhero. He's gorgeous and grumpy and funny and so much more. All you do is draw silly pictures. So for now you settle on friends. Even if he makes your stomach turn with ever smile. Even if his laugh is the best thing you've ever heard. Friends. That's good enough for now.

-

"Wade Wilson I am going to kill you!" You say angrily.

He had texted you asking you to meet him for coffee and you had agreed solely because you never got the chance to scold him for his little dine and dash.

"Leaving me alone with a stranger!" You slap his hand as he tries to reach for your pastry.

"Ow! That was so five months ago! Anyways I was just trying to help. You know, relieve the sexual tension." You gasp as he makes a very lewd gesture with his hands.

"Besides, you and Logi bear are spending a lot of time together for just being friends huh Boo-Boo." Before you can stop him he reaches for your sketchbook. Keeping it just out of reach as he flips through the pages.

"Give it back!" You plead as you reach across the table.

"Oh. My. God. How come you never draw me this sexy?" He shows you the pages and you fall back into your seat in defeat.

You know what's in there and now Wade does too. Pages and pages of sketches of Logan. You feel like a stalker. It's not your fault! Ever since you met him he's all you can think about. All you can draw.

"Please give it back." You beg but he refuses.

"You'll get it back after you admit to Logan how you feel."

"What!" Your jaw drops as you make another lunge for your book.

"I am a very impatient man and I'm not about to wait another thousand words for the two of you to fuck." He stands up and tucks the book down his pants.

"Ew really?" You groan as you let your face fall into your hands.

"I'm having a get together and you're invited. Logan will be there it's the perfect opportunity." You feel like throwing up at the idea of talking to Logan about any of this.

Maybe you could just steal it back tonight. Or maybe you could never show your face to anyone ever again. Yah the second option sounds better. If only it was that simple. You waited for many anxiety filled hours, the only thing on your mind is getting your damn book back. You knock on the door and it swings open with Wade standing there, a stupid smile on his face.

"Honey badger at 4 o'clock." He hands you a drink and pushes you right towards him. You shoo him away, taking a deep breath and head towards Logan.

"Hi Logan," You say nervously.

"Didn't think these were really your thing." He says with a smile. You laugh nervously and nod your head.

"Yeah well...I thought he'd finally stop asking if I came to one of these things." You joke. Logan snorts and offers you the seat next to him.

"Good luck with that." You sit next to him and swirl around the ice in your drink.

If you're going to tell him then you're going to need a lot of help. Logan's eyes widen as you down your drink in one go, making a face before asking for another one. He's never seen you at a party, let alone drink.

"Why don't you take it easy there sketch."

"It's a party right, why not have a little fun." Logan keeps an eye on you as you drink and drink. As the night passes on he realizes that you might have had a little too much. You can barely get a sentence out by the time the party's over.

"Hi Logii!" Your arms slink around his neck as you stumble into him.

"Come on, let me take you home." He chuckles as he helps you to the door.

"Nooo, I needa get my uh..." You stop and think for a moment.

"My uhhh" Logan hums as he helps you to your apartment. You stay close to Logan as you walk through the night. He's just so warm and he smells so good.

"Got your keys?" You pat around for them and frown. Logan reaches into your bag and pulls them out.

"Right here." He unlocks your door and helps you to your bed. You sigh as your head hits your pillow.

"Oh! my sketchbook. Wade has my sketchbook." You say with a yawn.

"I'll get it back tomorrow, now sleep well." Logan takes off his jacket and lays it on you. He brushes your cheek gently. A soft smile on his face as he leaves you to sleep peacefully.

"Good night."

-

God your head hurt and the sun was way too bright. You crack your eyes open groan as you head pounds. What were you even thinking last night? You wanted your damn book back that's what you were thinking. A loud knock on your door makes you moan in pain. Getting up you swing open your door only to be met with Logan holding your book. Your face pales as you see a smirk on his face.

"Wade gave me back your book." You reach out for it but he holds it back.

"You're a real good artist sketch." To your horror he opens up your book and flips to one of its pages.

Right in front of you was a side profile sketch of Logan. It had been while you were at the park or something. The sun was hitting him perfectly, he had this content look on his face. You couldn't help but draw it when you got back home. To capture him in a moment where everything felt okay.

"I uh..I.." You don't know what to say. He caught you red handed. Your face is on fire from shame and embarrassment as he finally hands over your book. You can't even look at him.

"I'm sorry." You whisper. Shutting your eyes you hope he gets the hint and leaves, leaves you to wallow in pity.

"Sorry? Why are you sorry." He grabs your chin and tilts your head up.

"I'm flattered sketch. I think you really captured me pretty good." You still can't bring yourself to say anything as you hug your book tightly. You can't tell if he's making fun of you or what.

"This isn't funny Logan." You try and push his hand off you but his grip is strong.

"Not trying to be funny." He brushes his thumb over your lips.

"Logan..." Your eyes flick down to his lips and you know he catches you.

"Say it, come on don't be shy. Not with me." Sighing you dig your fingernails into your book.

"I love you." Your voice is barely above a whisper, eyes squeezing shut. You almost hope he doesn't hear it but of course he does.

He presses his lips to yours roughly. You drop your book in shock as you melt deep into his kiss. Wasting no time in kissing him back, hands wrapping around his neck to pull him closer. He deepens the kiss as his hands fall to your sides. You pull away much to his disappointment, his lips chasing after yours for a moment.

"I love you too." He kisses your jaw lightly making you sigh.

"You know, those drawings were good but I think you got my lips wrong." You furrow you eyebrows, you thought you got his lips pretty good. After all you stared at them long enough to memorize them.

"Yeah sweetheart, think you need a lesson." He walks you back until you hit your couch.

"Get up close and personal." He winks as you bite your lip. How flustered can he make you?

"Then maybe you can show me more of those drawings."

Well, If it would help make your drawings more, accurate. Then who are you to say no?

"Okay." You run your hands along his arm as you look back up at him. Nerves and excitement swirling around your eyes.

"Don't worry sketch, I'm a pretty good teacher."

[jxckchxmpi0n]

can u do something where reader has a cat and ethan is meeting it for the first time!!

RAHHH!!! this is so fucking cute omg......

Cuddle Buddie

Ethan Landry x Reader || m.list

Warnings: it's just all fluff

word count: 1.1k

the urge to write this week is so high right now!!!! (tumblr fr fr giving me a hard time while writing this)

did not proof read (im so stressed this wont save again)

You haven't seen your boyfriend in about a week, with his classes and your scheduling time together seemed difficult. So, you both agreed that he would come over Saturday after he was done at work.

It was Tuesday and you were already done with classes, sitting in your shared apartment with Tara, Sam, and Mindy you sat on the couch mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. Your eyes landed on a post about someone giving away kittens, the post had said they would give the kitten the shots it needed and would give them away for fairly cheap.

One thing led to another, and you stood outside the ladies' house with Tara. "I can't believe I'm doing this." Tara shared the same excitement as you did, she stood next to you jumping up and down as the lady brought the kitten out.

it was a small gray cat asleep in her arms, and your heart melted the second you saw him. All curled up, what an angle. "He is just a babe" You reached in and held him yourself. "Ethan is going to flip when he sees him" Tara was right next to you softly petting the top of the cat's head.

-

A few days had passed, the kitten was getting used to the apartment and exploring the place. You and Tara both realized that he was in love with biting people's feet.

Ethan was supposed to come over today and meet the kitten. He actually had no idea still that you had gotten him.

He was eventually on his way; it was after his econ class so it was already late. you were getting some dinner ready for the two of you, Tara was out with Chad and Sam was out with Danny. you were excited that it was going to be just the two of you.

You had left the kitten in your room not wanting Ethan to walk in right away and see the little fur ball.

After thirty minutes the front door lock clicked, with the door opening right after. Ethan came walking in with a huge smile on his face. "hey, baby" he was towards you, his hand reaching your waist pulling you in for a sweet quick kiss.

"hey, how was econ?" you smile as you watch him set his keys, and backpack down. He comes back to you standing next to you as you stir the pasta sauce.

"It was pretty good, we got a pop quiz which I was not excited about but I feel like I passed it" you held up the spoon for him to taste it. He gladly took the spoon humming at the flavors.

"Wow, that's-" Right as he was about to speak a loud crash came from your room. Your heart picked up thinking what the kitten had gotten himself into. "What was that?"

"OH, ow you faked touching the pot which caused him to jump. He rushed to you to make sure you were okay, as you held your fake burnt hand, he took it from you to look at it. The sound from the room was long forgotten.

time had passed and you were both down with food, you were finally ready to show Ethan the kitten. "So actually, I have something I wanted to show you" you got up from the couch leaving him alone, running to your room you found the kitten sleeping in his tower.

"I honestly didn't fully expect this, but you know why not" Ethan was listen to your talk, his brain was running miles while trying to figure out what you were going to show him. Just as he had given up you came walking out with some weird lump in your arms.

As you got closer, he realized it was a kitten "Oh my god is that-" he sat up so fast, shifting his body so it was closer to you as you sat down. The kitten was awake, he was just chilling in your arms but once he was Ethan, he started to move so he could smell him.

He slowly but surely got out of your arms and into Ethan's lap, he looked at him for a moment before he started to mess with Ethan's hand as he was trying to pet him. "Yeah, I got him a few days ago, I went with Tara. I saw someone post about them and I just had to check it out."

Ethan was so lost in playing with the kitten he almost didn't hear you. "This is adorable, babe oh god I love him already" You smiled at the interaction between the two. "I just know for sure we are going to be fighting for your attention" Ethan looked at you smiling as the kitten kept biting his hand.

They played for the next thirty minutes, the kitten jumped around as Ethan threw his toys around, and moving to the floor the kitten would hide under the couch and bite Ethan's feet. Staying out of it your heart was so full seeing Ethan play with the kitten. You just knew it was a good idea to get him and you can't wait for the late nights like this to come in the future.

[ilys00ga]

𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀.

➞ pair: yoongi x reader.

➞ genre: hurt/comfort (why do I keep making these lmao), established relationships, I'm so bad at tagging sorry.

➞ warnings: angst and fluff cuz we all need that (we really do). reader has anxiety and abandonment issues, yoongi is trying his best for the sake of both of them, just relationship things.

➞ A/N: requested by @parkjennykim, this was very fun to write! thanks for yet another idea <3 I hope u like it. I'm organizing this blog/post (?) while listening to mono, and let me tell yall, it's such a vibe omg. I think you should read this while listening to that album, I love it sm, I can't even begin to explain UGH- if namjoon ever goes on a world tour, he better perform every single song in that album, cuz imma be losing my mind in the crowd, esp during moonchild. my vocal cords are already getting sore. yeah. if u want this to hit that spot, maybe u should do what I said (this is a friendly order, if u will). if not, just enjoy and pls ignore any mistakes, english has been challenging me recently (for the last 10 years lmao)

ps. I am in a dire need of a yoongi in my life. specifically the one I wrote in this one. oh how I love being a lonely fanfic writer <33

★ MASTERLIST.

ᵎᵎ 𖦹彡⋆｡˚・ ─ ・ ⋯ ・ ─ ⊹ ♡₊˚๑

God knows how long it had been after it hit midnight when Yoongi stood in the kitchen. His eyes were red and heavy with drowsiness, but he couldn't sleep that night.

How does one sleep through a restless, biting night?

Surely not with a bad headache, or overflowing thoughts, and especially not with guilt chewing on his core.

He gulped, throat begging to be quenched as it held onto a slight, delicious, yet bothersome burning sensation. He opened the fridge and filled a glass with some water, raising it to his lips when loud a cry of his name, followed with a thud and a number of sobs, disturbed the quiet of the night and made him jump, startled.

His limbs froze in their place, glass almost slipping his hand and crashing on the floor when his sleep deprived brain realized that the muffled cries were yours.

Wide awake, he dashed after the sound. Thirst and sleep no longer occupied his mind, all he could think of was holding you in his arms.

He found you on the stairs, trembling as you wailed into your hands.

He hated it so much: seeing you in pain. He wanted nothing more than to shield you from the rainfall of your gloomy sky, from his own rainfall, from the world. How could one be an umbrella and the rain at once?

He blinked, once, twice, then gulped and heaved a deep, tired breath.

One storm doesn’t require another storm to be calmed down, that he knew. One needs to be composed and collected to stand still during a storm, that he knew as well.

With worried eyes, he gently called out your name and walked up to you, “darling, what’s wrong?”

You looked up as soon as you heard his worried voice, some tiny sense of relief washed over you when you saw him right there. A hundred daggers digged so deep into his heart and bones, aching, the moment a broken whimper of his name fell from your lips.

Without a second thought, Yoongi hugged your face to his chest. One of his hands was patting your back and the other affectionately caressed your head.

As he listened to his name that never left your lips, Yoongi held you there on the cold of the stairs with nothing but sweet nothings whispered back to your ears.

Everything he did and said was so gentle and soft, like he was so afraid you'd crack and come to tiny bits and pieces at any given moment. It all made you want to cry even harder, to hold him so tight and never let go.

Soon, when your tears started winding down, pulled away and cradled your face with his hands, palms faintly pressing on your cheeks as if he hoped to share their warmth with you.

Tender eyes met your wet ones and stared as their owner’s voice made its way through the noise of your sniffles and hiccups. He said, “It’s alright. I'm here. Talk to me, hmm?”

You answered his plea with a small nod, before wiping your tear stained skin and hugging him again. He smelt like home. You took a deep breath, greedily feeding your lungs with his lovely scent.

He hugged you back, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling your body closer to his. He pressed light kisses on your temple, patiently waiting for you to talk.

“I had a really scary nightmare. so, so scary- I woke up, didn’t find you there- then…then I remembered the fight we had earlier. I…I thought I lost you- I'm sorry. sorry for the stupid things I said earlier. I love you so much! please don’t leave. please..”

Your voice quivered with fresh tears ready to be spilled again. Yoongi started hushing you as soon as he noticed that you were working yourself up.

Squeezing you in his arms, he whispered “I never left, and I never will.”

“I’m all right, nothing happened to me, see?” he leaned away just enough to allow you to take a quick look at his body, then added, “a stupid fight is not going to make me leave. I love you way too much for that, and I'm sorry for hurting you too.”

He could still read fear and uncertainty all over your face, and he didn't like that. He knew that you trusted him, and he didn't doubt your love for him.

At first, he didn't get it. He didn't understand the insecurities, the anxiety and the nightmares you suffered from especially after the inevitably worst of arguments that happened between you and him. But after longer and deeper talks, with you expressing your feelings and him listening with careful ears, it made much more sense to him.

Sometimes he hated himself for triggering your alarms and making it harder for you, but he knew it was neither his fault nor was it yours.

Growth and pain are two key elements that come arm in arm with love, and fights are an unpreventable part of any kind of relationship. For all that, he always ended up blaming himself for making you question your worth to him when he can't even sleep without you happily cuddling his side.

Softly, lovingly, he started prepping tender kisses over your cheeks, nose, forehead, chin, temples, all over your flushed face.

It worked like watching waving fields of green wheat dancing with the wind, your storm started to slowly die down and your heart felt at ease again. slowly, but definitely.

Smiling ever so affectionately, Yoongi sealed his reassurance with a loving kiss that consumed you whole, and it left the corners of your mouth curving up in a dazzling smile. You nuzzled his chest and sighed.

“I really hate fighting with you.” you mumbled into his clothed chest, drained and light headed from all the crying and nearly-a-panic-attack you went through.

“I know, I'm sorry. I hate it too." he whispered back.

There was a pause of comfortable silence, with both of you breathing each other in, before he wondered aloud: “did you fall down the stairs? are you okay?”

You chuckled breathily at his question, recalling the hysteria he had to deal with just a few minutes ago. But Yoongi was there, right beside you. your arms were tightly wrapped around his torso, right by your side.

He had some kind of exceptionally irrepressible magic in those fierce eyes and that gummy smile of his, you inarguably couldn’t be more grateful for that.

“I'm alright. Was too busy crying, I didn’t even feel a thing to be honest.” you said, and he giggled.

“I love when you’re clumsy like that, but please be more careful, muffin. Can’t have you hurting yourself because of me even more." Even with your face buried into the crook of his neck, you could feel and hear the heavy pout in that comment.

Huffing, you leaned away with furrowed brows and a strict gaze. Yoongi gulped. Hesitation took over him, yet he knew that honesty is the only thing that must be present to drive this conversation to an end.

Honestly brings clarity, he found himself reminding himself of that very often.

"as long as we take care of each other, it's okay. I love you." you affirmed, and perhaps Yoongi almost teared up because of the way you looked at him right then and there. He wouldn't utter a word to spoil that information out loud, though.

The shy grin and the flushed cheeks you were met with were worth risking the entire world and its eight billion residents. You couldn't help but smile and pull him into another hug.

"This is great and all, but my butt is numbed. I think there's no blood flowing down there anymore," he said, his heart swooning when you giggled at his humorous change of topic, so relieved that he was finally able to hear your brightness again.

"Let's go back to rest, darling." He stood up, grabbed your hand and squeezed it in his, then gently pulled your body up and dragged you to your shared bedroom, where everything and everyone else meant little to nothing at all as you laid in each other's arms.

[yandere-sins]

OMG that yandere spot was sooo good, people hardly write him yandere it suckss </3 could you do some more with him? i dont have any big ideas on hand, maybe just him having you prone with his spots, cuddling you? idk, but hes so cute lol

Aww, he really is such a cutie! Thank for requesting him ^-^

»»———————— ♡ ————————««

Your hands sunk into the black spots, the portal sucking them in greedily the moment your body hit the ground.

Was it the ground? Maybe it was the ceiling or the wall, but it was hard to tell, with the sterile white color interrupted only by countless black spots being all you could see. Somewhere to your lower left, you saw the fingers of your right hand emerge, and although you could feel the outlines of the spot with your left, you had no clue where it had gone. The disconnect to all your limbs had become easier to understand for your brain after having been in this situation so many times. But it never completely disappeared, always leaving you anxious. All you could do was remind yourself not to be hasty and to keep a cool head. You didn't want one of your limbs to accidentally be severed by panic or rash decisions.

"Gotcha!" Spot chuckled, letting himself fall forward-upwards-downwards—whatever direction, directly on top of you. You ground your teeth in frustration about the failed escape, turning your head away as he hovered his in front of you.

"Worth a try," he admitted, pouring salt into the wound of your failure. "Too bad you can't outrun me."

"I could, and I did, Psycho!" you spat right back into his featureless face, and though not visible, you heard the grin in his voice when he spoke next, your feistiness a point of excitement to him rather than anger.

"And then still stepped right into my spot like an amateur. Really, have you not learned anything in all this time?"

As if to solidify his claim, you glanced down at the feeling of your leg being sucked into yet another portal, all the way up to your knee. You gasped when it appeared right over your head, wiggling as your body tried to deal with the disconnect until your shoe loosened from your foot.

Quickly closing your eyes, you braced for the hit, ducking your head when you heard a dull thud. By the time you dared to open one eye, the shoe was already silently resting some feet away, and Spot cleared his throat, apologetically admitting, "Sorry, that was on me."

Somehow, the break from his villain act made you breathe out all the tension and adrenaline you had harbored in your body from the escape, leaving nothing but exhaustion behind. Sure, you had failed again. Jumped into a random portal that Spot had opened before suddenly finding yourself flying through the air in some unfamiliar universe. Luckily, he noticed you escaping his "spot-verse" and teleported you to safety. Still, after a long chase around skyscrapers and shops, you made the fatal mistake of not looking down while walking, stepping right back into his portal.

It was unfortunate, but at least you tried.

"Can't you just... I don't know... come to terms with this?" he asked, gesturing one hand around you two as if to mean this space he created. You blew some hair out of your face so he could see you rolling your eyes before replying curtly, "No."

"Come on, it's not half as bad as you make it out to be."

Rolling over to lay at your side, defeated by your defiance, Spot rested his head on your chest, listening to your heartbeat. A habit he liked to live out a lot these days. "You're warm," he mused, this time sounding like a content smile was playing on his lips. Thanks to his spots, it was easy for him to wrap his arms around you through the floor, and he nuzzled his face into your immobilized body, even when you heaved a deep breath of annoyance.

"I was about to declare war on Spiderman today. Before you popped out of the sky, that is."

"Who cares. You've already declared it a thousand times."

Spot perked up, lifting one white sausage finger into the air and wagging it. "No, no, no. For real, this time. I was going to make it official."

With a sigh, he laid back down again, mushing the spot on his face as far as possible into you. One day, he'd just consume you whole, you feared. One day, he'd lose control, and the nagging feeling of his portals sucking at your skin would turn everything into a black hole, decimating you. The thought brought goosebumps to your skin and a frown to your face. Your days were numbered if this continued, and the urgency of escape nagged at the back of your mind again.

"What if you fail again? What will you do then?" you asked, entertaining his illusions the only thing you had to fight the anxiety and boredom in this isolated space. Even if they were hypotheses and Spot was still a loser despite his new powers, listening to him was like watching a bad soap opera—just barely entertaining. You doubted he noticed the weight in your words, the comparison you drew between him and you.

"Come back to you?" he replied, sounding like a question even though it was more like a fact. It was as if he asked for permission, knew he wouldn't get it, and still decided to state his thoughts. "At least I got you waiting for me, but I know I won't fail."

It wasn't the answer you wanted to hear. No one would were they in your position, but it reminded you of the complexity of his feelings, the way he seemed to genuinely like you even if all of this wasn't healthy.

"What if I'm not here?"

"Then I'll go out and find you."

"I see."

Resting his chin on your chest, Spot looked up at you. Adoringly, in love you imagined. "Do you doubt me?" he asked and you questioned yourself for a few seconds before shaking your head. "No, but does it really matter that we stay here of all places then? You can just come and find me if it's so easy for you, no?"

"What's wrong with this place? It's cozy!"

"It really isn't!" you complained, moaning about him thinking white walls, white floors, black dots, and white ceilings were anything but mentally driving you nuts. "I hate how white everything is! It's awful!"

Spot gave an offended huff before getting away from you, sitting by your side as he looked around. "Is it that bad?" he mumbled before his head dropped, his gaze unmistakably falling on himself. "Do you hate me, too?"

There was a soft whine in his voice, pleading with you not to agree. But how could you? You did positively hate that guy who kidnapped you off the street and held you like a glorified pet, professing his love while keeping you locked up in a different universe away from your own, stealing food for you instead of taking you on dates like someone normal would. Everything was just wrong about this guy, and you didn't just mean his inhuman looks!

"Well, duh," you mumbled, exasperated. There was a long moment of silence before he sighed.

"So that's how you see me..." Spot mumbled, and you hoped the discussion for the day would be over now. But to your surprise, his hands suddenly crashed down at the sides of your head, darkness shredding through the white ground and climbing up his arms. You instinctively wanted to move away, but his portals kept your body in a tight hold, even as the black spread over the previously white everything around you.

"Well then," he asked, no signs of sadness in his voice anymore. You directed your gaze forward, your body signaling you to get the fuck away from the creature that appeared before you now, but you couldn't do anything. Soon enough, all of his white skin was shrouded in black, the space you two resided in twisting and turning in threads of black, your body dunked into darkness with only Spot standing out against the change.

"How about I show you something amazing to ogle? Something that will convince you that I can defeat that pesty spider?"

A terrifying grimace ripped through his body, the whole space vibrating with power you had never witnessed before. You were too choked up to speak, too scared to move even a muscle. You could only watch Spot's face split into a monstrous, sinister grin as the black around you began devouring you.

"Do you love me now, Darling?"

[quinloki]

Like any normal, rational person I spent a good chunk of my day thinking about this

And more importantly this part

And my brain was like alright let’s think of logistics and I was like omg either:

A) it’s a sea stone box so Marco is just exhausted, and can’t properly protect you if Thatch were to burst open the box (too tight anyways, no room for him to even kick without hitting one of the others)

B) Devil fruit user who can trap people until conditions are met >.> Izou bribes them of course

I can just picture Thatch and Marco being like FINE FINE YOU SAID SOMEONE SO they’ll take care of it with eachother but like. You’re right there. And the tension is just there and I mean, heck, might as well right >.>

c) my brain thought of it being an enemy who has a trapping devil fruit, and they go to trap you but Marco and thatch jump to cover you at the same time so y’all just end up trapped. Using Haki is tricky bc you’ll suffer from it, so they’re basically left to wait until someone takes out the devil fruit user

My brain also thought omg and the box keeps getting smaller and smaller until you’re completely pinned between them. And they’re trying to be so considerate and not smush you, but you’re all warm and squirming and rubbing up against them and they just can’t help it. But then it shatters bc Izou got a bullet in the devil fruit user and y’all just crash in in one jumbled up mess of limbs and it’s awkward for a few days but you can’t stop thinking about it so you go to find them and they’re the same and yeah

That’s as far as my brain went. But really that’s fine. Amazing even <333 just thinking of wiggling around in the box with them >.>

Ok lots of love I’m gonna go think about it as I go to sleep <3333

I like all of these as possible ideas =3

Specifically the seastone concept - it can be made light enough that it doesn't sap Marco too bad at all, but still has the same "can't break the box without risk of harm" and neither wants to risk you.

Marco and Thatch still decide that fine, if it just means someone has to cum, they'll sort it out. But, as you say, you're right there.

Front row seat.

Even as unflappable as Marco usually is, this is a unique situation. The blush on his ears and the back of his neck is hot. It's there cause you're watching, and you can't not, not really, you'd hear everything at least, and maybe you can cool that flushed skin

with a kiss, perhaps?

xD but yeah, it's a fun idea. I think trapped in a room/box is one of the prompt options for the event >.>

[inoreuct]

Okay I actually have a few extra headcanons for this au (and the little ficlet I’m writing for you), so take them into account when reading lol (hope you don’t mind)

Zoro (when in human form) has two pairs of canines (not one, the extra pair sits behind the first. The first (normal) pair are quite large, and sometimes stick out of his mouth), and his teeth are all unnaturally sharp. Also, slit pupils because I said so. He also has tiger stripe prints on his back, although he normally excuses them as tattoos. Ears are slightly pointed, fingers more nimble, you know the drill. Moves and jumps way faster/higher than a normal person has any right to. Nails are similar to cats claws (as in, attached to the bone), and are incredibly sharp. The Tiger form is massive, and makes him look like some kind of spirit (sword + massive + green = not normal lol). Scars and the such transfer to each form. Side note, Zoro doesn’t really feel pain (or temperature for that matter), so it’s harder for chopper to treat him, because how does one treat something when the subject can’t feel it? Zoro is also really intelligent and perceptive, it just doesn’t seem that way because he has zero fucks left to give.

Hope your day is good my guy <3

IM SHAKING YOU SO HARD. WHAAAAAAT THE HELL THIS IS SO SO GOOD ALREADY.

i’m sat here hunched over my phone like 👀👀 I’M SO MAD I DIDN’T THINK OF THE SLIT PUPILS FIRST I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THAT and yes to the pointy teeth. he’s a bitey bastard with his crew already but he’s entirely capable of ripping someone’s throat out with those. and the TIGER STRIPES your brain is so HUGE. massive, dare i say. the increased speed, strength, agility— it’s not obvious when you don’t look closely but once you do it’s easy to see that he’s Not All Human. but i think his crew is almost a safety barrier against people reading too much into it, because zoro bickers and banters and lets them hang all over him, and it puts strangers at ease yk?

HE’S DEFINITELY BEEN MISTAKEN AS SOME KIND OF SPIRIT AT SOME POINT. THE WHOLE CREW GOT A KICK OUT OF IT a village thought zoro was a divine guardian or something and the entire crew got treated like royalty. usopp felt a little bad about not saying anything but the others were Capitalising and zoro was living his best life LMAO

and omg. i hate it when people pass zoro off as dumb or stupid because he is a dumbass but he’s not Dumb. he literally created his own sword style. his battle instincts are honed nearly sharper than his claws. he sits in the back of a room and seems antisocial but he is clocking EVERYTHING; who’s coming in and out of all the exits, where his crewmates are, any potential threats etc etc (also figures out exactly what booze they have by smell alone but let’s not enable him shall we)— the point is, he is intelligent, perceptive and he doesn’t seem like it, which makes him all the more dangerous. people look at him and see a blockhead with three swords, and the next thing they know they’re pinned to the ground with claws in their chest and fangs at their throat. he’s vicious and i love it.

ANYWAY I’M SO EXCITED TO READ THE FICLET YOU HAVE NO IDEA I’M DOING LAPS RN. this was so enjoyable to read already i literally can’t wait for the whole thing. HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY ANON 🫶🏼🫶🏼

[riddlerosehearts]

HELLOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! its idiavil anon again i m just. gonna yap abt idiavil if u dont mind. my current ideas for different idiavil fics is up to 32 and i have 10 idiavil playlists on spotify as of right now. i shocked my twst friend w that last fact. I HAVE TWO SETS OF IDIAVIL KEYCHAINS I GOT OFF OF ETSY ASW i love them os much . my friend has been working on idiavil art 4 my birthday and im super excited.... ive actuallybeen able to focus on writing recently SO I HAVE SOME DRAFTS IN FHE WORKS!!!!!!, the brainrot only grows with each passing day. i have moss in my brain. like a chia pet. ALSOO THE TWISTED TSUMDERLAND EVENT LITERALLY HAD ME IN AGONY ROLLING AROUND AND SCREAMING IM NOT EXAGGERATING. LIKE HELLO GUYS WAKE UP NEW IDIAVIL CANON INTERACTIOSN JUST DROPPED. MY FRIEND LET ME INFODUMP TO HER SOMEXLAST NIGHT AND EVERY TIME I MENTIONED THEM I WOULD START TEARING UP 😭😭 also also ive been getting back into drawing and i have idia and idiavil doodles literally everywhere. the grind DOES NOT STOP. ok thats it ive just been in agony since my creativity stats are like maxxed tf out rn.......... AS ALWAYS I LOVE UR BLOG AND MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS ASW!!!!!!

ANON IT IS ALWAYS OKAY TO YAP ABOUT IDIAVIL TO ME!! i still don't post about them enough but trust me i think about them a lot... i wish i had the creativity and drive to write fics haha, i've had ideas about all my favorite twst ships bouncing around in my brain for a long time but i'm not good at putting things into words and i'm always working on other projects! i don't know if wicked is something you're familiar with or interested in but i saw the stage musical live back in april (for the first time ever lol!! i've had an over a decade-long obsession fueled only by collecting bootleg recordings of it until this year!), and then just saw the movie earlier, and lately every time i think about wicked i think about vil and idia. if i could, i would love to write a wicked AU for them that follows the general plot/themes of the musical but ultimately still gives them a happy ending and i'm constantly torn between two different ideas for who to cast as fiyero and how exactly to do it since i'd be casting vil as glinda and idia as elphaba and making them end up together in my AU. i could go on about it BUT since you literally did not ask, i won't!! i would also just love to put them in a hercules AU if that hasn't already been done because i need people to understand my vision here. like they literally canonically recreated the scene where hercules saved meg from the underworld in the movie. genuinely how many other twst ships have something like that?? vil RISKED HIS LIFE and GAVE UP HIS YOUTH so that he could JUMP INTO THE FUCKING UNDERWORLD and BRING IDIA BACK. LISTEN--

OKAY ANYWAY! i did take a look at the fic ideas you shared when you came off anon before, i don't know if you saw the silly rambling tags i left on your post but i loved all of your ideas and omg i love that you have 10 playlists for them?! i won't ask you to share the playlists but i think it's so cool that you've put that many together and i'm curious about what kinds of songs you think fit them best! i'd also love to see the keychains but i don't think tumblr lets you send images on anon so you don't have to haha! i have these enamel pins of the dorm leaders (all except leona and malleus, but i might get those two someday as well) and i specifically keep vil and idia next to each other on my corkboard, like this:

(those are almost all pins of different JRPGs above them. idia would love my pin/keychain/button corkboard ASKJGHDF)

ALSO YESSSS I WAS SO HAPPY TO SEE IDIA AND VIL INTERACTING AGAIN IN THE TSUM EVENT. THEIR BANTER IS SO FUNNY EVERY TIME. and omg is your birthday coming up?! if so then happy early birthday, and merry early christmas to you too!! 💖

[coredrill]

perhaps my most insane collection of brvn thots yet

do we think lulu is from the moon. i think this for three reasons. one: when she told superbia she was going to ride him the moon was quite large and prominent in the shot. symbolism. two: when she got her fancy hairdo, she had two little buns that looked like moons. three: “lulu” could come from “luna” the same way it could come from the first syllable of smith’s name. why would she become spanish? don’t worry abt it. also if she’s from there then maybe the “final battle” which obari allegedly said would take place in an unexpected location will indeed be on the moon (pls dont ask for a source on this bc i don’t think i could find it again but it was one of the like. EARLY early interviews iirc. or it was just a rumor. this part of the post is a joke anyways LMAO). however this IS a super robot show so i feel like the moon in general is actually a more expected location for me than like. idk. cleveland

everyone pointing out the animation differences maybe indicating different timelines is so funny to me cause like. if it’s NOT intentional, the fans are putting together a list of fixes to make for the bluray on a silver platter LMAO. also god i hope we get a western bluray release, i honestly am considering getting the jp one if it somehow winds up w eng subs though just cause i know it’s such a long shot for CRUNCHYROLL of all motherfuckers to put one together 🥲 discotek ur our only hope………………

i keep thinking abt the like. pacing of the previous fight scenes being reused in ep9 in such a smart way…………like with smith/lulu v superbia - isami/bravern v cupiridas AND with smith/lulu v knuth - isami/bravern v pessimism/vanitas they kept doing the quick jumps between each of the two fights in a way that made it clear that isami and smith were in conversation even if they were doing completely different shit, and then bringing that completely to the forefront this ep while isami is asking smith why he died and at the same time smith is refusing to die bc of his promise with isami. BLEW MY FUCKIN MIND to see the pattern reused like that, i swear to GOD everyone talks about how fun and hype this show is but it’s so damn GOOD too 😭😭 and then after that the fuckin. symmetrical docking ass cut and then later the gattai which has been held off for SO long bc they are no longer separate conversations. JESUS

called my shots too early tho w smith not melting ppl’s minds in a kaworu manner where they convolute the story x1000 to try to make him seem straight 😭 congrats white boy, your days are numbered until ppl start saying you love isami like he’s your pet dog……….also in a related fashion the giant naked smith fanarts are taking me out LMAO

you can tell idk shit abt fuck when it comes to time travel fuckery cause i rly am just here like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ atp LMAO, the serious theorizing is GONE. i trust the show to finish out in a satisfying manner and also in a way that my pea brain can understand and i’m rly looking forward to savouring these last 3 episodes :] and then rewatching the whole thing from the beginning once the remaining twists have been revealed and i Know :3 like not to get way too sentimental w 3 whole episodes left but we are so lucky to be following this story in real time you guys 😭 like i’m just gonna put the same post i made back after episode ONE here cause it’s true but times a million with what we’ve seen so far, truly this is such a special experience to have and i’m so glad this show waited until i got into mecha to get made so that i could like. Understand it yknow. anyways good for january 14 2024 version of me, you are so excited andyet still have NO idea the kind of treat you are in for 😭

“lewis” jumpscare tho omg. i forgot it took me like a week to figure out what the hell was goin on with all the characters first and last names LMAO. anyways everybody go look at sumiisa sekiha love love tenkyouken right now i am no longer asking

[dashielldeveron]

Whew, okay this is a little embarrassing the length of this and commenting in the first place(I prefer being a silent appreciator of writing) but I'll get over myself for like 10 minutes.

Okay where do I start? Omg there's so much to talk about. But first off can I say I love the soulmate trope so so so so much. Like it activates the full on feral can I have some more sir part of my brain.(yes that exact meme) I came across this purely by accident digging into the aizawa x reader tag. Fav pairing with this man btw. But once I got acquainted with the overall story and the plot.

I blew through the entire first part of the story in an about an hour and a half. I may be a little late to the party but your writing is *chef kiss*. Ugh yes! The entire plot is amazing and the idea of a villan with a soulmate type quirk along with the later introduction of a villan with a sex pollen quirk for some drama. Like I was tearing into this hand over fist, giggling at the slow burn of it all. It's not over done and the pacing was perfect. When I was read the part about the reader choking up a flower. My eyes got so big, I even said out loud this fic has hanahaki too? Heck yeah! I'll admit I was touch disappointed when it wasn't an actual thing but I understood how Aizawa jumped to the conclusions about from soulmates to hanahaki being a real thing. Lol I got duped right along with him.

(Definitely sounds feasible in this soulmate AU and would love to see how you'd explore it, should it be something that you'd consider in the future)

The club scene? Oh my god. Someone get me a wheelchair because that moment with him being tipsy and let-me-teach-you. And just playing into being a dom and calling reader a brat. Crying.

And the paperwork mix up lol. Suprise! We've been married for 8 months now. That was so sweet when he admitted he already had the ring at home.

And what slow burn 38k fic is good without some spice? It was amazing. Better words are failing me at the moment. But I haven't seen anything better written in years.

All in all, I wanted to say thank you so much for writing this. Am I going back to read the other soulmate pairings, because I need more in my life? Yes, yes I am.

I'm sprinting not walking to read the rest lol.

But seriously if I could pop a little confetti cone through the screen, I would. Because you did that, you ate it all up and left no crumbs. And I am eternally grateful and excited to see more of your works. No matter what they may be. This will be my new brainrot for the weeks to come and will forever live in my head absolutely rent free.

oh my god. oh my god i need a minute. i just need a minute

*snatches up each piece of confetti to eat it* how are such kind people like you walking about on this bitch of an earth?????? your pointing out of details and being so generous made my heart fucken stop.

yeah idk if i'm gonna use hanahaki for real later? i am vaguely entertaining it for a character not committed to a route yet. here, i just wanted aizawa to freak the fuck out. fun fact: that hanahaki scene was the OG ending before i decided that aizawa and reader needed to suffer more :) and him teaching reader sexy things after teaching her school things????? i thought that would kill him :)

you are NOT late to the party; the fic isn't even done yet!!! there are at least three more routes (shinsou, dabi, and shigaraki) and a writer with a terrible uploading schedule!!!

thaaaaaaaank you so much for reading!!!!! xx.

[mandos-mind-trick]

Would you believe me if I told you I had like 90% of this thing written for like months? It's just been sitting for ages.

Jumping right in with this one lol really causing chaos from the start. Can we expect anything less from Maul's soulmate though? Gotta match that energy. Her parents really did her dirty though, like couldn't even take her inside? Just left her on the steps?

I can imagine them just sending out every Jedi available cause they have a reputation to uphold. It's not gonna look good if there's just four year old kids wandering the street from the temple lol.

(the bond is strong. Very strong. But you didn't hear that from me. 👀)

Yeah, I kinda put her through the wringer, but she's gotta be vulnerable somehow and this is what my brain went with.

(I'd make such a terrible Jedi omg)

I had to throw Anakin in for just a scene lol. I originally had this one a lot longer exploring her trainng with Obi-Wan more in depth and exploring her relationships with Cody and the 212th and Anakin and Ahsoka a bit more, but I decided to keep it shorter cause that sounded like a lot of work. 😅

The original version of this was way different and actually a lot worse but I watered it down a bit. The fight scene was a lot more intense, but then I got the idea of torturing Maul with being unable to harm his soulmate (cause he absolutely would regardless like he's so focused on revenge he'd hurt his soulmate just to get revenge on Obi-Wan. Yeah, this story was lot different in the first version 😳)

Poor, sweet Mari is gonna go through it. Ugh I love her so much but that just means I have to torture her more. It's definitely a tragedy what happens to her but it will have a happyish ending.

I was originally planning two parts, but it might end up being three cause there's a lot of ground to cover before we get to the end still...the next part has much more Maul but also much more pain and emotions so...

Corruption - Part 1

Summary: Mari's always had darkness in her, threatening to take over in the back of her mind. No matter how much the Jedi tried to train her, the darkness was always there. After the death of her first master, she finds herself under the tutelage of Master Kenobi due to the council's growing concerns about her well being. The sudden return of a certain enemy, however, has some things coming to light. Maybe the darkness was never hers to begin with.

Pairing: Maul x OC (only named, no physical descriptions given)

Warnings: Maul being Maul, bit of an age difference but OC is of legal age in the last section, nightmares, self doubt, some canon-typical violence, mentioned death, sort of forced soulmate link initiation, manipulation, stalking, kinda dark at the end but nothing's given in detail.

A/N: All right, here it is, the original soulmate story that started the whole clone series. This takes a bit of a different look at soulmate bonds from a different perspective. Lots of just setting up the story in this part, the next one will go a lot more into detail about things, and also have a bit more action and also Maul.

Maul and Mari share the soulmate link where it's impossible to harm your soulmate cause I thought it would be not only perfect but kinda funny.

MASTERLIST

34 BBY

Master Cartia was not one to panic. Like most Jedi, she prided herself in her ability to stay calm even in the most dire situations. Her level-headedness and nurturing nature led her to join the caretakers in the creche, looking after the younglings. Her group were between the human ages 3-4 (or the equivalent in other species) when social and mental skills begin to strengthen and develop, as do Force abilities. Placating tantrums and dodging floating objects (and occasionally floating toddlers) were normal in her day to day life. 

Frantically searching for missing children, though, that was entirely unheard of. 

The creche is in the center of the temple. To escape unseen is nearly impossible. There are always Jedi moving about at all hours in the temple, not to mention the guards that were stationed at every entrance. Younglings sneaking around the temple was not unusual, and they were often returned by other creche masters or other Jedi who happened upon them in passing. 

But four year old Marianni Grarus is not in the temple. 

They had gone over every inch twice, looking in every space she could have gotten into, every place she could hide, but she was nowhere to be found. 

It’s not that surprising to Master Cartia that Mari is the one that managed to elude the entire Jedi temple and its guards. 

One could say Mari had a reputation from the beginning. 

She had been left on the front steps of the temple on Coruscant. It wasn’t common practice, but it had happened before. Her parents likely lived on Coruscant in the underworld and had brought her up to give her a better life. Or, something along those lines. 

Master Billaba had brought the child in near third meal, having noticed the toddler upon her return from a mission. The girl had been so upset, especially once she realized her parents were not returning for her, she had begun to cry and let out a shriek laced with the force so loud it shattered a window in the creche, disturbing the other children and triggering them all to cry. 

It hadn’t taken long to realize why her parents may have delivered her to the temple themselves. 

Mari was uniquely strong in the force for her age. She was also prone to horrible tantrums. Tantrums in young children were not unheard of, even from those in the care of the Jedi. Mari’s tantrums were exceptionally bad. Her emotions were strong, the most prevalent being anger. It burned red hot in her, overwhelming even the most level-headed Jedi if they were not prepared for it. 

She had the perfect makings of a Sith. Perhaps it was best her parents delivered her to the Jedi, and did so young enough they could calm the raging fire inside of her before it was too late. 

Master Cartia had not been surprised when she went to check on her group in the early morning and found Mari missing. She was only surprised how she had managed it. 

An alert was promptly sent out about the missing youngling to all Jedi in the temple, and those outside it as well. She couldn’t have gotten far, not on foot. Of course, Coruscant was a big planet with lots of people. Many things could have happened in the time she was missing. 

***

Obi-Wan was not thrilled about being woken early. He and his master had just returned from a mission and he had been looking forward to a day of rest. Of course, when the alert came in about the missing youngling, his master had roused him and they had set off to search. 

“How does a youngling escape the temple?” He asks as they make their way down one of the market streets. His master thinks they may be close. 

“They shouldn’t be able to.” Qui-Gon answers. “Though I have heard much about this youngling. She is strong in the force, but her emotions are stronger.” 

“You think she left on purpose?” 

“I cannot say.” He says. “Not until she is found.” He pauses at an intersection, looking left then right. 

“How are we supposed to find her?” Obi-Wan asks. There were trillions of people on Coruscant and they were looking for a four year old. 

“Clear your mind.” Qui-Gon says. “Focus on the force.” 

Obi-Wan closes his eyes, clearing his mind as his master said to. He reaches out, scanning the area when something pricks the edges of his mind. It’s hardly more than a needle prick or the sting of a bug, but it’s there. “That way.” He says, opening his eyes, finding himself staring to the right. 

“Yes.” Qui-Gon says. “We are close.” 

They begin walking down the street, Obi-Wan focusing on the feeling as it gets stronger. “There,” He says, pointing down an alley. 

Sure enough, near the end of the alley is Mari. She’s standing in the middle of the alley staring straight ahead. She doesn’t acknowledge them, nor does she seem to even notice them as they approach. Qui-Gon holds a hand out, slowly kneeling next to the girl. He puts a hand on her shoulder, the girl seeming to jolt like she had been drawn from a trance. 

“Easy, young one.” Qui-Gon says, steadying her. 

She blinks, her eyes clearing a bit. She looks up at Qui-Gon before turning her gaze to Obi-Wan. She’s wide-eyed, and looks frightened. Obi-Wan can’t blame her. 

“You had us worried.” He picks up the girl, holding her on his hip. “Sneaking off like that.” 

The girl looks around like she has no idea where she is, like she had no idea what had happened. She looks like she’s about to cry, and Obi-Wan can’t help but feel for her. If he had woken up in a strange place with no idea where he was, even now, he would be upset. He can only imagine what it must be like for someone so young, with so little understanding to be in that position. 

“What were you doing down here?” Qui-Gon asks, starting to walk back towards the temple after alerting them they had found the missing youngling. 

“I dunno.” She says quietly, wiping at her eyes. “I was sleeping.” 

“Sleepwalking?” Obi-Wan suggests. 

“Possibly.” Qui-Gon answers. He turns his attention back to the girl. “Were you dreaming?” 

“Uh-huh.” She nods. 

“What were you dreaming of?” 

“A face.” She says. “A scary face. With yellow eyes.” 

Qui-Gon is quiet for a moment, Obi-Wan trying to make sense of the girl’s words. “What did the face make you feel? Did it feel dangerous? Cold?” 

She shakes her head, leaning it against Qui-Gon’s shoulder. “No. It no hurt me.” 

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan share a look as they make their way back to the temple. Mari is asleep again before they get back. 

*****

32 BBY

Mari is a good student, despite what others may think of her. Her emotions are still strong, but she’s learning. Good Jedi don’t let their emotions rule them. She wants to be a good Jedi. She wants to be a great Jedi. 

Nothing’s ever easy. Not for her. 

It begins in the night, coming out of nowhere. She had been asleep, dreaming of a lightsaber battle. Flashes of red, blue, and green. The fight looks strange to her, almost like she’s the one in it. She can feel anger, feel the burning rage. She can feel it grasping at her, trying to sink its claws into her. She’s scared, desperately trying to keep it away. She’s going to be a good Jedi. She won’t give in to the emotions clawing at her very being. 

They’re stronger than she is. 

Suddenly she’s falling. 

She wakes screaming. 

The creche is in shambles, all of them waking at once. The creche masters swarm in, her own group’s master, Master Inek, is at her side, trying to calm her. She’s afraid, the cold seeping into her very being. She feels like she can’t breathe, like her very life is going to be sucked away by the oppressive cold. 

She wakes again in the infirmary. 

“Worrying, this development is.” She recognizes the voice of Master Yoda. 

“You think they all may be related?” Master Windu. 

A sharp pain jabs through her head, making her gasp. A warm hand presses against her forehead, a moment of warmth flooding through her before it’s chased away by the seeping cold once more. 

“Hello, young one.” Master Allie says. “How do you feel?” 

“Cold.” She answers. She’s shivering under her blankets. “Head hurts.” 

“Can you remember anything before you woke here?” She asks, putting a gentle hand on Mari’s shoulder. 

She relays the dream to them, and the feeling after she woke, like something was trying to take over her. Possess her. 

Master Yoda hums, leaning on his cane. “Correct in our fears, we may be.” He takes a couple slow steps towards the cot. “Protect your mind, we must.” 

“Until you can learn to protect yourself, we will help build a barrier to keep whatever is doing this at bay.” Master Windu says. 

“Don’t worry.” Master Allie squeezes her shoulder, putting her hand back on her forehead. Warmth begins to flood through Mari again, making her sleepy. “This will all be over before you know it.”   

*****

21 BBY

“No, I’m not leaving you!” 

The ship rocks once more with a blast.

“These plans need to get to the Republic.” His hand gently squeezes her shoulder. “I’m not going to sacrifice you or this mission.” 

Alarms are blaring. It’s already too late. They’ve boarded the ship and more are coming. It’s over for them, she already knows. 

“I can’t leave you.” She says, tears forming in her eyes. 

“You’ve been a good student.” He says, opening the escape pod door. R3 wheels himself in, beeping at them. “You’re going to make a great Jedi. I am sorry I won’t be there to see it.” 

He uses the force to push her back into the escape pod, closing the door before she can recover. She calls out, staring out the viewport as he launches the escape pod. R3 uses the scomp link, taking control of the escape pod to get them as far away as they can get. Tears slide down Mari’s cheeks as she watches the cruiser get further and further away. 

Her eyes are closed when it happens, the bright flash still visible behind her eyelids. She sinks to the floor, reaching out in the force but she knows there’s no use. He’s gone. They all are. 

She pulls herself off the floor, trying to gather her mind. She’d been with her master for almost seven years. He had been the only one willing to take a chance on her. She had progressed quickly in her lessons as she grew. She well out-paced those in her own age group, and the council had agreed despite the hesitance of the creche teachers to move her along at a faster pace. 

It wasn’t easy for her. She was picked on, and often found herself having to work twice as hard to prove she was, in fact, worthy of being there. The stress had been tough on her, but she had proven herself time and time again. 

Until it came time for her to take her Initiate Trials. 

Many had spoken out in disagreement about allowing her to progress, but the council had allowed it, and she had passed them all easily. They thought she was too young, too inexperienced. They all knew her, they all knew her reputation. Her abilities in the force were strong, but so were her emotions. She had thought there was no one willing to take a risk on her. 

Until Master Mandphi had stepped forward. He had been there at the trials. He knew of her, but he was willing to overlook the strange happenings in her childhood. It wasn’t that unusual for younglings to have strange experiences as they developed in the force. She knows others tried to convince him otherwise, but he was determined to help her. He saw the potential in her where no one else seemed to. 

He was patient and kind in his lessons, helping her learn to protect her mind from the darkness that always seemed to swirl on the edge. He taught her how to be stronger than the darkness, how to overcome it. He taught her how to use her lightsaber, how to use the force. 

Then the war started. 

Her master had been assigned to the 141st Battalion and spent more time off world than at the temple. In the beginning he had left her behind, as many padawans were left behind, until he was confident she could handle the battlefield. It was different than what they were trained for, but Mari learned quickly and soon became a staple on the cruiser and amongst the clones. 

Until their last mission. 

It had been a risky one. They had been sent to retrieve vital plans from a Separatist base. It had been too easy, and they had been overtaken by waiting Separatist forces. Their forces had been depleted taking the base, and there was no time for reinforcements. 

Mari sinks into the pilot’s seat, taking over the controls. “Relay a distress signal.” She tells R3. “Someone has to find us eventually.” 

She’s not sure where the nearest battalions might be, or if any even knew what had happened. They could be floating for a while. A long while. 

***

Obi-Wan pauses outside the meditation chamber for a moment relaying the past few hours over in his head. He had received orders to return to Coruscant after his last mission. He was glad for the break, but he also knew a summons by the council likely didn’t mean he’d get much time to relax. 

He had been correct. 

He had heard briefly about what had happened with the 141st battalion. They had succeeded in retrieving vital information about Separatist plans, but at the cost of the battalion. The entire battalion had been destroyed, including Master Mandphi. The only survivors had been Master Mandphi’s padawan and the droid carrying the plans. They had been picked up in an escape pod by the 104th two standard rotations later. 

Obi-Wan had planned on taking another padawan after Anakin passed his trials. Of course, the war had changed things. With the dangerous missions he often found himself on, he was glad not to have to worry about a padawan. 

It seemed like that might be changing. 

He knocks on the door, taking a breath to steady his mind. He remembers Marianni, though he doubts she would remember him. It had been almost fifteen years since he and his master had found her on the streets after her great escape from the temple. 

He opens the door at the call to enter, stepping into the small chamber. It’s bright inside, the shades open to let the Coruscanti sun in. Mari is seated furthest from the door, legs crossed in the center of the cushion. 

“Master Kenobi.” She moves to stand, but he holds up a hand, motioning for her to stay where she is. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” He says, taking a step in. “But I was hoping we could speak.” 

“You’re not interrupting anything.” She says, giving him a grim smile. “Master Taa kicked me out of class, told me to meditate until I could gain control over my emotions again.” She scoffs. “At this rate I’ll be here until next week.” 

He takes a seat on the cushion across from her, leaning his elbows on his knees. “It’s never easy, losing a master so tragically.” 

“They want you to help me,” She says, jumping to the chase. “Because you know what it’s like.”

She’s blunt, just as Master Mandphi had been. He knew Master Mandphi well. He had never been one to ease into things. Tact wasn’t his specialty, and it seemed that had rubbed off on his padawan as well. 

“They’re worried about me and my strong emotions.” She continues. “I know they are. I know they’re paying close attention to me.” 

“Controlling one's emotions is the hardest part of being a Jedi.” He says carefully, prodding gently with the force to try and ease her obvious agitation a bit. “Even the most experienced Jedi struggles with it. I know your path hasn’t been an easy one. I promise I will not hide anything from you. The council does wish for me to help you. I cannot know exactly how you are feeling, but I do know what it’s like to lose a master.” He falls quiet for a moment, letting her process. He hates having to throw all of this on her at once, but he knows with the war they didn’t have much of a choice. “They also wish for me to take you on as my padawan.” He says carefully, not sure how she’s going to react. 

Taking on a padawan who had already trained, and bonded, with another master was not an easy task. The bond between padawan and master is a sacred, strong bond. To have it severed so easily, then turn around to try and create another one was difficult not just for the padawan, but also for the new master. 

“I don’t want you to answer now.” He says before she can say anything. “Think about it. Sleep on it. I would be happy to continue to train you, if that is what you decide.” 

She watches him leave, conflicted by the thoughts running through her head. 

****

She wakes suddenly, barely able to hold in her scream. She slaps her hands over her mouth, holding her breath until her ears ring and the pulsing in her head is almost too much. She lets out a long, shaky breath, her trembling fingers closing around the blanket. 

She hasn’t been sleeping well. Not since her master’s death. 

She rises from bed, pulling on her boots. She slips from the room, heading to the fresher. She locks the door, rinsing her face with cool water to try and steady her nerves. She can feel it, the cold darkness at the edges of her mind again. She can picture it, the swirling void of anger and chaos threatening to burst through the walls she had so carefully built over the years. 

No one’s ever been able to explain it completely. No matter how hard she tried, she could never get it to go away. Years and years of practice, learning how to calm her mind, hours and hours of meditation in the force and yet, the darkness still lingered. She’s not trying to keep it there, she doesn’t want it there. 

Her previous master had speculated that perhaps it’s not her at all. 

He had been the first to test it, to try and figure out what it might be instead of just shoving it further and further down as it grew. He had tried reaching out to it in the Force, prodding at it to see what, or who, it could be. 

It had nearly sent her to the healers. 

Whatever it was, it didn’t like him trying to reach it, and it had lashed out. She had felt it, the rage burning hot in her, the edges of her mind beginning to unravel as a sense of madness washed over her. 

Master Mandphi had held her as she shivered from a cold only she could feel, gently easing the barricade in her mind back into place to stave off the swirling madness that threatened her. He had told her later, after she’d recovered, he didn’t think that darkness was her at all. 

Jedi are forbidden from initiating their soulmate links. It’s been that way for thousands and thousands of years. Soulmate links made it impossible to distance oneself from emotion, from connection with others. It led far too many down a path to the dark side, and so Jedi were expected to reject their soulmate when they met. It seemed cruel for fate to give someone destined to be a Jedi a soulmate. 

It was impossible to know all of the ways soulmate links would appear. With the thousands of species sharing such a unique and personal phenomena, no one had ever completely made a comprehensive list. For those sensitive in the Force, soulmate links could develop in strange ways. Dream links were not uncommon, nor were telepathic links. Some shared more common links such as marks or color blindness. Links between two force-sensitives were even rarer and harder to document. They could be connected in many ways aside from just the soulmate link. 

He had thought the darkness may be her soulmate. 

That doesn’t make this any easier. 

Her only hope is to find them and reject them. Then she may be free of the darkness that’s plagued her since she can remember.

Her worst fear is that it’s not her soulmate at all. That darkness may be entirely her after all. 

She splashes more water on her face before leaving the fresher. She debates going back to bed, but she knows she’s not going to get any more sleep. So instead she chooses to walk around the temple, something she often did even when her master was still alive. She’s never usually alone, especially now. With the war it seemed everyone struggled to sleep at some point. Most left her alone, as they too were also wandering to calm their minds. 

Mari wanders the temple, stopping to look out one of the windows at the city. It’s alive even at the late hour, Coruscant constantly moving. It feels a bit like a mirror of her mind, her thoughts constantly racing, constantly moving. She hasn’t been able to meditate since her master’s death, and even before then she had struggled. 

“Trying to escape the temple again?” 

Mari spins, finding none other than Anakin Skywalker approaching her. “M-Master Skywalker.” She says, trying to calm her racing heart. He hadn’t been here when she’d made her grand escape, but of course he’d heard about it. Everyone had heard about it. 

“Can’t sleep?” He asks, coming to a stop next to her. 

She shakes her head. “Haven’t been able to recently.” 

“You’re not alone.” He says. “The war’s taking its toll on all of us.” He stares down at her for a moment. “I’m sorry about your master. I didn’t know him well, but I heard good things about him. It’s an unfortunate loss.” 

She nods. “It hasn’t been easy. He was the only one who believed in me. The only one who took a chance on me.” 

“I know what that’s like.” There’s an edge to his voice, something buried deep, but Mari notices. She notices because she’d heard it in her own voice before. 

They weren’t so different, the two of them. He was brought to the temple later than most, and many thought him too old to begin his training. If Master Kenobi hadn’t been willing to train him, it was unlikely any other master would have. 

He had been too old, and she had been too young. 

He puts a hand on her back, turning her to begin walking again. “I heard the council is assigning Obi-Wan as your new master.” 

She nods. “They think he can help me.” 

“He’s a strict teacher. He can be tough, but he’s loyal to the Jedi code and to his padawan.” He grins at her. “He managed to turn me into a Jedi.” He stops, and she realizes they’ve walked back to the dormitories. “Give him a chance. He may be hard on you, but he won’t let you fail.” 

He puts a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently before moving to walk away from her. 

“Master Skywalker?” She calls out. He turns back to face her. “Thank you.” 

He nods, offering her a small smile before he continues down the hallway. She slips back into the dorm, making for her bed. She probably won’t sleep, but at least now she had something to distract her mind with. 

****

It doesn’t take him long to find her. Despite it being almost fifteen years since the incident, her force signature is still almost the same. 

Master Yoda had approached him not long after first meal, alerting him that she had made her decision. She had been up early, and had already spoken with the council. 

She was not in her lessons, not that he thought she’d be, and instead he found himself making for the creche. He walks slowly, focusing on her force signature. He remembers how it had felt all those years ago. Most younglings had a soft, round force signature. Young and inexperienced, their force signatures had yet to take true shape, though most Jedi never lost the soft edges and roundness of the force. 

Hers had been sharp, like a shard of glass. 

Though it had been softened a bit by her training, he can feel the sharp edges hidden beneath. It feels dangerous, like it could slice right through him. He’s beginning to understand why the council was intent on watching her, why they were so worried about how the loss of her master could affect her. They couldn’t lose another Jedi to the dark side. 

Even if this one was only a padawan. 

He takes his time, making his way to the creche. It’s a bit odd to find her here, but he had found Anakin in stranger places during his training. He had spent the morning thinking about how to approach this, how to approach her. She’s not like Anakin. He can’t treat them the same. He’d have to start over, while she was already well into her training. 

He waits at the end of the hall, sending one of the creche assistants after her. He didn’t want to impose himself on her space completely, yet. He knows she’s in a delicate place. 

He waits for a while, leaning against the wall while he waits. He considers going in, until one of the doors opens, Mari stepping out. She hurries down the hall, looking flustered. 

“Sorry, Master Kenobi. I hope you weren’t waiting too long. You know how the little ones get, you hold them too long, they scream when you let them go.” She rambles, adjusting her robes. 

He can’t help but smile. She seems so natural in this moment, none of the tenseness or guarded words she’d had the day before. “Interesting choice for a meditation spot.” He says as they begin walking away from the creche. 

“It may sound backwards, but I find it relaxing.” She says. “There’s just something about younglings that’s so...calming. Maybe there’s also a part of me that feels like I need to apologize for all the chaos I caused as a youngling.” 

“I hardly think anyone blames you for that.” He says. “It takes a special temperament to care for younglings. I was never very successful when I was tasked with creche duties. The younger ones spit up on me, and the older ones liked to kick me.” 

Mari laughs, something she hasn’t done in a long time. It’s the first time he’s seen her smile, but even now it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. 

It’s quiet between them for a few moments as they walk. 

“Master Yoda spoke with you.” She finally says, breaking the silence. 

He nods. “Yes. I am glad that you’ve agreed to continue your training with me.” 

“I ran into Master Skywalker last night.” She says. “We had an...enlightening talk.” 

Obi-Wan smiles. “Oh I’m sure Anakin has plenty he could say about me.” 

“Only good things.” She smiles. 

“Hopefully it stays that way.” He motions for her to follow. “Come. I was hoping to get a jump start on your training. I don’t know how long the council will give me before they send me back out to the field.” 

She makes a face. “Just as long as we’re not going to meditate.” 

He grins. “No, I thought we’d do something more productive today.” 

****

20BBY 

She coughs a bit as the cruiser comes to a stop. The front is smoking, warning alarms going off. She needs to get out before it catches fire, or worse. She pops the top open, looking down. It wasn’t that far of a drop, but as she moves, the cruiser shifts in the tree. She stills, holding her breath. She’ll have to be quick about this. She carefully moves herself until she’s squatting in the seat, the ship sliding forward with every movement. It’s teetering precariously. Just a quick jump and it’ll be over. 

She pushes herself upwards, using the force to propel herself away from the ship as it takes a nose dive to the ground. She lands in a roll, springing back to her feet as her cruiser crashes to the ground. Well, she’s not getting back that way. She looks up at the sky, looking for any trails that could lead her to the other members of her squad. Had they survived the landing? 

She catches a small plume of smoke off to her left, rising slowly into the sky. She sets off in that direction, keeping her senses alert in case there was anything unfriendly on this planet. She’s not even sure what planet this is. 

It had just been the three of them, sent on a quick recon mission. Her master had been hesitant to let her leave the temple with the sudden reappearance of Darth Maul. She had heard the story, even before she became his padawan. The Jedi that killed a Sith. In a time when Sith were supposed to be extinct, that was quite the title to have. 

Since his miraculous reappearance, her master had been keeping her at the temple out of fear that Maul might try and take revenge. That was what he wanted, after all. Her master was worried she might get caught in the crossfire if Maul ever found out about her. He didn’t doubt her abilities, but Maul was not one to underestimate. 

It had been quiet, though, since her master had last seen Maul and he had decided to send her on a small, safe mission. At least, that’s what it was supposed to be. 

Things had not gone according to plan.

They were supposed to be on a simple recon mission, but the Separatists had been waiting for them. It had all been a trap, and they had been forced to jump to the next sector. They had been followed, and the ensuing fight had left them crippled and forced to land on this planet. She hoped her transmission had reached her Master before they’d crashed into the thick forest. 

She stumbles across the ship quickly. It’s mostly intact, but abandoned. She closes her eyes, reaching out in the force, but she can’t feel anyone nearby. She tries not to think about all the reasons that may be. She climbs into the pilot’s seat, powering up the transmitter. It flickers before going dark. She curses, slamming her fist on the control panel. She’d have to look for the other. Hopefully that ship could still transmit. 

She looks to the sky, hoping to see another trail of smoke, or anything, but there’s nothing. She sighs, looking in all directions, reaching out with the force. Nothing. They couldn’t have landed that far apart. She had been in front, with the others behind her. If they fell straight in the formation they’d been in, there should be one just southwest of here. But which way was south? 

Mari glances around her again before deciding to follow the direction they’d fallen in. Maybe the others were looking for her as well. She’d be safer sticking to her ruined cruiser. If no one heard from them soon, then maybe someone would come looking. The squad of cruisers crashing too had to draw some sort of attention if there was any life on this planet. 

Though, as she looks at the dense trees around her, she’s not sure she wants to meet whoever lives here. Something cold runs down her spine, fear starting to edge in her mind. She’s alone on an unknown planet. She puts a hand on her hip, letting out a long breath to steady herself. 

At least she still has her lightsaber. 

All she can do is try to survive on her own long enough for help to come. She could reach out in the force, try to project it far enough someone would notice, but she’s not sure she wants to risk the wrong someone answering. Not to mention it would sap most of her energy to do so. To reach out that far, to cause enough of a disturbance it could be felt possibly lightyears away would take an immense amount of strength. Not that she doubted her ability, she just doesn’t want to put herself in that vulnerable position. 

Not yet. 

She makes it back to her ruined cruiser, feeling more tired than she had before. It’s warm on the planet, sweat starting to soak into her robes. Despite the warmth, she can still feel a chill settling in. It’s not a physical one, it’s something pressing in the back of her mind. 

Something’s wrong. Why had the other cruiser been empty with no signs of life nearby? 

She scans the trees, reaching out with the force once more. Her body shudders as her mind reaches something. Something’s wrong. Something's off.

There’s something out there. 

She can feel it now. It’s an oppressive feeling, making her feel chilled to the bone. She pulls her lightsaber from her belt, holding it in her hand. The feeling probes at her, pressing against her defenses. She takes a breath, calming herself. She’s going to have to fight, and not just physically. 

She grips her lightsaber tighter as the figure finally reveals itself. Her blood turns to ice in her veins. 

“The Force does work in strange ways.” The figure muses, eyeing her with near-glowing eyes. His voice is silky smooth,  “I had no idea you would go on to become Kenobi’s little Padawan.” He’s imposing in the fading sunlight. 

She ignites her lightsaber, taking a defensive stance. “My Master told me about you.” She says, holding the weapon between them. He makes no move to grab his own, eyeing her as he steps closer. 

“I would assume he would tell you.” He says. She can feel him pressing forward, trying to find a weak spot in her barrier. “I’ve been watching you.” 

So he was the presence she had felt all day. It unnerved her, the thought that he was that close and she’d had no idea. He could have struck at any moment. She only hopes at least one of the troopers survived and managed to send out a transmission. She knows she can’t fight him alone. 

She grips her lightsaber tighter as he ignites his own double blade. Her Master had made sure she was a competent dualist. With him constantly running into figures like Grievous, or even Dooku, he wanted to be sure she could hold her own against such formidable opponents. She was always better with a lightsaber anyways. Fighting was one thing. Meditation was another. 

He strikes first, Mari blocking his rapid hits. He continues his assault, and a slow realization begins to dawn on Mari. She’s exhausted. The planet is hot and humid, and she had gone all day without any food or water despite spending most of the day on the move looking for any survivors. She was already in no shape to be fighting at such an intensity. That, and his aura had been draining her slowly. The darkness had been feeding off her, draining her energy. 

She stumbles as he swings at her, his blade just grazing her arm. Her sleeve is singed, but he hadn’t met any skin. It should have. He should have at least singed her skin with her blade, or at the most taken a chunk of her arm. 

It hadn’t touched her. 

He bares his teeth at her, a low growl rumbling in his chest. She tightens her grip on her lightsaber, steeling herself as he comes at her twice as hard. 

She can feel her resolve slipping, forcing her into the defensive. It was taking everything just to block his hits. Forget trying to beat him, she’s no match for him. Not after he’d been draining her all day. 

She accepts it’s over when she trips. Her lightsaber drops from her, just out of reach, but he’s already on her. The ominous red of his saber glows just inches from her face. She can feel the heat of it. Any second now she’d be dead. Just like that he’d beaten her. She really was weak. Maybe everyone had been right all along.

He tightens his grip on the saber, disengaging one end to hold it with two hands. He looks like he’s fighting, struggling against something. She’s waiting, staring up at him, waiting for the end. He’d get his revenge, taking her life to make her master suffer for attempting to take his. 

To her surprise the blade disappears. He reaches out a hand, and she can feel the force pressing down on her, holding her in place. “Fascinating,” He muses, dropping to a knee beside her. “This certainly changes things.” 

She’s breathing hard, struggling against the force pushing against her, but she’s too tired. He wraps a hand around her throat, pulling her up into a seated position. She grips at his wrist, expecting his hand to close around her throat and choke her, but it simply rests there, his grip tight enough to hold her still but not tight enough to hurt her. 

“Let me in,” He hisses, his grip tightening just slightly, but it still doesn’t hurt. Still doesn’t cut the air from entering her lungs. 

She feels pressure against her mind, pressure against the barricade she had spent years building up. A familiar cold chill fills her body, taking her back twelve years ago when she had woken in the night screaming. She gasps quietly, the wall in her mind slipping as he forces his way in. 

“Yes,” He says, leaning in close to her. “You remember.” 

Memories flash through her mind as he looks through them. When she’d woken screaming, waking in the infirmary, then even further back. The time when she’d sleepwalked her way right out of the temple. 

“You were such a strong little thing back then.” He murmurs, leaning in closer. “I had no idea until you were right in front of me.” 

She watches the memory play out in her mind. She had been following instinct, her dreams reaching out, finding him. She’d left the temple so easily, making her way to him. She remembers his face, barely visible beneath the hood as he’d knelt in front of her. Her eyes are awake and aware, like she knew. She had known. It had never been a dream. 

Maul chuckles, shifting his grip to the back of her neck as he forces his way completely into her mind. “I’ve been watching you.” He chuckles as her eyes widen. “Yes, it was always me. My anger kept me alive, but your life force allowed me to live.” 

“No,” She whispers, going lax in his hold. She remembers the draining feeling, like someone had been sucking the life from her. It had been him. It must have been the day her master had tried to kill him. He had drawn from her lifeforce to keep himself alive. 

He leans closer, licking at the tears sliding down her cheeks. “You had no idea did you, little one.” She shivers, the chill of his presence starting to settle into her bones. “The darkness in you, all that anger and hatred the Jedi tried so hard to remove was never yours.” Her eyes widen, lips parting in a gasp. “It was always me.” 

Her former master had been right. 

She begins to feel something bubbling inside her. All those times she’d felt the uncontrollable emotions, all the struggles she’d had trying to calm them, trying to be a good Jedi and not lose herself to them...it had never been her. It was the part of him that resided in her, the part of him that they shared. Tears slide down her cheeks, a quiet sob leaving her lips. It had never been her fault. It had never been her own weakness. No one had bothered to notice. No one had bothered to care. 

He shushes her, smoothing over her skin with his bare hand. His touch is like electricity flowing through her. She feels hot despite the chill that’s settled itself into her bones. She can feel him stronger now. He’s working his way through her defenses, forcing himself into her mind by toying with her emotions, the emotions he understood. Pain, fear, anger. He’s using the bond between them against her, weakening her. 

He forces her down on her back in the grass, hovering over her. His hand moves back to her throat, settling there to hold her still. She’s beginning to feel the fear bubbling up in her, her pulse thrumming against his fingers. 

“You would have made a perfect Sith,” He says, shifting so he’s straddling her. “But the Jedi got to you first. Perhaps it was better this way. We were fated to meet, after all.” 

She lets out a choked sound as he licks along her cheek once more, tracing the trail of her tears. Her former master had been right, the darkness hadn’t been her at all. It had been him. The Sith her current master had tried to kill. He’d survived because of her. Protecting her from him had been useless because he’d already known about her. They’d already met. 

He chuckles, nosing along her jaw. “Oh yes, this is much better. I would have killed you, you know.” His lips brush her skin as he speaks. “Made Kenobi feel helpless once more, helpless to watch as I destroyed his little padawan while he could do nothing to save you. But this,” He slides his hand to the back of her neck, forcing her gaze on him. “This is so much better. You belong to me.” He growls, licking at her throat. “You can never forget my touch. Not now. Your mind is mine, your body is mine. Soon I will have you completely.” 

He’s not lying. A soulmate’s touch is like a drug. Once you had felt your soulmate’s touch, there was no one else in the galaxy that could make you feel the same. No touch would feel as good, and she would constantly be feeling the need to seek him out. The desire to feel his touch once more could never be taken away. He’s ruining her in more ways than one. 

She should reject him. Right now, say the words before it gets worse, before he does something else. It would stun him enough that she may be able to escape and run. She can find somewhere to hide and hope her master will find her soon. It would solve all of her problems. The darkness would be gone, and she wouldn’t have to spend the rest of her life yearning after a Sith. 

So why can’t she say it? 

He leans over her, bringing his face close to hers once more. She keeps her eyes closed, not wanting to look at him. “Your Master is close.” He nips at her bottom lip, dragging his sharp teeth against it. “I will be seeing you soon.” He kisses her before disappearing almost like he hadn’t been there at all. 

She can still feel the ghost of him, the ghost of his presence, the ghost of his touch. She can feel the pulse through her body, already missing his hands on her. Shame burns through her as she feels the dampness in her underwear, the fabric sticking to her. She rolls over onto her side, tears sliding down her cheeks. Her mind is wide open, like a locked crate that had been pried open from the outside. 

Her body burns, but still the chill has settled into her bones. She can feel him in the back of her mind, the edge that always seemed to settle there. She’s exhausted. Drained. She had thought she’d never meet her soulmate, but she already had. She’d shared a deep connection with him her entire life and hadn't known. 

No one could know. No one could ever now. Not now. 

She hears the roar of a gunship, but she can’t bring herself to move. He hadn’t been lying about her master being close. She can’t move. She’s tired. Too tired. 

“Commander?” 

She knows it's him. She knows it's him without even having to look. They may look the same, but they’re all individuals in the Force. She can’t look at him. Not even when he kneels in front of her, his touch soft against her arm. She’s shaking. 

He’s gone, the calming aura of her Master replacing him. He places a gentle hand on her head, the warmth of his presence flooding through her. He probes gently at the broken pieces of the barrier, the crumbled ruins of her mind. 

She lets out a sob, uncaring that her mind is open to him. It hadn’t felt so painful when Maul had burst his way through. It hadn’t been painful at all. 

“Maul.” He whispers, digging just far enough to see who was responsible for putting her in this state. 

He had trained her to hold her own in a physical fight against a swordsman as capable as Maul. She had told him how her skills with a lightsaber were her weakest point. How her former master had spent years drilling her to catch up with her other skills. He had been wrong in assuming her strength in the Force would protect her if her combat skills failed. But her true weakness was her emotions. He should have known a Sith would use them against her. 

He uses the Force to ease her into sleep. Her mind was fractured enough. She didn’t need to know what the troopers had found. “Get everyone back to the ships.” He tells Cody. “Don’t linger here.” 

Taglist: (I know I'm forgetting people that asked to be tagged in everything so if I'm missing you please let me know)

@bobaprint, @star-trekker-0013, @rosechi

[stevethehairington]

for the writing prompt, can I request numbers 37 & 64? It sounded so cute in my head 🥺

hiiii! thank you for the prompts!! double action hell yeah!! these two go soooo well together too omg.

you did not say any specific pairing, so i went ahead and wrote steddie because they are my default <3

37. "can i kiss you" + 64. "it's two sugars, right?"

Eddie wakes up in his bed feeling more peaceful than he has in a long time.

He lets consciousness return to him slowly, basking in the soft sunlight that seeps through the blinds, the cozy warmth of the bedsheets, and the delicious ache of his body as he stretches out.

The memories of last night trickle back to the forefront of his brain, and a syrupy smile spreads across his face.

Eddie hums contentedly and nuzzles into the pillow. Lazily, he wonders if his luck has stuck around long enough for a round two (or round three, really) in his near future.

But when he sweeps his arm out from under himself and towards the other side of the bed — towards the body that’s supposed to be there, all it catches is air. There’s a lingering warmth against the sheets, but it’s the only sign that anyone was there at all.

Eddie blinks his eyes open properly and sits up. Disappointment wells up as his sight confirms what his touch had told him:

Steve is gone.

Oh.

It… it stings. Eddie can’t say that it doesn’t. Maybe it was naive of him to think that last night had meant as much to Steve as it did to him, but he had. Thought that.

The idea that this whole thing was just… just a one night stand? It hurts. Eddie doesn’t want it to be a one night stand. Steve had been so sweet, too. So attentive. It didn’t feel like a one night stand for him either. But what did Eddie know? Maybe that’s just how Steve is with all of his bed partners. Maybe he just makes them all feel that special.

Or, shit. Maybe Steve isn’t even into guys. Maybe he’d thought that he was and last night just proved that no, actually, he’s not. Except — no, no. That can’t be true. The sounds he was making last night were way too real to be fake. That was enjoyment, no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. 

So then maybe Steve just isn’t into Eddie. And instead of being honest with him, instead of telling him straight up, he slipped out before Eddie could wake up. He didn’t have the guts to break Eddie’s heart, so he just… left. Disappeared. It’s a dick move, but… sometimes old habits die hard, right? Maybe his heart wasn’t so gold that the assholery couldn’t slip back through the cracks.

But Eddie can’t believe that either. Not with the way Steve’s been looking at him. Smiling at him. All of the excuses he’d make to be around Eddie; and the constant touches to his shoulder, his arm, his back, and the way they lingered; the way he’d laugh at everything Eddie had to say, even if it wasn’t funny. There’s no way Eddie read the signs wrong. Steve was interested. In Eddie.

Before Eddie can spiral any further, though, a creak sounds off from somewhere outside of his bedroom and he freezes in place. Wayne isn’t home yet, he’d taken a double shift at the plant today, and won’t be home until the evening. Which means, unless Eddie’s home is being robbed, there’s only one other person that could be snooping through the kitchen cupboards like that…

His heart starts to jump rope in his chest as he ambles out of his bedroom, down the short hall, and into the kitchen. And, just as he thought— just as he hoped, he finds Steve standing at the counter. 

He’s still sleepsoft, in nothing but his boxers (or maybe those are Eddie’s, actually) and one of Eddie’s worn old t-shirts. His hair is flat, rumpled in the front and sticking up in the back, like he’d slept on it funny. There are still pillow creases in his cheek. He is beautiful.

He’s also speaking to the ancient coffee maker in a mild-mannered tone, whispering gentle encouragements and positive affirmations to it, like those will coax it into finally working right.

Fat chance.

“Come on, baby, come on. You can do it! You can make a cup of coffee, I know you can! Come on, work with me here,” Steve pleads.

When the coffee machine continues to do nothing, Steve curses under his breath and smacks his palm against the side.

Eddie can’t help himself as he snorts at the Jekyll and Hyde change of heart, and Steve startles at the sound, spinning around.

“Oh, hey,” he says, shoulders relaxing when he realizes it’s just Eddie. 

“Hey,” Eddie replies, and his cheeks warm for no good reason. “I see you’ve met Leonard.”

Steve’s nose scrunches up. “Who the fuck is Leonard?”

Eddie jerks his chin towards the coffee maker. “Leonard,” he introduces. “He’s a crotchety old fucker. Only does what you want when he wants to. Kind of like Wayne.”

Steve laughs. “You just gotta treat him right then. That’s all. A little sweet talking is all it takes.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah — Harrington charm hasn’t failed me yet. Just you watch.”

Steve pets the side of the coffee machine, caresses it, more like. He leans in close and whispers, “Come on, big guy. I know you can do it. Just give me some of that sweet sweet lifeblood you’re so good at making, that’s all I want.”

The smooth tone and the flattery make Eddie think of last night again — the praise and the exaltation and the so good, baby, so good for me that Steve kept repeating like a prayer. 

None of this now is directed at him, but he still feels hot all over. (Is it reasonable to be jealous of a fucking coffee maker?)

But then, against all odds, Leonard sputters to life. First, a tiny little drip. Then another, and another, and another, until finally a full stream of hot, fresh coffee spills into the waiting carafe below.

Holy shit. Steve can talk anything over the edge, apparently. Harrington charm indeed.

Steve brightens and sends a triumphant grin Eddie’s way. It’s tinged with smugness too, and Eddie shakes his head at him. (Fondly, always fondly.)

“Hah, see? I still got it,” Steve boasts. He waggles his eyebrows and Eddie wants to kiss him again.

He doesn’t know if he can, though. He doesn’t know what this is, and he doesn’t want to make assumptions.

Instead, Eddie moves over to the table and drops himself into one of the chairs. “You makin’ breakfast?” He asks.

“Just coffee,” Steve responds, “but I can make something to eat if you want.”

A home cooked breakfast sounds so nice. All Eddie usually eats in the mornings is toast or cereal. Something hot off the stove would be a treat. But Eddie doesn’t want to rope Steve into cooking for him if he doesn’t want to. If he… has other plans. Like leaving. Eddie doesn’t know his morning after habits.

“No, it’s okay,” Eddie tells him.

He’s about to add on that maybe just a cup of coffee for himself would be nice, if that’s not too much trouble for Steve, but Steve is two steps ahead, as always.

He brushes up against Eddie’s side and sets a steaming mug right in front of him.

“It's two sugars, right?” He asks.

Eddie blinks up at him. “Yeah, I— how’d you know that?”

Steve smiles. “I pay attention.”

And it’s— it’s so fucking sweet. Steve’s never made Eddie a single cup of coffee in his life but— but he knows how Eddie takes it anyways. And he made it for him without even asking. Just thought of Eddie, like it was no big deal. Like he wanted to do something nice for him.

Steve turns to go back to Leonard and pour his own cup of coffee, but Eddie lunges forward to catch his wrist before he can go far.

“Can I kiss you?”

Steve wrinkles his nose, tilts his head. “You have to ask?”

Eddie purses his lips and ducks his head. It’s a little embarrassing that he does have to ask. It makes him feel a little bad, too. Like he’s doubting Steve or something.

But he’s never done this before. Any of it. He doesn’t want to assume. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up. 

“I wasn’t sure,” Eddie replies.

“Eddie,” Steve says, sliding into the seat across from him. “We did a lot more than just kiss last night,” he points out.

And, yeah, they sure did. Eddie fights a flush as the memories of last night flood back. Steve on his back, Steve between his legs, Steve with his mouth and his hands all over Eddie, making him feel so good. 

Eddie shrugs. “Yeah, but that was last night,” he says, curling in on himself a little. He hates that he feels so insecure about this. Hates that he has to even bring it up. “It’s morning now. It’s a new day. It’s— I’m not sure— I just don’t know if last night was, like, some one time thing for you or…” he trails off. Shrugs again. His fingers toy with the handle of the mug in front of him.

Steve reaches out across the table to take Eddie’s hands. His thumbs brush over the tops of his knuckles, and he waits for Eddie to meet his eyes before he smiles — soft and sweet and warm. 

“It’s not just a one time thing for me, it’s really really not. I’m, like, so into you it’s kind of crazy,” Steve admits, a little breathless as he says it. “I want… I want everything with you. I want as much as you’ll give me.”

Eddie’s heart somersaults beneath his ribs, backflips across his chest, puts on a whole god damn gymnastics routine.

“That’s— yeah. I want that too,” he confesses back, twisting his hands in Steve’s so that he can tangle their fingers together properly.

The smile that lights up Steve’ face is brighter than the sun. Prettier, too.

“Steve,” Eddie says.

“Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?”

Steve laughs, and he nearly knocks over the chair in his haste to stand up and round the table. He pushes himself into the space between Eddie’s knees, and cups Eddie’s face between his hands, holds his head like it’s something precious. Like he’s something precious.

“Yes,” Steve says, “you can.”

So Eddie pulls him into his lap, and he kisses him.

100 ways to say i love you prompts

[blackbat05]

You’re the best to me

Dad Shangqi x Mom Reader

A/N: Well! This idea came out pretty quickly! I guess some of these experiences are what I experienced with my dad and I thought hey, why not spread some joy into these fics? It may be a bit different from what I originally planned but I really hope that you guys like it!🙇🏽‍♀️ <University Blues> is kinda like a prequel to this?

Genre: PG 13

Warnings: Rude parents, subtle racism in between the lines (please everyone, in this difficult time, we could treat one another nicely) and if you consider Shangqi absolutely adoring his little Princess a warning and just being a supportive Sports Dad in general than suree haha👍🏽

The arena was filled with noise as the Xu family stepped in. Little Xu Xiayi was clearly nervous as she gripped her father’s hand tightly. It was natural of course, because she would be competing in her first competition.

Shangqi bends down, adjusting his daughter’s taekwondo uniform. ‘How we feeling?’ Placing his hand against her heart he gasps dramatically for god measure, ‘Wow there’s a train in there!’ It did work for a few seconds as he manages to elicit a tiny smile.

‘You nervous?’

‘A little,’ Xiayi fiddles with her belt. How he wished he could take away the nerves for his baby girl. But if there was one thing he learnt from his own father, once you’re on the stage, you have to learn how to handle the nerves. Still he was aware that his girl was only 7 years old and was just starting out in competitive martial arts.

‘Baobei, look at me.’ He sees her brown eyes that she had inherited from him. ‘Whatever the result may be, as long as you gave it your all, me and your mama will be very proud of you.’

You bend down, huddling together with your two favorite people. ‘Baba is right, whatever the outcome, we know you tried your very best!’ In an effort to make Xiayi less nervous, you squeeze your baby in a big bear hug. Just then her number is called with another girl who was at least half a head taller.

‘Go Xiayi!’ You cheered, giving her a good luck kiss while Shangqi fist bumps her small hands. As she walks away, you notice Shangqi smiling to himself.

‘What’s in there mister?’ You teased. ‘Sad to see your little treasure finally being free?’

Your husband rolls his eyes as he slings his arm across your shoulder, trying to find seats among the other parents in the stands. ‘You wish. As long as I’m alive, Xiayi will never be free from me. I’m just happy to see Xiayi being such a strong girl. I was able to do something for her that I couldn’t do for my sister.’

You knew about the siblings’ rough childhood. ‘I’m sure Xialing would be proud of her niece. She told me she really wanted to come but something held her up back in Macau. She sends her best.’

The two of you manage to find pretty decent seats near where Xiayi was competing. And it looks like both the girl’s parents came too. Let’s just say you didn’t like the haughty looks on their faces. Still, you and Shangqi remained civil.

The match was more intense than you expected. And you felt yourself glowing with pride seeing how Xiayi matched up against the girl. As the two of you settled into your seats, more curious parents came by to see who was this unknown wonder kid. A mom with two other kids in tow tells you that Xiayi’s opponent is the number two seed in the draw.

But you knew Shangqi and you couldn’t agree with him more - matches were meant to have upsets. Seeding was just another thing of the past.

Throughout the match, both girls couldn’t break away. Until now. Xiayi manages to get a well-aimed kick at her head, helping her to break away from the tied score.

Time-out. The two went to the benches below the stands, taking much needed sips of water. Shangqi motions for me to stay put as the other girl’s parents rush to her. Xiayi needs to stay focused.

Just then, the girl’s father makes a comment to his daughter that causes your blood to rise in temperature. ‘Hurt her if you have to. Make sure that Chinese girl doesn’t stand a chance.’

Your head whips to Shangqi. He’s heard it too and boy, you have never seen him that pissed off before. But he won’t blow up now. For Xiayi, he must stay cool. He still tells her one thing before she gets back on the map.

‘Stay cool. Do what you’ve been doing.’

You could not bear the intensity that was unfolding in front of your eyes. For god sake this was just a children’s match! Shutting your eyes, you lean into your husband, praying for the best. You prayed that your little baby would show those arrogant assholes that they were wrong. That they should not have messed with the daughter of a martial arts master.

‘Babe, you don’t want to miss this.’ Shangqi nudges you, giving you the confidence you needed to see it through.

And Xiayi’s done it. She’s managed to do a roundhouse kick to the girl’s chest plate, taking home the win.

‘XU XIAYI!!!’ You grabbed Shangqi, jumping up and down in joy. Your girl had just caused a major upset in her very first tournament.

If you were ecstatic, Shangqi was over the freaking moon. He flew down the steps of the stands, letting Xiayi run into his arms before lifting her up and attacking her in kisses.

‘Hey! Hahaha! Baba stop! It tickles!’ You smile fondly at the wonderful sight in front of you. Suddenly, all these fears that Shangqi had of not being a good father, becoming like his dad who was filled with nothing but hatred just went out of the window at this very moment.

A loud crash is heard behind the father-daughter duo. Xiayi’s opponent throws her bag down in anger, storming ahead of her mother who is left to pick up her forgotten bag as the father walks beside to appease his own daughter. He sees the three of you celebrating and decides to continue to make the parade of uncalled comments. Shangqi tells you to take Xiayi away first.

‘She got lucky you know? No small sized Asian brat can beat our champ.’ Shangqi wonders, he wouldn’t exactly seek his father for advice but what would he do? He decides to walk forward, extending a hand. The other man is puzzled that Shangqi didn’t flip out completely but eventually takes his hand.

Shangqi sees the two of you from the corner of his eyes. No one insults his family and gets away with it. No one will undermine his daughter’s efforts because she’s different from others. With that in mind, he attacks every pressure point that he was taught, refusing to let the other hand go. Obviously the man couldn’t do anything as his daughter was watching this standoff, ‘Daddy what are you doing! Let’s go!’

‘Hold on a second hon-’ He leans forward, possibly to beg Shangqi to release his hand before it gets severed due to blood loss. But Shangqi beats him to it, ‘If I ever hear you say anything like that three feet within my daughter and wife you son of a bitch, your hands won’t be the one in pain.’

The man nods meekly, on the verge of crying out loud. Once Shangqi lets him go, the obnoxious family got out of the arena faster than you could say ‘Cheese’.

‘Baba! That was so cool! You’ve got to teach me that so that I can teach the boys in my school a lesson not to pick on me and Jenny!’ Xiayi runs into him, wrapping her small arms around his waist. He turns to you for answers only for you to mouth, she knew.

Although Xiayi was just a kid, but she was very perceptive. For now, Shangqi doesn’t want that incident interrupting his kid’s moment of glory. So he settles with a, ‘Sure baobei, baba will teach you one day.’ He bobs her crinkled nose.

You decide to interrupt. ‘Now I usually don’t allow this, but who wants boba?’

At this moment, you wondering if you were raising one or two children. ‘Last one out of here is a dumpling!’ Shangqi pretends to sprint ahead with Xiayi running after her father, leaving you behind.

How blessed were you, when this man popped into your life. All because you ran into him on a basketball court years ago?

With Xiayi now, there will definitely be ups and downs, but you felt that as long Shangqi was there with you, nothing felt too much.

A/N: Omg I have no idea how this turned out from the idea in my head HAHA😬 I hope it’s alright! Not an expert in taekwondo or martial arts in general so I tried to rack some basic information that is buried deep in my brain. As always, like and comment if you wish and thank you for reading!❤️

Special shout-out to @wint3r-h3art @crazycookiecrumbles @ntlmundy for encouraging me to write this piece that I had in my brain within such a short span of time! I thought that maybe you would like to read it the moment it comes out🙆🏽‍♀️

[shwazzberryswriting]

Helping Hands 2

Pairing: Jisung x Femme Reader | [Y/N]

Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Idol NCT, PWP

Summary: On his return home, Jisung and [Y/N] come clean to each other about where they stand

Short cameos by: Jeno, Haechan, Renjun, Chenle, Jaemin

Word count: 4.2k (omg didn't feel like I wrote that much)

Rating/Warnings: Erotica/Not Beta Read, Explicit Sexual Content: Vaginal Fingering, Overstimulation, Multiple Orgasms, Cum Play/Shot, Protected and Unprotected Sex, Cunnilingus

If any mature/sexual themes involving Jisung makes you uncomfortable please do not read or interact.

Minors DNI! 18+ ONLY

Author’s Note: I never intended for a sequel but IDK...when an idea comes and I start playing around with it in my mind, if it's got legs, I start writing. I hope you all have as much fun reading this as I did writing it!

Part of my Kinktober Event: Overstimulation

Apologies for any mistakes or shortcomings! Not the best edited work I've put out there!

Please let me know of any technical errors or if you have feedback/questions

    “Congratulations nerds!” Haechan exclaimed, snorting into his fist. Jisung jumped, a shiny gold square packet hit his chest. “Maybe you’ll all get laid at last.”

    Seatbelt pushing against his chest, Jisung groaned as Jeno swerved the car. Tires screeching loudly with his curses. Haechan squawked as Jeno grabbed his front and twisted with one fist.

    “I’m fucking driving!” Jeno screamed. “Quit fucking throwing shit at me!”

    “A simple ‘thanks’ is good!” Haechan rubbed his chest when Jeno let him go. Face scrunched up - as if he hadn’t deserved it. “Every one’s got 24 karat gold dicks. Put them to good use, champs.”

    “I’m trying to sleep!” Renjun’s voice from the back shook the roof of the car. “I don’t appreciate this immaturity!”

    Chenle’s cackle broke the moment of silence. Haechan joined. Then Jeno. Renjun was last.

    Jisung was wiped out, though. He merely stuffed the condom into his backpack. Fingertips rubbing crusts off his eyes.

    “Hey, first thing you do is go to sleep,” Jeno said, car slowing. He turned around, hand reaching out to pat Jisung’s arm. “You did great, MVP, but you need to sleep.”

    “Got it.” Jisung swung his heavy bag over his shoulder, stepping out of the SUV. Elation rushed up his chest, heat swimming over his brain. He grinned as he turned around, hand on the open door. “Hell yeah, LOL champs.”

    Haechan reached over Jeno’s lap and honked the car’s horn twice. Chenle cheered as Haechan cackled. Jisung swung the door car closed.

    “Get some sleep, Jisung!” Chenle’s voice rose two octaves.

    “Bro!” Jeno merely guffawed as Haechan honked the horn again.

    “You’re waking people up! Don’t be rude.”

    “Screaming at me is waking the neighborhood too.” Haechan blocked the condom Renjun threw at his face. “Guess you’re not getting laid.”

    The bickering disappeared as he walked toward his complex. The sun wasn’t out yet. Lamplights showing him the way home. Golden rays lit up the grey path. Crickets chirped. Concrete blurry.

    Gold medal statue in his left hand, Jisung unlocked the front door with his right. Head drooped, he grunted at the sight of his sneaker laces somehow covered with bright green stains. Had he walked in the grass?

    Eyes shut, the uproarious shouts of hundreds of people cheering ebbed with his friends’ overlapping chatter in Chenle’s car. His whole weekend continued to echo in his ears. Bag strap digging into his shoulder, he was eager to put his things away.

    What a wild fucking weekend.

    Jisung was about to enter his bedroom when he stopped. Sounds of running water perked up his ears. A tuneful humming echoed in the bathroom directly across from his room. The door was open with the smallest sliver of a crack. Yellow bathroom light streaking across the hardwood floor.

    Dropping his things, he turned around, fingers at his lips. His roommate had been in her bed the last time they saw each other. They’d kissed.

    Actually, he’d made her cum. All over his fingers. If it hadn’t been for his trip, he would have spent the entire night playing with her body. Knuckle from his middle finger against the door, he knocked a couple times.

    “[Y/N]?”

    The humming stopped. Water rhythmically continuing to flow.

    “Jisung?”

    The door swung open with a loud creak. White steam fogged up around him as he went in. His clothes dampened immediately, weighing down on him. He saw the shape of her body behind the baby blue curtains.

    Hips that needed his touch. Bouncy tits with water streaming down them. He swallowed the spit flooding his mouth.

    “It’s like walking into the pit of a volcano.” The door creaked again as he shut it. “How is your skin not burning?”

    “It’s not that hot.”

    “Only because you eat lava for breakfast.”

    “Why don’t you come in here and check for yourself?”

    His balls felt heavy as fire shot straight to his cock. Her body was unreal, shadow of her curves swaying. His clothes flew off, though he almost tripped over himself kicking his jeans off. The curtains swung open.

    “Jisung, come in.”

    Her smile was bigger than ever, lighting up her entire face. Eyes crinkling as she blinked against the water droplets flying into her face. The water gliding down her perfect body drove him wild. Every stream created on her lovely curves was a river he would gladly swim in.

    He groaned, cock stiffening painfully. That couldn’t distract his eyes away from her boobs, her pretty palms cupping her precious bits. He stepped in, back to the shower head.

    Heat prickled his skin like a thousand sharp needles. After a moment, he relaxed under the pressure of the heavy jets hitting his shoulders. The stimulating warmth filled him up.

    His eyes remained on her tits. Bouncy, slick and smooth. He wanted to wrap his mouth around her puckering nipple. Roll his thumb around the other.

    Hands on his arms she kissed him. His whole face flared up hotter than his cock. Her eyes were shut, but he couldn’t stop staring at her.

    Her luscious body was touching him, warming his front. Her perfect minty lips were pressed against his, tingling sensations riding up his nose.

    “Congratulations on getting first place,” she breathed against his lips. “I knew you’d win.”

    All the exhaustion he felt from his long weekend washed away. Her compliment reinvigorated him in a way he’d never felt before. Hands on her hips he kissed her harder. Lips capturing hers, tongue pushing to find hers, teeth tugging her bottom lip. Eyes shut at last.

    “Jisung,” she breathed against his lips, hands on his neck.

    He pushed her back to the wall, hands grasping her ass. It was a wonder that the water between their stomachs didn’t boil with fiery blood coursing through his belly. They moaned together, his cock sliding against her. She felt like silk. He groaned, resting his head against her shoulder.

    “What’s this?” Red blinded him as the pressure of her palm squeezed his aching rod. Her lips touched the side of his neck. “It feels so long, Jisung.”

    She stroked him. Letting her go, he grabbed her wrist, encouraging her to stroke faster. He was mesmerized. Her naughty hand squeezing his cock, thumb pushing in deep against the dark blue vein that pulsed at the top of his shaft.

    “Pretty, mushroomed head.” She exhaled as her fingers massaged his wet tip. Firm hold on his balls, squeezing and massaging. He jerked forward as more precum spilled out. “Jisung, they feel so heavy.”

    “Dick and balls, can you say dick and balls?”

    “So immature.” He grinned as she bashfully looked away, letting him go. Heat rushed to his head. She was so cute when she got shy. “Not enough that I’m naked? You have to make me shy?”

    “You can’t even say the words. But I like how you handle me.” Hand touching her cheek, he grinned as she met his gaze. His fingers tingled at the heat of her skin.

    “You’ve got a pretty dick, and smooth balls.”

    He kissed her, hands grabbing her tits. They roamed down to her ass, fingers pinching her pliable skin. She was soft everywhere.

    Her minty lips were clearing his sinuses. Her guffaws into his lips turned him on more than endeared him. He broke their kiss.

    “Can you keep a secret?” His middle finger stroked her slit. She was cuter with her eyes shut, bottom lip shaking. He slid up with two fingers. She moaned. “I didn’t wash my hands until we won the tournament.”

    “Jisung!” Her eyes opened as he pushed deeper into her folds, wanting to find her sweet little nub. “You-” she moaned as he furiously rubbed against her heat “-you what?”

    He kissed her as he pushed his middle finger into her, one knuckle feeling her wet center. Pressing a kiss to her lips, he shut his eyes as he savored the warmth of her insides enveloping his finger. He went in deeper, knuckles sinking in with ease. Her squishy walls clung on tight, his mind focused on her addictive heat.

    “You gave me good luck,” he said, cheeks hurting from his wide grin. She moaned as his thumb found her clit. It grew with every stroke he rubbed over her. “Fuck, this is so fucking hot.” Her nails dug deep into his skin, grabbing his arm. The pressure distracted him for a second, pain barely noticeable. Her moan with her pulsating walls drove the fiery heat in his guts straight to his balls. “Needed your cum on my fingers to win.”

    “Jisung!” He rutted furiously into her, free hand grabbing her tit, thumb and forefinger pinching her engorged nipple. “B-boys are gross!”

    He stopped, heart beating fast as the heat of her walls enraptured him. Breathing heavily, she shoved his hand away to stand under the water. Shakily, she grabbed the neon green washcloth. Standing behind her, he helped pump soap onto the cloth.

    “Guess that means you have to clean me off.” He grabbed her wrists, placing her hands against his chest. Turning her to face him.

    “Only because you’re a good finger fucker.”

    She laughed as his eyes darted down to the ground, his face hot. Chest beating furiously like his feet pounding the ground when he won the final LOL battle. Immediately his head jerked up, her soapy hands brushing the washcloth over his chest.

    “Lift your arms.” She washed his armpits before the washcloth went down his side. Over his back. Around his hip. Over his stiff dick. “Did you at least wash your pretty cock?”

    Flames were over his face. “Cock” out of her mouth was lethal. His rod twitched, balls feeling heavy.

    “I didn’t shower until we were getting ready to leave the hotel.”

    “So dirty.”

    “It was a wild weekend.”

    “I’m glad you’re back home.”

    She rubbed the bubbles off him as he stood under the hot jets. With his back to her, he shut his eyes. Her fingers massaged shampoo into his scalp. Once they were completely clean, her arms wrapped around his waist from behind. Blood rushed faster to his guts as he felt her nipples poke him, slippery tits rubbing up and down against his skin.

    What did he do to deserve a dream to come true?

    Water off, his hand was on the shower curtains when her hand wrapped around his aching rod. His mind blanked, head thrown up to the ceiling - eyes shut. He moaned as pleasure consumed him from head to toe. She squeezed him hard, stroking up and down steadily.

    “Don’t come yet, Jisung.” She kissed the back of his arm, the sensation so foreign and soothing, precum shot out onto her fingers.

    “Sorry-”

    “It’s OK.” She gave a gentle guffaw. “Guess we both have skilled hands.” She released him, taking a step back. His loathsome cock swung down painfully. He wanted her tits to return to his back. “Or maybe we’re sensitive little shits.”

    “You make it sound like a bad thing.”

    He barely had a towel around his waist when her tits returned to him. She kissed the middle of his back. His spine lit up - rod stiffening against his towel as she hugged him again.

    Wordlessly, he grabbed her wrists and walked them out of the bathroom - pulling the door open to rush them to his room. The cold air in the flat created goosebumps all over his body. But his aching cock was only growing hotter by the second.

    In the shadows of the twilight hour, he sat down on his bed - pulling her onto his lap. His towel had fallen off somewhere, freeing his cock to slide against her slick skin. She moaned, arms wrapped around his head - smushing his face against her chest.

    Hands shooting up to her tits - mouth open wide - he feasted on her. Teeth gnashing around, tongue licking up everything. She cried out, fists pulling his hair hard, wet droplets of water gliding down his back. His ears rung sweetly as a loud *pop* filled the room, lips releasing her dewy sweet tits.

    “Jisung,” she breathed out, “don’t-stop-please-don’t.”

    His pointed tongue flicked against her engorged bud, going faster as her pleas morphed into incoherent whines. Shaky gasps, as if she couldn’t remember how to breathe. He had her on her back, his body over hers. They kissed, her legs widening as his palms hooked under her legs, cock sliding over her belly.

    “Condom,” they breathed out together.

    She guffawed as he sat up. He rushed back out to the front of his door. Hands frantically unzipping his backpack. Pulled out his dirty clothes - earbuds, charging cords, socks.

    Where the fuck was the fucking condom?

    Desperate moments passed - digging deep past his toothbrush and beanie - the smooth cool plastic wrapper was between his middle and forefinger. Clicking his tongue against his teeth, he thanked Haechan for being a theatrical asshole.

    “Please tell me we don’t have to go to the convenience store,” she said the moment he sat down on the bed. Her hair hid her face in the shadow of the blue hues lighting up his room.

    “Nope.” His chest felt tight as he tore open the golden packet. Her fingertips on his shoulder sent chills down his spine. “Came prepared.”

    His hand shook as her lips landed on his shoulder. Heat rushed up his chest as she sucked on his skin. Fingers smoothing over the shiny thin rubber snugly covering his cock, he reached for her.

    They panted heavily together as he slid his aching stick over her slit. She broke the tension, moaning loudly, breath at his ear. Spine prickling, he pushed into her.

    “I need you, Jisung.” Fingers entangled in his hair, she directed his face to hers. They kissed.

    Pushing his tip in deeper, he groaned at how good it felt to invade her fleshy walls. His cock throbbed furiously - his focus clouded - words barely coming together in his mind. He chased for more, pushing in deeper.

    Her fingernails dug into the nape of his neck, palms tightening around him. The pain seared sweetly. His pace quickened. Their kiss broke - her loud cry reverberating down into his balls. His moan was louder as she arched her back, tits rubbing against his chest.

    They cried out each other’s names as he gripped her hips. Her fingers pinching his biceps stung but every painful squeeze sent adrenaline down his front. He fucked her faster, hands on her hips to hold her still. Ears tingling with joy at the noises of their skin slapping together.

    Her howling stuttered when she inhaled, sending heat into his chest. Eyes shut he chased for his release, feeling it building. His balls burned, heavier than he’d ever felt them. Mind focused on rutting as fast as he could, he came when she pulled on his hair.

    “Ji-SUNG!” The soft whimper that followed had him jerking shallowly into her, every spurt of his cum rolling punches into his abs. “Jisung!”

    He lost all energy - falling over her to rest his head on her shoulder. Her tight walls milked his softening cock. Clingy walls creating gentle ripples deep into him as she came on his fucked out rod.

    He rolled off her, hand moving to prevent the condom from leaking. Doing a quick cleanup, he returned to her - chest aching, shoulders slackening. Her arms were wide open, lazy sweet grin inviting him to her. Eyes barely open.

    They kissed. He rested his hand on her neck, tongue pushing against her mouth every time her thumb massaged his earlobe. She tasted so good - buttery lips - he didn’t want to stop.

    His fingers gently flicked her nipples as they continued to kiss. He liked sucking on her bottom lip, malleable flesh so plump in his mouth. Blood boiled furiously in his balls every time her teeth nipped the left side of his upper lip.

    A loud knock at the front door shocked him. It was like ice water was thrown over his back. The hairs on the nape of his neck raised, eardrums shaking violently. They broke apart, matching fluttering eyes locked together.

    “Jisung!!!” Jaemin’s loud voice screeched, ringing through the walls and down the hallway into his room. “You didn’t reply to my texts!! ARE! YOU! O! K?! JISUNG!”

    His face flared up, head clouded with embarrassment. Heat built up in his chest immediately as her chuckles reverberated against him. Her fingertips stroking his cheek cleared his mind, though his face was still on fire.

    “I guess Jaemin wanted to see you as soon as possible.”

    “Be right back.”

    “We should answer the door together.” She sat up with him. “Jaemin might invite himself in if you open the door alone.”

    His chest ached - as if it was growing - watching her grab his grey hoodie off his gaming chair. Images of fingering her raced through his head. She sat at the edge of his bed, hoodie covering her body. Her slick was collecting on his hoodie…her ass sweat and titty sweat all over it. She’d look sexier with his hand between her legs.

    “JISUNG! SAY MY NAME TO LET ME KNOW YOU ARE ALIVE!”

    He shook his head, eyes gazing at the floor for some clean shorts.

    “Our neighbors are going to complain.”

    She had a good point. He sprinted off his bed. Their fingers intertwined once he slipped on a stained shirt and wrinkled boxers.

    “Hey, Jaemin,” Jisung said breathlessly, opening the door, “I wasn’t expecting a visit.”

    Holding a wicker basket in one hand, Jaemin waved at them. He took off his sunglasses, eyes darting from Jisung to [Y/N]. His two front teeth popped out as his grin widened, black tendrils falling over his forehead.

    “Oooh,” he cooed out slowly. Eyebrows wiggling as a daring gleam shone in his eye. “Congratulations, Jisung, [Y/N]. Double celebrations are in order today. I’ll take you two out to dinner for your second celebration.”

    “Second?” She looked at Jisung. Bottom lip pouting. Cute eyebrows stitched together.

    Jisung’s stomach grumbled as he saw the homemade loaf of French bread in the wicker basket. There was a bottle of champagne too. Some ripe pears and shiny wrapped chocolates. He wordlessly took the basket in his hand when Jaemin gave it to him.

    “I feel honored to be the friend you trust to announce your courtship to.” Jaemin threw his arms out, pulling them into a group hug. A loud, exaggerated sigh came out of him. “I can’t wait to hear how this all happened. Get some rest Jisung-ie. You lovebirds need some quality time together. I don’t want to intrude.”

    He whistled loudly as he walked down the hallway, heading for the stairs. Hands in his pockets.

    “J-jaemin knows that we’re dating?” Her hand squeezed his tight. “H-he put two and two together really fast.”

    Her lips curved into a frown as she locked the door. He wanted to get back to kissing. But the buttery French bread was making him drool.

    “Hey, we get a free dinner!” Jisung set the gift basket down on the kitchen countertop. He took a bite of the crusty French bread. It was warm and so buttery, his tongue was swimming in a rich sea of cream. “So good.”

    “Jisung.” She brushed the crumbs off his lips with the sleeve of the hoodie. “How are we going to explain to Jaemin that we made things official when you caught me-”

    “-We’re not telling him that.” He almost choked, swallowing the ball of bread with one large gulp. “We confessed our feelings before I left for the tournament.”

    “And how exactly did you confess your feelings to me?” Floral heat overpowering his senses. Nails raking into his scalp. Wet kiss at the crook of his neck. “If I can remember right, you stuck your gross finger into me and told me it was fucking hot.”

    “Not romantic enough for you?” He stood, hands grabbing her hips. Thrusting his hips against her. “You didn’t want to say goodbye-”

    “-and we told each other-”

    Her lips were over his. His tongue licked her bottom lip.

    “-how we felt-” he put his thumb into her mouth, hissing before he spoke again, “-fuck, and we-w-w…we became official.”

    “I want you Jisung.” She gagged on his thumb before sucking hard. Blood rushed so fast to his cock, he was blinded with redness before he blinked his vision back. “Fuck me, Jisung.”

    Immediately shoving his spit covered thumb under his hoodie, he felt for her clit. Her eyes were shut tight, mouth wide open. No sound as her hips shook - his thumb sliding against her juicy folds.

    Their lips met. His feet going forward, hers backwards. His spine tingled with her long nails grazing through his sweaty hair.

    He groaned as his legs came into contact with his bed. She moaned against his lips as he sat down, hands pulling her legs to straddle him.

    Her wet slit rubbed up against the bottom of his shaft, moistening his ballsack. His eyes rolled to the back of his head. Her minty lips were over his again. His whole body was burning for her, feeling the soft cotton of the hoodie against his skin.

    Hands on her hips, he thrust against her. She moved his throbbing member into her hot slit, fingers holding it firm. Everything blanked as she sunk down heavily onto him. The heat of her pliable walls seared deep into him. The pressure of both her pussy on his cock and her body over his lap turned his whole body into an oasis of pleasure.

    Nothing existed except the tight heat radiating through his body. He stilled, lost in the moment. Intense pleasurable heat from head to toe. Her hands were on his shoulders and she pushed herself up before dropping back down.

    “Fuck!” Arms up her back, he pulled her against him. He’d never wash the hoodie ever again, both of their sweat soaking it up. “So fucking soft.”

    Their hips writhed haphazardly against each other. Her pussy so hot and tight, if he didn’t move he would fall apart. His eyes cracked open to see her lost in ecstasy, tongue hanging over her bottom lip. Her eyebrows stitched together.

    “Jisung!” She yelped as he pushed her off of him, landing on her back.

    “No-condom!” He groaned, eyes shut tight as he stroked his cock fast, pressing it against the inside of her pliable thigh. Fist milking his cum, he opened his eyes as the last of it spilled onto her. “So-fucking-hot.”

    “Jisung.” Her breath was shaky, hands massaging her thighs. Her eyes were locked on his white cum dribbling down her skin, soaking into his sheets. “We just showered.”

    “We can do it again later.”

    She moaned as he pushed his middle finger into her cunt. Her slick covered cunt made it easy to rub against her clit with his thumb, middle finger pumping faster. Hips shaking, she moaned out his name as she came. Hand stilling, he fought off the urge to blink as her throbbing cunt sucked his finger back and forth, slick dribbling down to his wrist.

    Unable to contain himself, he slid down and slurped up her salty slick - mouth sucking up her folds. Her fingers entangled in his hair as his tongue dove into her hot cunt. Lapping up her juices, his pointed tip flicked her clit over and over. He grabbed her ass hard, letting her writhing hips direct where his teeth and tongue would hit her folds.

    Humming a shaky moan, she released his hair. His head stopped aching, blood rushing down his face. The slurping noises he made tasting her sent angry hot blood to his guts, ringing sweetly into his ears. Her hips shook hard, blurring his vision. He focused on watching his thumb flick her overstimulated clit. Tongue out of her cunt, he sat up.

    She seemed to struggle, mouth barely able to press her lips together. A short groan came out of her as he spooned her, positioning them to lay on their sides. Lips at the back of her ear, arms wrapped around her waist. She sniffled, tears soaking up in the sleeve of the hoodie.

    “I really do like you.” His hold tightened around her. “I’m not lying.”

    “I know, Jisung. I know you like me. I’m just…you’re really good at making me feel good. I’m happy we’re…we’re official.”

    He couldn’t help himself. Lips at the nape of her neck. Deep inhale of her floral sweet scent.

    She moaned, eyes shut, face turned into the pillow. His palm slid over her pussy. His mind was turning grey, focus disappearing fast. If he wasn’t so tired he’d start finger fucking her again.

    “Will you get some sleep, Jisung? You need it.”

    “Thank you for such a good welcome home greeting.” A chuckle came out as she moaned. Her fingers curled around his wrist as he tapped his fingers against her labia. “So warm and soft.”

    “Jisung!” She laughed. “Let’s get some sleep.”

    Directing his arms around her waist, she began to match his slow, deep breathing. The sun brought light through the window, but they were falling asleep as the day began. He planted one final kiss at the back of her neck, body and mind stilling as the last waves of adrenaline settled out of him.

    What a wild fucking weekend.

---

Thank you always for reading!

Love, CC💚

[bluexiao]

Babe u asked for Thoma brainrots and my simp ass will pROVIDE <333

So like I've had this really pestering brainrot that hasn't left me alone since I played his hangout event right––

Since we know that Thoma takes care of strays in his free time, I couldn't help but Imagine what his dynamic would be with a reader who has some sort of veterinary background yk? Like, imagine the reader comes to Inazuma city, and like on their first day in the new place they see Thoma feeding the strays under the sakura tree right and they're like, huh cute, tho they have to move on and get back to business. Tho, after since they've properly settled in, they also start caring for the strays in their own way–– checking them for illnesses, treating any wounds they may get, and bringing them food on days where they notice Thoma hadn't come around to his schedule. At this point tho, neither of them have really met, though they're aware of each others' existence yk?? At one point tho, their schedules do accidentally line up, and Thoma and the reader have like a meet cute n shit but omg my brain hadn't finished the brainrot so that's like all i got rn kjnadkjsndas

NOTES. oh my god catte my ning this idea is SO GOOD !!! AAAAAAA PLS THE FLUFF IN THIS ONE CURES MY SOUL !!!!

fluff, pure fluff i say.

I feel like THOMA would be the one who’d catch vet!reader while you were checking on the strays—you’re weekly checkup, you call it. However, you find yourself usually drawn to the place even if it was not part of your schedule. Must’ve been your curiosity with the boy who always drops by just to feed and pet them each time he gets. It’s a rather rare sight, you’d think. People would usually ignore strays and at moments they pet or feed them, it’d normally be a one-time thing. This boy, however, genuinely cared for them enough to sacrifice his time and effort for their care.

“I didn’t know we now have a veterinarian in town,” he chirps and for a bit, you jumped at the surprise, however easing down when you saw who it was.

“I didn’t know there are people like you either,” you stood up and brushed the dirt off of you, finding a curve of a smile climbing up your lips, “It’s nice to finally have met you, I always see you around here. These strays wouldn’t have been receiving care if you’re not here,” you paused as you bow down in respect, “On behalf of them, I must thank you,”

He awkwardly chuckles as you saw him scratch the back of his neck, however grinning before crouching down to scratch the ears of that one dog who seeks for his attention. Silence engulfed the both of you but before it could even fester further, he speaks.

“You know, how about we thank each other through a meal?” he looks up and flashes a warm look towards you, however interrupted when the dog on his arms barked enthusiastically, making him chuckle, “See? Even this buddy agrees!”

And who were you to even say no to that?

[shurisneakers]

harmless (vi)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, existential crisis, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, lil bit of angst, clint barton being a lil shit

Word count: 1.9k

A/N: BUCKY BARNES IS BACK AND HAS A CONFIRMED PERSONALITY 

also omg everyone who’s been sending me ideas- ur the lomls. 

if you have any ideas for future inventions/evil plans, lemme know! i might actually end up using them

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Series Masterlist

Your place or mine? ;)

He stares at the text.

The right answer is mine. See you at the lair.

“Y’all are dating now?” Clint peeks over his shoulder. 

“Fuck no,” Bucky says indignantly. “God forbid.”

“Okay, man,” he retracts, giving Bucky space to turn around and face him. “What do you want to call your mini dates then?”

“Missions,” Bucky corrects him.

“No one wants to go on a mission. You volunteered to go back there.” 

“It’s for the good of the tristate area.” 

“I bet.” The snort he lets out contradicts his words. “Whole world is depending on you, Barnes. Go save them from the treachery of your crush.”

“Enemy.”

“Girlfriend.”

“Mortal nemesis.” Bucky narrows his eyes at him. “Go further, I dare you.”

“What are you gonna do? Choke me? Punch me with your metal arm?” Clint cranes his neck. “Bring it, big boy. I’m not scared of some kinky shit.”

He hates living here. 

The door is left open for him. 

This time, even though the lair is still illuminated by the green light out in the front, there’s a minor change. Sunlight streams in through a skylight in the roof. 

There’s a ladder there, leaning against the rim. It gives him an entrance to the roof, which, judging by the lack of any other presence in the lab, is where he’s supposed to go.

As he gets closer he notices there’s a note on one of the rungs.

‘Evil’ with an arrow pointing upwards.

He rolls his eyes, discarding it on the floor before swiftly scaling the steps.

“Ah, Mr. Barnes,” he hears your voice call out even before his head pops up above the surface. “We’ve been expecting you.” 

He pauses, looking around. “Who’s with you?”

Because other than the gigantic machine pointed up towards the sky, there’s only you with a visor and sunglasses. The  best way he can describe its design was that it was shaped like a pine cone, had a large antenna pointed towards the sky, two handlebars near its base to manoeuvre it with a large button in between them. 

“Just imagine I have my henchmen with me,” you urge. “I’m on a budget, man, I can’t afford them yet. Maybe when my cloning machine finally works-”

He doesn’t answer.

“It’s a James Bond reference,” you add when he doesn’t show any signs of answering. 

“Haven’t watched it yet.” Bucky shrugs. “We’re doing Star Trek right now.”

“You’re done with Star Wars?” you, receiving a nod in confirmation. “Nice. You’d find the spy shit ridiculous anyway, it’s way below your level.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He makes a mental note to add the Bond movies to the list. 

“Speaking of stars,” you begin, gesturing to the machine. “I’m going to harness the power of the sun.”

“For what?” He doesn’t bother asking how, he already knows you’ve figured out something. 

“There’s a science exhibition and my team’s stupid solar car experiment isn’t working and I need it for them to win.” 

“So build a better one.” 

“No, ours is the best and if Jeff and his stupid baking soda volcano beat us then we’re going to have a murder on our hands.”

“Your hands,” he emphasises. He has nothing to do with this.

“I said what I said, boy.” You glare at him. “This is our problem now.”

“How much power are you taking?” If it’s insignificant enough, it wouldn’t matter much. He thinks. 

“The whole thing.”

He laughs. He stops when you don’t.

“You’re taking all the energy of the sun to power your shitty science model.”

“Your face is a shitty science model,” you mimic him in a higher pitched voice. “I will do anything to win.”

He wonders which grade kid you stole that insult from was in. There’s no way they were anything older than 13. He could use it on Steve, maybe.

“Everyone on Earth will die.” He feels the need to remind you, even though there was no way it was actually going to take place. Eat shit, Clint. This superseded the tristate area.

“Not for eight minutes.” You look at your watch. “And, if Jeff dies then I win by default.”

“You’ll die too,” he points out. 

“I’ll die a winner.” You nod seriously as if that makes it better. 

He’s not that worried. Experience tells him that you’re not a mass murderer willingly. 

“You’ll die an idiot.” 

“Only if you don’t stop me.” Your lips curve into a smile. “And how will you when I do this?”

You yank the machine to point towards him and slam the button. His hand reflectively pulls in front of him to defend himself. Something hits him with enough force to send him skidding backwards slightly. 

He removes his hand carefully from in front of him, looking at you. 

Something feels off.

“You just-”

The knives strapped to his thighs suddenly feel heavier.

“Took your powers?” you finish his thought. “Yeah.”

He feels his body tip towards his left. He’s suddenly very aware of the weight of the arm. Had it been this heavy all this while? 

“You’ve barely changed,” you noted, “You’re just regular Bucky but like, 20% less beef.”

After all, he was a boxer when he was a teen. One of the best men the Howling Commandos had even before the serum.

His shoulder feels heavier though. And somehow he thinks he’s sensing things a little less. He can’t really hear the faint buzzing of the generator downstairs anymore.

“Yep, that’s real muscle.” He turns when you poke at his shoulder. He doesn’t know when you got there. “You’re like a modern day Schwarzenegger. Grade A beefcake.”

He can’t see the construction site near the horizon as clearly as he used to. 

Something about this situation makes him feel like he’s going to have a midlife crisis, even though he’s overshot the age by a huge number. No one has a midlife crisis at 106. 

“Now that we’ve established that this works,” you say, back near the machine again. When did you walk there? “Let’s show this bitch that I’m the brightest star allowed in this solar system.” 

He shakes his head to jolt himself awake, shoves aside his mental dysfunction and breaks out into a sprint when you pull the device down to aim it at the sky. 

He latches onto the side, using his left hand to pull himself up, straddling the machine.

“Excuse me,” you exclaim like it’s a minor inconvenience and he feels the machine sway wildly under him. “You’re weighing it down, get off my inator.”  

You’re shooting recklessly, trying to shake him off. It’s not dissimilar to the mechanical bull Natasha made him ride during a mission down south so she could win money off placing bets on him. They had lobster that night.

He reaches down to its side, hoping to feel maybe a panel he can rip off. He finds nothing.  

He hopes none of the rays are actually hitting anything. It’s a little harder to stay on than he’d imagined it would be, and he thinks that maybe this wasn’t the best plan. 

He changes his mind in a split second, swinging himself over so that he can climb the underside of the machine like a monkey bar. He feels like a fucking insect. How was Peter not mortally embarrassed? 

He factors in the fact that his hands are getting clammier and his grip is slipping faster than usual. Also, he can taste his lunch at the back of his throat.

“Motherfucker,” Bucky curses when his hand slips, leaving him to hold on only by his metal arm. 

“You okay?” you call out, not giving him a second to recover unless he really needed it.

He lets out a grunt, swinging his arm up and catching hold of the antenna, yanking it down and towards the machine itself. He pulls himself up so that he’s straddling the machine again. 

One more shot and-

“Very smart, Barnes,” you say dryly, letting go of the handles. 

He sends you a sly grin before sliding down the barrel, kicking the large button with his heel right before he jumps off. 

The beam shoots out, instantly meeting with metal. The device automatically gives a mechanical groan before powering down, turning off altogether. 

“I hate you,” you huff, before noting his paleness. “D’you want some water? An IV maybe?”

He dismisses it with a wave of his hand, inhaling heavily to catch his breath.

He’s tired, more so than he would have been under any normal circumstance. He feels a little dizzy, a little disoriented. 

“Don’t worry, your magic powers will be back in a few minutes or so.” You examine the bent antenna, pressing the button and sighing when it stands there lifelessly. “Once Jeff wins, I’ll send the dry cleaning receipt to you. You can pay to get the tear stains out of the kids’ outfits.”

“Your tears or theirs?” He’s relieved about the powers returning, he thinks.

“Both, bitch.” Your eyebrow quirks at his retort. Clearly, he had more energy in him than people realised; his brain seemed to be working fine. He was stronger than you thought. Good for him. 

“You’re smart. You’ll figure something out.” He lets out a final exhale before standing up a little straighter. 

“Thanks. It’d be better if you asked your billionaire tech genius to send us something, but okay.”

“It’s a middle school science exhibition. Make a potato battery or something.”

You tsk-tsk. “No points for creativity, Mr. Barnes.”

It creeps into his mind without warning. He wonders if he actually wanted the powers back. Wonders what his life could be if he maybe retired, settled down. For the brief time he feels like his pre-war self, he starts to think like his pre-war self.

“I’m not the one who’s about to lose to a baking soda volcano,” he finds time to respond, however. 

“Your face is a baking soda volcano.” You narrow your eyes at him. “I will not lose.”

“You’re running out of time. Chop chop.”

But the thought hits him. Who is Bucky without his super soldier serum? If he doesn’t have his powers then he can’t think of what use he is to the Avengers.

Who the hell is Bucky if he can’t provide a service to others? How else does he make up for being himself?

His, what he’s now deemed, afterlife crisis is starting to look more apparent.

He compartmentalises and stores it away in a box. He’ll bring it up with his therapist later. 

“I’m going to win and then you’ll be sorry you weren’t a part of it because you didn’t let me steal the sun.” 

“If you win, I’ll still be glad I didn’t let you.” He climbs back down the ladder, feeling the ache in his muscles reduce with every passing minute. 

True to your word, his powers do return a while later. 

And while he’s watching Avatar: The Last Airbender with Peter in the living room two days later, his phone beeps with a text. 

It’s a picture of a blue first place ribbon next to a toy car that looks like it’s powered by a potato battery. Beside it is an out of focus middle finger that is aimed at him. 

Congratulations, he texts back. Told you potato batteries always win.

Your face always wins, he receives in return. He can’t tell if you’re insulting or flirting with him. 

He just shuts his phone off and goes back to watching the show. 

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