#now i’m just always scared. always uneasy. always worried. never fully relaxed. never feel fully safe. & idk how to be myself through that

[willowfey]

starting to think maybe waking up with an anxiety stomachache every single morning and then needing to spend the entire day trying to get rid of said anxiety just to maybe have a few minutes in the evening of feeling relaxed before going to bed is perhaps not normal

[aquamarinescarlet]

Great, my girlfriend is a toddler

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Word count: ~4.5k

Warnings: one curse word (I think), mentions of past trauma (nothing graphic), and a lot of fluff

Summary: Reader is caught in a trap during a mission and ends up trapping herself in her five year old mind and body.

Author’s note: I know I basically just post incorrect quotes, but this idea came to me and I just had to write it. I won’t stop with the incorrects btw, and if you guys prefer I create a different blog to post these little stories just let me know. Without further ado, enjoy, and let me know what you think (this is my first time writing something like this too, so tips/remarks are always welcome).

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the marvel characters.

(Picture is not mine, got it on pinterest)

“West wing clear”

“Basement clear”

“Guys I need some help here.” 

You heard through comms as your teammates infiltrated the Hydra base.

It was a fairly simple mission, small base, so not that many enemies to fight off.

As you made your way down an empty corridor to the control room you could listen to Bucky's grunts, and punches, on your earpiece as Sam and Steve made their way to him. 

The silence and emptiness was rather suspicious, but you made nothing off of it, thankful you would get in easily. 

“I’m in the control room.” You spoke when you found yourself surrounded by computers and all sorts of technology. It seemed quite ancient for an organization that has been a pain in your asses for the past months.

Hacking wasn’t your specialty, but you sure were better at it then the other three, hence you getting the task. Your eyes scanned the room, trained on identifying threats. Surprised by the emptiness of it all, you focused on finding the main system.

You plugged the pen drive Stark had prepared and started typing, your eyes occasionally leaving the screen to take a quick glance around the room, an uneasy feeling growing at the pit of your stomach.

“Y/L/N, we’re all clear here,” Steve’s voice rang on your ear, “how are you doing there.”

“I’m nearly done,” you stared at the computer as the information was downloaded to the little gadget, “I don’t know guys, something here feels wrong, it’s too empty, too quiet.” 

No response.

“Guys? Can you hear me?” Your heart rate picked up, something was definitely wrong.

In a second the download was complete, and you hastily snatched the pen drive, going for the door. Your desperation grew when you stated it was locked.

“Can anyone listen? I’m locked.” You spoke to the earpiece. “The doors locked automatically. I need help getting out.”

The door was sealed shut, not even a small slit in between it and the floor, your powers wouldn’t help you on this one. You tried to bring your heart rate down as your eyes scoured the room once again for a way out. No air vents, no windows, there was another door on the other end of the room, and you promptly made your way to it, only to confirm it was also locked shut.

Your attention was brought back to the first door, loud banging and a faint voice coming from the other side. Thankfully the boys noticed there was a problem and came to your aid. As you ran across the room, your head started to get fuzzy, your vision was not as clear as it had been seconds ago, and breathing was starting to get harder.

Before you even reached the still shut door, your body collapsed on the floor, everything going black.

You stirred in bed, shifting to a more comfortable position. Some light seeped through your eyelids, but you were tired, dragging the sleep as long as possible. 

Your peace was broken by a door suddenly opening.

“What the hell happened?” A woman’s voice filled the room. She sounded angry, and upset, the hostility in her tone made you clutch the blanket harder.

“Wanda calm-” A man spoke, but was cut off by the woman.

“Calm down? CALM DOWN? Don’t you tell me to calm down, Stark, when I got back from a mission fifteen minutes ago only to learn that my girlfriend turned herself into a five year old toddler.” She was loud and it just made you even more scared of being in trouble.

A small whimper escaped your throat getting both people's attention. You opened your eyes only to be met by several stares, there were easily five or six people in that room, but you didn’t have time to count as you pulled the blanket over your head, bringing your knees closer to your chest.

Your body was trembling with fear from what you knew would come next. You hadn’t done anything, you had been a good girl, done your chores, never speaking unless spoken to, but for some reason the people from the orphanage took a particular liking in punishing you even when you hadn’t done anything bad.

You waited for it to come, but instead of the ill-disposed voice and harsh hands, you were met with a soft “hey” and a delicate hand. Nonetheless it was still frightened, making your whole body tense.

“I’m sowy, I didn’t do anyfing, pwease don’t huwt me, I’ve been good.” You cried out, tears threatening to fall.

The hand started to caress your arm soothingly.

“Hey Y/N, you’re okay, we’re not going to hurt you, okay? You’re safe here.” Your muscles relaxed slightly at the words, thick with an accent, and touch. Your mind was still on alert but for some reason your body responded to this woman in a way your mind didn’t understand.

“Seems like she lost her memories too, she still thinks she is in that horrible place.” A new voice spoke up.

“Hey Y/N,” the woman spoke close to you, low as not to frighten you further, “you’re not in the orphanage anymore okay? You are somewhere safe. Those people can’t get to you here.”

You peeked over the blanket and was met with mesmerizing green eyes, they seemed so kind and comforting putting you at ease.

“Pwomise?”

“I promise. No one’s going to hurt you. We will protect you.” She offered you a smile that made your lips want to curl into one too, despite your wariness of the woman still being a stranger.

You pulled the blanket back above your head, muttering a quiet “okay”. Your heart rate then picked up it’s pace once you noticed you would be punished for forgetting your manners, your mind still not fully understanding you were no longer in a dangerous place.

You yanked the blanket just below your chin, uncovering your whole face so you were facing the woman.

“Fank you, miss.” You spoke quickly and hid again.

She chuckled slightly and you couldn’t help but feel fuzzy.

“How about you stop hiding that pretty face of yours huh?” The words caused a smile to unconsciously tug at your lips, as you pulled the blanket down and started to sit up. “See, much better, right?” 

You stared at the figure in front of you with what could only be described as adoration. She was just so kind and beautiful you couldn’t seem to stop smiling. A slight movement behind her brought you out of your daze and you landed your gaze on the several people watching the interaction, people you had seemingly forgotten were still in the room.

Your eyes went wide and a gasp left your lips before you laid back down, covering your curled up body with the blanket again. The woman noticed what had frightened you and brought her hand back to caress your back.

“Hey, it’s okay, they’re only here to protect you too. They are just worried about you.” You didn’t move, this was too many new people and having all their eyes on you was making you nervous. “Do you want me to ask them to leave?” She whispered closer to your ear and you nodded excessively.

Sounds of chairs moving, footsteps and a door closing were heard before the room fell back to silence.

“We’re alone now.”

You peeked carefully outside the blanket to be sure you were alone. When you found the rest of the room empty, you moved to sit back up. Suddenly the idea of being alone with this woman made you very shy, your eyes watching as you wiggled your toes. 

“Fank you, miss.”

“Wanda”

“Wanda” You whispered, not taking your eyes off of your feet.

After a few moments of silence a question popped into your head.

“Why did you save me?” You tried to speak but the sound wasn’t higher than a whisper.

“What?”

“”Why did you save me.” You said louder. “The Sisters said that I was- I was a bad giwl, and that is why my pawents didn’t want me, and no one would want because I was bad and-”

“Okay, stop,” she cut off your rambling and you finally met her gaze, “all those things they said about you are not true, okay? Don’t believe any of that.”

“How do you know it is not twue.” Sadness seeping on your voice. “You don’t even know me.”

“Quite on the contrary, I happen to know you very well. I know you get grumpy when you wake up. I know you don’t like to wear dresses. I know you like to laugh and make lots of funny jokes. I know your favourite colour, favorite food, favourite animal, favourite movie… but most importantly,” she brought her hands to rest on your sides, “I know you are very ticklish.”  

At that she started to tickle you mercilessly causing you to fall back on the bed, a string of laughs and giggles escaping your mouth. She stopped after a few seconds and you took the opportunity to catch your breath.

“See. I know many things about you.” 

“Yeah.” You said amidst giggles. 

“And I know that none of those things the Sisters said about you are true.” 

“Fank you, miss Wanda.” She let out a laugh.

“You are too cute,” she pinched your cheeks causing you to feel shy all of a sudden, “just call me Wanda.”

Your gaze fell down to the mattress again.

“Okay, fank you, Wanda.” Your voice barely above a whisper.

“You’re welcome.” She brought her hand up to smooth your hair. “Do you want anything sweetie?” That little nickname just made you even more flustered, even though you couldn’t hide the smile that formed at your lips.

You pondered her question for a second, you were hungry, but you knew better than to ask for food outside of mealtimes, the memories of the punishments still fresh. After a few moments you shook your head.

“Are you sure?” She pushed. “Don’t you want to eat something?” It was almost as if she could read your mind. “You can tell me, it’s okay, no one will hurt you for being hungry. And we can fix up something for us to eat.” She must have noticed your hesitation. “Y’know, I’m a little bit hungry too.” She whispered close to your ear, her breath tickling your ear causing you to chuckle. 

Your mind knew this was a bad idea, that you would get punished after, but Wanda was just so convincing you ended up nodding weakly.

“There you go.” She cheered.

She picked you up from the bed, but before she could lower you to the floor your arms circled her neck and your legs, her waist. You couldn’t help it, you just wanted to be close to her. She giggled at your actions, but didn’t fight it, carrying you out of the room and into a big corridor.

When the sound of muffled voices started to grow louder, your posture became tense. Wanda took notice, rubbing circles on your back.

“Hey, it’s alright, they are nice, you’ll see.” She tried to calm you down. 

Your posture relaxed, but you weren’t sure if it was because of her words or just her general presence.

“Whewe awe we going?”

“To the kitchen.”

“And the people in the kitchen? Will they huwt me?”

“No honey, of course not, they care so much about you, they are here to protect you too.” 

As she made her way into the kitchen, you hid your face in the crook of her neck, trying to ignore how the room went quiet with your presence.

“How is she?” A male voice asked, you recognized it from moments earlier.

“She’s okay, a little scared, seems like she did also lose all her memories, everything she knows is from when she was five.”

Wanda moved around and kept up with the conversation, to which you stopped paying attention when your eyes fell onto a thing a man was eating. You had tried one of those before, once, when an old woman donated a basket of those to the orphanage and you managed to steal a small piece, it was delicious, tasted like heaven compared to all the tasteless food they gave you in that place.

Wanda settled on a chair and you kept your head hidden, but your eyes were locked on the man.

You thought you heard Wanda calling you, but your attention was entirely on that piece of food. The man seemed to take notice when he met your gaze and gave you a smirk. The eye contact would’ve made you shy away, but Wanda’s presence made you feel safe, so you held it.

“I think I know what she wants.” He spoke to Wanda. “Would you like a muffin Y/N?” He directed at you. You lifted your head from Wanda’s shoulder and, after a moment of hesitation, you nodded slowly.

He opened a cabinet and picked one up, handing it to you, offering a beaming smile. You stared at it for a second, not expecting him to give you a whole one. Your eyes darted from him to Wanda, looking for some sort of confirmation. 

“It’s okay, take it.” She smiled at you encouragingly.

You slowly stretched your hand and grabbed the item.

“Fank you, siw.” You practically whispered.

“You can call me Sam.”

“Fank you, Mw. Sam.” 

“Huh, Mr Sam, I can get used to that.” He joked. Or at least you thought he did, since now you were just blankly staring at the muffin, not really sure if you should really eat it, despite your stomach screaming for you to do so.

“Just call him Sam,” Wanda spoke to you, “and we can’t let her keep calling us that, Sam, she does it out of fear for disrespecting us.”

“Is that why she also hesitated from taking the muffin?” A new voice questioned.

“I don’t know Stark, maybe…” Wanda trailed off and you decided to help, since they were talking about you anyways.

“Fhey did not let us- let us eat out of meal time and-,” you took a breath trying to calm your nerves, “and thewe wewe too many kids so- so thewe was nevew enough food and- and,” your eyes went wide when you noticed everyone was staring at you intently and a whimper left your lips unconsciously before you shoved your face back into Wanda’s neck.

She rubbed your back in an attempt to calm you down and, surprisingly enough, it did. Something about her just made you so calm.

“You don’t have to worry about this here,” a man with glasses said, “we have plenty of food and no rules, you can have whatever you want whenever you want, just tell any of us and we’ll get it for you, deal?” You smiled at how nice they were being with you.

“Deal, siw.” You nodded.

“And call me Tony, please.” You nodded again.

“See, it’s fine, you're safe here.” Wanda reassured, giving you a kiss on your temple. The action caused a silly smile to grow on your lips and your cheeks to heat up, as you leaned into her chest.

 “Oh, come on, seriously?” A man with the same accent as Wanda blurted. “She has known you for, what? 20 minutes? And she already has a crush on you.” His comment made laughter erupt around the kitchen, and, even though you didn’t understand what was so funny, you enjoyed the moment. Laughter was not common in the orphanage.

Throughout the rest of the day you started to feel more comfortable around everyone. 

Wanda never left your side, or, you were the one who never left her side. Spending the rest of the evening watching movies on the most amazing TV room you had ever stepped foot on. 

Other people would join you from time to time. Pietro, who you learned was Wanda’s brother; Natasha, or Nat as she preferred; Bucky; Sam; and Steve. 

You couldn’t quite pinpoint when it was that you fell asleep. You just knew you were now in a room you had never seen before, it was pretty, but unfamiliar. You saw a stuffed animal left on the edge of the bed and clutched onto it, trying to get the images from the nightmare you just had out of your mind.

Several minutes passed and you were just too scared to even close your eyes. Sleeping alone was something you never did, the rooms in the orphanage were filled to the brim with precarious beds or improvised mattresses due to the excessive amount of kids there.

Deciding that you wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore, you climbed out of bed and made your way out of that room. Your feet automatically took you to another door down a big hall. You knocked softly, but got no response. 

After three more tries, you turned the door knob and it opened. You put your head inside the room and detected a figure laying in a bed. 

“Wanda,” you whisper shouted, trying to catch the woman’s attention, “Wandaaa.”

She stirred and lifted her head to look at you, her eyes were sleepy, but she managed to give you a tired smile.

“Hey Y/N, is something wrong? Do you need anything?” 

“Can I- can I sleep with you?” Your gaze fell to the floor.

“Sure.” You smiled widely and ran towards her, climbing into the bed messily, since it was so ridiculously tall.

She laid on her back, opening her arms, and you took that as your chance to cuddle into her, wrapping your tiny limbs around her torso. She caressed your hair until you drifted to sleep.

The next morning you woke up still cuddled to Wanda. She was still fast asleep, and looked so peaceful you didn’t have the heart to move and risk waking her. Plus, you liked the proximity, the warmth from her body, her arm hugging you close.

A few minutes passed before she opened her eyes, only to be met by yours.

“Good mowning.”

“Good morning princess,” you giggled at the nickname, “wanna go down and get some breakfast?”

You nodded eagerly, already used this new environment, without the rigid rules and punishments. She climbed out of bed and made her way to the bathroom, you just sat up and watched as she washed her face or something. She then went through another door, which you assumed was where she kept her clothes since moments later she came back in different clothes.

She picked you up from the bed and took you into the kitchen. When she walked past the room, a confused expression grew on you.

“Whewe awe we going?”

“To the dining room, we usually have our breakfast there.”

“Oh, okay.”

And that was one breakfast table alright. All kinds of fruit, bread, cereal, cake, cheese and ham, and butter. 

“Look who found our little runaway.” Tony commented, but you didn’t give him any attention, mesmerized by the amount of food.

“Yeah, she found her way into my room in the middle of the night.”

“Really? How?” Steve asked.

“Good question, hey, sweetie,” Wanda caught your attention and you turned to look at her, “how did you know which one was my room last night?” You shrugged.

“I just knew whewe to go.”

“Seems like some part of her memory is still intact.” Stark remarked with interest.

Wanda sat down, with you in her lap and started serving food on her plate. The rest of the room fell into light conversation as you all enjoyed breakfast.

Soon you were interrupted by Bruce.

“Guys, I’ve got results from the tests.”

“Do you know what happened?” Steve asked eagerly.

“Kind of, the smoke she inhaled during the mission was poisonous, it was supposed to kill her, but it seems like her cells reacted to it differently.” He explained. “Her shapeshifting abilities reacted with the poison causing her body to, well, change, in order to avoid dying.”

“My powews wewe able to bweak down the poisonous gas into hawmless pawticles.” You responded automatically.

Everyone was shocked at your statement, but you just kept on eating like nothing had happened, not understanding what they were so surprised about.

“Yes… precisely,” Bruce added, slowly, “and that took a toll on her own cells, turning off her powers momentarily, why she got stuck as her five year old self with no memories whatsoever of the rest of her life is unclear.”

“Can you turn her back?” Nat asked.

“I can try and find some serum that reverts her situation, but, by the looks of it, her body is doing it on its own.”

“She did remember her way to my room last night, and now this. It means her memory is coming back.”

“Can you predict how long it’ll take for her to come back to her own self?” Bucky urged.

“Not really, this is all new to me. Although if I had to take a hint, I’d say a couple of weeks at least.” The scientist answered.

“But she will come back, right?” Wanda sounded preoccupied, and it caught your attention.

“Relax sister, she’ll come back. And even if she doesn’t, she’s already in love with you again anyways.” Pietro teased.

“That’s not helping.” She teased back and tightened her hold on you.

A few days passed and, as expected, you were still stuck as a five year old. You would slip out little snippets of things from time to time, memories of things you’ve learned only when you were much older, but you still weren’t coming back.

After a while you fell into a routine. You would sleep with Wanda every night, watch movies with her and some of the other people in that place, Bucky and Sam would come up with the funnest games for you to play, Pietro would take you around the compound to help set pranks to play on the others. 

You grew accustomed to the place and the people. The lack of excessive rules was relaxing. How nice everyone was to you. When Wanda would call you cute nicknames and get you all shy and flustered.

You were now watching Frozen for the fifth time that week, with Wanda by your side and Nat, Peter and Sam scattered around the TV room.

They found it adorable how you sang along to every song even though you didn’t know any of the lyrics. Peter and Sam had now countless videos on their phones of you doing all sorts of things just to mock you when you came back to your older self.

The movie was nearing the end, now on the scene where they were rushing Anna to the trolls to see if they could help keep her alive. You sang along to the song up until the moment where Anna collapsed from the spell Elsa threw on her.

At that moment you mindlessly turned to Wanda, the words seeping out of your mouth without your control.

“You bettew not die on ouw wedding.” Her eyes went wide with shock from the statement, which you didn’t notice. 

“What?” She whispered, more to herself than to you.

“Yeah, well, I’m gonna mawwy you one day.” You gave her a smile and turned your attention back to the TV, unaware of what you had just said as a blush creeped around Wanda’s face.

When the movie ended, you chanted for you guys to watch it again, earning a groan from everyone. When a yawn escaped your lips, Wanda took that as her cue.

“C’mon, honey, you are tired, we can watch it again tomorrow.” She picked you up.

“Pwomise?” You gave her your puppy eyes.

“I promised.” She pecked your nose, earning a giggle from you.

You settled in her bed as you waited for her to shower and join you. You cuddled into her and drifted off to sleep.

You woke up feeling extremely weird, your muscles ached and your head was spinning a little. You kept your eyes closed as memories from the past days came back to you. The mission going wrong, you waking up in the med bay. 

And then you remembered.

“Holy shit.” You whispered to yourself, careful not to wake Wanda.

You had spent the past week as a five year old. Every moment started to come back. You playing hide and seek with Sam and Bucky. That time you and Pietro showered Nat with glitter,  and how she almost killed the boy later. Tony being a dad all the time, checking up if you needed anything and making funny faces to make you laugh. Steve carrying you around inside his shield. 

And Wanda, always being there with you. Taking care of you. Watching the same movies all the time. Cuddling every night. 

Your attention was caught by the woman stirring in bed next to you, still fast asleep. She had been so patient throughout the whole situation that you couldn’t help but smile.

You propped yourself up on one elbow, facing your girlfriend. You watched for a few minutes while she was fast asleep. Just appreciating how beautiful she was and how peaceful she looked. You were falling even more in love with her, if that was possible.

Not being able to hold yourself back any longer, you gave her a lingering kiss to her forehead, moving then to her cheek, leaving small pecks all the way. You then moved to her jaw and neck, inhaling her scent, as your free hand started to draw circles on her stomach.

You felt her breath changing, indicating she was no longer asleep and directed your lips to her ear.

“Good morning, my love,” you whispered softly, pecking her earlobe gently. 

Her hands grabbed your cheeks and moved you up to face her, her expression one of full happiness.

“You’re back.” She whispered moments after, trying to convince herself that it was true.

“I’m back.” You leaned down to capture her lips in a long and passionate kiss, resting your forehead against hers’, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she moved so she could stare into your eyes, “I missed you.”

“Why? I was here the whole time.” You teased.

“You know what I mean.” Your smile grew as you leaned in again, your lips meeting in another gentle kiss.

“At least we learned two things from this experience,” she eyed you with curiosity, “first, is that no matter what I’ll always be in love with you,” you referred to the crush five year old you had on her, and enjoyed as her cheeks turned bright red, “and second, is that you are great with kids.”

“I am, aren’t I.”

You spent hours in bed, cuddling, kissing and laughing at your childish antics from the past week.

That’s when you knew, you would marry that girl.

[dancingamongstdust]

Creepypasta Scenarios - First Meeting (Part 3)

I’ve opened requests now, if anybody is interested. Here’s the post:

Requests

Lost Silver

As stupid as it sounds, the game didn’t scare you.

It had started as a joke, something passed around your friend group after it had been discovered. The cartridge was just a janky version of a Pokémon game that was apparently spooky and so, everybody had taken turns messing around with it. They all said creepy things started happening but nothing too bad.

When it was your turn, you had been fully expecting something out of a horror movie. Instead, you had gotten a game that just had audio cut offs and weird notes warning you to stay out. It wasn’t all together scary.

You mentioned this to the next person you gave the game to in your friend group and they had laughed, saying it would probably ring true for them also.

But for some reason, your ally didn’t manifest.

Less than two days later, they practically threw the game at the rest of you and ran away sprouting things about curses. After that, the appeal of playing it kind of went away.

Nobody wanted to buy it and apparently throwing it out wasn’t a suggestion. So you ended up getting it.

Curiosity soon got the better of you and you booted up the game again, really sure that it would do something absolutely crazy but it never did. It ran like it always had with only that one file being completed.

So you deleted the file.

And nothing happened.

The next day, when you booted up the game, the file had simply returned as though you hadn’t deleted it in the first place. A similar thing occurred the next time. And the next.

Eventually you gave up and just started your own game. There, everything ran like it was meant to and you were beginning to think that your friends had all been imagining stuff. Maybe their paranoid got to them or something like that?

But eventually, the nightmares started. And they were bad.

You couldn’t remember exactly what happened during them. They were a swirling mess of games and glitches, horrible things spelled out in letters and blood covering everything. You would always wake up right when they seemed to be coming to a pivotal point. You’d find yourself dragged into a graveyard and then you’d wake up screaming

It was awful. You hardly got any sleep during them and they seemed to haunt you every night, keeping you up until the early hours of the morning.

But the worst only came when you didn’t wake up.

When you were dragged to the grave and looked down to see the ellipsis where the name should be. A punch to the gut that reminded you of what the game file was called. A confirmation of what was causing this dream.

You stared at it for ages before your eyes drifted up and you met his gaze. He was covered in blood, it leaked from every orifice and limb. It stained his dirty clothing even worse.

While you were staring, the world seemed to distort even though he didn’t. The game world melted away and your bedroom slowly reappeared.

It wasn’t until you saw car headlights move past your window – casting awful shadows across the room – that you realised you were no longer dreaming. He wasn’t a figment of your imagination.

The temperature in the room plummeted and you began to slowly reach for a weapon of some kind. He turned to look at what you were watching. His head tilted to the side and a glitch raced across his body before he vanished into thin air. Flicking on the lights didn’t show him hiding or cowering.

Perhaps your friends weren’t crazy after all.

Masky

“You know, if we had been a little more patient, none of this would have happened,” your sibling lectured. “We could be relaxing inside the car without having to worry about a bloody flash flood coming down from the sky.”

You shoved their back, forcing them to stumble a little as they went through the door. “Chances are the river’s going to burst its banks anyway. We would have been stuck in traffic for hours because the bridge is blocked off.”

“At least we would have been dry,” they muttered, running their fingers through their hair. “And not trapped inside an abandoned building.”

You rolled your eyes and made your way over the rubble to settle down on a camping chair. “Don’t even start. This place has been a hangout for my friends and I for ages. There’s never been a single problem bigger than a few spiders.”

“Till a landlord shows up,” they scoffed.

“Then we’ll move to the forest,” you joked. “I’m sure there’s a good bear cave we can use.”

“I’m going to be an only child,” they said, rolling their eyes. Still, they made their way over and sat. “How long do you think we have until the storm dies down?”

You relaxed back into the chair and smiled up at the asbestos-filled ceiling. “From the sound of it, a while.”

It wouldn’t have been the first time you had taken a nap in the building. You were scared of giant cockroaches coming to eat you once. You had gotten used to it since then but this time when you woke up, you were uneasy.

Glancing around, nothing was out of the ordinary. Your sibling was snoring in the chair next to you and outside the rain was pounding the roof.

You sat upright. Sometimes was definitely wrong.

Pulling your phone from your pocket, you got up from the chair and began walking as quietly as you could through the house. It had always been tiny and practically void of furniture, but the few rooms provided ample hiding spots.

Nothing but rubble was in most of the rooms but, in what you presumed had once been a bathroom, you found a person.

He had his back to you but when you pushed the door open to peer in, he spun around, his hand flying to his side. He was wearing a white mask, dark features etched onto it, and an orange jacket. A dark stain ran up the right side of it, emanating from under his hand. The oddness of his clothing made you immediately back away from the door, finger twitching on your cell phone in case you needed to call for help.

The two of you stared at each other in silence.

You were lost about what to say or do. The stain on his jacket was spreading and the more you stared at it, the more you became convinced it was blood. “Are you okay?” you finally managed to ask.

It took him a while to respond but then he nodded. The mask was unnerving you. You didn’t like not being able to see a person’s facial expressions.

“I don’t mean to pry or anything, but it really looks like you’re bleeding,” you said. “And quite badly. I can call for an ambulance or something although…” you turned your attention to the window behind his head. “I’m not sure they’ll be able to get anywhere with this weather.”

He stepped backward. “I’m fine,” he said, so soft you barely caught it. “I thought this place was abandoned.”

“It normally is,” you answered. “But we had to avoid the storm. I’m guessing that’s why you’re here also?”

“Yes,” he responded.

You waited or him to say something more, but all you got was silence. He had moved further away and now he had his back against the window. Part of you wanted to turn around and go back to your sibling but you were unsure about turning your back on the strange man.

The mask made you scared he could stab you or something.

Somebody calling your name made you turn your head on instinct. Your sibling must have woken up and realised you were missing.

Quickly, you turned back to the man, but he had disappeared. Rain spat through the now open window.

Nurse Ann

Everybody always warned you about exploring old buildings. They would yell about how many things could injure or kill you. Stray animals, drug addicts, old equipment, and all that. You had heard just about every warning imaginable. Ghosts were pretty commonly mentioned also.

But killer nurse was a new one.

“Come on, just give me a little more information,” you nagged. “I’m going there whether you’re with me or not so you may as well just tell me what you’ve heard.”

Your friend (and partner in crime for most ventures) groaned. “It’s not much. They just say that she guards the place and if you get too close, she’ll run you off with a chainsaw. Some people have died from injuries they got while there. Let’s just give this one a miss, alright?”

But you were not in agreement at all.

“Maybe she’s cute though,” you teased.

They didn’t find that funny and you didn’t push them to come with you. So later that evening, you snuck in by yourself.

The hospital was old with crumbling walls and smashed windows. It was hidden from the public by means of a tall barbed-wire fence and a substantial distance of open garden. Nothing too extreme for you and definitely worth the potential items you’d find inside. When hospitals went under, they often left tons of awesome stuff just scattered around.

You’d never sold anything you found in your abandoned building dives. They were more collectables than anything else but they meant quite a bit to you.

There weren’t any signs of crazy nurses as you approached the place. Nobody came running at you with a chainsaw at least. You didn’t even find evidence of squatters who could sometimes pose some danger.

After deciding it was safe enough, you lifted yourself through one of the windows and began to explore.

Honestly, it was creepy. Everything was way too old to be worth collecting and there were too many unidentifiable stains for your liking. The water damage was bad. It looked like the ceiling was there for aesthetics only and several rooms creaked too much for you to comfortably cross them.

And that was even without the awkward feeling of being watched.

You told yourself that it was just superstition but you couldn’t shake it. Every few seconds saw you looking over your shoulder in anticipation. It distracted you from keeping your eye on the path in front of you and the loud crack reached your ears too late.

The floor gave out and you fell through. Your shoulder hit some kind of metal object as you landed in the room below. Painful shocks ripped through your body and your head knocked against the floor with a heavy thud.

Stars danced in front of your vision and you raised your hand to the top of your head. Blood coated your hand when you lowered it to look.

Shit.

Shakily, you tried to pull yourself up but quickly found that your arm was too sore. Instead, you pulled your phone from your pocket and sent off the emergency text to your friend.

The world faded to black not long after that.

When you woke up next, you were in your room with a bandage wrapped around your head. You had felt like absolute crap but still gotten up to thank them for the save. They had nodded and warned you to be more careful, happy that you had been outside the hospital so they didn’t have to look for too long.

Before you could even think about how you had crawled there, they asked how you had managed to do your own stitches so nicely.

Puppeteer

Your camera was on 10% battery.

Grumbling, you shoved it into your bag and cursed your past self for forgetting to put it on charge. In order to get the best sunrise photos, you had found yourself waking up earlier and earlier. It was tiring but it was worth it… most of the time.

You just hoped that at least one of your pictures was usable but you could only check on them once you got home.

The streetlight above your head flickered as you walked past. It wasn’t unusual but when you were the only person awake for miles around, it was awfully creepy.

Putting your hands into your jacket pockets, you continued strolling back home. The neighborhood had never been dangerous and despite living in the area for your entire life, no incidents made you want to stop walking around at night.

Deciding that you wanted to take a precautionary shot, you headed for your neighbour’s house first. They had an arch covered in jasmine flowers that made for some perfectly safe photos and they never minded your presence.

After making your way there and getting a few photos, you were treated to the fright of your life when their began howling and barking. It wasn’t aimed at you but you didn’t like the noise regardless.

As you rounded the corner of the house, planning on racing back to your own home, you encountered the dog’s target.

A man – cloaked in the darkness and barely illuminated by the streetlight – opening one of the windows with ease. Irritated by the dog, he didn’t notice you until your finger twitched around the shutter of your camera. There was a flash.

His head snapped up and you screamed.

The man’s complexation was literally grey. He wasn’t just ill, he was the colour of storm clouds. Golden eyes with no pupils glared at you and froze you in place. Whatever he was, this man was the furthest thing from human.

Your scream woke your neighbors. The sound of movement began coming from inside the house.

He abandoned the window, stalking towards you. The air tingled like it was expecting a lightning storm. Golden tendrils grew from his fingertips and shot towards you. They had you pinned in an instant.

You struggled against them and opened your mouth to scream again but they wrapped around your head, forcing your jaw shut.

This was how you died… tears spilled down your cheeks at the realization. You were going to be an unsolved murder. All you hoped was you got a good picture of him.

Your neighbor’s front door opened and great dane let out an ear-splitting bark as he raced toward you.

The man, or creature, or monster, or whatever he was, released you to face the dog. He let it approach before vanishing into a cloud of smoke as its jaws reached him.

“What was that?” the timid voice brought you back into reality.

“It was trying to get into your house,” you said. “I screamed when I saw it and then it grabbed me.” Your voice changed to a whimper as reality hit you. You nearly died.

The small child of the house came over to hug your leg. “I’m sure Puppet didn’t mean to scare you,” she said. “He always comes to visit but he doesn’t like it when people make noise. You shouldn’t scream when you see him again.”

You made eye-contact with the parents and they wore expressions of horror at their daughter’s words.

“Puppet?” you asked in a small voice.

She nodded rapidly. “He says he stops by because he likes watching people. I think that he’s watching us all right now! But he can hide in the shadows too well.”

“I’m going to go and call the police,” somebody said.

You weren’t all too focused. The feeling of being watched grew heavier and you clutched tightly at the camera in your hands.

Slenderman

You couldn’t tell if they were being serious. You hoped that they were joking. They weren’t genuinely going to…

“No,” you stated.

The two younger children both turned to look at you simultaneously. Guilt flashed across their faces as though they weren’t aware you were listening. It was as though you were asked to babysit them because you didn’t pay attention. These two should have realised that by now.

“Do you think all the stories are true?” the boy asked. “I think that they are. One of my friends said she saw a huge dog in the forest and then it ran away after eating a whole cow!”

“No way!” his twin sister shouted. “Dogs don’t eat cows, so it can’t be true!”

You put on your best intimidating expression and crossed your arms. “I don’t care if they’re true or not. There is absolutely no chance that either of you are going to go running off into the woods with bears, wolves and all kinds of other creatures.”

The two children glanced at each other and bolted for the tree line before you could grab their shirts.

Thankfully your legs were longer even if they had a head start and you managed to catch up pretty quickly. Once you caught the boy and picked him up with ease, the girl dashed behind a tree.

“Can we please just leave?” you asked nicely. “If we forget about the forest adventure thing, I promise I won’t tell your parents and I’ll get you ice cream.”

The boy was trying his hardest to get out of your hold. You were starting to think babysitting didn’t pay enough.

“I don’t want ice cream,” the girl said. “I want to go and find a unicorn.”

She darted off into the forest and you let out a deep groan. Shifting the boy’s weight over your one hip, you started walking after her. If you wanted to give chase via running, you would have to put the kid down and trust him to follow or stay.

It was obvious that wasn’t happening.

It didn’t take you too long to find the girl. Mostly because she had stopped in the middle of a weird grove in the trees. She was just staring off into the dark shadows beyond it.

As you approached her, static popped in your ears. You shook your head in an effort to displace it but the closer you got, the louder it became.

The child in your arms whimpered, clutching his head.

You softly called her name and then it appeared. It was a man-like monster, standing just in the shadows of the trees. Easily over 7ft tall and insanely thin with no facial features. Your heart jumped into your throat and your stomach tied itself into a knot.

Without taking your eyes off it, you reached out a hand and fumbled around until you grabbed the girl’s shirt.

The static was getting louder and louder. You tried to shut it out as you started moving backwards, tugging the child along after you. She wasn’t willing to move her legs. She was entranced but whether by fear or magic, you couldn’t tell.

And then it was much closer.

You stumbled in fright, letting go of the girl’s shirt and landing on your ass. The boy fell on top of you but scrambled away and hide in the bushes within the blink of an eye. You sent a silent prayer to him to run back home to the other adults.

Once again, the creature was stationary but now the static was growing to such a volume that you could imagine your ears were starting to bleed.

You reached out for the girl again slowly, but something wrapped around your leg and yanked you into the air.

It took almost a full second for you to realise that the screaming ringing in your ears was you. Whatever was holding you tightened and whipped your body through the air. It was like your leg was being ripped away.

Then you were falling.

It was some feat of luck that you managed to twist your body, so you didn’t land on your head. You lay there for a while before something poking your back made you unbury your face.

The twins were staring at you with wide eyes and the monster was nowhere in sight.

“What was –“ you couldn’t finish.

“Slenderman,” they said in perfect sync.

Splendorman

Another stop…

You couldn’t help yourself. Every time you walked past one of the posters fluttering lightly in the wind you had to stop and stare at it.

A few days ago, your dog, your beautiful and sweet puppy, had disappeared from your house without a trace. The missing posters were depressing reminders that he wasn’t home. It hadn’t taken long for your mind to spiral into the negative thoughts about how close the road was.

Damn your coworkers. One of the had suggested the road in the first place and while they hadn’t intended anything malicious, it was definitely not helping your fears.

The dog had been with you through thick and through thin… if it was dead, you may as well have lost a close family member.

Hanging your head, you dragged your eyes away from the poster and kept walking.

People bumped into you, but it was your fault. You refused to look up in case another poster distracted you. Getting home before the sun set was your only focus now.

You had tried going out and searching in all the places where your dog once spent time to no avail. Always willing to try again, you chose to drop off your bags and head out later that evening when you ran out of distractions.

As you walked through the gates in front of your house, a gust of air gently messed up your hair. A gust of wind suspiciously similar to a laugh.

Your logical mind told you it came from the street, but something made you stop in your tracks.

The walls around your property towered. There’s no possibility that somebody could be in your garden. To try and scale one of the walls, they would have been in full view of your neighbours who would have undoubtedly called the cops.

“You’re sad,” the wind whispered before you could brush off your suspicion.

Spinning wildly, you searched around for the source. You backed up until your entrance gate was behind you. You could run down to the main street with ease if you could just get your fumbling fingers to unlock things.

“Don’t run,” the wind said, this time blowing from a separate direction. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you. I just wanted to know why you’re upset.”

Is this what going insane was? Nobody around and the wind was talking to you. You had always feared losing your mind and now it was happening.

“I’m real,” the wind said. “I’m hiding because I’ll scare you if you see me.”

“I’m going mad,” you muttered, shaking your head. “If this is somebody pulling a prank on me I swear….”

The wind quietened for a bit and then it picked up again, ruffling your hair as it spoke. “If I show myself, it’ll prove that you’re not going crazy, but I don’t want to make it worse by frightening you… you’re so sad already.”

“I lost my best friend and people have been telling me he’s most likely dead,” you hissed. “Obviously I’m not in the best mood. Now I’m losing my fucking mind and talking to air.”

The atmosphere around you dropped, like it does moments before lightning strikes. You glanced at the sky in confusion. As expected, no clouds in sight.

You lowered your gaze and a 7ft tall creature covered in bright polka dots stood in front of your house.

Once you screamed, it disappeared.

“I’m sorry,” the wind said. “I knew I would scare you, but I had hoped it would show you that I’m not imaginary. I’m just trying to help.”

The gate finally opened behind you and you stumbled backwards through it, your heart sitting in your throat. A monster was in your house and it was probably going to kill you. Spinning on your heel, you took off full speed back towards the main street.

You were fully expecting it to give chase now that you hadn’t fallen for its claims of harmlessness but it didn’t.

Instead you reached the main road and only got a few strange looks because of how much you were shaking. Nothing followed you.

The wind picked up once more. “I’ll try and help,” it promised.

People walking around you should have heard it as well but none of them so much as blinked.

Ticci Toby

While you had been told that a noise limit for the forest existed, your laughter refused to cooperate. It rang through the trees and probably chased off all the animals nearby. A picnic out in a national forest was a fantastic way to reconcile with nature and to scare it all away.

With eleven people in your picnic party, chances of any creatures coming into view were already slim though so you didn’t worry too much.

“We didn’t bring nearly enough fruit,” you muttered as you dug in the basket.

“Excuse you, I brought a whole watermelon but you ate it,” somebody answered your grumble. “If you want fruit, it is spring. Go and forage for some berries.”

You snorted. “Yeah, right. I’m going to go out by myself in the middle of the one season where bears are irritable as fuck. I know I sometimes act a little impulsively, but I don’t exactly have a wish to die at the claws of a grumpy teddy.”

Your friend leaned towards you. “Is that so? What if we split into teams and made a bet? Loser has to take a dip in the river.”

“A bet?” you asked. “I’m interested.”

She grinned and snapped her fingers. “Okay, there are eleven people so I’m feeling groups of two with one impartial party as a judge. We should be fine if we make enough noise and stick within close vicinity to each other. See how many berries we can gather?”

Tipping out the picnic basket’s contents, you smirked and pushed it into her chest. “Oh, I hope you brought a swimming costume.”

Everybody teamed up with ease and grabbed one of the many containers lying on the blanket. You headed out with your partner and gave a wink to the other teams. All you needed was to find one good bush first and you had it won.

“We should split up,” your partner said. “Cover more ground.”

You nodded. “We meet up back here once we’ve found a good bush,” you agreed. “And we shout if we find any animals.”

Obviously, your plans hadn’t involved losing your footing almost directly after the two of you split.

Tumbling down the small hill, you tried your hardest to protect yourself from the bushes as you went through them. At some point, you lost your basket and by the time you had finally rolled to a stop, you had no idea where it was.

Grumbling, you stood up and started searching until something dark caught your eye. Thinking it was your basket, you made your way over.

The clearing you walked into housed a scene you could never have imagined.

A dead bear lay slumped against a tree, its fur being what had caught your eye earlier. A hatchet buried in its neck was spilling blood onto the floor around it. All that hardly compared to the man leaning against a tree.

“Oh my god!” you exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

His head immediately snapped up, allowing you to see that he was wearing a mouth guard and a pair of goggles. Blood seeped from between his fingers where they clutched against his chest, but he hardly noticed. A hatchet was hanging from his belt.

Suddenly, you were wishing you had kept your mouth shut.

He stared at you blankly for a while, an occasional twitch minorly affecting his body. Reaching up, he took off his mouthguard. “I can’t feel any pain,” he said. “So, I’m fine. Why are y-you out here? The hiking trail is far.” He struggled with one of the words, seeming to hiccup a little on it.

“I was searching for berries and I slipped down a hill,” you answered. “Are you sure you’re okay? It looks like you got into a fight with a bear. Your shirt is all bloody.”

“I did fight a bear,” he laughed, gesturing to it. “I won.”

Your eyes grew wider. “I think you should get to a hospital. What’s your name? I can call somebody for you and we’ll get you medical attention.”

“Toby,” he said. “That’s my name. What’s yours?”

You gave him your full name and pulled out your phone. “My friends are close by,” you said. “Don’t worry, they’ll be here to help soon.”

When you raised your attention from your phone, he had disappeared and so had the hatchet from the bear’s neck.

Trenderman

Work was hard. It made your feet ache, it made your back click and crack, and it felt like the problems would never end.

Would you give up working in the fashion industry? Not a chance.

Your boss walked past where you were calming down an irate customer over the phone and dropped the keys to the front of the building in front of you. “Close up for me,” she mouthed as she left.

Nodding, you moved them to the side of the desk where they couldn’t be lost.

Once you had finished calming the customer, you glanced around to check how many people were left in the room. Three still working and one in the process of leaving. You were technically going into overtime at this point, but you didn’t mind.

There was a reason you were promoted so quickly.

“We need to set up cameras!” one of the floor managers snapped, storming into the office. She marched straight over to your desk and glowered at you. “I put this request in a week ago.”

Scrolling through the documents, you quickly opened the file. “I see but it looks like it’s been bumped due to a shipment malfunction, I’ll flag it. What’s the problem?”

“Customers or members of staff are moving items around and throwing things out without warning. We need to catch the culprits!” she snapped.

“What has been thrown out?” you asked. “I’ll add it into the information.”

The woman started listing quicker than you could type. “I’ve found crocs, toeless thigh-high boots, bellbottomed jeans, coloured faux fur jackets, luminous lipstick, w-necks, and jeggings all in vast numbers in the trash can. Every time I put them out on shelves, they disappear again.”

It took everything in you not to snort. “I’ll mark this vital.”

She stalked off and you went back to inputting the shipping requirements. You were meant to be organising what was coming in for the latest line and subtly omitting anything that wouldn’t sell well enough.

Slowly but surely, your co-workers trickled out of the office after finishing off their daily tasks. You kept going, trying to make sure you could have a longer break the next day.

Finally, when the sun had already set, you relented and started getting ready to go home.

You sung as you finished packing up for the day. Being the last one in the building (thus having to lock up) made you a little more confident as you danced around getting everything together. You slung your bag over your shoulder and happily trotted over to the door.

It made you so happy that your boss entrusted you to be the last one around. She was so hyper-protective of company secrets that you were proud of yourself for winning her over.

Your talent with people was something you attributed to dealing with painful customers.

As you passed through the store-part of the business you stopped to rearrange a mannequin. Every morning when you came in, you always noticed something had been changed with this specific one. You figured you could move something small and see if it would be a good place to set up a hidden camera.

Though you weren’t expecting it to suddenly grab your arm.

“You may be one of the few workers here with good taste, but I advise you don’t try and change my outfit,” it said. It didn’t have a mouth, but the words rang in your head, nevertheless.

You screamed and pulled away, tearing your arm from its grip. Shelves were knocked over and clothing was sent flying as you tried to escape.

The mannequin just watched you as you fumbled madly for the door.

The glass rattled in the frame from how hard you slammed it shut behind you. You sped off down the street, moving faster than you ever had before. You collapsed on your lawn by the time you reached the house, taking deep breaths.

Nothing had followed you. Everything was okay.

With shaking fingers, you dialed your boss’ number and told her you would be taking a sick day. There wasn’t a chance in hell you were going anywhere near there again.

Not to mention the mess you made… you were definitely getting fired.

[chicgeekgirl89]

Late

Fandom: 911 Lone Star

Characters: Carlos Reyes, T.K. Strand

A/N: Thanks as always to @bluenet13 for beta reading!

Read on AO3

T.K. was late. It wasn’t uncommon for one of them to be running late; when you worked as a civil servant the end of the day was determined by when the work was done, not what the clock on the wall said. Dating someone who understood that was rare, a gift. They understood and forgave the tardiness without malice.

He’d texted, telling Carlos to go ahead and get a drink and order an appetizer if he wanted. But Carlos waited, anxious to see his date (boyfriend? booty call? friend with benefits?). It had been a long day and he’d been looking forward to this evening since T.K. had texted and asked him about it two days ago. That was a step forward, T.K. asking him out instead of the other way around. It had to mean…something, right? Maybe? 

Oh god, his sister, Francesca, had been right when she told him he was hopelessly gone on this guy. Her actual comment had included a few more swear words and a surprising amount of sexual innuendo, even for his sister, but the message was the same: He was in love with a guy who liked him back. And he was doing a pretty terrible job of figuring the relationship out.

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” T.K. slid into the seat across from him, interrupting the gymnastics of his mental anxiety.

“No worries,” Carlos said, offering up a smile. “I got you a sparkling water and ordered a cheese plate.”

“Great, that’s great,” T.K. said, fidgeting in his chair like he couldn’t get comfortable.

Carlos hadn’t known T.K. for long, but the man read like an open book. He could tell something wasn’t right. “Everything okay?” he asked as T.K. picked up the menu and flipped it over without reading it before setting it back down again.

“What? Yeah, yes, yes everything’s fine,” he said, picking the menu back up again.

Carlos studied him, feeling his leg bounce up and down under the table. “You sure? You seem on edge. Rough day at work?”

T.K. set the menu down again and schooled his face into what Carlos assumed he thought was a neutrally pleasant expression, but was really a smile that strained around the edges. “No, I’m good. Sorry. So, what are you thinking about? The filet? Or actually the salmon looks really good. With the lemon sauce?”

Carlos let T.K. chatter his way through dinner about inane subjects such as the different types of hose nozzles, his Dad’s medicinal tea collection, and how to properly hail a taxi in New York. Carlos hmmed and nodded in all the right places, all the while mentally going through a list of possible reasons for T.K.’s uneasiness. A difficult shift seemed most likely, but T.K. had denied that. Could something have happened to someone he knew in New York? Or was there…was there someone else? He knew about T.K.’s recent horrendous break up, but was it possible that whoever he’d left behind had come calling? It happened more often than not, a quick rebound and then back to the previous relationship, he’d seen it time and and time again.

His heart squeezed a little bit at the thought and he mentally shook himself. T.K. had given him no indication that things between them were off, he shouldn’t assume and possibly fabricate a problem for himself that didn’t exist. 

They finished their meal, declining desert and coffee, and headed for the parking lot. “So,” Carlos finally said, his first word in quite a while. “Did you want to come over or…?”

“Yeah,” T.K. said far too brightly in the fakest possible way. 

T.K. seemed to have run out of bizarre facts and mundane topics to talk about because he was quiet on the drive back to Carlos’, seemingly lost in whatever was going on in his head, fingers absently playing with his phone, turning it over and over in his hands.

He didn’t even move when they stopped in the driveway, eyes staring straight ahead out the windshield. “T.K.,” Carlos said softly.

He startled and cleared his throat. “Hey, sorry.” He flashed another fake smile and leaned over, pressing a kiss to Carlos’ lips, quickly trying to turn it into more.

Carlos let him for a moment, not pulling back, but not fully giving in either, still trying to get a read on what was going on tonight. The current situation suggested it had nothing to do with them, which was a relief. But something was still wrong.

“Should we take this inside?” T.K. asked a moment later, his hand sliding up Carlos’ thigh, even as the enthusiasm didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Carlos cocked his head to the side. “Are you sure you want to?”

That got T.K.’s full attention and his brow furrowed. “I—yes. Yeah I wanted to come over and be with you.” He leaned over and kissed the tip of Carlos’ nose. “Come on.”

They walked inside and for once Carlos let T.K. take the lead as they landed on the couch, lips locked together, hands in each other’s hair, running up and down each other’s bodies. But it wasn’t fast and hard or even slow and gentle it was just…as if T.K. was going through the motions. And Carlos was not okay with that.

He pulled away, sitting up, putting distance between them. “What’s wrong?” T.K. asked in confusion. “You okay?”

“Are you?”

“What?”

Carlos fixed him with a firm look. “T.K. I want to have sex with you, I do. But I’m a big fan of enthusiastic consent. And right now you’re consenting but…I’m kind of missing the enthusiasm.”

T.K. sighed and sat up, resting his elbows on his knees, running a hand over his face. “I’m sorry. I should have just gone home.”

Carlos felt a pang of sympathy as he watched the weight of whatever T.K. was dealing with settle fully on his shoulders. He reached over and put a hand on T.K.’s knee. “You know, you don’t have to tell me what’s going on if you don’t want to. But if you do, I’m here. Or if you don’t want to talk I can drive you home. No questions asked.”

He could see T.K.’s jaw working, like he was trying to hold back tears. He shook his head silently, misery all over his face and Carlos couldn’t take it any longer. He slid closer so their thighs touched and put his free hand on T.K.’s shoulder. “T.K. what is it?”

The other man sucked in a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut. “My dad has cancer.”

Of all the things he’d considered, this had never crossed his mind. It felt like a punch in the gut. And if it felt that way to him, he could only imagine how it felt to T.K. 

“It’s lung cancer,” T.K. continued. “From the towers. And he didn’t tell me. He just moved us across the country like he could run away from it. I thought he made us come here because of me but really, it was because of him. And me. Both of us I guess, I don’t even know anymore.”

T.K. looked so wrung out and exhausted and Carlos’ heart ached, wishing for all the world that he could somehow take his pain away.

“He’s been getting chemo and dealing with this for months now, all on his own because he couldn’t tell me or didn’t want to tell me or didn’t trust me enough to tell me and I feel really REALLY shitty about it,” T.K. said. “Like the worst son in the world for not noticing and not being…okay enough for him to talk to me about it. Because you know that people with a support system have a better chance of beating cancer than people that don’t. And I haven’t been providing that for him. I’ve just been dealing with my own shit again.” 

His intake of breath was shaky, words continuing to pour out of him. “And I told him that I wasn’t scared, that I knew he was going to be all right, but I think that was a lie. Because right now I’m terrified. I’m terrified that I’m going to lose him. And I promised myself I would never lie to him again after what happened in New York but how could I say anything else? He needs me to be strong but,” T.K. finally looked up and met Carlos’ eyes, “I’m not very good at being strong. As evidenced by the addiction and relapses.” 

He shook his head again and ran an agitated hand over his face. “And I don’t even know why I’m telling you all of this. I’m sorry, it’s been a long day and I kind of can’t stop thinking about it and it all just kind of…spilled out.”

Carlos squeezed his knee. “Well, they do call me “The Confessor” at the precinct. Bad guys take one look at me and give up all their secrets.”

T.K. raised his eyebrows. “They do?”

“No, T.K. it’s a joke.” He winced slightly. “Maybe not the right time for a joke. Sorry.”

T.K. snorted. “No it’s…thanks. I needed that.” He exhaled slowly. “I think I needed all of that. I don’t uh, I don’t have many people I can talk to about stuff like this. So thanks for letting me unload on you. Again.”

“You can talk to me anytime,” Carlos said. “I mean it. And if you need help with your dad, anything at all, I’m glad to do that too. I can drive to appointments, pick things up, make phone calls, or just be a shoulder to cry on.”

T.K. gave him a soft, smile, the first genuine one of the night, and cupped his cheek. “You are so sweet. You know that?”

“I think you’ve mentioned it once or twice,” Carlos told him. “I’m not just saying it; I’m serious T.K. Anything you need, anything at all.”

He couldn’t fix this, couldn’t tell T.K. that it would all be all right in the end, couldn’t give him the assurances he longed for, but he could offer his presence and support.

“I know,” T.K. said, and he seemed to genuinely believe it. “Thank you.”

Carlos leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, lingering for just a moment before pressing their foreheads together. “Do you want to stay here tonight?”

T.K. nodded against him and didn’t pull back. “Do you mind if we don’t…I just don’t think I…”

“How about we watch a movie?” Carlos suggested. “I’ll make some popcorn, we can relax. Decompress a little bit.”

“Are you sure that’s okay?” T.K. asked.

Carlos smiled. “Believe it or not I like being with you even when we’re not having sex. And I am very capable of going without for a night or two.”

“But not three?” T.K. asked as Carlos got up and moved to the kitchen.

Carlos gave a fake wince. “That would be pushing it. I might have to find another hot shot firefighter from New York to hook up with.”

“You get a lot of those in Austin?”

“Oh they’re a dime a dozen around here,” Carlos said with a teasing grin as he started the microwave. “Walk down the street and you’re bound to run into at least a few. Although, I don’t think all of them have such a passion for hose nozzles.”

Now T.K. winced for real. “Sorry. I ramble when I’m anxious.”

“I noticed. It’s okay. And next time I’m at a scene and someone asks me for a hose nozzle, I will definitely be able to help. In fact, I think I’ll add that to my resumé. Hose Nozzle Expert.”

“Oh god,” T.K. rolled his eyes. “I’m a terrible date.”

Carlos returned with the popcorn. “Well I’ll guess we’ll just have to go on another one. Give you a chance to make it up to me.”

“Friday?” T.K. asked.

“I have a shift starting mid-morning.”

“Breakfast then?”

Carlos handed him the popcorn bowl. “Breakfast it is. Now,” he settled back into the couch and pulled T.K. toward him until they were cuddled together. “Relax. I’ve got you.”

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

V, my beloved. Can I please get some nice Tango and Etho buddy moment? My heart needs it.

Why yes, yes you can! :D

Summary: A glitch on the server sends Tango into a death loop. Etho rushes to save him before something even worse happens. 

CW: slightly graphic description of death. Nothing too bad but just putting it there in case.

...

  Something is very wrong with the server. Tango can feel it as soon as he jumps into the end portal. There’s something deep down in his code that feels genuinely unsettled by being in the End, and what worries him is that there’s no need for this. He’s been to the End thousands of times, and he’s not even here to do anything particularly stressful like fight the ender dragon. There’s no reason for him to be so scared. 

  As he makes his way towards the end gate, a message comes up on his communicator. 

<Xisuma> Server’s a little glitchy right now guys, be careful not to die, just in case.

  Tango shivers. It must be the glitches that’s causing him to feel so uneasy. Well, no matter: he’s usually very careful anyway. He shouldn’t have to worry about dying. 

  Unfortunately, he looks up at exactly the wrong moment and finds himself looking straight at an enderman. 

  The creature immediately shrieks and charges at him. Tango yelps and scrambles back, dashing to the side. He tries to activate his elytra but server glitches are often unkind to fliers and he can’t get a rocket to fire. When trying again and again yields no results, he decides to take a risk. 

  He jumps off the end island in a place where he knows there is a platform underneath him. If worst comes to worst, he will take a bit of fall damage. 

  Sure enough, his elytra fails again and he falls a few blocks down to the small platform underneath the island. Sighing, he gets to his feet and dusts himself off, momentarily forgetting why he was in such a hurry to fly away in the first place. 

  A shriek sounds from directly behind him.

  He spins sharply round, but it’s too late. 

  The enderman hits him twice in rapid succession, knocking him off the platform. 

  Tango tries desperately to activate his elytra and rockets, but it still doesn’t work. He drops into the void like a stone. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

  Sighing, Tango lets himself respawn, expecting to wake up in his bed back in his base. Or if not there, the spawn island. 

  But when he reappears, he finds himself suspended mid-air in the void, nothing as far as his eye could see. He can’t even let out a scream as he falls again, the life getting rapidly sucked out of him just as it had done just seconds before. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

  He reappears in the void again. Before he can react, he’s falling again, taking more and more damage until finally…

Tango fell out of the world.

  This time, he manages a few hoarse screams for help as the void takes him for the fourth time. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

  He pulls out his communicator and only just manages to type a very quick message before the end comes for him again. 

<Tango> HELP

Tango fell out of the world. 

  He experiences the same excruciating pain over and over again. The agony of having the oxygen sucked from his lungs, of his throat being torn out, of his limbs being bent and snapped, of the pressure building rapidly in his face until his eyes feel like they’re about to explode. All this happens in less than five seconds but it always inevitably ends the same way. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

  He falls.

Tango fell out of the world. 

  He hurts. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

  He dies. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

  And there’s nothing he can do about it. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

Tango fell out of the world. 

  “I GOT HIM!” 

  It takes Tango a few seconds to realise he isn’t falling anymore. He isn’t hurting or dying. Instead, he’s suspended mid-air. Something is gripping his hand, stopping him from falling. He’s dangling over the void but it no longer has the power to hurt him. 

  “Can you pull him up?!” shouts a familiar voice. 

  “I’m trying! Get over here and help me!” 

  After a moment, a second hand closes over his wrist and he feels himself getting pulled upwards. He has no strength left to try and help, so he just lets himself hang limply. The void has not only taken all his items but every ounce of his energy. 

  Finally, he feels his knee touch something. He’s pulled up onto a solid surface, but the world is still blank in his eyes. Even though he can feel himself kneeling on a proper surface, his eyes cannot see anything except the void. 

  He blinks a few times. Has he gone blind? Or is his mind playing tricks on him? Has he died in the void so many times that he’s gone genuinely insane? 

  “-an you hear me?” One of the voices from before becomes audible in his battered ears. “Tango, say something if you can hear me.”

  Tango’s mouth opens but he can’t get any sound to come out. 

  “Buddy, it’s Etho,” the same voice says soothingly. “You’re safe now, I promise. Can you nod for me to show you can hear me?”

  This he can do. Tango manages a slow nod. 

  “Oh, thank god…” Etho breathes. “X, what’s wrong with him? Why are his eyes like that? Why isn’t he moving? Why can’t he talk?”

  “His code is severely damaged,” says the other voice worriedly. “That death loop’s really done a number on him. I don’t know if he’s fully aware of everything around him but at least we know he can hear us. That’s a good sign. Ask him yes or no questions while I try to repair his code.”

  “O-Okay.” Etho’s voice is shaking audibly. “Tango, can you see me?”

  Tango slowly shakes his head. 

  “Can you see anything?”

  Another head shake. 

  Etho’s next three questions also result in a head shake. Can you talk? Are you in pain? Can you move? 

  “Argh, the other hermits keep messaging me,” mutters Xisuma irritably. “Etho, send them a quick message, will you? Tell them to back off.”

  The hands holding Tango’s disappear. A pause follows this. 

  “Please don’t actually write that, Etho,” Xisuma sighs. “I know how you think.”

  Etho chuckles weakly. “Sorry. I’ll let them know we saved him and we’re working on getting him home.”

  “Thanks.”

  In the ensuing pause, Tango finds between his continuous blinks that the world is starting to swim into view. He can now make out the fuzzy outline of someone sitting in front of him. It must be Etho.

  He opens his mouth again and tries to speak, but his vocal chords are so damaged that all he can manage is a faint gurgling sound. 

  Etho’s hands immediately grasp his again. “I’m still here, buddy. I’m right here. X, can we get him back to the overworld? He can’t be comfy kneeling on hard endstone.” 

  Tango blinks as his vision starts to go black. Exhaustion is threatening to overwhelm him and he actually wants to let it. He’s so tired. Too tired to stay awake. 

  He finds himself sagging against Etho. The last thing he’s aware of before he passes out is the sound of Etho’s heartbeat. 

…

  Tango’s falling again. Pain explodes from his neck, his stomach, his head, his arms, his chest, everywhere. He tries to scream but his voice is ripped away from him and he can see Etho right in front of him but he can’t reach him and Etho can’t hear him and Etho can’t help him and-

  “Tango!” Etho’s voice sounds from somewhere in the distance. “Tango, you gotta wake up!” 

  Tango sits bolt upright with a strangled cry. Seeing the blank world still in front of his vision, he cries and buries his face in his hands, tears flowing from his eyes. 

  He feels someone sit down next to him and wrap their arms around him, gently pulling his head close to their chest. Tango takes deep breaths, letting himself relax as he registers the sound of Etho’s heartbeat. 

  “You’re okay, Tango,” Etho whispers. “You’re safe, I promise. I hope you can hear me.”

  Tango slowly opens his eyes. 

  The blankness is gone.

  He can see the bed below him. And the floor below that. And the walls around him. His vision has finally returned. 

  He slowly pulls away and sits up straight, almost starting to cry again as he gazes into the face of his close friend. 

  “Etho,” he croaks. His voice hasn’t fully returned yet but at least he can speak again. 

  “Hey.” Etho smiles widely and places his hands on Tango’s shoulders. “How are you feeling?”

  “B-Battered.” 

  Etho gives a quiet chuckle. “Yeah, a death loop will do that to you. You gave everyone a massive scare, buddy. Impulse and Zedaph especially. Xisuma had to send them to the mining desert to do some grinding to take their mind off it.” 

  Tango grimaces. “I didn’t mean to. What happened to me? How did you save me?”

  “X and I tracked your death signatures to that spot in the End. I can imagine what it looked like for you but to us, you kept respawning a block or two away from the ledge and then falling again. It took me at least four tries to catch you, so… I’m sorry it took me so long.”

  “No, don’t apologise. You still saved me. Yeah, to my eyes, it was like I respawned in the void and then just died again and again and again. Even when you got me out, I couldn’t see anything except void.”

  “I thought that might be the case,” says Etho, nodding. “Your eyes were all glassy and white. I’ve been in a death loop before and even though it wasn’t a void one, I know how it feels to get your code scrambled up like that. X said he only just managed to salvage everything the void tore up.” 

  Tango shivers. “I could’ve died permanently today, couldn’t I?”

  “...yeah, you could’ve.” Etho gives a reassuring smile. “But you didn’t. And don’t worry, if this ever happens again, I’ll save you.” 

  Tango gazes at Etho. One of the things that sticks out in his mind about when he was plucked out of the void is the way Etho’s voice cracked when he yelled at Xisuma to help him pull Tango up. Tango has never heard Etho’s voice crack like that before. That’s how he knows Etho was truly terrified back there, perhaps terrified at the thought of losing him forever. 

  But he doesn’t bring this up. Instead, he smiles. 

  “Thank you, Etho.”

[diaryofabeautyfiend]

This is a WIP. I love Marvel’s Witches and doing some writing exercises to hopefully create a series. My bags are packed on this one and I’m ready to go. Just trying to fill in the middle. I hope you enjoy. Feedback is encouraged. Sharing is caring. Please don’t try to pass off my work as your own.(for real it’s not that great)

Small Time Witch

Nick Fury likes secret weapons. He hid them all over SHIELD for a rainy day. Some were physical weapons like the Glock 43 he kept under his desk or the switchblade he kept holstered to his thigh. He also liked to keep people with special abilities hidden in the secretarial pool, IT, accounting.

One of those people was you. You worked in accounting. You were good with numbers and a quick learner. You handled payroll for the Avengers. That was Fury’s way of keeping you familiar with the team so it would be easy to install you once your abilities were needed.

When SHIELD acquired you, you were living in the Catskills with your coven. It was peaceful. You all possessed great power but your ability to disrupt electrical equipment was particularly interesting to him. There wasn’t a security system or electrical grid that you couldn’t dismantle.

Fury did not fully understand the breadth of your powers. He didn’t know you were an empath who could also control emotions. Your coven hated that power. They always felt manipulated. Sometimes you weren’t even aware you were doing it. Before they were all killed, you and your mother were working on controlling it. Since that day, you were having a really hard time. You had nightmares every time you closed your eyes.

A very powerful family, the Kales got wind that your coven was growing more and more powerful. Fearing they would be overtaken, they unleashed a demon onto the grounds. Your whole coven was obliterated. You managed to cloak yourself inside of a warded safe room. You tried to pull your mother inside when she heard the demon screeching through the halls. She pushed you in, pressed the shut down button and you never saw her again. Once everything felt clear, you emerged furious and afraid. You found their bodies with their eyes still open. Even in death they looked terrified. You worked a spell your mother had given you in case of a tragedy such as this. The spell allowed you to absorb all of their powers. Once they all converged a blast emanated through you leveling the grounds and turning their bodies to piles of ash. The blast was felt for miles alerting SHIELD. That’s how Fury found you.

He offered you a home, a job and a seat at his very secret table. You knew there were others like you but he kept their names to himself.

You were happy in your office running payroll. No one bothered you. You didn’t have to feel anything. Even when you secretly went on missions, you were miles away. At times, though, there was no amount of distance you could put in between you and the tension of a fight.

You would feel it all. Fear. Hate. Pain. So much pain. You thought sometimes the heroes forgot the bad guys were capable of feeling anything. You could feel the pain when they watched their friends die in front of them. The pain they felt taking their final breaths wishing they could say goodbye to their loved ones. So much pain. It was blinding for you. Fury could see some times were far too intense for you though he wasn’t sure why. He thought maybe introducing you to some other witches would be helpful.

He first introduced you to Wanda. She was warm and thoughtful. You felt calm around her. She helped you as much as she could but was still learning herself. Next he introduced you to Loki. When Fury suggested you two meet, he said you would have to keep it to yourself. He was not always wanted by the Avengers after his attack on New York. They solicited his help when absolutely necessary. Loki, however, was one of the secret weapons he liked to keep around...for a rainy day.

Wanda went with you to the training facility. You asked that she come as back up. From what you knew of Loki he could be temperamental. You could feel her nerves which made you more nervous. This was one of those times you wished you had control at least over yourself.

He was waiting perched precariously on a chair regarding you both with silent amusement. You and Wanda were holding hands. You may as well have been clutching one another like scared children. The tension was palpable. He stood to greet you. Each movement was graceful and cool as hell. That’s how you would always describe him. Cool as hell.

He was dressed in, what you thought, was as close to casual as Loki would wear. He wore a sweater in his signature deep emerald, black slacks and shiny black dress shoes. A simple gold watch peaked out of the cuff on his left wrist.

He held out a hand long fingers caressing your palms snaking around you. With a firm grip he shook it gently. “Pleasure to meet you. You must be Y/N. Director Fury has told me precious little about you. But, if you are here with me, you must have something he wants desperately.”

You started to calm down. He didn’t seem like he was as bad as everyone made him out to be. Wanda was still on guard. “Nice to meet you too.” You said. It came out more confident than you intended.

He smiled at Wanda who perked up a little. They had a few run ins in the past. Most of them pleasant. They were not really friends but understood one another.

When Loki was in the compound he was very much an outsider. Mortals apparently held grudges. It’s not like he destroyed the entire planet....only Midtown Manhattan. After all, he was burdened with a glorious purpose to destroy anything his brother loved. Even still, the Avengers used him on certain missions and called upon him when they needed intel on every manner of intergalactic evil. Wanda Maximoff was the only one of them who did not treat him like he was evil incarnate. She was treated like she was part of the family but they feared her abilities. None of them wanted to admit that she was stronger than all of them.

“So” Loki said clapping his hands, “Would you like to show me?”

“Show you what exactly?” You were being coy. You wiggled your fingers and all of the lights went out.

He scoffed, “Come on, darling. Don’t hold back. I can feel your power surging.” You cocked an eyebrow, closed your eyes and every light bulb shattered. Sparks and glass rained down. Wanda held her hands up releasing a shield to stop the three of you from being shredded.

“Not bad. Not bad at all. What else can you do?” Feeling over confident you took his hand. Closing your eyes once more you felt a strong vibration roll through your body into Loki. When you opened your eyes he was openly sobbing.

“Stop it!” he begged. “You stop this now, mortal.” You let him go both of you breathing hard. Loki regained his composure looking on to Wanda who was smiling.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to...it was too much.”

“Y/N, don’t apologize. He asked you to show him.” Wanda was running her hand over your shoulders.

“She’s right, pet. Never apologize. I don’t think you even have a full understanding of your powers. I feel more in you than you might be aware of.”

“I don’t know how to control it. It’s too much to feel everything all the time.”

He gave you a knowing smile. Fury was right, you were hiding something. Loki wasn’t ready to share with him. Not just yet. He liked puzzles and you were an interesting one. “I can help you. I’ve had centuries of practice. I can help you both.”

Wanda was a little uneasy again. You could tell she was seriously mulling it over in her head. “I shouldn’t. Steve and Nat wouldn’t approve.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed “Ah yes. I forget. Tell me, Miss Maximoff, do you ever get tired of being caged like you are? First with Hydra now the Avengers. Never truly living up to your fullest potential. It must be exhausting controlling all of that power when, with a flick of your wrist, you could end them all.”

“Control is truly my super power. It’s what makes me strong.” Wanda was clenching her fists. Red sparks fell from her hands. Her eyes glowed as she inched closer to Loki. All of this was terribly amusing to him. “What would happen if you really unleashed what was inside of you?”

Wanda smiled and cocked her head to the side. For a moment you thought they were going to kiss. “This planet would turn to ash. That’s why I vow to defend it. I straddle a fine line between total annihilation and world peace. I guess it just depends on my mood.”

“What a pair we’d make.” The tension was palpable. You watched as they stared each other down. You thought of trying to lighten the mood but, in the state you were in, it wouldn’t likely work. Luckily Wanda relented first. “It’s always good to see you Loki.” she said with a sweet smile.

“The feeling is quite mutual, Miss Maximoff.” His smile was warm and sincere.

“Ready to go, Y/N?”

“Uh. Yeah I guess.”

Loki kissed your knuckles, “Until we meet again, darling.” And with that he vanished.

Wanda was quiet on the ride back to the compound. When you pulled in she let out a heavy sigh. She was aching to ask you something but wasn’t brave enough to get out the words. It was rare that she was put in charge of anything much less a new recruit. “Just say what you want to say, Wanda. You’ll feel better.”

“Damn it. Ok. Fury asked me to invite you in for dinner. He wants you to meet the rest of the team. Also, not a word of this Loki business to anyone. Understand?”

“And if I say no to dinner?”

Her eyes locked on yours. “Not really a request.”

“Noted.” You took a deep breath “It might be nice to meet everyone. Maybe. I need a damned helmet or something to block it all out.”

“Don’t stress. You’ll get there. If it’s too much say so and I’ll come up with an excuse to walk you out. Deal?”

“Deal.”

You held her hand as you entered the front door. You were trying to feed off of her. You did relax a little. When you saw the crew your anxiety got the best of you. “Don’t worry,” she said squeezing your fingers “you’ll be great.”

The first person you met was Steve. His smile lit up his whole face. He extended his hand to you. You all but leapt into his arms. “Y/N welcome aboard. We’re all friends here. I’m sure you’re nervous but you have no reason to be.”

“Captain Rogers, it’s great to finally meet you.”

He waved you off. “Please. Call me Steve. Come on, let me introduce you to the rest of the group.”

You never let go of Wanda’s hand. It was like she was tethering you to the ground. You were so overwhelmed you thought you might cry. You gave her a taste of what you were feeling. She squeezed your hand tighter. “I have you ok? Just say the word.” You nodded and followed him into the dining area. Everyone was very nice. Some of them looked a bit confused. You said hello as Steve introduced you around. You got little waves and smiles. Thor was already stuffing his face. He said hello with a mouth full of mashed potatoes. You giggled to yourself. Slowly you were letting Wanda go moving ever so closer to Steve. Honestly the man felt like a warm summer day.

You were just about to relax when you heard the syrupy smooth baritone voice intrude your space. “Honestly, brother. You are a king. Show some decorum.” Loki took your hand and leaned in to speak so only you could hear him, “I thought this might be a good place for our first lesson.” You shrank a little at his touch. Wanda raised her hands ready to let him have it when he winked at her. You gave her a look letting her know you were ok. You really felt more at ease with him there.

“What’s my lesson?” You whispered back. “Control, pet. You’re practically swooning over the Captain. Everyone can feel it. Deep breaths. Reign it in.” You blushed and did as he said. You let your heart rate slow and calmed yourself. You focused on Loki and Wanda who helped you ground yourself. The three of you seemed almost plugged in to one another. This is the first time you’ve felt yourself since you were last with your coven.

“Oh who invited Elsa?” Tony groaned

“I did” Thor chimed in “I want to keep an eye on him.”

“No tricks tonight, Loki. I mean it.” Steve said through a clenched jaw. Loki morphed into a clone of Steve. “I mean it” he mocked wagging his finger at everyone “I just do not understand how you fit through the door. Your head is so big full of self righteousness.”

“Hey! Jack Frost! Thin ice, buddy.” Steve said as he planted his hands on his hips.

“Loki behave” Thor pleaded.

He was showing off for you. It was kind of cute. Loki laughed holding his hands in surrender, “No more tricks. Just here to have dinner and chat with the lovely new recruit.”

He pulled out your chair when you came back with your plate. Your hands trembled a bit. He placed his hand on your knee and squeezed. “You ok, darling?”

“I think so. Steve does not like you.” You giggled to yourself.

“I don’t think you need special abilities to see that, dear.” Wanda laughed too. She was across the table but could hear what you were saying.

Steve sat next to Wanda so he could get to know you better. “So, Y/N. Accounting. That must be fun.”

“Actually it is. I like numbers. They are predictable when the rest of the world isn’t.”

“Isn’t that the truth?” Tony added.

“Director Fury tells us that’s not your only talent.” Your cheeks warmed. Wanda tuned into your conversation in case you needed a quick interruption. You pressed your leg against Loki’s looking for your tether again. He reciprocated.

“I’m not sure exactly what Fury told you...”

“That you can knock out power grids and security systems. Saves us a lot of trouble” Natasha said before she took a gulp of wine.

“Oh. That. Yes. I do possess the power of Electrokinesis.”

“So you’re like Wanda and Loki but with a back up plan.” Rhodey added

“I suppose that’s true.” You cleared your throat noticing the side conversations stopped and more eyes were on you. They all had so many questions. Some of them, including Steve, were wondering just how powerful you were. “Can someone show me to the rest room?” Steve stood up but Wanda jumped up too. “Sit down, Steve. I’ll show her.”

You were holding your breath. “You ok?”

“Yeah. I just needed to get out of there for a minute. You splashed cold water on your face and took some deep breaths “I feel like I’m being interrogated.” Wanda rubbed your back and shoulders. “Want to go?”

“No. I’m ok. Will the two of you stay close?” By two you meant her and Loki.

“I can but Loki shouldn’t. They’ll think he’s up to something. I’m sure he won’t be far though.” You nodded, took one more deep breath and geared up for round two of more questions. When you turned the corner Steve was leaning against the door waiting for you.

“Hey. Are you ok? We can be a lot.” Steve was genuinely concerned which made you feel better. “Wanda can you give us a minute?” He asked.

“Y/N, I won’t be far.” She gave your hand a final squeeze and went back into the dining room. You looked down at your shoes and picked at your nails. You had butterflies in your stomach and a lump forming in your throat.

“I just thought you could talk to me for a little while without anyone else chiming in.”

“Sure. What do you want to know?”

“How much are you like Wanda?”

“You mean how how powerful am I?” Steve blushed at the question. “I’m powerful enough, Captain Rogers. Please, make no mistake, I am not part of this team. As far as you are all concerned, I print your paychecks.” You didn’t know where this new found confidence was coming from but you decided to ride it out.

“Wait. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just like to know who I’m getting into bed with. I’ve been burned in the past.”

You gave him a weak smile before walking away. “Haven’t we all?”

You could feel his eyes on you as you walked away. You found Wanda and let her know you were leaving. She hugged you goodbye. “I’ll see you soon?”

“Yeah. Can you say goodbye to everyone else for me? I’m just overwhelmed.”

“Of course. Text me when you get home.”

You hurried out of the compound to the garage when you felt a presence. You smiled. “Loki it’s not nice to sneak up on people.”

“Sorry, pet. I hope you weren’t going leave without saying goodbye.” He pouted.

“I assumed I’d see you soon since we’re ’training’ now.” He moved closer to you. Your breath caught in your chest and you stammered, “Do you need a ride?”

“No. Thank you. I am staying with Thor tonight. I know all of this is a lot. My mother was like you. An Empath. She felt everything. She learned to not let it consume her. I hope I can help you to do the same. It won’t be easy. I’ll push you and you’ll hate me for it. But, I will help you to take control.” You didn’t know why but you trusted him.

“Thank you. I appreciate you doing this. I’m sure you have better things to do with your time.” He smiled at you making you feel warm.

“Nothing I’d honestly rather do than help you.” You hugged him. At first his whole body was stiff but then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around you. Without another word you got into your car and drove away.

Back at work the next morning you were happy to slip back into your isolated routine. You popped in your earbuds and turned on your computer. A message popped up from Fury’s office simply stating “Training room B 30 minutes”. You let out a deep sigh took a swig of your too hot coffee and kissed your life of solitude goodbye.

[bondsmagii]

Regarding this cat that is perhaps not a cat at all. Definitely not MY cat.

ARCHIVIST

Statement of Orla McDonald, regarding a cat that is perhaps not a cat at all. Original statement given July 3, 2012. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

Statement begins.

ARCHIVIST (STATEMENT)

It started after Bella died. Or I suppose, after I thought Bella died. Bella was – is? – my cat, or at least I think she is, or was. I got her as a kitten and she’s now seven years old, if she’s actually still alive at all, which I’m pretty sure she must be as I saw her just this morning, when I was on my way here. Bella is a beautiful cat, long-haired, that grey colour they call blue and that I never understood until I looked at Bella when the light was just right and I could see she did look kind of blue after all. She has eyes to match, too – big and sea-blue, like you could dive right in – and she’s more photogenic than I am. Temperament wise, she’s a very chill cat. She likes to relax in the sun, stretch out over the sofa, basically just laze around as the lady of the manor. Altogether a very typical cat, right? Nothing remarkable at all.

Well, all apart from one thing. Every so often, perhaps once every few months, Bella just goes wild. It’s not like, you know, her time or anything, because she was fixed as a young cat because God knows I can’t be doing with kittens. Apparently it’s normal for cats to have times of the day where they just go crazy for some reason, running around and making a mess and yowling, but she doesn’t do that. It isn’t every day, or even a once a week thing. And it doesn’t last for a brief period of time, like what all the things I’ve read have said. She’s fine for months, chilling out and sleeping on the sofa, and then one day she’ll just wake up and it’s like a wild animal has moved into my house. She doesn’t go outside as a rule, because I worry too much about her, and usually she’s fine with that. But when she enters this state she will absolutely get out of the house no matter what. As soon as I open the door to go to work or to put the rubbish out, Bella will shoot out through even the tiniest gap and off she goes. There’s nothing I can do about it at all. Once – and only once – I tried to stop her, and she clawed up my arm so badly I still have scars. It was the first and only time she’d ever scratched me, and I was stunned. It got the message across, though. I’m not happy about it, but I have no choice but to let her out. I worry about her, but it’s not like I can stop her, and also I don’t particularly want her in the house when she’s in that mood? It sounds neglectful, I know, but she really does just rip the place apart.

There’s a lot of danger when it comes to cats outside, and I live right by a main road, and yeah. I won’t go into detail, but the inevitable happened. I wasn’t too shocked? I mean, I think deep down, I always knew. That’s what happens, right? Obviously I was devastated, and finding her was… well, I didn’t find her, I should say I found out, because she had a collar and the driver… God, I feel so sorry for her too, you know? She was so good about it, she could have just driven off because that’s what most people do when someone hits a pet on that road – my neighbours just let their cats run wild and I’ve called the RSPCA so many times but anyway, that’s not the point. The driver was only a young girl, maybe eighteen or nineteen, couldn’t have been driving long. She brought Bella up to my door, wrapped tight in a blanket like she was sleeping. Thank God there wasn’t any visible injuries. We even talked for a little bit; I tried to reassure her that I didn’t blame her, that it wasn’t her fault, but I don’t think she believed me. How could she? I still think about her even now, wishing that I could somehow explain that Bella was still alive, but… I’m not even sure that’s what’s going on, but if it makes her feel better, right? I don’t know. I brought Bella into the house and I just sat with her for a while, talking to her. Calling her a little idiot, asking what got into her. Telling her I loved her. You know. That kind of thing. I held her in my arms and rocked her like she was a little baby, and after some time – I’m not sure how long, maybe half an hour? – I became aware that she was moving. She was moving around in the blanket like she was trying to get out, and in my shock I let go and the blanket fell into my lap and out she jumped. She even gave me an indignant little meow as she did so, like I’d been deliberately keeping her in there. She sat, washed a paw, and then trotted into the kitchen where I kept some food laid out for her. I just sat there in shock.

I mean, cats have nine lives, right? That’s what they always say. I’m not sure what Bella got up to on her other trips outside, but as far as I knew, she’d never lost a life before. She’s always been a healthy cat, no scares, no accidents until that one. I get that it’s just a saying, but something in me wondered if there was more to it then. I was sure she was dead. She might not have been, because admittedly I didn’t check for a pulse or breathing or anything, and the accident had just happened so she wasn’t cool or stiff. The only proof I have is the weight there was to her when I took her from the young driver’s arms. It’s called a dead weight for a reason; it wasn’t the sleepy heaviness she had when I would try and get her to budge over at night, or how she would go deliberately limp when I lifted her away from something she wasn’t allowed to eat. This was a different kind of weight, and while I’ve been fortunate enough to have never handled any kind of dead body before then, I just instinctively knew what that weight was; what it meant. It was so heavy – literally the absence of all life. She was dead, and then she wasn’t, and of course I was glad for it but I was naturally very uneasy.

After a couple of days I brought her to the vet. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, couldn’t stop analysing her for signs she might be acting differently, or I suppose for proof that I hadn’t somehow imagined it. I explained what had happened to the vet, but I suppose I chickened out of saying that she was absolutely dead – I don’t think the vet would have believed me. Or at least she would have explained away how I must have been mistaken, and I know I wasn’t mistaken but I also know I would have probably been so eager to believe her that I would have convinced myself I was, and I don’t know. I just said she seemed dead, and then she was fine. They put Bella through a bunch of tests and scans and sure enough everything showed up just fine; their best guess was that she hadn’t been struck at all, but had maybe just had the life frightened out of her and passed out or something, like how a person can get a shock and faint. I suppose that’s not impossible? Something about the vet’s choice of words struck me, though. Frightened the life out of her. It really did seem like that was what had happened – like whatever made Bella Bella had been… taken. Or vanished. Like the fear had replaced it entirely.

That’s not to say Bella was a frightened cat after that. She acts much the same, if I’m honest. She’s still pretty chill, she’s still always lazing around not doing much of anything, but there’s something just off about her. There’s a look in her eyes that I can’t quite explain. Have you ever seen an animal and you’re kind of like oh my God, it looks like a little old man or old woman or something? There’s just something about the face that looks so human, or they pull an expression and you just know what they mean? It was kind of like that with Bella’s eyes – they looked human. Sometimes she looked at me with an understanding that was beyond… beyond what a cat should be able to conceptualise. I know, I know, we don’t actually understand as much about animal intelligence as we’d like, and we don’t know just how much about their environment they do or do not understand, but I’m telling you it was different with her. She had never acted like that before and I’d never seen her look like that before. It’s so strange. I considered maybe some kind of brain damage affecting her personality, but the vets found absolutely no injuries at all. I even took her back to ask about it, just saying that she was acting out of character, but they could find nothing wrong with her that time either. Scans came back fine. She was her usual self with the vet. I felt – I feel – like I’m going insane.

As if all this wasn’t bad enough, I’ve started noticing some… really odd things. A couple of weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night, just wide awake like something had deliberately woken me. I couldn’t remember hearing anything, but I just knew that something, some noise, had woken me. I sleep deeply, too, so it would have to be some noise – I mean, I’ve actually slept through a fire alarm once, it’s that bad. Whatever happened had to be some kind of I don’t even know, explosion or something, or it had to have happened very close to where I was sleeping. I sat up and turned on my light, and my bedroom door was fully closed. I never fully close it because Bella likes to come in and out, but it was completely closed and when I went over to look, there was a crack in the wood running from the top and bottom of the panel where the handle was attached. It looked like it had been slammed shut with extreme force, and I suppose that’s what woke me. I was confused, obviously, and I didn’t even consider the implications until I heard footsteps on the stairs. Thankfully they were running away from me, but I heard them as clear as anything – thud thud thud on the stairs, like a fully grown man in heavy boots. I was absolutely petrified. I had these horrible thoughts of some creep sneaking around in my room while I was asleep, but nothing was moved and there were no prints on the carpet and the room didn’t feel like anyone had been in there. It didn’t seem as… well, as simple as that, so I found the courage to ease the door open and peer out. The house was still and silent, and as I crept towards the top of the stairs I knew that I was definitely alone in the house – there was no other presence. I finally looked around the corner and down the stairs and the only thing I could see was Bella’s vague outline, sitting at the bottom of the stairs and looking right at me, her eyes glinting in the dim light.

I don’t know why she frightened me so much then. I think it was because of the glow of the streetlight outside, coming in through the frosted glass of the front door. I suppose the effect of the glass could have caused it, but for a moment her shadow… didn’t match. It was elongated, jagged, like her joints were all harsh angles. Like a bare tree in winter, all knots and wild angles, sharp and rough. Whatever fur she had didn’t show up in the shadow – she looked short-haired or even hairless, and her jaw was longer and more canine. I took a half-step back and from that angle her shadow looked normal again, and she meowed at me and trotted quite normally into the living room and out of sight, but I didn’t miss the way she looked at me. I got the distinct impression that she knew I had seen.

It sounds ridiculous, I know. Even writing this, I feel stupid. I do think maybe I should go and speak to someone, because now I’m laying it out I do wonder if I might have just suffered a horrible shock thinking Bella was dead, and then I’ve just created this strange story around the whole thing. Maybe she was fine. Maybe she did just faint. Maybe it’s all in my head. I have no idea, but something about it just doesn’t seem that simple at all. I keep going back to that old saying, that cats have nine lives. Perhaps I’m thinking too deeply into it, but I have to wonder if those lives are all the same one. I mean, does it just refer to close calls? That they get lucky and get more tries? Or do they get nine separate lives? If they do, where do they get the extras from? Is it still theirs, or does it come from… somewhere else?

I don’t know if Bella is still a cat, but even if she is, I don’t think she’s still… my cat. Or maybe she is? I don’t know. I’m still glad she’s here, but… well. I sleep with my door closed now. With the chair against it. And that’s not really normal, is it?

ARCHIVIST

Statement ends.

This is certainly one of those statements that makes me wonder why I’m here. An unnerving story, yes, but I do wonder if this isn’t an exercise in creative writing or perhaps as Ms McDonald said: some kind of post-traumatic episode following the shock of believing her pet to have met an unpleasant end. If it is, I imagine that the shock will eventually wear off and Ms McDonald will stop believing that her pet cat has been possessed by some kind of entity, or whatever she believes is going on. There isn’t much to investigate in regards to this, either – the nature of the incident makes it very difficult to ascertain facts, and checking with the veterinary clinics in the area of the address Ms McDonald provided was a waste of time. They either don’t remember any such cases, or they are not inclined to discuss patient information.

As for Ms McDonald herself, she has since moved away from the property and left no forwarding address. The house is, as reported, situated on a main road and the residents there suffer all the frequent calamities from having one’s front garden directly attach to a road with a 60 mile an hour speed limit – collisions with pets and cars emerging from driveways, and occasional car-house collisions. A few neighbours remembered Ms McDonald and reported that she was a pleasant and completely unremarkable young woman, causing no trouble and certainly never acting like she might be suffering from any kind of mental distress. A few neighbours also recalled Bella, having seen her stalking through their back gardens or, more frequently, sitting in Ms McDonald’s living room window. Nobody reported anything strange about the cat at all; certainly not elongated shadows. It was impossible to track down the driver of the vehicle said to have struck Bella with the information provided with this statement, and with that any potential leads were exhausted – though I confess to not being entirely sure where they might have led to even if we had found them.

Not exactly debunked, but certainly not worth filing away as open. I’m considering creating a new designation for statements containing material perhaps better discussed with a therapist.

End recording.

[merakiaes]

His World - Geralt Of Rivia

Pairing: Geralt of Rivia x reader

Requested: Yes

Prompts: None. 

Warnings/notes: This isn’t proofread so I apologize in advance for any possible mistakes. I’m gonna come back and edit it later! I hope you like it even though I was completely writer’s blocked when I wrote it xx

Wordcount: 2393

Summary: Just when you’ve given up on the neverending dream of ever finding your soulmate, fate brings you together. 

You lived in a world where you were born with words engraved into your skin; the words that would be the first spoken to you by your soulmate when you met them. If you ever met them, that is.

To some, said words were a curse, and to others, a blessing. Or well, up until the point where you actually met your soulmate, it was a curse for everyone, and not many were so lucky.

Whether you were just living in different parts of the world or if your other half was dead, you would never know. You could only sit by and stare as the words on your body faded away more and more for each passing year, until finally, only a faint, white scarring and a hole in your heart would be left behind.

The words on your arm were still very visible, although they had died down from a sharp black to a dark grey.

Like everyone else, you had once dreamt about the day when you would meet your soulmate, and woken up every day with a big smile on your lips, excited what the day would bring.

But as you grew up, you became much more aware of how dull and grey the world and the people living in it was, and you came to the realization of how truly rare it was to find your soulmate.

And you realized the chance of you doing so was even slimmer, as the words on your arm indicated that you would have to actually touch your soulmate to hear the destined words fall from his lips, and long story short, you were not a woman fond of social interaction and touching other people.

To put it simply, you didn’t think you’d ever find your soulmate. But then the day came, then that man came. That strange, peculiar man with the silvery-white hair and amber eyes, trotting into your village on the back of a big, proud stallion.

“Healer! We need a healer! Is there a healer here?”

You didn’t think you had ever heard the word ‘healer’ so many times in the same sentence before, and could only stare from your place at the outside fireplace where you were preparing the afternoon tea as the famous Witcher, drenched in blood and only God knows what, yelled at the top of his lungs after a healer with another man, much smaller in build, hanging limply under his arm.

Your uncle wasted no time in rushing over from his spot beside you, demanding to know what happened.

You left them to it briefly, missing the Witcher’s response as you put the chamomile tea back down on the table, taking your time before heading over to help in any way you could.

As you approached the trio, you noticed the rest of the villagers ogling at the Witcher from afar, keeping their distance. Your people had always been a scared one, and you guessed you should have been too, but you weren’t bothered with much these days.

You had heard the songs and tales about the mutant standing in your village. Why should you be amazed just from seeing him in the flesh when you already knew everything he had done and all he was capable of?

“I’ll take care of your friend and my niece will tend to your injuries meanwhile.” You heard your uncle tell the Witcher just as you reached him and you didn’t protest.

In fact, you said nothing as the Witcher’s amber eyes met your much duller ones, simply walking alongside him and your uncle as they carried the passed-out man to the infirmary hut.

Once in there, they placed the man down on a bed, and your uncle wasted no time in unbuttoning his shirt to get a better view of his wound.

“What’s his name?” Your uncle asked, turning to ready the herbs and bandages he would be needing for the healing process after a moment of inspecting the damage he would be working with.

“Jaskier.” The Witcher answered without missing a beat, his voice deep enough to send a rumble through your bones.

Your uncle nodded, looking up. “My niece will show you to the hut you will be staying in and help clean your wounds. I’ll make sure your friend heals alright, don’t worry.”

The Witcher, grumbled, and wordlessly, you turned on your heel and headed back out of the hut, expecting him to follow you. And he did, surprisingly without any protests, walking quietly behind you the entire time.

The only thing that could be heard was the clashing sounds of the hilt of his sword hitting his armor, his heavy footsteps and the whispers of your people as you passed them in the street.

In the corner of your eye you could see him watching them closely, but you couldn’t be bothered, your focus being solely on the obvious wound in his side that he had been clutching since he had let go of his friend, and the very reason he was currently limping his way forward.

What would have been able to damage a Witcher to the point where he could barely walk was a mystery to you, but whatever it was, it must have been big and dangerous.

After a minute of walking and taking a few left and right turns, you finally reached the hut next to yours - the one he would be staying in until his friend was ready to travel again - and walked inside.

As he let himself in and made himself comfortable in a chair in the middle of the small home, you wasted no time in going over to the shelf on which you stored the herbs and bandages, and gathered everything you would be needing for his injuries.

He groaned behind you, and by the sound of it, he was relieving himself of his weapons and clothes, getting himself ready to be tended to.

You quickly finished gathering everything you needed and turned around with the items in your hands and arms and for just a moment, you had to stop and stare at the magnificence of his muscles.

You had tended to many injured men in your life, but none of them had been half as strongly built as him, and at the end of the day, you were still simply a woman. A woman who could admit the beauty of the man in front of her.

Clearing your throat, you shook your head free of the distracted thoughts and set your feet into motion again, heading over to where he sat hunched over on the chair and putting the medical supplies down on a table beside him.

He must have been accustomed to the routine of getting taken care of by now because the second you came over to him he straightened himself up and put his wound on display for you, making it as easy for you to work as only possible.

He kept his hand on his knee for support, leaning slightly to the side to expose his bleeding side, and kept his eyes on the ground as you prepared the cleaning rag.

Once it was wet, you moved it to his side, but before you allowed the piece of fabric to make contact with the wound, you stopped yourself, glancing at him and hesitating.

“I’m sure you’re used to getting stitched up by now but if I hurt you, let me know and I’ll take it easy.” You told him softly, and the second the words left it was if he froze to ice in his seat.

You watched with confusion how his entire face turned cold, his eyes hard and his knuckles turned white where they were gripping his knee. But he said nothing, only staring into the ground and breathing heavily.

And you took the lack of protest as an okay to begin, simply letting your eyes leave his face to focus on the wound instead.

The rag made contact with his wound and he didn’t even flinch. On the contrary, he seemed to relax his entire body, and you couldn’t quite figure out how someone could relax at the feeling of a harsh rag brushing against their torn up skin.

But then again, no one had ever been able to figure out a Witcher, had they?

You took your time to clean his wound, making sure all of the dirt and dried blood disappeared with the rag before putting said rag down on the table.

The wound was now fully on display, and you couldn’t help but flinch at the sight of the depth of it, knowing you were the one who would have to stitch it up.

You prepared the needle and thread and got to work and the Witcher didn’t flinch a single time you pushed the needle through his skin. You seemed to be more uneasy than he was, despite having stitched countless wounds before.

“It will make a pretty impressive scar.” You spoke, your voice breaking through the eerily quiet air in an attempt to break the thick and awkward blanket of silence hanging over you.

But he only nodded, not saying a word.

Not so talkative, then, you thought, but still took what you could get, continuing to mend his broken skin. 

Once you were done with the stitches, you picked up a salve, taking some of the lotion on your fingers and rubbing it around in your hands before carefully tarting to rub it around his now fully stitched wound.

Surprising you, he hummed when your hands made contact with his skin, and in fright and concern, you hurriedly brought your hand away, taking a step back.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” You asked quickly, but he only hummed again, his eyes shut and his body relaxed where he sat, not moving a muscle.

“Your hands… they’re soft.” He replied simply without opening his eyes, looking as if he was in some kind of trance.

And this time it’s your turn to freeze, your hand automatically flying to your arm on which your words were tattooed, your eyes widening as realization came over you.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh no.

You took another step back, your eyes widening even further and your breath getting caught in your throat. “What-“ You took a deep breath, feeling your entire body starting to shake. “What did you say?”

He didn’t answer with words, simply standing up from the chair and looking into your eyes while bringing his hands down to the hem of his pants, pushing them down slightly to reveal his own words tattooed into the skin of his hipbone.

I’m sure you’re used to getting stitched up by now but if I hurt you, let me know and I’ll take it easy.

You stared at the black letters, barely even noticing when he brought his pants back up over them again, only snapping out of your trance when his low voice cut through the air, his body now standing right in front of you.

“Are you scared?” He asked, looking down at you with amber eyes.

You held his gaze, your breathing still heavy and ragged with shock, your entire body shaking and forcing you to lean back onto the table behind you, your hands grabbing ahold of the edge of the wood in order to keep your body upright.

But you shook your head still, answering quietly. “Of course not.” You took a shaky breath. “Everyone knows one is physically unable to hurt their soulmate.”

He nodded, taking yet another step closer to you, and you could feel your heart thumbing violently inside your chest.

“Are you... disappointed?” He asked then, his eyes searching yours.

“I- …” You hesitated, but once again shook your head. “No. No, I’m not. I’m just… surprised. Confused.” You confessed.

Swallowing, you pushed yourself off the table with a shaky breath, finally regaining the strength in your legs after the shock.

Your eyes watched him closely. “I was under the impression that Witchers were incapable of feeling human emotions.” You said, and he said nothing as you slowly approached him again.

Testing the waters, you came to a stop right before him, your chests grazing each other’s, and raised a shaky hand up to his face. You flinched back briefly when the tips of your fingers made contact with his stubbly cheek, but you quickly composed yourself and pressed your entire palm against it.

You let out a short breath at the feeling, tears slowly starting to prickle your eyes. “I never thought I’d find you…” You admitted, letting your thumb caress the corner of his lip.

He leaned into your touch, his eyes never leaving yours. He was silent for a moment before his hand slowly came up to rest on top of yours, his eyes showing nothing but utmost honesty and sincerity as he spoke, “You’re my world now.”

He hesitated, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment before looking back into yours. “You always have been but now…” He shook his head slowly, bringing your hand down from his face and squeezing it. “I’ll never let you go.”

You breathed in shakily, your heart fluttering in your chest at the feeling of his warm hand swallowing yours. You had only just met him and still, you had never felt as safe and at home as you did at that moment.

You carefully brought your hand out to grab his other one, taking another step closer to him, making you as close as you possibly could be.

Looking up at him, your eyebrows knitted together in deep thought, your eyes flickered down for a moment before looking back up into his.

“I wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else than by your side.” You confessed, squeezing his hands.

His head fell down to yours, your foreheads pressing together, and you watched his eyes falling shut in contentment as you continued. “I’ve waited my entire life to meet you and now that I have, I wouldn’t have wished for anyone else.”

You shook your head, letting go of his hands and bringing yours up to grab a hold of his face, causing his eyes to open again. “You’re my world, too.” You admitted, and then pressed your lips to his without another word.

[theladyofdeath]

In the Bleak Midwinter {15}

A Throne of Glass Period AU: 1920s.

Summary: 2 years after Arobynn Hammel is killed by Rowan Whitethorn, Maeve has returned from Eyllwe with a vengeance. Meanwhile, Rowan is getting married, Lorcan is a father, and Lysandra is finally ready to give her heart away. There’s been peace in The Cadre’s Orynth for 2 years, but peace never lasts.

A/N: I am so sorry it took me so long to update this! I have a lot of WIPs going on at once. I promise to update this again this week, though! Anyway, enjoy! I mean...if you can...

All characters belong to SJM. I am no more than a fan with a plot.

**Warning: mature content - language, alcohol use, drug use, sex, murders and shit.

Links & masterlists:

Fanfic Masterlist

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The Cadre - 1920s AU {TOG}

In the Bleak Midwinter {The Cadre, Part 2}

Lysandra rolled over to find Aedion watching her with tired eyes. She chuckled, quietly, before rolling herself on top of him and pressing her mouth to his.

“Good morning, husband.”

“Wife,” he mumbled, his deep voice raspy from sleep, his hands wandering down to her bare ass. 

“I like that name on your lips,” she mumbled, rocking herself against his hardened cock.

He groaned, and flipped her over. Her back hit the mattress as he hovered over her, as his lips trailed down the side of her neck. With her fingers tangling into his long, golden hair, Lysandra’s eyes drifted shut as she allowed her husband to explore her body.

Those beautiful, soft lips trailed down her shoulder and across her collarbone, down to her breasts where he worshiped her, slowly, with his tongue, his lips. She never opened her eyes, she let herself get lost in his touch, and his touch alone. Aedion was always so gentle, so delicate, while being fully confident in everything he did to her. He wanted her to know that she was respected, adored, that he didn’t want to be like all the assholes she was forced to be with throughout the years. He never wanted her to feel degraded. And yet, at the same time, he had to let her know just how wild, how completely barbaric she made him. 

As his lips trailed lower, he displayed just that. 

His mouth wandered between her legs, his head disappeared beneath the sheets. Lysandra gripped onto the pillows that surrounded her as he stroked her in an agonizingly slow pace between her folds. She let loose a breath as her back arched, as his tongue took its sweet time tasting her. 

“Is this how you’ll wake me up every morning?” Lysandra breathed.

Aedion hummed something against her sex that brought an entirely new sensation sweeping through her body. 

She took it as a yes, and remained silent as he worked his charm. Silent enough, anyway. She couldn’t help the sounds she made as he sucked on her clit and held her ass down firmly against the mattress to keep her from writhing. 

And when he leaned up and pushed his cock inside of her, Lysandra became undone, her voice unable to not be heard.

She didn’t care.

Let them hear. 

She let them hear her joy, her triumph, her peace in the fact that she had married a man who loved her, respected her, a man who she was so madly in love with that it made her feel invincible, even in the chaos that was their lives. 

~~~

Rowan hated having so many people in the house. He was on guard, even though it was broad daylight and plenty of innocent people were around. He liked to think that even Maeve had a slight inkling of morals inside of her, somewhere. 

Aelin was loving it. She was loving the florists and the decorators and the caterers spread throughout the estate. His beautiful, pregnant wife was a people person, and she had been secluded for too long. 

“The band will be showing up soon,” Aelin told him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He chuckled, and kissed her, softly.

“Can’t wait,” he lied, and when the doors to the ballroom opened, his hand went straight for his gun, out of habit, out of instinct. 

It was only Gavriel and Natalia, and it was the latter who was talking and the former who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world. He gave Rowan a pleading look, but Rowan only grinned. 

Gavriel had gotten himself into that mess and Rowan was having too much fun watching the outcome to help him out of it. 

“I wish you’d calm down,” Aelin said, quietly, running her hands down his forearms. “There’s going to be so many people here, Ro. And it actually feels normal for once. Haven’t you missed being normal?” 

Rowan snorted. “When have our lives ever been normal?”

“Normal for us,” Aelin clarified.  

“You should really be taking it easy, you know,” Rowan mumbled, cupping her face in his hands. “That baby needs to eat at some point. And rest. Maybe you should, you know, eat then rest instead of running around like a madwoman.” 

“Calling me a madwoman only makes me crazier,” she said, pressing her lips to his before fluttering off, yet again.

He watched her go, smiling fondly after her. She didn’t take his advice, whatsoever. For the rest of the afternoon, all she did was make sure the estate was in pristine condition. 

At least someone was doing it, he supposed.

He certainly didn’t want the job. 

Lorcan seemed to be doing well. Rowan thought that even he was excited to be around a crowd again - and Lorcan hated crowds nearly as much as Rowan did. Elide loved crowds though, loved people, loved parties. Maybe the event reminded him of her. Maybe he was channeling her energy. 

Even Rowan had to admit the sight of him chasing Lucy around the ballroom and through the halls was a sight to behold. 

Elide would be proud.

By the time guests began to arrive, Rowan was dressed in his finest suit, per his wife’s request, and greeting each of them as they came in, encouraging them all to donate to the building of the new library, which he would also be doing.

Gavriel was the one who was truly good at talking to strangers. Rowan tended to scare most of them, Lorcan more so, and Fenrys was keeping himself hidden in the corner. Vaughan was good at smiling, and nodding thanks to those who came into the door, but it was Gavriel who had a true way with words, a warm welcoming. 

It was because of that that Rowan made him stay close to the entryway.

His warm demeanor, and the fact that he could pick out a traitor, a fake, instantly, and had a great shot. 

“You need to relax,” Aelin whispered into Rowan’s ear, when it was clear he was tense. “You said tonight was safe, and if everyone else sees you uneasy, they’re going to panic.”

Rowan nodded, but didn’t say a thing. All day all he could think about, the second people began to stream through the door, was that this was a mistake.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, though. Natalia floated around Gavriel with a drink in her hand, even though she never actually said a word to him, allowing him to do his job. Lorcan walked around with Lucy in his arms, showing her off to every swooning woman that looked his way. Lorcan may not have been good with people, but Lucy was a definite conversation starter in her little, red frilly dress. Vaughan was walking around the room, silently thanking everyone for coming. Lysandra and Aedion were obsessed with the world now knowing they were man and wife, and had already told the story of their wedding a hundred times. 

Although Fenrys lingered in the corner, his foot tapped along with the beat of the band. 

“Ro.” His eyes snapped down to Aelin, who was frowning. “You’re worrying me.” 

“Why?” he asked, then forced a smile. “Go have fun, A. Enjoy your time. I’m alright, alright?”

Her smile was uncertain, but she nodded, nonetheless. After finding Lysandra and dragging her friend onto the dance floor, Rowan went to check all the posts, to make sure everything was secure. 

~~~~

Aelin was exhausted. 

Being pregnant and socializing with people for hours on end did not collide well. By the time ten rolled around, she was ready to be in her comfy clothes, in bed.

It seemed that Lucy thought the same, as she was sound asleep on Lorcan’s shoulder.

“Want me to bring her up with me?” Aelin asked, stifling her yawn. “Natalia’s drunk off her ass and I’m exhausted.” 

Lorcan chuckled and looked around at the still bustling party. “Yeah, that’d be great.” 

Aelin smiled as she took Lucy from Lorcan’s arms. The toddler barely stirred as she settled against Aelin, her cheek resting on her aunt’s shoulder. After telling everyone goodnight, Aelin was walking up the stairs with a snoozing Lucy. 

After getting into Lorcan’s bedroom, Aelin dug up a little nightgown and helped an exhausted Lucy into it before sitting in the corner rocking chair for a moment to help her settle back down. Once she was sleeping soundly with her mouth hanging open, Aelin carried her to her crib and laid her down. For a moment, she looked at the toddler, admiring the little miracle. She looked so much like her father, but so many things about Lucy reminded her of Elide. Her wild nature, her curiosity, her beautiful smile. Aelin missed her friend, missed the girl she had grown up with, but she was so grateful to have Lucy, someone Aelin could watch grow up, someone to remind Aelin everyday of the young life that was lost too soon. 

She kissed the toddler’s forehead before settling onto Lorcan’s bed. With all the people downstairs, Aelin thought it best to stay close. Surprisingly, Lorcan’s bed smelled pretty good. It was definitely comfortable. With a yawn, Aelin closed her eyes and settled into a deep, peaceful sleep. 

The next time she opened her eyes, though, she was met with a knife at her throat and malicious, violet eyes staring back at her in the darkness. 

~~~~~

Lorcan was exhausted by the time the workers were breaking down the decor. They had raised a ton of money for the library, which was a good thing, but Lorcan could have done without the endless conversing with other people. Elide had always been the people person, not him. 

As he padded up the stairs, all he wanted was to fall into his bed and sleep for days. With a yawn, he stumbled through his doorway, and strutted to the little hall in between his bedroom and Natalia’s that she shared with Lucy. 

He was only a few feet away from the crib when he stilled. At first, he thought it was a trick of the light, thought the darkness was messing with his mind. Then he took another step closer, and another, and another, until his fingers were gripping the side of the crib and his knuckles were turning white.

A panic began to rise in the pit of his stomach when the realization hit him.

The crib was empty. 

He looked around as if Lucy had climbed out of her crib and began to discover the excitement of the room. As if she could have been hiding, Lorcan began to tear the room apart. Books fell to the ground, pillows flew across the room, everything inside of Natalia’s wardrobe was thrown out.

Lucy was nowhere,

“Lucille!” he yelled, knowing full well that his voice was full of terror. A thousand different scenarios ran through his mind, all with a different outcome, all unimaginable. “Lucy!” 

With Natalia’s room a mess, he found nothing, and he was just about to tear the rest of the estate apart when he threw open the door.

Rowan stood there, his eyes wide. 

Locan’s chest was heaving as he met his friend’s stare. 

“Aelin’s gone,” Rowan whispered, holding up a note. The pristine cursive was all too familiar. “And she has Lucy, too.” 

~~~~

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[ficsnroses]

Comfort - John Wick x Reader Oneshot

John Wick? More like Fluff Wick.

Word Count : 2.6k

Warnings : None! Mega fluff. Although it does get kinda heavy towards the end...

Summary : John comforts his girlfriend, Y/N, while she’s on her time of the month. 

A/N : This is for the lovely anon who requested John comforting reader while she’s on her period & size difference. I had too many ideas for size difference, so I’ll throw them into another one shot later. Lemme know if it was alright! ❤️

This is a one shot, but I imagine it to be centered in the same universe as these two fics, that are very dear to my heart. Check out Put Your Head On My Shoulder & Nightlight :)

If there’s one thing John appreciated, it was the feel of the golden sun cresting on his face on a beautiful evening, as today. After all the dark he’s seen, he’s learned to take joy in the simpler parts of life, being thankful for anything, and everything one may rather take for granted. For John to get these things, be able to delight in them, was an accomplishment.

Gratitude, was exactly what he felt; as he sits with Dog tucked away by his feet by the window, a thick novel popped in his hand to scan, awaiting his love’s arrival. Y/N would be here soon, as planned, for them to enjoy the rest of the evening together.

She’d been coming over a lot more recently, and John would have liked it no other way. She’d been the missing piece the entire time, the reason his house had always fell lacking before, why it had remained just a house he was residing in.

She made it a home.

Each moment she wasn’t there, John wished she was. He yearned to hear her silky giggle down the hallway as she played with Dog, her euphonious singing in the kitchen as they prepared lunch together, her soft, ever so slight snores as she slept beside him on an early, Sunday morning.

As the days and weeks passed, more and more of her belongings had been concluding their way in. He’d find a spare toothbrush next to his on his bathroom counter, corresponding along with her favourite face wash & night creams positioned away in his medicine cabinet. Laced with his own clothes in his closet, he’d find her pajamas or blouses peppered in, her fuzzy knit socks, long forgotten in his drawers. She’d even left a copy of the novel she had presently been cruising on his nightstand.

But he treasured every part of it. He sought it, more than anything. He wanted to be one with her, to have her embellish each part of his life. Because quite truly, it was better with her.

To the sound of the lock jingle, he’s snapped out of his thoughts.

She’d finally made it home.

John had given her a house key recently, and it had felt like a big step in their relationship. He wanted to let her know that he trusted her, felt flattered to have her around. She’d given him one to her apartment as well on the spot.

“John?” Her sincere voice calls out, from the front door, as she shuffles her shoes off. Dog’s ears perk up immediately, his tail wagging tremendously as he runs towards her voice. Dog loved Y/N a whole lot, sometimes John felt a little jealous at how fond they’d become. Nonetheless, it made his heart smile each time.

“Living room!” John calls out to her.

Barely, from the depths of his ear, he hears Y/N’s calm voice welcome Dog. “Hi, honey.” She smiles to him, probably in the midst of giving him an abundance of pets behind his ears. John smiles to himself, eager to hold her soon. He’d missed her today. He hadn’t seen her since the morning before, when she’d stayed over for the night and they’d waken up together, before she had to leave for work.

As she ambles into the room, Dog trails at her feet. She smiles as her eyes land on her boyfriend.

“Hey, beautiful.” John grins, setting his novel aside, opening his bulky arms for her. The sun continues setting outside, leaving a nice gold to envelope the room, the lilac sky behind not far.

“Hi.” She smiles, although she moves slow. She seems, tired, possibly exhausted. Departing her bag on the wooden floor, she walks to John, leaning down to give him a quick kiss hello, before taking place beside him on the couch. He frowns when she pulls away.

“How was your day, princess?” he asks, as she wraps her arms around his waist, allowing him to hold her in a hug, a delicate kiss placed on top of her head. She nuzzles into his chest, sighing.

“It was okay.” She speaks through a yawn. “I’m worn out.”

John leaves another soft kiss in her locks, gently stroking her back. “Aw, I’m sorry to hear.” When he rubs her hip in a soothe, she winces, sucking in a sharp breath. John flinches, taken back.

“Woah, everything alright?” He inquires.

She lets out a small whimper. “Yeah, I’m just not feeling too well today.”

“Tell me what’s wrong,” John says, taking hold of her hand. He plays with her fingers, paying close attention to her ring finger. It may have been too soon, but he knew to the brim inside, that he’d place the biggest diamond on there someday, whenever that some day may be.

Y/N groans, practically laying herself on John at this point. “It’s nothing, really. I just feel a little sick and have a little pain, that’s all.” John shifts, brows furrowing. He pulls back slightly to look her in the eyes.

“Wait, sweetheart, do you need to see a doctor? Because we can go right now it’s not-” He’s cut off by a shake of Y/N’s head. “Are you sure, Y/N? I don’t want it to get worse and then you’ll be in more pain and-”

“John. I’m okay. I need you to relax, baby.” She giggles, cupping his cheek to place a tender kiss to his chin. “But it’s cute how worried you get.” John shifts his gaze down, smiling, a little shy. Truth be told, John always worried about her. Even the slightest thought of any harm coming her way, it deeply scared him. He’d had so much stripped from him in his life, so much taken away prematurely. He couldn’t bear the thought of Y/N being taken away from him too.

Even if it was just a little cold that threatened her way.

Y/N releases her grip on John, raising off the couch to pad towards the kitchen. “Besides, what doctor would even be available at 7:00pm, on a Friday?” She states. John follows shortly behind, throwing Dog’s favourite ball into the other room. 

John’s coarse voice speaks. “You know I…know people.” He shrugs, low.

Y/N stops at the kitchen counter to look at him, as he leans against it on the other side. “Oh…right.” She frowns. “I’m sorry.”

John had told her about the truth of what he did. Keeping secrets from her, was something he refused to do. He wanted to be open with her, allow her to love him for exactly what he was. Maybe that’s why he fell so deep, so rapid. She understood him on a level, many others didn’t. Y/N tried her best not to mention it too much, she knew John wasn’t proud of what he was, and the reality he lived in.

It ate away at him, more and more each day. She understood that more than any one else.

Drowsily, she moves to grab a bottle of water out of the fridge, taking a long drag before setting it down. John watches her, biting his lip at how weak she looked. Uneasy, he opens his mouth to speak, before Y/N’s lips yelp in pain, hand shooting down to her stomach. Before she knows it, John’s rushed to her side with his large palm placed on her back, helping her stand. His eyes race in worry, brooding as concern overtakes.

“Y/N, I’m taking you to the doctor, okay?” He asserts, thoughts racing a million a second.

“John…”

“And I’m not taking no for an answer Y/N,” He argues.

“John! I’m alright! It’s just…”

John relaxes a little, allowing her to explain. “What, Y/N? Babe you’re screaming in pain. Please let me help you…”

She places a hand on his shoulder, urging him to calm down. “John it’s just…promise you won’t get grossed out?” She settles. He nods in response, intrigued. “I actually got my period this morning. I get really bad cramps and feel kinda sick. But it’s normal and it passes, alright?”

John lets his shoulders relax in a breathy exhale. Wiping a hand across his forehead, he sighs, taking seat beside her at the counter. “You scared me there. Why would I be grossed out?” he wonders, taking hold of her hand.

She shrugs. “I don’t know, some men do that. But it’s nothing to worry about, okay? I do it every month.” She giggles, seeing him ease. John brings her hand up to his lips, to press a light kiss to her palm. “As your very concerned boyfriend, I’m going to take care of you now. Whether you like it or not.”

It sure hadn’t been that long, but John would never pass on an opportunity to call himself her boyfriend, just as she would never miss a chance to call herself his girlfriend. It felt nice to acknowledge their relationship. It gave it a power over them, made it more real. It made their bond stronger.

“John, it’s really alright. I’ll just pop some medicine and it’ll be all fine.” She smiles, still holding his hand. It was truly pulling at her heart strings to see the concern and care. John shakes his head, affirming. 

“There were girls in the orphanage as well, I learned some stuff growing up.” He raises up off the chair, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You left some pajamas here, they’re washed and folded in the laundry basket. Go change, and relax on the couch while I get some stuff together.” He smiles.

-

As Y/N rests on the couch, the sun has fully set, leaving the view from the window lit up with city lights afar. Dog rests at the foot of the couch, nuzzled beside his stuffed bear toy. John’s house was slightly on the outskirts of town on a small hill, leaving the city below glittering on a pitch noir night like tonight. The city lights seem to outshine the stars, the buzzing life between reminding of just how fast the world moves.            

A few moments later, John walks into the room, a tray full of goodies in hand. He sets it down on the coffee table, before turning to his much discomforted girlfriend, resting on the couch with her eyes closed.

“Baby,” John speaks softly to her. “I brought you medicine. It’ll help with the pain.” He proposes, holding two tablets to her. “Take it with this warm water, I don’t want you drinking any of that ice cold bottled water tonight. I’ve put a jug of this on the kitchen counter.” He gestures. “Keep sipping on this by the way, I’ve heard hydration helps with the pain. Try to finish the entire jug.” He sits down beside her, watching her take the medicine. From his side, he pulls out a heading pad he’s warmed up. 

She eyes it curiously, smiling. “John Wick owns a heating pad?” She giggles.

“He does.” He replies in a matter of fact tone. “It helps soothe muscle aches really good.” Placing it just over her abdomen, as she rests against the couch ledge, he kisses her forehead once more. “This should help with the shooting pain. I’ll heat it up again every 20 minutes.”

Smirking, he turns towards her again. “I know this is a cliché, but, I brought you some chocolate as well. I’m not sure if it actually helps though.” He chuckles, placing her favourite dark blend beside her. 

Giggling, she picks it up, unraveling it immediately. “I’m not gonna say no to chocolate.” She laughs.

Running a hand through his hair, John’s expression turns serious again. “Okay, I know sometimes you might just want to be left alone at a time like this, which is okay. I won’t be offended. I can go work on some bookbinding.” He smiles, rubbing her arm. “Would you like that, sweetheart?

Her eyes sparkle, heart gushing at the man in front of her. She knew John was special, caring, considerate, but this was a whole new level she hadn’t been exposed to before. This was incredibly grounding. This felt, as it does to be truly, honestly, unconditionally,

Loved. Purely loved, asking for nothing in return.

She scoots closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing a delicate kiss to his cheek. “No, I would not like that. I want you to stay with me.” She grins, looking into his café eyes.

“Alright.” Kissing her soft, briefly, John allows her to lean back on the couch ledge again, as he props her legs on top of his lap, covering her in a blanket tenderly. “Food should be here in about half an hour. Got your favourite.” He smiles, turning the TV on. “Your call.” He hands her the remote, allowing her to browse the catalogue. His hands working their way to her fuzzy socks equipped feet, gently kneading, massaging away. His fingers worked, trying his best to calm away any ache from her long day. 

For a moment, she just quite literally watches him, awestruck, at the way he’s treating her. She never quite imagined, she’d find someone this perfect. This utterly perfectly, in all senses. She’d really struck gold with this marvellous, wonderful man.

Unable to help herself, Y/N slides the heating pad off of her, rearranging her legs off of John’s lap. With his brows knit in confusion, John watches her move towards him, only stopping once her arms are wrapped around his neck, as she’d rest her head on his chest, sitting beside him. He engulfs her smaller frame, toned arms wrapped around her, as she rests on him, eyes closed in contentment. 

“Also,” John starts again, leaning his chin on her head. “I can run to the supermarket quickly if you need me to pick up whatever you…use. I promise I’m not the type to get embarrassed.” He chuckles.

She stays silent for a moment, indulging in the way he’s holding her. If there’s one thing, that she cherished in the most, it was the way he held her close, each and every time. Letting her know he’s near.

That he’d always be near.

With a soft voice, she probes, tangling her legs with his. “John, are you real?”

John halts, slightly jumbled. “What do you mean, love?” he asks.

Shifting, she keeps her arms secure around his neck, close enough to breathe in his woody scent. “What man does this? I fear you’re just a dream. A really fucking amazing dream.” She cups his cheek in her hand, locking his gaze, sincerely. 

“John, I know people have not been kind to you. I know they’ve cut at you and chipped you down each chance they got. But I need you to know,” She pauses briefly, collecting her words. “You are the most precious, amazing, wonderful man. You deserve so much. Don’t you dare forget it.” Bringing her hand down, she captures his, holding it tight. “I love you, John. I can’t say it enough.”

John looks down, having trouble holding her gaze. Perhaps he’d been told so often, too much, that he wasn’t worthy. Perhaps, he’d been called a monster far too many times to hear any truth to her words.

Perhaps, he was too far gone to believe anything she’d said. But it meant a lot, to hear it, regardless. It meant more than it may to anyone else, for John Wick, to hear, that someone thinks he’s good enough. 

That he’s not a beast.

Relieving a breathy exhale, John looks up at her again. “I love you, Y/N.”

Resting her head back on his chest, Y/N takes her place again, limbs wrapped around her lover as she reposes. With her petite hand hovering, moving to place over his heart on his broad chest, both their gazes glance out the window to the city in the distance. The beautiful city, with it’s warm evening glow, glittering, glimmering, life bustling inside at its fast pace. It moves so fast, reminding us to take joy in the present, believe what is truly there, in the moment.

She whispers into the evening air, voice silken as the evening calm.

“You’re a good man, Jonathan.” 

➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴

Taglist Posted Separately (Ask to be added or removed!) :

[hiatus-for-forever]

Izuku Midoriya x Reader

Summary: You and Midoriya going on a date in which you fly together and Midoriya being considerate and super cute for your second date

Quirk: You have 3 pairs of wings. each are almost as big as Hawks’. More info in the fic. 

Genre/Warnings: Fluff, cursing

WC: 1,446

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

From the moment you walked in the door, he knew he was entranced by you. The door opened, revealing no one as the class continued to stare at the empty doorstep. Then you came, you flew in with the middle pair of wings unraveled in it’s breathtaking glory. You were laughing the whole time, not caring for the stares of the class, “The door’s so cool!” you exclaimed. 

You heard how the door should be welcoming to any and all students with any quirk from your sister, who also dreamed of going to a school like this, and applying but not being able to make the cut. She did fully support you when you got in and rejoiced since you knew how much you wanted to be a hero even with the guilt that your sister wouldn’t be. She did find her true passion after all so it all worked out in the end.

But enough about her, this is about you. Your cheerful presence had interested everyone, bombarding you with questions after the quirk evaluation. You explained how your quirk worked and answered all their questions. They mostly included compliments on your speed and the size of your wings

Yet, though you’ve interacted with most of your class, you were surprised to have unintentionally avoided one, or rather, he avoided you. Normally he would never hesitate to ask someone about their quirk but something about you was... intimidating. He thought it was how powerful your quirk was but then again he was childhood friends with Bakugou. Then he realized, it was because he liked you. 

That can’t be right, he thought but it was your all around feel that was welcoming and you basically radiated comfort. You would answer back to anyone, weather you liked them or not, kindly. You even politely asked Mineta to stop touching you instead of just shoving him off like everyone else. You were really pretty too. You looked literally angelic, with your wings and all.

 That’s why when he finally talked to you, he was blown away with how you answered each of his questions without hesitation. A smile was present on your face the entire time and you were practically glowing, the warmth he felt from you calmed him of any nerves he had in the first place. 

After that it was like clockwork, he approached you everyday and ate lunch with you, studied with you and always made sure you were in perfect condition. You appreciated all he did to make sure you were well and in turn you accidentally caught feelings. 

You learned to care for him as well and were the one to stop him from overworking. You two were literally a perfect couple and everyone saw both your crushes on each other. But alas, you two were dense as fuck.

You never second-guessed Midoriya’s flustered reactions due to his fidgety nature and he never second-guessed your kindness as anything but that. You two were content as friends, you made that pretty clear to your friends. Still, that didn’t stop them from mentioning his crush on you, to you and your crush on Midoriya, to him. 

That brought you two to eventually talking it out and agreeing to go on a date. “Like normal people” you joked. And there was no better time than this week. It had been plenty stressful and you both needed to de-stress. You hadn’t really planned where to go but you both just agreed to stop by anywhere you felt like, just needing to get out of the dorms.

It was afternoon when you decided to go and once you were out of the campus, with permission from Aizawa, you began to realize that you should’ve indeed planned where to go. Instead, you both stood outside the gate, shuffling awkwardly, waiting for the other to talk. 

“Uh-” “So-”

You both flinched at one another, Deku turning bright red as you giggled. You calmed down first, “You were saying?” you gestured for him to continue

“U-Um yeah. Where did you wanna go?”

“Well, we already ate lunch so how ‘bout we go to a cafe for dessert” you suggested

“No thanks I’m still pretty full” said, rubbing his stomach. His eyes soon widened at the fact he rejected your suggestion, “B-But we can still go! I can pay!” he said desperately, he didn’t want you to change your mind and not go out with him anymore

You laughed out loud, “No worries! We can just go somewhere else” You smiled and he blushed again. You were so pretty when you did that. “How about you, you have any suggestions?” you asked him

He really didn’t. He’s the type to prepare for something before it happens, so this impromptu date was not up his alley. He looks at the sidewalk behind you, trying to think up where to go, even contemplating pulling out his phone to search up where to go for a date. You sensed his uneasiness and spoke up, “I do have this special spot I go to if you can’t think of anywhere”

“Special spot?” He said curiously.

You nodded, “Yup! It’s not too far so we can walk there”

He nodded, “Sure let’s go”

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

“Here we are” you said. The walk had been quiet mostly, aside from some small talk. He did ask about where you were going but you told him it was a surprise. You talked about other things of course, about tests and other academic topics mostly. 

Eventually you reached your old apartment complex, your parents still lived here and you visited during holidays. He eyed it, blushing at the realization he now knew where you lived, before the dorms of course, and maybe you would take him to your room or something. Only the thought of it made him combust into flames

“Let’s go” you pulled him into the building, greeting the receptionist and her telling you your parents were out for work. You told her it was fine since you weren’t going to your home anyway. This piqued his interest because where else would you be going?

You then gestured for him to follow as you went to the elevator. He stood there awkwardly as you pressed the button for the top most floor. The time it took going up wasn’t much, the elevator stopping from time to time revealing no one who was gonna step in.

When you finally reached the top your excitement had also increased. You excitedly grabbed him by the wrist, running thought the corridor, past some doors, taking a turn and finding the staircase. You dragged him up, tripping once but refusing his help and running up the stairs, “Here it is” you said, opening the door to the roof.

You both stepped out and you immediately inhaled the familiar scent of dusty cement, taking you back to your childhood where your parents told you not to go off the edge. You did anyway, it was fun. Midoriya watched as you ran to the railing, looking down at the houses and restaurants below you. “I used to go here all the time after hard days. Its relaxing to just soar through the air since no one bothered me. Even if I got in trouble sometimes” You said.

He loved how serene you looked up here, the way you took in and released the clean air, how you enjoyed the fact it smelled different up there. There was no one around, just you two and the city breeze. 

The wind picked up and blew against your feathers. Your eyes lit up and you looked the Modoriya, “You wanna fly with me?” you offered

He stopped and stuttered, “E-Eh? How does that work? I can’t really stay on your back as that can constrict your flying but I don’t think you can fly with me on your stomach either, maybe holding onto my wrists would work? But I don’t want to trouble you with my weight, not like you can’t take it or anything but-”

“Izuku! Relax!” You halted his muttering, “Here” You wrapped your arms around his torso, “We’ll fly like this”

“HUH!?” He had never been this close to a girl before, you had your freaking arms around him. It was bliss, sure, but still so embarrassing. You two aren’t even going out officially yet and sure you guys are on a first name basis but was this still allowed? Maybe you were like this with others, you are really close with the rest of the class.

“You ready?” You asked.

He gulped and nodded. He heard the flapping of your wings, one, two pairs working to get you both off the ground, third pair occasionally flapping to pull some weight. He felt his feet lift off the ground and he shut his eyes. 

Once you both were on air you yelled at him to open his eyes. He already felt the wind whipping past him, much like when he runs at Full Cowl, and he decided to listen to you. His eyes slowly opened, and he got a glimpse of what he missed. 

You both flew over buildings, you laughing at the need to release air from the thrilling feeling of nostalgia. He too joined in and found himself yelling about how fun and cool this was! You then put your third pair to use and flapped it faster, going quicker through the wind. 

“W-What are you doi-WAAAH” he let out a scream when you did a loop in the air. You were giggling and he was still shaking, “You okay?” You asked through sweet laughter and he shakily nodded

He was too silent compared to just a little bit ago so you decided to head back. Finishing the circle you went in, you placed him back on his feet as he ran to grab the railing. You were profusely apologizing to him for taking him on a flying session, He didn’t take it though, explaining how he loved most of it, never scared to be dropped as he fully trusted in you.

This of course left you blushing even after the date. He trusted you that much? I mean, you did too but you didn’t think he’d feel the same way as quick. He suggested going on another date similar to this one. Soon, he said, and you couldn’t wait.

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

It was a week later when he asked you out again. You were surprised when he said you were going to the same place you went last week. You agreed despite not knowing why he would want to go back and followed him there.

On the walk there you almost asked why but decided to find out later, on the count of his adorable face gleaming in excitement. You smiled and followed behind, trying to catch up with his quick steps there.

Once you arrived at the top of the building again, you noticed him relax as much as you, before lighting up in excitement. “Let’s fly!” he suggested, grabbing a hold of you hands and nearing you to the edge

“Woah woah, slow down! I don’t know what’s gotten into you but you seem more excited today, may I ask why?” You said, holding him back with a light tug

He chuckled as pink tinted his cheeks. Scratching the back of his neck he said, “I had a surprise for you that I was gonna show once we were in the air. I asked Uraraka to use her quirk on me so I weigh as much as my clothes now! S-So it’s easier for you to fly with me around!” 

You swear your heart melted like a stick of butter, “Aww Izuku you are so adorable” You said and pinched his cheeks, before going to kiss one. He was a mumbling mess before you held hid hands once again, flapping your middle pair of wings, you lifted yourself off the ground, taking Midoriya up with you soon after. 

You wrapped your arms around his torso to balance him, making sure the wind doesn’t push him back. You pressed him to your chest, pecking his neck before going off the edge and flying over the streets and buildings. You began to soar the the sky, going at a more relaxed speed than last week’s. 

He felt more relaxed too, now being able to breathe the calming air you talked about. He wondered what you looked like right now. Before he could think, the words left his mouth, “Can you turn me around, I wanna look at you” 

And also before he could say anything to take it back, you turned him around with ease, his chest pressing against yours. “I didn’t think you would actually do it” he mumbled

“Why not, I wanted to look at you too” You said the him, your eyes flashed down to his lips and looked back to where you were flying. That did not go unnoticed by him with how close he was and his eyes went to your lips. They looked soft, he wanted to feel them against this. Did you want that too? He saw somewhere that looking at someones lips meant you wanted to kiss them. 

Slowly, he brought his head up and his lips gently met yours. His eyes were closed but he could feel the slight falter of your flying. He then felt you go upright instead of the tilt you had when you moved around. You kissed back with more fervor, causing him to press harder. His arms went around your neck and your arms held him tighter around his torso.

Soon enough you both pulled away and with a giggle, the only thing you could say to his red face was, “That’s a pretty cool way to have a first kiss”

[bleh-bleh-blehs]

Innocent

Part 4

Series Masterlist

___________________________

A/N- I’m sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy the new chapter:) this is the longest chapter I have ever written.

Warnings- Past abuse, fluff

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You were strolling through the allies of the grocery store, tired and sleep deprived .The store was just about to get closed and you were the last customer there. 

Once you were done and were about to go to the counter, you heard someone begging for mercy. The muffled sounds were coming from the corner of the store where the lights were out.

Scared and wanting to save whoever it was, you quickly ran to the counter hoping to alert the cashier but no one was there. There was only one thing you could do and that was to call the police.

You quietly walked towards the noises trying to figure out what is really happening, you saw two men beating a person whom you recognize as the cashier from behind  the shelf.

You took your phone out and dialed the number quickly, you silently walked away from the scene so that they cannot hear you.

You hid behind the counter and told the person on the phone everything you saw and then gave them the address of the store. When you slightly rise from your place to see if the both men had left, you came face to face with both of them smiling devilishly at you. 

“Well hello darling I believe you have made a mistake and now I think we have to punish you for that.”

*

“Y/N YOU MADE A MISTAKE” your foster father shouted at you. He looked like an animal to anyone who had not seen real him. You however were no stranger to his rage. He becomes this madman, this monster people see in movies. He stared at your eyes full of rage, you knew what was going to happen now. He will hit your palm with a stick until it bled and you will not get dinner for the next 2 or 3 days.

“Palms out.” “Please daddy it will never happen again” “ I SAID PALMS OUT”  he yelled and you slowly raised your hands waiting for the painful strike.

You screamed as you woke from your nightmare. Your whole body was covered in sweat, you sat up trying to control your breathing. Your nightmares are more frequent than before.You were still wearing the same dress you wore at the bar, which was now covered in your sweat.

 You were startled by a soft knock at your door, you got up hoping whoever was at the door wasn’t angry. You opened the door to see a very tired looking Tom standing with a soft smile on his face, he was wearing a normal hoodie and sweatpants.

 Relief washed over his face as he saw you were not harmed. He was just going to sleep when he heard your scream and jumped into the action. He was grateful that he gave you the empty guestroom just beside his own bedroom. 

He knocked the door quietly trying not to scare you more and waited patiently for your reply. He saw you were covered in sweat and you looked scared. “Are you alright?”he asked. 

You were surprised he was not mad at you he was worried about you. You were staring at him like an idiot, he was not reacting like Stacy. Whenever you had a nightmare Stacy would always panic, and here Tom was relatively calm. “I-I am fine, just had a nightmare.” you answered as you shook yourself out of your thoughts.

“You wanna talk about it.” Yes you wanted to talk about your nightmare, you liked to talk a lot because no one ever talked to you at your foster house. You even tried to engage normal conversations with those monster parents of yours but they told you to shut up and get lost. You always envied other children from school because they had ice parents, they had everything you hadn’t.

You are even ready to talk to Tom but you were feeling uneasy in your clothes. Tom noticed your uneasiness by seeing you tug the front of your dress to keep it from sticking. “Can you lend me so-some clothes?” you hesitated and he gave you a soft smile again.

“Of course, do you need anything else” you nodded your head in a no. “Well there are some towels in the bathroom for you to use and don’t hesitate to ask me anything, ok darling.”he said and you gave him a small smile, whispering ok.

Tom left you to get some of his clothes for you. After taking a warm, relaxing shower and wrapping yourself in a bathrobe you re entered your new room, a hoodie and pair of sweatpants were kept neatly on the edge of your bed. But Tom was nowhere to be found. Maybe he changed his mind and has gone to sleep.

As soon as you finished wearing the clothes Tom lent you, a knock came on your door. The door opened slightly “Are you decent” Tom asked. You smiled to yourself and said a tiny yes. He opened the door fully and entered the room with a tray in his hands. “I made tea for you and also brought biscuits. I thought you might be hungry.” You were in fact hungry because you didn't bother eating anything last night and were too afraid to ask for food when you were taken back to the mansion. He set the tray down on the table and motioned you to sit on the armchair beside it. He sat in front of you offering you a cup of tea. 

“So, what was your nightmare about?” he asked and you took a deep breath and started telling him all about your nightmare, from the grocery store to your foster father and he listened to you, he genuinely listened to you ramble about how monstrous your father was. He prevented himself from wiping your tears away because he knew you would flinch.

“How did you escape the foster house?” You looked up from your lap, trying to process what he asked. The question came out nowhere. “Well that's a big story. Are you willing to stay up all night? Maybe we can keep that story for our other nights’ chats. You must have a lot of work to do tomorrow.” you smiled at him,taking in his beautiful features, his brown eyes, his soft curls, the fact that he is wearing normal clothes not the expensive suits he always wears.   

You felt safe with Tom, you were feeling things you never felt before. You felt many emotions at once and one of these emotions was fear. You were afraid that he wouldn't feel the same for you. Tom however, was happy that you wanted to talk to him, that you wanted more these late night talks.  His eyes met yours and he felt that he could stare at them forever.

His work wasn’t more important than you- he wanted to say that but it seemed too early.He was mesmerised by your beauty, your simplicity, your bravery and what not. “Yeah, I think we both should get some rest” he says while taking a bite from the biscuit and get up to leave your room, with you following him to the door.

Tom turns back to you, looking at you for the last time before leaving. He admired the way you look wearing his clothes and god he wishes that wearing his clothes every night becomes your routine. And then he did what both of you expected he wouldn’t do. He leaned his head and gently pressed a small kiss on your forehead making butterflies burst in both of your and his stomach.

“Goodnight darling.” he said softly. “Goodnight Tom.” you said back. And with that he left closing the door behind him. You let out a squeal of joy. You had no idea of what you are feeling but whatever it was, it felt so damn good. You knew you can’t sleep now. You can’t help but think about his soft lips.

Tom was still standing at the other side of your door smiling like an idiot. At first he thought that he had gone too far by kissing you, sure it was on your forehead but what if you didn’t even want that. But your joyful sequel told him that you definitely liked it. He knew he is not getting any sleep tonight.

__________________________________

Tags:- @marvelpeters , @whatthefuckimbisexual

[mankaithings]

Minagi Tsuzuru x Reader

got the idea from this conversation (Actually their whole chat was among this matter)

-------

Tsuzuru wanted to go home

If only he didn't agree to Azuma's persistance for him to try his job. Actually, it wasn't completely because of Azuma, more or less it was because of the pay of this particular cuddling job that he couldn't help but say no. It was triple the usual pay of his part time jobs and he only had to sleep beside someone. Albeit that someone is actually a stranger. But from what he garnered from Azuma, everybody was kind and doesn’t really pushes him to do anything he doesn’t want to. And if anybody makes him feel uncomfortable, Tsuzuru has the freedom to leave.

But as he looked around the bar where they were currently staying at, with all the neon party lights blinding his vision, the smell of alcohol reeking as almost every person chugged down their drinks and masses of intoxicated bodies dancing on the dance floor, moving to the noisy electric music that plays on the large speakers on the sides, Tsuzuru couldn't help but feel uneasy. Sure the scene should be normal for a college student like him but he was never one to join this kind of get-togethers, he always opted to stay at home and if he wanted to go out it would be at a much more peaceful and homey environment not an obnoxious and wild one that he was currently in

Beside him, Azuma chuckled at his expression as his eyes watched people dancing on the dance floor, some where feeling the beat of the song and jumping around, some were dancing those popular dance trends on tiktok, a couple was dancing a slow dance despite the beat not being relatively close to being sweet and romantic while others were grinding on each other, the alcohol obviously taking control of their bodies

"Calm down." Azuma's gentle voice said from beside him, "You won't be staying here aren't you?" He cocked his head to the side and stared at Tsuzuru who still had his eyebrows furrowed

"But I'm meeting someone who specifically asked to meet here!" Tsuzuru argued, "How can you be so sure nothing bad would happen?" Tsuzuru couldn't help but huff, he didn't want to sound captious but everywhere he looked intoxicated bodies were all around him, hardly anybody was in their proper mind as they let loose on the Friday night

"Don't worry, I know her, she isn't the type to force herself." Azuma took a sip from his own glass of alcohol, "Oh there she is." Azuma smiled as he waved

Following Azuma's gaze it landed on a familiar girl wearing tight black jeans and a shirt that had the club's logo on the front. Tsuzuru's jaw was slacked, he never expected you to be in a bar of all people

"Ah, has your shift ended?" Azuma asked in a friendly manner once you reached their duo, "It seems like you had quite a lot on your hands." Azuma chuckled while you sighed in exhaustion

"Yeah... Friday tends to be really busy..." You trailed off as your eyes finally went from Azuma towards his companion

"Tsuzuru? Minagi Tsuzuru?" Tsuzuru didn't miss the surprise in your voice as you stared at him with your eyes wide open in shock

"I never knew you liked this kind of places," You cleared your throat and fixed your posture, picking yourself up from the shock from earlier

"I-I'm not," Tsuzuru stuttered, beside him Azuma chuckled upon hearing him stammer, even if he wanted to say something, he couldn't. For he was still trying to figure out what to say to you. Surely you weren't his client? The oh-so respectable classmate who was always top in class, maybe you were just an acquaintance that Azuma knew? Tsuzuru tried to make up excuses as to why it couldn't be you, because just the thought of sleeping next to you made his stomach drop in nervousness

"He's the one I was telling you about," Azuma quipped in the conversation

"Ah, so he'll be my sleeping companion...?" Tsuzuru wanted to hide his face upon hearing the awkwardness in your voice

"That's right." Azuma finally confirmed

"Ah, I see..." You couldn't help but find the whole situation strange, you knew Tsuzuru as someone as a classmate in one of the classes you take but from your impression of him, you never would have think he took this kind of job

"Le-let's work hard together." Tsuzuru wanted to leave after those words left his mouth and Azuma's silent laughs weren't helping either. He was scared knowing that the adult actually caught on what he was feeling and what was happening and it didn't put him at ease. Besides, who says let's work hard together to someone you're going to be sleeping with?

But that was soon forgotten once he saw you crack a smile

"Yeah, let's work hard in...sleeping." You stiffled a laugh while Tsuzuru's face burned in humiliation, he wonders if he can still back out from the deal

"Well, I'll leave you two be." Azuma clasped a hand on Tsuzuru's shoulder and gave him a knowing smile before he left the club, his sensual aura enough to catch the attention of both men and women who were left looking after his figure once he left the club

"Should we go?" You pointed at the entrance where Azuma just left

"Ye-yeah."

Tsuzuru wished his tongue would go back to normal

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

The walk from the club towards your home was easily distinguishable as quiet and full of awkwardness, the only sound around you were the bustling of leaves that moved because of the cold breeze of autumn and cars honking as they try to get home to rest for the whole weekend

The quietness didn't help with Tsuzuru's nerves

"I didn't know you were one of Azuma's client." He tried to start a conversation in hopes of easing the tension between the two of you

"I guess I don't really have that kind of persona." You chuckled, keeping your eyes on the road lighted up by the streetlights as you answered his question, "But it actually helps with getting proper sleep, you know?" Finally you turned to Tsuzuru

Tsuzuru nodded as he racked his brain for any more conversation starters, it wasn't like he was bad with communicating with others but around you he just feels too flustered that sometimes he couldn't think of anything to say

"I never knew you worked in a club." He blurted out while you hummed

"It gives extra money," You answered simply as if it was nothing, "Don't you also have a number of part time jobs?" You asked him

The conversation between the two of you continued until you reached your apartment and once again Tsuzuru was filled with nervousness which he so deeply tried to hide but as he was changing in your bathroom for more comfortable clothes to sleep into he couldn't help but feel his cheeks burn at the thought that as seconds pass, he was going to be on your bed, holding you in his arms and trying to lull you to sleep

He really never expected this kind of thing to happen

Walking out of the bathroom, he knocked on your bedroom door as it opened to reveal you in an oversized shirt and cotton shorts while your hair was finally down and face bare of makeup

Tsuzuru's heart fluttered, although there was a twinge of jealousy at the thought that Azuma got to see this sight whenever you called him for his services but he pushed the thought aside and instead focused on what was infront of him

"Come in?" You asked as you opened the door wider for him to enter

Tsuzuru took note of your room, it was clean and simple, a bed in the middle with a bedside table beside it, a working table was pushed to the wall infront of it which had scattered papers laying on it, Tsuzuru guessed it was those college papers that had to be passed

-

Tsuzuru could feel his heart thumping against his chest as he laid beside you, arms around your waist as you snuggled in his arms, never has he thought he would be doing this kind of thing with you but now he was and he was feeling both pleased and nervous, you were so close to him that he could smell the faint fragrance of your shampoo

How much time has passed since you laid still in his arms? A minute, an hour? Tsuzuru wasn't sure. He didn't even know whether you were already asleep or just like him, was still lying awake

"Hey Tsuzuru." You whispered and stared up at him. Tsuzuru was thankful for the dim lights in the room or else he doesn't think he could hide the obvious blush on his face that continues to intensify as moments pass between the two of you

"Thanks for doing this," You mumbled, "Even if it's a job for you, it really calms me down and helps me rest." You said honestly, staring into Tsuzuru's emerald green eyes which softened upon hearing your statement. He wanted to learn more, he wanted you to tell him everything and even if he could ask you what it was the tiredness in your eyes was evident with how it started to droop. So rather than opening his mouth, he tightened his hold around you and started playing with your hair in attempt of relaxing you and hopefully getting you to sleep peacefully

After a few minutes he could hear your steady breaths as your body fully relaxes in his arms. Tsuzuru stole a glance at your face and couldn't help but smile at the adorable sight, pushing the strands of hair away he observed your face a little longer, noting how long your eyelashes were and the slight blemishes on your skin that you most likely got when you were in puberty. But Tsuzuru couldn't help but think it made you look more beautiful. He thought you were already stunning at school but holding you in his arms like this made him realize just how much more beautiful you were

If only he could say those words to you out loud without stuttering or feeling embarrassed

Slowly, Tsuzuru felt drowsy as his eyes dropped until he was also deep in sleep with the innocent image of you etched onto his mind as he smiled through his slumber.

[howardpotts]

five: get a taste

Love on the Brain - Masterlist in links

Pairing: MobBoss!Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: You’re just a student, living her normal daily life in New York. One night changes everything, without you even knowing. Steve Rogers slowly introduces you to his world full of money, drugs and violence. But are you able to handle what he has to offer?

Chapter warning: none :)

A/N: Soooooo, here’s chapter 5 after a loooong time of waiting! Let me know what you think!

“I’m a little surprised that you got into my car after what happened”, he chuckles as you get in. You try to not show anything while getting in, but it felt like you failed miserably. He doesn’t look at you though, as if he wanted to give you that kind of privacy, since he ordered you to only wear the jacket he sent you. 

“I have to admit that I’m not sure why I’m getting in either”, you counter. “I guess I just want you to tear me apart again, but now without all the gang-stuff please.”

As you grab your seatbelt, he turns his head to you. “It won’t happen this time, sweetheart.”

“Promise?”

“Well”, he starts, raising his eyebrows. “I can’t exactly promise anything. But I give it a good eighty percent chance.”

That gives him a low chuckle from your side. It kind of excites you. Which is wrong, of course, but you can’t help it. 

“Nice car, by the way”, you remark. The yellow lamborghini was quite the eyecatcher in your neighborhood - which wasn’t exactly in the best part of the city. 

The old buildings from Brooklyn quickly get replaced by the view of the skyline of Manhattan. The view always amazes you, but especially now - around sunset. All those towers can make any person feel small, but at the same time so powerful. It makes you feel like you have purpose in such a big world.

“Y’know, I was born in Flatbush”, Steve calls. You look at him. He’s from Brooklyn?

“And you left? Why?”, you ask curiously, without even thinking that he’s a potentially dangerous guy you don’t want to ask too many questions. 

“I don’t have anything to live for there”, he simply answers. You can feel he’s holding back, and him biting his upper lip betrays that even more. 

As we drive into Manhattan, he takes some turns, bringing you into China Town. You’re not sure why; but every time you’d enter China Town, you’d get this uneasy feeling. As if you were being watched, but at the same time not watched at all. Even though there wasn’t any reason at all that you’d have to feel that way, no one ever approached you or betrayed you.

Steve took a right turn at the traffic lights, taking the car to the unknown part of China Town - the part you never explored, even though you lived her for a couple of years now. Now you were starting to get really uncomfortable. 

Would he be active in human trafficking? 

Holy shit. That thought scared you. Even though you tried to shake it off, it stuck. Especially when he took another right, getting into a street that was almost dead - apart from some kind of club? 

He stopped right across the street from it, neonlights were flashing  in your eyes. You had to squint to read the sign. ‘Sexclub Spider’. No. This couldn’t- Steve wouldn’t-

Of course he would. Fuck, you’re such a stupid fucking girl to believe that he would take you to a fucking restaurant. You’re so naïve. Even though you felt like you were careful at the times you should be, you somehow decided to give the bad guy your weak spot.

“Here we are”, he smiles, unclicking his belt and opening his door. You look like a deer in headlights. You’re not sure if it’s better to cooperate or to struggle. Maybe if you do as they say, they’ll treat you nicely. But maybe if you put on a fight, you can get away. Run to freedom. Never get in a fucking car with a stranger again. 

A call of your name gets you out of your thoughts. “Are you getting out of the car?” A light chuckle in his voice as he leans down. You nod, too afraid to not do as he says. You open the door and get out, your brain foggy about what is happening.

“I normally come here alone, so I’m sorry if you get a few looks”, he says. You look at him, thoughts still a mile away - looking for a way out of this situation. The sentence doesn’t even fully comprehend in your head.

“Alone?”, you ask. 

“Yes, just like the coffeebar you work at, I’m a regular at Happy’s Place”, he says as he points to something behind you. “And, yeah, before you judge. I know the name is a bit ridiculous, but the food is amazing.”

Slowly you turn around, and a small dark but cosy restaurant comes in your view. There’s this small board with ‘Happy’s Place’ above the wooden windows. 

A sigh of relief leaves your mouth without you noticing it. Your shoulders relax again and your facial expression must have changed too. Again you face Steve, now with a little smile on your face.

“What?”, he asks, a bit dumbfounded. You know what, let’s be honest with him.

“Well, I, uhm”, you say, red slowly showing on your cheeks. “I thought…. Just look across the street.” 

He turns his head around for two seconds before turning it back to you. A big surprised smile is on his face, eyebrows up showing some wrinkles on his forehead. 

“You thought that I’d…? No, I don’t do that shit. Hell, even I have some decency and respect”, he snorts as he walks around the car and puts his hand on your lower back. It’s a sudden reminder for you that you’re not wearing anything but the jacket. 

“Sorry, that was rude of me to think”, you apologize, not wanting to be on the wrong page with him.

“Let’s just enjoy a good meal and get to know each other a little bit”, he says. You nod, and pull on the jacket; feeling a little bit uncomfortable again. 

The waitress was giving us a big smile when we walked in, I automatically smiled back politely and greeted her. 

“Can I take your jackets?”, she asks as she clasps her hands together softly. Your smile almost washes off your face, but you remember quickly enough to keep up your façade. 

Steve gives his leather jacket and then he watches you with the biggest mischievous smirk. “Aren’t you going to give your jacket?”

You clench your teeth together for a split second before shaking your head. “No thanks, I’m okay.”

The waitress leads you to your table. Even though the restaurant is fairly small, it doesn’t feel packed. It’s full, but not crowded. It has this warm family feeling, with several family portraits on the brick walls. Some red curtains and table drapes add to the atmosphere that’s already going on, and the people all seem to have a great time. It feels like one of those ‘almost-too-perfect’ places. 

“Thank you”, you say as Steve helps you get in your chair. Even though you could’ve easily done it yourself, it never fails to flatter you when a man acts like a true gentleman.

Steve wasn’t lying when he told you the food was delicious. You ordered some chicken breast with cheese stuffing, with fries and a salad on the side. Nothing out of the ordinary, but Steve told you that he didn’t need all the fancy stuff. 

It made him feel real, the stuff he did and told. How he took you to some normal restaurant in China Town, instead of trying to impress you with all the fancy restaurants he can afford. How he grew up in Brooklyn but left because he didn’t feel home there. 

“So, I can imagine you’re curious to my business”, he says as he eyes you. 

“Of course, but I don’t expect you to tell me a lot about it. It’s not very legal after all.” You try to get if he’s okay with it. But then again - he opened up the topic. “But, yes, I’m curious.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. I can’t tell a lot about it, but I can maybe feel you a bit at ease. It might help to know that I don’t human traffic - like I said earlier - but I also don’t deal drugs. I’m doing something not a lot of guys can do. In fact, I only have one big rival.”

“Rival? Like, another gang?”, you ask. You’re feeling less afraid now and dare to feel his boundaries.

“Exactly that. We’re not exactly on good terms. It’s actually a lot like every other business; the only difference is that our product is illegal and we use a little bit more violence.” He takes another bite from his beef, giving you time to ask another question.

“Like that guy that broke in last week”, you state.

“Like that guy that broke in last week”, he repeats to confirm your thoughts. 

“But how did you get into this?” You take a sip from your wine, not letting your eyes leave him. You’re way too invested in this conversation.

“That’s a story for me to know, and you to guess, sweetheart”, he says with a wink. You understand the notion of him giving the boundarie you were searching for and decide to be very respectful of it.

“Now that I’ve given you some, you gotta give me something back”, he smirks. “How did you come to live in Bushwick?”

“Well”, you say and clear your throat. “I decided it was time to go live on my own a few years ago. It was such a hell job to find an affordable apartment in New York, but I met Wanda through school and she was also looking for a room or apartment. We decided to look together and then we stumbled upon this little apartment. It’s small, but we’re glad we found something.”

He nods, listening to you as you tell. It’s a bit weird, but the dangerous man he is, is slowly getting to the background. He’s starting to become more of a normal person - maybe someone who could actually be a normal friend of yours.

“And that’s why you work at the café?”

“I need to pay the bills somehow. A lot of sparetime goes into that, to be honest, and a lot of that goes into my apartment. But as soon as I’m done with my study, I hope to find some job that makes life a bit easier”, you give him a little sad smile. 

“So I think now is the fair question to ask: do you really think it’s that weird for me to go illegal? To get myself a nice place in Manhattan, so I don’t have to worry about money.” He doesn’t eat, he doesn’t drink. He just looks at you with wonder on his face.

You’re quiet for a second, collecting your thoughts about that question. Now that you’re getting to know him a bit, he doesn’t seem like a bad guy at all. It kind of makes sense that he just wants money. But then again, there are other ways of getting that money. Maybe not as much, but that’s the price you pay for not ending up behind bars.

“I don’t know”, you say. “There’s always another path.”

“Right. The ‘rightful’ path? You think those politicians came to the top by playing it by the rules? You think Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerburg got there by following the book? The most succesful people don’t follow the law; they just work in the gray areas. And it’s kind of what I do too; but it’s a bit more to the illegal side.” He takes the fry of his plate, looking at you with fire in his eyes. You’re not sure if it’s passion or anger.

It stays silent for a minute. You’re not sure if you believe what he just said, but you get his trail of thoughts. But you’re not sure if that’s the only thing that got him into that business, otherwise he would’ve told you when you asked the question.

“Now, how about we both slip to the bathroom and I’ll eat you as dessert?”, he smirks as he leans back in his chair. “Didn’t make you wear that jacket for nothin’, my dear.”

________________________

TAGS:

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[ardent-musings]

The Girl Who Vanished (Part 1)

Chapter 25: Learning to Lose 

“Professor?” Ana started as she sat by and watched the potions master work on her Dreamless Sleep Potion. She had been sitting in on his potion making, trying to understand the method and skill needed to brew the mixture.

Of course that meant spending more time in the cold dungeons which caused her to shake, regretting how terrible her clothes were at keeping her warm. If she was surrounded by her friends that would take the edge out of her boredom, but Professor Snape was not going to allow a whole swarm of students to spend even more time with him.

Without paying her much attention, the man grumbled in response. His eyes were sunken in and tinted a deep violet. With all the chaos that happened during Halloween, Ana could only imagine how tired the man was. It was also probably incredibly exhausting making fun of Harry Potter and all the boy’s friends on the daily. She never understood why he did it and found it strange just how involved the grown man was with the house rivalries.

“Could I possibly start brewing my own potion?” She asked as he crushed a few beans and drained the liquid into his deep charcoal cauldron. He was incredibly focused when doing anything regarding potions, almost to the point of refusing to blink or breath.

“There is no need for that, Ms. Malfoy. The shelf life for this potion can last months,” he groaned with furrowed brows as he pointed to the bubbling liquid in front of him. “Your batch from the summer lasted you up until now and it would be foolish of you to waste ingredients just to brew beside me.”

“I didn’t mean right at this moment, Professor Snape,” she corrected as he turned to collect more ingredients. “I was talking about the next batch of Dreamless Sleep Potion. Or perhaps my medicine so Madam Pomfrey wouldn’t have to do that for me anymore.”

At the mention of her medicine, he stopped in his tracks to redirect all of his attention onto the young girl, “And why would you want to tamper with that by brewing it yourself?”

Snape’s eyes squinted in disapproval, the act making Ana uneasy. The man hadn’t ever displayed this much annoyance at the young girl, the shift made her suspicious of his sudden defensiveness. She wasn’t scared of it, just curious as to why the grown man looked at her like she was a monster.

“The only reason I ask is because with all the unpredictable things that seem to be happening all the time, I’d like to have my potion ready when I need it, instead of having to wait for it. I fear missing my potion if I don’t get to it on time,” she explained firmly.

“You’ve never missed a dosage have you?” He quickly sputtered as he swung around to face hear head on. A small ball formed in her throat at the confrontational man before her.

Ana shook her head; even if she had to run to her potion from the common room, she wouldn’t ever miss taking it. That was the one thing she had always been told to remember. At the sound of her answer, Snape relaxed his tensed face and went back to collecting ingredients.

“If you think I would allow you to brew your own medicine, than you are not the bright witch that I had assumed you to be.”

“Well is there a chance I could eventually brew it myself?”

“No, Ana you cannot.”

“Well why n-“

“Because I said so!”

The man was full out yelling at her, his nose was flared like the troll from Halloween night and it made her feel cold and infuriated. Unlike the troll, she wasn’t scared of Snape. His little charade of being mean and intimidating was poorly acted out, like Draco when the boy tried lying to her. Despite his shouting, Ana sat up straight, nodded once at the man’s snarl and offered him an icy glare in return.

“Then why am I here, Professor?” she criticized bitterly. “I don’t sit here and watch you drop herbs into a pot because I have absolutely nothing to do. I’m here because I want to learn.”

Snape stared at her with no emotion, his grip on the cauldron tightening. Ana knew it was going to take more to get a reaction from him. He was stubborn beyond belief but she was patient and determined.

“I’m here because I find potion making interesting. I’m here because I grew up watching my mother make potions and tonics for me and I am here because last year you said that I seemed like a promising student. Why won’t you give me the chance to prove it?”

Any bit of air that existed within the potion’s classroom seemed harder to inhale; she said all she had to. It was up to Snape to either turn her down and order her out of the room or surprise her by doing the opposite. By the stern look on the man’s face she assumed she would be marching back to her common room in a few minutes.

Without saying another word, Professor Snape abandoned the girl at the table and went back into his office. She found it comical how he refused to acknowledge her and felt the need to run from a twelve year old girl. Ana rolled her eyes and stood up from her stool in aggravation when Snape returned looking cold. He peered down at her for a moment and then presented her with a small bit of parchment. She unrolled it to see in a neat script detailing the directions for brewing the Dreamless Sleep Potion.

“This particular potion is bothersome even for the most seasoned masters to brew,” he warned as she began reading the seemingly never ending ingredient list and method required for it, “If you truly want to prove yourself than you will come back to me with a fully perfected potion.”

Ana knew that this was going to be a challenge but she desperately wanted to prove the arrogant man wrong, but at least she got her hands on what she wanted.

He was no longer looking at her like she was just another student that he despised, he was looking at her like he too hoped she could make this work. Snape nodded at the young girl in approval and she mirrored his movement back to him; they were on the same page. They both hoped she could pull this off.

~ “Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go, Gryffindor!”

If Ana wasn’t nervous beforehand she was now; the gleeful cheers for her opposing team only reminded her of how the Slytherin versus Gryffindor game was for the whole school. Her very first game as the new Slytherin chaser weighed heavily on the girl, the pressure of her new title seemed overwhelming.

From behind the Slytherin drapes, Ana stood beside Marcus Flint which made her blood boil, but right now she had to focus on the game. He looked as dreadful as ever, his face scrunched in a sneer, but she had to stifle a laugh once she saw a tiny mushroom sprouting from behind his ear.

“Hey, blondie,” Lucian whispered from behind her and without looking Ana knew that he was probably giving her the most kind smile, “You’re going to do just fine. Don’t worry.”

She found it pointless for him to tell her not to worry, there was lots to worry about. And yet she couldn’t help but feel comforted by the sweet reminder. No matter how many summers she spent speeding around on her broom with Draco or how well she did during her tryout, Ana’s mind was preoccupied on the fact that Gryffindor’s team had Harry Potter as their newest member. Maybe that meant less people would be staring at her, which at this point was what Ana wanted.

The curtains that stood between her and the Quidditch Pitch opened wide and she mounted her Nimbus 2000 before finally taking off. Screams of excitement and pride filled her ears and made them ring with just how loud everything was. From her position she could see Draco with his bumbling friends not too far away from Alex, Calista and Aeron who were hollering and waving at her wildly.

Madam Hooch was going over the rules of the game while she finally focused on the two Gryffindor beaters who waved the short bats at her mockingly. She wasn’t going to let them know just how anxious she was so she raised her brows at them playfully and smirked with faux confidence.

Ana didn’t get the chance to stare at the twins long before a whistle sounded from below her and the Quaffle was released. Before she could register what was happening, her body dipped down automatically as she swiped the ball from the air. The cool wind pierced against her skin as she zipped towards the Gryffindor hoops. Flint appeared next to her so she passed it off to him to make the goal. After launching the Quaffle, Oliver Wood blocked it far too easily which made her wonder if she should’ve just went for the goal herself.

Once she got into the rhythm of the game, she found that her nerves disappeared completely; not only did she score a few goals of her own, but Lucian and Derrick were blasting any bludger that the twins sent her way. She had to give the boys credit, when they said they weren’t going to go easy on her, they weren’t joking. More often than not, Ana was dodging the iron boogers, thankfully it allowed the other chasers to score.

Of course Marcus Flint couldn’t play a clean game as he grabbed Lucian’s bat and whirled a bludger into an unsuspecting Oliver Wood who took the hit straight to the gut. It hurt Ana to see the boy free fall, but at this point, there was nothing she could do.

“Bibiana Malfloy races towards the pitch! With Wood out cold this is going to be an easy goal,” Lee yelled over the intercom as she broke away from Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell who were trying their best to steal the ball from her. It had been a while since Ana had been so close to Angelina, but at the moment, they were opponents. “She’s about to score again!”

Ana launched the ball towards the hoops, whirling into the unguarded goal.

“That’s another ten points for Slytherin!”

The announcement made the girl smile widely, enjoying how she was able to contribute to their current lead. As a chaser, there was no time to stay still or observe her surroundings; she had to move on instinct and speed. However, she couldn’t help but notice when out of nowhere, Harry was flailing around on his broom as if it was being yanked by something. Besides his movements, a burning feeling on the side of her neck took her out of the game mentally and in that moment all she could focus on was the crunch of the bludger against her hand as it came into contact with her. The pain was immediate and intense, it took all of her balance just to keep her upright within the air.

“Malfoy took a hit by George Weasley! That’s go- Wait! What is going on with Harry Potter’s broom?”

The injury wasn’t enough to take her out of the game, but there was no way she could hold her broom and the Quaffle at the same time. Without a hand to score with, Ana made sure her body would get in the way of the Gryffindor chasers, although Harry was doing the same as his body jutted harshly across the field. Murmurs of worry erupted around the stadium as the boy who lived was tossed around by some invisible force, but Ana dodged him and the bludgers that kept coming her way.

With every twist on her broom, her hand stung with jolts of pain, each one more painful than the last. She would definitely have to give George the biggest guilt trip of his life once the game was all over. The thought of making the boy apologize to her was the only thing getting her through the agony that was situated in her hand.

As Ana focused on her injury and the Gryffindor chasers, she hadn’t noticed that Harry had regained control of his broom. Across the pitch, Higgs and Harry were neck in neck as they raced for the golden snitch. She was oblivious to the two boys who dove towards the ground at high speeds in pursuit of the ball which was soon to be caught.

“Harry Potter has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!” Lee cheered animatedly which caused the rest of the pitch to scream happily, except for the Slytherins who groaned at the loss.

Ana was disappointed in the loss but as soon as her feet touched the ground below, all she could focus on was the growing pain in her wrist and the suspicious burn on her neck. The team was supposed to return to the changing rooms to go over the game, but instead Flint was yelling angrily at the outcome. He was so blinded by his fury that he didn’t even notice that Ana was hurt, or maybe he just didn’t care. Before Flint could do more damage, Lucian ushered her out of the room and accompanied her to the hospital wing.

Ana hung her head as she cradled her injured wrist close to her, the final score began to register to the young girl.

“You did great out there, you know,” Lucian complimented as he strutted down the halls of the castle confidently. She didn’t necessarily believe him, but she did know that she did what she could; even if she did poorly, Ana at least gave her all.

With the lack of a smile or anything, Lucian continued, “I mean, you got hit with a bludger and pretty much laughed it off. That’s badass.”

At the sound of that, Ana stopped in her tracks to laugh at the boy, “Badass?”

“Badass.”

Fred blurted in agreement tiredly; he and George had followed behind the two snakes, hoping to catch up with them. Ana attention went straight to the younger twin whose browns eyes were wide with fear, the tips of his ears matched the red hue of his hair. She could tell he was worried, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to have a bit of fun.

“I see your aim is incredibly accurate,” Ana fake pouted as she dangled her injured wrist at the boy, “Fred’s aim could use a bit of work.”

At that jab, Fred rolled his eyes and turned away from her entirely. She loved pushing that boy’s buttons, and the insult made Lucian snicker beside her.

“Ana, I am so unbelievably sorry,” George whined woefully. “The thing is I didn’t even aim the thing. I got distracted by Harry when the bludger was coming after me and I just whacked it away and right into you.

His voice trailed off at the end of his explanation, running out of breath from his fear and tiredness. Ana decided to show the poor boy mercy, it was a mistake after all.

“George, I’m not angry. It’s okay,” she said as a rush of pain redirected her attention to her wrist, but she held in any signs of discomfort in order to reassure the boy of her lie.

“You don’t hate me?”

“No, I don’t hate you.”

George released a shallow sigh at her acceptance, the pale color returning to the boy’s face.

“Ana, we should get to the infirmary,” Lucian reminded her softly, not trying to come between their conversation, “your wrist is turning blue.”

All of their eyes widened at her almost fully bruised wrist, the damage seemingly getting worse by the second. Ana shuffled on her feet and that alone made the girl gasp in pain, which made all four boys jump in concern.

“Sorry, boys, but I’m gonna steal her from you, if that’s alright.”

Of course, Lucian would be perfectly charming to the boys he had not only played against but who also injured one of his best friends. Ana was appreciative for his actions since Aeron or Alex probably would’ve started yelling at the twins. Somehow, Lucian always knew what to say no matter who it was.

“Congrats on the win, Weasleys.”

“Thanks,” the boys said together, both with hints of confusion, which Ana assumed was their reaction to Lucian’s unwavering kindness. It didn't surprise her one bit, that's just who Lucian was.

All four of them exchanged gentle smiles as Lucian opened the large doors to the hospital. Now her wrist was fully black and spreading further up her arm. The color was dramatic against her pale skin which made it blaring obvious how much worse her injury was getting.

“Ms. Malfoy, welcome back,” Madam Pomfrey welcomed in an exasperated huff.

Ana plopped down on the same cot she laid in the year before after her run in with Trelawney; that memory had been pushed deep within the confines of her brain. It wasn’t one she enjoyed thinking about much.

“Hopefully she doesn’t end up here again,” Lucian joked with the woman who had already begun administering a balm to the girl’s wrist which made her wince at the touch. The pain was brief and the healing effects of the topical was already making her discomfort lessen. Next to her, Lucian leaned against the side table as he watched over the healer at work. He waited patiently as Ana was being cared for which made the girl smile at him. She was still hurting a bit, but Lucian brought her an insurmountable sense of comfort when he beamed back at the girl.

[kinsbin]

Dinner Conversation

Title: Dinner Conversation Word Count: 2045 Pairing: Alexys/Shane Walsh  [SI/Canon]

Summary: Alexys lingers with Shane during their travels but never seems to be able to share the campfire with him. Well, not until that night of course. 

A/N: Commission for @space-sweetheart! Thanks for commissioning me ;w;

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God, she had been following him forever.

Shane shot another sharp look to the corner of the camp he had haphazardly made, his jaw setting in a tense clench as the shadows of the trees danced under the light of the small fire he had built up after scouring the perimeter of the clearing. Old abandoned sleeping sacks made for a makeshift bed amongst the leaves and the dead bodies from a herd long past were dragged to the side in favor of making the area livable. It wasn’t the first time he had seen such remnants of survivors piled in the way of his wandering, and he was sure it would not be the last. It seemed that whatever herd had taken the sight down, however, was long gone.

It didn’t mean he could relax, though. No, he never could relax. Not after almost dying. Not after the things he had forced himself to do in order to survive. There was no such thing as relaxation in this situation, he declared to himself as he turned the spit he had created above his fire in determination, only survival.

He had gotten lucky during the day. A dying rabbit was not the ideal food but it was enough meat to sustain him for a while, at least. The darkness of the night had long set in around him, the chill of the air making him shiver as he looked in the deep shadows of the trees around him. If he listened hard enough, he could hear the phantom growls of walkers. The hissing clicks they made would overwhelm his mind, sometimes, and once in a while it felt like he could hear someone’s voice calling to him in the distance.

Sometimes it was Rick’s voice, his tone tight against the echoing bang of a gunshot. Those words lulled him into a sleep wrought with nightmares and ended with him drenched in sweat come morning. Other times it was Laurie’s voice, her tone easy but so full of hate. It brought with it a night of insomnia. Endless fits of tossing and turning only to remain awake and paranoid once again within the hour. The dead were what he had grown used to falling asleep to at this point. They were what was normal. What was expected.

What wasn’t expected through his travels, however, was a certain nuisance following him around like a god damned lost dog.

He wasn’t even aware of WHEN he picked her up, all he knew was that she clung behind him like a shadow he didn’t ask for. A stick of glue he shouldn’t have had to look back and see over and over again. Try as he might to scare her off or tell her to fuck off, she just seemed to stick to him in that annoying, just hovering sort of way.

God dammit, why couldn’t he just bring himself to kill her already?

Shane’s eyes narrowed as he shot them in the direction he knew that she was. She always did this whenever he finally settled in for the night. She kept her distance but hovered still, like an animal shying away from a light it did not fully understand.

When he found buildings for shelter, she would sleep across the room from him, tucked away into a corner with wide blue eyes watching him intently. He could feel them on him as he slept, and they were still there whenever he had woken up. He wondered if the girl ever slept at all, honestly. If she ever found the time to rest or if she was just keeping watch over him like a guardian in the night. Maybe it was some sort of thanks for keeping her around. A sort of gratitude shown for not killing her or leaving her fully behind (try as he might).

At first it had made him uneasy. Afraid that she might kill him in his sleep, he stayed awake as long as she did. To his surprise, when she nodded off in his presence, she looked content. Didn’t she know that he could kill her? That he could end her life with a slice to her throat when she was asleep? Did she know how dangerous it was to be in the presence of someone she didn’t fully know, or who didn’t want her around in the first place? Clearly not, Shane mused under his breath, as he pulled the rabbit from the spit he was roasting it on. The hot flesh didn’t bother him as he dug into it, just to double check that it was cooked.

The girl (Alexys, he remembered, she had called herself Alexys) watched him with those wide eyes of hers, the stormy gray of them dancing red in the light of the flames. Her short hair clung in a frame around her face in a way that might have made her look cute if it was brushed more properly. Wait, why was he even worrying about something like THAT? He cursed at himself as he pulled another piece of the well cooked meat from the body of the animal and pushed it past his lips, chewing idly in thought.

He noticed her movements before even she did. It made him tense as he watched her. Her gaze lingered on the rabbit, her tongue darting out to lick her lips with a subconscious movement. Her body leaned forward more, daring to stretch herself into the camp he had taken up. It was a movement that breached their unspoken contract. She stayed on the edge of the boarders and he stayed inside of them. That was how it had always been between them, but now, her hunger seemed to drive her to dare break the code of conduct. Shane’s eyes narrowed, a warning in her direction to reconsider. She stepped a little closer before realizing her movements, taking in a breath as she quickly retreated back to the safety of her line of trees. Still, her eyes lingered on the meat.

He tried to remember when she last ate. He didn’t pay attention to what she did so long as it was away from him, if he was being honest, and the rest didn’t much matter. She would often snack on things he left behind, or find her own food one way or another. It was never enough, he supposed, as she continued to stare onwards with a hungry look on her face.

What the fuck was she, a dog?

There was a long moment of contemplation in his heart, however. He twirled a rabbit leg in his grip with a frown, squeezing the juicy meat as he considered the situation.

Alexys continued to stare at him, though, her hunger evident in the way she squeezed the edge of the trunk she was resting on, her lips pursed as she watched him think.

There was a swath of silence, an endless quiet save for the flickering of the campfire and the cicadas chirping in the dark of the night. Shane eventually sighed and looked over to Alexys, one hand reaching outwards with the leg in it.

Alexys’ face contorted in confusion as she watched him. He pointed the food in her direction and gave a raise of his eyebrows. It was an incredulous look, emphasized by the way he gestured with the rabbit leg in his grip. Alexys stood still, body tense as she tried to read just what he was asking of her. Certainly he wasn’t really-

“Oh my God,” Shane finally broke the silence, “I’m giving this to you, will you get your ass over here before I change my mind?”

Alexys jumped up at his words, hope flickering in her eyes as she hurried over to him. Once she was in front of him she reached out as well, accepting the meat from his grip and holding it in her hands, staring at it as though it were some sort of holy grail. Her body didn’t move for another moment, nerves soaking into her body as she opened her lips for a moment, intent on saying something, but closed them again as she looked behind her. She shifted on her legs towards the warmth of the fire, her mind racing about just what to do and.

“Sit your ass down. You can at least get warm while you eat,” Shane eventually muttered, shoving some more of the rabbit into his own mouth with a rather aggressive chew.

Alexys couldn’t stop the smile now. Not as she took a seat across the fire from Shane, her mouth digging into the cooked flesh with a contented sigh. She watched him for a moment, finishing her first bite with a near reverential swallow before she considered speaking to him, the words hoarse and awkward in her throat:

“Er… Thank-you for this.”

Shane didn’t answer, instead rummaging through the small pack he kept with him for some water. Alexys bit into the leg again as he pulled out a bottle and opened it up, drinking a small swig of it and sighing as the liquid coated his throat. There was another awkward pause before he flipped the bottle and offered it to Alexys as well.

Alexys accepted it with another soft ‘thank-you’, sighing as she took a long swig of the liquid. Her parched throat screamed its thanks as she closed the bottle back up and gave it back to Shane, taking another bite of her rabbit leg as the two of them sat together.

Shane watched her eat. His eyes bore holes into her body as he stared at her. Alexys shifted slightly, aware that his gaze was hanging on her. She tried to avoid his eyes as she sat there.

“Why are you here?” Shane muttered finally.

“Um… You invited me to come get the rabbit leg and-”

“No,” Shane sighed, “Why’d you follow me here?”

Alexys contemplated her answer for a long moment, tapping her finger on the bone of the rabbit as she did so. Shane waited with moderate impatience. At last she smiled up at him, a bright and easygoing thing that startled Shane when he saw it. He sat up straighter, trying to hide the surprise that dared make its way across his face as she finally spoke up with a light hum to her tone:

“You seem like a good guy.”

A good guy? Did she actually think that? No, she couldn’t have. Shane was the opposite of good in that regards. The things he had done were inherently bad. The life he had led since the end of the world was negative. He thought about killing her more than once and, hell, if he had to he could slit her throat with no remorse. He could overpower her. End her life. He had ended plenty before her.

He scoffed at the thought, shaking his head as he looked down at the fire.

“You don’t know shit about me.”

“Well,” Alexys hummed, “That’s true, but you don’t know about me either.”

“What makes you think I want to?”

“You don’t have to… But, I mean, you haven’t killed me yet, have you? Besides, I think everyone could use a little bit of company during the end of the world.”

Shane was… rather startled by her words. She went back to her meal without another comment on her statement, chewing away at the rabbit with a sigh on her lips. Shane chewed on the inside of his cheek, considering her statement for a long moment.

Did he really want company? He didn’t need it, really… But the knowledge that he wasn’t alone was rather… he didn’t want to say comforting. Necessary, maybe. To remind him that he wasn’t going crazy. Well, not as crazy as he thought he already went.

“Thanks for the meal,” Alexys stated as she stood up, brushing her jeans down and turning to go back to the edge of the camp once more.

Shane hadn’t planned to let the words fall from his lips:

“You can stay here if you want.”

They were the words that seemed to seal the deal… The deal of, well, whatever they had between them at this point.

Surprisingly, he didn’t mind it.