#not pictured are the battle jacket and black scarf i was wearing before this

[jtownraindancer]

Selfie, baby

Why not~

Four days, four different looks✌🏻😗

[hains-mae]

Flowers - Pt. 5 (The End)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 (The End)

(Damian x Reader) Soulmate AU

The Flowers: @call-me-prodigy @annoylinglyaries @zphilophobiaz @comic-brew @biglilwing @awkwardspontaneity @lozzybowe @mariiecapo @distressedearie @diyosku @dracoaereum @thesuitelifeofafangirl @chims-kookies @blade-xingston @danicalifxrnia

Rating: T

Ages: Damian and you are 16, everyone’s ages follow after.

Summary: Soulmate AU where the wounds on your soulmate turns into a flower tattoo on your skin, if it heals with no scars the tattoo goes away, if it heals with a scar then the tattoo stays.

Notes: Wow that was a fun ride. But every story comes to an end, I hope you guys enjoy the final chapter! And thank you everyone who has taken their time to like, comment, and reblog. I appreciate it a lot <3

Disclaimer: I do not own DC. If I did, I wouldn’t make it as confusing as it is now.

Robin visited every other night after that. It was surreal to have a hero that you’ve so long admired become your frequent visitor. Then again, nothing seemed normal anymore.

“It’s past the convention week. How do you keep coming here?” I asked curiously one night.

Robin gave me a lopsided grin and tapped the side of his nose. “I have my ways.”

After Mom’s week long leave was up she begrudgingly had to go back to work. The hospital assured her that I was healing fairly well, and that I would be transferred to Gotham Hospital the following weekend.

I was never really lonely though. Besides the friendly staff, my midnight visitor always came right on time. I wondered why he would take the time. Maybe it was to get to know me better? Perhaps my speech that night managed to get through to him. I had hoped it was both.

If I was being honest though, I was a little more than glad he did. I had meant it when I told the boy that I found him intriguing. He was a tough nut to crack though. I couldn’t blame him.

During the day when I would shower, I’d trace the flowers across my frame and wonder just how much he had gone through.

Soul marks start to appear at 10 years of age. You could imagine the shock (and worry) my parents had gone through when they found me one day absolutely covered in flowers.

From a young age I would hide them. Always wearing my sleeves till my palms, my neck constantly covered with either my jacket, scarf or high placed collars. It wasn’t that I was ashamed, but Gotham liked to talk – and when you’re the subject of attention, then you’re an easy target for criminals.

As I got older, the marks around my neck forearms slowly faded. I had worried about my soul mate and their well-being. Now that I understood everything, it was a different type of worry all together. The kind that would sit at the pit of your stomach and tie knots, heavy enough to keep you on edge.

My T.V in the hospital room was always on the same channel, Gotham News. Every battle would have my heart clenching as the camera’s desperately tried to follow the fight. Most of the time’s they wouldn’t be able to capture the end, and I’d be left holding my breath.

That’s one other reason I looked forward to our nightly visits. I could relax knowing he was alright.

I still wasn’t sure what I felt for this enigma of a person. But I knew that I wanted to get closer.

“I have an idea.” Robin said one evening. There was a glint his eye, the mask was off since my mom wasn’t around anymore. “And it’s got something to do with your invention.”

I arched a brow. “The bullets are complete but I still have yet to finalize the counter measures.”

He nodded understandingly. “Counter affect can wait. We don’t want to encase anyone in rock at the moment, but I’m putting it out there since you wanted to help.”

Intrigued, I urged him to continue.

Damian was quite brilliant in his own way. After much thought and planning, we had about 3 more types of chemically enhanced concoctions laid out. All of which were to go through Batman before beginning the experimentation process. He has assured me that I would be leading the research team for that under Wayne Ent.

I couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital.

“Do you like sweets?” He asked randomly.

Arching a brow I studied him. He was slouched on the couch with his leg dangling on one side and a book in his hands.

Charles Dickens.

“Yes.” I said, noting his obvious attempt to look natural. “Do you?”

“On occasion.” The boy shifted a shoulder to mimic a shrug.

The very next visit he had a black bag slung across his shoulder. His face gave nothing away but from the times I’ve spent with him, I realised it was his eyes that did most of the talking.

“Whatcha got over there?” I asked curiously, scooting closer to him at the edge of the bed.

“Patience.” He said and pulled up the make shift table that was attached to the side of my bed. Placing a medium sized box on top, he carefully undid the lid and opened it. “I present to you, baklavas.”

In the dim light I saw that they were flaky, almost like a croissant. There were some with a mix of nuts, from pistachios to almonds. Others were plain but still looked heavenly. They gleamed with a moistness, as if coated with a syrupy substance. I picked one up and popped it into my mouth.

It burst with flavour and dissolved much too fast. I squeaked at the exotic taste.

“Oh my gosh these are so good.” I said, licking my thumb.

Robin looked pleased.

“You should have one.” I pushed the box towards him but he shook his head.

“They’re yours.” He said.

“Nonsense. Food always taste better when shared.” I picked another one up intending to eat it.

“If you insist.”

I had barely managed to register the wicked glint in his eye before he took hold of my wrist and brought my hand that was holding the sweet close to his mouth. He took it carefully from me in one easy motion and lightly licked my finger.

“You’re right. It does taste better when shared.”

I felt the burn on my cheeks and ears before I heard the warning blare of the heart monitor. Immediately, Robin slipped behind the couch just as the nurses for the nightshift burst into my room in a panic. They fussed over me as I repeatedly tried to tell them I was alright. My heart finally calmed and once they left, Robin got up covering his mouth. He was trying to keep himself from laughing.

-x-x-x-

The weekend came much faster than I had anticipated. When the doctors checked on my progress, they gave the thumbs up for me to be transferred to Gotham’s hospital.  Mom was relieved, and wouldn’t stop fussing over me when we got there. I let it be though, thinking it was more for her own peace of mind than mine.

After that it was a short two weeks before I was fully discharged.

Robins visits never wavered though. If anything, he had stayed for longer periods of time. I got to know the boy under the mask more than I had hoped for and opened up in return more than I had intended.

I found out his brothers were vigilantes too. He pointed them all out one evening with a family picture he’d secretly stashed in his wallet. They were a “thorn” to his side — as he had so eloquently described, but I could see just how much he loved them. That was another thing I learnt about him, his speech patterns were very posh. He liked to use formal names and slang was not completely in his vocabulary. I asked him about that one time, to which he only replied “another time”. It was probably a touchy subject, where he exactly grew up.

His favourite colour was green, and his adoration for animals was as deep as black hole. It was crazy how perfect my mind painted him to be, and the more I knew, the harder it was to ignore the feelings growing inside me.

He enjoys reading, but would gladly spend the day locked in his room with his tablet and pen drawing the day away. He is good both in traditional and digital art, and sometimes dabbles in graphic design when he feels like it. He prefers his tea without any additives, but would not hesitate to pour bucket loads of milk and sugar in his coffee during the rare moments he drinks it.

I could list everything down but it would just solidify my attraction to him, and honestly I doubt this was he needed right now. Juggling a double life sounded a lot more stressful than he showed it to be. He hardly ever talked about it but from the amount of flowers blooming on me, it was difficult to see it any other way but exhausting. He’d kick butt at night, get hurt, then go to school the very next day like nothing happened.

He arrived one evening like he normally did and I had rushed up to pull off his glove. I felt a sting earlier and found a Sakura branch littered with pink flowers. I was right, his arm was soaked in red, and the gash looked bad.

“It’s just a scratch.” He promised me.

I didn’t reply. Taking him straight to the bathroom, I rinsed out the remaining blood and addressed the wound. After bandaging him up I finally looked into his eyes and showed him just how worried I was.

That evening we sat next to each other, with our fingers intertwined and his thumb randomly brushing against my knuckles.

-x-x-x-

Finally I was able to return home. Being able to lie down on my own bed, inside my own house, I could let loose and properly relax. I threw myself onto the soft comforters that smelled like fabric softener and smiled to myself.

Home sweet home.

But not for long, I reminded myself that this evening I would be dining with the Wayne’s. Swallowing hard, I hurried my face onto the pillows. I can’t mess this up, not after everything they’ve done for me.

Damian’s smirking face suddenly came to mind, and all his welcomed visits. It made my stomach grow warm. Remembering us sharing the sweets he gifted – soft lips against my fingers.

I groaned into the pillow, the room was getting a little hot. Getting up gingerly, as to not aggravate the newly healed stitches, I manoeuvred my way to the window and pushed it open. The cold evening air felt good against my heated skin. I sighed in content.

If I were being honest, I didn’t know what exactly was happening between us. I didn’t know if I wanted anything to happen between us. Wouldn’t it be weird, considering that I’d be interning for his dad in just a couple of months. Possibly work there if my luck doesn’t run out first. Not to mention WHO he was.

You’re just a normal girl, I chided myself. Not someone important enough to stand beside such a prestigious boy and his ridiculously wealthy family.

But even then – I found myself wondering. Seeking. Imagining… What if we were to become something more? What if it works? What if we fall in –

“Y/n!” Mom’s voice broke through my reverie, waking me up from the needless train of thought.

Closing my window, I poked my head out the door and found her putting on a bracelet.

“Are you ready? The cab is nearly here.” She asked.

I nodded and took a step closer to her. Looking quickly at the vanity mirror in the hallway, I gave myself a once over to make sure everything was in place. I had on a slightly fitting turtle neck sweater, paired with a high waisted pleated skirt and dark stockings. On my feet I sported on my boots. It was safe to assume no one would be able to see my soul marks.

My mom grabbed her purse and headed downstairs. I followed close behind her, handing her her coat before locking up the front door.

The cab driver arrived a few minutes in, and we drove off straight to Wayne Manor.

“This is exciting isn’t it?” She said to me with a lift in her voice, as she exited the cab to get the gates opened.

Once we could enter, we were greeted with a very large land that was pristinely kept. The grass was cut evenly, and the trees lining the estate were trimmed to perfection. Bushes were perfectly shaped into different animals, and flowers systematically grown to create swirls and shapes beside the road. A big fountain was situated just in front of the mansion while a man in a black suit waited beside the opened doors.

We exited the cab after paying and did our best to take it all in without looking like fishes out of water.

“Ah, Mrs. & Ms. Y/l/n.” It was the man who I saw pick up Damian that one night in Metropolis appeared. I also remembered him in the family photograph. His accent was thickly laced with British poise. “My name is Alfred Pennyworth, I shall be you’re attendant for the evening.”

“Thank you.” Mom was quick to compose herself.

As soon as I entered the house I felt my breath stolen away. It was huge. Everything looked so new and polished.

I barely registered my mom and Alfred chatting away as he led her to the dining hall.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

I nearly jumped at the voice that startled me. Whipping my head around, I found Jason standing with his hands in his pockets.

“I remember my first time coming in here. Completely floored.” He chucked.

I waved a small greeting. “Everything looks so –“

“Expensive? Exorbitant? Grand?” He tried to guess.

“Beautiful.” I breathed out.

He laughed. “Not what I expected. But you’re full of surprises aren’t you.”

I blushed. “Ah, I’m not sure about that. I’m just me.”

“Hey, no stealing our guest before dinner.” Dick walked down the stair case with Tim beside him.

“Feeling better Y/n?” Tim asked as we grouped just below the stairs.

“Yeah, thank you.” I answered, suddenly feeling flustered as they surrounded me.

Stay calm.

“Don’t be nervous.” Dick said with an air of comfort.

I wanted to ask what made him think so, but he answered before I even began to articulate the words.

“You’re fidgeting like a college student during a thesis debate.” He said simply.

“You’re… very good at reading people.” I arched a brow at him.

“One of my many amazing abilities” He winked.

Jason let out an air of playful frustration and pulled Dick aside. “And now you’re stealing her. Can’t hold a normal conversation can you Dickie, always a flirt.”

“First of all – do I need to remind you who mostly does all the talking during dad’s parties. And second of all – I am not a flirt. I can’t help it if I’m charming.” Dick mocked a suave look and shot it as his brother.

Jason looked like he was about to gag and Tim was less than pleased. I laughed at their antics.

“What’s funny?” Damian appeared beside me. I jumped and held a hand to my racing heart.

“Jeez, do all of you have a talent for sneaking up on people?” I wheezed out, trying to gather my bearings.

They all grinned at me without answering.

Robins, my inner muse whispered. I brushed off the thought as quick as it had come.

We had made it to the dining area just in time for Alfred to begin serving the meals. My mother was already chatting up a storm with Mr. Wayne. A wine glass in hand and a slight tint to her cheeks. She looked happy.

I began walking towards the seat beside my mother when Damian pulled out the chair like a gentleman. I bit the inside of my cheek and mumbled a thank you.

He took the space beside me and the rest of his brothers seated themselves opposite us.

As we opened our plates for dinner, I was amazed to see how well it was presented. Mr. Pennyworth continued to serves other dishes, and once he was done he left the room.

The food tasted just as good as it looked.

Easy conversation wafted around us, the usual topics of school, and future plans. Mr. Wayne brought up the internship which I nearly gushed over due to my excitement. Damian held back a laugh with a cough when he noticed my little slip up before I composed myself again. I bumped his knee under the table and playfully glared at him. He smirked and bumped me back.

“My compliments to the chef Mr. Wayne.” Mom said.

“I’ll be sure to tell him.” He smiled through a glass of wine. How many glasses in were they at this point? Damian and I were the only ones who weren’t allowed so both our glasses were filled with water and juice.

“And, please,” Mr. Wayne continued. “Call me Bruce.”

“Hey, we should give the women a tour.” Dick suggested. “I’m sure you’ll both love it.”

Jason and Tim had excused themselves, and I had an inkling as to what they were up to. Patrols were a common thing, as Damian told me.

And so with Dick and Bruce leading, my mother and I followed as they showed off the grandness of the manor.

I couldn’t help but be awestruck all over again. The library was huge. Their shelves towered from ceiling to floor, and filled with all kinds of books. From novels to more informative documents. I recognised a couple of titles from the times Damian spent the night reading.

The sunroom was next. The glass was near invisible. I took in the sight of the gorgeous garden just beyond the panels, being able to outline a gazebo at the far end with flowers twisting around its pillars. I unconsciously touched my stomach where the stitches were, randomly pondering what kind of flower had bloomed from such a brutal wound.

“Are you okay?” Damian was beside me immediately and his hand supported my elbow. His voice was laced with concern.

“Oh.” I realised what he was talking about and pulled my hand down. “I’m okay, just a little tired.”

“Honey?” My mom’s face pinched in concern. “Is it hurting again?”

“I just need to rest Mom, I’m fine.” I assured her. “You should continue, I’ll just sit here for a bit.”

Mom was hesitant but there wasn’t much she could do, and she knew it. So they moved on, but not without Mr. Wayne asking for some painkillers to be brought to me.

After taking the medicine, I thanked ‘Alfred’ (as he had asked me to call him) before he left.

Damian was sitting on the arm rest of the couch. My hand was in his and he rubbed random circles around my knuckles. His brows were furrowed, and his features were set in a deep scowl. I could practically feel the guilt and worry radiating off of him.

“I have to be honest, I thought I’d see more animals around.” I said, trying to lighten up the mood.

“Father asked me to keep Titus in my room for the time-being, he didn’t know how you two would react to a Great Dane, or vice-versa.” The boy said simply.

“Great Dane?” I asked flabbergasted.

The corner of Damian’s lips turned upwards. “When you feel better I’ll introduce you.”

“It’s a date.” I answered before thinking. All at once I realised what I said and felt my cheeks burn. “Ah – I mean, not date. If you aren’t comfortable with that, people just use the word date as a meeting time or –“

“It’s a date.” He brought my fingers up and ghosted his lips over them. I had to hold my breath fearing that my heart would stop.

I was momentarily stunned by his forwardness and calm. Looking away I managed to slow down my heart rate to a regular beat.

“I still need to guess the rest right?” I asked coyly.

He gestured for me to continue.

“Let’s see.” I rested my head on the couch and closed my eyes to recall our conversation back in the ball room. “We’ve got a dog, a cat.”

“Mhm.” Damian nodded, moving from the arm rest to the empty space next to me.

My brain brought up an old song from the Princess and the Frog, when they had to ‘Dig a Little Deeper’.

A dog, a pig, a cow, a goat – the lyrics were sung in my subconscious before I could stop it.

“A cow.” I guessed.

Damian’s eyes grew a little wide, before a grin made its way to his lips. “Yes.”

“What seriously?” I giggled. “You actually have a cow?”

“Bat-Cow.” He chuckled. “I was a child, and that was the first name to come up.”

I was full on laughing now. “I cannot wait to meet them. But that was seriously a random guess, now I feel like my confidence is dwindling.”

“Then how about you wait till you see them?” He suggested.

I bit my lip and shifted in my seat, our knees brushed and I felt that warmth spread across my chest. We’re close. A little too close.

When I looked at him I found he was staring at the garden outside. I didn’t mean to be rude, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. There was something about this boy that just drew me closer, making me want more. I traced the little moles across his cheek and wondered when I had let this magnetic pull take over me.

“Take a picture. It’ll last longer.” Damian commented. His intense green eyes bore into mine as he threw a deviously charming smirk my way.

I blushed and looked away, suddenly finding my shoes a lot more interesting than it was. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”

He turned towards me. And I made the mistake of facing him again, because now our faces were just mere inches apart.

I found myself gazing at his beautiful green eyes that contrasted so well with his tanned olive skin. There were so many different shades of green looping and mixing with one another, it felt like a maze – one that I would willingly get lost in.

My fingers rested in the spaces between his, and I marvelled at how everything in that moment felt right.

I tilted towards him, and he did the same towards me.

“What are we doing?” I whispered, stealing a glance at his lips.

Heart pounding.

Blood racing.

It left me dizzy.

“I’m… not sure.” Damian replied, his tone low. “But if you asked me to kiss you, I would.”

His thumb grazed the inside of my wrist with a feather-light touch and I burst into flames.

“Kiss me.”

And he did.

-THE END-

[that-good-trash]

Burn Away With Me 2

Shoto Todoroki x reader / Dabi x reader????

Warnings: mentions of death, profanity, kidnap, Angst,

Word count: 6,315

Part 1

Summary: Kidnap and murder usually go hand in hand but not like this. The world thinks your dead and you have to watch them mourn you like a princess locked away in a tower. Except princes don’t look for dead girls. You might just have to rely on the villain who took you.  

Comment: Sorry I haven’t been posting but I’m back. This took longer than I thought and there will be a third part. I’ve decided to make this a series while I work on other fic ideas. Which if any of you have any suggestions or ideas I totally need inspiration for more one shots and series’s. I hope you all enjoy. 

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You were dead.

At least that’s what everyone thought, was told, had ‘witnessed’. In a way you were dead because having to watch the world exist without you, killed you. Watching Shoto in interviews and reading article about him made you wish you had actually died since he was lifeless. You had agreed to this so you were an accessary to his misery. The one thing you always promised was to never abandon him, to always love him. You had failed to keep that promise. You were now causing him pain and couldn’t even apologize for it.

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

After your Hollywood murder, your vanishing act, you had woken up in an unfamiliar place that smelled damp and musty, like mildew under week old wet carpet. It was toxic to your nose which had become a little sensitive from living a modern clean life. You were wearing a jacket that wasn’t yours that smelled faintly of burning charcoal and cigarettes. While lifting the overly long sleeves you had become aware that you lacked any chest covering. You were naked besides the jacket and silk panties you wore under it. It wasn’t like you had time to pack, hell you actually hadn’t expected to ever wake up again. Trusting a villain was dicey, it could backfire terribly and you couldn’t figure out yet if it had. You were alive. That wasn’t for sure a good thing. The room you were in had a bed, which you were laying in, the sheets were stained and slightly charred in places. There was a single window and two doors, one leading into a closet, the other you didn’t know where. An old suitcase sat in the corner and you didn’t really want to know what was in it. Outside the door you could hear the sound of talking, it was staticky meaning it was coming from a TV or radio. You had gotten off the bed hugging the long black coat against your body as you made your way to the door. Fear flooded your veins. You had no idea what Dabi’s plan had been. While you slept the news of your death spread across all media. You weren’t even aware of this. You were thinking that this was a kidnap ransom thing. As the knob turned you could hear the voices a little more clearly. It was a TV, the light shining down the short hallway. You walked toward it before feeling your heart stop. Across the bottom of the screen was your name, your real name and hero name. It was the words that followed that made your legs give out. Now on your knees with shaking shoulders you read the headline, hear the news caster.

[ L/n F/n – Hero Name, was found murdered in her shared home.]

“Her fiancé Todoroki Shoto cannot be reached at this time but we mourn his lose.” You read the words and listen to the tail end of his sentence piecing together what had happened. The image changed from the inside of the news room to a helicopter view, footage taken hours ago. Your shared home had been surrounded by police vehicle’s and you watch Shoto rush out of his car and directly into the house. A sob escapes as you watch the police and pro heroes look down and away. You couldn’t hear anything other than the helicopter but you could imagine he was screaming your name. What was left behind? That’s when you became all too aware of a throbbing pain in your left hand. Looking down at your hand you scream, your ring finger is missing. How the hell hadn’t you realized this to begin with. There were so many pieces missing to this fucked up puzzle. How the hell did you get here? Where the hell was here? Where was Dabi and better yet your god damn finger? These questions invaded your mind as you watched the screen continue to show pictures of you with claims of death. You weren’t dead and if you were this was one hell of an afterlife. Purgatory was a shitty back alley apartment.

“When we, the public, were informed of L/n’s death everyone wanted to hear what the Todoroki family had to say, specifically Endeavor. His interview shows his conflicted emotions and many are quick to blame grief for his lack of emotion.”

You watch the interview and listen to your future father in laws words. He didn’t care. You had stopped crying as you watched him speak on your behalf. How dare he claim to know what you wanted. If you weren’t aware of the real mastermind, you’d think he tried to have you killed. How could someone be so heartless. You had spent so much time trying to prove you were worthy of Shoto even though your lover told you that you were more than enough. The social pressure Endeavor put on you was suffocating and you were really starting to realize that just by watching some shitty interview he did for publicity. Your hands were clenched into fist despite the pain in your left hand. You stood up a little too fast and fell backward. You never hit the floor, instead a hot hand caught you. You sighed in relief before staring into your kidnapper’s eyes. You weren’t weak or none confrontational. Your eyes burned with fury, your lips twitching with words brewing behind them.

“You son of a bitch, You bastard.”

“Woah, no reason to bring my mom into this, though I will say you’d be right about my father.” He was so smug as he held up his hands in defense against your hissed insults. He had expected tears and fear not an enraged hurricane. “Now calm down, what’s got you so pissed?”

“YOU FUCKING KILLED ME!” Your eyes were bulging out and your breathing was unsteady. Your eyebrows knit together as you glared him down with hell fire behind your eyes. You looked like a savage. Like a crazed lunatic. Instead of looking scared or remorseful he just backup against the tattered couch. His arms crossed and he lifted a brow. His smirk told you that he found this entertaining.

“Um, you seem pretty alive to me doll. You can’t believe everything you hear on TV.” He laughed at his own joke, or maybe the pathetic chaotic state you were in. As you heaved your chest in exasperation. You realized that you’d made a huge mistake. You killed yourself off on your own accord, you should have fought back then maybe you’d be in Shoto’s arms and not on every news station. If you had been kidnapped people would be looking for you but they aren’t. No one is looking for you. In an instant all anger subsided. You were tired, in pain, scared, pissed, lonely, dispirited, you were dead. Your shoulders slumped with no fight lingering. You let the wall catch you before sliding down it. Your head fell heavy into your hands before settling between your bend legs. You weren’t looking at him, but Dabi did seem a tad guilty. He pushed off the couch walking toward you. He dropped down, squatting in front of you. His fingers brush your hair out of your face, you slap his hand away looking at him with feral eyes that had tears bottled in them. A sigh escaped as he stood up, he could hear the TV mention your name. He watched people on the screen hold candles standing along a dark street. This was live. He yanked you off the ground and pulled you out of the apartment making sure he covered you with a scarf he snatched from the rickety coat rack. You didn’t know where he was taking you but when you ended up on the roof of this building you panicked. Was he going to actually kill you? Maybe that would be better for you. Instead you feel your face yanked toward a specific location. This building was old and crumbling but it was tall. It seemed to be taller than plenty of the buildings near it. As you looked off squinting you saw lights in the distance.

“What are you trying to show me?”

“Shh.” You were pissed. What the hell was his problem. Frustrated you cross your arms feeling the cold breeze and get a little less mad and grow shy after remembering again your lack of coverage. You go to ask if you can return to the apartment but he points and you follow. The city lights disappear and in a Disney moment the sky seems to light up. You watch from the ground miles away lights move like waves and from the tops of buildings lanterns fade into the sky. You watched in awe.

“They are mourning the loss of a true hero, you.”

He’s not looking at you but instead watching the lights. His hands are stuffed into his pockets and he doesn’t look at you as you collapse to the cold dirty roof ground. You scream into the illuminated darkness. It’s painful, like a wolf crying out for its mate after receiving a fatal wound. A howl of sorrow and agony. Was Shoto watching these lights mourning you as well? Your knees pressed into the harsh concrete beneath you cutting into them. Dabi stood next to your broken shaking form, his hands sat inside his pant pockets. He was watching the sky letting you fall apart. He had been in a similar situation before, having to mourn his own death.

It felt like hours had passed by the time you ran out of tears. Your knees hurt from the embedded concrete, your hands were shaking and your fingertips had the slightest tint of purple. You were cold, practically naked, empty, and alone. No one knew you were alive besides the person who killed you. The sky was no longer lit up and you wondered if this was goodbye. If this was how your life as a hero ended. You didn’t get a huge battle like All Might at Kamino, or Sir Nighteye’s battle with Overhaul. You didn’t get to retire or die in a heroic way, instead people would remember you as the hero who died in her home, murdered by some mystery villain. You knew in a week you’d be old news and everyone would be talking about this in the future like it was a part of Shoto’s tragic backstory. You stood up before almost falling directly back down. You catch yourself by grabbing onto Dabi. He winks at you which you react to with disgust. He nods toward the door and you walk toward it leading the way. You think for a moment that running off the side of the building would be a good escape plan. He knows what you’re thinking as he links your arm with his own and pulls you along back into the building and eventually into the hellscape of an apartment. You yank yourself free before walking to the couch and falling back onto it with a huff. You were pouting because he had caught onto your plan, because you had to be here in this disgusting shithole.

“This place is gross.” Dabi raises a brow before laughing, his laughter echoes throughout the small room.

“Sorry this isn’t a five-star hotel princess.”

“It doesn’t have to be a luxury hotel; it just has to be livable. The TV looks like it’s from the 80’s and the carpet feels damp. This couch smells like you set it on fire and it’s still burning. The bed room has various stains in various places. I haven’t even seen the bathroom but I imagine it’s even worse, oh god I can’t live here.” You weren’t prissy or someone with high standards, this place was just literal hell and since you were dead it was even worse. You could imagine that Dabi wasn’t going to let you leave whenever you wanted so having to be stuck in this place was going to drive you insane.

“I think you sound be more concerned with clothing than housing. You have a roof and a bed; you have no clothes.” Dabi made a very good point that you forgot in your depression over the living situation. You throw your head back letting out another frustrated sob.

“Fuck, you should have just killed me.” You thought you ran out of tears and yet some slid down your cheek. You were frustrated and wanted nothing more than to curl up against your fiancé while he comforts you but you couldn’t do that.

“This isn’t forever. My plan just needs to go accordingly and you should be free to go. Think of this as summer camp or a stake out mission.” You looked at Dabi skeptically. He stared back lacking any intension to deceive you.

“Tomorrow night I’ll bring you by some clothes. If you really hate this place so much, I’ll let you clean and decorate it. Give me a list of shit you need tomorrow and I’ll see what I can do. Your stuck with me and when I’m not here you are going to be under house arrest. You don’t get to leave and if I find out you tried; I’ll show you exactly why you shouldn’t disobey me.” His eyes darkened at the end. He wasn’t the smug Dabi but one who truly would turn you into ash. Minutes ago, you would have chosen to be burn alive rather than have this as your life but that was quick to change with the hope that you would actually be released. Dabi wasn’t all that bad, scary kind of but not bad. Clothes were a blessing you couldn’t wait for. The ability to make this place livable also enticed you. He really knew how to get you to stop whining. A smile spread across your face and Dabi raised a brow. He expected a thank you, he shouldn’t have.

“You’re still a fucking asshole who kidnapped and ‘murdered’ me so don’t go thinking I like you or want to rely on you. The idea of being burned alive is almost tempting when compared to living here with you as my only company.” All this was still served with your smile. You stood up and let the coat tail spin behind you as you walked off to the bedroom. “I’m a size [Y/size], don’t forget that.”

The door shut leaving Dabi alone in the living room. His head falls backward and a chuckle escapes passed his lips. “Damn, what a weird girl. Can see why you like her little bro.”

His hands dip back into his pockets as he leaves the apartment. Once on the street below the dirty building he looks up toward your window. It’s hidden away in the alley. You are looking out it hoping for a view but there isn’t one. He knows how miserable you are but also knows you’re a fighter who will survive. He lights up a cigarette as he disappears into the night. You are left sitting on a dusty windowsill thinking about your would-be husband, your almost widow. You wonder what he was doing, how he was doing. Were his friends with him? A single tear slips down your cheek and onto the window sill mixing into the dusk leaving a dirty mark. A melancholy laugh puffs passed your lips. You close yours eyes remembering the first time the two of you met. Remembering how falling in love happened slowly then all at once.

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

Shoto Todoroki was an emotionless teenager when you met him. You were older than him by a year and met him by complete accident. You both attended UA and he got lost ending up near one of your classes. He ran into you as you rushed to deliver paperwork to the office. More like you ran into him. Instead of swooning over the mismatched eyes and hair like most girls did you pushed passed him. “Sorry gotta go, next time watch where you’re going.”

You had found him outside your classroom afterschool waiting for you. You were confused as he looked at you with about as much emotion as a wall. Hell, you’d seen walls with more emotion. He was like a red and white brick. Your fellow classmates walked around you, some whispering questions amongst each other. You were as confused as they were.

“Um why are you here?”

“You ran into me.” You raised a brow at his blunt accusation. You thought back to earlier and indeed you ran into him. You should have apologized seriously earlier but now you were curious. He waited out here just to tell you that.

“Earlier I was walking down this hallway and you ran into me, then you proceeded to tell me to watch where I was going when you were the one who should have watched herself.” A child, a first year, a stranger was scolding you. A normal person would apologize or defend themselves. You weren’t normal. Instead you laughed at him. He didn’t like that but his irritation subsided into concern. What had he said that was so funny? This seemed like a very serious topic, had he told it like a joke? “Why are you laughing?”

“You seriously waited out here, outside my classroom, just to scold me. Man, you are taking justice pretty seriously, that or I offended your pride as a man. Is it that one? Did I make you feel less of a man because I pushed you while blaming you for my own neglectfulness?” Shoto couldn’t believe how you spoke to him. His cheeks actually heated up from embarrassment and that never happened. People didn’t usually speak to or toward him like this. It was, different? You patted his head when he didn’t speak but just stood there like an old windows computer trying to start up.

“See yah.”

“Wait.” You stopped behind him and turned around. He was facing you with conflicting emotions. “What are you doing right now?”

“I have training, why?” You were put off slightly by his change in attitude.

“Can I watch.” Okay that sounded stalkerish. “I have a classmate who likes to collect information on people’s quirks. You’re from class 2A so I assume you have a unique or powerful quirk. I think he’d like to watch and I have to write a report on quirk studies so…”

Bullshit, it was all bullshit, you knew it he knew it. The janitor that passed awkwardly knew it. This boy would die of embarrassment if you brought it up. A sigh slips out and you can’t say no because you are already late and at least this would give you an excuse to give your teacher. “Sure.”

After getting changed you found four underclassmen staring at you. It was uncomfortable and almost comedic. You never really brought attention to yourself, actually class 2A never really attracted too much attention. The dual hair colored boy stood next to a green haired boy who seemed really excited to see you. The other two consisted of a taller blue haired boy with glasses and a shorter round cheeked brunette. You actually realized you knew all four of them. A grin spread across your face as you pointed at them.

“You guys are from class 1A. I watched you guys at the sports festival and I watched you guys at the school festival. Oh man you are Midoriya Izuku, you’re Iida Tenya, Uraraka Ochako, and that makes you Todoroki Shoto. They all looked amazed that you knew their names. Hell, it was hard to not when everyone talked about the class of villain fighting heroes. They were famous and you had mocked the class heartthrob. It made you laugh because you had classmates that found him hot with his cold demeanor and mysterious scar. When you looked at him you saw a socially awkward kid.

“You’re L/n F/n! Your quirk is so cool! I read about it in a book Mr. Aizawa had about former students. I would love to be able to see it in action! Would that be okay?” He was enthusiastic and you couldn’t say no. You also needed to get to training because you were even more late now. After a nod they all followed you to the training grounds. Other students looked at you and laughed at your entourage. They made teasing comments while others swooned over Shoto. You rolled your eyes. Training mattered more than some dumb boy. Little did you know how wrong you were at that moment. Running into him that afternoon started a domino effect. He had watched you never looking away as you fought. You were mesmerizing. He hadn’t heard a word said by his friends. It was cliché but he was captivated by you.

After that day Shoto found himself following you a lot. He would meet you after class and watch you train or go with you to the library. It was awkward to you but kind of cute. He opened up to you about his past and you didn’t cry. Instead you smiled and held his hands. You told him that he was strong and that his past would never define his future. He had fallen deeper and deeper in love with you, who seemed so far out of his league. Little did he know that he filled your thoughts. You always wondered what he was doing or thinking. You learned to make soba so the two of you could eat while watching the sunset. He missed being around you when you were at your work studies but he supported you behind the scenes. Eventually the two of you were inseparable, until graduation. You stood amongst your fellow classmates laughing and smiling, beaming with pride that you had made it. Everyone had flowers and gifts except you. You turned when someone had called your name. It was Shoto standing facing you, he had a bouquet of your favorite flowers with red streaked across his cheeks. He said something but you couldn’t hear over the crowds. As you walked closer you tried to hear him better. You kept yelling that you couldn’t hear so he mouthed it slowly and you realized what he said; I love you. Your heart stopped and all of a sudden no one else mattered. The loud crowd disappeared leaving just you and Todoroki. Your legs kicked off the ground flinging yourself the distance tackling him into a hug. He dropped the flowers, wrapping his arms around you.

“I love you too.” He cried against your shoulder because he hadn’t known love like this. Your love was something he gained and his trust was something you had fought for. He loved you and you loved him and that was all the mattered. That time felt so far away but in reality, it was only 3 ½ years ago. You’d been with him for 3 ½ years and engaged for six months. It wasn’t always perfect but you wouldn’t have traded it for anything, except you did trade it. You traded it for some shitty apartment and a death sentence. You were truly the villain of this story.  

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

It took Dabi two days to ‘find/steal’ the things on your shopping list. He brought you a haul of ‘crap’ and clothing of various sizes. You were miserable but this was one thing that made you smile through the depression. Cleaning supplies gave you something to occupy your time. A small chipped table for the eating nook next to the tiny kitchen, a dresser with mismatched paint and broken drawers. A clean set of blankets, sheets, and towels found a home on the bed and in the closet in the hallway. It wasn’t perfect but you were excited to put them where you wanted. It was like an interior design show for the less fortunate. Dabi sat on the couch with a bottle of bourbon while watching people play hero on the TV. You cleaned around him. He wrinkled his nose when you poured carpet cleaner everywhere. The apartment smelled of bleach and lemon by the time you finished. He was actually impressed, a smirk spread across his face as you flopped down on the couch. The large blanket he got you covered the dirty stains on it. He looked you over, noticing how you looked good in the wore torn jeans and oversized t-shirt he got you. It was casual and he liked it. He imagined from what you had come from that you wore a lot of blouses and skirts rather than this.

“You did a good job. I’d give the place two stars.” You hit him with the towel sitting on your shoulder. He laughed noticing your eye roll. “I gotta leave for a few days. While I’m gone you better behave and maybe I’ll bring you a treat.”

“Fuck you.” He had gotten used to your foul mouth and wondered how such an energetic snarky girl ended up with tight ass Shoto who only showed emotions like confusion and anger. He pushed off the couch. He needed to go back to the league and knew he couldn’t involve you in it. You were dead and it needed to stay that way. The league would use you for a different goal and he couldn’t let that happen. He grabbed his coat throwing it over his shoulder along with a wink and kiss to you. You blinked with an annoyed face before catching the kiss throwing it to the ground grinding it under your foot. His laugh could be heard even after the door closed behind him. You were once again alone which changed your demeanor from aggressive to weary. Your eye lids drooped and your shoulders fell. Your legs found themselves pulled onto the couch with your arms wrapped around them. You watched the news hearing segments talking about Deku saving three people from a fire and Red Riot helping catch a bank robber. You smiled happy for them. You never resented them, instead you rooted for your fellow heroes. They were saving the day while you scrubbed strange stains out of ancient carpet.

“As you all know we recently lost hero/name and it’s been hard to cope. This Saturday is her funeral. It is not an open viewing but we were informed that citizens are allowed to place mementos and grieve afterward outside the building. We are also being told to remind people to let hero Shoto grieve and not to bother him if you see him in public.”

Whatever was said afterword you didn’t hear because you were processing the new information. You were going to be buried, this makes it even more real. Chest tightening you stumbled off the couch reaching for the remote. Silence surrounds you as the TV clicks off. The room in spinning and you feel as if you are actually in a small box being buried. You cover your ears begging the world to stop spinning and for the voices to stop. You hear your friends giving eulogy’s, you hear crying and whispers of disappointment. You were a hero how did you lose. The ground hit you, wait no, you hit the ground. Your legs had given out and you were sobbing into the carpet, you could taste the chemicals you had used earlier. At the moment you didn’t care, not about the taste or about anything else. You had a request for Dabi that you knew wouldn’t fly well. You wanted to attend your own funeral.

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

A week after your ‘murder’ came your funeral. There were strict rules enforced by Dabi, you weren’t allowed to leave the apartment for obvious reasons. This rule prevented you from going but you got to watch it. After begging for some kind of way to be there Dabi returned with a laptop that had shaky footage. You didn’t know who was recording it and knew better than to ask. The footage wasn’t perfect but it gave you what you wanted. Dabi offered to leave you alone but you didn’t want to be alone. The sounds of sniffling were caught coming from many guests. The building was gorgeous. Huge with marble walls and columns near the entrance. It felt like you were at a Greek wedding not a funeral. Everyone was adorned in black. You didn’t recognize the people near the camera person. The camera angle moved and you gasped, walking down the aisle leading toward the end of the room where you assumed a casket laid were your friends. You had friends from your own classes but these weren’t them. These were the friends you made through Shoto. Midoriya walked, his hand holding tightly onto Uraraka’s, she was crying. You smiled sadly at her through the screen. They were an adorable couple who you always rooted for. Now they were finding comfort in each other mourning you. Following behind them was Kirishima with Bakugou, Bakugou looked good in a suit but his red eyes made the red around them stand out more. You felt bad since you knew how much he hated feeling or looking weak. Kirishima was smiling but it held pain. There were many other classmates following behind but the camera turned to watch people gather around the front doors. Your hands flew over your mouth and Dabi had to catch the laptop before it fell from your lap. He placed it on the coffee table angling it so you could watch without dropping it. He wanted to scoff at your pain because he couldn’t understand why you would be sad. This was all a game, a show put on for the media. No one really cared for others this much, or maybe they did, Dabi just knew that he didn’t understand why the dead felt bad for the living.

“Please let him through.” Tenya was signaling people to move away from Shoto. Once the crowds dispersed you could see him. He looked like he hadn’t slept in months, his eyes bloodshot with black holes surrounding them. His cheeks were hollowing, and the rest of him looked thinner. He hadn’t been eating. His hair wasn’t styled and seemed messier, longer. His skin was dull and lifeless, like his eyes. He walked like he had no idea where he was going. Tenya held his shoulder walking with him like a guide. Had Tenya been watching over him for you? You hope someone was, you hope someone will intervene and stop his self-destruction. The camera follows as close as it can and you don’t know how much you can watch. In the front, stood rows of chairs for close family and friends. Your mother was wiping her eyes with her head against your fathers’ shoulder. They looked at the casket that you knew was empty. The camera watched Shoto tap their shoulders. They stood up and hugged him. He was apologizing to them; they didn’t take the apology. Your parents were always fond of him. They wouldn’t blame him. Shoto sat down away from them, Natsuo and Fuyumi sat next to him. Natsuo was rubbing his sisters’ shoulder as she sobbed into her handkerchief. The seat next to them was empty, reserved for Endeavor, for someone who wouldn’t show up. Natsuo had told you before that Endeavor didn’t do funerals, he even missed his own sons. You were actually glad that he wasn’t there, he didn’t deserve to be there. Dabi noticed your change from a forlorn stare to one filled with scorn. He knew you had been thinking about Endeavor, he knew because he had felt he same thing. He had been in the same situation watching people cry over him while the person that caused it was MIA. He watched the footage continue and could feel you stiffen up as people got up to speak. Speech after speech drained you of tears and life. You looked like you were actually dying as you watched Shoto stand behind the mic.

“I don’t want to talk much. I could stand here and tell you every tiny detail about F/n that I love, that I miss. I could tell you about her but I won’t. Instead I’ll say this and only this. I will not sleep, I will not eat, I will not rest till the killer is caught. No one even cares that this was a murder. She isn’t dead, she was murdered and while the rest of you cry and live your comfy lives, I’ll be out there taking down her killer.”

A sentimental speech is what you expected but received a promise of revenge. People gasped and shook their heads in disbelief. It was tasteless to people but to you it meant he fell right into Dabi’s clutches. Dabi was smiling with knowing eyes. He already knew this would happen. He knew all along and you couldn’t be mad because apart of you hoped this would get you back in his arms faster. The rest of the funeral went by without much problem. You watched the casket be lowered into a hole and buried with goodbyes and bundles of flowers. Shoto was the only one left besides the camera man. He put the camera down walking over to Shoto. You gasped as the winged hero put a hand on Shoto’s back apologizing for his lose. Shoto didn’t react while Hawks picked up the camera and turned it off. You watched the black screen feeling your hands shake, you slowly turn to Dabi.

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.” You did was answers. You needed to know why the number 2 hero of Japan, Endeavors subordinate, was doing Dabi a favor. You had heard about heroes helping villains and selling secrets but this was to close to home. What the hell was happening. “Please Dabi, tell me what’s happening. Why was Hawks there? Why was he recording for you?”

“We all have secrets doll. I can’t tell you to much but I can tell you he owed me a favor and this was how he was repaying me. I needed to see your funeral as well to make sure my plan was actually working. It is and Shoto seems to be playing the game as intended. Soon enough you’ll be trading your stained walls in for your old egg shell white ones. Your pumpkin will turn back into a carriage sweetheart and while your dancing with the prince, I’ll have the kings head on a stick.” You knew he wanted Endeavor but you finally started piecing together exactly how he was going to do it. He was going to use Shoto to kill him or capture him. Either way Shoto was now a pawn on the same board as you. Dabi was playing the game against a cheater, someone who wouldn’t lose easily. Endeavor was not an easy man to break. This was going to be harder than manipulating your husband and you knew that.

“I want to help.”

“You already have. You being dead gives Shoto reason to kill. To go against his hero code. As long as you stay dead and he seeks revenge all goes well. I get what I deserve.” His phone beeps and he’s leaving you. The laptop goes with him, you don’t mind because there isn’t anything you can do on it anyway. You walk to the window watching his figure disappear into the foggy street. What an ugly night. You went to bed and curled up with a book Dabi had brought you.

Elsewhere Shoto stood in the darkness of an alley behind his fathers’ agency. Hawks walked by talking on the phone with someone not noticing the boy’s presence. Shoto waited and slipped into the building before the door closed. He couldn’t be caught using the codes or else they’d know it was him. He knew how to avoid the cameras, how to maneuver the building without getting caught. He found himself outside the large office he had been in plenty of times. To think it would be his father’s final resting place, it was perfect justice. He went to push the door open but hesitated when he heard him talking to someone.

“I offered her money, I offered her positions outside the country, Hell I had other heroes try to seduce her but nothing worked. She was hell bent on staying with Shoto. I couldn’t allow her to ruin his chances at being the number 1 hero. He needed to focus and if he were to marry it should be to someone with a quirk that complimented his. I needed her out of the picture and to think someone else took care of it before we had too.” Shoto knew his father was shitty, manipulative, abusive and so many other fucked up things but this was something else. This was beyond shitty and abusive. This was evil and a power trip. His father may not have killed you but he was going to get what he deserved for playing a part in it. The door opened under his touch and when he walked in his father turned a huge smirk across his face.

“Oh Shoto, I was just going to call you.” He put his phone down and Shoto was able to make out the name of the contact he had just been talking to, Hawks. He thought back to the funeral and pieced together theories. Hawks had a part in this and he was going to find out exactly what happened to you. His arm encases itself in fire the other arm freezing the exits. He stares at his still smirking father. “This isn’t a friendly visit. You’re going to tell me you killed Y/n and then I’m going to decide if I should kill you now or slowly torture you first.”    

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Taglist: @flowersgirl02

Let me know if you would like to be on the taglist-

[renaerys]

PPG One-Shot: Six Degrees Chiller (Brick/Blossom)

A new cute one-shot in honor of @carriedreamerx birthday! In the same high school AU as part 1, part 2, and part 3, but can totally stand-alone. Also posted on my AO3. Tune in for some laughs and some Reds cuteness!

Summary: Brick goes deodorant shopping. It doesn't end well. (Or does it??)

xxx

Brick squinted at the nine-foot shelf packed with a full color wheel of deodorants and antiperspirants. The sheer surfeit of brands and scents was as daunting to behold as it was absolutely batshit insane—how many ways did people need to not smell like a dirty gym sock?

He picked a random stick and scowled at the label as if it had offended him and all his future progeny. Who the fuck would want to smell like mango lassi?

The squeak of a shopping cart rolling down the aisle sent Brick into a febrile panic for a hot second, and he shoved the saccharine deodorant stick back onto the shelf. A geriatric woman with a hunched back, a bright head scarf, and eyes so folded over with wrinkles it was a miracle she could see anything at all wheeled her cart slowly past Brick, who froze where he stood. She smiled politely at him, and he nodded out of sheer self-preservation instinct. The moment she passed him, he yanked the bill of his red cap lower over his eyes.

“Get a grip,” he grumbled. He was an eighteen-year-old guy buying deodorant, not stool softener. He was totally casual and had absolutely no reason to be so fucking paranoid. Nobody who might recognize him was coming to Cooper’s Market at 8 a.m. on a Sunday.

Brick wiped his clammy palms on his jeans and searched the shelves for what he’d come for so he could hurry up and leave. There it was, fifth shelf in a sea of sleek black and edgy, neon letters: Axe Ice Chill.

“Okay, do you consider yourself more of a music lover, sports star, gaming guru, or style icon?” Boomer had asked as he sat cross-legged on the sofa with his laptop open to the Axe “Find Your Magic” test a few months ago.

“Sports star,” Butch had said on his left, and poked the screen that wasn’t a touch-screen.

“That’s you, moron,” Brick had said, totally above this stupid test. “Pick style icon.”

Boomer grinned. “Oh yeah, your hoodies are so stylin’.” He clicked the next question. “Signature scent? Huh, maybe warm and aromatic?”

“Sounds like one of those Yankee holiday candles,” Butch had said.

Unfortunately, he had a point.

“Well, you're not exactly woody and earthy, and you’re definitely not fruity and sweet—”

“Just go to the next one.” Brick clicked on “fresh and cool” and waited for the screen to load. “Smellin’ good!” the loading page flashed at him. Jesus fucking Christ.

When the quiz presented a true or false statement, Butch moved like he had a bug up his ass and slammed the touchpad before Brick or Boomer could do anything about it.

Boomer tried not to laugh. “Dude, come on.”

“Please, he’s a punk-ass dweeb who’d never make the first move in a fight, let alone on a girl—” Butch had taunted.

Brick punched him in the throat with his Super speed and smiled at the sound of his asshat brother gagging. “Choke and die, motherfucker.”

Butch wheezed as he laughed through the pain, and Brick and Boomer breezed through the more generic age and appearance questions: under 18, long hair (“Mane Man!” the quiz gushed, and Brick almost melted Boomer’s laptop right there), and natural look. After an artificially anticipatory loading screen, a picture of a dude with a clown nose crowd surfing in a sepia Instagram filter appeared on the screen with the generic “Be your best self!” encouragement in blocky letters superimposed upon it, and finally the expert, personalized recommendation for Brick’s body spray needs.

“Because you’re hotter when you’re chill.” Brick had cringed when he read that idiotic tagline the first time, and he cringed reading it again now in the deserted personal hygiene aisle where he prayed no one would find him buying this cry-for-help vanity spritz.

However.

He sprayed a bit of mist in the air and reveled in that cool, icy scent that wasn’t a scent so much as a feeling. Six degrees chiller in a bottle. The first time he’d tried it (under great duress), he’d griped and bitched and slammed his bedroom door to get away from his howling brothers. Settled on his bed with a frown, he had to admit it did cool him off. It was almost pleasant. The smell wasn’t overwhelming like that tiger piss Butch bathed in on the daily. But it wasn’t out of this world compared to the generic shit he’d been using before.

It wasn’t until Blossom sneezed on their way out of AP Lit that her ice breath—and understanding—hit him with the force of a cold snap to the balls.

“Sorry, did I get you?” she’d said, abashed as she covered her mouth with one hand and fished out a bottle of Purell from her messenger bag with the other. Her ice splatter fast melted on his shoulder as his too-warm body absorbed the cold with a bizarre, but extremely pleasant, shiver down his spine.

Son of a bitch, but he had a kink.

Which, of course, spiraled way the hell out of control when he found himself here months later with a recycled shopping bag he’d brought so he could carry the three bottles of Axe Ice Chill he planned to purchase home, because Brick planned ahead and liked to keep his bathroom well-stocked.

Which also, of course, was why at that very moment, fate decided to punch him in the dick.

“Bubbles, you have, like, fourteen bottles of shampoo at home! You don’t need another one,” Buttercup groused at 8 in the goddamned morning on a Sunday.

“Those are all different products, not just shampoo. Honestly, Buttercup.” Bubbles zipped into the aisle with Buttercup on her tail just at the moment Brick had his second panic attack in the span of five minutes and completely lost his shit.

He launched the bottle of Axe Ice Chill so hard into the ceiling that it lodged in there tighter than a prairie-dogging turd.

“Brick?” Blossom’s hand on his shoulder nearly sent him yeeting after his abused body spray, if the sheer mortification didn’t rob him of further motor function and exactly one hundred percent of his brain cells.

Like her sisters, she wore a jacket over her pajama pants. They must have just popped over for some last-minute breakfast staples and a side of peer humiliation. But even in those criminally hideous Ugg boots and five boxes of pancake mix in her shopping basket at 8 on a fucking Sunday morning, her smile glowed.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” he returned lamely, because that was all she was getting from him until his neurological functions rebooted.

“Hi, Brick,” Buttercup said, suspicious like usual and searching for some excuse to bust his balls for a laugh. “What’re you doing here?”

The Super sisters had cornered him in front of the Teen Spirit, which came in an absolutely frightful eighteen scents because there was nothing pubescent teenagers needed more than eighteen reassurances that their social survival depended on smelling like a potpourri candy bar.

“Shopping, obviously,” Bubbles said. “Ooh, Brick, you have straight hair. What do you think?” She held up two bottles of brightly colored free-range, organic hair shit.

“I think I was just leaving,” he managed.

“Empty-handed?” Buttercup peered at him like he might transform into a literal dick with ears if she only managed not to blink for long enough. He could smell the threat of a joke on her.

“They didn’t have the brand I wanted.”

“Oh, that sucks,” Bubbles said, genuinely stricken.

“Girls, let’s get going. I really want those pancakes,” Blossom said.

“We better grab more syrup. Buttercup finished it all,” Bubbles said, already moving away. She dropped both hair products in Blossom’s basket, not bothering to choose between them.

“Oh please, everybody knows you and the Professor are the syrup fiends in this house.” Buttercup floated after her and waved to Brick. “Hey, tell that shithead to answer my texts. He owes me $20.”

“Uh-huh,” Brick said, fully intending not to mention anything about this conversation to Butch at all.

“Sorry about your favorite brand being sold out,” Blossom said.

It’s fine, he would have said had she not caught his cheek in her hand and pressed a frosty kiss to the corner of his lips before he could do anything about it. Frozen fernlings crept over his cheek and chin, down his neck, and slowly absorbed through his now flushed skin, and he shivered. Without even thinking about it, he reached for her, but she was already walking away to catch up with her sisters.

When she got to the end of the aisle, she shot him a cheeky grin over her shoulder and had the nerve to wink at him. “Stay cool, Brick.”

Red in the face and high on her, Brick just stood there like an idiot gawking at his kind of unofficial girlfriend and the singular dominating object of his fantasies, be they sexual or otherwise. What was dignity when she smiled at him like that? What was a paltry imitation in a bottle when she kissed him like that?

The paltry imitation fell from its hole in the ceiling and exploded on the tiled floor at Brick’s feet with a winter ferocity that, in that moment at least, rivaled Blossom’s in the heat of battle.

When Brick got home later that morning and Boomer asked him why he smelled like a snowman’s asshole, Brick burned the clothes on his back and spent the next half hour in the shower thinking about how he was going to convince Blossom to make the first move and finally make them official.

xxx

Y’all better appreciate the research that went into this fic. That Axe quiz is real and I took it pretending to be Brick, and it literally does spit out a photo of a dude wearing a clown nose in a club. If that’s not a sign from the Daddy that I’ve chosen the righteous path, then idk what is. Sacrifices to my Chrome search history were made for this fic in the name of celebrating Carrie, ergo, worth it.

[theotherackerman]

My Mind Turns Your Life Into Folklore

My Mind Turns Your Life Into Folklore

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: Any recognizable elements belong to Attack on Titan.

NOTES:  Flashback: Mikasa, age 9

Current time: January 4th, Monday

TRIGGER WARNINGS: mentions of suicide and attempted suicide. a character discuss this, the actual act is not mentioned.

Emotional abuse discussed, physical abuse discussed, child abuse discussed.

chapter eight: are we out of the woods?

Levi did not know how people did this. Granted, Mikasa was an easy kid for the most part. She was quiet, she liked to read. She played with her dolls and stuffed animals. She’d sing a lot but Kenny and Levi were used to that.  She didn’t ask for much. She’d occasionally asked Levi to play the piano for her but that was it.

Until today.

Today, Mikasa started at her new school. She had been homeschooled up until today. Winter break for elementary school was now over.

“Just put your coat on,” Levi pleaded with the nine year old.

“No,” Mikasa said as she held onto the staircase railing.

“Come on, you’ve got to go to school. I’ve got to go to the hospital and check on Kenny,” he pleaded again as he tried to wrench her tiny little hands off of the staircase’s railing bars.

“No! I won’t wear that coat! You can’t make me!” She screamed.

Levi looked at the coat in his hands and realized this had been the coat she had worn during the car accident. It was the only coat she owned.

“If I don’t make you wear the coat, will you go?”

Mikasa nodded before releasing her hands on the staircase railing. Well, he wouldn’t be winning guardian of the year for this but if got her to school, he would do it.

“Wait for me by the door,” he told her as he went upstairs. He opened the hall closest that Kenny kept everything in to find a smaller coat for Mikasa but there were none.

Kenny kept everything else but what Levi needed in this moment. He found a cardigan that had belonged to his mother, it would be huge on Mikasa but he would take it.

One car ride later, Levi dropped Mikasa off at her classroom, carrying her the whole way.

“Captain Ackerman, it’s been a while,” Mrs. Springer said as she stood in the doorway to the classroom.

“Mrs. Springer, nice to see you. This is my cousin, Mikasa,” he said as he put Mikasa down. He stayed down at her level. “This is Mrs. Springer, her husband owns the farm with the pumpkin patch. The one your mom and dad take you to every year?”

Mikasa nodded, “will you take me there? I wanna feed the chickens again.”

“I will but you have to go learn with her. I can’t teach you but she can, okay? I’ll be here at 3:15 to pick you up.”

Mikasa hugged Levi. He didn’t know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t that. He hugged her back before letting her go. “She’s got a kid about your age. So she knows what she’s doing.”

“Yes, Connie is in the classroom just next door to ours. You can ask him if you want,” Mrs. Springer said as she kneeled down next to Levi and Mikasa. She held her hand out, Mikasa was very hesitant to take it. Mikasa looked to Levi who nodded so Mikasa took Mrs. Springer’s hand.

“You’re doing a fine job, Captain Ackerman. Mikasa will be fine here. If there’s any problems, I’ll call immediately.”

Mikasa sat at the back of class, she didn’t speak much. She liked silent reading because there was not a chance of her getting called on.

When recess came, it was too cold to go outside so Mikasa decided to continue reading.

Mrs. Springer stepped out of the classroom for a moment to run to the bathroom.

That’s when the trouble started.

“She’s kind of a freak,” Daz remarked. “She’s not even trying. Hey! Girl! Stop being weird!”

Mikasa ignored him.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” He said before kicking her desk.

She ignored him and continued to read.

“Leave her alone, Daz.”

“What did you say, Eren?”

“I said leave her alone.”

Daz kicked her desk again.

A blur passed by Mikasa.

Eren had tackled Daz to the ground. “Leave her alone! You’re only messing with her because no one else here will deal with your shit!”

Chaos erupted into the classroom.

Somehow Daz ended up pinning Eren.

Mikasa could not allow this to happen.

Eren had tried to save her.

She leapt from her desk at the same time as the blonde boy who had been playing with Eren earlier.

“Get off of him!” Mikasa yelled as she punched Daz square in the jar while the blonde boy pulled Daz’s shoes off.

“You gotta get a girl to fight your battle for you?” Daz stumbled to his feet.

Mikasa and Eren looked at one another.

Mikasa kicked Daz in the stomach, causing the boy to stumble back.

Eren and Armin sat next to Mikasa during pick up time. She was shivering as the temperature had dropped since this morning. She had wished that she would have worn the stupid coat this morning.

She had been lucky today that everyone had jumped to defend her and Eren. The principle had gone easy on them, that was for sure. Eren’s mom arrived at the same time as Levi and Kenny. Mikasa’s eyes lit up at the site of her uncle. He had gone back into the hospital only days after the accident.

“Heard ya started a brawl on your first day, short stuff,” Kenny said as he messed up her hair.

“Daz kept kicking my desk. Eren was only trying to help! I had to save him like he saved me.”

“Is this true, Eren?” His mom asked him.

“Sorry, Carla. Didn’t know our girl here was…” Kenny started to say.

“Don’t apologize. I’m actually sort of impressed that he fought for another person besides Armin. I keep telling him he needs more than one friend. Sorry he got your girl in trouble and on her first day.”

“No apologies needed,” Levi said as he reached for Mikasa’s hand.

“Alright, Armin and Eren, let’s go,” Carla called and the two boys followed her.

Kenny pulled a bag out from behind his back. “TADA! New coat.” He pulled a green puffy coat f rom out of the bag with rhinestones along the zipper. “You’re gonna be the coolest girl in the third grade with that.”

Mikasa put the coat on. It was warm. She beamed up at Levi and Kenny.

Eren had run back. “This is for you. It’s my lucky scarf. You’re new and I like you, so you should have it. “ He took off the red scarf he had been wearing and wrapped it around her neck. “I like your new coat!” He called as he ran back to Carla.

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

Mikasa had changed outfits at least three times before Historia intervened.

“I don’t think it matters what you wear. Remember, you’re doing this for you, not for him.”

Historia threw the closest doors open and began going through Mikasa’s clothes. She pulled out the leather jacket Zeke had given her. Mikasa knew it was actually Eren’s but she didn’t interrupt H istoria when she was putting together clothes. She pulled out a black t shirt dress and black l eggings before going through Mikasa’s shoes.

After Mikasa changed again, Historia instructed her to sit so Historia could do Mikasa’s makeup.

“If I’m doing this for me, why are you doing my makeup?” Mikasa asked.

“Just because you’re doing this for yourself doesn’t mean you can’t show him what he's missing. Actually, I want to make a wardrobe change." Then Historia is back in Mikasa's closet, looking through storage bins. She found what she's looking for and toss it at Mikasa. "Go change."

It's a pair of fishnet tights. Mikasa thinks its too much but there's also a part of her that knows that Historia is right. There's a reason for Ymir's jealousy. So many people saw Historia's beauty but not only in her looks but in the way she carries herself. Mikasa wished she could be like that.

So she stripped her leggings off and put on the tights. Historia was still going through Mikasa's closet, looking for something. Then the blonde girl left Mikasa's room and came back, holding a large makeup case. She pulled out a pallet and a makeup brush.

"Close your eyes," Historia says as she pulls a pallet and brush from the case. Mikasa once again does as she's told. "Have I told you how jealous I am of your perfect skin?"

"Today? No," Mikasa starts to turn red. She's still not use to compliments. Historia has told her this multiple times but it still blindsides her every time.

"Well, you have perfect skin. Don't worry, I'm not doing too much makeup. Just boosting your beauty. Eren Jaeger is not going to know what hit him. Well, besides my fist that one time," Historia laughs.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"

"Keep your eyes closed but open your lips slightly." Mikasa felt a makeup brush running along her lips. "I think, for once in your life, you need to be completely selfish. I think you're doing the right thing because it's what you want to do. Not us, not Eren, or Levi. It's all you, Mika. If Eren is truly sorry, then forgive him. If he's not, I'll break his teeth."

There was a pause before Mikasa felt something wrap around her neck.

She knew what it was.

The scarf Eren had given her all those years ago.

It had been in storage for a year but now, she had it back around her neck.

"Keep your eyes closed. Just trust me."

Historia’s hand slipped into Mikasa and she's pulled across the room. "You can open your eyes n ow."

Mikasa wouldn't know she was wearing make up if she hadn't felt Historia putting it on. The blonde girl did truly what she said she would. The light brown on her eyes and the pink on her lips were just highlights. The fishnets that she hadn’t worn in years made her feel like herself again. Paired with the red scarf, she felt like she could take on the world.

"You are a badass. Remember when that guy wouldn't stop hitting on me at that football game and you flipped him on his back? That girl is still there. I see her when you write songs or work out with Annie. Eren didn't take that girl from you. So today, remember that. Wear your boots with this."

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

Zeke and Eren had spent the morning boxing up unnecessary things in the kitchen. Then they moved into the living room to box up the rest of the remaining pictures. When everyone had been here the other day, they had got a lot of it done.

“What time is Mikasa coming over again?”  Zeke asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

“Four,” Eren replied.

“I will probably leave before that. Give you two your privacy.”

Eren nodded.

“I am proud of you, Eren. You are doing the right thing for both of you. You will have closure and so will she.”

It was strange. Zeke was only ten years older than him but in the last year he had been more of a role model to him than Grisha ever had.

Zeke made a home for him.

He stood by him while also not condoning his actions.

He wanted Eren to get better.

Be better.

But there was no set path about how to do that.

Sure, Zeke had made his opinion known on the whole Mikasa and Armin situation.

He had called Eren an idiot for it.

Eren knew he was an idiot for it.

But Zeke had listened to him.

He had given advice only when asked.

Never pushed him.

Instead, Zeke walked beside him.

Grisha….

He had..

He had pressured Eren.

Go to college.

Get perfect grades.

Do this for college.

Do that.

What do you mean it's too late for applications for that university? I paid for that application. I didn’t? No, you’re lying. This is your fault.

Get a job.

No, you can’t have a job.

I don’t have time to have this conversation.

Take online classes.

These classes aren't good enough

Play guitar better.

Why do I keep raising failures?

I won't be home.

Don't touch me. I do not need pity from a child.

Your mother doesn't understand.

You don't understand.

Why aren't you good enough?

Be better.

Be perfect.

Be a doctor.

Do this.

Do that.

You're a failure.

For Zeke, it had been actions that Grisha had used against him.

For Eren, it had been words.

And the words stuck with him.

Zeke being Zeke poked Eren in the side of his face.

“You are not our father. You are doing the one thing he never did. You are taking responsibility for your actions. I am very proud of you, Eren,” Zeke told him.

Twice.

Zeke had said he was proud of Eren twice.

Eren tried to remember a time Grisha had said he was proud of him.

Eren couldn’t.

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

All five girls were in the car to drop Mikasa off at Erens. It was only three blocks away but none of them would hear that argument.

"If this goes bad, we're a text away," Sasha reminded Mikasa as Mikasa got out of the passenger seat.

"I have no problems breaking some bones," Ymir added.

“You’re making her nervous! It’ll be fine, Mikasa. Just go be yourself,” Historia said as she climbed from the backseat into the passenger.

Annie scoffed, “if it’s not, I’ll make the call to Levi to bail us out.”

“Okay, bye! Drive, Sasha before she changes her mind!” Historia yelled.

Sasha nodded before sped off.

Zeke Jaeger was exiting the house just as Mikasa walked up the driveway.

“Eren’s inside, finishing up a song. I’ll unlock the door and let you in.”

Zeke did just that and closed the door behind her after she walked in.

Eren was standing at a table in the living room with his back to the door. It looked like the old kitchen table to Mikasa.

“Okay so how does this sound?” Eren started to play guitar as he looked down at the paper in front of him. “ {lyrics redacted due to copyright} “

Mikasa took a step closer to him. She really did love hearing him sing.

“I can’t decide if after the bridge we should go straight into the chorus or not. Maybe I should repeat that last line. I mean granted, it’s not Mikasa’s bridge,” he said as he turned around to make eye contact with her. His eyes widened and he tripped over the leg of the table, stumbling as he walked away from the table. “You’re not Zeke.”

“I’m not. Sorry, he let me in. I can go…”

“No! It’s fine. It’s 4:00 and we said we’d meet at 4:00. I just...let me go put this down. Sorry, there’s not much furniture. There’s still a couch in the basement if you want to sit somewhere comfortable. I’ll go put this in my room and I’ll meet you down there, okay?”

Was he nervous?

Why was he nervous?

Why was she nervous?

Had letting Historia do her makeup been a bad idea?

Was she overdressed?

She walked down to the basement.

When it had been unfinished, Armin, Eren, and her had made stories of what was down here. Cannibals, bigfoot, sharks, the loch ness monster had all been a part of the stories. Carla got sick of them scaring each other and made Grisha finish it. It became like a second living room.

The large tv and gaming systems were already gone, Mikasa noted. The bookshelves were gone too.

The couch took up much of the room, it was very soft. It wrapped around the room, hugging the walls. Mikasa had spent many nights sleeping on this thing.

Eren came downstairs just as Mikasa sat down.

“It’s a good bridge, “ she spoke up.

Eren sat down on the opposite side of the couch so he was facing Mikasa. “Thanks, I’ve been working on a response to your song.”

Her eyes lit up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I mean you called me out on my shit so I couldn’t not respond. It was good though. I liked it a lot.”

“Thanks.”

Silence.

They both looked away from one another.

How should this begin?

Should she just ask?

How should she ask?

Make the decision you’ll regret least , Mikasa remembered again.

“What’s wrong with your liver?” She finally broke the silence.

“Shitty genetics, binge drinking.”

“Why couldn’t you walk because of it?”

“Liver cycles out toxins. When it can’t, your body swells. Mine went into my legs. It hurt to walk, I couldn’t walk. The pain became too much.”

“So what did they do about it?” She asked as she looked over at him. His eyes wouldn’t meet hers.

“Well, they cut a big chunk of it out. It’s regenerating. They’re keeping an eye on it. No alcohol for me, I have to watch what pain pills I take.” He lifted his shirt up enough so Mikasa could see  the scar running along his abdomen. “Now I’ve got this great scar to remind myself of it.” He dropped his shirt back down.

“When did you find out you were bipolar?”

“Couple weeks after the DUI. Zeke had suspected it, being a psychologist, but he couldn’t do anything because I’m his brother. Conflict of interest. He convinced me to go see one after the DUI. He said my drinking was getting out of control, he wasn’t wrong. They diagnosed me. I didn’t want to believe it. I avoided going back until about six months ago. Then it was weekly meetings for therapy and medication.”

She wanted to ask him why he went back but she had a more important question to ask.

“Why did you say those horrible things to me?”

Eren stood up, ran his hand through his hair, paced for a moment, and then sat down.

“You know how my mom found out about Zeke and his mom? She got a letter from Dina, Zeke’s mom. It said Dina was dying and Dad shouldn’t blame Zeke for their failure. Her face….I can still see it.” He looked down, running his hands through his hair again. “You know what my dad did to Zeke? He broke his guitar in front of him! Diana kicked him out because she couldn’t take his anger anymore. I didn’t want to hurt you like that. I realized you and Armin were much better off without me.”

“So all of this has been so you don’t end up like your father?”

“Yes.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Eren. Well congratulations, you’re not like your father! You’re worse!”

“Will you just listen to me? I told you’d react like this!”

“I am listening to you! You said you were only with me because you wanted to fuck me! You called me a slave, a people pleased. Someone people just use and throw away!”

“You deserve better than me!”

“But you didn’t think that I chose you! I made the choice! Not you! You took my choice away!”

“What do you want me to say? I’m sorry? Is that going to magically fix it? I’m fucked up, Mikasa. I was caught between two parents who fell out of love! Do you know how often they fought? Every night after Mom got that letter. Every single night, I’d go to sleep to my parents yelling then my dad drank and smoked himself to sleep! I didn’t want that for you! Do you know what it’s like in my head? Do you know how often I wanted to die? That I thought the world would be better off without me? How I hear my dad telling me to be perfect, how to be perfect? How I’m still not good enough? I was never good enough for him so how can I be good enough for you? How can I be good enough for anyone?  I was in a hole I couldn’t climb out of. I just wanted everything to be done. It would be easier if I was just gone. I couldn’t kill myself while I was with you. I couldn’t do that to you or Armin. You deserved better than that, you still do.”

He stood up and walked over to her. He kneeled down in front of her. “I see how people look at you. You’re fucking gorgeous. Hell, even Jean would be a better choice than me. He can give you stability, I can’t. Even with medication and therapy, there can still be dark days. I could hurt you worse than I already have.”

Mikasa was crying, Eren was crying.

“I’m sorry, Mikasa. I am. None of this is an excuse. As soon as I said it, I regretted it but I told myself every day that I did the right thing.”

Mikasa reached out, grabbing the necklace that Eren was wearing. She pulled on the black cord until the rings came out of Eren’s shirt.

“Six months ago, Zeke found me in a manic state. Next thing I knew, he made me start going back to therapy. Apparently, all that behavior is pretty standard. They told me it wasn’t an excuse for my behavior, just an explanation. Then everything happened with my liver and that’s it.”

Mikasa held her dad’s ring in her hand before she moved to the other one. It was not one she recognized with the large gold diamond. It almost looked like an engagement ring but why did Eren wear it around his neck?

“If you have this ring, what’s in the box I gave you?”

Eren stared at her for a moment. “I..uhh...did you not read the letter?”

“There was a letter?”

“Yeah, in the box.”

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t know. I just saw the box.”

“Oh. Well there’s a flash drive in it.”

“What’s on it?”

“A song.”

She let go of the necklace. “You wrote me a song?”

“I’ve written several but no. You wrote it, I just...add to it.”

“Oh,” she said, before examining the other ring closer. It had E + M inscribed on the inner band. “Eren, before that were you……”

“Some days, I had highs. I felt like I could do anything. One of those days, I bought that. I even asked Levi if I could propose, right after high school. I was waiting for the perfect moment but it didn’t come. Not until…..I had a date planned and then my dad died.”

“Oh,” she said simply.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I am ashamed and I’m still working on forgiving myself for this. But you wanted to know, so I told you. If you want to leave now, I understand. Like you said, it’s the least I could do is explain everything to you."

Did she want to leave?

No.

She couldn’t explain the emotion she was feeling.

It wasn't a relief to get her answers.

Somehow, it made her feel worse for not recognizing how much Eren was hurting.

“Don’t blame yourself,” Eren said as he poked her in the arm.

“How did you…”

“You’re thinking and I’ve known you since we were nine. Nice jacket, by the way. How’d you end up with it?” He asked as he pulled on the sleeve.

“Zeke gave it to me when we were at the club.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

She let go of his necklace. “So what now?”

“I...I don’t know. I don’t think we can go back to what we were, right?”

As much as she would love that, she knew that it was just not possible. “No, we can’t.”

“Right,” he said as he released her sleeve.

“Maybe we could be friends again….until we figure it out. I forgive you.”

His face lit up, “yeah?”

“I forgave you long ago, so did Armin. It doesn’t excuse it, you’re right. It is an explanation.”

He sat down next to her on the couch as he nodded.

“Just because you’re forgiven doesn’t mean all of this is fixed. If you want to ever get back to that, then…”

“Do you?”

“....I’m here, aren’t I?”

“That’s enough for me,” he said as he took her hand.

“Eren…” She said as he looked over at her.

“What? You hold Historia’s hand all the time.”

Mikasa rolled her eyes, “you want to work on that new song?”

“Yes! I mean yeah, sure, if you want.”

They went upstairs to see five sets of eyes looking through the open picture window.

They quickly ducked out of sight.

“Oh! Do you think they saw us?”

“Sasha, shut up!”

“Armin! You’re standing on my hand!”

“Oh! Sorry, Historia!”

“Now you’re standing on my hand!”

“Sorry, Annie!”

Eren went over to the window and pulled it up. He stared down at his former friends. Mikasa joined him.

“Oh hey, you two! Fancy see you here, we were just….”Sasha trailed off.

“Spying on us?” Eren crossed his arms over his chest.

“I prefer making sure we didn’t have to murder you or hide your body after Mikasa murdered you,” Ymir said with shame as she stood up.

“So, how are you two?” Armin asked as he stood up next.

“Getting there,” Mikasa said with a small smile.

“Oh, good! I don’t have any money so bailing you out is not an option,” Historia said as she stood up.

“Wait, what?” Eren asked.

“You’ve missed so much, you have no idea!” Sasha stood up.

“Historia got kicked out, Ymir asked Historia out on a real date, Sasha is dating your drummer, and Armin and I are a thing. Oh and we all live with Levi now. I think that sums it up,” Annie with a shrug as she climbed in the window.

“Yeah, that about sums it up.” Sasha followed Annie in and the rest of the group outside did the same.

“I have a front door.”

“Boring as ever, aren’t you, Jaeger?” Ymir said as she was the last one to climb in the window.

“Trying to be,” he gave her a small smile.

“Hey, I get it. My mom was the same, bipolar. It’s not as rare as you think. Just don’t hurt Mikasa again, okay? We’ll stand by her, no matter what. You treat her well, we’ll do the same to you. The moment you step out of line though, I’m taking your kneecaps out. Got it?” Ymir patted Eren gently on the face.

“Y..yeah,” Eren stuttered.

“And Levi will make you fish food! Anyway! What were you two about to do?” She asked as she walked over to Mikasa and wrapped her arm around her.

“Eren was working on a song. I was going to help,” Mikasa said.

“Just like high school,” Armin mused.

“Can we hear it? I mean we never got to hear you two write together, only the end result,” Historia asked.

“If it’s fine with Eren, it’s fine with me,” Mikasa said before walking over to the kitchen table.

“Sure, why not? You’re all already here. Let me grab guitar,” with that Eren went into his b edroom.

“Mikasa doesn’t have sex hair,” Ymir sighed.

“Disappointing, isn’t it?” Sasha countered.

“I thought we raised you right, I guess I was wrong.”

“Where did we go wrong, Ymir?”

“I don’t know, Sasha! We taught her everything we know!”

Eren just stared at both Sasha and Ymir before shaking his head. He stole a glance at Mikasa who was laughing.

He had missed that sound more than anything.

“Alright, so from the top?” He asked Mikasa who simply smiled at him before nodding.

Eren played the first chord.

“ {lyrics redacted due to copyright}. ..and then this goes into the chorus which is repeated a lot. But that’s the opening. Thoughts?” Eren asked nervously.

“You two write the angstiest shit. You both realize it isn’t a competition, right?” Ymir asked as she sat down on the floor.

“Ymir!” Historia scolded her.

“What? I wanted to be entertained and he’s entertaining me. Well, sort of. What’s the chorus sound like?”

Eren looked over at Mikasa again. She seemed to be just as interested as Ymir.

“Nothing good. I’ve only got like four lines.   {lyrics redacted due to copyright} ”

“Just repeat them,” Mikasa said. “You’re over complicating it.”

“I can try,” Eren nodded.

“Alright, Jaeger. Enough flirting with Mikasa, let’s hear the next verse,” Ymir teased him. “Or give me one of your guitars so I can do something.”

Eren smiled. “Alright. I’ll grab you one.”

And in that moment Eren realized, he might just be out of the woods.

[masterfuldoodler]

I made an au for Union X where everyone is British. I had a lot of fun picking all the different accents for everybody. I call it my Union Jack au. Did it make it just so I could make that terrible joke? Yeah kinda.

If any of you Brits think I might have messed up on something here please tell me so I can fix it. I wanted to make it as realistic as possible.

Ephemer has a light South London accent. Very pleasant to hear and easily understandable.

Catch him wearing an ivy cap in the rain.

Doesn't bring a coat, or an umbrella. When the rain hits he gets wet.

He doesn't make tea, no one trusts him with boiling water. He however does drink tea, he's just left to the mercy of whoever steeped it for him. He drinks it with a load of cream, and a lump of sugar.

Skuld has a Yorkshire accent. She talks very fast, and has a thick accent.

Most people can't understand her upon their first conversation. She, however, does not notice, or offend her.

She loves to bake, even though she's not good at it.

Wears a jacket with a hood. Gets rained on and freaks out until she finds cover. The hood doesn't help her.

Making tea, is an art. You must steep it only 2 minutes, and add just the right amount of cream and sugar. Just enough to accent it. (I'm looking at you, Ephemer.)

Ventus has a South London accent, and sometimes speaks Cockney.

Rain? What rain? Oh it's bothering you? A little water never hurt anyone.

Straight black tea over steeped and full of tannins. Skuld has no idea how he drinks it like that, it's so strong and bitter.

Bring your forgotten over steeped tea to him, he'll drink it.

Blaine has an RP accent (Received Pronunciation) Although, if he's hanging out with just Ven he'll slip into a South London accent and pick up some Cockney.

Has a hat. Has a coat. Hates the rain. Avoids it like the plague. If caught in it will loudly grumble.

Makes tea, forgets he did. Comes back a half hour later and heats it up and drinks it. Also drinks it after a minute of steeping. He never knows how long it's steeped. It doesn't bother him.

He also had to fight the rest of the team for the right to boil water on his own without burning himself. It was possibly an uphill battle.

Lauriam has a Lancaster accent. Very pleasant to listen to.

If he's planning on being out when it might rain he brings an umbrella. If he gets caught in it he calmly finds a way out.

Likes a specific blend of tea. Cream; no sugar. Gets teased for the blend having rose petals in it.

Has a union jack design on the edge of his vest. It's old though, so the colors have faded and it's hard to see.

Ira has a Southside Dublin accent.

Yes I know it's Irish and it's not in the UK but the accent just fit him so well? I had to keep it. He's just the weirdo.

Doesn't get caught in the rain because he's always reading.

But when he does. It's a nightmare. Do you have any idea how long it takes for all that hair on his mask to dry?? Or any attention and care it takes to get it back to the state it was before it got wet??

In short, don't be responsible for it getting wet or he'll cause such a fuss you'll regret it.

He drinks cold tea. Iced and sweet. Then again everyone who drinks it says they can't taste any sugar so it's probably just him.

Invi has an Edinburgh accent.

Rain really doesn't matter. If you get wet, you get wet. It's just a difficulty to deal with. It mustn't get in the way of your task.

In reality gets kinda grumpy if her scarf gets wet. Last time Gula pointed out her inconsistency of having nothing against the rain, and then being unhappy about her scarf getting wet she told him he wouldn't understand because he never  liked  his  clothes.

She makes everyone's tea. Everyone. Only sometimes does she do it just like they want.

She's not especially good at it, so if Gula tells you your tea tastes like Invi's, it's not exactly a compliment.

Everyone else says her tea is great.

Aced has a Bristol accent. Thick and comfortable.

Rain is irritating, but only because it's hard to dry out all those robes. Avoids being rained on if he can. Doesn't use umbrellas, and no jackets.

He only likes a small cup of tea. Lot of cream.

People tease him for being a farmer and he doesn't like it...it hurts his feelings...

Like, he doesn't even know what a cow is?? Why do you think I'm a farmer?? I'm a bear man pls pay more attention. No it's not a hobby, it's a full time job 24/7.

Gula has a RP accent. (I'd love to give him a funner one, but couldn't find one that was fun and fit him. And the RP just fit him.)

Don't you dare put him in the rain. He'll hate you. He says it's because his thick robes get soggy and smell like mold but really it's his inner catness.

Also wanders in the rain and mopes like a broody depressed kid. No one knows why.

Is not allowed to make tea. Does drinks whatever kind of tea Invi makes and dislikes it. One day he'll rebel and make some while no one can see.

Probably already did that.

Ava has a East Midlands accent. And does a Highly RP when she's being "Lady Ava".

Rain is a lovely little blessing to the earth. It brings life to the growing things around her. If she weren't a Foreteller and Master she'd go puddle jumping.

She goes puddle jumping with keykids. She knows she shouldn't but... She also takes walk in the rain. She tried to get Gula to join her since she once saw him wandering in the rain, but he said he wanted to be alone.

She loves a cup of warm tea, creamed to the color of Aced's robe, and sweetened with a rounded spoonful. But Invi's tea is good too.

Once got away with making tea by herself.

Luxu has a Manchester accent.

Rain, what are you talking about? It smells so nice, and the temperature drops, and it sounds so pretty. Only down side is getting wet! And that's why I wear leather! Keeps me dry!

Nobody really sees him drink tea, and when he does he kind of just sips at it.

Although once he did show up and eat all of Invi's cucumber sandwiches. But he was gone by the time they realized he did.

Master of Masters has a- ....he has every accent. No not all at once, he takes turns. He does a different one for each day of the week, but the weekly pattern changes every week, mid week even. And he has different accents for each of his apprentices. Why? Well duh because he can.

His original accent is Belfast Irish though.

Yep another accent that's not from the UK but 1) pls picture him with it?? 2) he is The Master of Master's he can have whatever accent he wants. British or not.

Then again he might originally be a type of American.... Who knows.

...

The weather cannot effect him. He doesn't bring anything for a shower, and down pour, a flood, a hurricane?? Nothing scares that man and rain can't touch him.

His tea...is over steeped. It's bitter, with a lot of tannins. You could choke on it. Even Ventus would have trouble drinking it. It's probably the worst tea imaginable.

And I think that's everything! This was a load of fun, I got a little stuck on Ira and Invi, but I think I finally found the right one. ^^ Having never been to the UK I kinda just guessed at some things that might be present in a Brit's life, but if any of you think of a good one tell me and I can add it!

[minah-delacroix]

At any price (Part VII)

Universe: Dynasty AU

Characters: Minah, Tyler, Daniel (briefly)

Word count: 2,1 k

Addiction

Tyler and Minah are like a drug to each other. As days pass by what was initially meant to be some sort of ridiculous ploy to get over Sungjae soon becomes something Minah loses control over and almost tastes like an addiction. Somewhere between their unspoken agreement and sex by a pool, whatever it is they have has sent Minah’s judgment flying out the window. The smug smirk plastered on Tyler’s face every time she pronounces his name, suggests he’s fully aware of it and enjoys the power he holds over her. Under normal circumstances, Minah would’ve been mortified, but given the fact she wants to keep Sungjae off her mind, she doesn’t care as long as her nights —and days— are spent with her body pressed against Tyler’s, having fun between the sheets of his canopy bed. Or on top of his mahogany desk. Or hers.

Today it’s the sofa in their office; a purchase Tyler had deemed unnecessary, but that now seems useful as he lays shirtless on it, arms up under his head. Amused, the man follows Minah’s attempts to cover the marks on her neck with a one-of-a-kind ‘Jeu des Omnibus et Dames Blanches’ carré Hermès that he managed to snatch from a private collector, a first edition as rare as Minah herself.

“Don’t tell me you’re leaving already” Tyler sits up, his voice laced with an evident intention that turns even more obvious as he slides to Minah’s side, his lips tracing kisses along her clavicle.

Minah can guess what he wants without even looking at him.

Over the past months working together and a couple of weeks sleeping with him, Minah has learned that Tyler Lee likes grand gestures and despises dullness. The fact she has a ten thousand euro worth piece of silk wrapped around her neck to hide the love bites he left on her skin it’s a testament to it. It is as arousing as it is embarrassing, so she tries to stop Tyler’s attempts to untie the scarf, but she knows she’s fighting a lost battle because there’s not ever a time Tyler lets her go without a second round. And for that, lately, she’s as thankful as she’s equally exhausted  —or at least Enzo has pointed out so every time they meet for lunch—.

“Did you read our end-year report?” Minah questions, pushing Tyler’s head gently and looking at him in the eyes. He clicks his tongue, but can’t even begin to get mad at her because there’s an angelic aura of sexual afterglow surrounding Minah that distracts him from reality and the fact she’s glaring at him.

Ignoring the small dent between her brows, he reaches over and plants a sloppy kiss on Minah’s lips,

“I should’ve learned it by now” he laughs when Minah breaks the kiss and starts fastening her Kiki de Montparnasse corset “Discussing business is your version of an after-sex cigarette” Minah gives Tyler that faint half deprecatory, half seductive smile she is so good at and shakes her head “But I’ll give you some credit, at least you’ve moved past the this-is-the-last-time-we-do-it speech” Tyler teases, pulling her into his lap and lowering his head to hers.

“No, this really is the last time” Minah whines, but it is evident her words are empty because her body instinctively responds to his lingering touches “I don’t want people thinking we’re doing business together because we share a bed”

“You mean a couch” Tyler corrects “Or a desk, or the bar” he continues, giving Minah soft pecks on the cheeks “The only time we leave this office is to do it on the balcony or home”

“Well, had you read the report, you’d understand why.” Minah knows she’ll have her legs wrapped around Tyler in a few minutes without much effort on his part, but she still attempts to direct Tyler’s attention to the problem at hand. “Our company isn’t as profitable yet” Minah rolls her eyes when Tyler starts kissing her neck again and unclasping her corset “And this is not exactly helping-” she groans.

“Now, isn’t it?” A cocky grin stretches out on Tyler’s face when Minah shifts under him.

Minah still wants to protests, but she gives in once again, mentally scolding herself for allowing Tyler to get away with it every single time.

Foreign territory

An hour or so later Tyler slips a black turtleneck sweater over his head. Across the room, Minah buttons a silk transparent blouse that allows the corset underneath to flaunt her perfect figure. A strategic choice that had a lot to do with Tyler and little with the fact she had been summoned to Delacroix Manor for, in the words of her aunt Valerie, another meeting revolving around the preservation of Delacroix Corp and the family —which Minah had pointed out was basically the same thing.

“So, the end-year report,” Minah says without preamble. She struggles again trying to find the perfect way to tie her silk scarf and effectively hide the hickeys on her neck, which amuses Tyler enough to make him chuckle.

“You know we’ve been on the market less than a year, it was expected we ended the year like this” Though Tyler’s face suddenly turns serious, Minah still can detect a double sense to his words, especially because he’s buckling his belt as he speaks.

“And when do I ever settle for the expected?” Minah pouts ever so slightly.

Tyler is about to reply with some witty comeback, the kind he’s so good at making and he doesn’t even have to think of because it just slips past his lips naturally, but he’s interrupted by his phone pinging somewhere in the office. He stands up and scrambles to find it only to realize it’s still in his suit blazer. He practically jogs to get his Tom Ford jacket from the back of his chair and his face contorts in something akin to unhappiness when he finally inspects whatever it is he’s received.

Minah looks at him concerned.

“What’s wrong? Did Harrods ran out of turtlenecks again?” Minah tries to joke, walking up to him and wrapping an arm around his waist.

Tyler shakes his head. His expression is bitter and if she didn’t know better, Minah would assume Tyler looks hurt.

“It’s Tara, she’s bailing on me for Christmas to spend time with Yang and his family” He informs with a somber expression, throwing his phone onto his chair mindlessly.

“Well, it’s only fair, after you ditched her on your birthday for that mystery woman” Minah still recalls how angry Tara seemed after finding out Tyler was seen sailing in a private yacht in the Galapagos after ditching a party she prepared for weeks. It was back when Tyler and Minah were planning the launch of Envoûté and she still lived in her family’s home.  She can also remember Tyler being super secretive about it and Tara ignoring him for weeks after the incident. Thinking about  the whole situation suddenly makes her curious, so she ventures to ask “So, who is she?” Minah moves slyly to face Tyler “Name, age, weight?”

He only laughs and shakes his head

“Oh, come on, Lee, you know about my past” Minah pouts “Why can’t I know about yours?”

Tyler shrugs and Minah doesn’t insist. She’s learned to recognize some boundaries between them and this time his lips appear sealed on the topic, so she walks back to her desk to pick her purse and pulls a Dior 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette and her YSL lipstick from it. She retouches her makeup without even sparing a single glance at Tyler.

Then, out of a sudden, he clears his throat

“There was never another woman, Minah,” He says, simply. The revelation forces Minah to stop smacking her lips together and turn to look at him with a raised brow. “I was visiting my dad.”

To understand the weight of Tyler’s words one must know that Mr. Lee, once upon a time one of the greatest politicians in Asia and formerly one of the richest men on the planet had been sentenced to 8 years in prison for embezzlement, bribery, and corruption. It had been so shameful for Tyler’s mother that she’d ran away with Tara and Tyler back to her parents’ home in London and never looked back. Ever since talking about their father was taboo for the Lee siblings.

“I thought you’d cut ties with him,” Minah says after an uncomfortable silence settles between them, making Minah wonder if she’s ventured way too far into foreign territory. Even if they’re business partners and as of recently “more than friends”, the whole oversharing family secrets seems a bit too personal for her liking. Tyler seems to think the same judging by the way he keeps his answer curt and free of any further detail.

“I am trying to fix it” Tyler tries to appear nonchalant as he walks toward Minah, “And because of that, Tara is giving me the cold shoulder” he adds, closing the distance between them and sliding his hands down Minah’s back.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Minah says cupping his face with both hands, she almost seems ready to coo at him and how cute he looks when he’s sulking “I hope she comes around,” she says, letting her hands fall to rest on his chest.

“It’s just as likely as you getting the company out the red” Tyler presses a soft peck on the tip of Minah’s nose and she automatically scrunches it up as though he’s done something disgusting, but it’s actually the realization of how domestic and couple-like they are acting at the moment what makes her react that way.

“This is a season for miracles,” she says, pulling away from Tyler, at the very last second, before his lips come into contact with hers.

“And sorry, but I have to go see my grandparents. They want to negotiate my return to their home” Minah says, briefly picking her coat, her purse, and rushing to the door, leaving a very confused Tyler behind.

Festive spirit

When Minah arrives at Delacroix Manor, her grandparents, aunts, and Suho are waiting by the door, looking nothing less than picture-perfect. So much that the image almost seems fake and makes Minah wish she’d stayed with Tyler instead. They’re all wearing matching festive colors, so although she’s not the slightest bit surprised —after all it’s nearly Christmas— Minah’s outfit clashes with the rest of her family members.

“Intervention or surprise party?” Minah inquires as she climbs the last stairs and finds herself face to face with her grandfather.

“Welcome back, actually,” Her grandmother says, her face not really showing any hint of emotion that allows Minah to discover whether her presence is appreciated or not.

"And not for you” Aunt Valerie adds apologetically.

“Thank God, I was afraid I had to act grateful” Minah walks past her family, ignoring whoever spoke to inform her that  Gabe was returning to the Manor after a short “business” trip Minah knew had to do a lot with his latest scandal and very little with Delacroix Corp.

“Minah” The Delacroix patriarch calls before she manages to sneak inside the manor “Best behavior”

It’s probably the Christmas spirit or the fact Tyler exhausted her too much to complain, but Minah only rolls eyes and takes her spot beside Suho as her brain formulates intricate plans to go back to the Lee Manor before Tara leaves for that college reunion she had scheduled. She thinks she might've found the perfect Christmas gift for the Lee siblings.

However, Minah doesn’t make it to Lee Manor that night because both Suho and her finally get those apologies they’d been expecting, and with her thoughts clouded by the emotive moment, she agrees to move back to the manor, even if it’s just for the holidays. It’s a start and everybody seems happy with that. Even Minah’s grandparents.

That’s why the next morning Daniel Choi parks Tara’s Mercedes S-Class in front of a row of topiaries by the entrance of Delacroix Manor. He can't quite believe he allowed Tyler to convince him of joining Tara —who's maneuvering out of the car holding a heavy bowling bag— and Minah in whatever ridiculous activity they were planning for the day, so he curses his best friend silently as he steps out of the car. It’s the third time in a row that Tyler stands him up and he’s beginning to feel it’s about time he packs his bags and goes back to New York.

“Or probably not” Daniel says, noticing that cutie from the other day—Seokjae or whatever his name is— walking in their direction.

...

[evietheninja]

It’s on site, Bitch.

Side story to a fan fic my friends and I are writing. They wanted a fight, they got one lmao. 

New Message!

Pikachu 2.0: Yo, what do you guys think of this?

Evie glances down at her phone, reading the message out loud to the guys accompanying her in the living room. Attached to the message is a poster for an event happening tonight. "2000s night huh?" Kiri asks sitting on the couch. "Sounds MANLY!" He practically yells, excitement in his voice. "When was the last time we all went out anyway?" He asks, looking over at Bakugo and Evie who are sitting on the floor. "It's been some time, that's for sure." Evie says, closing the picture and typing out a reply.

Glowstick: Sounds like fun!

PoisonIvyWHO?: CAN WE GET READY TOGETHER LIKE WE USED TO??

BigTittieGothGF: YESSS

Evie laughs as she looks over to the boys who are staring down at their screens as the messages come through. "What the fuck babe, you kicking us out?" Bakugo asks, a smirk across his face. "No, dumbass. I may be getting ready at someone elses place." She says looking back down at her phone.

PoisonIvyWHO?: Evie's?

BigTittieGothGF: YEah! Evie, you okay with that?

BakuBITCH: Really? We JUST got this fucking place and you're already kicking us out?

DaddyShark: That's not very manly of you guys.

Glowstick: Kiri.. We're not men..

Kiri laughs. "Why the fuck are you texting me that I'M RIGHT HERE." Evie and Bakugo laugh. "You fucking texted us instead of SAYING IT." She says, leaning on Bakugo as she laughed.

PoisonIvyWho: I'll be there in 20.

BigTittieGothGF: Too bad, Bakugo. We're already going. Get whatever ur wearing and GO TO DENKI'S

Pikachu2.0: Yeah... Cal already told me you guys were getting kicked. Sorry lmaoo

Bakugo rolls his eyes. "Well FUCK Kiri, I guess we're getting kicked out of our own place." He says, standing up. "Let's go pick what we're gonna wear and get out of here before the girls get here. I'm not trying to fight with Cal when she gets here, and lord knows Nina will tell me some shit and they're gonna piss me the hell off before the night even starts." Bakugo finishes, holding out a hand to help Evie up. She laughs, making a loud HUMPH as she gets up. "Babe, seriously suck it up stop being such a baby." She says, laughing.

"Shut the hell up, dumbass. I'll fight your ass too." He says, pulling her in for a kiss. "UGH GET A ROOOOOMMMMM" Kiri says, tossing a ketchup packet at them. "Oh my GOD Suki when did we adopt a CHILD?" Evie laughed pulling away from Bakugo. She picks the ketchup packet up and throws it back, casuing Kiri to swat at it. It hits the wall, splattering. "BRO WHAT THE FUCK" Bakugo yells, walking over to Kiri and grabbing him. "BRO SHE FUCKIN THREW AT ME WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?" Kiri yelled back, attempting to put Bakugo in a headlock.

Evie takes her phone and snaps a picture, sending it to the group chat.

Glowstick: Alright, who had two weeks?

PoisonIvyWho?: ME BEECH RUN ME MY MONEEEEYYY

Glowstick: *Paid PoisonIvyWHO? $20*

BigTittieGothGF: *Paid PoisonIvyWHO? $20*

Pikachu2.0: *Paid PoisonIvyWHO? $20*

BigTittieGothGF: Here's Shota's piece.

BigTittieGothGF: *Paid PoisonIvyWHO? $20*

PoisongIvyWHO: HELL YEAH IM GETTIN FUUUCKED TONIGHT!!

Pikachu2.0: You bet your ass you are. ;)

Glowstick: BROOOO

Evie laughed, watching the boys continue to wrestle. "Damn a little less clothing and I'd be questioning if I was just a cover up." She says, walking over to the hall towards her and Bakugo's room. Eventually, she heard the boys stop and she assumed one of them looked at their phone, because next thing she knew the boys were at the doorway, glaring at her.

"What?" Evie said, looking between the boys. "You fucking bet on us?" Bakugo says, his hands sparking lightly. "Hey, calm down. I wasn’t the ONLY one who bet. Even fucking Aizawa was in on it! You can't put that on me alone." She says, keeping her distance. "What were the lengths of time?" Kiri asks, genuinely curious. "Uh, Cal said 2 weeks, Ni said a week, Aizawa said an hour, Denki said 3 days." She says. "And YOU?" Bakugo asks. "Me? I gave you guys the benefit of the doubt and said a month. But nooooo." She says laughing. "ANYWAY. You two need to get the hell out.” She says, pushing the boys out of the room. “Wait, dumbass! I kind of need clothes to wear.” Bakugo says, pushing past her to get into the closet inside their room. Kiri laughs and walks over to his room to get some clothes to change into. 

Bakugo packed a WHOLE ASS BAG of clothes, a few shirts and a couple pairs of jeans because he wanted to make sure he looked really good. Kiri did just about the same, a whole backpack with clothes inside. What the fuck? Are they spending the night? Why the fuck. Evie laughed lightly as they made their way to the door. They may be men, but god DAMN they take forever to get ready. 

“Alright, we’ll be at Denki’s. Text me if you need anything.” Bakugo says, planting  quick peck on Evie’s lips before leaving. “:Yeah yeah, have fun I’ll let you know when we leave.” She says as she opens the door. “Wha- why the fuck are you guys taking backpacks? I thought you guys were going just to change not spend the week there.” Nina’s voice echos through the hall after seeing the boys. “FUUUCK I thought we’d be gone by the time you guys got here.” Bakugo complains, nodding at Cal and Nina as they enter the apartment. “Shut the hell up, boom boom boy.” Cal says walking past him. He tugs at her sprout on her head, causing her to yelp. “Stop it, asshole! i’ll get Frank on your ass.” She warns, rubbing her sprout as he lets go. 

“Who the fuck is Frank:?” He asks, Kirishima laughing next to him. “None of your business,  leave! You take any longer and we’ll be fucking late.” Nina says, closing the door as they walk in. “I thought we’d never get rid of them.” They joke as they smile and hug Evie. Cal jumps onto them, laughing and giggling as they regain themselves. 

The next hour and a half consists of the trio getting dressed, comparing outfits and making sure they looked really good for the night ahead. Cal is wearing a green lace bralette, with gloves to match. Shes got a tight black skirt, with thigh high stockings with guarders with heels. Her hair is down and tame, the black skirt and green top complimenting her every feature. Nina is wearing a black and white cheetah print tube top, with leather shorts, thigh high platform boots with her chains rearranged in a choker fashion, with a loop in the middle for an attachable leash, her mullet slick back. Evie is wearing a green long sleeve crop top that ties around her stomach, with a deep v cut, ripped skinny jeans and thigh high heel boots. Her hair is half up, the other half tamed beautifully to compliment the outfit. She puts on her favorite black choker with a silver heart in the middle. She only wears it when she wants Bakugo to replace it with his hand, which she was sure he would do later. 

The group looks at each others outfits, gushing on how ridiculously good they looked. After a very long photo shoot, the group locks up the apartment and heads out. They meet up at the club, excited to get the night started. They are (not surprisingly) the first  ones to make it. They stand around, waiting to hear from their significant other’s and Kirishima. Denki, Bakugo and Kirishima show up next, Denki walking up dressed from head to toe in black, a silver chain on his belt loops and black and silver jewelry complimenting his outfit. Kirishima has on red cargo shorts, a white t shirt on with a windbreaker jacket that says “Riot” in red letters on the back. Bakugo is in black jeans with an orange tee shirt, with orange converse to match and a black blazer. He, for once, slicked his hair back and hot DAMN he looked good to Evie. Cal and Evie couldn’t help but gawk over their men as Aizawa finally made his way to the group. Aizawa is dressed in a grey v neck t-shirt, skinny jeans, a loose fitting leather jacket with his scarf covering his neck as it always does. His hair is half up in a bun on the back of his head. He probably looks the most comfortable than every one in the group. 

They gather in their group, Denki pulling Cal closer as he looks her up and down. Bakugo smirks as he watches Evie approach him, eyeing her figure. “You... you are SO lucky we didn’t get ready at the same place.” He growls as he throws an arm over her. “We would’ve never made it to this damn club.” He finishes, hearing Denki and Kirishima laugh in agreement. “I wouldn’t have heard the end of it.” Kiri says under his breath. They laugh and enter the club.

After a few drinks, dedicating drinks to their accomplishments ranging from graduating college and getting their own places, to them just being happy they were all finally getting to hang out. Feeling the light buzz, Evie urges Bakugo to go out and dance with her. He complains, although in actuality, she knew he loved to dance with her, able to show the girl he was with. 

Cal and Denki were laughing and talking amongst themselves for a bit before finally heading out to the dance floor. Lets be honest, they were only a few drinks away from starting their dance battles, and everyone for once was ready for it. 

Aizawa and Nina stood close together, Nina dancing to the music while Aizawa watched, almost entranced by her movements. God, the way he looked at her, the way he undressed her with his eyes. Anyone who’d watched them grew jealous of the love they had for each other. Every so often, he would pull them in and says something that would physically cause Nina to shudder. It always entertained Evie. She’d always laugh watching the way just words would make Nina squirm. 

Evie looked up at Bakugo, urging him again. He laughed and nodded over to Kiri, inviting him to dance with them. Many people questioned the relationship they shared, were they all in some kind of relationship? Was it just as simple as Bakugo and Evie were just comfortable with Kiri? Pretty much. Nither Evie nor Bakugo saw Kiri in that way, and Kiri just really loved to dance. 

The trio makes their way to the dance floor as the music bumped through the speakers. Evie let the music take over, feeling Bakugo behind her, molding to her body with ease. Kiri does the same, only in front. Nina had stopped dancing for a sec to watch her friends dance, and smirked at the three. They knew Bakugo wouldn’t hold his composure long, and would claim Evie in about a song or two. 

The song Goodies bumped through the speakers, with it being Evie’s favorite song, she danced harder feeling the boys match her tempo. Every so often, because Bakugo couldn’t make his mind up about how comfortable he was with Evie facing either towards or away from him, he would turn her. She laughed, feeling the drinks work their way into her system, giving her a good feeling. 

The song Me&U begins to bump through the speakers. Evie starts to sing the lyrics, the front of her body facing Kiri. Kiri begins to sing as well, looking Evie in the eyes while doing so. Bakugo takes notice, and whips her around, glaring at Kiri from over Evie. She laughs, noticing Kiri pick up his hands in apology and decides that’s the time for him to go find another dance partner. Evie grabs Bakugo by his cheeks, forcing him to look at her as they grind. For a while, it feels like they’re the only two in the room. 

Sweat drips, their bodies bumping to the sound of the base. Evie smiles up at Bakugo and kisses him. Then, she jumps, feeling a cold, wet feeling run down her back. She whips around, seeing Ururaka looking her up and down smirking. “Oops, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.” She says smugly in a monotone voice over the music. Ururaka then turns her attention to Bakugo, her smile turning sweet. “Hey, Kachan, how are you?” She says, taking a step closer to him almost pushing Evie out of the way. Evie looks to her left, seeing Nina already making their way to her with Cal close behind, a worried Denki behind them and Aizawa looking from the distance. “Don’t fucking call me that, one. And two we’re in the middle of something, so if you could, you know, fuck off that’d be great.” Bakugo says, bumping her shoulder and returning to Evie. 

“Oh, you’d rather be with that? HA, okay.” Ururaka says, scoffing as she looks at the couple. “Listen here you broke ass bit-” Cal starts, ready to lunge at her. Nina stops her for a second, looking Ururaka up and down before speaking. “Is there a problem?” they ask. “Oh, can’t fight your own fights?” Ururaka says, turning her attention back to Evie. “Oh, I can fucking fight alright.” Evie says, rolling up her sleeves and removing her earrings. “Hold these baby please.” She says, handing them to Bakugo who takes them and places them in his pocket, taking a step back to watch Evie do what she did best. “Oh you got the wrong bitch” Nina says, cracking their knuckles. 

Ururaka pushes Evie. She stumbles lightly, and recovers quickly. Ururaka looks at her in confusion. She’s...not floating. Evie looks over to a golden eyed, floating haired Aizawa, who’d activated his quirk, disabling Ururaka’s. Evie smirked, returning her attention to Ururaka who was already on the floor due to Nina using her chains to restrain her, and Cal straight out kicking her on the ground. She laughed, bending down as Cal got in another kick. No one around noticed, nor cared about what was happening to Ururaka. 

“Oh honey, you should’ve known better.” Evie says in the sweetest way possible as she stands and gets her kick in. Nina unrestrains her and they step over her, turning to return to Aizawa when Ururaka gets up, grabs Nina by the shoulder and throws a punch. Before the punch even makes contact, Cal jumps on her, throwing punches as Ururaka turns her attention to her. Somehow, she manages to get a hold of Cal’s sprout on her head, making her even more mad. Evie grabs Ururaka by the hair, pulling her off of Cal and punching her a couple times before Bakugo steps in. He grabs Evie, stopping her from injuring her anymore. “It’s not worth it, babe.” He says, attempting to calm her down. 

“She isnt worth it!” Ururaka screams, getting up because this girl STILL hadn't had enough. Nina uses her chains to grab Ururaka, throwing her to the ground and planting a platformed boot on her chest. They lean in real close, speaking loud enough for her to hear. “Listen here, bitch. YOU, are a piece of shit, and if we EVER see you trying it again, it’s on site.” They say before getting up. Cal walks up, kicking her down as she tries to sit up. “Oh, the 99 cent store called, they want their dress back.” Cal says, spitting on her before leaving as well. Evie calms herself enough for Bakugo to let her go, and they turn back once more before laughing and walking off. 

Before any kind of authorities are called, the group leaves the club, making their way to their favorite after club place, a 24/7 boba tea place just down the street from the club, They order drinks, and all make another toast to a great night. “I’ve really been wanting to do that shit since the situation.” Cal says, beaming. “Same” Nina says, clinking cups and laughing. Bakugo walks over to the table, with drinks in one hand and his phone in the other. The fact they’d forgotten Kiri was fucking hilarious to him. Kiri slams through the door, asking about what’d happened. He was SO upset he’d missed it. 

[tightropenuzlocke]

Tightrope: a Y Storylocke

Chapter One: Life Is Just A Play With No Rehearsal 

They could hardly wait until they got back to the privacy of Serena’s room to snoop. Their own kits lay discarded on the bed to be opened later, because the identity of the final member of their program was far more interesting. The lab assistant who delivered their gear hadn’t known anything, but the packages they had to distribute were of course addressed to their recipients, and that was something to go on.

Xoana was surprised to find an address just down the lane from hers in Bourg Croquis, no doubt belonging to the new neighbors her mother had mentioned, and she suddenly wished she hadn’t volunteered to go with Serena to the pick-up two towns away. Teasingly, the name on the package kindled a faint flicker of recognition in the back of Xoana’s mind, and she rolled the Q around in her head to try and stoke it to life. It wasn’t a common name, at least not in this region, yet she’d heard it before. An old classmate? An acquaintance?

“A Rhyhorn rider!” Serena declared, beaming at her phone and her own cleverness. She read off her screen. “Grace Emer Quinn, born in Éire but a naturalized citizen of Kalos, holds the current world record for both time and obstacles cleared in a Rhyhorn race. Mme Quinn and her partner Rhyhorn, Morrigan,  set the record at the twentieth bi-annual world championships. We watched that as kids, remember?”

It was always easy to find her on the track, emblazoned in bright red and charging recklessly ahead of the pack. Maybe that was why everyone was so taken with her. Xoana and Serena were far from the only ones who had cheered for her against their home region. In fact, she seemed to recall the whole viewing party, aside from her stubbornly loyal stepfather, had worn something red the day of the championship race. Serena had helped tie crimson ribbons in Xoana’s hair and pilfered a scarlet scarf from her mother’s closet for herself. Xoana’s mother had let them drag a blanket onto the floor so that the adults could occupy the surrounding couches and chairs. Xoana had watched the screen on her stomach, pillow squeezed tight in her arms and legs waving behind her.

Or perhaps it had been that force of personality which took the racing world by storm. She had always given interviews in the language of the region hosting despite all the extra effort because she hadn’t wanted anyone to speak for her. Xoana remembered the surety behind her words despite the reaching, the expressiveness despite her limitations, the hearty laugh over her own stumbling that was her trademark. And who could forget that shock of glowing red curls? Xoana had never seen hair like hers on TV before. Then there was that dense smattering of freckles and big, brilliant smile. Maybe Xoana had kept a picture. It was so long ago that she couldn’t quite recall.

But Xoana did remember how her heart had drummed every time she watched her. Kalos had never been so invested in Rhyhorn racing before or since. For a moment it had been almost as big as battling.

“So you think it’s her daughter?”

“Says here she has a daughter our age. And it would explain that Rhyhorn you mentioned.”

That was a good explanation. Rhyhorn weren’t really pets after all.

“Maybe it is her.”

…

“Look alive, Rough Rider!” Cináed tweeted at the top of his damn voice. Aisling groaned and pulled the sheets over her head before he could blast her with the full force of dawn.

There was a soft thump as he dropped from the string of the shade to the windowsill, then a series of softer ones as he hopped his way from her knees to her shoulder. The tapestry above her bed flapped in the sudden gust as he tried to wrest the covers from her iron grip.

“Come on, Aisling!” he whined.

She pretended to be dead.

He fluttered over to her pillow and tunneled into her hair. “Nice nest you have here.” He shuffled his feathers—settling in. “Think I’ll take it.”

“Be my guest.”

“Sure is warm in here,” he chirped pleasantly, snuggling closer to her scalp. It was gonna take a lot more than his scorching chest to get her up. “Do you smell something burning?”

Aisling leapt out of bed right onto her feet. “I’m up!”

A smug twittering drifted from her hair and she stumbled, grumbling, into her bathroom. Cináed poked his bright red head out over her brow and she grudgingly offered him the middle finger, which the Fletchling used to pull himself free.

She turned on the tap and splashed water over her face. Cináed beat a hasty retreat to the towel rack.

“You told me to get you up this morning!” he complained.

She scowled at his reflection. “It’s 6AM!”

He waved his wings in his best approximation of air quotes. “Don’t let me sleep in, Cináed! I need the extra time to get ready!”

“Fuck, that’s today!”

Aisling tripped out of her pajamas and Cináed slipped out the door to avoid the steam. The Fletching stayed close, though, and whistled an old gaelic ballad through the crack as she washed and rinsed and toweled off. As always, he came back in for the hairdryer and she shot him up to the ceiling a few times.

He perched on her bedpost while she threw half her wardrobe across the mattress, trying to get her outfit right. Yes, the jacket is absolutely a power move. Eh, I think we can do better than that skirt. Absolutely wear the boots!

Once she had the clothes, makeup was simple: gold eyeliner, some glitter on her cheekbones, and lip color to match her belt. She bound her hair back with the strongest tie that money could buy, smoothed the front and teased the back.

“How do I look?”

“Ready to cut ’em up!” Cináed chirped, flashing his white wingtips for emphasis.

Aisling grinned but something anchored her feet to the floor. She felt the weight of keen, black eyes watching her.

“Maybe I should come along,” Cináed offered. “I can scope out this starter pokemon for you.”

“Naw.” She waved him off, going for her clutch.

“Then at least take a few feathers!”

He swooped over to her vanity and snatched some of his shed feathers out of the tiny vase she kept them in. She held still as he landed on her head and poked them through her hair tie one by one, five in all. She watched his tail bob in the mirror and he caught sight of her face when he turned.

“They’re good luck!” he chirped before jumping ship.

“I make my own luck,” she reminded him, but her first smile of the day crept across her face as she checked his handiwork. Satisfied, she sprung out the door. “See you later Cináed!”

A scone from mam and a sleepy chuff from Raleigh, still resting in his sand bed, sent her off.

…

The morning was ever so slightly chill and Xoana hugged her warm cup of tea to her chest while she waited for the sun to warm the café patio where the group had gathered. Serena and Tracie nursed their coffees while Tierney finished off her pastry. They had pushed two of the little round tables together and left one seat open for the final member, who had yet to arrive. Xoana’s mother had confirmed via text that the new neighbors were indeed Grace Quinn and her daughter. Everything was squared away and Xoana let things fall quiet.

Tracie’s Pikachu grew bored and tapped her on the arm. Tracie pulled an old, handheld console out of her backpack and set up the kickstand case so Spark could play next to her on the table.

Tierney’s Hawlucha shuffled her wings before spreading them back out to sun some more. Tierney rolled the case of pokeballs idly back and forth on the table in a rhythmic drone.

The sound of bootheels on the cobblestones pulled Xoana out of her stupor. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but the young woman that approached them still caught her off guard. For one, Xoana had probably expected someone pale and firey like Grace. Instead she was dark with kinky hair bound tightly back and adorned with Fletching feathers. A little closer, she was almost more freckle than person and the clicking heels belonged to a pair of embroidered riding boots, which fit the picture of famous-Rhyhorn-jockey’s-daughter a little better. The leather jacket she had on emphasized her already broad shoulders and the well-fitted, indigo jeans drew attention to other assets Xoana probably shouldn’t be taking note of.

“Best behavior,” said Serena, which felt very pointed even though it wasn’t.

“Bonjour!” she called out to them.

“Bonjour!” they all answered, standing to greet her.

“You must be Aisling,” Serena continued, offering her hand. “I’m Serena Pascal. It’s lovely to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Aisling purred, taking her hand.

The greeting lingered a little before she turned to Xoana, smiling even more broadly if possible. Her mouth was a bit large for her face, but in a nice way, and Xoana made a mental note to ask where she got that shade of purple lip color.

“Xoana Bellamy,” she said before Serena could do it for her. “Great to meet you.”

“Likewise.” It was nice to have someone sound like they meant it.

“We’re actually neighbors. I live in Bourg Croquis too.”

“Really? Maybe you could show me around sometime?”

“Of course!”

Aisling didn’t shift her gaze but thankfully Tierney stepped in to rescue Xoana’s heartbeat from its precipitous climb.

“Tierney Fitzroy.”

Aisling matched her hearty shake with ease. “You got folks in Éire too?”

“Yeah, my father’s family. Éire and Galar.”

Aisling dropped from her light, south Kalos accent into a heavy Éirinn brogue. “The traitors!”

That made Tierney laugh and Aisling moved on to the final member of their group.

“Tracie Chastain,” she said stiffly. Predictably she couldn’t meet Aisling’s eyes, but she did manage a greeting and brief handshake.

“Nice to meet you, Tracie.” If Aisling was off-put or offended by Tracie’s curtness, she didn’t show it. “What’s your Pikachu playing?”

“Dirby and the Crystal Shards.”

“Classic.”

Tierney’s Hawlucha shuffled over and Aisling greeted her as well.

“That’s Valériane,” Tierney explained. “She’s my starter.” Aisling offered her hand, which the Hawlucha patted awkwardly with her claws before waddling over to Tierney’s side. “And Spark is Tracie’s starter.” Tierney tapped the cylindrical case on the table in front of her. “You three get to pick one from Professor Sycamore.”

“But before we do,” said Serena, polite but officious as usual, “there are a few things we should go over. Do you have your trainer license?”

“Just got it yesterday!” Aisling whipped it out of her pocket to show before setting into the chair set aside for her between Xoana and Serena.

“Good. Tracie?”

Tracie already had her backpack in her lap and was pulling things out of it. She slid Aisling’s pokedex, holocaster, and provisional pokemon science licence across the table. Aisling took them wordlessly, practically radiating excitement as Tracie caught her up to speed. She registered, transferred her data and added them all to her contacts.

“Excellent,” said Serena. “Now that that’s sorted, we had a bit of a proposition for you.”

“Oh?” Aisling asked, perking back up.

Xoana spoke first this time. She could feel Serena about to be blunt instead of easing into it as Xoana had suggested. “Well, we thought—since we’re all in the same program—it might be fun to travel all together, as a group.”

“Oh,” said Aisling carefully, “did you all have a chance to meet up earlier?”

“We knew each other before we got into the program,” Serena jumped in.

Xoana could smack her.

“We all went to school together right here in Quarellis!” Tierney added cheerfully.

“Oh.” For the first time Aisling’s face closed and her posture stiffened.

This was exactly what Xoana had wanted to avoid. She swooped back in, leaning a bit over the table to get Aisling’s attention and smiling as bright and friendly as she could while also wanting to strangle her friends just a little.

“So we all get along and thought ‘the more the merrier’ you know?”

“We won’t all be working on the same projects of course,” said Serena, “but we all need to travel around to earn badges and so forth. It might be safer and more expedient to do so in a group.”

“No pressure to accept, obviously,” Xoana added, “but we would really love to have you.”

There was a pause while they all waited for an answer. Xoana could feel her face straining.

“That… sounds great!” Aisling declared, smiling again. “You seem like a good bunch. I’m so happy to have friends up north.”

Xoana stifled a sigh of relief. “That’s great! I’m so excited! This is going to be so much fun!”

“We were really hoping you’d be down for it,” said Tierney.

“Fun fact about me,” said Aisling with another big grin, “I’m down for most things.”

“Good to know!”

“Maybe we should do some icebreakers!” Xoana said. She was back in her element now. “How about we name our goals for the program and a hobby?” She paused, but she couldn’t exactly take that back. “I want to be a pokemon professional of some kind, but I’m not sure about my field. I volunteered at the Center in town and now I’m gonna use this year to look at training and research. Oh, and I like to make accessories and stuff in my spare time.”

“Did you make that bracelet you’re wearing?”

“Yeah!” She fiddled with it. “And the hair ties.”

Aisling surveyed them. “You’re good. They’re cute as anything.”

“Thanks!” She had to elbow Tierney so Aisling would stop looking at her.

Tierney talked about her dance moves project, which Aisling thought was a cool way to combine her passions. Tracie had to be prompted again, but Aisling saw to it this time. She even got Tracie rattling on about fossils until she abruptly clammed up, which meant she had gone back to counting her words. Aisling gave no signal of discomfort and that was as good a sign as any that this might turn out well.

“My goal is to be a professional trainer like my mother,” said Serena. “I hope to do well enough to be considered for Prof. Sycamore’s mega evolution project.” It was amazing how she just did that. Xoana would never be over it.

“And I like running,” she tacked on awkwardly. At least Xoana had something she lacked.

“I hear that helps clear your mind. A bit like riding that way.” It was impressive how she managed to make a connection with all of them right away, whether it was simple appreciation or common ground. “Anyway, my mom’s a big Rhyhorn rider and I’m going to get even more famous for battling. So I’m aiming to slide over into the mega evo project too. As for hobbies, I’ve done all sorts of things and I’m always in the market for a new pastime.”

Serena was measuring Aisling with her eyes, which was not a good sign.

“Since we’re all friends now,” Xoana began pointedly, “why don’t we come up with some nicknames for each other?”

“I like it!” Aisling nodded in approval.

“How about Ash?” Tierney suggested.

“Not bad, but I think I’d prefer to be addressed as My Queen.”

“My Queen?” Serena demanded, incredulous.

“Exactly,” Aisling confirmed, as if Serena had trouble understanding rather than believing. “Or perhaps Your Majesty, if you prefer.” Then she smirked.

Xoana couldn’t remember the last time someone doubled down after Serena challenged them like that. And neither could Serena if the way she pulled back and blinked was anything to go by. Serena’s tongue moved in her mouth, trying to work out a response, and Xoana scrambled to think of something to head her off.

“If you’re Queen, can I be Baronne?” They all looked at Tracie, surprised that she was following the conversation.

“But of course!” said Aisling magnanimously. “All of you are welcome to be nobles in my court.”

“Nice!” said Tierney, once again before Serena had time to process. “I’m feeling Vicomtesse for me. Has a nice ring to it.”

“An excellent choice,” Aisling declared.

“Hmm, I’m thinking Marquise,” Xoana threw in to keep the momentum.

“Perfect.”

“Are we really doing this?” Serena demanded, set back in her chair with her arms crossed.

Xoana smiled. She couldn’t help it. Even with Serena glaring at the both of them, she couldn’t keep it in.

“Aw, come on!” chimed Tierney good-naturedly. “It’ll be fun!”

“Yeah, Ser,” Xoana piled on.

Serena looked to Tracie, but she was researching something on her pokedex and predictably failed to notice the call for backup. Alone, tacit refusal was Serena’s only polite recourse. “I can’t think of one.” Can’t think of a rank higher than queen, more like.

Aisling tapped her lip a few times, looking Serena in the eyes, then pointed at her with a flick of her wrist.

“You seem like a Comtesse to me.” She didn’t wait for a response. “Alright, nicknames assigned! Let’s see these starter pokemon!”

Tierney leaned over and placed the case in the middle of the table before opening it, revealing three pokeballs.

“Before I let them out, who’s picking first?”

Xoana watched Serena squirm for a moment. She so obviously wanted first pick but she couldn’t be the one to suggest it. But they had both agreed to let Aisling pick first before she arrived, so Xoana elected to ignore this new development.

“Well if you’re Queen, maybe you should pick first, Aisling.”

“Makes sense,” Tracie agreed, failing to look up from her pokedex.

A muscle in Serena’s forehead twitched.

“Alright then. Let’s do it!”

Three small pokemon emerged in a flash of red light. The first was a Fennekin, who looked around at the assembled and scratched one of her enormous ears. The second was a Chespin who peeked at them before staring down at the table and nervously clasping her forepaws. The last was a Froakie, who glanced placidly around and smiled before using his tongue to clear one of his eyes. They were all so fucking cute. Xoana couldn’t decide which she wanted more.

Serena had decided though. Her eyes were fixed on the fire-type as if the other two didn’t exist. Aisling’s gaze was drawn to the Fennekin as well. Xoana began to brace herself, but then Aisling glanced to either side, catching Xoana’s eyes for a moment before delivering her choice.

“I think I’ll take… the Chespin! Chesnaught are the shit.”

The Chespin looked up, ears at attention, then glanced away and looked back again. Aisling held her gaze, grinning. The Chespin touched a paw to her chest in question.

“Yes, you!” Aisling answered with a snort of amusement. “Get over here.” The Chespin took a few paces forward and sat down in front of her, little nose twitching. “You got nice guns there, short stack.” She flexed one of her own, patting it for emphasis. As if to mirror the motion, the Chespin scratched at her thick arm and smiled tentatively. “You look like a Bree to me. How’s that sound?”

She looked down at a paw, taking a moment to carefully manipulate her digits, then gave Aisling the thumbs up. Beyond her, Serena was slightly irate that the Chespin apparently got more say in her nickname than she had been given.

“Welcome to Team Aisling! Can I get a fist bump?”

Bree closed her paw and tapped it against Aisling’s offered fist. Aisling drew hers away, splaying her fingers and making a sound effect out the side of her mouth. Bree wiggled her claws back experimentally.

“Yeah! You got it.” The Chespin smiled again at the encouragement. It was then that Xoana noticed Serena staring across the table at her.

“Go ahead, Ser—Comtesse. I can’t decide anyway.”

“I’ll take the Fennekin then.” Serena beckoned and the pokemon approached her. “I’ll call you Félicité, alright?”

The Fennekin nodded primly and sat down in front of her, curling her bushy tail over her paws. Serena stroked her fur, almost vibrating with happiness.

Xoana forgave her minor sins.

Aisling smiled too and there was a hint of satisfaction in it. So she had guessed which pokemon Serena wanted and let her have it. That was interesting.

The Froakie shuffled around to face Xoana. He blinked one eye and then the other at her. She melted onto her hands.

“Hi Froakie!” He blew a bubble from both nostrils and sucked them back in. “You are so cute! I love your bubbles! Can I touch them?” She reached out, but waited for him to nod before putting her hand on the ruff of pale, semi-translucent globes around his neck. They were moist and gave a little but didn’t burst.

“That’s so cool!” The Froakie smiled his big froggy smile at her. “Can I call you Froabble?”

The Froakie answered with a ribbit that expanded his throat sack a little. A noise of utter glee escaped Xoana.

The others all grinned at her, even Tracie, albeit with half her mouth. Aisling was leaning on her elbow to get a better view. Xoana could feel her face heating up. Tierney—bless her—rescued her by handing out the pokeballs.

“So, if we’re all going together, what’s the game plan?” Aisling asked, spinning her pokeball on the table like a top.

“We thought it would be best to work out of Neuvartault until it’s time to check in with Prof. Sycamore in Illumis,” said Serena. “There are three adjacent routes to train on and that way we could all earn our first badge before the meeting.”

“Sounds good to me,” Aisling replied.

“We can walk there together tomorrow if you want,” Xoana offered.

“I would like that.” That mouth of hers was deadly and shouldn’t be allowed. “Where are we staying?”

“Xoana and Tierney are staying with Tracie and me since we live close by,” said Serena. “But there’s a nice bed and breakfast in town.”

“Excellent. Send me the name and I’ll put in my housing request.”

Serena was a bit taken aback but couldn’t gracefully decline so reasonable a request, so she picked up her holocaster and texted the info.

“Thanks! All in order now?”

“That’s everything on the checklist,” said Tracie.

“Bree and I should probably get going then. Of course I’d love to stay and get to know you better, but alas, I have other appointments.”

She stood and gathered her things, motioning to her new Chespin to follow. Bree hopped from the chair to the ground and waited right by her ankle, which seemed to please her. She looked back up at them.

“It’s been the utmost pleasure meeting you Baronne, Vicomtesse, Comtesse, Marquise.”

The way her lips curved upward as she lingered on that final word—like she enjoyed the feel of it in her mouth—made something in Xoana’s chest flutter.

As she turned, she revealed to them what resembled a biker gang’s emblem splashed across the back of her jacket. It was a pokemon Xoana didn’t recognize—white and soft yellow with a third eye taking up most of its torso and blue tags hanging from each of the three points on its head. A furling banner below the pokemon’s delicate streamers bore the message: Try My Luck.

“Au revoir!” Aisling called without turning back.

And with that she was gone, pokeball at her belt, Chespin at her side, and even more bravado in the clicking of her boot heels against the cobblestones. Xoana didn’t want to stop staring after her, but that seemed imprudent, so she yanked her eyes back to the café table. Her new Froakie smiled tentatively up at her and she smiled back.

Aisling had been a surprise start to finish, but not an unpleasant one. The meeting certainly hadn’t gone quite as planned either, but perhaps that was to be expected. Serena was slumped in her chair with her chin tucked and no one else took it upon themselves to restart the conversation, so Xoana filled the gap.

“Well, she seemed nice.”

“Nice?” Serena countered, head cocked to the side and one immaculate eyebrow raised. “You call waltzing in like she owned the place and completely taking control ‘nice’?”

Xoana brushed this aside. “She was probably just nervous.”

“Nervous?” Serena was incredulous now. “What part of that display said insecurity to you?”

The Fennekin glanced back at her trainer and then expectantly at Xoana.

“This is a region-wide program. She had no reason to expect that we would all already know each other. It’s intimidating.”

“But—”

“Cut her some slack,” Tierney finally contributed. “You’re the one who was lecturing us to be friendly.”

“So did Xoana!”

“She’s nicer about it,” Tracie muttered, engrossed in her pokedex. Spark played with her handheld, feigning disinterest, but her ears gave her away.

“She told us to call her ‘My Queen’.”

Valériane hopped up and down, beating her wings each time in an attempt to see over the table.

“The nickname thing was my idea!”

Serena rolled her eyes and Xoana’s narrowed. Serena leaned back in her chair and spread her arms.

“So now we’re all lackeys in her court.”

“You’re so dramatic!”

“I’m dramatic?” Serena demanded, hand splayed on her chest like she was performing for a crowded theater.

The total lack of irony was more than Xoana could take.

“Stop repeating everything I say!”

Serena opened her mouth to argue the point, but from the look on her face, realized she was about to shoot Xoana’s words back again and thought better of it.

Xoana considered leaving it there, but she couldn’t.

“I liked her.”

“Of course you did."

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Xoana demanded—as if she didn’t know exactly what it meant—as if they all didn’t know. Xoana’s cheeks flushed. Just once she wanted to hear her say it, but of course she wouldn’t. She never had. “You just don’t like her because you’re used to being the alpha friend.”

“Wha— That’s not true!”

Serena looked to Tracie and Tierney but neither met her eyes. Then she had the nerve to pout. Fuck her and her adorable face.

Serena’s Fennekin hopped off the table into her lap and she stroked her absently.

Valériane made an inelegant attempt to haul herself up onto Aisling’s now empty chair. Xoana leaned over to offer the Hawlucha a hand and chewed the inside of her cheek as Valériane pulled herself up and settled into the seat.

“Listen,” she said at length, “you’re being a Skiddo about this.”

Serena grunted—as if to illustrate Xoana’s point.

“It would make everything easier and a lot more fun if we could all be friends.”

“That is almost exactly what you said an hour ago, Ser.” Tierney reminded her. Tracie nodded in agreement.

That only made Serena’s brow set even further. Time to change tack.

“We’ve got a whole dynamic going and it’s weird to shake it up, but maybe it’ll be good.”

Serena grunted again.

“If you don’t want to see sense, could you at least give her another chance as a favor to me? If you’re feeling generous, that is.”

Serena tried not to smile at the dig, but couldn’t help it. “Fine.” She scratched Félicité between the ears and the tension flowed off her. “First impressions aren’t everything.”

…

“Raleigh, I’m home!”

“So I see,” he said dryly, but he was waiting for her at the gate.

“Meet, Bree, my starter!” The Chespin ducked behind Aislings legs. “Bree, this is Raleigh. He’s a racer.”

Bree gave Raleigh a tentative wave.

“A plant-type, huh? Don’t ask me to spar with her.”

“Cináed’ll keep her in line, ya big calf.”

Bree made herself small so Aisling shoved the Rhyhorn aside to show her he was all bulk and no bite.

Grace came out of the house with Cináed and Aisling snatched up her starter.

“Look mam! I got a Chespin! Brawny and tenacious! Her name’s Bree.”

“Nice ta meecha there, Bree!” said Cináed.

“Welcome to the family!” said Grace and shook the Chespin’s paw. “How’d the meeting go?”

“Great!” Aisling bounced up on her toes and then hastily put her starter down so that she could emote more safely. “They were all girls! And two of ‘em were black! I miss the ranch already, but it’s so nice to be closer to the city.”

“I know what ya mean. I’m so happy for ya, alanna!”

“And they were all so nice! Serena might be a bit stuck-up, but she’s cute and kinda fun to mess with. Tracie’s shy but she was trying really hard and ya can just tell she’s smart. Tierney—”

“Tierney now?” Grace interrupted with a grin.

“Oh-aye!” Aisling confirmed in kind. “She had a fun vibe to her. Really interesting project too. And then Xoana—gods is she ever winsome—was so sweet and friendly. Made sure I was comfortable and all that. And you should’ve seen her when she got her Froakie.” She was gushing now but couldn’t help it. “They’re a bit odd, yanno? But she just thought he was the most precious thing in the world, moist skin and all.”

“Even the gooey mons deserve a fan I suppose.”

“But that’s not even the best part! We’re all going to travel together!”

“What a relief!” Grace made a big show of wiping her brow.

“I woulda been fine on me own!” She pouted for a moment but her mother only laughed. “This’ll be more fun anyway. They really are a nice bunch.” Aisling was bouncing in place now. “I can’t wait to start!”

“I’m so happy and so proud of you,” said her mother, voice as warm as the bread she could smell baking.

“Aw mam, you’re always proud of me.”

“Too right! And I always will be no matter what happens.” She brushed Aisling’s cheek with her hand. “But I also know you’ll do well. Us Quinns are women of action—adventurers through and through! There ain’t nothing we can’t do if we set our minds to it!” Raleigh snorted with approval and Cináed nodded vigorously from his perch on Grace’s shoulder.

“Yeah, alright,” said Aisling with a roll of her eyes.

Bree looked heartened and excited by all the enthusiasm, even though she probably didn’t catch much of what was said. Pokemon had a knack for getting the gist of things even without the understanding.

“Though I would like to tack on an addendum, which is that there are certain things we perhaps shouldn’t do… Like our coworkers, for instance.”

“Mam!” Aisling flushed and Grace tried not to laugh. “I’m not an idiot!”

“Nor am I, but you only have to be a fool once.”

“I know,” Aisling sighed.

“O’course, sometimes it can be the best thing that ever happened to ya.” A grudging smile wormed its way onto Aisling face. “Are ya leaving soon or hanging around for a few more days?”

“Heading out in the morning. We’re all going to stay in Neuvartault until it’s time for our first evaluation.”

“Sensible,” Grace sighed. “You’ll call me though, won’t you?”

“O’course I will. If you get a holocaster, you can see my beautiful face in glorious 3D.” She waved her new device at her mother.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“But you’re coming with me, right Cináed?”

He bobbed. “I promised, didn’t I?”

“Yes!” She pumped her fist.

“But just until you beat the first gym,” he reminded her. “I’m a songbird, not a battler.”

“Yeah yeah, ya coward. We’ve got a deal.”

Team Aisling:

Team Xoana:

Team Serena:

Team Tierney:

Team Tracie:

[nutslovesdolts]

Qrowin week day 3 (give it up for day three)

so yeah I wrote this now, it’s almost 2am and I gotta wake up early, who even reads this part anyways haha, enjoy

Scarf

It had been an hour since Tai and the entirety of team RWBY and… JNR(?) had left Winter and Qrows small festive home in the woods, the small cabin was built by the pair only 3 months previous. Winter had been completely turned off at the idea of any kind of shows of wealth or grandeur by her father, and Qrow never had much to begin with and liked this kind of small cozy nest like home.

2 years ago Winter had confessed to Qrow her true feelings, feelings that she was always taught to suppress through her life, but that was just it. When she was around Qrow she could let it all out, and she knew he could take it and wanted more.

Qrow had planned on confessing to her on that exact same day, and after a heated but regulated duel overseen by Ironwood who labeled it as a “training exercise” (both Qrow and Winter had spoken to him about their true intentions previously but unknown from one another)

The entire second floor was their bedroom completed by its own fireplace to match the one downstairs, a extremely re-enforced bed which its supports already showed signs of wear and tear, and a few end tables with lamps and the like, there was one closet where they both kept around 37 copies of the exact same every day clothing and about 3 extra clothing items for special occasions, with one dresser at the far end of the room next to the stairs.

The ground floor was wider and was made up of three rooms, the living room, which had chairs and a small couch surrounding the fireplace where a hearty fire was softly crackling, leftover wrapping paper from the guests earlier were glistening in the flickering light.

The other room was the small kitchen that smelled strongly of hazelnut and gingerbread

And of course a workroom filled with all sorts of odds and ends for the two to repair and tinker with their weapons.

Winter sat on the couch resting her head on Qrows shoulder, the firelight dancing on her face, she had never been happier in her entire life, right now she had no worries, no responsibilities, and could simply be at peace.

She snuggled closer to Qrow and let out a content hum

Qrow was more relaxed then he had thought humanly (or avianly) possible, It would almost be concerning for him if it weren't for the love of his life cuddling close by his side. He had always assumed because of his semblance that he would live alone somewhere, but as luck would have it, Winter didn’t mind a slip up here or there, as she put it It kept life interesting.

I wonder if she'll like it, he thought to himself. Winter wasn't exactly the easiest person to buy for, she hated anything overly extravagant or intricate except when it came to weapons. She also somehow knew exactly what to buy for Qrow, not once had she failed to deliver something he didn’t cherish to this day. For her, nothing in the world was good enough. That's why he decided not to simply buy anything, but to attempt to make it. He already knew how to sew as his cape managed to get torn to shreds every time a grimm got near him, not to mention back in the tribe it was how they kept themselves together, in just about every sense.

Winter stirred next to him, lifting her loving beautiful face so that they locked eyes

I never knew this was all I wanted Qrow, she sighed in peace. Just you and me, some peace and quiet, and all the time in the world just for us.

Qrow leaned in and gently pressed on her lips with his so they were eye to eye. Everything I ever dreamed about is currently two inches from my face and aaalllll mine, I agree, this is the life he said with his playful smirk.

That look was something that drove Winter wild, after their duel at Atlas when she confessed to him her feelings, he had used that same look before laughing, but not a cold cruel laugh like she was expecting at the time, but a warm loving laugh that told her everything she needed to know.

She leaned in and kissed him gently, slowly getting more aggressive with each passing second.

Qrow pulled back gasping for air, dang Ice Queen, your gonna suck the life outa me before the fun begins haha

Winter Blushed a deep scarlet red and pulled back off of him, You know I can't help it she giggled, Oh! Qrow I almost forgot. She said reaching behind the couch, Please open mine first, og but open the small one first! She said obviously trying to hide her excitement

Two of em Ice Queen? Must be a pretty special occasi… Qrow had been gingerly unwrapping the smaller gift to find a stuffed crow wearing a small cable knit sweater with a snowflake on it.

Qrow just stared at it for a moment taking in the idea of wearing this around the kingdoms when in bird form… yeah maybe around the house for Winters sake, but no one else could know

Qrow sighed and quickly turned into bird form noseing his way into the snugly fitting sweater

Winter covered her mouth with both hands to keep her explosion of laughter contained, she went red faced from the pressure and burst out in the most beautiful laughter Qrow had ever heard.

As he turned back to human form she gave Winter a playful sideways look, Only for you Ice Queen hehe, only for you

Winter finally gasped for air from her laughter and threw her arms around Qrow, I knew you’d look cute in it haha, she stated triumphantly, OOO now open the other one she said practically jumping up and down in her seat.

Qrow started unwrapping the small box carefully. He hadn't seen her that happy since they finished the house hehe

Under the paper the box was black with a red bow, as Qrow moved the bow out of the way and opened the box, he found a single bronze gear at the bottom, Last month in a battle with an extremely oversized Grimm that looked like a nevermore but with bladed wings, Qrow’s Scythe Harbinger had taken a hard blow shattering one near irreplaceable gear (the craftsman who had made the gears had died during a horrible grimm attack on his remote village, no other craftsman had yet been able to replicate this delicate piece) vital to its transformation, just his luck eh? Qrow would have been utterly emotionally defeated if it weren't for Winter,he spent a vast majority of his time searching for a replacement but found he was now stuck with only one form, at least until after the holidays.

For the first time in a long time Qrow felt his eyes water up a little bit. Winter noticed this and wiped them away and looked him dead in the eyes. Now you better not have gotten rusty over this last month, she cooed, We can’t have a under practiced bird prot… OOF… before she could finish Qrow had rushed in and given her a long deep kiss.

How did you even, he started but was cut off by Winter placing a finger to his lips, It’s my secret, she said with a devilish smirk, and you'll have to try MUCH harder to get that out of me tonight, she said in a slow seductive tone.

Qrow felt his mouth water a bit at the thought but quickly brushed away the thought as he reached behind the couch and pulled out his seamingly meger gift for her, he knew it would pale in comparison to the lengths she had gone to, but he hoped with all his heart she would at least like it.

Winter slowly examined the long flat rectangular box, it almost seemed weightless.

Qrow watched nervously as she started pulling the lid off the box, her eyes widened as she looked inside.

Winter pulled out a long obviously handsewed Light and dark blue scarf with snowflake inlays almost identical to her glyphs, at the center of each glyph was a small image of a black crow, inlaid in the background of the scarf were beautiful depictions of small villages and at the opposite end of the scarf was a picture of the arena where she had confessed to him, At the center was a note.

You are all I am, my beautiful snowflake

The other side of the scarf was bland and seemed to fit the military dress code matching her uniform, It was carefully tailored to blend in with her Jacket without detracting from the uniformity of the military

Winter felt a large mass of tears well up in her eyes before she started full on crying, all manner of grace and order lost

Qrow gave her a huge hug, regret building up in his chest, He knew it was too much, he knew it would remind her of her childhood, all this dark thoughts building up in his mind caused him to start to shake, until winter placed her hands on his cheeks and looked at him through teary eyes,

Did you make this? She asked through tears

Yeah… Qrow said roughly, he couldn’t meet her eyes

Winter pulled him into a passionate kiss completely upending Qrow causing them to both fall over into the couch.

Qrow, Winter said, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen…. When did you learn to.. She was stopped by Qrow with that same playful look in his eye, all negative feelings gone in a flash, he placed one finger on her lips and seductively said, Well I guess you’ll have to try MUCH harder to get that out of me Ice Quee...nn… he trailed off, he was met with the most longing and starving look Winter eyes had ever betrayed, like a cat about to pounce

He was instantly tackled tackled by Winter

It would be a great night after all

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

OOF IT’S 1:45 NOW AND I HAVE TO WAKE UP EARLY

Hope you all enjoy, I just keep writing so I guess we'll see if it lets me post it all

This is my third ever fic, Just figured Id write it now just in case I lose motivation again

HAPPY QROWIN WEEK

[animefan299110]

Family Matters Chapter 3: Halloween for Eri

See end of chapter for notes. I do not own My Hero Academia, its characters, or locations. Without further ado...HERE IS HALLOWEEN FOR ERI!

A month had passed since Eri first stepped through the doors of the Class 1-A dorm. Midoriya and Ochako were doing their best to not just become superheroes, but also to be good temporary parents. There were times when they had to be strict with her, but she took it in stride, even if she didn't like the outcome. Of course, those conversations would always end with a kiss on her check from either of them, just to show that they still loved her.

The rest of Class 1-A did their best to help Eri out with her daily routine. Tsuyu still took her to and from school, Kirishima made her breakfast every other day while Midoriya and Ochako alternated on the rest, Momo read a bedtime story to her every night, Iida made sure the students stayed in line in terms of the "Eri Rules", and after much pleading from Eri and some convincing on Tooru's part toward Midoriya and Ochako, Mashirao began to teach her martial arts in order to battle villains when she couldn't use her quirk. Bakugou didn't do much; he spent most of his time doing his homework, ignoring everyone, or just shouting at them. Eri suspected that he was still peeved about the time she asked him to show his quirk to her.

As the days progressed, the weather began to change. The colors of the leaves changed from green to a dazzling display of red, orange and yellow. The air became crisper and temperatures dropped a bit as a chill came into the air. All of the students started wearing longer clothes and some had resorted to wearing fleece coats and scarves.

During school one day, Eri caught wind of a couple of students having a conversation. She was able to catch one word that sparked her curiosity: "Halloween." She had heard it somewhere before, but didn't know what it meant. It was on her mind for the rest of the day until she couldn't take it anymore after dinner when she and the 1-A students were in the living room.

"Mama, Papa?" Eri asked as she looked up at Midoriya and Ochako. "I heard something today at school that I was curious about…what's Halloween?"

"An excellent question, Eri," Iida chimed in. "To understand what Halloween is, we must go back to the 10th century."

'Oh balls.' the others thought in dismay; whenever anyone asked a simple question, Iida always had to give a lecture about the entire subject.

"Halloween, or All Hallows Eve," Iida began, "can be traced back to 10th century Ireland during the farming festival called Samhain, which occurred between October 31st and November 1st. The holiday was meant to mark the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter. As the crops died, the farmers believed that there was a day when the spirits of the dead could rise up from their graves. During the festival, they would dress in disguise to fool and ward off the spirits in the hopes of protecting their land throughout the upcoming winter."

"In regular, non-Iida terms," Kirishima chimed in before Iida could continue, "Halloween is a celebration on the night of October 31st in which folks dress up in different costumes, walk up to people's doorstep, and say "Trick-or-Treat". And if you say it politely, the folks will give you free candy!"

"Free…candy…?" Eri asked as her eyes sparkled with delight and her mouth began to water at the thought. Ochako and Midoriya chuckled a bit at the sight of Eri being on cloud nine. Soon, Eri shook her head and returned herself back to the topic at hand. "So what kind of costumes go people wear?"

"Oh, there are all kinds of costumes!" Mina said delightfully as she used her fingers to count. "There's superheroes, monsters, movie and tv characters…"

"Sexy kittens," Mineta said as his eyes glazed over in perverted thought, "Naughty nurses, slutty cops, Playboy bu-" He stopped immediately as soon as he felt the glares of every other student in the room. "I…I'll just stop talking now." He concluded meekly.

"Anyway," Momo said as she turned her gaze from the class pervert to Eri, "You can be whatever you want to be for Halloween, as long as it's not one of Mineta's suggestions."

Eri began to ponder a bit as to what she wanted to be for Halloween. On one hand, it would be cool to dress up as a superhero. But she saw caped crime fighters every day. She could be a movie or tv character, but she didn't watch a lot of those forms of media. Most of her days were spent playing games with the either Midoriya, Ochako, or any of the other students.

As she continued to ponder, her eyes soon fell on a book that was in Momo's hands. Momo's eyes glanced down at what Eri was looking at and handed her the book with a smile. As Eri flipped through the book, she noticed that some of pages included pictures of people in medieval clothes doing poses. She continued to flip through until…

"Mama! Papa!" Eri exclaimed when she stopped on a page in the book. "This is what I want to be for Halloween!"

Midoriya and Ochako leaned in and saw a picture of a princess in a purple dress with a tiara on her head waving to a sea of loyal and loving subjects. "That looks good, Eri." Ochako said as she looked through the book herself. "Say," she addressed to the rest of Class 1-A, "How about all of us wear costumes that are based within this book?"

Most of the students nodded in agreement; it would be cool to do a themed costume set as a group. "If everyone can decide which costume they want," Momo said, "I make the costumes and that way, we can save time and mon-"

"NO! FRICKIN'! WAY!" Bakugou blurted out as the rest of Class 1-A looked at him with shock. "I am willing to do this and that for the kid, but there is no way in Hades that I am dressing up like a fairy fa-" He stopped, however, when he saw Eri's eyes peering above the book as she held it up for him to see. He glanced down and saw a picture of a mean-looking dude who was riding a dragon into battle. "Who's this?" He asked.

"He looks to be a war chief, Kacchan." Eri said as she pointed at the man. "He looks like he is a pretty strong and awesome person."

After glaring at Eri for a few minutes, Bakugou said, "Fine! I'll do it; but only if I get to be that guy." He added as he pointed at the person in the book. Eri smiled widely as the rest of Class 1-A hooted and cheered.

Two weeks later, the sky began to darken on the night of October 31st, and all of class 1-A was abuzz with excitement, even Eri. After get the costume requests from her classmates, Momo was able to use her quirk to create costumes for them all. After much deliberation amongst themselves, it was decided that Eri would go trick-or-treating with Midoriya, Ochako, Tokoyami, and Tsuyu. Even Satsuki was invited to join Eri on her excursion.

It was around six o'clock at night when Ochako was fitting Eri into her princess costume. The gown was purple with sparkles all around and poofs on the shoulders. For footwear, Eri was wearing purple shoes with a shine. Ochako had to give Momo some credit; the design and detail of the dress was flawless. As soon as the dress was complete, Ochako place a little tiara on top of Eri's head. She then pivoted the mirror so that Eri could get a look at herself. She chuckled a bit at the look of awe on Eri's face when she looked at her reflection.

"Now that your dress is all done," Ochako said as she put the mirror in its original spot, "It's time I got into my costume."

After a few minutes, Ochako checked herself in the mirror. She wore calf-length boots, brown leggings, a tan gown with a belt around her waist and tiny straps for her wrists, and a small maroon shawl that had a hole for her head to stick out and was attached to a pointy, maroon wizard's hat. In her right hand, she held a large wooden staff with a red jewel in the center.

"Wow Mama," Eri said as she looked at Ochako in awe and wonder. "You look so pretty."

"Aww, thanks sweetie." Ochako said as she leaned down and kissed Eri on the forehead, to which the girl giggled. "Want to go see if Papa's ready?" At this, Eri nodded her head vigorously. Using her free hand, Ochako scooped up Eri and exited her room.

As she walked down the hallway, two doors opened up to reveal Kirishima and Mina come from their respective rooms. Kirishima was wearing grey pants, black boots, a torn loincloth, a sleeveless grey jacket, a tiger-striped scarf, and a metal glove on his left arm. Wrapped around his waist were two small swords that could be used as daggers. Mina was wearing calf-length boots, black leggings, a short skirt, a tight fur top with a strap on her left shoulder, and a pair of black gloves.

"Oh my God, Eri!" Mina cried out as she ran up to the little girl in excitement. "You look so cute in that dress!"

"Thanks, Auntie Mina. You look cute in your costume too. And you look so cool in those clothes, Uncle Shima!" She added as she looked on at Kirishima. (AN: She's got a mama and a papa, why not throw in a few aunts and uncles while we're at it.)

"Glad it was to your liking, Eri." A familiar female voice said behind the group. Eri and others turned to see Shouto dressed up like a prince and Momo in a pretty revealing knight costume.

"It sure was." Eri responded with a smile. "Thanks, Auntie Momo!" Momo responded in kind with a smile, though she was fangirling inside.

"If you morons are done talking," Kacchan said as he too walked out of his dorm room, "We can get this over with and I can ditch you losers." Shaking their heads, Eri and the others made their way downstairs to join the other 1-A students. When they reached the second floor, a door opened up to reveal Midoriya wearing dark blue pants, red boots, a white undershirt, a sleeveless green vest, and grey gloves. In terms of accessories, he had a satchel slung around his shoulder and a sheathed sword attached to his hip.

"Wow!" Eri said as her eyes widened and sparkled as she looked at Midoriya. "You look great, Papa." She then turned her attention to Ochako and asked, "Don't Papa look handsome, Mama?"

At these words, both Midoriya's and Ochako's checks turned bright pink. "I…well…uh…" Ochako stuttered as the two friends looked at each other in embarrassment. Behind them, Kirishima and Mina were giving sly gleams in their eyes, Momo and Shouto were giving small smiles, and Bakugou was rolling his eyes in annoyance. "You…You…look nice, Deku!" Ochako blurted out loud.

"Y-Y-You t-too!" Midoriya yelled out. "Let's get going!" And with that, both students bolted downstairs with a confused Eri still clinging to Ochako. The others, however, had mixed reactions. Bakugou grumbled something like "fuckin' morons", Momo and Shouto gave exhausted sighs, and Kirishima was trying to calm down an agitated Mina.

As they reached the main floor, they soon saw other students in their costumes. Iida was dressed up as a knight, Tsuyu was a barmaid, Tokoyami had a black cloak on that covered every part of his body except for his head, and Tooru, of course, was only wearing gloves. As soon as Eri came into view, everyone gathered around her. They "oohed" and "aahed" about how pretty she looked in her dress. Eri would of course respond in kind with a smile and a giggle.

"Hey Eri!" A small, familiar voice called out to Eri and she turned to see Satsuki running up to her. "That's a cool dress you have on." She stated as she looked on at her friend.

"Thanks, Satsuki." Eri replied, "Your costume looks cool too." Satsuki was wearing a dress similar to her sister's.

"Yeah, I figured it would be cool for both big sis and me to wear the same costume." Satsuki said with a smile.

"What's up, 1-A?" A feminine voice called out from nowhere. Everyone turned their heads to see a girl with pink hair who was wearing baggy pants, a white tank top with dirt stains all over it, and a leather apron. She also wore a leather belt with various tools attached to it.

"Hatsume?" Kyoka asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"Tooru and Mina invited me." Mei said with a grin. "They told me about a medieval costume theme in their dorm and I couldn't resist. Like the outfit?" She asked as she gave a wink and a peace sign. "I'm meant to be a blacksmith." Her eyes soon shot to Midoriya and they sparkled at the sight before them. "Holy cow, Midoriya!" she said as she ran and got up close to him, "That's a wicked costume you've got there. If you ever get the chance to come to the workshop, I can make a few more of my babies to add as accessories for – OOMPH!" she said as she felt two small hands push her away from Midoriya. "What the heck?" she soon asked as her eyes looked down at Eri, whose arms were stretched in a protective motion and who had a pout on her face as she looked up at Mei.

"No!" Eri said in a serious tone of voice. "Papa belongs to Mama!"

"E-Eri!" Ochako said in shock as her face turned red from embarrassment. She raced over and picked up Eri as she rubbed the back of her head. "So sorry, Hatsume." Ochako said as she smiled sheepishly at the mechanic, "She just gets so protective sometimes of her papa. This is Eri, by the way," she added, remembering that Mei had never met the little girl before, "she's the girl me, Deku, Tsuyu, and Kirishima saved from those bad guys a few months ago."

"I see." Mei said as she looked at the little girl. "Anyway, no harm done."

"Maybe we ought to get going if we want to get some sweets." Tsuyu suggested as she looked up at the clock. Midoriya, Ochako, Satsuki, and Tokoyami nodded in agreement; it would be best to head out now before the teenagers came out to cause havoc. As they went outside, some of the students left to check out the haunted house set up by Class 1-B while others went out to take in the sights.

"Have a great time, Eri and Satsuki!" Mina called out as Kirishima dragged her along to join Bakugou, Tooru, Hatsume, Mashirao, and a few others to the haunted house.

"And remember, always remind others that Papa belongs to Mama." Sero said with a chuckle as he left with Shouto, Momo, Kaminari, Iida, and Kyoka.

"S-S-Sero!" Midoriya and Ochako stuttered in shock and embarrassment. Tsuyu and Satsuki tried hard to hold back giggles while Tokoyami gave an ever-so-rare smile in amusement. Only Eri was left in confusion about why her Mama and Papa got embarrassed around each other. As soon as Midoriya and Ochako composed themselves, the six of them continued on their quest for candy.

Soon they reached their first house. The place was deck out with cobwebs, glow-in-the-dark skeletons, and giant Halloween blow-ups.

"Now remember, Eri," Ochako said, "You walk up to the front door, ring the doorbell, and when the person opens the door, you say 'Trick or Treat!' and they'll give you free candy. Now go ahead, sweetie."

Eri smiled confidently and took a few steps before she stopped abruptly. As she looked up at the looming house with its various creepy and scary ornaments, she realized that she was both nervous and terrified at the same time. In addition, the eeriness and darkness of the night caused the house's features to darken, thus heightening her fears.

As Eri looked on in fear, Midoriya and Ochako began to look at each other with worry. 'Maybe it was too much pressure on Eri to be out on a night like this.' They both thought. There were always those that got too into the holiday by dressing up in costume and scaring trick-or-treaters when they knocked or whose houses were so intimidating that nobody ever came. Not to mention the fact that the darkness was always something that Eri was scared of, considering her previous living arrangements. 'Maybe we should take her ba-'

"C'mon, Eri." Satsuki said, snapping Eri, Midoriya, and Ochako out of their thoughts as she took Eri's hand and smiled. "We can do it together; you know you want that free candy." She added with a small smirk.

"O-Okay" Eri said. Although she was still slightly nervous, she slowly walked up the front porch and waited while Satsuki jumped up and rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal a woman in her late 60s looking down on them with a smile.

"Trick-or-Treat!" Satsuki said with a smile as she lifted her bucket.

"T-Trick-or-Treat." Eri said meekly as she lifted her bucket as well.

"My, my; aren't you two just the cutest! Here, one for each of you." She said she placed a tiny wrapped candy bar in each of their buckets.

"Thank you." Both girls said as they made their way toward their elders.

It was on her way towards Midoriya and Ochako that Eri's face lightened up with excitement and ran towards her "parents" until she was scooped up in Midoriya's arms. "Mama! Papa!" Eri said excitedly. "Look! I did it, I did it!"

"That's great, Eri!" Midoriya said as he say the singular candy bar in the bucket. "We're both so proud of you!"

"So I take it you don't want to head back home?" Ochako asked with a smile on her face.

"Nope." Eri said with a toothy grin as Tokoyami, Tsuyu, and Satsuki watched with amusement.

"Well then," Midoriya said as he placed Eri on his shoulders, "Where to next, Princess Eri?"

Filled with enough confidence to rival her Grandpa Toshi, Eri pointed her finger rigidly down the street and said "To the next house, Sir Deku!" (Author's Note:Insert fangirl gif) The others chuckled in response as they continued their quest for free candy.

Needless to say, the excursion was a complete success. Nearly every house they went to had a friendly neighbor who was willing to offer candy. In addition, those who answered their doors commented on how both Eri and Satsuki looked so cute in their costumes. At around 8:30pm, both girls had their buckets almost filled to the brim with candy and were tuckered out from exhaustion. It got to the point where Eri had fallen asleep, resting her head on Midoriya's shoulder, while Satsuki was sleeping in Tsuyu's arms.

"I'm gonna take Satsuki back home." Tsuyu said to Midoriya and Ochako, "my parents said that they wanted her back by 9 at the very latest."

"I'm going with her as well." Tokoyami added. "After what happened with the Eight Percepts of Death, it's best that we stick together."

"Aww." Dark Shadow said with sarcasm. "You sure you don't want someone to harm your precious wai-"

"Shut it, you." Tokoyami said quickly as a slight hint of pink around his cheeks. The others couldn't help but giggle and chuckle at this. "Anyway, we better get going."

"Alright," Midoriya said, "We'll see you when you get back."

"Be careful, you two." Ochako said. The two then waved at their classmates as they ran off towards their destination.

Once Tokoyami and Tsuyu were out of sight, Midoriya and Ochako began to make their way back with Eri. As they continued to walk, Ochako couldn't help but smile a little as she watched Eri resting her head on Midoriya's shoulder. She soon closed her eyes and began to imagine being in a flower field overlooking the city. Soon, Eri was running toward her smiling and laughing. Laughing with her, Ochako scooped her up and planted a kiss on the cheek. She soon noticed Midoriya walking up to them with a loving look on his face. At that moment, both their eyes began to close slowly as they leaned in to kiss…

Ochako's eyes suddenly snapped open as her face turned pink from embarrassment. She had just thought about kissing Midoriya!

"Um…Uraraka?" Midoriya asked, causing to jump in surprise. "Are you okay?"

"JUSTFINEINNOWAYWASITHINKINGABOUTKISSINGYOU!" Ochako shouted quickly as her face turned a darker shade.

"O-Okay." Midoriya said, though he could sense that something was up that she wasn't telling him.

After a while, they had returned to the dormitory. Most of the students had already gone to bed or were out enjoying the festivities. Slowly, they made way to Midoriya's room and gently placed Eri on her bed. It was only when Ochako began to pull the covers over her when Eri slowly opened her eyes halfway. "Mama? Papa?" She asked sleepily. "Wh-Where…"

"Shhh" Midoriya said quietly. "We're back home; Big Sis Tsuyu and Tokoyami took Satsuki back."

"Oh." Eri said softly. "Candy?"

"Its right here, sweetie." Ochako said as she leaned the bucket so that Eri could get a look inside.

Eri smiled as she saw the container filled with sugary goodies. She then turned her gaze towards the two students. "Thank you. Thank you both…so…muuuuu…" Soon enough, Eri had drifted off to sleep. Both Midoriya and Ochako looked fondly at the little girl sleeping in front of them. They couldn't believe their good fortune; it seemed as though it was only yesterday that they had begun their path towards becoming superheroes. Now, they were charged with giving the little girl in front of them the life she deserved to have. As they continued to watch Eri smile a little as she slept, one thought crossed both of their minds.

'Pleasant dreams…our precious little princess.'

Well guys, another day, another chapter done! This was so much fun to write! Sorry if some of you feel as though the ending was a bit rushed. I would like to point out a few things:

1. I know I said that this chapter would be released shorter than the previous chapter, but I have decided that each chapter will be published on New England time. What is that, you are asking? It means the story gets updated WHEN IT GETS UPDATED! I know a lot of you are anticipating the new chapter every day, but I have other projects I am trying to work on. All I ask is that you all be patient; don't ever think that I have quit on this project if I do not update it quickly. As the Cleaner from Toy Story 2 once said: "You can't rush art."

2. If there are any grammar errors, please just say that there are. Please do not go into detail every single one you find. I am a novice writer who does for a hobby, not Ernest Hemingway.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get down with some story and fanfic updates.

Story updates:

-After much consideration and debate, I have decided to include short stories in Family Matters! They will be shorter than the main story chapters, but shorter means that they will be published quicker. So be on the lookout for them.

Fanfic updates (some current fics I am writing):

-Black Butler: Ciel's Doll: AU in which Doll is spared and she joins Ciel on his missions. Eventual Ciel x Doll. Almost done with first chapter -American Ed-iot: An Ed, Edd, n Eddy story in which the three boys are in their high school years and the school has decided to hold a production of American Idiot: the Musical. The boys are cast as the three male leads Johnny (Edd), Tunny (Ed), and Will (Eddy) while the other Cul-De-Sac kids have been cast in the show, like Marie as Whatsername, May as the Extraordinary Girl, Lee as Heather (all of whom still flirt with the eds but have toned it down slightly), Kevin (captain of the football team and, along with the other kids, is nicer to the eds) as America's Favorite Son, Jimmy (who is openly gay and is trying to get into a major performing arts college) as St. Jimmy, Johnny 2x4 (who has grown up from having Plank) as the Rock n Roll Boyfriend, Nazz (who is now head cheerleader and dating Kevin) as Heather's best friend/ensemble, and Sarah, Rolf, and OCs as Ensemble. Mainly Edd/Marie with slight Ed/May, Eddy/Lee, and Kevin/Nazz. -My Hero Academia: The Greatest Showman. Set in an alternate universe, Izuku Midoriya decides to create a show that features some of the world's oddities in order to create a good life for his wife Ochako Uraraka and his two daughters Eri and Aoi. -Here is the big question: who should play Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron) and Anne Wheeler (Zendaya)? Here are my three possible pairings: -Iida x Mei: Iida comes from a prestigious family who would look down on someone like Mei. Mei is someone who wants to be with Iida but knows that that isn't possible within their society. -Kirishima x Ashido: I love the idea of them doing "Rewrite the Stars" and being so close together during that song. -Shouto x Momo: I did think about this, but both come from prestigious families.

Well guys, hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please comment, favorite, and subscribe. Next up is the first short story: Eri Meets Gunhead! And remember, this is AnimeFan299110 telling all of you to go beyond...PLUS ULTRA!

[mattiemoose]

Oops dropped your heart (6)

Horrortale x reader

Warning: People be dying, swearing

one two three four five (six)

They never questioned how you first managed to leave, to leave you must have a monster soul and your own soul.. or the other way around for a monster. Someone along your journey had told you...had begged you to take their soul and go home, whatever kindness, whatever will they had left was given to you on the way out. Given the soul you didn't gain any great powers just something to get you by and through... it's how  you were able to continue going through in and out... But you noticed something every time you went back into the mountain and to that deep dark hole.

There wasn't a barrier there before the drop.

It was too high for any monster to get too.. magic or not.. it's why the ladder was there.. thats as high Sans can go with lifting anything. Suppose since the Barrier behind the throne room being there they assumed it had to be up here too.

Never the less...maybe... one day you can create a ladder long enough for them to climb up. Save them from the darkness, maybe it would change them, maybe adapt? Could they? Could they be free and live in this world? All they could eat were humans and their souls. But, maybe.. perhaps they could eat animals? Sure you wouldn't throw a fucking dog down there but maybe deer? Have Deer ever fallen? Have they ever tried eating it? Does it have to be alive when they kill their meal? Fresh? Yes there were times when a human you forced down there died right away and they ate it and would be just fine...

"But that's because the human Soul lingers" You answered your thoughts as you trailed down the mountain.

Taking a sudden right down straight off trail and into the woods you went down a small slope and onto a rocky trail following along it quietly eventually the roof top of a small house started coming to  view over the tree's and as you got closer the small cabin started coming into view. You stood there before the wooden Cabin a small set of stairs went to a porch the railings held old ripped police tape flowing in the wind a porch swing swaying slowly, creaking against it's old chains the wood rotting and the green paint chipping away. The large windows covered by flower printed thin sheets, dusted by time. Slowly you made your way up the creaking stairs gripping the railing tightly, the wood hasn't been taken care of for months, slowly falling apart and rotting from weather damage the third step smashed from your last walk up and your weight going right through the wood.

Reaching under a flower pot (very original) you lift it up taking the silver key hidden from under it. You rose and unlocked the door slipping the key into the lock slowly turning it slowly you heard the click and entered the cabin. The halls were dirty the pictures that once hung on these walls taken along with trinkets and other things that belonged to the woman and her husband here. Closing the door behind you, the light from the outside given you enough to see inside you made way down to the basement slowly.. the sun barley coming through from the small windows down below.  You were worried about anyone being here... weren't worried about what spooks could be hiding. You couldn't hold back the chuckle that forced it's way out between your lips. You lived with flesh and soul eating monsters.. nothing made you too scared these days, unless they're angry.. or jump out at you or Pap came at you in the hall ways in the dark and BOY that one time when they moved into the ruins and woke up the same time you did, you had come out of your room the lights blown out for the night, you were thirsty and headed out your door and... in the dark a tall figure had been walking towards you in a quick pace... scared the shit out of you.

Bless him but holy fuck.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs you pulled out a flash light from your bag, the suns light wasn't enough through the windows, hiding behind tree's and just giving you enough to find your way down stairs. Flicking on the light towards the generator you made way towards it reaching behind it you pulled out a small red has tank filling the small machine you struggled to get it working.

"(name?)" You whipped around quickly swinging your light around towards the voice, it sounded like.. Sans but, that wasn't possible. Your light landed on something moving it rushed off. A small skeleton wearing a blue scarf rushed by before disappearing into the darkness before the stairs. You followed shining your light up the stairs but.. the door was still open and no one could run up there so fast and so quietly. You waited... but nothing.. no movement no creaking of the house. Was... that Sans? It looked like him but it's skull wasn't caved in.. or as tall.

"No it's... just the trick of the mind... you need some sleep after this" You whispered a hand resting on your chest hoping to steady your racing heart. "You just miss Sans..." You missed Sans? You saw him not four hours ago. Sure... yeah alright the round (How is he even round?) Skeleton tugged your funny bone and made way into your heart but man did your imagination really go over board, making Sans smaller and in a blue scarf and what looked like a different form of Paps battle body.  Maybe that's where Pap got his battle body from? A child Sans?

"How the hell would you know?" You replied to your thoughts again... something you did often hoping to give yourself an answer, something to cling to and calm you down? You didn't know.

Turning back to the generator you fought with it until it started humming to life, with a pump of your fist you got up and made your way up stairs trying the light switch the hallway light flipped on dim but it worked! Making your way down you slowed down seeing a tall figure walk by, the orange sweater it wore stuck out like a sore thumb.. .was someone here? Maybe, hopefully. You could find a way to get them to the entrance, get them to chase you? Are they family to the people who once lived here? A friend? Or a squatter? But you would of heard them walking around while down stairs.. the creak of the boards would of alerted you. You could of sneaked in and caught them off guard of the shine of your flash light MUST of given you away... they would expect you to charge them though.

Slowly inhaling you rushed in and stopped the figure whipped around a smoke hanging out between their teeth their empty eye sockets wide with confusion before smiling at you.

"Gee, Kiddo ya nearly made me jump outta my skin" They... looked.. and sounded like Papyrus just with out the loud, energetic yelling, their jaw didn't have those long broken and stained teeth.   He just looked like a normal tall ass skeleton... "Pap?" You stepped forward your light flickered the room went black before turning back on, the 'Papyrus' with the  smoke no where to be seen.  You covered your eyes with your free hand inhaling slowly.

What the fuck is happening? First the small Sans now a shorter version of your beloved friend Papy. No you're tired.. the walk here sucked and you had little sleep the night before. Reaching you flipped on the light to the living room. A lot of the furniture in the room was gone expect a small red love seat  the coffee table now gone. Closing your eyes you can recall the man and woman here.... they were your first... very first victims. You saw the cabin, all you could think was about your family.

You rushed here banging on the doors forcing tears to your eyes calling for help, a small man came to the door he looked afraid, why were you there? How did you find them? The male came and put his hands on your shaking shoulders while your faked hysteria yelling about your brother... how he fell down the side of a small cliff dipped into the mountain, he put his boots on and had you walk with him after calming you down. Just the big sibling who was scared for their brother... scared for family. They'd call emergencies but up here.. there was no signal.

They were fucked the moment they even decided to live there by themselves like this.

Taking him to where your "brother" was he got closer and you pushed him screaming apologies below.  Sitting down and sobbing hoping he could forgive you.   "I found your brother! I'm fine but" He landed and stayed alive he believed it was an actual accident, he must of spotted Sans in the shadows.. Papyrus didn't like going to bag and tag a body for himself. The shrieking made you scream and cry in reply holding your hands over your ears... then nothing

What about the wife? How were you going to get her here? Slowly with shaking legs you made way towards the cabin forcing your legs to walk forcing yourself to calm down, your shoulders still bouncing with your quieting sobs. Inhaling slowly you knocked on the door, the wife came out confused... where was her lover?

"He..can't move my brother, I suggested maybe it would take all three of us to do it?"

"Oh, oh he must of really hurt himself! Did you find a way down?" She threw on her jacket following you.

"Yeah, there was a small path way leading down.. but there's a small climb then a steep way down"  You replied walking in front of her hands clenched and shaking.

You can do this, they need to eat... it's just one more.

"Why do you live all the way out here?" You said before she could ask or say anything else.

"Oh, just the smell of pine in the morning is so much better than gas of a car, or the noise of a train..." She went on about the positive stuff.. no shouting no one to suddenly honk their horns and waking them. Her husband worked not far from the mountain..

You nodded when ever to show her you were still listening but your thoughts kept wondering, what if she doesn't go down as easy? What if she fights or runs away? You would have to catch her... or disappear back down into the darkness like some gremlin. Reaching the opening you stood there while she looked around confused.... this wasn't outside or a dip in the mountain.. it was just darkness.

You pointed down there, this was not what you had said. She... caught on or she knew something was wrong cause she kept away from you and when you got closer she had moved but you didn't rush her in case you might fall.

"Ron?" She shouted into the abyss with no response her call echoing.

She looked ready to bolt, your heart starting to race..what if she pushes you? What if you miss the flowers and die beside them? It would be karma but still.

"Did he fall?" She asked edging away "Or did you push him?" Her best bet would try to push you... there weren't any body around for miles.  "Do you even have a brother?" "I had a family once" That didn't tell her shit. "But...we don't get along anymore"  Was all you managed "But my new family...I gotta take care of them.. you understand.. don't you?"

"Long ago, monsters and humans lived together" She realized something.. she knew whats going on. "You're feeding them?" She shouted at you...It stopped your heart when she knew what was down there.

She drew closer to you forcing you to step back, she knew what you have done.. You killed her lover her partner... her best friend and oh boy was she angry. You expected her to bolt but instead she threw herself onto you, trying to force you down onto your knees, you yelled struggling her cries fell to deaf ears, you couldn't hear her you were afraid blood rushing through your drums you... you... had to fight. You could let her kill you but Sans...Papyrus...Mother.. they needed you. Three

Three bodies would be enough for them for months....they can contain the souls and feed off them slowly for maybe a year if it;s just them three.. grabbing her arms you forced yourself down the hole with her her shrieks echoing. Something gripped your chest and your hold one her ripped away and she fell thanks to gravity, you floated down slowly your chest glowing blue... she landed beside the flowers her head twisted in unnatural ways.. slowly you were set down.

Sans stayed down there... waiting for you by the looks of it. The moment you regained yourself you sobbed.  

But you never stopped doing this for them.

Opening your eyes the room looked much darker the light from outside long gone when the sun set behind the mountain, how long have you stood there remembering the two here? It was almost like you fell asleep standing rather than going back to an old memory. Sweeping your light over the living room again you couldn't help but smile sadly. You could almost see it.. you sitting there on the couch with a skeleton in an orange sweater and a smaller skeleton with a blue scarf and a head not so caved in.. for some reason you couldn't see Sans with that hole in his head...just a big smile on his face... Pap would look great with an orange sweater... nice and coozy

Maybe in a different time line you could of lived here with them....

[toongrrl-blog]

My Style Analysis: Mrs. America Beauty Parlor Scene

*Spoilers Ahead for Mrs. America*

Picture this: 1971, a beauty parlor that is stuck in the year of it’s founding (1962) with no trace of the hairstyles that happened in the nine years since it started.

Those are promo pics for Seasons 3 and 7A of Mad Men which was set from 1960-1970. In fact they have a beauty parlor scene too set in 1962:

Color scheme is the same (pastel pinks and aqua tones) although it looks fresher and more cosmopolitan (check the gold and black touches in the 1962 scene with the atomic fixtures) than in the 1971 scene (plainer, with dated photos, and traditional attitudes about being a wife and keeping your body Cheryl Tiegs-slim even after giving birth to 6 kids and pushing 50) in contrast to this scene from The Battle of the Sexes:

More graphics with the women (both the players and the beauticians with modern hairstyles, even an afro). 

Now that I have set up the interior design, lets go on to the women featured in the Mrs. America scene where I will contrast them with some Mad Men pics:

Betty Draper pastels and cardigan, check. A “gracious lady” expression with some hidden tools, check. Scarf done a la Peggy Olson, check. A more severe and conservative version of Joan Holloway Harris’s updo, check. Eyeshadow done like warpaint, check. She and Joan would never see eye to eye.

This is a woman rigid in her Daughters of the American Revolution background (check that Eagle brooch) and her Catholicism that she can’t see, or rather, refuses to see the need for an amendment that would protect women from different backgrounds from discrimination. Clearly also she is Betty Draper’s country cousin (Main Line Betty living in New York bedroom communities) or Peggy Olson’s wealthy and more assimilated distant relative (Peggy’s older relatives with Brooklyn accents in contrast to the patrician Midwestern accent of Phyllis). 

She smiles away at the younger Pamela’s worries about easing her way into impending mother hood (notice her size), about maintaining a slim figure after having the many children that “God will bless her with”, Alice’s worries about being considered irrelevant as a upper-middle class housewife amongst her husband’s colleagues wives having their own careers and her fears of having to support herself financially and their confusion over how a woman as beautiful as Gloria Steinem would choose to not marry. Phyllis chooses to make such a woman sound deficient, failing to understand (despite being much worldlier than her less-educated counterparts who likely married out of high school) why a woman who can have her pick of male admirers would choose to not settle down. Joan can tell her a few things. Put a pin in that fugly jacket she’s wearing to protect her clothes from hairs. 

Now on to Alice, Phyllis’s friend who worries about the Equal Rights Amendment and what it will mean for her. Alice has what is now called dyslexia and when she was growing up (1930s and 1940s), there were barely any resources to help dyslexics or diagnose the condition; actually most suffered from ridicule targeting their intelligence or work ethic. Lucky for Alice she came from a close-knit community and a family that did love her but hampered her independence (as we see in “Houston” she hardly has dealt with inconveniences like hotel room shortage in her life before that), that family also had wealthy parents (enough to live in those houses) and she was able to lean into the Prom Queen ideal and marry a guy she dated in high school at 19. But think about the experiences of a dyslexic person from a working-class background? One who doesn’t fit the standard of beauty that Alice does. Or one with a darker skin color? Or one for whom English is a second language, there are a lot of privileges that Alice is blessed with what do hamper her independence, confidence in herself, and her view of the world and what other women put up with. 

Now on to Alice’s salon jacket. Alice sticks out for me because in contrast to Phyllis and the others, she wears button down patterned shirts with skirts that look more modern and casual; despite dipping into the neutral tones and pastels worn by her conservative and religious (and somewhat narrow-minded and ignorant to privilege) peers, Alice is seen in bright colors and autumnal tones. She also expresses compassion for marginalized groups (apologizing when she saw how her homophobia can hurt the lesbians serving food in their lounge and speaking up when one of her own peers makes racist comments), she is forced out of her gilded cage more to the point of view of others (like her abused friend Pamela), and she learns that Phyllis doesn’t empower her but rather feeds off of Alice’s fear of the upward trajectory of working women and how it’d affect her. Alice’s salon jacket, unlike the frumpier and cumbersome ones worn by Phyllis and Pamela, is very cropped like an extra accessory and lightweight and light-colored. Also note the light blue with brown plaid ensemble that Alice wears, it and the jacket are costume foreshadowing to Alice becoming a independent working girl. 

Honestly if she talked to Willie (or not possible because maybe Willie wouldn’t feel that secure talking to her), she would see that someone like Willie isn’t threatened by women like Shirley Chisholm succeeding, actually as we saw in “Phyllis”, Willie looked like her heart was singing with joy.

Here is a story that DOES NOT make my heart sing with joy or schadenfreude: young Pamela Whalen. 

She is the youngest and most impressionable of the STOP ERA housewives and this is a woman who CLEARLY needs feminism so bad. This girl from her first scene is straight up told the worst thing she can be after having babies and being married is to not fit into her wedding dress, her role models are old-school women who are in relationships that are toxic or at best unappreciative (Read Re-Making Love’s part about Fundie sex). Her husband is noted to be controlling of her comings and goings, even yanking her at a friend’s son’s wedding, he gets her pregnant constantly, “has a temper” she has to tiptoe around just for her sanity, and controls the house budget.

I’m gonna get right to her jacket because it helps me make sense of her tragic end: same as Phyllis the older woman who tells her that if she is obedient and makes her abusive husband “feel needed” (i.e. she probably pretends to not have an ounce of independence or capabilities that she built up for the then past 7 years) he will treat her decently. This is a girl who is stuck in a different, much more repressive time and with what looks to be a lack of formal work history or education and with her attitude staying in the kitchen, she’s being hurt by the cause she has campaigned for. She has a Betty Draper ending and the lifestyle: this is how young women (even some older than she were doing their hair).

Check the young feminists in the show too and the tennis players in Battle of the Sexes (even the conservative and homophobic Margaret Court is more modern). The Mad Men women likely visited salons but they were going for modern, less time-intensive hairdos. As another example here are some mothers on Stranger Things (who are around Pamela’s age):

The nice thing is that when Mrs. America ends is that Pamela is still a young woman and therefore has a lifetime of risks and opportunities that can be there for the taking and hopefully she keeps her mom, sister-in-law, and Alice as her personal Girl Squad Versus Kevin. 

[believingispowerfulmagic]

OQ Fix It Fic Week Day 3: Pixie Dust Doesn’t Lie

@oqfixitweek Day 3: The Quest to Get Robin Back

Used one of the plot points we were all yelling last year during the Land of Untold Stories--Robin’s story was still untold so he should’ve been there! 

           After the Final Battle, the people of Storybrooke settled into their happy beginnings, looking forward to some peace and quiet now that the ultimate battle of good versus evil had been decided in favor of good. Regina’s main concern at that point was to continue helping those from the Land of Untold Stories settle into their new lives and stories.             

One person from there, Pecos Bill, met with Regina one day to discuss taking over the stables and creating a horse ranch. The current owner, an older man, was willing to sell and Regina saw no reason to turn down the proposal. As she signed the required paperwork, she noticed Bill pick up a picture on her desk and study it.             

“Here you go,” she said, holding out the paperwork as she tried not to glare at the picture frame in his hands.             

He looked sheepish as he held it out to her. “Beggin’ yer pardon, ma’am, I didn’t mean to snoop. But I was wondering who this here fella is.”             

She glanced over, her heart skipping a beat when she noticed it was a picture of her and Robin taken at the Miner’s Day ball she was convinced to hold the year before. Regina wore a sleek black dress with one strap and her hair was pulled into a tight bun on top of her head. She smiled as she danced with Robin, who was dressed in a finely made tuxedo with a dark green cummerbund. His blond hair had been brushed and gelled into place, though one piece refused to be pushed back and rested against his forehead. They had been so happy.             “His name was Robin,” she whispered, caressing his image.             

Bill frowned. “Was, ma’am?”             

She felt a lump form in her throat as she replied: “He died, protecting me.”           

“Are you sure about that?” Bill asked. 

Regina glared at him, ready to give him a tongue lashing. Of course she was sure he died. She saw his body crumple to the ground, saw his soul disappear before her eyes. Nothing then would bring Robin back and she had to bury another loved one. How dare this man suggest she was lying. 

He held up his hands before she could give him the dressing down he deserved. “I’m sorry, ma’am, that came out wrong. I’m just confused as I’m pretty certain I met a fella who looked just like that back in the Land of Untold Stories.” 

“What?” she asked, her stomach twisting into knots as she found it hard to catch her breath. 

“Course, he wasn’t dressed all fancy like that,” he continued, looking at the picture again. “He was dressed more like Robin Hood, complete with bow and arrows. He was trying to get out the Land of Untold Stories, saying he had a family to get back to. Almost like he didn’t choose to go there but was sent there by some other force.” 

She grabbed her desk as her head began to spin. Was Robin really alive somewhere else? Had his soul not been obliterated but reincarnated in the Land of Untold Stories, since Robin’s ended prematurely? Was that why the Robin from the Wish Realm was able to come into their realm? Because part of Robin still existed and the two Robins were connected somehow? 

“Ma’am? You alright?” Bill asked, frowning. 

“I’m not sure,” she said. “But thank you for that information.” 

He nodded, thanking her for the paperwork and left her with a tip of his hat. Once he was gone, she leaned back in her chair and pondered if the impossible really was possible.

Was Robin alive and trying to get back to her? 

Regina spent the next few days mulling it over, trying to talk herself out of believing Pecos Bill’s words. She knew she didn’t need the heartbreak of losing Robin for a fourth time should it be that he was mistaken but hope was traitorous thing. It burrowed deep into her heart, into her soul, and refused to leave. She realized the only way she was going to know for sure was to go to the Land of Untold Stories and try to find Robin herself.

She finally told her family about her theory at their weekly dinner at Granny’s. They were hesitant about it at best. Snow and Emma feared it would end up being a repeat of what happened with the Robin from the Wish Realm—that she would pin her hopes on resuming her relationship with Robin only to discover he still wasn’t her Robin. Zelena, of course, made it all about her and how Robin’s possible return would affect her life. Regina knew her sister enjoyed the autonomy she had when it came to raising Baby Robin and didn’t want the minor inconvenience of having to co-parent.

Only Henry seemed excited and started to figure out ways to get Regina to the Land of Untold Stories, including asking Hook if he could contact Captain Nemo. Hook wasn’t too certain but did offer to try, which surprised her. And even though she still looked angry, Zelena did suggest trying to use the Apprentice’s Wand to try to journey to the other realm. Regina’s spirits soared as a plan seemed to form and she felt she was one step closer to get Robin back.

Unfortunately, Nemo had not yet finished repairs on the Nautilus and so was unable to return to Storybrooke let alone usher Regina to the Land of Untold Stories. The Apprentice’s Wand also ended up being a dead end as even with some of the Evil Queen’s darkness back in her heart, Regina was unable to activate it. It seemed Zelena really was the only one who had been able to use it and she no longer had her magic, which she complained loudly about until Regina excused herself.

Regina wasn’t going to give up yet. There were many other ways to get to other realms and she knew she would find one soon enough. It was Emma, though, who ended up giving her her way into the Land of Untold Stories. Clorinda still had the key Ashley had given her that would allow her passage to that realm and happily gave it to Emma. She handed it to Regina. “Go. Find the rest of your happy beginning,” she told the brunette.

“Thank you,” Regina said, taking the key. “I appreciate this.”

Emma nodded. “Good luck, Regina.”

With a deep breath, Regina approached the door to a spare bedroom. She inserted the key into the lock and turned it. When she opened the door, all she saw was a vortex of gold. Her heart sped up and she gently touched it, her hand going right through. She glanced back at Emma before stepping through, a cool tingle brushing her skin as she emerged on the other side.

People pushed past Regina as she emerged in a bustling marketplace. There was a mixture of wares being sold and everyone wore different styles of clothing based on the stories they had come from. She recognized the fleur-de-lis emblem of the Three Musketeers and spotted three blind mice working their way through some of the stalls. As she looked around at the mass of people, her spirits sank. There were so many people with untold stories. How was she to find Robin?

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture of Robin she had grabbed. It showed him in his usual street wear—his green jacket, jeans and blue scarf—and she hoped that people would recognize him even if the clothes seemed strange, just as Pecos Bill had recognized him even though he was in a tuxedo. Hopefully, someone would’ve seen him and would be able to help her.

Turning the picture around as she approached a vendor, Regina paused as she discovered a little satchel taped to the back of the photograph. She sat down on a wooden bench, pulling it off. A little note fell off as well and she opened it.

Regina,

I heard you were looking for Robin. I believe this might come in handy in leading you to him…again.

Tinkerbell

           Confused, Regina opened the satchel and almost let out a laugh. Inside was pixie dust, the very thing that had first brought her to Robin. It seemed appropriate to use it again to find him once more.

           She dumped the pixie dust into her hand and closed her eyes. Picturing Robin as she first met him—standing over her, dressed in a white shirt and green jerkin, bow at the ready—Regina then tossed the pixie dust into the air. She opened her eyes and smiled, finding a trail of sparkling green dust winding its way through the bustling city. All she had to do was follow it and pray her Robin was on the other end.

           With a beaming smile, Regina set off to locate her soulmate.

           The sun started to set as Regina finally arrived at the end of the dust path. Her heart sped up as she approached a tavern, remembering the first time she spotted the man with the lion tattoo. She reached for the door handle, pulling it open and stepping inside.

           Her eyes were drawn to a far corner where a man sat bathed in a green glow. His back was to her, but she recognized the linen white shirt and green jerkin as he sat hunched over at the table, studying something. She smoothed down her pantsuit as she approached him, her heart beating faster with each step.

           Especially once she spotted the lion tattoo.

           “Can I buy you a drink?” she asked, her stomach feeling like she had just drunken really hot coffee.

           The man tensed up before slowly turning his head toward her. Warm blue eyes widened when they landed on her and he jumped up, looking shocked. “Regina? What are you doing here? How did you find me?” he asked, his familiar accent soothing her nerves.

           She smiled as tears filled her eyes, holding up the satchel. “Pixie dust. It brought me to you once again.”

           “Oh, thank god,” he breathed, pulling her into his arms. He held her close as his hand cupped the back of her head. “I’ve missed you so much, Regina.”

           “I’ve missed you too,” she said, feeling a few tears roll down her cheeks. She brushed them away as she pulled back. There was something she needed to do first, to make sure it was really him. Grabbing his shirt, she pulled him close for a kiss.

           It felt like fireworks were going off inside her as their lips met and she sighed into the kiss, feeling the familiar tingle of love and excitement that always coursed through her when Robin kissed her. This was what had been missing when the other Robin had kissed her in the vault, the feeling she had wanted to experience again with him.

They broke the kiss and Robin rested his forehead against hers. His eyes were closed though she stared at him, afraid he would disappear again. “How did you end up here?” she asked.

           He had her sit down, explaining that he remembered being hit with the Olympian crystal and watching her face until everything faded to black. “I figured that was it,” he said, “until a bright light nearly blinded me. When it died down, I was back in my old clothes and standing in the middle of the marketplace. One of the vendors greeted me, explaining that I was in the Land of Untold Stories, saying most people choose to come here to stop their stories. Mine just seemed to stop even though there should be more. From that moment on, I tried to get back to you.”

           “There was a whole group from here who came to Storybrooke,” Regina pointed out. “Why didn’t you come with them?”

           “I tried. But by the time I found the dirigible, it had already taken off and I couldn’t catch up with it. All I could do was watch it fly away back to you,” he said, shaking his head. “But how did you know where to look for me?”

           She squeezed his hands as she explained about Pecos Bill clueing her into his location. “I was worried it would be another let down but…”

           He frowned. “Another let down?”

           “That,” she replied, “is a long story I will gladly tell you once we figure out how to get home.”

           “I have that covered.” Robin reached into his satchel and pulled out a translucent bean. “Just managed to procure this today. I was going to use it in the morning to get home to you.”

           She grinned. “Well, now we can use it to go home together.”

           He nodded, taking her hand again. “I meant what I said in that corridor, Regina. You are my future. That hasn’t changed.”

           “I know,” she said. “And once again, you’re mine. Though it’s not going to be easy. We’re going to have to deal with my sister, who has already made it quite clear she’s not going to be pleased to share custody of Robin with you…”

           “Robin?” he asked, confused.

           Regina nodded. “After you…died…Zelena named the baby after you.”

           “That’s…touching,” he replied, though he didn’t appear thrilled by it. Of course, after everything Zelena had done to him, naming their daughter in his honor probably was too little, too late. “But I think we’re going to have to come up with another name to call her. Having two Robins around might be confusing.”

           She chuckled. “Yeah, I think so. And I’ll tell you now, Zelena doesn’t have her magic. She gave it up to help save the town from the Black Fairy.”

           Robin’s mouth fell open. “How much time has passed since I died?”

           “You know Storybrooke,” she said. “Something is always happening. Though things have calmed down since the Final Battle.”

           He shook his head. “We definitely have a lot to talk about.”

           She smiled, waving down one of the barmaids. “Yes, we do. So let me buy you that drink and we’ll spend the whole night talking.”

           “Well, I would hope we can spend part of the night doing a bit more than talking, yeah?” His blue eyes sparkled and he raised her hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of her hand.

           Regina smirked back at him, heat pooling low inside her at the look he was giving her. “I think that can be arranged.”

           The barmaid brought them over two tankards of ale and Regina set down some gold coins she had found in her vault. Robin picked one up and held it out to her. “So, shall we drink to pixie dust?”

           “To pixie dust,” Regina agreed, picking up her own tankard. She clanked it against Robin’s before adding: “And to happy beginnings.” 

[dothewrite]

Really, really in love with your suits HCs. May I ask for more, pretty please? Thank you in advance, sweetheart. Tsukishima brothers (Akiteru & Kei), Kageyama, Hinata, and the girls in dress perhaps? If you're up for them (Yachi, Shimizu, Saeko, lil sunshine - natsu)

I’ve put the ladies in a different request here, and I hope you enjoy these!

Original Suits Headcanons here.

Akiteru.

Light grey, almost silver suit in silk. Single breasted, and two buttoned- the jacket is accompanied with a dark pocket square and matched with a pair of slim fit, cuffed pants of the same hue. This look is supported by a grey with black lines, checkered shirt, and a matching silk grey tie. Shoes of choice are a pair of white moccasins with black lining.

Akiteru has the thinnest proportions out of them all, so the pale colour gives him a little width and bulk, while slim tailoring, especially around the waist and thighs, maintain a sleek silhouette from any angle.

This man is possibly one of the laziest dressers out there, with his high school bomber jacket and pants he’s picked up from random stores when his friends drag him shopping, but he cleans up incredibly well.

Incredibly fast too, because his hair is not changed much, only slicked backwards slightly around the sides of his face to frame it and not cover it.

This gives him a polished look, not too slick, but elegant, with his golden eyes and easy smile that picks up the formality of his outfit into breezy elegance.

He does look like a man back from some posh polo club, as many people keep on pointing out.

Maybe a golfer, too, and this really doesn’t help because a lot of girls start coming up to him during the party and offer him drinks and talk about what kind of car he drives (it’s a little awkward to have to tell them it’s just a normal Nissan that used to belong to the family).

Dancing is his guilty pleasure. He’s actually rather terrible at it, with his limbs flailing a little when the music picks up the pace, but nobody can tell because he looks like an absolute vision in the dim lighting.

(Just don’t dance with him.)

Kei.

His suit of choice is a light, almost silvery lilac. Slightly on the metallic side with matching, cuffed pants, the matching jacket is a two-buttoned affair, peak lapeled, and a dark (slightly floral) purple pocket square. The shirt underneath is a checkered mix of lilac, black and white, and his tie is a deep violet tie. Deep brown, leather moccasins complete the look.

Maybe it’s just something about the Tsukishima brothers, but they don’t take the easy road when it comes to clothing. This colour choice is obviously not an easy one to pull off, but Kei makes sure he does it. 

Have you seen the man? He’s deceptively subtle about his fashion choices, but everything he puts on shows exactly the type of image he wants to have for himself, from his usual jumper to his headphones.

His glasses are his usual roundish square ones, and they rest thickly in contrast to his loose, blonde hair and frames his otherwise oval face.

His hair is mostly left untouched. With only a few fingerfuls of sculpting mousse, it fixes his hair in a bed-head fashion but coiffed enough that it’s an obvious effort. Obviously effortless, in fact.

It’s because he’s so tall- all legs- that his jacket is tailored to fit inwards on his waist, to give it the necessary hourglass dimension so that he’s not just a straight pillar. His pants are slightly looser than his jacket fit, and they’re cuffed so that the end hangs a centimeter or so short from his ankles, making him seem even slimmer.

This kid definitely has more than one suit in his closet. In fact, it had taken him quite some time cycling between all the different colours and styles before he chose this suitably flashy one to make a statement without him actually having to say anything.

Not many girls actually approach him through the night, although he’s had to abruptly turn down two or three offers to dance. All the ladies choose to stay in a corner and take pictures of this ridiculously fashionable man instead while his friends shoot him amused glances and snicker.

It was a much needed open bar that night.

Kageyama.

Dark grey/almost black pinstripe three piece, three-buttoned and with a notch lapel. The waistcoat is a matching style and colour, and same goes with his pants that hand just above his black lace-up oxfords so that they don’t pool. Underneath is a stark white shirt with a black and silver diagonally striped tie and a dark silver pocket square.

A little puzzled at first at the fact that his usual hand-me-down suit jacket with dark trousers wasn’t the right attire, he had gone the opposite direction and went all out on his shopping trip.

It’s definitely tailored, but Kageyama definitely didn’t realize how badly it needed to be tailored to fit his specific set of calf muscles and narrow shoulders.

I mean, really. He has a good sense of fashion, but only when it comes to appropriate athletic attire and the occasional scarf.

Although pinstripe is definitely not something you usually find at parties, he pulls it off with surprisingly dignity. Kageyama’s posture has always been and probably will forever be faultless, so when he steps and makes a move, it looks like he’s born to be wearing something so professional, maybe even slightly austere.

It’s not a overly stiff suit- it makes him tread the line between professional, and regular black tie.

His hair is actually left the way it is, without any product. If he had slicked it back or restricted it in any way, it would have made the outfit too severe. In this case, with his usual soft bangs and sideburns, it simply makes him look incredibly intelligent and elegant. 

He does try to dance when he’s asked to, and he tries to drink when he’s handed one too.

The drink, he somehow manages to finish with an ugly expression on his face (it’s a far cry from gatorade and lunchtime milk), but it gives him enough burn in his chest that pushes him the extra mile to be social that night.

Dancing, he’s oddly good at. There’s no pattern in his moves, no coherence, but when he starts to sway to the music, his movements are smooth and regulated, and he ends up being the one who the girls dance with the most all night.

Hinata.

A medium grey, checkered suit with thin lines and matching pants. This is a three piece, and the waistcoat also matches the rest of the colour and pattern. An opened, three buttoned jacket, this is lined by a white shirt and a lilac purple, skinny tie. The cutting is extremely slimming, and it hugs his figure and doesn’t let go. Dark brown, almost black chelsea boots finish the outfit.

He actually chose this suit himself, for no reason other than he passed someone wearing that on the street one day, and he thought they looked wonderful. Knowing that he had a formal event coming up, he had popped into the next store he found and ordered almost the exact same look.

He does have another suit at home, but it’s a regular black (at least it’s his, and not a used suit), which doesn’t hold his attention for very long.

It’s a good thing, because black would indeed make his hair pop, but also his frame much smaller and thinner than it already is. The grey and purple allow the highlight to be Hinata’s bright orange hair, but at the same time puts balance to the rest of his body.

Usually, dark colours do slim, but Hinata this time needs more bulk to appear taller and slimmer, rather than thin. This fleshes him out, and also gives him the height he needs (insoles help too).

His hair isn’t his usual fare. Although it’s still relaxed and not heavily styled, it’s washed and blow-dried into soft waves that fall backwards rather than upwards in spikes. This gives him a softer look, which is a much needed reprieve from his intense stare, and also matches the soft colours of his suit.

This kid has downed possibly all the drinks that his friends have handed him within the first thirty minutes of the gathering (all cocktails), and he’s the first to jump about on the dance floor asking for more energetic songs.

Very few girls approach him too, not for trying, but because he actually doesn’t notice they’re trying to talk to him when he’s too occupied dancing to absolutely whatever is playing.

Nobody needs to ask him to dance, he’s just there, really happily by himself and dragging his friends into dance battles half the time.

[ikuyeah]

i sold my soul (and gained a heart)

Chapter 1: Screening

Note: This took way too long to write. Mostly because I also run a Gladion blog. And that takes up all my time. XD

@historymakerimagines, here you go. XDDD

Pairing: Yuri Plisetsky x Reader.

Yuri watched every match, it seemed the entire Sinnoh region decided to sit up and notice her really. All of a sudden there were live streams of her Gym challenges, footage of her entering tall grass, interviews, and gossip. Oh, the gossip about you was even worse than the gossip about Yuri.

They said you were royalty in another region. Your tan suggested the more tropical ones like Hoenn and Alola, but people were going as far as considering Unova and Kalos and just about every other region wanted to claim that you were from there. A little digging found Yuri staring at a graduation certificate from a Trainer’s School in Alola. Some principal there apparently took a picture and posted it so that it was undeniable you started your journey in Alola. They even had the pictures of you with your Popplio to prove it. But, you were born in Hoenn, hence the Swampert.

“Why do you care?” Yuri asked himself, groaning as he stretched out in his little house in Snowpoint. His grandfather was outside making Pirozkis for your departure. In two days, the Lily of the Valley Conference would start and he would see you again. Watching your battles proved what Victor had been trying to say.

She was good and she had Pokémon Yuri hadn’t even heard of before. And she could be the end of Yuri’s winning streak.

Pulling out the three Pokémon he didn’t keep out of their Pokéballs, he examined them each encased in the protective shell. One was a Pikachu Rockstar that he’d gotten off a trainer who came to Jubelife once from Hoenn doing a TV collaboration for something called a Contest Spectacular. It was wearing a cool red jacket and looked like a rocker. But, more importantly, it was an electric type which would even the odds against your Primarina.

The next was a Sharpedo from some weird trainer he fought on a ferry wearing some kind of pirate uniform. The trainer gave him a Sharpedonite since they didn’t have money to give him when he won and now he’s grown fond of the Pokémon, being water and dark type it would be useful against your Talonflame.

Last was Typhlosion. You’d actually been given the egg by that Yuuri from Kanto that Victor is so fond of. He’d acted like he hadn’t wanted it but he watched the egg endlessly and trained up the Cyndaquil until it inevitably turned out to be one of his favorite Pokémon. Typhlosion would be for your weird ice type Ninetails.

Your Swampert wasn’t an issue, not when Yuri had a legendary on his side.

He stared out into the snowy plains of Snowpoint and grinned.

“You better be ready for me to kick your ass, [Y/N].”

It’s not the Gym challenges that catch Victor’s attention, it’s the Contests. He expected you to show up at the Lily of the Valley Conference, not competing in one of the Contests he’s judging. Being a Top Coordinator himself, he put a lot of his time into Contests. He was rooting for the boy from Kanto, the one with a surprisingly vicious Eevee and fed his Pokémon too many poffins sometimes.

So, to find you standing at center stage with a frankly beautiful Alolan Ninetails, he thought immediately that he needed to talk to Yuri.

After all, he was your biggest fan.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

He smiles down at the younger Sinnoh native and pinches his cheek. “But Yuri, did you forget that I’m from here in Snowpoint too?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“No, but you hardly ever come here!” He growled, pushing Victor’s grabby hands away from him.

“Ah, you take all the fun out of everything. Fine.” Victor threw his hands up in mock surrender and gave Yuri a knowing look. “I was judging a contest today.” He smirked.

Yuri scoffed. “So you saw your Kantonian boyfriend. Why is this my problem?”

“Because, I saw your Alolan girlfriend too!” He said, his mouth doing that heart shaped thing it did and his eyes becoming large and shiny as he leaned in to coo at Yuri.

“She’s not my girlfriend, you dumbass!” He shouted, slamming the door in Victor’s face.

Victor pouted, his pout turning into a smile when he heard footsteps leading away from him and heard the slam of another door. Well, he got Yuri interested.

“My, my.” He called out his Altaria and stroked it’s neck before climbing on. “Tomorrow is going to be interesting.” He smirked.

Yuri passes the screening round with flying colors. It’s not even a question of if for him and everyone knows it. It’s obvious when he walks up to registration and the crowd parts for him. What stuns him is that when you arrive the crowd parts for you too. He isn’t able to see your screening round battle but he knows it was great, better than great, because everyone is talking about it and Yuri doesn’t like it.

“Angry that you’re not getting the spotlight this year, Yuri?” Victor smirked, walking up next to him with his mob of paparazzi following him. Next to him was Kanto’s Yuuri, the one who placed second in the League there and was offered a place in the Elite Four but declined opting to go to Sinnoh to fulfill his dream of battling Victor. “Or angry that people are beginning to notice her?” He winked.

Yuri opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by a high scream.

“Yuri!”

All three of them turned around, the paparazzi and other trainers parting for a girl. A girl who wore sturdier winter wear in blue and white. A navy blue coat over a white sweater, a navy skirt over black stockings and fuzzy navy blue snow boots with white laces. But, more importantly, wrapped around her neck was a familiar black and orange striped scarf paired up with a black beanie. And not just any beanie, a black beanie with cat ears and white whiskers stitched onto the front.

It was all Yuri could do not to fall to his knees. “Awesome…” He muttered, straightening his expression when you came to a halt in front of him with your amazing beanie staring him in the face. “Took you long enough-” Warm arms wrapped around him for five seconds before letting go and Yuri was speechless.

The press were having a field day, taking pictures from all angles of the hug, muttering about that newbie hugging the Snowpoint Punk calling you Alola’s Catgirl and various other things.

You gave Victor a quick hug too and greeted Yuuri before turning to address all of them.

“I’m glad I caught you guys before I had to go look for my room. Did you make it?” You asked, eyes looking expectantly between Yuri and Yuuri.

Yuuri flashed his pass and smiled. “Yeah!”

“Of course, I did.” Yuri scoffed, turning his head away so you couldn’t see how thrown off he was by the hug.

You smiled at them and looked around. “Tomorrow, there’ll only be 64. Then 32. Then-” You trailed off, shaking your head and grinning. “I’ll see you both in the Top 8, yeah?”

Yuri, in a spur of surprising confidence, walked forward and placed his hand on top of your beanie, looking you straight in the eye. He didn’t know what to say, but he couldn’t let you have a look like that on your face when he could easily do something about it. “You promised, right?” He patted you on the head. “I want my stuff back.” He shoved his hands in his pocket and walked away to nowhere in particular because like hell was he staying there after doing that, the press – and Victor – will eat him alive.

He looked over his shoulder discreetly to check in it worked, he caught your eye and saw you smiling and staring at him as he walked away.

“I need to train.” He muttered to himself, releasing his Weavile from it’s Pokéball and plunging into the nearest patch of tall grass he could find. It didn’t matter if the Pokémon there were no match for him.

With the image of your smiling face and the feel of your arms around him, he trudged through the grass in search of his indifference and didn’t find it.