#my brain: i will now proceed to be a dramatic bitch | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash · 3 years

Text

Irresistible Danger - Part 61

Synopsis: After being caught outside the compound on your own, Negan decides to punish you in the best way possible ;)

Words: 2,591

Warnings: nsfw, smut, swearing

ID Masterlist can be found HERE

Masterlist of all my fics can be found HERE

Taking Care of Business

You were in shock and at a loss for words, while Amber’s impatient expression as she stared you down meant that she obviously expected you to say something. When it became apparent that you weren’t going to kickstart this lovely conversation, she gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes before breaking the silence with a haughty voice that instantly grated on your nerves.

“Well, are you going to let me in, or what?”

Your subconscious gave a resounding scream of ‘fuck off!’ and hissed at Amber, while your brain warned to proceed with caution. The last thing you wanted right now was a fight, but it wasn’t clear which path led to a worse confrontation: letting her in or telling her to leave. Deciding to attempt civility, you clamped down the words ‘I’d really rather not’ that were on the tip of your tongue, and instead gave a small nod and stood back from the doorway to let her in. The sickly sweet smell of flowers hit when she passed by, and you had the incredibly random thought of where the fuck does she get perfume in an apocalypse?

Ignoring the unimportant question, you watched as she glanced around your room, eyes flickering over the small bed, the wooden chair piled with clothes, and then the stack of old rickety crates holding your belongings. Her face scrunched up in utter disdain of the meager surroundings, solidifying what Ben had once said about her coming from a privileged background before the apocalypse. Her room upstairs probably had all kinds of fancy furniture and clothes. You wanted to feel annoyed, even a bit ashamed, but then remembered whose bed you were now spending the night in and immediately lost all sense of self-consciousness. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter what material possessions she might own, because you had Negan and she didn’t. No matter how this conversation went, that fact wasn’t going to change, and nothing she said was going to ruin your newfound happiness. You were still nervous and feeling a bit cagey being in the same room as the woman who was far from your biggest fan, but the security of knowing where you and Negan stood with one another helped you to keep calm and project an air of indifference.

However, you still didn’t want to play this too arrogantly, and decided not to close the door the entire way, pushing it so that there was still a centimeter of space keeping it unlatched. The crack was small enough for her to not have noticed, and gave you that extra padding of reassurance. You didn’t trust her one bit, and wanted an easier exit, if necessary, or a way to hopefully be heard if you yelled for help. Not that you were too worried about a physical confrontation; you looked up and down her petite, small frame and thought, you can take her if you have to. The subconscious gave an aggressive yell of agreement and stared Amber down with laser-like focus.

Not wanting to make any assumptions, you decided to stand there silently and wait her out. It didn’t take long, as she abruptly turned to you with a sneer and said, “I bet you’re feeling mighty proud of yourself right about now.”

Well then, guess we’re going with no pretense or attempt at subtlety. Raising your brows in surprise, you honestly replied, “I’m not sure I know what you mean.” You were certain this had to do with Negan, but weren’t sure if it was in regards to the last few weeks, if she had heard about the scene in the cafeteria, or, perhaps, it was something else entirely.

She narrowed her eyes at you and practically hissed, “Don’t play stupid with me. I know that you’re the one who convinced him to throw us all out.”

You couldn’t hide the look of utter surprise at her words. Had Negan said something to the wives today? But when?! You had seen him off on the run to the outpost this morning, and there had only been perhaps a 20 minute space of time from when his men had sat down for dinner and he himself had entered the cafeteria. Had he spent that small chunk of time talking to his wives?

Apparently so, as Amber confirmed a few seconds later.

“I can’t believe he would just march in there and tell us, tell me, that we’re not needed anymore.” She scoffed, as if the idea was laughable. “And I bet it was your idea that we lose our rooms too, right? You couldn’t even let us stay where we were, let us be on the same floor as him. No, you somehow convinced him to kick us out, and tell us we’re to ‘reintegrate into the community’. What the fuck!”

She had used her fingers in air quotes around the reintegrate part, which would’ve been a bit humorous if not for her screeched curse at the end. Your emotions were all jumbled, since part of you wanted to fist pump with joy that Negan had decided to officially move out his wives and make them a part of the community, while another part of you knew that to let your happiness show would only cause Amber to escalate. And while you didn’t feel too bad for her, especially considering the way she’d treated other women like Maria and Trixie, you could still relate on a human level to the shitty feeling of being unwanted. It was that little crumb of empathy that you tried to lead with, despite the subconscious begging you to just bypass all that and use a fist instead.

“I honestly wasn't aware that he did that,” you said, hoping she could hear the sincerity in your voice. “I understand that it’s gotta be frustrating to-”

“Don’t try to feed me bullshit by saying you understand!” she interrupted, eyes blazing with anger. “You think that just because you waltzed in there with your little food trays and spread your legs for him whenever he wants that it makes you better than us. You could’ve played by the rules and become a wife like the rest of us, but nooo. You must think you’re really fucking special, to screw us all over and wreck the entire system! News flash bitch, you’ll never be enough to satisfy him, and he’ll get bored with you soon enough. Then we’ll see how much you ‘understand’ when the tables turn and he asks us to come back while you’re the one tossed to the side! Because that’s what will happen in time, and it’ll make him look weak and indecisive to the entire community. I hope you’re prepared for that, for his potential downfall to be all. Your. Fault!”

Well so much for going the empathetic route, you thought as a spark of anger burned in your gut. She stood there, breathing heavily from her outburst and wearing a cruel smirk as she waited to see what effect her words would have on you. Said effect was that both your subconscious and brain were now wielding swords, ready to go to battle and take her out.

Any desire to try and make peace flew out the window, as you saw through her act and straight to exactly what she was trying to accomplish by confronting you. How dare she take her own hurt and insecurities and try to throw them back on you. And what made you extra mad was how calculated they were to cause injury. She had spit the words with pure venom, designed to seep into your veins and poison all confidence that what you had with Negan was real.

If she had said this to you even two days ago, it might’ve actually worked, might’ve combined with that padlocked box of questions and been the tipping point to send you over the edge into fully believing every word. There had also been the ball of self-doubt, which until the other night had been constantly following you around and whispering that Negan would never give up a group of women who were always at his beck and call for someone as independent and outspoken as you. That he couldn’t possibly change his rules so completely for you. That he couldn’t possibly love you.

But this wasn’t two days ago, and you knew better now.

Spine stiffening, you stared Amber down and said in a cool yet stern voice, “It’s obvious that nothing I say will make you happy, unless it’s that I leave Negan alone and let you have him.” You saw her eyes spark in anticipation at the words, as if she expected you to do just that. “But that’s not going to happen.”

Her fists clenched at her sides, and she opened her mouth, probably to spout more vitriol. But you weren’t having it. In fact, she wasn’t even worth the effort of fighting, and refusing to spend another second entertaining her bullshit would be a more satisfying win than arguing back and forth.

“I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“Why you-”

“Leave, Amber. Before this escalates and ends in a public and unattractive way. Unless you want others to see you escorted out of the Sanctuary.”

You were possibly talking out your ass with that last bit, since you didn’t have the authority to ban anyone from the compound. However, she didn’t need to know that, and you could tell that the threat worked when her mouth clamped shut, eyes blazing with hatred as she marched towards you. For a moment, you had the fear that she was going to start a physical altercation. Instead, she angrily stomped past, a hair’s breadth away from knocking into you as the pungent smell of fake flowers trailed after her.

“This isn’t over, bitch.”

The words were said as she grabbed the knob and threw back the door dramatically. It flew open and slammed into the wall, swinging mere inches from your face. It would’ve been an impressive exit, except that she had barely set foot out into the hall when every muscle in her body went taut as a bowstring, and her face drained of all color as she looked at something up and to the left.

Taking a step forward to glance out the doorway, your eyes widened in shock at the sight of Negan standing right outside. You weren’t sure how long he had been there, but seeing as how the door had been unlatched and opened a crack the entire time, he had to have at least heard the end of your conversation.

Her mouth opened but no words came out, and you knew that she was frantically trying to come up with a way to twist the situation. If given enough time, she’d make herself look squeaky clean and try to manipulate things so that it would appear as if the confrontation was somehow your fault. Rather than give her time to come up with a bullshit excuse, Negan spoke first, his tone low and deadly serious.

“Don’t say a fucking word. Nothing’s changed from what I told you earlier, and I don’t want any more fucking feedback about it. You and I are fucking done, and if you can’t handle that, then you’ll be escorted the fuck out first thing tomorrow morning, just like she fucking said.”

You felt a spark of satisfaction at his agreement with your threat to make her leave, at the way he stood in solidarity with you. Amber deflated slightly at his words, but she still glanced back at you over her shoulder, eyes shooting daggers. Unable to help one moment of pure pettiness, you looked her square in the eye and got the last word.

“I’d say this is fucking over.”

She knew she’d been beaten, you could see it written all over her face. But Amber was prideful, and she’d not crumple in front of an audience. Instead, she held her head high and walked quickly past Negan without a second glance. The two of you watched her march down the hall and disappear into the stairwell, and you had a feeling that, despite her brave face, she was going to find somewhere private to hide and lick her emotional wounds.

Negan turned to you, the anger slipping from his expression as he scanned up and down your body, as if to make sure that there was no physical injury. Thankfully, all wounds had been emotionally inflicted and they were nothing more than shallow cuts, rather than the deep stabs Amber had been hoping for.

“How long have you been standing there?”

His lips curled up into a pleased smirk, as he replied, “Long enough to know that you had the situation fucking handled, and didn’t need my help.”

You huffed out a tiny laugh at that, pleased to know that while he had been listening, he hadn’t just charged in and taken over. He’d been willing to stay back and let you deal with the conflict on your own...had trusted your ability to take care of it.

You started to exit the room and close the door, but halted when he said, “Why don’t you pack a bag first.”

“What?” you blinked rapidly at him in confusion.

He shrugged casually, as if to try and offset the seriousness of his words. “Since you’re spending nights with me, it only makes fucking sense to move some of your stuff up to my room. Maybe then you won’t keep stealing my fuckin’ toothbrushes and clothes. Maybe if you ask nicely enough, I’ll even clear out a drawer or two.”

It took a few seconds to process that Negan had just done the apocalypse version of asking you to start moving in with him. Your subconscious and brain had linked arms and were twirling in a circle while tossing confetti into the air, but you tried to act as cool and casual as Negan had about it, nodding and turning back into your room. It wasn’t until you were sure he couldn’t see your face that you allowed a huge grin and silent scream of excitement.

Grabbing the brown sack, you threw in half your t-shirts (aka the ones that were currently clean) and the navy blue gym shorts. A slight blush tinted your cheeks as you tried to quickly and discreetly throw in a few pairs of underwear and socks, though you knew he was standing in the doorway and watching your every move. You also grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste, but left the shower items. Negan had plenty of those to share, and you weren't willingly giving up the luxury of his fluffy towels and fancy soaps. You topped off the bag with some extra hair ties, a comb, and the copy of Harry Potter. It wasn’t everything, but it put enough of a dent in your belongings that you wouldn’t need to stop back here every evening after dinner, and could instead go straight to his rooms.

Walking towards him, you went to sling the bag strap up over your arm, but he held out his hand, palm up in offering. You gave a joking eye roll, but passed over the bag so that he could sling it up over his own broad shoulder. Instinctively reaching for his hand, you laced your fingers with his and gave a squeeze of thanks, as the two of you started off down the hall and upstairs to his room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

#negan #negan x reader #ash writes #negan fanfiction #irresistible danger #negan fanfics #twd #the walking dead #negan's thirst squad #negan slow burn #negan x you #negan x oc #slow burn #twd negan #fanfics #fanfic #fanfiction

66 notes · View notes

tanoraqui · 5 years

Text

tanoraqui

Still thinking about an au in which for some reason WWX and the Wens are left to just live peacefully on the creepy death mountain - some detente wherein they don’t leave the mountain ever and in exchange no one tries to visit ever. Borders patrolled by corpses and sect disciples. So A-Yuan grows up raised kind of collectively but mostly by WWX and Wen Qing (the one most likely to tell WWX that he’s doing it wrong), and learns healing-focused spiritual cultivation AND demonic cultivation, and then at some point starts sneaking out to be the terrifying force of righteous kindness he was always going to be

tanoraqui

Righteous kindness but also, like, having picked up WWX’s cavalier confidence (or at least some of the ability to fake it) and Wen Qing’s general attitude of Do No Harm But Take No Shit

Like IMAGINE

tanoraqui

In this au, despite the strict border-by-mutual-agreement that’s the only reason somehow no ones tried to attack, LWJ sneaks in like one a year so he and WWX can make eyes at one another but not actually say anything ever, and Wen Qing and LXC are both EXHAUSTED bc both their dumb little brothers (WWX is a sibling by adoption now don’t @ me) mope for like a week after EVERY SINGLE TIME THIS HAPPENS, and it’s been /over ten years/.

tanoraqui

Meanwhile Jiang YanLi and JZX are FINE, and JYL somehow keeps up some sort of correspondence with WWX - or at least, he’s faithfully managed to send a birthday present for Jin Ling every single year, and every time, JYL makes her son write a thank-you note and bribes some series of people to get it smuggled back to Yiling

tanoraqui

...which means, honestly, that Jin Ling is probably wildly curious about his uncle the evil demonic cultivator kept trapped within the terrible ghost mountain by the forces of Good and Right, and WILL sneak out one day to try to visit. Optimally, obviously, at the same time Wen Yuan is sneaking out to see the non-mountain world

tanoraqui

The optimal plot is that Wen Yuan ropes Jin Ling into helping him set up WWX and LWJ, because he, too, is exasperated at this point, and Jin Ling ropes Wen Yuan into arranging like a parent trap reunion for the Jiang siblings, and obviously there are monsters and undead to complicate it all

tanoraqui

They kind of acquire Lan Jingyi somewhere, somehow. He’s having a blast

There is a 100% chance that the first Adult(TM) to find them is Wen Ning and they just kind of rope him into whatever the hell is going on at the time

...you know what, I think this is just a good au where JGY fucking died at some point

tanoraqui

Maybe someone threw him down the stairs again and he just broke his fucking neck. WWX is still vilified but between Jiang Cheng not really wanting to attack and Jiang (Jin?) Yanli being AGGRESSIVELY against it, and dragging JZX along with her, they’re left in peace.

tanoraqui

Oh man and Jin Ling has YOUNGER SIBLINGS in this...

Hey for u: Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing can accidentally happen while the Teens are trying to get everyone else to meet

Today at 8:42 AM

@professorsparklepants

I love this it's so goddamn wacky

tanoraqui

I just want teenager-based shenanigans ft. surprisingly competent teenagers and all the adults running around like chickens with their heads chopped off

professorsparklepants

Jingyi: why are you two more calm about this than the literal adults

Wen Yuan: have you met my dad?

tanoraqui

Also to be clear it is not at all hard to convince Wen Ning to join Team: Teenage Shenanigans, bc literally ANYONE in the Burial Mountain village would probably be down if you were like, “we’re engaged in a conspiracy to make Wei Wuxian fucking admit that he’s in love with that Lan guy who visits a couple times a year”

professorsparklepants

"This is my father, and this is his sugar daddy."

tanoraqui

I kinda wanna say he goes by “Wen Yuan” more often bc he’s 100% the baby of the entire remaining Wen clan there, but his adult name or w/e it’s called IS Wen Sizhui, because WWX asked LWJ if he had any suggestions and LWJ said this while maintaining eye contact

professorsparklepants

OH MY GOOOOOOD

tanoraqui

They meet LXC and he figures out what’s going on in like 4 minutes, despite the teens’ best attempts at obfuscation, and instead of calling anyone’s parents is like, “okay, I’m in”

professorsparklepants

#1 wingman...

tanoraqui

Jin Ling and Wen Yuan are definitely both traveling under false names, too? Wen Yuan obviously can’t admit to being a Wen and Jin Ling is making a privileged but slightly helicoptered teen’s rebellious bid for freedom

professorsparklepants

His dad is panicking at home and Yanli is like "boys need their freedom :)"

I saw a post forever ago about how Yanli would be the most hands off parent & Zixuan is an only child who would panic every time his kid fell down

tanoraqui

With a side order of “my mother is the only one who’ll say nice things about the Yiling Patriarch and she always looks sad when she does so I’m going to sneak into the Burial Mountain and either drag him out to see her or force my parents to come get me”

professorsparklepants

"I'm gonna beat up the Yiling Patriarch" "why" "he made my mom sad" "okay proceed"

tanoraqui

^ actual real conversation with WenYuan

professorsparklepants

A-Yuan then repeats the same thing to Wen Qing and she has the exact same answer, verbatim

tanoraqui

Side note: Wen Yuan has never been scared of the undead in his entire life, and probably this will lead to getting into severely life-threatening situations when he doesn’t have more backup than 2 other teenagers

professorsparklepants

Oh absolutely

professorsparklepants

He's so used to tuning out the sound of sentry corpses that one jumps on him and almost punches his lungs out

tanoraqui

Also what if he took WWX’s sword, so he looks like a proper normal cultivator - honestly, what if WWX gave him the sword when he turned 12, or whenever one customarily gives a child a sword in this world. He also has a flute stashed in his robe somewhere but he does know how to use both

tanoraqui

But also, while obviously it’s very important that this is the sword he inherited from his father, it’s never OCCURRED to him to, like, strongly associate it with WWX, in terms of “this would be a recognizable weapon”? Chenqing the flute, obviously, but WWX just left the sword on a shelf all the time

professorsparklepants

He's very good at fooling people into thinking he's a normal rogue cultivator until he busts out the flute

LOL YES

tanoraqui

So the first time someone looks at him and is like, “That is WWX’s sword” he achieves, like, “Who’s Morales? [NOT THAT DUMB]” levels of blank-brained

professorsparklepants

It like, doesn't even occur to him that this stick named whatever will be recognizable to people until it actually happens

"this is the Yiling Patriarch's sword!" "... I've never heard of him"

tanoraqui

“What sword?”

professorsparklepants

KDJAKSNJS

tanoraqui

“Oh, THIS sword? I...found it. In a stream.”

tanoraqui

Also...at some point...once the teens have admitted their identities to one another...and possibly gotten into a couple other increasingly public shenanigans...they run into a bunch of concerned people searching from the Jin or even Jiang sect - JC being there would be PERFECT - and Jin Ling is like, “aaahh, no, I don’t want to be dragged home... kidnap me.”

WY: what?

JL: pull out the flute, summon a couple corpses, shout that you’re the dread son of the Yiling Patriarch, and pretend to kidnap me

WY: ...yeah okay

AND THEN THEY DO THAT

professorsparklepants

The dumbass energy...... off the CHARTS

tanoraqui

They’re 15 and neither of them has ever faced consequences but in...actually not too different ways

They’re 15 and neither of them as ever faced consequences nor most of the real world

Oh my god is Lan Jingyi the most sensible person here

They’re going to DIE

professorsparklepants

JXHAKAJAKKQHSJA

JC and Yanli immediately see through this probably

"dumbass kid just doesn't want to go home. I'll break his legs."

tanoraqui

I think Yanli does but I have minimal faith in JC’s ability to think logically at any time

He’s still angry at WWX for leaving

professorsparklepants

Stomps to Yiling to demand his nephew back & wwx's like "lol, A-Yuan left two months ago"

Okay my shift is starting later

tanoraqui

/snort

Though, bold of you to assume that WWX isn’t also running around anxiously somewhere like “oh god, oh no, my son is missing; I must find him”

professorsparklepants

Sizhui is a responsible boy, I don't think he would leave without telling at least ONE person where he was going

tanoraqui

Ok but it was Wen Qing who thinks it’s good for WWX’s health to stop brooding and go run around like a headless chicken instead, optimally if he runs into his totally-not-a-boyfriend-Hahahaha-why-would-you-say-that

Alternately it was, like, Granny, which, ditto

No one on this mountain is going to stop WWX from going out to cause trouble and hopefully get laid, is my point

tanoraqui

Also, the cultivation world has been basically at peace for 13 years and the reason is that this is an ideal AU where JGY is dead and whenever trouble starts to stir politically, NHS and JYL meet eyes across the room and mentally Rock Paper Scissors over who has to manipulate everyone into calming the fuck down

Neither of them actually wants this job; they’re just good at it and recognize both those aspects in each other

professorsparklepants

LOLOLOL

That is.... so goddamn in character

tanoraqui

concept: JYL and NHS are friends and no one else understands it, or attributes it to JYL just being that nice, bc NHS still generally acts useless

professorsparklepants

Nhs actively wants to be useless and life is conspiring to make sure he can't

tanoraqui

a little less dramatically useless, but why ruin a good thing when you're having fun and it's useful

professorsparklepants

Lol

tanoraqui

but JYL fucking identified him as Actually Competent one time when he couldn't hide it, so now sometimes they get tea together and bitch about politics and stupid people

professorsparklepants

He's the only person who can correctly identify when she's talking shit about people, because it's VERY subtle and her brothers & husband are too busy thinking she hung the moon to notice

tanoraqui

JYL striding into Nie sect HQ (whatever it's called) and tossing her coat over a chair. "You would not BELIEVE what my brothers are doing now."

NHS: *probably knows, because he's found that the minor investment of effort in maintaining a very good spy network pays major dividends in helping him avoid greater work* *immediately sits up and pours her a cup of very expensive tea* Oh, girl, dish.

professorsparklepants

Question: are they also friends with lwj...

tanoraqui

yes but he's obviously not invited to hte political gossip sessions

professorsparklepants

I'm trying to imagine lwj making eye contact with them at some meeting his brother dragged him to and both of them struggling not to break into hysterics

tanoraqui

but they both know that he sneaks into Yiling to visit WWX a few times a year, and every single time, JYL sits him down within a couple weeks and aggressively debriefs him as to her brother's condition

professorsparklepants

I'm sure she tried to get him to take treats in

tanoraqui

for sure

it's hopeless, though, bc there's no really predicting WHEN he'll go? It's basically just "every 4-6 months when LWJ's resolve breaks"

professorsparklepants

Too bad she's not a stress quilter instead of a stress baker

tanoraqui

she gets him to go at an actual arranged time, bearing pork soup, like once, for WWX's 30th birthday or something

professorsparklepants

tanoraqui

omg lit brain: LWJ of course is hte WORST for getting gossip, but JYL has pieced together a reasonable amount about the people her idiot baby brother (#2) is now living with. And she's mildly despairing as to idiot baby brother #1's ongoing refusal to get married and have an heir or three. So she, if not actively connives, then certainly siezes the first available opportunity to set Jiang Cheng up with Wen Qing

tanoraqui

basically, this au is PEAK romcom

tanoraqui

...also, for max happiness, i'd like to think that WWX made some strategic raids to rescue additional Wen refugees and bring them back, so there's a properly populated village and they didn't all just die

professorsparklepants

!!!

Good... Good thoughts

Good because 1. more people die and 2. The Yiling Patriarch will attack your village and steal your people away!

tanoraqui

(romcom being exclusively adults-focussed; the teens initiate it all but Jin Ling and Wen Yuan are both so delighted to have an Additional (But Cooler) Family Member that they comfortably cousinzone each other instantly)

professorsparklepants

*nice*

tanoraqui

...i feel like i keep characterizing Jin Ling as an only child, when really he ought to have a small horde of siblings

maybe they just...couldn't conceive more. shit happens. pregnancy is hard.

professorsparklepants

That happens sometimes

#mdzs #the untamed #ficlet #my fic #lan sizhui #jin ling #lan jingyi #(not actually here much; rip)#wen ning #wei wuxian #lan wangji #jiang yanli #nie huaisang #lan xichen #wen qing

2K notes · View notes

obaewankenope · 2 years

Note

top five of your favorite characters and what kind of shark they would be (and why)?

Send me asks about stuff! And drop a tip if you like my chaos knowledge.

Do you know, anon, I have been coming and going from this ask for ages? Like, seriously. I look at it, go "hmm x could be y shark maybe" and then proceed to argue myself out of that idea and then I get distracted by cleaning or sth and forget again that this ask exists.

Even now, I'm like "Oh laundry!"

My brain is trying to use cleaning as a procrastination method because of this ask! You did that! You!

Anyway.

Five characters. Five sharks. Easy.

E a s y

Characters first.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)

Din Djarin (The Mandalorian)

Eliot Spencer (Leverage)

Major Samatha Carter (SG1)

Mako Mori (Pacific Rim)

Okay, I got my five characters! Great! I went and did more laundry before I was even half way through this list jfc omg.

I've never procrastinated by being productive before but I kinda dig it!

I've got my five characters, now I gotta get my five sharks to go with em! No pressure...

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan is probably gonna be a shark I consider refined, powerful, but sophisticated for it. Not a powerhouse, not overly dramatic, but quick and full of finesse. For that reason, I'm picking the Blue Shark.

Relatively unassuming in comparison to other shark species, the Blue Shark is one of my first shark loves. I remember seeing a photo of one in David Attenborough's World book when I was waaaaay younger. Always stuck with me. They average around 3 metres, live in temperate and tropical waters, move relatively slow but are quick af when they need to be. Basically, pretty chill but can do damage if they need to. Perfect Obi-Wan!

[Image source: thoughtco]

Din Djarin

Din is, honestly, he's a cat shark. He's a Small-Spotted Catshark. I take no criticism on this. This is a man who is an awkward, shy bean with teeth. Also I can highkey imagine Din curling up into a doughnut to avoid attention predators if needed.

[Image source: wildlifetrust]

Eliot Spencer

Eliot honestly... damn... Eliot is a Great White to me. Only because he can do So Much Damage but he's generally not prone to it unless he's hunting for bad guys' bones to break. So yeah, Eliot is the big OG Great White to me.

[Image source: worldwildlifeorg]

Major Samantha Carter

Major Samantha Carter of SG1. The premier team of Homeworld Command. What shark is she? Hmm... I know!

Samantha Carter is the Thresher Shark!

Threshers tend to be solitary but are known to group together in duos, triads, or even quartets. That's a SG team right there! They're smart, quick, not too big not too small, and use their tails to whip prey with a literal sonic boom. They have been known to basically bitch slap prey out of the water and to death with one slap! That- that's Samantha Carter right there. Take no shit, slap a goa'uld, save the world, grab a snack and then go on with the rest of the team for another mission. Yep!

Sam is a Thresher.

[Image source: twitter]

Mako Mori

My girl Mako! Well, she's obviously gonna be a Shortfin Mako Shark! Fastest shark in the ocean. Quick, fast growers, have an amazing colour scheme with metallic blue and white (countershading, the belly is white, metallic blue on top), and lives in temperate and tropical waters alike. Usually found around 150 metres below the surface and an endothermic species aka its warm-blooded.

Mako Sharks also have the strongest bite force of any shark. That's right. Mako Mori the Mako Shark got a stronger bite than Eliot Spencer the Great White in this listing!

They're also prone to leaping out of the water when hunting. They jump. Jump for joy! Jump to punch a kaiju! Both? Both works!

Also, Mako are some of the smartest sharks out there. They have one of the largest brain-to-body ratios of all sharks. These sharks are smart enough to figure out who is and isn't a threat to them, and in research even recognised researchers so well to know they weren't a threat. The Makos in the study even refused to roll their eyes back when feeding, and were even willing to be restrained and touched briefly when offered bait.

Smart shark for a smart lady!

[Image source: NationalGeographic]

So, that's that then! I did the list, I found the sharks! I answered the ask!! Only took me two hours to actually do because my brain procrastinated via cleaning xD

#kat talks #kat answers #sharks #shark asks #character asks #characters as sharks #the effort i put into this even between procrasinating is immense lmao

4 notes · View notes

pradaksj · 4 years

Text

7 Rings | 03

♛ pairing: taehyung/reader

♛ rating: mature

♛ word count: 7,000+

♛ warnings for this chapter : light descriptions of anxious behavior (but nothing intense)

♛ summary: In desperate need of money, you and your best friend come up with a plan to infiltrate one of Seoul’s richest families, the Kim family. The plan was simple, garner some money and disappear, but of course things don’t always go as planned. Especially not with someone like Kim Taehyung.

━ ❝ Whoever said money can't solve your problems, must not have had enough money to solve 'em.❞

♛ chapter index/masterlist || series masterlist

Chapters⇢ 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08

Present Day: Thursday Morning.

This was not supposed to happen, no, no, no. This was not what was planned, rehearsed, nor memorized. No, no, no!

You anticipate for him to scream, to snap at you and tell you off in front of everyone. It seemed fitting for someone like him to do, it’s what you expected.

You could feel all eyes on you, the venue itself had gone deaf silent, almost as if everyone else was holding their breath along with you, waiting to see your demise. You couldn’t blame them, you had spilled your drink on one of the most prestigious guests here, and though it wasn’t as if the world was going to end because of this, to you it felt like it. Your “mission” was going to end before it could even start.

Panic immediately overwhelms you. This was not at all how this was supposed to go. You wanted, no, you needed words to come out of your mouth, to say something, anything, but you couldn’t. Your mouth was completely frozen in place, and all you could do at the moment was stare at the big blob of red on his white buttoned up shirt, to which you were at fault for. Slowly you watch his mouth open, your mind immediately beginning to think the worst, but what comes out of his mouth completely surprises you.

He laughs.

The formation of a boxy smile takes its place on his face, his eyes now crinkling out of sheer laughter, and his hand now covering a portion of his face.

“I really didn’t mean to do that, oh my—” you finally blurt out, quickly grabbing a napkin and beginning to uselessly blot onto the already bleeding stain, but almost immediately feeling a hand grab at yours, stopping you from what you were doing.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he reassures, slowly pushing your hand away from his shirt.

You immediately shake your head, your words now faltering in cohesion, “No it’s not, I r-really didn’t mean to do that, I just—”

“And I’m telling you it’s okay,” he repeats himself, “I think you’ve done the most interesting thing around here in a very long time,” he whispers, sticking his hand out for you to shake, “I’m Taehyung,” he introduces himself, as if you didn’t know who he was.

The words themselves come out exactly like how Yuna would imitate during “rehearsal”. Though his voice was of course much deeper, almost reminding you of silk, seductive in it’s own way. You finally look up to see him, to actually see him face to face, immediately feeling your face get red.

It surprised you really, you had seen Kim Taehyung a countless number of times on TV, on several gossip blog headlines, posters, magazine covers, and an endless number of promotional advertisements all across Korea, but wow did they do him no justice. The man was truly stunning, and with every passing second you made eye contact with him, you could see why he was South Korea’s most sought out person.

From the sharp facial features, to the slightly sun-kissed skin that seemed to have its own natural glow, and his (what you assumed was permed) black softly-waved hair, made him in every way … dangerous. Kim Taehyung was dangerous, and you knew it. And it was important that you remembered that, because if you didn’t then things were not going to go as planned and quickly at that.

It took you, what felt like a whole hour, to finally process that his hand had been stuck out for who knows how long. “Get a grip of yourself y/n,” you thought to yourself, the only reason you were so nervous was because you knew what your intentions being here were, no one else here did.

“Don’t panic, breathe, recuperate, and adapt,” Yuna’s words rang in your head, as it was what she’d emphasize you do, just in case something went wrong or unplanned, “You are someone confident, you are someone poised, and most importantly you are someone rich,” she’d scold you, practically drilling the words into your head. You just hadn’t expected that you were going to have to use her advice this early on. “You got this,” you silently whisper to yourself, just breathe.

And so just as you saw him beginning to pull his hand back, you quickly grabbed it and began to shake it in return, “I’m y/n,” you nervously grin, “I’m so sorry about that, I just—” you faintly pause, “I guess you can say I just get shy around people I don’t know and well I just got so nervous,” you embarrassingly ramble on, pushing your hair behind your ear.

“Like I said it’s fine, really,” he says, looking down at the stain which for the most part was no longer as wet as before, now only damp in moisture, “It’s just a shirt really,” he chuckles.

“I know, but still,” you reiterate. You silently take a look around the venue. People had seemed to have quickly forgotten about what had transpired, going back to their regular day to day conversations without a care in the world, “It’s just that I’m new around here and well I just want to make a good impression on people,” you explain, your words clearly catching his attention.

“Oh, where are you from?” he harmlessly asks, genuine curiosity emitted from his tone.

“I’m from—”

The Day Before: Wednesday Evening.

“The United States?—No, No! Seoul! No! Uh—” you immediately feel the squirts of ice cold water on your face from Yuna’s plastic spray bottle, the twentieth time today.

“Wrong!” she scolds, spritzing you one more time for the heck of it causing Hoseok to burst out in fits laughter, for again, the twentieth time today.

You dramatically let out a huff of air in irritation, as well as pouting and crossing your arms in annoyance, “How many times do we have to go over this y/n!” Yuna screeches, grabbing her metal pointer stick, and harshly hitting the cheap whiteboard covered in red messy scribbles that you two bought the night before, “You’re from Seoul, but you moved with your rich old family to the states a couple of years ago, and you’re back here on vacation for the next ten weeks because you were “homesick”, which explains why he’s never seen you before in his life!” she explains, “What’s not clicking?” she says, now tapping her forehead with her index finger.

“You don’t have to be so mean about it,” you sneered.

“Well y/n! We can’t afford any mistakes, and it’s very important you know the basics because the moment he catches you in a lie, all bets are off on that money,” she sighs, her face now softening, “I know that right now you may think I’m being a bitch right now, but trust me, you’ll thank me later,” she snaps her head towards Hoseok’s direction, who for the past hour had been doing nothing but devouring snacks while watching the two of you bicker, “Am I right or wrong?” she asks, causing him to raise his hands as a way of saying he wanted no part in this.

You squint your eyes at him, “Maybe if we had more time, I’d be less strict about all this, but time is on the essence! Ten weeks will go by in the blink of an eye,” she adds, causing you to grunt because sadly she had a point, “So back to the top!” she yells, her facial expression going back to being firm, “Where are you from?”

You roll your eyes, “I’m from—”

Present Day

“Seoul, but you’ve stayed in the states, huh? That’s really cool, I’ve only been to LA and New York a couple of times for certain events… so what was your experience like over there?” he asks, taking a sip from his mimosa.

You don’t hesitate to answer, the response ingrained in your brain, “It was really nice, though I found myself being homesick quite often if we’re being honest,” he nods his head.

“Ah, yeah I completely get where you’re coming from, I—” he catches himself mid-sentence, shaking his head, as if disappointed with himself, “There’s just no place like Seoul huh,” he says instead, to which you nod in agreement.

You proceed in planting the seed to Yuna’s plan, “I have to go back in a couple of weeks though, I still have a year left to go for my bachelor’s, and well I’m really just here for visits sake,” you explain, your nerves slowly withering away. The more you spoke, the more natural things were beginning to feel, smooth and easy like melted butter on toast.

And in a way you weren’t entirely lying. You were going to have to leave at some point, you did have a year left in school, and technically you were just a temporary visitor in this whole world of the rich. Of course, there were some major differences between the truth and what you were leading him on to believe, but at the end of the day this wasn’t going to hurt anyone.

“Oh I see, what are you majoring in?” he politely asks, silently hoping he wasn’t intruding too much. Taehyung for the first time in a very long time, felt nervous. For one thing, you were very pretty, breathtakingly so, he almost felt like a kid with a schoolboy crush. It was quite embarrassing really.

But Taehyung was waiting. He was waiting for you to do something or say something that would confirm that you weren’t the person he’s hoping you to be, that you were in fact a stuck up brat just like the many he’d seen and met before. That you were just like anyone else here who solely cared for numbers, and their own personal riches. It was as if he was anticipating the feeling of disappointment.

“Business, accounting if we’re being specific,” you respond to his question, breaking him from his train of thought, “I’ve always been pretty good with numbers,” you say, “but not enough to become a full on STEM major or anything like that,” you joke, garnering a light chuckle from him, which you could easily tell was completely fake.

Maybe he was right, maybe you were just like the rest of them.

“I see, I see, I just finished my studies recently,” he comments, “I majored in finance though,” he says, which ultimately doesn’t surprise you. Not only because it seemed fitting for someone like him to get a bachelors in that field, but because you basically memorized his Wikipedia page as well. Supposedly having gotten into and graduating from SNU based on his own merit. Though you had your doubts of course, it was probably just best to keep your thoughts to yourself.

What you needed to focus on was getting him to ask you out on a date, considering an awkward silence on both ends had now arisen. A part of you was now severely worried about that date not happening anytime soon. Did you say something wrong? Maybe he wasn’t as interested in you anymore? Business is a pretty boring major, but it’s what Yuna told you to say, and well it is what you were actually majoring in. Maybe you should say something? No, just stick to the script. He isn’t saying anything though….

“Originally I wanted to major in photography,” you blurt out, catching him by surprise, “I was gonna minor in it, but being an accounting major was hard enough as it was, and well family pressure,” you say, your fingers tapping against the surface of the bar, “Nowadays it’s more of a hobby I do, here and there,” you say, curiosity now apparent on his face.

What you were telling him was in fact true, you loved photography, at one point even wanting to make a career out of it, but to become a professional photographer was hard enough as it was. In all honesty, you respected those who had the ability to confidently pursue their dreams. People like Yuna for example, who despite the risk of failing being high, never gave up. It was a risk you were unwilling to take, preferring a secured financial future over the latter.

“I especially like candid photography, there’s just something about it,” you ramble on, “it’s relaxing in a sense, like you learn to be more appreciative of what’s in front of you,” you gush, almost forgetting why you were talking about this topic to begin with.

Taehyung on the other hand looked at you with a grin on his face, finding your babbling amusing to say the least. It was in every way adorable.

“I have these binders at home filled with—” before you could continue on, the sound of a phone ringing interrupts. A look of annoyance now appears on Taehyung’s face, as he begrudgingly took out his phone from his pocket, hesitating to accept the phone call.

“You don’t mind if I—” you quickly nod your head, flashing him a superficial smile, as he momentarily stepped away from the bar.

You quickly took a sigh of relief once he was no longer in view, taking this as an opportunity to take a breather. Personally, you didn’t like this tense feeling, and you could imagine how much more heightened it’d be in these upcoming weeks. “Could it perhaps be … guilt?” you think to yourself, you quickly shake off the idea.

“I’m sorry about that,” you hear his voice, failing to hide the peeved look on his face.

“No, it’s fine, really,” you insist. A pregnant pause now in the air.

“I was hoping—”

“Are you—” both of your cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

“Oh my bad, what were you going to say?” you ask.

“No, you can go first,” he smiles.

“No, no, you go ahead,” you persist.

“You sure?” he asks, to which you nod in return.

“Well I have to go right now, attend to some personal errands and stuff,” he glances down at the stain, “also change out of this shirt,” he jokes, “but um,” he momentarily hesitates, “But I was hoping we could go out some time, grab some coffee or something.” Bingo. Step one, check. “I mean unless you don’t like coffee, I don’t know why I assumed you did, we can always get like smoothies or something, um,” he falters, his hand now scratching the back of his neck. “Hm cute,” you think to yourself.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” you grin, “I was going to say the same thing actually, but yes I would love to get coffee with you, ” you respond.

“Perfect! I was thinking maybe tomorrow evening, around 10AM? I’ll pick you up,” he states, the excitement clearly evident.

“Yeah, sounds great,” you giggle.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he waves, before turning around and beginning to walk away. But after a couple of seconds he abruptly stops in his tracks and turns back around, causing you to genuinely laugh as you knew why he had stopped.

“I really forgot to ask for your number…” he facepalms himself.

Thursday Night.

“You had one job!” Yuna dramatically flails her arms around, she and Hoseok now having been filled in on everything that happened this morning.

“And I got it done, didn’t I?” you retort, causing Yuna to roll her eyes, mumbling a sassy “I guess” in return.

“You’re so lucky I don’t have my spraying bottle on me right now,” she jokes around, but a part of her was more likely than not actually serious about it.

“Anyways, I’m surprised he actually ended up going up to me after all,” you mused, “Didn’t think it’d actually work.”

“Well with what I had you wearing, of course he was going to go up to you little miss y/n! A ruched floral dress with a summer straw hat at an all white attire event? Do you have no faith in me woman! Actually no, have some faith in yourself!” she loudly lectures you, playfully hitting the side of your arm. “The bad posture was something you already had experience with on your own merit,” she teases, causing her to start dying of laughter at her own joke.

You scowl in return, “Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny,” you grumble out, subconsciously fixing your posture.

“Anyways, what was the famous Kim Taehyung like? Is he really the heartthrob everyone makes him out to be,” Hoseok chimes in, his chin resting against his hand, eager to know the more about your encounter, “Come on, I need details, not no flimsy recap.”

“Um…” you hesitate with your next choice of words, “he’s um..” how could you describe Taehyung? He certainly wasn’t what you thought he was going to be like, “He’s a,” you pause, the two in front of you now looking at you with eager eyes, “He’s a nice guy… for now at least,” you conclude, surprising both Hoseok and Yuna alike. “I—” you sigh, “I think apart of me, like a very little tiny part is already starting to feel gu—”

“Ah! Don’t you even say it!” Yuna interjects.

“You didn’t let me finish!” you scold, immediately causing Yuna’s mouth to go shut. “Though a small part of me does feel guilty,” you pause, “at the end of the day Kim Taehyung is nothing but a rich boy with a grand old penthouse, flashy cars, and has enough money that could last him for several lifetimes. His father is a multi millionaire tycoon who from what I’ve heard exploits people for his own personal gain. Two sides of the same fucking coin. And so maybe right now he may seem like some nice guy, but it’s probably all an act. I’m not the bad guy here, I know I’m not. And I’ll be damned to let anyone, even if it’s myself, convince me otherwise, not with what I have at stake,” you finish off, staring at the invoices which were held up by magnets on your refrigerator, a reminder of what you were doing all of this for.

Kim Taehyung is nothing more than a pawn in a game of chess, and it was your job to make sure he stayed in that position. Nothing more, nothing less.

Earlier That Day.

“You called me?” Taehyung enters his father’s office, still feeling aggravated at the sudden interruption from earlier. His father doesn’t even bother to look up from his pile of papers, only making a quick motion at Taehyung to sit down on the arm chair placed across his desk.

The sound of silence filled the room, as his father continued to scribble down who knows what, on his sheets of papers, clearly focused on what was in front of him which only bothered Taehyung more. “Was there a point to all of this?” he thought to himself.

“Yes there is,” his father suddenly said, causing Taehyung to straighten up, not realizing that he must’ve said what he was thinking aloud. He finally looks up to face Taehyung, the stern look he always had on, well placed on his face. He quickly pulls open his drawer and grabs what seems to be a magazine out, smacking it on his desk for Taehyung to see. He sighs, “So you care to explain what this is all about?”

The title, in a big bold yellow colored font, reads, “Kim Taehyung Gets Physical With Paparazzi, Trouble in Paradise?” accompanied by a collage of photos which included Taehyung post physical-assault on the paparazzo and his argument with Sunhi, all painting him as some kind of villain. Taehyung remained silent, instead avoiding eye contact, only causing his father to let out a sardonic laugh, his frustration clearly evident.

“Ah Taehyung,” he starts off, “I feel like we’ve had this conversation many, many, times,” he lets out another sarcastic chuckle, “and I have to say, you had me fooled when you told me you were ready to come back,” he continuously taps his fingers on his desk in a rhythmic pattern.

“You don’t get—”

“I don’t care for the sob stories Taehyung, I really don’t,” he interrupts, finally snapping, “In fact I have staff telling me that is was Sunhi who cheated on you, something along those lines,” he mumbles, “What you do on your free time, or who you’re seeing is really none of my concern,” he pauses, “until it has the potential to affect my business, and the image it upholds,” he clarifies.

“I know,” Taehyung hisses.

“Then those little antics you used to like to pull off shouldn’t be making a return,” he narrows his eyes at his son, “because we all know the results of those,” he harshly reminds him, causing Taehyung to ball his fist in anger, “So I suggest you get a hold of yourself, quickly at that, so that I don’t have to clean up your messes like before,”

“You don’t have to remind me every waking fucking moment,” Taehyung harshly says, getting up from the chair. His father is quick to do the same, the two now facing each other, the desk being their only barrier.

“And who the hell do think you’re talking to like that,” his father spits, “It was me who got you out of that mess that night, hell if it weren’t for me you’d be behind prison bars at this very moment,” Taehyung looks away, his eyes now watering, “You should be nothing but grateful,” Taehyung quickly wipes the tear that uncontrollably rolls down his cheek. The feeling of shame now overshadowing the feeling of anger he originally felt. He attempts to take deep breaths, anything to prevent himself from looking any more like a coward. He didn’t want to cry, no he refused to cry, especially not in front of his father.

“A house made of glass trying to throw brick stones,” his dad scoffs, “Ironic really,” a vile smirk now on his face, “just get out my sight already, consider this a warning,” he concludes before sitting back down and continuing his work, acting as if nothing had happened. Taehyung stood there for what felt like forever, his eyes still brimmed with tears, before silently making his way out into the hall.

“Don’t cry. Don’t cry,” he kept telling himself as he made his way down to the lobby, but it was hard. He could feel the lump in his throat waiting to be let out, as well as how his lip would quiver whenever he’d force himself to smile at the several staff members who would politely greet him. It was almost as if he was suffocating.

He unlocked his car door and made his way inside, immediately punching the steering wheel in subdued frustration. He looked at himself from the car mirror, staring at his red puffy eyes, still refusing to allow himself to cry despite being alone. Instead he took more deep breaths, once again tucking away the turmoil he’d been feeling for a very long time back into the depths of his heart.

Turning on the ignition of his car, he made his way out of the building’s parking lot, quickly shaking off what had happened. He had a date to look forward to tomorrow morning, and he wasn’t going to let anyone ruin that.

Friday Morning.

“Ta da!” Yuna shimmys her hands, proud of the outfit she’s ensembled. She was definitely making use of Mrs. Choi’s closet, “You don’t think this is a little too much?” you question, feeling slightly insecure about what you were wearing, the tan beret on your head slowly becoming crooked. This was definitely better than anything you’d pick on your own for a morning cup of coffee, that was for sure.

“Oh of course not!” Yuna exclaims while quickly fixing your hair, “Now put this on top of the turtle neck,” she says, passing you a brown plaid double-breasted coat, “and then,” she glances at the two bags in her hands, debating which color would look best before ultimately picking the cream colored cross-bag, “put this over it.”

She claps her hands together, clearly proud of her fashion sense. “The perfect outfit for your date, doesn’t she look so pretty Hobi?” she gushes. Hoseok looks up from his phone, the three of you were now on a nickname basis.

“So she does,” he smiles, “but maybe a black bag might fit the outfit better,” Yuna’s eyebrows quickly furrow.

“Hey leave the fashion to me, computer boy!” Yuna playfully squints her eyes at him.

“I’m just saying! A white turtleneck and a cream colored bag isn’t the look you think it is.”

“Yeah well,” she puckers her lips like a kid, unable to think of anything to counter with, she instead says, “that uniform you’re wearing is ugly!” causing a dramatic offended look to appear on his face.

“Oh I’ll have you know—”

“Will you two stop with the bickering?” you interrupt him before he could attack in return, “Taehyung is going to get here any moment, and you,” you point at Yuna, “need to start heading to work, while you,” you point to Hoseok, “need to get back to work,” you reaffirm, silencing the two who were now staring at you like lost puppies, “Well what are you waiting for, shoo!” you commanded, your statement coming off a little more harsher than you intended, but you blamed it on your nerves. You couldn’t help it because well, you were indeed very nervous.

“Ah okay, okay. Let us know how it goes!” Yuna says, before dragging Hoseok by the arm and leading eachother out. “And remember to stay calm and collective!” he shouts before being yanked on by Yuna.

You let out a deep breath of air. You hadn’t been on a date in a very long time, and though one could consider this a “fake” date on your part, it was a date nonetheless. You needed to leave a good impression, enough that he'd be willing to take you out again after today.

[From: Taehyung]

[9:55] Hey, I’m around the corner from the address you texted me :) I should be outside in like 2 mins

[9:55] i'm in the black mercedes benz btw

[To: Taehyung]

[9:55] perfect ☺️ i’ll be out right now then.

You fix your hair one last time, making sure everything looked perfect. “It’s not a date, just two strangers getting coffee together,” you reassure yourself one last time before making your way out.

The car ride to the coffee shop per se wasn’t awkward, but formal to say the least. Of course, Taehyung didn’t exactly expect you to immediately be talkative once you stepped into the car, but judging by how stiff you remained the whole car ride, and the lack of conversation there was, he also knew that he didn’t want you to feel timid to talk or as if you had to hold yourself back in front of him. He wanted things to feel natural, like how you were when you were talking about photography, where he could tell you were genuinely just being yourself.

Honestly he was used to women usually going out of their way to show off in front of him, or to make themselves seem like someone they weren’t simply to impress him, so this was definitely... different than what he was used to. But for some reason it made him even more curious to get to know you, eager to see what you were hiding behind that brick wall of an exterior you’ve seemed to have set up for yourself. He assumed it was going to take time for you to warm up to him, but the problem was that Taehyung wasn’t much of a patient person to begin with.

“After you,” he says, politely opening the door to the coffee shop for you. You whisper “thank you” to the small, but kind gesture.

The coffee shop in itself was very cute. From the cushioned cream-colored loveseats decorated by pillows you’d find overpriced on Wayfair, to the bright lighting provided by a massive roof skylight, and lastly the wooden bookshelves decorated with a variety of different novels, all which gave the coffee shop a very pleasant home-like feeling to it. If you could describe it in one word it’d be “warm”.

You stood there like a lost child for a moment, unsure of what to order as you studied the menu. They had a variety of drinks, things you were sure you had never even heard of, either that or they just had a fancy way of describing everything in order to boost up the price. “So any idea on what you want?” he asks.

“Um,” honestly you really weren’t much of a coffee drinker, having ordered the same drink at Starbucks for the past several years, “Surprise me,” you awkwardly smile, before making your way (practically running) to a wooden table next to a window view.

You were definitely peeved with yourself because you knew that you needed to stop being so damn quiet because God was that car ride awkward, insufferable almost. But you just weren’t good at this kind of stuff, never had been.

Even during high school when you had gone on your first ever official date, you ended having an utter meltdown in the restroom after your date awkwardly pointed out that you had a piece of spinach stuck in between your teeth, a waitress on break had to comfort you before you could even step out again. Even then you had your mouth glued shut afterward, paranoid about embarrassing yourself again.

And that wasn’t the only embarrassing incident you’ve encountered in past dates, there had been plenty more, but that would take a hefty amount of time to talk about.

Point was, you’d always find yourself acting like a turtle hiding in its shell or like a pufferfish, blurting out the most random and embarrassing things at any given moment. It was always one or the other and it always left you with a humiliating story to tell Yuna, a prime example being accidently spilling your drink on the son of a multimillionaire. You kept anxiously bouncing your leg as you watched him order at the cashier register, thinking of ways to start a conversation.

“I got you a heavenly toffee, it’s an espresso with toffee nut syrup, caramel cream, almond milk, and whipped cream,” he places the drink on the table for you, “I figured you could never go wrong with something sweet,” he smiles.

“Oh wow,” you say, genuinely delighted with his choice, “their mugs are so pretty,” you quietly comment, observing the intricate design on the ceramic mug.

“Yeah it’s definitely one of my favorite coffee shops in the area, I also recommend this one called Seoul’s Magnificent Mocha, they have good drinks as well,” he chuckles, recalling his last visit there.

“Well if I’m being completely honest, I’ve never been too enthusiastic for coffee, but,” you take a sip of the drink in front of you, “I have to say this is really good,” you laugh, pleasantly surprised at the sweetness of the drink, you could hardly even taste the bitterness of the coffee.

“So y/n, tell me a little bit about yourself,” he says while taking a sip of his own coffee.

“Oh well hm—” you try to recall the things Yuna would tell you to say, but with Taehyung intensely staring at you, your mind had gone completely blank, “well,” you felt your face getting red at the pressure you felt, your ears definitely feeling hot, “there’s not much to say really. I’m a pretty boring person,” you let out a very awkward chuckle, looking down in embarrassment.

“Don’t say that,” he says, “we could start off with something simple, like,” he looks up for a moment in thought, “what’s your favorite color?”

“Yellow,” you simply state, no commentary, no “What about yours”, no nothing, Yuna would probably squirt you with her bottle 100 times if she was there. Your brain was having a “we threw out his name” moment from Spongebob. Nothing but fire and chaos going on in there.

“Oh…” he pressed his lips together, slightly disheartened at your lack of enthusiasm. Was there something wrong with him? Maybe he was just badgering too much? Before he could dwell on it too long, the sound of a camera flashing caught both his and your attention.

“Oh no,” you quickly think to yourself, immediately turning away from the window in order to cover your face. Taehyung didn’t bother to question as to why you had turned so quickly because he was quick to do the same. Your reason being was that you couldn’t afford to land on the front cover of a magazine or appear on a gossip channel because the moment your mom saw from her hospital bed, it’d be a wrap for you.

“Damn it,” he groaned, “I thought it’d be too early for them to follow me out here,” he says. Honestly, Taehyung didn’t mind the paparazzi taking pictures of him, at this point he was used to it. But what he didn’t want was to put you in the spotlight with no say on your part, especially knowing how stalkerish the paparazzi could be. The moment they got a clear identity as to who you were, you’d be followed until the end of time, and he would definitely feel guilty for that.

“We gotta get out of here before more of them arrive,” he cursed, “Just don’t look back,” he directs, slowly turning his head back to see if he could spot where the person taking pictures was. “Alright the guy seems to be planted from afar, so I think we can walk out the entrance, just make sure you cover your face with your hand or something or you could use your beret,” he jokes around. “You don’t gotta tell me twice,” you think to yourself.

You nod at his directions, the two of you quickly getting up and putting your mugs away, before speed walking back to the car. You could only cross your fingers that a clear photo of you wasn’t taken.

Taehyung quickly zoomed out of the area, but despite his efforts, everytime he glanced at his rear-view mirror he could spot the black van still following him, which only put him in a bad mood.

“I’m gonna have to drop you off at the back or something, or else you’ll find men always outside your building for the rest of your trip until they find out who exactly are you,” Taehyung scowled, mad at himself for being so careless. You wordlessly nod your head, a little intimidated at how angry he looked.

The car ride back to your place is quiet, nothing different than the car ride to the coffee shop. “I’m sorry,” he exhales once you guys are outside the building, “I should’ve been more careful,” he mutters, internally scolding himself.

You shake your head in disagreement, “Trust me, it’s fine, it’s expected really,” you mumble, your words causing him to feel a slight sting to the heart. Though he didn’t even know you well enough for your words to genuinely hurt, for some reason they did.

“Well I’ll text see you some other time Taehyung,” you formally bow your head, getting out of the car, and quickly walking into Mr. Choi's building, leaving him taken aback by your words. One could say he was looking into your word choice a little too much, but no, he knew exactly what you meant. And so with that he left feeling disheartened.

“So how’d it go?” Hoseok catches you right as you enter the elevator.

“Horrible, it went horrible,” you state, the elevator doors closing before you could say anything else.

Saturday Morning.

“Your kimchi came out way too salty,” your mom criticizes, taking a bite of the food you’ve brought, “should've added root vegetable or something,” she shakes her head in dismay. She expects you to fire back with a remark, but instead she watches as you just sit in the hospital chair, eating your food in pout.

Today was your visiting day, and though you tried to hide your dismay at yesterday’s date when talking to your mom, it kept popping up in the back of your mind like an annoying itch. Of course your mom had noticed your odd behavior from the moment you walked in, but for you to be eating in pout meant that whatever it was that was on your mind, must've really been bothering you.

“Now are you gonna care to explain why you’re feeling so down,” she questions, “or are you going to keep sulking in your seat,” she chuckles.

You wrinkle your nose, “It’s nothing ma,” you try deflecting the conversation, your gaze wandering to the TV.

“Ah so it’s about a boy,” she laughs, causing your head to snap in her direction, a puzzled look now on your face.

“And what makes you so sure?”

She shrugs, “Because I’m your mom and I’ve seen that look many times,” she grabs the remote from the hospital’s bed stand, subsequently turning off the TV, “come on, I’m in cool mom mode now,” she cringely says, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Oh god,” you mumble, loudly sighing before beginning, “so there’s this boy,” you start off.

“I knew it,” she sings, jokingly winking at you.

“I went on a date with him the other day and well I don’t know, I tensed up, you know how I get,” you explain, downwarding your gaze to the floor in shame as you recalled your behavior from the day before.

“Mm,” she hums, sounding unconvinced, “well there must be a reason as to why you got so tensed up, and I’m sure you know why,” she deadpans, her face now becoming stern. So much for being in “cool mom” mode.

“Well I don’t—”

“No, no, no, I’m not accepting your excuses,” she vigorously shakes her head.

You sigh, “I just,” you pause, remembering that you needed to be careful with your words, “I just really want him to like me that’s all.”

“And?”

You groan, “And well I feel like I have to act a certain way or be a certain way in order for him to like me,” you explain, “and I just don’t think I have it in me. I don’t think he’s the type of person to like me, well for me, I guess you can say he’s like the popular kid in those high school movies, you know?” you let out a dry laugh knowing that the situation was much more than that.

“Well can you tell me a little about this boy?” she quieres, grabbing a strand of your hair and beginning to play with it.

“Well I’m not going to give you details because for all I know we might end up bad,” you say, making an excuse so that you wouldn't have to give a name, “but this guy, well he’s been told to have a reputation. He’s selfish, he’s reckless, he’s rude, and the only person he cares for is himself,” you rant, your mother now seeming taken aback by your description.

“Is that what people tell you, or is that what you think?” she laughs, “because the way you just said that, it seems like those are your personal feelings about him, and so I can’t help but wonder why you would want to go out with someone like that,” she wonders. “Oh honey, you have no idea why,” you think to yourself.

“Well because that’s what people like him are, that’s what they’ve always proven themselves to be, it’s what—”

“You assume he’s going to be like,” she cuts you off, her tone now dismissive.

“It’s what I know he’s going to be like,” you retaliate, crossing your arms like a little kid, causing her to laugh.

“Oh y/n y/n y/n,” she continues playing with your hair, “I want you to listen to what I have to say, okay? And then once I’m done, you can either take my advice to the heart, or let it go in one ear and out the other, alright?” you hum in response.

“Okay so the first thing I want to talk about,” she clears her throat, “is that it’s wrong of you to make assumptions about this person, or anyone in general.”

“I know but—”

“Ah, what’d I tell you about listening. You didn’t let me finish,” she scolds, gently tugging the strand of hair she was playing with, “I want you to go on another date with him, but open minded this time y/n. No preconceived notions, no overanalyzations of the things he does so that you can make him fit into the mold you’ve made for him, no nothing, and the same goes for you,” she takes a sip of her water bottle, giving you a chance to quickly say something.

“But ma, the girls I’ve seen him date in the past, I’m,” you sigh, “I’m nothing like them,” her eyebrows immediately furrow.

“And who said you had to be anything like them?” she grabs your hand, causing you to quietly stare at her, “but this leads to my second point. No more putting pressure on yourself to be someone you’re not,” she softly nudges your shoulder, “Just give him one genuine chance, just one, and if it’s not meant to be then it’s not meant to be,” she says, finishing her little speech.

“But I want him to like me,” your voice cracks, desperately wanting to replace the word “want” with “need”.

“Hey don’t cry,” she chuckles, quickly pulling you in for a hug, “Trust me y/n, as long as you be yourself, any boy who's lucky enough to get to know you will fall in love. I promise you that.” she softly whispers into your ear. And with her words you could immediately feel the pressure come off your shoulders, the words not only comforting, but hitting home. “Okay so I need you to promise me that the next time you see him, it’ll be a fresh new slate for both him and you, alright? Shake off, whatever you have on your mind, and just enjoy what’s in front of you.”

“Okay,” you breathe out, deciding that your mom was right, things needed to change, and you were going to do just that.

Saturday Night.

“So how did that coffee date of yours go?” Namjoon mentions, causing Taehyung to frown at the memory.

“If I’m being honest, not that well,” he sighs, pouring himself a glass of whiskey from his alcohol shelf.

Namjoon’s face scrunches in confusion, “Well, what went wrong this time?” he laughs.

Taehyung shrugs, trying his best to seem unfazed, “I don’t know, I guess she just wasn’t that into me,” he comments on you lightly, “Maybe it was for the best, I don’t really have time for another relationship anyway, not with my busy schedule,” he says, taking a sip from his drink.

“Busy schedule, but you had the time to go get coffee immediately the next day after meeting her, with no second thought? Yeah that makes sense,” Namjoon teases, causing Taehyung to roll his eyes.

“Like I said, I don’t know, she just was not budging, it was like speaking to a brick wall the whole time, and I’m sure if the paparazzi hadn’t interrupted it would have remained like that the whole time,” he sneers while pushing his hair back, “which is weird cause I don’t know there was just something about her, I just can’t describe it, but I just know she was holding back.” he explains, causing Namjoon to snort, “But anyways, it’s my fault, I set my expectations too high, thinking I was going to find love at first sight, actually no I blame you for putting those thoughts into my head.”

Namjoon raises his hands in defense, “Hey, all I did was pressure you to go up to her, everything else was your own head’s doing.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right, I’m just gonna be a lone wolf for a —” the sound of a “ding” interrupts Taehyung before he could complete his sentence, and so he checks his phone to see who could’ve texted him.

Namjoon stares at Taehyung who was now intently staring at his phone, looking quite flabbergasted, “Well, what is it?” he questions, a goofy grin now slowly appearing on the wavy haired young man’s face.

“I,” he lets out a chuckle, “I think I’m going on a date tomorrow night,” he faintly blushes, turning his phone to show Namjoon the text he just read, which reads:

[From: y/n]

[9:02 PM] you + me, tomorrow @ 5:30 , Ilsan lake park, i’ll bring what we need.

[9:02 PM] yes or yes?? 😇

[To: y/n]

[9:03 PM] i’ll see you then 😅

a/n 🧚🏻 : did I mention this is slow burn???? LOL. originally I was going to include date #2 on here because I only want this series to be a max of like 8-10 chapters, butttt I also wanted to update so ... but all the buildup will (hopefully) be worth itttt. the smut is coming soon in other words LMAO. I also took a while to update bc I was trying not to make y/n too annoying and just make the characterization how I pictured it to be, like I needed to establish the generalization she has on the Taehyung but IDK lmk what you think, message me, comment, send an anon, anything is welcome 🤍

154 notes · View notes

indigostars · 3 years

Text

some bts of my rots fix-it chasing out the darkness. and by bts i mean outline.

will start with ahsoka and maul’s conversation while fighting on mandalore because ✨dramatics��

ahsoka will actually consider maul’s words, beat him like the bad bitch she is, and zoom zoom to coruscant before anakin does The Thing

obi-wan will finish beating grievous’ ass early on utapau and is also zooming his way back to coruscant because he’s feeling some ~bad vibes~ from anakin, as per freaking usual (gREy hAiRs!!!!)

anakin’s dramatic ass crying in the council room because he’s having a Midlife Crisis

ahsoka gets to coruscant first because plot i said so

she bursts into the council room and plows into anakin because Dammit You Are Not Supposed To Be Sad!!!!

they have a Talk (TM)

they’re about to go beat up palpatine’s ass like the chaotic duo they are and obi-wan arrives five minutes late with a starbucks

“Where is everyone???” “the chancellor is the sith lord” ensue migraine because “fuck it of course palpatine is the chacellor and i’m too fucking old for this anakin” (context: STOP GIVING ME GREY HAIRS IM NOT EVEN F ORT Y)

anyways the trio goes to kick palpatine’s ass

anakin proceeds to have yet another mental breakdown, as one does

ahsoka and obi-wan are highkey concerned but also trying Very Hard to Not Die because Sith Lightning

now there is a super dramatic mental fight and anakin eventually guts palpatine and yeets him out the window

he also gets zippy-zapped by lightning because anakin is a magnet for getting electrocuted like how does this man not have brain damage… OH WAIT

anyways palpatine is Very Very Dead because i said so

obi-wan and ahsoka are freaking out because anakin’s lowkey dying because lightning but he’s all like “guys i’m fine :)” and then he collapses because he’s a Dramatic Bitch (TM)

then anakin wakes up in the med-bay with obi-wan and ahsoka staring at him like owls

and he’s a bit creeped out because being electrocuted 1020282671 times means short term memembry loss :,))) ur braincells will be missed

Ahsoka ignores him and gets right to the point

“Bruh maul said you were totally gonna be an Edge Lord”

and now she’s Angry (TM) because anakin is Not Denying This Super Important Revelation

obi-wan doesn’t know whether or not to be alarmed or not surprised by this situation

he definitely has another headache but what else is new let obi-wan rest 2021

then anakin’s deadass like “oh btw padme’s pregnant and i’m having nightmares and haven’t slept in like 10 days lol”

ahsoka is torn between concern and being happy because she loves padme and “i fucking knew it”

obi-wan.exe has stopped working

there are more Discussions, feelings occur, apologies happen, and then they have a huggy snuggly cuddly time because we were deprived of the trio hugging and we just need these dumbasses to HUG

#diving into the depths of my insanity #(obviously not everything here made it into the fic but i have no control over the words i write. i am completely at their mercy)#will this be a series of some sort?? probably. whenever i feel the urge to outline #sarah tries to outline

7 notes · View notes

zwritestuff · 4 years

Text

Some Things Are Bound To Be (Chapter Three) - Kyara

A/N: Me? Actually updating regularly and not letting the months go by? Who would've thunk. This chapter actually took me a lot of erasing and deleting, and there are some scenes that didn’t make the cut, but I like the end result! Hope you guys do too :D This ended up being 4.5K, so it’s quite a treat. A million thanks to @fromthenorthernskies for screaming on the doc beta-ing this chapter!

AO3 Link!

Kyne would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy having lunch with Kiara; it was way too different from sharing a coffee and sweets in Kyne’s office in the middle of the day. Now they weren’t alone, and they had to lower their voices when they wanted to laugh loudly, but it was nice. She always has a good time when she’s with Kiara.

She learns that Kiara’s favorite color is purple, her favorite movie is Beetlejuice and one day she wants to have a pet chameleon so when she dresses it up, it changes its color to the one of the garment. Kyne tells her that’s something a privileged rich kid would say, but it oddly makes sense - and that if she ever does it, she expects to see a picture.

When it’s time to come back to the office, they walk through the streets with their shoulders bumping and their hands brushing ever so slightly, neither of them having the courage to grab the other’s hand. That’s until they cross a particularly busy street, and Kyne wraps her pinky around Kiara’s. To not lose her, she mumbles, not sure if she heard her. Their fingers stay intertwined even when they make the walk to Kyne’s office, closer than they should be in an empty hallway with space to spare.

They get a few stares, and Kyne feels her free hand twitch. She tries to brush it off and focus on what Kiara is telling her instead. She’s talking about the ball, and how they will go about dress shopping on Friday.

“If you drag me to go shopping before I’ve had a shower, I’m breaking up with you,” Kyne says, coming to a stop in front of the door of her office, letting go of Kiara’s finger. Kyne could swear she saw Kiara look disappointed for a brief moment, but if it happened she doesn’t bring it up. Why would she, anyway?

Kiara laughs shortly, and dismisses it with a wave of her hand. “I’ll pick you up from your place after you get a shower, then we go shopping. That sounds okay?” She asks gently, clasping her hands behind her back. Kyne has noticed she does that a lot when she talks to her. Not that she thinks much about it, or Kiara for that matter.

“Sounds fine to me,” she agrees, smiling with satisfaction. Kiara smiles back, saying she should get back to her office, promising to text her later. Kyne furrows her brow at that, only the slightest bit concerned. “You still haven’t told me how you got my number, y’know. It’s kinda creepy,” she says before Kiara can bid her goodbye.

“If you think about it, I have everyone’s phone numbers at my disposal. Whether I decide to make use of them or not, that’s up to me.” Kiara shrugs, Kyne stares at her for a moment. She hadn’t thought about that.

“You know, sometimes I forget one day you’ll inherit this whole thing,” Kyne comments. It’s not a lie though. She has never met someone as powerful as Kiara that just decided to hang out with her employees instead of all the other powerful people. Sometimes Kyne forgets she could fire her if she got on her nerves, and treats her like she’d treat an old friend.

It seems to work in her favour, though; her friends always ask her how she had struck a friendship with none other than Kiara, the infamous heir of the company that never cracked a smile. Kyne was always skeptical of that - whenever she hung out with her, Kiara was nothing but a giggling mess, not the stoic person her friends, and everyone else apparently, made her to be.

Perhaps she was the only person with the privilege of being able to make Kiara laugh. She wouldn’t mind that in the slightest.

Kiara just stares at her with an amused smile, and Kyne proceeds to explain herself after a moment. “You steal the cupcakes you bring me and always ask me if I have a spare charger, when you have the money to buy an entire cupcake shop and a thousand chargers if you want to,” she explains with a grin, and Kiara laughs wholeheartedly, the slightest hint of a blush appearing on her cheeks.

She’s decided her new favorite thing is making Kiara laugh, not only because it seems she’s one of the few people able to make her smile, but also because she throws her head back, scrunches up her nose and drops the invisible weight from her shoulders. It suits her a lot better.

“Stolen cupcakes are the best cupcakes,” Kiara jokes with a complicit smile. Kyne chuckles, rolling her eyes. “I gotta go for real now, but have a good rest of your day.” She smiles, waving at her, and Kyne waves back.

“Have a good day, and don’t fire anyone!” She jokingly exclaims, entering in her office.

She’s barely settling down in her chair, wondering when Kiara would text her, when Priyanka, Bo, and Scarlett enter without knocking and Kyne sinks in her chair when they all give her curious looks.

In the grand scheme of things, Kyne hadn’t considered the fact that her friends were all but trying to get her to ask Kiara out and scam her to get her money, only for Kyne to always shut them down by saying they’re just casual friends - they said it so often she swore it wasn’t a joke anymore.

They have questions, questions that Kyne isn’t prepared for answering, because she never really asked Kiara if she could tell her friends that this is fake - though she supposses she can’t, if the conversation they previously had means anything.

“Oh, there’s nothing going on between me and Kiara, you guys are just imagining things!” Scarlett mocks, mimicking her voice. Kyne groans, sinking into her chair and covering her face with her hands. “So you lied to our face this whole time? You bitch,” they complain, folding their arms.

“Normally I don’t agree with Scarlett, except now,” Boa pipes up, “Bitch,” she echoes, and Kyne swears she’ll snap her optic nerve by the strength she rolled her eyes with.

“Would you guys let me explain?” She exclaims in frustration. “There should be a category in the Olympics for jumping into conclusions, you all would excel at it,” Kyne comments, cocking a brow.

Priyanka takes a seat in the free chair on the other side of the desk, looking solemnly at her. “Firstly, you know I would. Second, go right ahead, then. Explain,” Priyanka says, cocking a brow in her direction. Kyne looks at her friends, and they all have the same stern, confused look. Shit.

She bites the inside of her cheek, thinking of something to say that’s convincing enough to appease her friends. She knows lying isn’t good, but if she already messed herself up in a lie of gigantic proportions, what would another little white lie do?

“It’s not like I’m dating Kiara, per se,” she begins, “We’re just getting to know each other.” The skeptical looks don’t vanish from her friends’ faces, and Kyne fidgets with her hands under her desk before dropping the bomb. “And she’s bringing me to a charity ball on Saturday,” she muses, speaking fast enough to make her words almost unintelligible. She purposely leaves out the part about meeting Kiara’s parents, because her brain might be good with numbers, but not with coming up with lies on the spot.

“Excuse me, what?” Bo says, furrowing her brow. “Did you just say she invited you to the Starzy Charity Ball?” She asks, eliciting an over the top gasp from Scarlett and Priyanka. Kyne cocks a brow, is this ball of common knowledge? Maybe they weren’t lying when they said the company could be shutting down and Kyne wouldn’t know.

“When did your hoe ass land a date with Kiara Schatzi and an invitation to the Starzy Ball?” Priyanka inquires, sounding as confused as she looks. Kyne would laugh at their collective reaction if she didn’t feel the slightest bit annoyed.

“I am very charming when I want to, thank you very much,” she replies, matter-of-factly, with a shit-eating grin.

Scarlett perches themself against the desk, folding their arms with a childish pout. “So you’re telling us you’ll be at a ball full of rich people, and you still won’t consider my magnificent plan of scamming some of them, running away and not work a day of our lives again?” They dramatize, bringing a hand to their chest.

Kyne snorts, quickly laughing along with her friends. Of course Scarlett takes every opportunity they get to talk about their “millionaire plan” as if it was that easy. At this point, Kyne just brushes it off as an in-joke.

They stay at her office a little longer than they should, trying to get all the details out of Kyne, but she keeps her answers short and concise, not giving much away - though there’s not much to say, really, and she’s not particularly good at lying, especially to her friends. Especially to Priyanka. Kyne swears she can smell the bullshit even before it comes out.

She’s surprised when Priyanka seems to believe her; out of the three of them, Kyne suspected she would be the one to pick up on the plot holes in her story. But she has yet to look suspicious, so she tries not to worry about it.

They finally leave her office when they notice the time and that they should be back to work, but they make it very clear that they want every detail possible about the ball, and that she’s not going to escape their query once Sunday arrives.

“How do y’all know I’m not going to be with Kiara on Sunday too?” Kyne challenges playfully, earning a screech from her friends. She has no idea where that came from, and almost right away she regrets it.

“Damn, you had lunch once and you already wanna climb on her?” Scarlett teases, making Kyne blush on the spot. She tries to stammer out an answer, but before she can they’re biding her goodbye and leaving the office.

The door is shut closed again, and Kyne groans, rubbing her eyelids. Well, that didn’t go as bad as planned, but it certainly didn’t go as smoothly as she would’ve wanted. She hopes and prays that the last line doesn’t find it’s way to Kiara’s knowledge.

Speaking of which, she hears the text alert go off in her phone, and when she goes to check, she bites back a smile when she reads it and sees it’s from Kiara.

***

Friday comes before Kyne can even notice it, and when she arrives at work that day, she feels her hands twitch every so often at the thought of going shopping with Kiara once work is over. They had exchanged a few texts here and there over the past two days, agreeing on an hour and talking about their boundaries when it came to money - though that was more Kyne's doing than Kiara’s.

It's one thing to let Kiara buy her a coffee or a cupcake; it's not that big of a deal, and something she can repay easily. But letting Kiara buy her a dress that costs about the same as her rent is a completely different thing, and she made sure to voice her concern to her to avoid any misunderstanding. Kiara had understood, but she said that, in the slight case a dress caught Kyne's eye and it happened to be expensive, it wouldn't bother her to buy it.

If anything, it's the least I can do to thank you, honey, she had texted her, and the pet name had left Kyne speechless for a couple moments. She had no idea how to answer it, so she just left it at that. Though she thinks about it more than she should.

She's chewing on a pen, reading a report they had sent her with a request to calculate the budget for a new hotel the company was building in partnership with some other rich people. Exciting stuff to do on a Friday morning, basically. There's a knock on the door, and she tells whoever it is to come in. She doesn't even need to look up to know it's Kiara.

A cupcake is settled in front of her, and she smiles when she looks up and finds Kiara staring right back at her.

“Good morning,” she says, sitting in front of her and taking a sip from a Starbucks foam cup. Kyne bids her good morning too, and takes a bite from her cupcake. “Ready for today?” Kiara asks, with a playful gleam in her eyes. Kyne bites the inside of her cheek, fidgeting with her hands.

“I have a feeling that I should be worried,” she comments, chuckling nervously. Kiara laughs shortly, dismissing her with a wave of her hand.

“Don't be, this will be fun! I'm positive about that, it won't be that different from going shopping with a friend or by yourself,” Kiara assures her, but Kyne isn't sure if she should mention that she mostly shops at thrift stores and modifies the clothes she buys by herself, while Kiara probably spends hundreds in one item of clothing.

She keeps her mouth shut, and smiles gently at her instead. "I'll take your word for it, then." Kiara sets the foam cup on the desk, and claps excitedly.

“So, I think we haven't talked about tomorrow, and how we'll get ready together, or if we will get ready together for that matter--”

“Wait, what?” Kyne interrupts her, furrowing her brow. Kiara tells her that she had thought about bringing her to her apartment to do their hair and make-up together before the ball. Kyne plasters a smile on her face, but on the inside, there's a ball of nerves forming in her throat that keeps her from speaking.

It starts to dawn on her that, tomorrow, she'll know yet another face of Kiara at the ball, and she'll have to act accordingly to it. She'll have to hang from her arm like arm candy, talk to people that could buy her entire apartment complex without batting an eye, and actually meet Kiara's parents, whom she had only seen briefly in the hallways and never dared to look in the eye.

Maybe this was a hell of a bad idea disguised at just being not that bad.

She remains silent for a minute too long, and Kiara senses that something is off; she leans forward, looking at her with a tinge of worriedness, and asks her what's wrong. Everything, Kyne wants to answer, but she doesn't find the courage to vocalize her thoughts — besides, she knows it’s too late to back down, and she doesn’t want to let Kiara down.

So she swallows her fears, clears her throat and tries to lie as best as she can.

“I’m kinda intimidated at the thought of meeting your parents,” she says, which isn’t technically a lie, but it isn’t all of the truth either. Kiara’s expression softens up, and she goes out her way to assure her that meeting her parents won’t be as bad as she thinks, that they’re actually great people. But the only thing that flashes through Kyne’s mind is how fast she will be fired once they fake their break up and her boss is mad at her for breaking his daughter’s heart.

Kiara is talking, she sees her lips moving, but the words don’t reach her ears. Kyne takes a deep breath, and tries to concentrate on what she’s saying.

“Besides, you’re already pretty, it shouldn’t take you too long to get your makeup done, right?” She says, giving her a sly wink. Kyne blinks repeatedly before blushing — well, that’s what she gets for zoning out.

Kyne tries to shut down all the negative thoughts, and gives Kiara a genuine smile. Or as genuine as she can.

“I can try to paint fast, I guess,” she offers, biting the inside of her cheek, hoping Kiara hadn’t noticed she wasn’t paying her attention.

Kiara smiles, the conversation goes on and Kyne tries her best to not let her anxiety eat her up, which is easier said than done.

***

It turns out that going shopping with Kiara is fun, despite the initial awkwardness when she had picked Kyne up and neither knew what to say to break the ice. It oddly felt like a blind date, in which you have no idea how your date even looks like, but that wasn’t exactly their case. So after some moments of uncomfortable silence, Kyne had asked Kiara if she had started How To Get Away With Murder like she promised she would do, and the conversation just flowed naturally.

Kiara takes her to the fancy side of the mall, with stores with prices so expensive Kyne and her friends could never afford, so they took pictures of the garments on display and then commissioned Kyne to recreate them for much cheaper. She drags her through three different stores in the span of an hour, searching all over for something that Kyne likes and agrees on the price of - the later was harder than they had imagined. Kyne doesn’t need her degree in math to know that their concept of cheap isn’t the same.

Their hunt in store number three isn’t successful, even though Kiara insisted she tried on a red mermaid gown on sale that would look beautiful on her - which it did, but it was too tight for Kyne’s liking, and it didn’t come in any other size.

“You know, you could buy me some nice fabric and I could wipe out a whole dress overnight. I did that for my high school prom,” Kyne comments as they’re leaving the store, and Kiara cocks a brow, amused.

“Wait, for real? I didn’t know you could sew,” she says, signaling Kyne to keep walking forward. Their hands brush again, just like on Wednesday after lunch, and Kyne wants to reach for Kiara’s hand and squeeze it tight so she doesn’t lose her in the crowd. But she desists from it.

“Yeah, my Lola taught me new things every time I visited over the summer when I was a kid. She says I came out just like her, because my mom can’t even thread a needle,” she tells her with a giggle, remembering all the summers she spent sitting next to her Lola, watching her sew beautiful garments, rummaging through her sewing room and imagining she was an important designer.

Kiara snorts, grinning from ear to ear. “Now I kinda want to see what you could come up with if I bought you fancy fabrics,” she tentatively says, hiding her hands in the pockets of her jacket. Kyne wraps her arm around her bicep, pulling out her phone and scrolling through her gallery for a particular photo.

“If I pulled this in one night out from some fabrics I had in my house, I’m pretty sure I can come up with something for tomorrow.” She shows her a photo of her when she was eighteen, after she finished doing her makeup and was getting ready to go to prom with her friends - looking back, there are a ton of things wrong, except the golden floor length dress hugging her frame.

“You look so tiny,” is the first thing Kiara says, and Kyne pinches her arm out of reflex, sarcastically thanking her for the compliment on her dress. “Your dress is stunning, but I guess you already know that.” She gives her a playful smile, suddenly coming to a stop. “You know what? I have a new idea.”

“Oh god, not another one,” Kyne dramatizes, and Kiara pinches her back.

“This one is actually good!” She protests, and Kyne tells her to go ahead. “I need to know if you can sew another dress overnight, though.” Kiara’s tone grows high pitched, and Kyne puts two and two together rather easily, though she’s a bit confused.

“Either you wanna take me up on the fabric offer, or you want me to make you a gown for tomorrow,” Kyne says tentatively, cocking a brow. Doesn’t Kiara already have a dress? And why would she want Kyne to make her one, when she can perfectly buy some fancy dress for herself?

Kiara insists on her question, asking her to just answer with a yes or no, and Kyne says it depends on the design; it’s not something she can do if the design is something massive and opulent, like she probably wants.

She pulls out her phone with a big smile, quickly opening Pinterest and showing Kyne one of her boards. “My mom actually wanted me to get something very extra, but I said ‘mom, I’m an adult now, I can wear whatever I want!’. But in the end, I forgot to buy a dress altogether,” Kiara confesses sheepishly, but Kyne is too concentrated on the board.

She sees a lot of vibrant colors that would go well in Kiara, and she tries to imagine how long it would take her to create any of those rather intricate designs. Surely more than one day and a half, she thinks - then, one design in particular catches her eye; it’s a floor length dress with a small cut on the left leg, the top half being off the shoulder. It’s fancy enough, easy to make, and it would look great on Kiara.

“I have a royal blue fabric that would go really well with this design,” Kyne comments absent-mindedly, looking back and forth between the photo and Kiara. “It’s expensive fabric though, so I expect nothing short of a royal dress in exchange,” she jokingly says, but Kiara takes it to heart.

“Let's go then, your majesty, we have some shopping to do.” She tugs at her arm to keep walking, with a playful smile on her face. Kyne tries to ignore the fact their arms are still linked, and that Kiara strokes the back of her arm with her thumb ever so slightly.

It takes her two more stores to find a dress that Kyne actually likes and has no complaints about; it’s a deep shade of green, floor length, with a deep cleavage and some delicate embroidery details all over it. Kyne almost rejects it despite absolutely adoring it, all because of the price - Kiara just swipes her credit card before Kyne changes her mind.

The bag feels heavy in her hands, and there’s a tinge of worry in the back of her mind. What if she wastes her and Kiara’s time, and she ends up not liking the dress she makes? She’d be absolutely mortified, not only because she already cost her five hundred dollars, but because she’d hate to let Kiara down.

Her train of thought is interrupted by Kiara asking her if she wants to have ice cream before they leave. Kyne accepts, smiling gently, trying to push her worries to the back of her mind.

***

Admittedly, it's been a long time since Kyne brought anyone outside her friend circle and family to her apartment. It's not as messy as it is most days, and she'd like to think it's cozy enough, with all the pictures scattered around and the potted plants on the windows to make up for the small space. Kiara says something about not knowing she had a green thumb, while she takes off her shoes and leaves them at the entrance, despite Kyne's insistence that it's not really necessary if she doesn't want to.

Having her around feels weird, especially because just a week before all they knew about each other was compressed to the type of coffee they liked and how much they hated corporative meetings. She eases up once Kiara leaves her jacket on the coat rack, loosens up the buttons of her shirt and her hair, flopping onto the couch and asking with a child-like excitement when will they start.

“I need to take your measurements first,” she says, rummaging through her drawers for her measuring tape. Kiara practically jumps off the couch, bouncing with excitement.

“I can't wait to get a custom made dress from Miss Kyne Aguilar herself,” she teases lightheartedly, and Kyne coos.

“Don't get your hopes up,” she deadpans, getting a giggle in response.

Kyne tries to ignore the annoying way her heart beats so fast when Kiara laughs, and she makes her stand very still while she takes her measurements, but she feels Kiara’s eyes following her throughout the whole process. She swallows thickly when she brings the measuring tape up to her hips, writing down her measurements faster than she ever did, trying to ignore the heat creeping up at the back of her neck - though it’s almost impossible to ignore when she places the tape over Kiara’s chest, and now she’s sure her stare is glued on her.

“This should be quick,” Kyne muses, once she’s finished with the measurements, breathing out a sigh of relief when she walks to her cabinet full of her sewing equipment, pulling out basic molds for the top part.

“You know, if you actually can do this, I’m going to be really impressed,” Kiara says, settling on Kyne’s couch again and tucking her legs under her body. Kyne cocks a brow at her, setting up her things at the coffee table.

“I take payment in cash, not surprise,” she deadpans, eliciting a faux offended yelp from Kiara. She giggles after a moment, spreading out the fabric and fetching for chalk in her pencil case to trace the initial patterns. “It shouldn’t be that hard, y’know? Your design is very standard, I thought you’d want something more, I don’t know, fancy.” She steals a glance at Kiara, who cocks a brow and shifts on the couch, dismissing it with a wave of her hand.

“I’m not a big fan of those big, opulent dresses, honestly. I prefer comfort above everything - ‘sides, I'm pretty sure I'd look like a clown,” Kiara comments, watching with interest as Kyne fumbles with the fabric, making sure it's perfectly symmetrical.

Kyne pauses to meet Kiara's gaze. “I mean, have you seen yourself? You wouldn't look bad even if you wore a sack of potatoes,” she says earnestly, and she's not sure where did the courage to say that came from, but the smile that breaks in Kiara's face makes Kyne's stomach twist again.

“Coming from the woman that can pull off every color under the sun, that's a very high compliment,” Kiara compliments back, causing Kyne to blush slightly and dismiss her with a wave of her hand.

The next hours pass in a blur of cutting and sewing fabric, making sure she wasn't pinching Kiara with the pins, and Kyne's heart beating so fast it may come out of her ribcage whenever Kiara's laugh echoes through the apartment.

#rpdr fanfiction #my fanfiction #some things are bound to be fic #fake dating au #kiara schatzi #kyne #online kyne #scarlett bobo #boa #priyanka love #kyara

30 notes · View notes

louiserandom · 4 years

Note

MadaTobiIzu- "Whenever you lose an item (like a sock), it ends up in your soulmates’ possession somehow." I think this would be really funny that during the middle of a fight Tobirama sees two things he thought he lost but Madara and Izuna have it. Ficlet length with a G or T rating.

finally found

Rating: T

Summary: Tobirama loses two of his very important possessions, and his world is completely turned upside down when he discovers that they’ve ended up in the hands of the Uchiha brothers.

The battle is put on hold as hilarity ensues.

A/N: Did not expect this OT3 to inspire me so much XD I hope it’s not too much humor. They’re so funny I had to describe every detail of their ridiculousness x)

Hope you enjoy it, Mala!<3

Read on AO3 or under the cut :3

At first glance one might think that, out of the two Senju brothers, Hashirama is the more careless one and therefore prone to losing his things.

It’s easy to think that, considering Tobirama’s usually composed demeanor and Hashirama’s insistence on acting the fool more often than not, but no one is more aware of the utter inaccuracy of that perception than Tobirama himself.

It is his fault, admittedly, that his tendency to get lost in thoughts of scientific experiments and underdeveloped theories has him distracted from real life to the point he loses track of everything his mind deems unimportant. And that ranges from time to little trinkets, books, paperwork, and even weapons, if he finds himself lost in thought during training. It’s a very annoying truth about himself that Tobirama has learned to deal with and has long since stopped caring what his soulmate thinks of him, considering Tobirama loses at least a dozen things a day.

If I even have a soulmate, trickles of doubt gnaw at his mind, echoing the biting words of some of the elder clansmen.

“Of course you do!” Hashirama always assures him in all his sappy, dreamy-eyed glory. “And it’ll be such a beautiful day when you find them, Otouto. I cannot wait!”

Tobirama couldn’t say the same for himself. He’d gleaned enough clues over the years to deduce that his soulmate must be an Uchiha, and the ongoing war spurred on by Butsuma and Tajima’s thirst for vengeance does little to give hope for a happy outcome of events. And despite Hashirama’s adamance regarding his dream of peace, once he and Madara took up leadership of their respective clans, there was too much hate, too much death accumulated during the war for peace to be an immediate possibility.

He keeps his discovery from Hashirama lest he do something reckless or stupid—or both—and does his best to deal as little damage as he can to their enemies. It’s easy to focus on Izuna, whom Tobirama finds to be a titillating challenge. A fierce, formidable opponent whose hate for Tobirama seems to only be overshadowed by Madara’s, what with Tobirama eventually becoming the only real threat to his little brother.

Little brother and soulmate.

A match made in heaven, Tobirama thinks, if only because the Uchiha brothers are both excessively loud and dramatic in equal measure.

And normally, Tobirama wouldn’t be able to stand such behavior, but today he finds himself acting quite like the maddening Uchiha duo because his whole world seems to be crashing down.

“I can’t,” Hashirama whines, “I can’t find it, Otouto.”

He’s buried under heaps of unorganized research notes in Tobirama’s lab, a few upturned cabinets lying beside him, with quite the number of broken vials strewn all over the place.

Tobirama is in much the same predicament, and for once he’s thankful he put away all the containers with radioactive elements away into unbreakable storage scrolls, at least.

His lab is an absolute disaster.

Because apparently, Tobirama is too much of an idiot to keep track of his new favorite weapon for one godsdamned day. Raijin no Ken was a nightmare to locate and tear away from many, many greedy, mostly inhuman hands. How in hell he’s managed to lose it is beyond Tobirama’s understanding.

“Well, it’s your… old favorite weapon now?” Hashirama tries for a joke.

“Anija,” Tobirama growls.

“Don’t be sad! Remember, your soulmate will probably have it.”

Tobirama rolls his eyes. It’s a possibility. One that he’ll hopefully get to test on the battlefield tomorrow. And that reminds him of his latest development—a seal able to manipulate spacetime to achieve instantaneous travel, which should prove quite useful during battle. He embedded it on a special kunai, a treasured gift from Hashirama from years back, and must have put it… somewhere…

“Fuck!” Tobirama shoves away some construct for an experiment in a fit of utter frustration when he fails to find what could have become his second favorite weapon.

“What did you lose this time?”

Tobirama stares guiltily at the ground. “The kunai you gave me when I came of age. One that I imbued with a special seal.” He sighs. “I hate this.”

“It’s going to be okay, Otouto.” Hashirama approaches him tentatively, arms raised in a pacifying gesture. “Remember how I also lost something important once? That permafrost statue of an atom you gave me as a kid? And then I got it back when I met Mito, and it was one of the happiest days of my life!” It’s hard remaining annoyed in the presence of Hashirama’s goofy smile, but Tobirama keeps up the disgruntled façade. “You know, I’ve heard of these organization techniques that might help—”

“If you want to help, Anija, shut up and let me work,” Tobirama snaps, sitting himself down on the one desk still standing with the research notes for the seal still, thankfully, in place. “But thanks,” he adds in a whisper that Hashirama hears, of course, and proceeds to wax poetic about the beauty of brotherly love.

Despite the distraction, Tobirama quickly recreates a Hiraishin anchor with one of his standard kunai, putting it safely into his weapons pouch to keep it close.

Raijin no Ken, on the other hand, is going to have to be exclusively his soulmate’s—for now.

For now turns out to be a little less than a day, because the next morning saw Tobirama facing Izuna. Business as usual, only the Uchiha has replaced his katana for the shiny new toy Tobirama has just lost.

“What,” Tobirama says in lieu of their usual insult contest of a greeting, “the fuck is that.”

Izuna smirks. “Hello to you too, Snowflake. Why don’t you stop cowering and find out?”

Tobirama scowls, absolutely not willing to put up with Izuna’s theatrics, and so attacks with a kunai that his rival easily dodges. It’s immensely satisfying to watch Izuna flail as Tobirama appears right next to him and wrestles him to the ground, knocking Raijin no Ken from Izuna’s hand and pinning his wrists above his head.

“You stole my sword!” Tobirama accuses.

“Did not. And get off me, icicle!” Izuna huffs, indignant and surprisingly not fighting against the hold as much as Tobirama expects him to. “It’s not yours—I found it, and it’s mine.”

“Found it?” Tobirama stares, dumbfounded, and Izuna uses the moment to kick and push at him with renewed vigor (but not much success).

Izuna’s soulmate is his brother, and surely it couldn’t be that—

As if in answer to his protest, Tobirama’s original Hiraishin kunai lands next to where he and Izuna are grappling, and none other than Madara Uchiha appears only to haul Tobirama to his feet and push him away.

“Hands off my brother, Senju,” Madara glowers, gunbai in hand and stance battle-ready.

Tobirama resists the urge to groan.

“That,” he points to the kunai, glaring, “is my seal and my weapon.” Tobirama itches to ask obvious question of how and where Madara had found it, but what comes out instead is, “How did you even figure out how to use it, Uchiha?”

“Yours?” Madara flails, gunbai still in hand, looking as ridiculous as ever. “First of all, fuck you, Senju, I am expert in seal theory. And secondly, I found this, and that means it must be my… our …” His face blanches as he trails off, staring at Tobirama with growing horror in his eyes. “No.”

“Apparently,” Tobirama sighs, “yes.”

“You’re our soulmate?” Izuna’s brain seems to have caught up, finally, and he stands, gaping at Tobirama like he’s seen a bijū.

“You’re their soulmate, Otouto!” Hashirama shouts gleefully from the distance, as if Tobirama’s doom isn’t obvious enough.

The battle seems to have frozen in time, confused Senju and awed-looking Uchiha standing around the scene like it’s a theater play—and it might as well be, because the idiots fate (the bitch) has chosen to tie Tobirama with completely fucking lose it.

“How did we not know he’s our soulmate, nii-san?”

“We knew it was a Senju—”

“Well, you should have accepted those peace offers from the treehead—”

“Excuse me, brat? I wanted to accept them, and you were the one saying we couldn’t trust—”

“Fuck that, I didn’t know we were lucky enough to get beautiful and deadly for a soulmate,” Izuna says, upturning the entirety of what Tobirama had believed to be reality up until this moment. Beautiful? “I thought Snowflake was taken!”

“Now listen here, you reckless dumbass,” Madara growls, the chakra around him getting hotter to match his anger, “no matter how beautiful he is,” he says, pointing his gunbai Tobirama’s way, “he still almost killed you a hundred times—”

“At most a dozen, nii-san, and I almost killed him once!”

“I don’t care!” Madara shrieks, voice getting exponentially louder. “Until we’ve figured out this whole mess, you are going to stop being a suicidal moron and listen to what I say!”

Madara takes a deep breath to, presumably, launch another longer rant, and it’s then that Tobirama decides he’s had enough.

(This is why he’s always thankful his opponent is Izuna. It’s painful watching Hashirama deal with Madara’s shrieky rants every single battle.)

And since no one forbade him from being a suicidal moron, Tobirama decides to do the one thing his brain comes up with to shut up the louder Uchiha and possibly shock him enough to stop the godsdamned screaming.

The kiss comes unexpected to everyone, judging from the collective gasps, and though Madara yelps and stiffens as Tobirama drags him closer by the collar, he doesn’t struggle further.

His gunbai falls, though, and his lips relax against Tobirama’s as he goes slack-jawed, so Tobirama considers his mission successful. His brain tells him the shock of it is enough, that he should pull away, gods damn you, you’re kissing Madara Uchiha.

But two things happen that Tobirama could never have predicted.

One being that kissing Madara was actually a very pleasant experience, and the other… Well.

Madara answers the kiss.

It’s such a ridiculous series of events that’s led Tobirama to this, making out with his once worst enemy in the midst of a battlefield, the rush of blood to his head and his pounding heartbeat drowning out his brother’s indignant protests and whatever Izuna is whining about. It’s exhilarating, the way Madara’s mouth moves against his own, and despite this being Tobirama’s first real kiss, he seamlessly follows Madara’s lead, drinking him in, tasting him, almost letting out a moan as Madara coaxes his lips open to slide his tongue into his mouth.

It’s the first time all semblance of a thought process exits out of Tobirama’s mind, leaving only this perfect moment frozen in time, as the bond between them sings in response to their closeness.

Of course it’s Izuna who pulls them apart—quite forcefully, too—and proceeds to glare at his brother.

“Nii-san, you traitor! I was supposed to be the first one to kiss our soulmate when we met them! Now I,” he announces proudly, “get fuck him first.”

Tobirama blinks. That escalated quickly.

“Mm,” Madara argues, his voice blessedly quieter and face tinged with what looks to be a light blush, as he keeps staring at Tobirama with a slightly dreamy expression. “Uh. No. Mine.”

“No,” Izuna growls, hand grasping Tobirama’s fur collar protectively, “mine, you greedy bastard.”

“My baby brother,” Hashirama sobs, rid of his prior glee and suffering a mental breakdown a few feet away, “my innocent baby brother…” And that’s definitely the sound of Tōka’s cackling Tobirama can hear in the distance.

He blinks some more, breathing deep and slow, trying to regain at least some of his thinking capacity.

“Sorry,” Tobirama says to Madara, his brain only catching up enough to provide a poor excuse for the earlier kiss. “I, uh, didn’t mean to do that. So suddenly.”

“No. I liked.” Madara frowns. And that’s definitely a blush deepening on his cheeks. “Sentences. Hard.”

“YOU’RE GETTING HARD?”

“Shut the fuck up, treehead,” Izuna says, hurling Madara’s discarded gunbai at Hashirama for good measure. “He’s ours now!” He turns back to Tobirama. “What you mean to do now, Snowflake, is use this clever seal of yours and take us somewhere private. Can you do that for us?”

Tobirama blinks some more, finding himself suddenly unable to argue in face of Izuna’s devious smile. “Oh. Yeah, I can do that.”

(There’s the added annoyance of someone from the crowd asking about nuptials, which makes Tobirama crave to get the fuck out of here.)

He reaches for the Hiraishin seal he’d placed in a faraway clearing, with enough distance from both their compounds that neither their clanmates, nor Hashirama’s irrational overprotectiveness will be able to reach them. Tobirama wants to explain as much but is interrupted by a very enthusiastic Izuna ravishing his mouth. Firm, messy, biting, so unlike his earlier kiss with Madara but riveting in its own way. Tobirama can’t quite hold back the whimper that escapes the moment the last part of their bond cements itself.

“Now that,” Izuna purrs, drawing away, “was a proper greeting.”

Tobirama breathes out a laugh. “Couldn’t agree more.”

Because for the first time, nested between the playful crackle of his former rival’s chakra and the raging flame that is Madara embracing him from behind, Tobirama feels like he’s finally found home.

#madatobiizu #madara uchiha #izuna uchiha #tobirama senju #lou writes #fanfic #camp nano april 2020 #madatobi #tobiizu #madaizu

112 notes · View notes

ceruleanwhore · 5 years

Text

MLB rant

At this point, I am genuinely pissed at Miraculous. Among other things, Thomas has wrecked the quality of the show over shipping bullshit with episodes like weredad and, in the process, fucked everything over so that now, no matter what happens or who ends up with who, it’s going to be shit. In a lot of ways, he’s done to Miraculous what Bryke did to Avatar in the comics- ruined established characters and the overall story by trying and failing to take care of the relationships/shipping. At this point, Marinette’s character is so awful in relation to this that I truly can’t fathom how Adrien and Luka can still tolerate her, never mind actually like her. Where she should have been steadily improving this whole time, she is instead getting much worse. This, of course, is because the show is constructed such that there is only the few main plot aspects everything revolves around (Hawkmoth and the love square) but, even though Astruc is clearly trying to drag the show out, he isn’t adding any other layers to the show to make up for how flat it is, so in the process of keeping those main plot points static, he has ended up fucking over his own show and dragging Marinette’s character down. At the start of the series, Marinette was clumsy and socially awkward but in a somewhat endearing way. Now, a school year or so later, she hasn’t improved at all and, in spite of now being Ladybug which would be the perfect catalyst for her character development, she’s genuinely getting worse to the point where, as we see in Desperada, she now acts like she has brain damage or something.

The degradation of Marinette’s character is a direct result of Atruc trying to shut down side ships, including some within the love square, in spite of how completely unnecessary it was. He shouldn’t have been doing stuff like that at all, honestly, but things like that should have only been done if and when he was going into the endgame and setting up to finally put them into canon relationships. There are a few ways he could have done this more successfully:

1. In season 2, after Ladybug flat out rejects him, have that be enough to initiate the process of Adrien moving on and have him be completely over her by the end of the season but leave him single. Meanwhile, from the beginning of the show, it should be shown how the way Adrien constantly says that Marinette is “just a friend” wears on her over time, plus Luka showing up adds another element that would shake things up and leave her feelings for Adrien unsteady. Eventually, maybe later season 2, Adrien would make another comment like that again and that would be the last straw at which point she’d be done. Shortly after that, she’d get together with Luka.

2.Kinda like what I just described but after Adrien gets over Ladybug and Marinette gets over him, they could get together as Marichat in some rich dramatic irony.

So then there is the matter of character development. I’ve already lamented Marinette, but I’d argue that basically none of the characters have any significant character development. Chloe had the opportunity that got royally fucked over, which was probably also for the sake of maintaining stasis, but other than a couple people here and there, there isn’t much to be found. I think this is because there isn’t actually much content, when it comes to this show. About half of each episode is taken up by the akuma and what’s left tends to be more concerned with cute things like Marinette facetiming Alya about Adrien or bringing some macrons somewhere or whatever and, like I said earlier, there are no subplots that would provide more depth to the show and help promote character growth. I think it would work better if a) there were subplots and b) there wasn’t an akuma every episode, maybe just every couple. It gets really boring and repetitive to have half of every episode be basically the same and take up so much space so that there isn’t room to put in real shit and character growth around it.

Regarding Chloe, if they were going to give her a fucking miraculous, they should’ve been planning on using that to kickstart her redemption arc. It makes absolutely no sense to trust her with it and then have her proceed to not change at all. All it does is create a shitty situation where this bitch is now a superhero but she’s still a mega bitch so then when she no longer gets to be a superhero, that adds to her being a miserable bitch. Honestly, it doesn’t even remotely make sense why Marinette gave it to her in the first place and when I look back on it I think it’s literally nothing more than pure pandering in response to what people were posting on Tumblr. It would’ve made a lot more sense for her to have had some level of preliminary character development first before Marinette presented her with the miraculous. Also, maybe it could be after she’d made a bitchy comment about Chloe that then got a response that showed Marinette how she was wrong and made her feel bad and this is her way of making it up to her but, more importantly, showing how she’s getting over her prejudice and now choosing to put faith in Chloe and support the progress she and those around her have witnessed. Then, the miraculous and the responsibilities that go with it (plus Marinette’s inevitable end of episode apology) would catalyze Chloe’s continued growth and development but like the amount of growth she’d have already would be enough for her to act more maturely and keep her identity a secret, which would be A Thingᵗᵐ.

However, along that same vein, I think it’s absurdly stupid how they really went with the “everyone gets a miraculous (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ *:･ﾟ ” thing. It makes sense to bring in one more but not this bullshit where everybody gets one but only sometimes. Bring on one more, permanently, maybe even add another later on (MUCH later on) if necessary but don’t just have this bullshit where Marinette just picks the flavor of the day. Also, her now being the guardian is the genuine worst decision, period. If it’s really that important to boot Wu and bring in a new guardian, have it be someone else like Alya, idk or, even better, a new character entirely. Wu said he had to be trained so I’d like to propose to have it so that he’s been training one for a while but we just don’t see them because since their training is incomplete, Wu can’t trust them with Ladybug and Chat Noir’s secret identities yet. But jesus fuck, Marinette should not be that person. She’s already quite Mary Sue already, she really doesn’t need that and the episode where she’s able to weild all the miraculouses to just throw in more shit about how she’s so good and so powerful and all that stuff.

So, then, there are inconsistencies in the writing, mainly in regards to their secret identities and shipping. In one of the episodes in season three, Master Wu told them they would have to give up their miraculouses if they ever learned each other’s identities, which is incredibly fucking stupid since he then just hands her all the miraculouses and makes her the new guardian. So she’s just supposed to hold that boundary because he told her to when she’s now the one who’d be enforcing it and taking the miraculouses if that ever came to be? So if (when) they learn their identities, she’s supposed to, as the guardian, take Adrien’s and give up her own miraculous but then keep on being the guardian? I think the line from Master Wu was supposed to add drama and suspence but that only works if you don’t go and negate it three seconds later. The other inconsistency that, to me, was glaringly obvious and just as annoying was when Marinette, Adrien, and Kagami went to Andre’s. Back when this guy was first introduced, the way it all worked was that when someone came up, he’d make them an individualized ice cream cone based on the person they love. In season three, all of a sudden, for no reason whatsoever, the fact that it’s three people coming up to get ice cream changes the entire system to some other bullshit all so we can get some over done, in-your-face adrienette vs adrigami tension in which Marinette is a Good Girlᵗᵐ.

Then, lastly, I find it extremely odd how there are practically no background characters and that the few there are tend to be recurring. If there are going to be 77+ episodes of “oh no that dude got akumatized”, it would be prudent to have more throwaway background characters to use for the akumas and then only use the main/recurring ones for that intermittently and only when it adds something to the episode and/or the plot as a whole. The classroom kids shouldn’t be the default, they should be used sparingly and with care. Not to mention how it also would be good to have more background characters just so stuff like scenes where they’re in the hallways in between classes don’t look so awkward because there’s just this one class of kids in this entire school (plus Marco) and literally nobody else. It’s a thing in every film or show that has ever been made but in this one, for no reason, there just are no extras and it feels so awkward at times.

The way that every single episode is set up the same and how there is that lack of background characters to akumatize so there ends up being a bunch of reakumatizations, plus the way that nothing much actually happens, in terms of plot progression, after season one all make it so that the show as a whole after the end of season one feels really stagnant. It’s like Astruc is trying to hold out and wait to drop actual resolution to any of the main plot points until later on but he hasn’t sufficiently constructed other layers to the story, like subplots, to have it still be engaging. In my opinion, MLB could’ve actually been completely tied up with the whole Hawkmoth business back in the season one finale, based on the content of the show, because there’s just not that much there. It makes me mad because the show has a great concept and I love the characters, but it’s just been shit and it’s not getting better.

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous adventures of ladybug and chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #chloe bourgeois #luka couffaine #kagami tsurugi #hawkmoth #gabriel agreste #thomas astruc #anti mlb #anti miraculous #ml critical #mlb critical

56 notes · View notes

sablelab · 5 years

Text

Covert Operations - Chapter 96

SYNOPSIS: With Fergus’ help James Fraser makes his way through a series of underground tunnels to find Claire’s location and comes to her rescue in a dramatic way. Whilst hiding, he also hears a conversation that he was not expecting.

This chapter contains some violence. Previous chapters can be found at … https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations

MY THANKS for your continued support and comments on the previous chapter. Knowing that you have been waiting for Jamie to come to Claire’s rescue, I hope that you enjoy this chapter when he finally finds her.

CHAPTER 96(V) James Fraser jiggled the doorknob a little and found that the door was bolted but not locked. Carefully he loosened the bolt and slowly released it cautious of the fact that he was unaware of what or who may lie beyond when he opened the door. He inched the door open just enough to be able to see but to his surprise he discovered that some kind of bookcase disguised the tunnel's secret entrance and concealed the opening to a secret passageway. Entering the space, he listened then hurriedly ran his hand along the back of the bookcase searching for the mechanism that would open this sesame. Locating a button, he pressed it. Suddenly the secret entrance was revealed as a panel within the bookcase rose wide enough for him to slip through. Peering inside Jamie then made his way further into the room. His eyes immediately looked around searching for any clues that would lead to Claire's whereabouts but there was nothing.

"Fergus can ye give me a reading yet?" "Hold on Jamie ... I'm on to it." Tapping some keys on his computer Fergus locked onto Jamie's position but as he did so his monitor showed an ancillary signal was also being sent from inside the monastery. His eyes lit up with renewed vigour and delight.

"Oh! My! God! ..."

Alarmed he asked, "Fergus! What's happening?" "I'm getting another signal ... Claire has activated her tracker..." "What tracker?" "She had one in her shoe." Relief flooded through Jamie's body ... His Claire was still alive. The shot he had heard earlier had not been for her. "Where is she?" Looking at a schematic of the monastery sectionalized floor by floor, Fergus now had a full access and egress on the interior of the building and the surrounding rooms. He zoomed in on the hot spot which was obviously where Claire was being held. As he watched his monitor, square markings appeared on the screen indicating the amount of people in the room with her. A satisfied look crossed Fergus' face as he quickly reported the Intel back to Jamie as to her position. "Work your way through the room. Outside on the South East corner, you'll find a stairwell that leads to a corridor. Go up there and standby." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Quietly opening the door Jamie was about to exit the room when he heard the sound of voices and a sharp warning from Fergus in his comm. unit. "Jamie hold! ... Hostiles approaching." He stepped back into the shadows of the room as the footsteps came nearer. The men stopped just outside the room where he was hiding and he listened to the conversation of their raised voices. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "That bitch tried to strangle me with her feet." "Let it be Jonathon ... She has been well trained. Obviously, Section One operatives have backbones of steel." "We've tried everything. What do we tell Sun Yee Lok when he calls?" he asked nervously. "Yes ..." Wang pondered, "He will want to know what progress we have made with the woman soon." Randall gave a flippant but frustrated reply. "Well that's easy ... none. She won't crack." Feeling the frustration of his colleague Wang Yu tried to placate him. "That's why we'll need to try a different approach." "What do you suggest?" "I told you there was another way." He looked at Jonathon and philosophically said, "You'll attract more files to honey than you will to vinegar." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* James Fraser fell deeper into the shadows when he heard the sound of the door handle engage. With his gun poised he waited as the door was slightly opened, but just as the men were about to enter the room, an alarm sounded in the corridor and an announcement blared out.

Alert! ... Alert! ... Intruder Alert! Wang Yu opened his cell phone. "Report!" He listened then turned to Jonathon Randall when the call was finished. “What?" "Karen has just been retrieved from the grounds," he announced amazed but jubilant at this information. "What? ... She was supposed to be in Hong Kong. How did she get here?" "She was kidnapped." "By whom?" "James Fraser." "Ah ... so he did find us after all," Jonathon replied with unveiled glee in his voice. "Apparently. It seems that he is somewhere within the grounds or building." "Is Karen okay? Sun Yee Lok won't like it if his daughter has been harmed. Where is she?" "In the parlour. She's waiting for us to report." "Let's go then!" Jonathon stated closing the door sharply behind him. The two men turned away from the room and hurried away leaving Jamie to ponder what they had been talking about. As they rushed to where Karen was located, Wang Yu looked at Jonathon Randall.

"Our honey may just have arrived," he stated cryptically. Jonathon nodded in agreement. "You may be right." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Jamie's near discovery had been a close shave and their conversation had been enlightening. However, the new explosive Intel about Karen's relationship with Sun Yee Lok would keep for his sole objective now was to retrieve his Claire without delay and egress as quickly as possible. "Jamie ... proceed ... the corridor is clear." Time was of the essence as the triad knew he was on the premises somewhere. Quickly opening the door, he made his way into the empty passageway and headed to the stairwell at the end. Once again, he held his silencer at the ready and climbed up the set of stairs two at a time. He ended in a landing which led to another corridor.

"I'm here." "Okay ... There's a second flight of stairs, to the left. Ascend, then at the end of the hall turn right. You're closing in. The torture room is along there." Following Fergus's instructions to the letter Jamie proceeded to his destination and once there reported back to him, "Where is she?" He knew he was close to his Sassenach now and although he hoped that she would be fine, he knew this may be wishful thinking. Would she have the stamina to make her way to egress? The tape he'd seen was testament to what the triad was capable of and also what they had done to her. Would he be able to get Claire out in one piece the same way he had managed to get into the monastery?

With these thoughts running through his mind, he waited impatiently for Fergus to respond. There was a long silence before he finally heard a reply from him. The intonation in Fergus's voice told Jamie that he was going to hear something he wouldn't like. "Jamie ... there's a lot of electrical energy near her ... and water." James Fraser became rigid. His eyes deepened to a steely dark hue. With his voice quavering somewhat Fergus voiced out loud what he was doing. "I'm trying to get a visual of the room. I'll have to disable their monitoring system first. Give me a minute." "Let me know when ye do." Furiously Fergus tapped away at his computer and keyed into the mainframe that had worked successfully in the security cameras and sensors. He created a layered matrix and soon had a visual inside the torture room.

"Got it. The triad have been trying to make Claire talk judging by the equipment in the room Jamie." Fergus' voice suddenly went quiet. "She is strung up to a rafter. She's alive but it looks like she's beaten up pretty bad from what I can see." Jamie felt numb. His emotions were in turmoil for all the suffering his beautiful, brave Sassenach had endured for the Section. But the pain of their separation and the fact the he had been unable to protect her ate away at him more. He felt a cold wave of regret for his inability to protect her and disdain for the triad waft through him. What had the Rising Dragons subjected her to? The words of Jonathon Randall echoed in his brain torturing his mind. We've tried everything ... Electrodes had obviously been used to torture her. What kind of state would he find her in? His heart felt the pain of his love’s suffering ... but it hardened with the loathing and contempt for the perpetrators of her torture. They would pay ... and pay dearly. Once he had rescued his Claire and the backup team had arrived to take care of the other triad members at the monastery, he would seek revenge but, in the meantime, he would do whatever it took to retrieve her. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Wang Yu and Jonathon Randall had left Andy Ma and Ronald MacNab in the torture room with Claire Beauchamp with instructions to return her to her room but Andy had other ideas. With emotionless eyes he watched the prisoner. Her body hung like a limp rag doll from the rafters. He'd observed how Claire had recoiled at Jonathon's last attempt to make her talk. The episode with the rats had nearly been her downfall, but by far the most explosive method had been their water torture. Before cutting her down and following his orders, Andy decided to try one last time to see if he could make any headway with this woman.

"All right this is the last time that I'm going to ask. Look at me. LOOK! AT! ME!" he yelled his face flushing with the force of his words. Sweat dribbled down Claire's brow into her eyes but she defiantly raised them and stared at the man who had pretended to be a meek musician but was anything but.

"Why did you kill Tony Wong and where is Madame Cheung?" She refused to reply and closed her eyes. "Did you dispose of her too?" Her silence was beginning to get on his nerves. Andy signalled to Ronald MacNab to get the hose ready to spray her as he again threatened to use the electro shock treatment on her.

"Do you have anything to tell me? Anything?" Slowly opening her eyes, Claire tried to focus on her interrogator. She heard footfalls as they brought Ronald MacNab closer to her until he was within her line of sight too. She flinched when she saw what he intended to do.

"Wait!" she uttered, then whispered a little softer, "Wait… wait." Happy that MacNab had done enough, Andy smiled a pleased, malicious smile then menacingly came closer.

"Yes ... I'm listening." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* James Fraser hastened along the corridor but stopped when he saw two triad members who were watching what was going on in the torture room through a glass observation window. The men were preoccupied and didn't hear him approach until Jamie swiftly slammed one man back against the wall. The guard reached for his gun but before his hand could reach his weapon Jamie shot him with his silencer. The impact of the muffled bullet caused the man's body to jerk and fall into a heap on the floor. The second man tried to get a shot at him but the Section operative was aware of the guard's movements behind him. In a split second, he grabbed him by the throat. The man lashed out and somehow managed to wrench away from his attacker. He tried to make a run for it to raise the alarm of an intruder, but taking aim Jamie shot him down. The victim keeled over, his head hit the floor with a thump and blood spilled from his mouth. Returning to the observation window James Fraser peered through it. An anger so profound coursed through his being as his eyes locked on the sight before him. Time stood still while the pulse of rage and the need for blood thrummed like a heartbeat in his chest at what he observed below. There was no mistaking the long brunette hair hanging down around the face of the beautiful tortured woman inside the room. At last he had found her. He had found his Claire but what had they done to his beautiful Sassenach?

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

Hoping that her frail reply had given her some respite from Andy Ma's persistent questioning Claire lowered her head, her chin resting on her chest. Although exhausted, she dug deep within herself for more hidden strength while at the same time bracing herself for what she was about to do. Andy was confident that their hostage would answer his question; however, although he inched closer to their captive, he was wary of her too. He'd seen what she had done to Jonathon Randall and stayed his distance somewhat. Even though Claire Beauchamp looked like a spent force, he didn't trust her. Keeping his gaze on her suspended from the rafters, he singled to Ronald MacNab to have the hose ready just in case she decided to try anything like the last time and in reprisal for him kicking her as well.

Nodding in understanding, MacNab turned on the valve and water gushed out of the hose onto the floor beneath Claire's feet. Andy moved closer. A purposeful gleam appeared in his eyes knowing that finally this woman was about to crack. At last he had the upper hand and his sarcasm was obvious. "You were saying?" Raising her head, Claire eyed him with contempt. In the split second that their eyes met, Andy realised that she was not submissive at all and began lashing out at him again with her feet. Noticing what their hostage had done to his colleague, Ronald doused her in a gush of cold-water causing her to lose her grip and set Claire in a tail spin with the force of the spray. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* James Fraser's shadow ominously fell across the observation window as he saw what was happening below. What they were doing to his Sassenach was more than he could bear. He would wait not one second more. Without a moment’s hesitation he burst through the tempered safety glass window shattering little pebble-like fragments of glass shards every which way as he flew through the air towards the ground like an avenging angel.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Suddenly without warning there was an almighty crash. Claire looked up. Her face was dead white, sheened with a cold sweat that had soaked her hair.

"Jamie," she whispered, speaking hoarsely through lips cracked with dryness. She was clearly dazed and every line of her body was eloquent with pain but that didn’t matter now because her Jamie was here. Suddenly her pain was of no consequence for the man she loved had come for her.

Relief. He was here. Andy Ma and Ronald MacNab were startled by the noise and they too turned at the sound of the glass shattering. What appeared to be some kind of apparition had crashed down through the overhead observation window. Shooting at them with guns in both hands the man menacingly floated down as glass fragments, like a ray of light beams, showered all around him. They raised their guns to return fire but were no match for this cold Level 5 operative’s deadly aim. Andy was shot with a direct hit to the heart before he could even fire a shot in retaliation. He fell to the ground with a thud, his eyes wide with shock and with his gun still lodged in his hand. Ronald MacNab had no hope of returning fire. He was caught in Jamie's rampant crossfire as another rapid round of shots felled him immediately after Andy. James Fraser had swiftly taken care of Claire’s two torturers with not one thought for them whatsoever other than to seek revenge for what they had inflicted on his woman. Glancing down at the two bodies that lay below her feet still coupling their firearms Claire exhaled a breathy sigh.

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

Bending his knees to cushion his fall, James Fraser fell to the floor landing steadily as his feet touched the ground. With guns poised for any other assailant who might appear, he casually stood up. His eyes were focused only on the woman he loved strung up like a piece of meat at an abattoir. As he approached her, he did not take his eyes off of his bold Sassenach for one second. He wanted to see every inch of her injured body and see everything that they had done to his beautiful woman. Moving closer and closer to her, he casually stowed his guns away back in the holsters in his jacket. However, each step towards her was agony especially seeing what the triad interrogators had done to her and what she had endured. “Oh, my god ... Claire ... what the hell have they done to ye?” He whispered trying to ease the choking sensation that formed a lump in his throat.

His stomach too was in knots at seeing her suffer this way while a large ball of ice in the pit of his stomach seemed to grow more intense the closer he came towards her. Jamie's breath caught in his throat in uncontained rage as he looked at his love hanging suspended from the ceiling. He couldn't help glancing towards her and at the damage that the triad's torture techniques had wreaked on her. There was no escape from his feelings. His heart hardened with the contempt he felt for them and their methods. Loathing for the triad and revenge for what they had perpetrated were paramount in his thoughts. As he walked closer and closer, his eyes refused to sever their gaze from his love’s battered body. Claire looked traumatised, distressed and deathly pale. She was alive ... but only just. It only took one look at her to cause a gamut of emotions to rush through his body. Jamie's heart clenched in pain with thoughts of what his Sassenach had suffered at the hands of the vindictive triad and the torture methods of Jonathon Randall. Seething with such loathing and vindictiveness towards this man peppered his thoughts of what he would do to him when he had the chance.

In a voice that he didn’t recognise as his own Jamie declared again, “What has he done to ye? I’m going to kill him for this.”

There was nothing too severe or painful that he wouldn’t do to seek retribution on the man who had hurt his Sassenach. There was nothing that he wouldn’t do to make this man pay for the atrocities he had inflicted on the porcelain skin of his Claire. There was no suffering that would be good enough for Jonathon Randall that would ever be enough punishment for his methods of torture towards his love. He would take great satisfaction in seeing the man suffer exponentially until he saw him take his last breath. Nothing would be more gratifying than witnessing his demise and he would do it even with his bare hands. It wouldn’t be quick but a more protracted slow death that would make Jonathon Randall wish that he had never been born.

Jamie inhaled deeply swallowing back the bile that had risen in the back of his throat. It was impossible to stop the feelings that he couldn't control or deny. If only he could have changed places with her. He would have done anything humanly possible and more for his Claire to have avoided the suffering that she had endured. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Sassenach?”

Claire was near fainting but opened her eyes for a moment at Jamie’s gentle voice. Slowly but proudly, she raised her head to look at him with a tremulous smile on her teary face. Jamie could see the shock in the back of her eyes. Holding her gaze with his own, he came closer reassuring Claire that she was safe at last. His heart thumped erratically against his ribs until at last he stood directly in front of her. He studied her swollen and bruised face intently. His eyes traversed every inch of her features. Claire’s hair was ragged, soaked and dripping in matted tendrils across her beautiful face. Her skin was covered in welts and was laced with black and blue bruises like she had gone fifteen rounds in a boxing match. Seeing her suffer like this was tearing his guts out but the relief at finding her alive was overwhelming. His body's reaction to her overpowered him causing Jamie to be aware of the hot rush of awareness at her nearness. Something he had always tried to suppress time and time again refused to be denied. He fully acknowledged that his feelings for Claire Beauchamp were more than just a painful white-hot desire ... he loved her deeply and unconditionally and it was this overwhelming love for her that seared his heart. Claire looked at him. Shock registered on her face at seeing Jamie materialise before her eyes but when their eyes met, time stood still. She stared back at him in disbelief. His troubled but relieved eyes connected and held with hers as Claire searched his face, caressing his features while making sure that what she was seeing was real. Her beautiful blue eyes reassured him that she was okay despite what she looked like. Jamie saw the relief that was centred there and love radiated in eyes that lingered on his form. Reciprocating, his azure eyes bared his soul to her as well at having found her at last. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Bending down James Fraser gently lifted his love up holding her from behind her legs. "Arrrghhhhh!" Claire moaned as his hands nearly touched her sore ribs. Her head lolled backwards as he raised her arms so that he could unhook her wrist bonds from the overhead hook holding the chains on the beam. Closing her eyes, Claire placed her hand on Jamie's shoulder as her body weight was finally released from her shackles. Ever so gently, he guided her broken and bruised body back down his own. He moved closer and tenderly drew her towards him. Her arms latched about his neck. The connection of Claire’s torso to his was cathartic for he was so thankful that at long last he'd been able to find her alive. Jamie's eyes caressed every inch his Sassenach’s face then her body while assessing her demeanour. He couldn't seem to take them from her. He didn't want to look away. He wanted to see what damage the triad's torture techniques had done to his beautiful, brave Claire, and at the same time he wanted to make sure that she was okay. His eyes lovingly caressed every precious inch of her.

“Mo ghràidh?” he muttered, as his eyes canvassed her beautiful scared face. “I’ve got ye. Ye are safe now,” Jamie said decisively. "That man willna lay hands on ye again, while I live.”

Claire swayed in pain near to fainting. Her eyes closed, as sweat beaded in hundreds of tiny pearls on her porcelain skin … skin that had been marked by the vicious actions of her captors. However, she opened her eyes at the sound of his voice and it was her throaty words that brought his eyes back to her face.

"Jamie ... I'm okay." She tightened her arm on his shoulder for balance as he tenderly lowered her to the ground. Her legs felt like jelly, she could hardly stand, but Jamie supported her weight and held her a moment, looking at her with concern. He continued to caress her face, while her head leaned forward. The smudges under her eyes gave evidence that she had had little rest of late, while the evidence of her interrogators' brutality was written all over her beautiful face. He saw the outward bruises, but what of those within? He thought, “will those ever heal?”

Her eyes were glazed. Claire was teary eyed but not with the pain of her body but with the sheer elation of having him here. Her avenging angel had come for her as she knew he would. When her face fell towards his shoulder, Jamie captured it in his hands brushing her hair away so that he could see her better. He tenderly held her battered face within the palms of his hands while his thumb slowly and repeatedly caressed her cheek over and over, hoping that his loving touch would help kick-start her healing. His fingers gently stroked behind her ears reassuring her that he was here and that she was safe at last. His Sassenach looked at him with half lidded eyes and caressed his blue eyes with glassy eyed emotion. Jamie raised his right hand and traced over her face with fingertips that were as soft as silk stroking her softly. He couldn't stop touching his Claire ... caressing her ... loving her for her bravery and for her doggedness in the face of adversity. The triad and Jonathon Randal especially would pay dearly for what they had done to her. His vengeance knew no bounds. Placing his arm around her, Jamie protectively pulled Claire’s body flush to his own so that she could feel safe and secure. Her eyes looked at him stroking his face in return. He swiftly unfastened her cuffs removing the chains from around her wrists, one at a time. She fell forward exhausted and spent and he cradled her body gently to his own knowing that his Sassenach was in great agony. "I thought Karen was my friend," she uttered in softly spoken words. "Shhh... It doesn't matter now ... yer safe mon nighean donn ... I'm here," he replied his voiced laced with emotion. “Ye have my protection now.”

However, her concern for him was her only thought. "Jamie ... Oh, you should have had backup. You had no way of knowing if I was going to be all right. What if this room was full of triad members? Hmmm? You wouldn't have made it out of here." Her words filled his heart with joy and his reply was just as poignant. "If ye weren't alive, it wouldn't have mattered Sassenach." Opening her eyes, Claire lovingly caressed his features once again as Jamie's reply found a home in her heart too.

“You must get out of here at once. They’ll be back soon.”

“Let them …”

Jamie’s words spoke volumes as to what he was thinking as he hurriedly pulled the remaining chains away from her, flinging them away in disgust. Although his arm was around her waist, Claire was unable to stand alone at the moment. Her feet would not cooperate and she nearly stumbled but he held her tightly refusing to let her fall. Then placing his arm around her waist Jamie bent down and moving with exquisite care lifted her up. Her arms automatically wound around his shoulders and she held on tight. Quickly they made their exit from the torture room as James Fraser carried her upstairs and away from her place of torture and incarceration. He wanted to get his Claire as far away from the monastery as possible ... away from the triad and back to Section One and to Medical, for the sooner she began to heal the better.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ to be continued on Friday 24th

#Jamieandclairefanfic #jamieandclairecrossover #jamieandclaireau #covert operations #outlander fanfiction #outlanderandLFN #the lallybroch library

60 notes · View notes

groundnul · 5 years

Note

Hello, hope you're having a great day ^_^ Can I request an angst to fluff fic with Giyuu and S/o's relationship (like at first giyuu told her to go away but then he slowly opens up and yeah) thankss ^-^

Hello! This is my first time officially writing for a few characters, so I hope everything is decently in character! Let me know what you think! Also, sorry this ended up so long, haha.

Pairing: Giyuu x Pillar!Reader

Word Count: 3767

Warnings: none

A Love Pillar’s Plan

The day started out well enough.

You, along with the rest of the pillars, were instructed to meet at the Butterfly Estate to provide a routine update Oyakata-sama on your progress as slayers, as well as triangulate on future objectives.

Somehow, you ended up travelling to the estate with none other than the Water Pillar, Giyuu Tomioka. He happened to be passing through the town you were staying in for a few days, and very awkwardly proposed in passing that you two travel together to “save time.”

Of course, you agreed. Though you two didn’t talk much, you considered Giyuu a valuable friend – even if you wanted to be something more in his eyes, you refused to let that cloud your judgement. More than anything, you wanted to be someone he could rely on. His withdrawn nature doesn’t seem to respond well to more outgoing attempts to break past his walls, so you settled for something much more gentle and slow-going: simply being there.

In truth, you weren’t really sure what else you could do. You can’t make someone open up to you if they don’t want to, and this seemed especially true with Giyuu. So, in recent months, you’ve tried your best to seem like someone he could talk to if he ever needed to. Not in so many words, of course, but Giyuu did always seem to favor actions anyway.

You always tried to listen to whatever it was he had to say. You knew all-too-well how some of the more exuberant members of the elite would speak over others in meetings, drowning out any voice but their own. In moments of quiet, you’d pipe up from somewhere to the side: “Giyuu, were you trying to say something?” Often, he’d nod, and repeat whatever it was he was thinking. And though it rarely happened with how busy you both were, if the two of you were in a public setting, you’d try to do the same thing.

It was such a small gesture, but you hoped he would get the point. If only you were so lucky.

Now, you’re gathered at the estate, awaiting the arrival of your fearsome leader. You stood near Mitsuri a Uzui, per usual, chatting about your recent missions and whatnot. You were more for listening than talking, and the two happily obliged. Uzui’s “flamboyant” descriptions died down almost instantly as Oyakata-sama entered the engawa with Kiriya and Kanata.

For the most part, the meeting went well. Each of the pillars were kind to each other and attentive to their leader when they spoke, hardly speaking out of turn. But when tactics about finding their next target arose, that’s when everything fell apart. Not until Oyakata-sama was out of the room, however.

The problem was everyone had different, conflicting ideas. Some wanted to go with a more direct approach, others wanted the mission to be entirely covert, and a few even abandoned both ideas entirely in favor of their own plans. Though you had an opinion, you decided to keep it to yourself, mostly. Giyuu seemed to favor the same course of action, standing quietly off to the side. From what you could tell, he was getting fed up with the arguing. You’d be lying if you said you felt any different.

Rengoku eventually corralled everyone back in with his cheerful and dominating words, quieting the small “discussions.” Ultimately, the decision on how to proceed was brought to a vote. And as the line finally reached Giyuu, the Pillars were evenly split into three teams of three. So, Giyuu was the deciding vote. You knew whichever way this went, it wasn’t going to be pretty. You sighed, crossing your arms over your chest as you waited for the fireworks to start.

One team held Sanemi and Obanai, both capable of being nasty to others, while the other held Shinobu, the sharp-tongued critic of the Water Pillar. Your team of three consisted of you, Mitsuri and Gyomei.

Somehow, Giyuu made the worst decision of all.

“I don’t agree with any of these plans,” Giyuu said flatly, his expression betraying no emotion other than his slight irritation at his predicament. “I abstain.”

A chorus of over-dramatic groans sounds from the remaining pillars. A few voices are louder than others, though.

“You’re kidding, right?” Obanai asks, lazily gesturing with his wrist.

“I see you’re on a mission to make yourself even more disliked,” Shinobu says cheerily, eyes crinkled with that passive-aggressive smile of hers.

“Way to ruin it, shit for brains,” Sanemi spat out, adjusting the sleeves of his uniform.

You sighed, stepping out of line to look at the three in question.

“Would you guys knock it off?” you ask tiredly, putting a hand on your hip. “There’s no reason to be mean. Plus, I think he’s got a point.”

A harsh laugh comes from further down the line, none other than Sanemi.

“Ha, so what, now Giyuu needs his little girlfriend to stand up for him? How pathetic!” Sanemi says, antagonizing you. You swear you feel your blood pressure spike.

“What’s with you?” you ask incredulously, genuinely befuddled at his constant maliciousness. “Why can’t you have a discussion without throwing around insults?”

“I’m not going to hold hands and prance around a fire like the rest of you morons,” Sanemi adds, smirking to himself as he looks down the line. “Especially not a bitch like you.”

“Why don’t you watch your mouth, Sanemi?” you ask scathingly, glaring unapologetically in his direction. You’re not sure what’s got you so fired up – you’re usually not quick to anger. But the feeling is there, nonetheless. “Or, better yet, keep it shut.”

It’s like a switch flips in his brain, and in the blink of an eye, Sanemi is in front of you with his sword drawn. You instantly bring your hand to the hilt of your sword, ready to draw it if necessary.

“Say that again and I’ll–” he shouts, only to be pushed back by the sturdy arm of Rengoku.

“There is no need to fight!” he reassures, smile beaming despite the uncomfortable situation. He adeptly redirects the discourse. “(Y/n), why do you agree with Giyuu?”

Your moment of confident anger falters, and as Sanemi steps back in resignation, you exhale deeply and try to regain clarity.

“Well,” you start, looking down the line of pillars. You hand fiddles idly with the fabric of your uniform. “It’s not that I think none of the plans will work, it’s just that if we can’t confidently move forward with a plan we all agree on, it’ll hurt our teamwork.”

“Well said!” Rengoku agrees, folding his arms in front of him. “Then what do you suggest?”

Despite knowing he was genuinely interested in what you thought, as opposed to mocking you, you felt knots tighten in your stomach.

“I-um, well, I’m not sure, but-” you hear Sanemi scoff, and after sending him a dirty glance, kindly look back to Rengoku. “I think our best bet is to come up with some kind of compromise.”

Rengoku nods his head vigorously, his voice booming in encouragement.

“That is an excellent idea!” he says, looking to the rest of the pillars. “What do you all think?”

You turn to look at the rest of them, only to see Giyuu pointedly avoiding your glance. It’s a little disheartening, but you try not to think too much of it. The rest of the pillars, aside from Shinobu and Sanemi, seem to agree as they shrug and nod along.

Eventually, with the approval of Oyakata-sama, the pillars agree to break for now and reconvene first thing in the morning. Whether that’s good or bad, you’ve yet to find out, but you’ll be staying at the Butterfly Estate regardless.

As the rest of the pillars clear out, only you, Mitsuri, Giyuu and a distant Obanai remain. It doesn’t take long for your conversation with Mitsuri to fizzle out, and before you know it, she’s over by her favorite Snake Pillar instead. So, that just leaves you and Giyuu. He’s still awkwardly standing off to the side, looking irritated. You tread carefully towards him.

“Hey-” you begin, just as he turns to face you. His eyes look sharp, unyielding. Maintaining the distance between you, you decide to let him speak first.

“Why did you do that?” he asks quietly after a moment, eyes focused on you intently.

You don’t mean to sound oblivious, but you’re just trying to understand.

“Do what?” you ask just as quietly, eyebrows furrowing in worry. He remains unmoving, eyes glued to your steadily reddening face. Why is he looking at you like that?

“When you spoke up against the other pillars. Why?” he asks shortly.

You feel a rock in your gut at his apparent anger, confused and hurt at your obviously ill-received intent.

“Well, I just thought…” you trail off uncertainly, trying to choose your words carefully. Evidently, he was feeling impatient.

“You thought what?” he prompts, his tone grating on you. It’s almost… condescending. You try to figure out where his anger is coming from, but you have more questions than answers.

“I thought that you don’t deserve to be spoken to like that,” you offer, swallowing harshly. Your hands grip the fabric of your uniform tightly, trying to stay calm. You feel your hands shaking.

“I didn’t ask you to do that,” he states simply, face returning to its normal placidness. He’s still looking at you, but right now, it almost feels like he’s looking through you.

“I-I know,” you stutter, ignoring the tightening in your throat as you exhale in an attempt to calm down. “I should have-”

“I don’t need your help,” he cut you off, eyes lingering on yours just a moment too long before he turns back to the engawa. You ignore the involuntary stinging in your eyes. As he begins to walk off to another part of the estate, he pauses in his stride, not bothering to turn and look at you as he speaks over his shoulder. “Next time, stay out of it.”

Though he can’t see you, you wordlessly nod your head, eyes glued to the floor as small droplets land on the dirt beneath you. Furiously scrubbing the tears away, you find yourself trying to monitor your breathing to get it under control.

Ultimately, you’re a demon slayer, so a couple of harsh words aren’t anything new to you. But hearing them come from someone you considered a friend – and a person you have feelings for – is entirely different.

Wiping your eyes discreetly one more time, you take a look around to make sure no one saw you. Mitsuri still looks occupied with Obanai, and none of the other pillars seem to be lingering around. Sniffling once for good measure, you swiftly make your way to the guest rooms of the estate. A pair of green eyes follow your figure worriedly, but you’re too caught up in your head to notice. You choose a room at random, and close the sliding door. You catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror as you move to put away your cloak in the closet.

You feel pathetic, and you don’t look much better. Your eyes are puffy and red, and your face looks drained of color. Your slumping shoulders and shuffling feet hardly make you look like a young adult, much less a pillar. So many times has the thought crossed your mind that you don’t deserve to be a pillar. But somehow, some way, you remain. Maybe it’s pity, you think, as you scoot over to the tatami mat on the floor.

As you crawl under the soft fabric of the blankets, that’s when the dam breaks. You finally let the tears run free, slipping down your face and onto the white pillow beneath your head. Clutching the blankets tighter, you cry about anything and everything, muffling your sobs under the covers. Questions circle endlessly, asking “what did I do wrong?” and “why did I do that?” You don’t have answers to any of it. But it’s here, in this wet, snotty mess of blankets, that your mind finds a little peace.

But somewhere down the hall, a very nervous Mitsuri stands outside the Water Pillar’s door. What’s she up to?

***

The next thing you feel is the sweat dripping from your form as you startle awake, sitting upright on the tatami. Foggy memories of the dream you had moments ago flitter out until all you’re left with is the sound of your breathing. As you try to regain your senses, you take in details from the room. The darkness of the window catches your eye. Your tired mind tries to fit together what happened.

You aren’t sure when you fell asleep, but you must have been out for a while. Remembering why you fell asleep to begin with made you feel dreadful. You covered your head with the blanket, staring blankly into the darkness.

Why did you do that? Why stick up for him? You know he’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself. So, why?

Truthfully, Shinobu’s harsh words towards Giyuu were never something you particularly enjoyed. Her otherwise kind demeanor betrayed her sharp tongue, and though you valued her as a fellow pillar, there were clearly some issues she needed to work out.

Obanai’s pessimism isn’t something you look forward to, either. His apparent annoyance with everything and everybody leaves a sour taste in your mouth, and while he’s much less abrasive than some of the other pillars, he can still be brutal.

Sanemi is a different story entirely. You’ve spent most of your time as a pillar scared of him and the unhinged look he gets at the prospect of violence. Today, you managed to bring that look upon yourself, but you normally tried to avoid it at all costs.

You groaned, peeking your head out from under the covers to stare at the ceiling. That still doesn’t answer the question of why, though.

Your little outburst must have been building in the back of your mind for a while, your surmised. Perhaps their insult to Giyuu was just the final straw.

Sitting up, you pouted quietly to yourself, tucking your head into your knees. It didn’t really matter, honestly, because now you’ve just got one pissed off friend and a hurt heart. You stared blankly at the wall in front of you as the quietness of the room came rushing back in.

As a chill ran up your spine, you decided you were in the mood for something warm. Standing caused all the bones in your body to crack in time, like some kind of melody. You would have laughed at the idea if you had the energy. You slowly slug your way over to the closet to grab your shoes and cloak, wiping the tiredness from your eyes as you gave yourself a once-over in the mirror. Ruffling your hair a bit, you figured this was the best it was going to get, and headed for the door.

Right outside your doorway, though, was a tea kettle on an ornate bamboo tray. Leaning down to take a closer look, you saw a small piece of paper. “Feel better soon!” was all it said. Turning it over, there was no name on the back, either, just a small heart. You wonder who it was from. You didn’t really recognize the handwriting, not that that really meant much. Maybe it was from one of the healers at the estate?

Regardless, you lean down to pick up the tray, contemplating your next move. You peer into your guest room, but ultimately, it feels too stuffy and sad in there to enjoy anything right now. Roaming the empty halls, it seems everyone else is either fast asleep, or nowhere to be found.

That’s how you end up at the engawa. You sit on the edge, tea cup in hand, sipping along as you look out at the night sky. The warmth of the tea in your cup soothes your senses, grounding you in the serene atmosphere of the night. Until a cough from behind you startles you to your feet, that is.

Squinting back into the darkness of the engawa, the grip on your sword loosens as the mysterious figure came into view. Standing before you was Giyuu, still clad in his usual attire. You exhale a quiet laugh at your overreaction, relaxing into a normal standing position. From your position on the ground, Giyuu looks about two feet taller than normal. Part of you wants to join him on the engawa again, but most of you thinks that’s the last thing he’d want. You settle for pushing a stray lock of hair behind your ear and shuffling your feet.

“Hey,” you nearly whisper, eyes darting from his still shadowed figure. An uncomfortable silence passes. You play with the empty teacup in your hand before setting it back down on the tray.

“Um, sorry, I didn’t realize you were-” you ramble, cutting yourself off in favor of escape. “Uh, I can just – go.”

Your hands grip both sides of the bamboo tray as you lift it to your chest, turning on your heel to abscond.

“Wait,” he interrupts, stepping closer to the edge of the engawa. You come to a stop, turning back to face him slightly. The moonlight softens his generally stoic demeanor, and his eyes lack the harshness they held earlier. You wait for him to speak.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he adds, coming to a stop on the edge of the bamboo flooring.

At that, your stomach drops. What could he possibly still have to tell you? You would have guessed he got it all out earlier. Perhaps he could see your apprehension as he kneels down, taking a seat on the edge of the porch. He stares at you expectantly, almost, eyes switching between the tray in your hands and your face.

Cautiously, you approach him, sitting down several inches away from him. The tea tray is to your left, while he was to your right. Your feet dangle awkwardly, while his touch just fine. You tuck your hands under your legs to prevent their fidgeting. When he felt you settle in, he finally said what was on his mind. You didn’t dare to look at him.

“I wanted to apologize,” he says, eyes trained straight ahead. “What I said earlier was out of line.”

Your eyes snap to him in shock. His soft-spoken words were full of regret, and for a moment, it felt you’d seen past that stubborn wall of his. You weren’t sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t that.

His ocean eyes turn slowly to meet yours. Under the moonlight, they shine like diamonds. It takes your breath away. Shyly, you avert your eyes, shuffling in your seat.

“… Why did you say it?” you ask after a moment of silence, eyes returning to his form for answers. His head turns back towards the center of the estate, eyes trained on something you couldn’t see. He hesitates.

“Your kindness almost got you in trouble,” he says honestly, hands readjusting themselves on the floor. “And it was my fault.”

You nodded silently, unsure of what to say.

“I understand,” you eventually say, eyes still trained on him. “But I don’t think it was your fault.”

His head turns back to face you. You try to ignore the pink hue rising on your cheeks as his eyes stare into yours.

“Why?” he asks simply, head cocking to the side ever-so-slightly. Your ears are beginning to burn with how hot your face is. Why does he have to be so cute? How are you supposed to focus? You only hope the moonlight obscures your obvious flush.

“W-well, I mean…” you start, eyes glancing anywhere but him. “People shouldn’t say such rude things to each other to begin with. Sanemi and Shinobu, I mean. And if anything, I jumped the gun with my reaction… so… I’m sorry for that. I don’t really know what got into me.”

You laugh a little helplessly at yourself, swinging your feet a little. As his head turns outward again, you almost miss the small quirk of his lips at your words. Fortunately, you manage to look over just in time to see it, but it’s at the cost of your sanity. For a moment, it feels like your brain shorts out.

Did you somehow move closer to him? Is this all just a dream? Why is it suddenly so hot out here?

When you manage to get it up and running again, his eyes are back on you, his smile gone with the wind. He’s looking at you expectantly, like he’s waiting for an answer. Did you miss something?

“Hm?” you ask, eyebrows raised.

He repeats himself, probably louder and clearer than before.

“Did you order tea?” he asks, eyes glancing to the tray behind you.

“Oh, no,” you say, shaking your head. “Someone left it outside my door for me… do you want some?”

He nods his head, as if saying “sure,” and you turn to pour him a cup. It’s surprisingly still warm. You scoot over to hand him the cup carefully, which he accepts with a quiet “thank you.” When you settle in again, you’re much closer to him this time. As you move to rest your hand on the bamboo flooring, your fingers accidentally graze his. You pull back as if he shocked you, sensing his automatic stiffness at the contact.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-” you start, but his quiet words stop you.

“No, its… that’s… okay,” he says, eyes pointedly averted to the side. Your eyes grow wide at his implication. Does that mean… does he want you to… ?

With a shaky hand, you rest your palm back on the floor, fingers hesitant. He looks like he’s waiting for you. With a deep breath, you place your fingers gently over his. You’re both quiet for a long time.

“Is this okay?” you ask worriedly. You feel your palms growing clammy, and pray he can’t tell.

He nods almost imperceptibly, and you tighten your fingers around his ever-so-slightly. Much to your heart’s surprise, his fingers squeeze back. The almost silent “thank you” from beside you makes your head spin. It takes you a while to come down from the high.

For the next while, the two of you talked about anything and nothing, just enjoying each other’s company. In a faraway building, pink and green hair twirls excitedly, while a snake-clad boy rests nearby, his hands behind his head. For the Love Pillar Mitsuri, everything had gone according to plan.

86 notes · View notes