#perks of living not too far from their hometown I guess

[amidwesternhero]

Bought tickets to Knocked Loose’s hometown release show in June with a coworker earlier today.

[narrators-journal]

Freebird

CW: predator/prey(?), somnophilia, dubcon.

Warning: here

previous part: here

first part: here

The day after your romp in the bath, Gogol returned again, all smiles and sugar as he brought you your breakfast.        "Good news Golubka! I've got a few days off, so you and I can play a lovely game~" he sang, letting you eat before poofing you out of your cage and into his lap.        "Uh, okay?" you said once settled with your thighs on either side of his, eyeing him suspiciously, your stomach boiling with a combination of lust and dread. Of course, all he did in response to your suspicion, was smile,        "The rules are easy, I will let you go," he tightened his grip on your hips when you tried to bolt for the door, "But, I will also be chasing after you." he finished, "You will get a day's head start, just to make it fair though~" you grimaced at that, not so thrilled to be hunted down by a magical sadist.        "What happens if I get caught?" you asked, eyeing his mischievous grin, knowing damned well this man wasn't going to just put you back into the cage if he 'won',        "Than I get to fuck you~"        "And if I don't get caught?" You asked, and his grin fell into a pout,        "I guess it makes sense you'd want a possible reward," he huffed, thinking for a moment, "If you stay away from me and I don't find you for a week, you can go free. I won't go after you again," he offered, and your (e/c) eyes lit up once more. He grinned at that, this smile much more predatory than before, "So, shall we start, Golubka?" He purred darkly, his voice growing dangerous and...sexy. It sent a shiver down your spine, but when you nodded, he let you go, letting you bounce up from his lap and bolt out of the basement, through the kitchen, and out the backdoor like a cartoon road runner. It was once again dark out when you got outside, but you didn't care, simply relishing the chill of the air and the smell of grass and trees. As you ran, you could see that your captor was living in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and fields, but you could see a road leading through the trees, so you took that and ran for all you were worth. It was slow going, you hadn't been outside in a long while, so your night vision was poor, but you did manage to put some distance between you and the, honestly impressive, house you were held in. Eventually, you ended up back in some sort of town, where you were able to plead your way onto a ride out and even got the reassuring confirmation that you were still in your home country, seemingly only a few towns over from your hometown. You were happy to hitch a few rides through the night, getting within an hours walk of your hometown before your options dwindled, though you were fine with walking in the maybe mid-morning light. Of course, you were exhausted when you finally reached a semi-familiar building, but your adrenaline was boiling and you were too hyper from being outside to think of finding a place to rest. So, instead, you dug out the crumpled twenty your last ride, a kindly old nun group, had given you and found a shop to buy an energy drink and some chips from. You were starving from hours of not daring to touch any food or drink your rides offered, but you needed to reserve as much money as possible to live as off the radar as you could to escape Gogol, so you devoured your chips and chugged your energy drink and went back to walking through the town. Your first thought was to go home, but you shook that thought away when you remembered how you were drugged and kidnapped from your own living room. Instead, when you found this slummy little motel a good distance from your home or usual stomping grounds that was cheap. Since your energy drink high was ending, you didn't complain about the nasty sheets and sticky carpet, you just laid on the bed, planning to rest only for a moment and rely on the last shreds of false energy to help you get up and properly crawl under the covers, but as soon as your body hit the lumpy mattress, you only remember darkness. It wasn't unexpected, you were let go around late evening and had been up until late afternoon on nothing but some energy drinks. Food could wait, your body first demanded sleep. So, you granted it, letting yourself slip into whatever fever dreams your subconscious cooked up. You were in a dinky motel after all, Gogol most likely wouldn't find you so far from your usual habits for a while. You were safe. Your dreams weren't half bad either, full of fantasies of Gogol and plenty of fun. One of the perks of being so tired was that your dreams would sometimes become so vivid you could practically feel Gogol's gloved hands roaming your bare (s/c) skin, squeezing your breasts while he nipped and kissed at your neck, or ground his healthy bulge against your ass. Though, eventually, you did finally wake up. Drowsily taking a moment to remember where  you were, than remember why you were there. Of course, after that, you registered that someone was really nibbling at your neck and dry humping you. You groaned, trying to squirm a bit, but the especially hard bite to your neck made you moan and still. After that, you finally got to see who exactly was littering your throat with bruises, and it shouldn't have surprised you to see Gogol's mismatched eyes glittering with glee,          "Morning Golubka, sleep well?" he hummed, moving so he could hold your wrists above your head with one hand, have the other be free, and stay between your thighs with his very obvious erection pressed against the crotch of your underwear.            "W-what are you doing?" you squeaked, feeling a blush creep into your cheeks as Gogol sat above you without a shirt or his cloak on.             "having some fun," he mumbled, stealing small kisses as he spoke. Finally, he just kept you from saying more by holding a kiss and sweeping you up in a wave of lust that easily overtook you after your dreams and earlier fantasies. So, you kissed back, wrapping your legs around him and feeling him grin against your mouth before his free hand wondered under your shirt to grope at your breast until you moaned and squirmed more. The feeling of his mouth returning to your neck to further abuse your bruising sweet spot sent bolts of pleasure through your bones, especially when coupled with his hand roaming your skin and his bulge brushing against your already sensitive crotch. Because of that, when Gogol pulled your bottoms down and released his twitching erection to tease your slick entrance with the head, you squirmed and mewled like a horny bitch as he grabbed your wrists and held them above your head. Both of you groaned when he pushed into you, filling you up with delicious warmth while tightening his hold on your wrists. Then, once he was as far in as he could go, it was like something snapped in the smiley clown. He was nowhere near gentle, holding your hip in a bruising grip with his free hand and slamming into you mercilessly despite any complaints or pained screams. He spoke in Russian, so you didn't understand anything he said while humping you, but even if you did speak the language, you would've had to translate through a haze of pained pleasure. You were thankful for the times you experimented with rougher, more sadistic sexual acts, because it meant you weren't overtaken by nothing but pain, you were instead hit with a mixture of great pain and equally great pleasure. So, while Gogol was moaning and muttering stuff that you were sure you should be glad you didn't understand, you were a moaning mess of your own, arching your back and curling your toes at the waves of hot ecstasy Gogol was sending through you until a knot in your stomach began to tighten. It took a shamefully short time for you to orgasm, but before the ripples of euphoria had even settled, the clown pulled out and let your wrists go only to roll you over and hike your ass up simply to push back into you and go right back to thrusting at a sadistic pace. You did do your best to stop him, at least get him to slow down, but he ignored your pleading and only pushed your face into the nasty mattress while his other hand kept your hips firmly in place so he could further bruise your (s/c) skin while grunting and moaning out curses. Eventually though, after you had climaxed a second time, Gogol finally stilled, keeping his cock buried in you while he emptied his load into your warmth. Only when he began to feel over-stimulation creep up for himself did he pull out, flopping beside you on the bed with a huff of breath.         "That was fun! We should do it again, Golubka~" he hummed, but you only grunted, passing back out after such a taxing, yet enjoyable romp.

[echoghost1]

DannyMay 2021 Day 11: Midnight

Seaside Light Keeper - Chapter 1: Witching Hour

Summary: Danny Fenton was the latest in a long long line of Fenton's to live in the Fenton Lighthouse on the shores of Port Amity. He's known all his life that one day the Lighthouse will be his, both as a home and as a responsibility.

One late night in the woods changes everything.

Word Count: 1,973

Part 1 of a new AU? Wow who would have guessed I would have another AU idea 😅

You can read on AO3 or down below the cut

Danny lay in his bed listening to the sounds of his home. Everyone else was already asleep and the gentle rhythm of the ocean lapping against the shore made it hard not to join them. Just as he was starting to nod off his phone lit up his darkened bedroom with a notification.

It was time.

He pulled himself up and checked the message. “It’s now or never dweeb.”

Danny sighed and shook his head before sending a message that he’d be right out. Maybe if he just ignored the name-calling Dash would get bored and stop?

He slipped his phone into his pocket, flipped his blanket back onto the bed after rearranging the pillows to look like he was under there, grabbed his socks and shoes before he carefully made it out of the house.

He wasn’t too worried about his parents finding him out of bed in the middle of the night. His dad was asleep based on the loud snores coming from his parent’s room while his mom was upstairs on the first watch. He just had to make sure his sister didn’t wake up and catch him fully clothed as he was still sneaking out.

Luck was on his side tonight and he was able to slip out into the cool night air with no interruptions. The sand was already so cold without the sun to warm it this late at night. He sort of regretted not slipping his shoes on while he was on the porch, but he liked running along the beach barefoot.

He spotted Dash and Kwan pretty easily given how much taller they were than most of the guys in their class. The pair was loitering near the edge of the pier just out of the glow of the streetlight near the no loitering sign.

Danny tried not to snicker at the irony as he made his way over.

“And here I was thinking you weren’t going to show?”

“I sent you a text back.”

Dash pulled his phone out and stared at it for a minute before showing the phone to Danny, “You sure about that?” There was nothing on the reply side from Danny.

Danny pulled out his own phone and saw it had failed to send the message, “Well I tried too.” he shoved the useless phone back in his pocket and looked back to the taller boys, “So you never did tell me why we were meeting here.”

“Yeah I did.” Dash denied.

Kwan pondered on it for a moment, “No, I don’t think you did.” Then he looked back down to Danny, “You should really put your shoes on.”

He nodded and brushed the sand off the soles of his feet before slipping on his footwear. “If I’m remembering correctly, all you said at school was,” Danny cleared his throat as he stood up and did his best impression of Dash, which is to say put on the most annoying voice he could manage without laughing, “meet me by the pier at midnight, or else.”

“I don’t sound like that!”

Kwan hit Dash in the chest with the back of his hand, “Dude shut up! Someone’s going to hear us.”

“Whatever let’s just go.”

“Where are we going?!” Danny asked in exasperation as he followed.

“We’re looking for the witch’s well.” Dash finally explained before heading off towards the forest.

Of course, they were.

If there was one thing Port Amity had that would probably outlive the town itself, it was the legend of the witch’s well.

Long ago, when Port Amity was barely a little blip on the map, there was a woman who lived alone in the woods. Seeing as it was in ye olden times, that was suspicious. The townsfolk avoided her. They called her a witch.

Apparently, she never denied these claims. It was said that she told the townsfolk that all she wanted to do was to live her life in the forest and she would keep to herself. She told them they had no reason to fear her.

Despite her asking for a peaceful co-existence the town didn’t agree. They did what you did to witches in the Salem era. They locked her in her house and burned it down around her.

Once the final embers died out the townsfolk discovered that she had a well, a very deep well. Far deeper than it needed to be. Deep enough to reach the sea.

Or at least that was the story.

No one has ever been able to find the well since. The arsonist townfolk didn’t tell anyone where they committed their crime so the location was lost to time.

Over the years, whenever anything bad happened to the town, the witch was blamed.

The poor crops after the untimely death of the witch? Witch’s fault.

The hurricane in the fifties that nearly wiped the town into the sea? Witch’s fault.

The poor fishing catches of the last twenty years? Witch’s fault.

Most people didn’t actually believe in the witch or her well. It had become more of a local legend. It didn’t stop her from being everyone’s scapegoat though.

Did you fail a test? Witch’s fault.

Did your crush not accept your confession? Witch’s fault.

Did you trip on a crack in the sidewalk? Witch’s fault.

It was basically a locals-only meme now.

Danny followed along even if he thought they wouldn’t end up finding anything. If there really was a house in the woods it had to be overgrown and completely hidden after all this time. Same with the well.

He pulled his phone out and sent a quick text to Tucker even though he was probably sleeping. “Hey you were right after all. We’re going into the woods now.”

He hoped they didn’t stay out too long, he did plan on getting some sleep tonight.

Once they were completely engulfed by the foliage Tucker replied, “let me know when they ditch you.”

Danny couldn’t help the light scoff that escaped his lips, “Rude! Don’t be jealous because they invited me and not you.”

“Let me know when they ditch you.”

“Did you send that twice or is my phone glitching again?”

“I sent it twice. I’m being petty.”

Danny snorted as he tried to repress his laugh. At least Tucker was honest.

“What are you doing back there?” Dash whisper-shouted back at him over his shoulder.

“Nothing,” Danny lied as he tried to decide if he should keep his phone out or slip it back into his pocket.

“Well stop it and help us.”

Danny turned the flashlight app on and got closer not realizing he had straggled so far behind.

“Why are we doing this in the middle of the night anyway? Wouldn’t it be easier with the sun out?”

“Don’t be stupid. The place can’t be found during the day, it’s part of the curse.”

Danny stopped dead in his tracks, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Oh come on. Don’t act like you don’t know. You’re from one of the founding families.”

“All that means is that I inherit the lighthouse when my folks retire.”

“I told you he wouldn’t know,” Kwan muttered loud enough for them all to hear.

“Wouldn’t know what?” Danny asked and wondered if maybe they had taken in too much salt water from all their time at sea this summer.

“Look, there’s not a lot to talk about when you’re at sea, and we got to talking about the witch,” Kwan started but was quickly interrupted by Dash’s moaning protest.

Kwan ignored him and continued to both tell his story and slowly walk through the woods.

“There’s this part of the legend that says only under the light of the full moon can a descendant of the original witch hunters find the house.”

“So you brought me?” Danny deadpanned not at all thrilled to know they invited him only because of his lineage.

“Well yeah,” Dash shrugged.

“Why not invite my sister then? I thought you liked her?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s exactly why I didn’t invite her.”  Dash took Danny’s silent confusion as his cue to continue, “What if the witch’s ghost is still hanging around and gets mad and wants to avenge her death or whatever?”

Danny’s mouth dropped open, “you brought me out here to be killed by a ghost?”

“It’s not that I want you dead, it’s just that between the two of you, the choice is pretty obvious.”

“You know what, screw you! I’m going home!”

“Aw come on, Fenton! I was only teasing!” Dash called as Danny stormed off.

Danny ran for a little bit before he started to get winded so he leaned against a nearby tree.

He heard Dash and Kwan calling after him but he didn’t want anything to do with those jerks right now, so he slipped behind the tree and waited for them to pass.

He sighed and realized they were going back towards town and now he’d have to follow them out. He didn’t want to follow after them. Not now, not ever again. He was done trying to get their attention. Done trying to get them to like him when they clearly didn’t care about him at all.

He doubled back to put more distance between them and figured he’d just exit the forest from a different spot. All he had to do was follow the sound of the sea and he’d be on the beach again.

He never once was worried about getting lost in his hometown. As long as he could get to the beach he could find his way home. Perks of growing up in a lighthouse.

He walked along and it wasn’t until he had to pull out his phone to see where he was going that he realized he might be walking the wrong way. If he was following the sound of the ocean, the forest should be getting lighter as he got closer to the beach, not darker.

He was trying not to panic as he looked around for any sign of something familiar, but everything in the forest just looked the same in the dark.

His foot hit a particularly sturdy rock and he tripped. As he tried to regain his balance he twisted and ended up falling backward instead of face first.

Then he kept falling.

He wasn’t touching anything.

For a split second, he thought he was going to just fall forever.

Then he hit the ground.

Hard.

All the air left his body and he just couldn’t get it back in. his eyes were wide as he looked up at the circular opening above him.

All he could do was look. He couldn’t even breathe.

Then the air rushed back in.

He didn’t know where he was.

No one knew where he was.

His eyes franticly searched for any clues as to where he was. As to how to get out.

The opening was a circle.

From what little light the moon provided he could just make out the unmistakable lines of brickwork.

He found the well.

They were never going to find him.

He had to get out.

If he could climb out he could find his way to shore again.

He tried to sit up but he screamed instead.

Everything hurt.

He was starting to think he broke something.

He had to get out, but how could he if he couldn’t even sit up?

He looked around and found his phone nearby. He smiled, glad that it had fallen down with him and wasn’t still up above.

He reached for it but it wasn’t close enough to grab.

He tried to stretch his arm out a little farther, but he still couldn’t reach it.

He tried to lean in farther, but it hurt too much.

With nothing else left to do; he cried.

[hyperion-moonbabe-art3mis]

Caught In Between 14. Confessions

Summary: Athena Dumont has finally found a place to call home after many years of foster homes and traveling. She had finally tamed her supernatural side and just wanted to live a normal teenage life. She quickly discovers that there is nothing normal about her hometown, Mystic Falls and gets sucked right back into the supernatural world.

Post Date: 08.18.20

Word count: 2.9k

Based off: 03x06 “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Masterlist

CIB Masterlist

When I woke up I find myself in a familiar bed. As I gather my surroundings I notice a sleeping Damon Salvatore sitting in a chair next to the bed. I slowly get up, trying not to disturb him. 

“Athena?” Damon questions as he perks up. “Thank god you’re ok,” He rushes over and cups my face.

“Wh--What happened?” I ask. 

“Well, as far as I know. Stefan brought you back to the house. Is there anything you can remember?” Damon asks as he sits next to me on the bed.

“Uhh, the last thing I remember is Klaus snapping my neck after making me a hybrid,” I respond.

“God! I knew that was gonna happen. Are you feeling ok?” He starts.

“Damon,” I say.

“How do you feel? Do you need blood?” He continues to question.

“Damon!” I raise my voice a little higher and wait for him to stop asking questions. “I’m fine, better than actually. If I’m being completely honest, I’ve never felt better in my entire life. I feel kinda, whole,” You explain. 

“Well, I’m just glad you’re ok,” He responds back.

“What’s going on downstairs?” I question as I hear voices and music downstairs.

“Stefan’s having a little ripper party,” Damon explains. I get up and make my way downstairs. Before I could make it even halfway down the stairs, I catch the whiff of blood.

I feel the urge to feed fall upon me. I try to control it but it’s overwhelming. I rush to the two girls laying at the bottom of the stairs but before my mouth touched their necks, I find Damon in front of me. 

“Are you ok?” He asks pulling my face upwards.

“The urge--it’s just so--so strong,” You explain trying to keep yourself from feeding on the unconscious girls.

“Just breathe. You can resist it,” Damon says as I take a deep breath. The urge subsides a little and you continue to make your way to where Stefan is sitting. We find him with three other girls playing twister as he feeds on them. I try to keep taking deep breaths to keep the urges down but it doesn’t help that there is blood spread all over the twister board.

“Hey, the two brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug,” Damon says to Stefan.

“You mean, they owe us a Persian rug? It’s my house too, brother. Ooh! Would you like a spin? Athena?” Stefan asks shifting his gaze to me as he holds up the twister spinner.

“So this is what Klaus had in mind when he compelled you to protect Elena and Athena?” Damon asks his bothering while pointing at me.

“These ladies are helping me be all that I can be,” Stefan states before we hear a knock on the door. Damon heads over to the door and opens it, as we find Rebekah standing in the doorway. 

“Where’s Stefan?” She asks as she walks into the house.

“Who the hell are you?” Damon questions closing the door.

“He left me here. My brother actually left me here,” Rebekah complains walking up to Stefan.

“Oh. I’m sorry. Your tone implies that I’m actually supposed to care,” Stefan responds.

“You’re Klaus’s sister?” Damon asks as he walks to my side.

“Rebekah. Pleasure, I’m sure. Which one’s my room?” She turns her back to Damon to introduce herself and then asks where she’s staying.

“You’re not staying here,” Stefan chuckles. 

“Rude. Both of you. I mean Athena gets to stay here .” Rebekah states looking back at Damon and me. “I’ll see it to myself,” She then walks off into the hallway.

“So I guess she’s staying here,” Stefan states as Damon just walks off, leaving just you and Stefan.

“So when are we heading to school. Probably should be soon,” Stefan says getting up from the couch.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” I respond about to walk away.

“Klaus says otherwise,” Stefan says rushing in front of me.

“God. If I didn’t care for you, I would bite you right here right now,” I say walking up the stairs.

“We’re leaving in 15,” He yells from below the stairs.

I head back to my room and get ready to head to school. After putting on a long sleeves shirt and some jeans I head back downstairs.

“So when are we leaving?” Rebekah asks me as I make my way to the doorway.

“Oh, you are not coming,” I say to her.

“Oh yes, she is. Get in the car.” Stefan says from behind me. I sigh and reluctantly walk out the door into Stefan’s car. We drive to the school and Stefan leads me through the hallways. Soon enough we bump into Elena, I assume that’s why we were just wandering the hallways.

“Hello, Elena,” He says to her.

“What are you doing here?” She questions her as she makes eye contact with me.

“What do you mean? I’m going back to school. Go Timberwolves!” Stefan replies nonchalantly.

“What?! Why?” Elena responds back.

“Klaus wants me to keep an eye on you. Oh and Athena. I’m just doing what I’m told,” He replies pointing at me.

“I’m going to be late for class,” Elena responds and walks off.

“Oh, class is this way,” Stefan grabs Elena’s arm.

“Let go of me Stefan,” Elena says getting pissed.

“Elena, do you think I want to be a senior for the 100th time? No. I don’t have a choice in the matter. And neither do you,” Stefan states.

“I said let go of me,” Elena says once again.

“Let her go,” Alaric says walking up to us. Stefan then puts his hands up and backs away, before slamming Alaric into the lockers.

“Don’t! Stop it,” Elena whispers as she notices looks from other students.

“You’re not going to get in my way. You hear me?” Stefan questions Alaric as he nods.

“I will see you both in history. Athena?” Stefan says gesturing for me to follow.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” I cross my arms and stand my ground. 

“Alright, Don’t get into any trouble,” Stefan then walks away. Alaric, Elena, and I then make our way back to Alaric’s classroom.

“What the hell is he doing here?!” Alaric asks.

“Klaus compelled him to watch over Elena and me,” I respond.

“Apparently, I’m one of Klaus’s assets now that my blood is the only way he can create a hybrid,” Elena explains.

“And God knows why he even let me stay here. Probably to try to gain my trust again,” I inject.

“Now Stefan’s a bodyguard?” Alaric questions.

“I don’t know what he is. But he’s definitely not Stefan,” Eleana responds.

“More like a babysitter to me,” I say as well.

“Look, his being here is not good for any of us. We have to do something,” Elena whispers as students start to come in. 

“Wait there’s something else I have to tell you guys,” I say before seeing Stefan walk in. I then lower my eyes and walk back to my seat since I wouldn’t want Stefan to hear.

“You’re in my seat,” I hear Stefan say as I sit behind Elena. “Hey, you,” he says sitting in the seat next to Stefan.

“Welcome back, seniors. Let’s turn our brains back on, starting with this country’s original founders--native Americans.” Alaric starts to speak to the class.

“What about the Vikings?” I hear Rebekah’s voice as she walks into the class. I notice Tyler’s head pop up at her voice as well.

“There’s no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States,” Alaric responds. “Who are you?” he questions next.

“My name’s Rebekah, I’m new and history’s my favorite subject,” She happily introduces herself. Alaric looks up in very slight confusion as Elena shakes her head slightly.

After school, I head to cheerleading practice with Caroline. As we finish up stretching, “Has anybody seen Dana?” our head cheerleader asks.

“Sounds like you have an opening on the squad,” Rebekah says walking in between Caroline and me.

“What are you doing?�� Caroline questions her but gets no response. “Hey. Hey. You can’t just come here and infiltrate all our lives,” Caroline tells her and I continue to stretch.

“I’m only interested in yours. Your spark, your popularity.” Rebekah drifts her eyes to Tyler who is running with his football team. “Maybe even your boyfriend,” She says before going back to stretch. The next thing we hear is Tyler having an altercation with his coach before compelling him to let the team go.

“Try to be a little more subtle, Tyler,” Caroline says as we walk up to him.

“Coming from the queen of subtlety? Relax. I’m in total control,” Tyler responds.

“Then why are you like this?” Caroline questions him.

“Drop it, Caroline. I’m fine. I’ve never been better. Klaus has given me and well Athena too this...gift,” Tyler responds.

“What?!” Caroline responds confused to Tyler’s answer. But before he could answer back we hear some kids yell about Rebekah, who is showing her tumbling skills.

“My god,” I say.

“Damn, girl’s got moves,” Tyler says before walking off. Caroline and I make confused faces at eachother in response to Tyler’s comment.

“Come on let’s just go,” I say as we walk away. 

“Since you’re the second hybrid Klaus made I have a question for you. Do you feel the same way Tyler does? Do you feel that Klaus gave you a gift?” She asks as we walk to the lockers.

“I mean truthfully. I feel complete like I’ve finally found my place in life. But I wouldn’t call it a gift. Nor am I happy he did this to me,” I tell her.

“Ok,” She responds quietly.

“You don’t need to worry about me, Caroline. I’m fine. I will do anything to keep you guys safe. You guys are my family,” I tell her noticing the distraught in her face.

“You’re my family too,” She says giving a slight smile.

A few hours later I meet with Damon, Alaric, Elena, and Caroline at Alaric’s classroom to discuss the plan to get Stefan down at the bonfire. “I’ll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. Then when he’s distracted--” Elena starts.

“I’ll shoot him,” Alaric finishes.

“Can’t Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?” Damon questions from the window sill.

“I’m trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don’t trust that Stefan won’t hurt her. Caroline, are you covered?” Elena asks her.

“Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready,” She explains.

“We’re forgetting a key player here. Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blond ponytail tends to follow,” Damon points out.

“Which is why it’s your job to keep her away,” Elena states turning back to Damon.

“How?! She’s an original. Last time I checked, we’re out of daggers,” Damon points out once again.

“So then preoccupy her with your charm,” Elena states.

“Might have better luck finding the dagger,” Alaric states.

“Are you ever not going to be mad at me Ric?” Damon questions Alaric.

“Doubtful,” Alaric responds.

“Sorry, I’m late. What’s going on?” Tyler asks as he makes his way into the classroom.

“We need you to raid your mom’s vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while,” Elena explains.

“You can’t do that to Stefan,” Tyler states.

“Why not?” Caroline asks.

“Trust me Tyler, it’s in his best interest,” Elena adds in.

“It’s not in Klaus’s” Tyler responds back.

“But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion. Athena seems fine so why are you acting this way, ” Caroline points out.

“Uh-oh,” Damon says as Alaric questions it.

“Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything. Athena, we owe him everything,” Tyler states as everyone’s eyes shift to me.

“Oh, boy,” Damon says making his way over to us.

“Ok, can we cool it on the commentary, please,” Caroline asks annoyed.

“What is going on?” Elena asks.

“I’m just going to go,” Tyler says as I notice Damon pick up the vervain dart on the desk. Tyler starts to leave but doesn’t make it far before Damon stabs the dart in the back of Tyler’s neck.

“What are you doing?!” Caroline questions as Tyler falls to the ground.

“He’s been sired,” Damon explains. 

“What?” Alaric asks.

“Sired. He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus’s blood created him,” Damon explains.

“Loyal how?” Elena asks.

“He’ll seek acceptance from his master. It’s really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids,” Damon explains further.

“So how do I fix him?” Caroline asks looking at Damon.

“Get a new boyfriend,” Damon responds. “Which leaves us with another hybrid to question,” Damon says turning towards me.

“Wha-what. I swear I’m not sired. I’m with you guys 100%. Stefan needs to be put down tonight,” I respond.

“Just because you feel that way doesn’t mean you actually do. It’s against Klaus’s wishes. Let’s not forget you two were past lovers,” Damon says, putting my little secret out in the open.

“Wait what?” Alaric responds not having known the fact.

“Yes, we did love each other. Once. But I left him because I needed to start over, get a new life away from all of this supernatural shit. But once I got to know you guys, I couldn’t let him hurt the people I care about, that’s why I’ve been with you guys this whole time, fighting Klaus. I promise I feel nothing for him. He killed the only people besides you guys, that I called my family over this hybrid stuff. He killed the group of people who I finally felt like I belonged with. I can never forgive him for that. So, by all means, if you find it necessary, inject me with vervain. Keep me out of the loop. Anything to keep my trust with you guys,” I say as my eyes tear up.

“Just because you say that doesn’t mean you don’t seek acceptance from Klaus,” Damon responds.

“I believe her. I believe that she’s with us,” Elena states as Caroline nods.

“But we have to be careful,” Alaric states before the group starts to argue with what to do with me. Being frustrated with what’s going on, I pick up another vervain dart and stab it into my neck and fall into darkness as I hear the group settle down a bit.

Once I wake up I find myself laying on a couch in the Lockwood mansion as Caroline and Tyler are talking, “My problem is you’ve been sired. Do you even know what that means? It means that you put Klaus’s needs first. He is your master now.” Caroline says.

“I’m not anyone’s pet, Caroline. He doesn’t control me,” Tyler responds.

“Well, somethings got to be controlling you. Because I don’t know why else you’d be acting like the old you,” Caroline says back.

“The old me?” Tyeler questions.

“Yeah. The old you. The pre-werewolf you. You know the obnoxious you that I would never be friends with.” Caroline states before walking out.

“Whoa! Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait,” Tyler says grabbing Caroline’s hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be that guy. I hated that guy,” Tyler says.

“You’re a vampire now, Tyler. Everything about your personality is heightened. So you have to be careful,” Caroline explains as Tyler nods.

“I will. Promise. Just...don’t hate me. Everything I like about me is you,” Ruler says before kissing Caroline.

“I’m sorry to interrupt this tender moment. But what’s going on, I mean with me?” I ask.

“Oh. uh, we never really decided. I think we at a standstill right now,” Caroline says. 

“Ok, well if you don’t mind I’m just gonna let myself out,” I say and leave the room as it seems that Caroline and Tyler were about to get it on. 

I walk into the Salvatore house to find Elena, Damon, and Alaric in the hallway, “You ready to get going, Elena?” Alaric asks.

“Great work tonight, Ric. Sorry about the car, man. Bummer,” Damon says as Elena gets up to leave.

“You gonna be ok here tonight?” Elena asks me as she makes her way over to Alaric and me.

“Yeh, I think so,” I whisper giving a slight smile as she walks down the hallway after giving me a hug.

“Why did you do that tonight?” Damon asks me after Elena and Alaric make their way down the hall far enough.

“What? Stab myself with vervain?” I ask back.

“Yes, that,” Damon confirms.

“Because me being awake wasn’t doing the group any good, Damon. You said it yourself, just because I feel the way I do about you guys, doesn’t mean I really do. But if that didn’t prove that I want to take Klaus down as much as you guys, then I don’t know what will.” I say as my eyes tear up. 

“Look, Athena. I trust you, I do. But we can’t be too careful now that we know that hybrids are sired to Klaus. It doesn’t help that you and Klaus used to love each other, it could mean that your sire bond is stronger. It could even mean that your feelings for him could come back,” Damon says softly pulling my face upwards.

“I get that. And I understand if you and the group thinks it’s best to leave me out of the loop. I will sit out, I don’t want to do anything to hurt you guys. You guys are my family. And if I feel any tendencies towards Klaus, I will tell you guys,” I tell Damon. 

“It shouldn’t come to that. I think for now we should keep an eye on you and your sire bond feelings. And if anything happens, we’ll keep you down. Okay?” Damons suggests as I nod.

I head back up to my room just wanting to rest and sleep off the night.

A/N: I guess everything is out in the open about Athena and Klaus. What do you think they’ll do now that they know Athena could be sire bonded to Klaus. I hope you enjoyed this part and are ready for what comes next! 

P.S. I skipped the next two ish eps since its a filler and doesn’t have much impact on Athena.

🏷: @tristanacarry | @commentaryfanfic | @april-14-blog |  @simonsbluee | @awkwardspontaneity | @keiko0​

[fangirl-imagines]

Home Again//2019!Eddie Kaspbrak x Daughter!Reader

A/N: Requested by @thoughtfullyyoungduck, I hope this was close to what you wanted.

Warnings: Verbal berating of the reader and a brief but graphic scene of violence against the reader

Prompt: Ever since your mom left when you were five it had just been you and your dad. You were each other’s only family. But when he brings you back to his hometown of Derry you decide it’s time to meet your grandmother. 

The house your father grew up inside in Derry, Maine didn’t look like it had been touched much since the 1980s. Most of Derry still felt small and quiet like the rest of the world forgotten it. As you drove through town to your hotel yesterday your dad kept shaking his head and remarking on how everything still looked the same. You knew he’d be furious if he found out you came here but you couldn’t help yourself. 

You had never met your grandparents before and your dad never talked about his childhood. Could he really expect you to pass up the opportunity to ask questions he never answered? This morning he said he had to go meet some of his old friends, the ones you had met last night at dinner, and he explicitly told you to stay in the hotel room. You rolled your eyes thinking about it. Your dad had always been overprotective. Maybe it was because he was just an anxious person? Always on you about being home before dark and getting your flue shot. Maybe it was because your mom left when you were five and it was just the two of you? You knew it was hard on him trying to take care of both of you all the time all by himself. Or maybe it was just because he worked nights so often and he worried about you being home alone? Either way it was always getting on your nerves. You’d long gotten use to sneaking out when your dad was gone, and sneaking out of the hotel was easy. 

The old Kaspbrak house looked like most other houses on the street. It was small and white with a decent porch. The only real difference was that the lawn was shaggy and in desperate need of a mowing and the curtains were all drawn, keeping the light out of the house. If it wasn’t for the station wagon in the driveway you would have thought there was no one home. You took a deep breath before starting up the walk and climbing the stairs. You hesitated before bringing your hand down on the door in two quick knocks.Glancing behind your shoulder you took in the empty street. It was a Sunday morning but there was no one in the streets, no children playing or dad’s mowing the lawn.

“Who are you?”

You jumped and whirled back around, coming face to face with a much larger old woman. You couldn’t help but gasp at the sight. She wasn’t much taller than you, her hair was dark brown with grey roots showing, and there were prominent wrinkles around her eyes, the same shade of brown as yours and your dad’s. Sonia Kapbrak looked you up and down with distance, studying you closely. You cleared your throat and took a small step back. 

“I’m, uh, are you Sonia Kaspbrak?”

“I am.” She crossed her arms in front of her. 

“Well, my name is Y/N Kaspbrak. My father is Eddie Kaspbrak. I’m your granddaughter.”

You don't know what kind of reaction you were expecting, but Sonia staring you down through squinted eyes that hid in her full face and made them look black in appearance was not it. She stared at you hard, looking you over from head to toe as if sizing you up. It made you shift nervously from foot to foot in your spot. Was she like this when your dad was a kid? Your entire life your dad had always looked happy to see you when you came home from school or walked into the kitchen in the morning, he always smiled at you warmly. Even when he was mad at you, you never got a look like this one. But now you could picture him as a little kid getting in trouble and getting stared down on this same porch. What was she looking for?! You folded your arms across your middle and fought back a flinch when Sonia smiled at you. 

"Oh, really? My Eddie Bear is a father?! I'd be surprised he never told me except he never calls me at all anymore. You raise them up as best you can, and then they run off and leave you, never to call, never showing any gratitude!" She threw her hands up in the air then shook her head. "Please, why don't you come inside?"

You opened your mouth to decline, suddenly not too sure about this whole thing but Sonia looked at you expectantly and the words died in your mouth. Wordlessly you stepped into the house and were surprised to find the darkness that had surrounded the house had moved inside as well. Sonia didn’t seem bothered by it though as she didn’t move to turn on any lights when she led you to the living room. The blinds were cracked in the living room, allowing dim rays of light to enter the room and work with the old boxed, bunny eared TV to shine enough light to make the room dim but light enough to see. 

“Go on, have a seat.” 

You sat down stiffly on the edge of the sofa, so far that you were almost falling off. 

“Would you like a drink? I have sodas or bottled water? You can’t drink the stuff from the tap anymore. Too much lead and chemicals in it.”

“Oh, no I’m fine, thank you.”

Sonia nodded and sat down in her recliner next to the couch and smiled at you. A flash of red caught your eye. You glanced over at one of the windows and caught a glimpse of a red balloon floating by. You narrowed your eyes as you watched it go. 

“So, Y/N, you’re my granddaughter?”

You turned back to Sonia and nodded, forcing a smile. “I have so many questions for you! My dad doesn’t talk about Derry very much.”

Sonia hummed, “Well I’m not surprised. Eddie bear hasn’t so much as called since he left me here. I suppose he’s done alright for himself though?” She looked at you strangely, sizing you up again. “Tell me, what’s your mother like?”

You swallowed hard, “I’m afraid I don’t know much.” You cleared your throat. “She left us when I was five. We haven’t kept in touch.”

You could practically see Sonia’s ears perk up. “Really?” She laughed humorlessly, “Well, I guess I can see why.”

Your jaw dropped. “Ex-, Excuse me?”

“Well obviously it couldn’t be my Eddie’s fault she left so it must have been your fault.” 

“You don’t-”

“Of course I know dear!” she shook her head, “I knew when you stepped on my porch. Look at you? Your filthy just like your mother, holding my Eddie back, keeping him anchored with a child to take care of on his own? You should be ashamed.”

A cold dread filled your stomach and gripped your body. You had heard these words before, your own brain screamed them at you in your bed at night like a flashing sign. Somehow Sonia was on the same wavelength as you. 

“Why are you saying these things?” You choked out, willing away your tears.

“Because it’s the truth isn’t it? All alone with a child to take care of, how could you do anything but hold your father back! Just think of all the things he could do if he wasn’t stuck taking care of you.” Sonia shook her head pityingly, “I suppose that’s what he gets for leaving me all alone here though. A disappointment of a daughter like you.”

You shook your head at her, “I think I should go now.”

“Oh, dear, you’re not going anywhere.” 

You stared at Sonia, eye brows furrowed. Sonia smiled. You jumped up from the couch and raced for the door faster than you had ever moved in your life. You didn’t expect Sonia to be able to move fast enough to grab you but she did. She grabbed you by your hair and pulled you back into the room, tossing you to the floor. She smiled down at you, rows and rows of sharp, pointed teeth showing. 

You screamed and ear splitting scream, crawling back on your hands until your back hit the wall. Sonia smiled wider and rushed towards you. Your foot connected with her face with a sickening crack as her head shot back. You watched in horror as she slowly righted her head and snapped it back into place. You screamed and screamed when Sonia crouched down in front of you, grabbing your hand as you tried to shove her away. She brought your hand closer to her mouth before- 

“Y/N!” 

You and Sonia’s eyes both flicked back to the front door that you could hear your name being screamed and the front door shaking as someone tried to knock it down. Sonia turned back to you and smiled through thin, yellow eyes that made you flinch. Her grin widened, showing off every one of her sharp teeth, and with a shake of her head she let go of your hand and stalked backwards from you before disappearing into the kitchen. 

You stared at the spot where she had disappeared through in horror when the front door was kicked in and your father, Richie, and Mike all came running into the room, Beverly, Ben, and Bill trailing behind. 

“Y/N?! Y/N, baby, oh my God!” Your dad rushed to your side and dropped to his knees in front of you. He grabbed your face in his hands and pulled your gaze from the kitchen door to look at him. “Y/N? Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!” 

You continued to stare at him, shock and horror still playing on your face as he ran his hands from your face to your wrist, checking for broken bones. He looked so worried as he checked you over that Sonia’s words rang through your head again. “Just think of all the things he could do if he wasn’t stuck taking care of you?” 

A sob escaped your throat, “Dad?” 

He paused and looked from your wrist where Sonia had squeezed up to your face. He saw your bottom lip tremble and felt his racing heart break. “Oh, baby.” He pulled you to him and hugged you tight. As soon as he did this you began to cry against his shoulder, clutching his jacket in your fist. “It can’t hurt you anymore Y/N. I’m right here, I’m not going to let it hurt you again.” He squeezed you tighter and kissed your forehead. 

“Dad, she-, it-, it’s teeth...”

Eddie swallowed back the memory of those teeth inching in on his at the Nesboit house. He realized you had been in that same position and felt sick. He pulled back to look you in the eyes and nodded. 

“I know. I’m sorry Y/N, I never should have brought you back here with me.”

“It’s gone Eddie, we better get her out of here.” Richie spoke softly, placing his hand on Eddie’s shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. 

Eddie looked up at him and nodded. Carefully he helped you to your feet and led you out of the house, his arm wrapped around your shoulder protectively. 

[bitchardhendricks]

Well I’ve Never Been to Heaven (But I’ve Been to Oklahoma) pt 11

As you can imagine, I’ve been having a lot of feelings about my hometown this week in particular. But while on a national stage it’s painted as being full of fanatical zealots hellbent on worshipping at the altar of a fascist demagogue, the reality that I’ve seen from the majority of its citizens this week is compassion, empathy, care, and concern. That mix is the brutal reality of the place that made me - a place not unlike a lot of your own hometowns, if I had to guess. I think overall, that’s the feeling I want to capture in all the parts of Tulsa fic. I wrote this part weeks and weeks ago, before any mention of the rally, but it feels fitting to post this week. I hope you’re all doing well out there, staying strong, staying safe, and taking care of each other.

***

They spend a few hours exploring the myriad shelves at Gardner’s; every time they walk into another room, Jared expects them to finally reach the end of the labyrinth, and every time there’s yet another room beyond. Richard shows Jared the spot tucked into a corner by the sci-fi section where he would spend long summer afternoons discovering new worlds with Bradbury and Asimov, Heinlein and Herbert. 

Jared finds a used Pioneer Woman cookbook to buy for Diane - “Do you think she’d like this? I noticed she didn’t have this one when I was perusing her cookbooks this morning.” 

Richard has no idea, but tries to be enthusiastic. “Um. I mean, yeah, probably, she’ll love it.”

Richard wonders what it must be like to be a person who notices things like that, makes notes of gifts to buy for people. Someone who’s thoughtful and kind and just fucking nice. He wonders, not for the first time, why Jared isn’t somewhere better, with better people, people who are like him. He wonders, also not for the first time, if his vision - Pied Piper, the company, changing the world one compressed byte at a time - is worth enough for Jared to stick around when the reality (when Richard himself) is so vastly disappointing. 

He stops paging through back issues of Fantastic Four and looks up to watch Jared flipping through records in the section across the aisle from him. Sometimes Jared’s very existence throws Richard off-balance. His posture, his competence - everything about Jared is so put together and accomplished, like he’s been practicing for hours every day to make being a grown-up look so simple. His long, nimble fingers move over the records with ease and surety. Like a pianist, Richard thinks. Good with his hands. Jared must feel the weight of his gaze, and he looks up with a bemused expression that Richard knows means, Goodness, I’m so sorry, was I being too distracting? Richard’s face grows inexplicably warm. He shakes his head sheepishly - no, you’re ok - and Jared goes back to browsing. 

He only watches for a minute or so before another guy squeezes past him trying to get to the Daredevil comics, and he jumps guiltily out of the way. “Hey Jared, we should ah, get going. Lots more to see.”

As they pay for their purchases, the sunny blonde cashier’s hand lingers against Jared’s long pianist fingers when she hands him his change. 

Richard snatches his bag of books out of her hands and stalks off before she can finish saying, “Have a nice day!” 

***

They drive for 15 minutes or so, the air conditioner cranked up, until Richard slows down in front of a huge pavilion with a banner advertising GUN SHOW flapping disconsolately in the muggy June air. Jared pales, hit by a vivid memory of a Saturday afternoon spent with Uncle Jerry and his friends at a civic center filled with the smell of testosterone and gun oil and the sounds of boisterous laughter and Lynyrd Skynyrd bouncing off the concrete walls. “Richard, I don’t--” he begins, but the car pulls into a neighborhood directly across from the huge building.

Richard puts it in park and turns to see the look on Jared’s face. “Oh - fuck, Jared, did you think I was taking you to an actual gun show? Jesus, c’mon man. No, it’s ah,” he opens his door and stands up, wedged in the vee of the car door and turning to point. “Better angle from here. See the statue? It’s the Golden Driller.”

Jared also gets out of the car to look and follows Richard’s indication. Towering above the pavilion is what looks to be a giant man made of stone the color of sand standing next to an oil derrick. The figure he cuts is imposing - Jared estimates he must be at least 7 stories tall, with his workman’s boots the size of school buses splayed shoulder-width apart, one hand on his hip and one hand resting possessively on top of the massive derrick like a hunter posing with a prized kill. His face is cut in austere lines, a square jaw, a long slash of a nose, a heavy brow hidden under a hard hat of some kind with a wide brim. He’s shirtless, and his broad shoulders narrow to a waist with a belt around it that says TULSA.

“He’s very tall,” Jared says, which makes Richard laugh. With a darted glance to confirm Richard isn’t laughing at him, Jared also laughs, surprised and a little dizzy. 

“This is like - he’s THE symbol of Tulsa, you know. The baseball team is named after him, the stadium. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with this statue, we’d pass it and I’d just start like,” Richard mimes shaking his fists back and forth in the air in wild jubilation, “‘It’s the Tulsa Driller!’ I don’t even know why, heh. Kid stuff. I think probably everyone who lives here has a picture of themselves with that statue. It’s like a Tulsa rite of passage.”

He reaches over the roof of the Camry palm up and looks at Jared, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Wanting, expectant. Jared can hardly stand it, rooted to the spot and captured by that look as neatly as a rabbit in a snare. With a sly grin, Richard finally speaks. “C’mon, gimme your phone. You wanted to document the trip, right?”

A Tulsa rite of passage, he thinks, and fumbles in his pocket for his phone. Richard unlocks it with his fingerprint - thank goodness for the day Jared had insisted they spend setting up their emergency contacts and preparedness protocols - and gestures for Jared to come around the car and pose in frame with the colossal statue. “A little to the right - ah, my right, sorry - and uh, put your hands y’know - “ Richard half-attempts the Driller’s pose and ends up more akin to a little teapot before he aborts the gesture, embarrassed. “OK, look stern. You’re an oil man now, you gotta - yeah, that’s, that’s great,” he says, giggling as Jared puts on an exaggerated scowl. The shutter clicks in rapid succession as Richard crouches down, getting a better angle. “Yes, perfect, you’re a natural, Jared,” he teases lightly and Jared’s scowl disappears, replaced with a grin so wide he hears his jaw creak. 

Richard lets the phone fall from in front of his face for a second, faltering, and just looks at Jared with a matching grin that’s febrile, electric, before taking a few more photos. When he hands the phone back to Jared, he avoids any further eye contact, looking down at the ground and hurrying back to hop in the car. 

Jared follows, hoping the spell hasn’t been entirely broken on this inexplicable wonder of a day. As they drive to their next destination, Richard is quiet, contemplative. Just as Jared is about to ask if there’s something bothering him, Richard breaks the silence. “There’s a plaque by the Driller - we went to Expo Square there, that building, on a field trip in middle school for some like, multicultural fair, I don’t know. But my teacher, she made a huge deal about this plaque, right, and I still remember it, it, it said something like um, ‘Golden Driller, dedicated to the men of the petroleum industry, who um..with their uh vision and bravery uh, benefitted all mankind.’” 

“Ah. Perhaps not all,” Jared cedes, and Richard nods furiously. 

“Right, like, I mean look how that fucking worked out for everybody. And they’re y’know, displacing Native Americans and like, if you’re not white you’re fucked, and just annihilating the goddamn planet, and they’re building monuments to themselves like they’re so, so fucking magnanimous. Right?” He grips the steering wheel with knuckles going white and Jared nods along with him, attempting to remain afloat on the tempestuous sea of Richard’s emotions. 

“You’re thinking of Gavin,” he says, and Richard’s jaw clenches mutinously in a way that tells Jared he’s right. The wound that Gavin has inflicted upon Richard’s soul is so raw and ragged, even after all this time, and it makes Jared ache to see him lash out like this, a proud lion tortured by the venomous thorn in his paw. 

“He doesn’t have a case, Richard - you know that and I know that. In the annals of history, people will remember Richard Hendricks far longer than they’ll ever remember Gavin Belson, and not because you erect monuments to your greatness in the sky. The most enduring legacies are built by leaders who inspire love, not fear.”

Richard snorts, “Great. I can’t inspire either one for shit.”

The words clamor in his throat like a swarm of bees, and he can’t quite keep them contained. With his hands clutched tight in his lap, Jared says in a rush, like a compulsion, “Oh, Richard, that’s just not true.” 

Richard glances at him, looks away. Glances back. Jared offers up a smile he hopes is reassuring rather than ghoulish, and decides the safest course of action is to redirect Richard’s focus away from Gavin. This is supposed to be a vacation, after all. “Anyway, let’s focus on Tulsa and all her hidden wonders. Where are we going next on the grand Hendricks magical mystery tour?”

The digital clock in the car reads 4:50, and Richard appears to do some mental math in his head. He shifts in his seat, perking up a little, and Jared breathes out a sigh of relief. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

“We’ve got time for one more thing and it’s...well,” Richard taps on the steering wheel in a beat Jared is coming to recognize as his tell when he’s eager, excited to show off something. “I think you’re gonna like it.”

[psy-sheil]

    My dreams, ambitions and goals are what I live for. My dreams keep me woke, my ambitions make my desires consistent and my goals keep me going through life. At the moment, my sole goal is to love my self despite hardships and criticisms I’m facing. So far, loving myself seems like the hardest goal I have set my focus on. Looking back at the moments I self-blame, self-hate, self-harm and what-not caused by the environment I grew up in which includes abuse and being with someone who degrades and controls me as well probably influenced my behavior negatively I guess it’s part of the journey of loving myself and self-discovery or maybe not.  

    Waking up one day I realized enough is enough, I don’t want to be pushed easily so I decided to cut ties and work with myself. I started see my worth little by little but life made a sudden joke and threw a traumatic curve ball right at me which I fail to catch and it shattered my goal and I nearly lost my goal. It was hard picking myself back again and again. I started from the start optimistically, now I know which to avoid and which to welcome even though it made me conscious of every people I meet and almost everything. I started loving myself little by little and little by little I made progress. It was hard mind you, because obstacles are as determined as you in fulfilling their goal but it was so worth it.  

    I think people fail to understand that loving yourself is as important as knowing yourself. If you know yourself you know your worth and no one can bring you down since you know yourself well so no shallow words can pull you to the ground. On the other hand, if you love yourself, you are confident of your capabilities and you will view yourself more positively. As a person who started loving herself since 2018, three years is still not enough, I am still far from fully understanding the ‘love for yourself’ and still haven’t reached the half of it but I know I can and I will in the future.  

    Some days I really want to love me but I find it hard to do so and some days I find it easier to do so, the journey is still as hard as it can be but with the right mindset and environment you can. One of the perks of me loving myself is probably the confidence it gave me wherever I go, whenever I dress up, I know I do it for myself and I know that I'm beautiful. Some people envied the confidence not knowing the struggles behind it so I encourage them to start loving their self too. I empower self-love, self-care and body positivity because I personally think that’s where you start to feel like living. Another perk is whenever people try to destroy me but I don’t let their words enter my bubble. Just like a ship in the ocean, a ship won’t sink unless the ship gave out and let the water enter, so is the mind, if you let their words enter your mind then you will sink as what an anonymous saying mentioned. Self-love is indeed difficult but when you start to do it then a colorful journey will unfold before you know it.

[mlpdestinyverse]

Chapter extension to: “Always There” Related: Loneliness, Early Days,  Breaking Point

In the aftermath of her family’s conflict, Daring Do breaks out of her reminiscing to the reality of seeing her child off. 

Feat. Monochrome

Story and Description Under The Cut

Two figures sat together, underneath the overcast dawn sky. The Ponyville train station was vacant in the early weekday hours. Daring Do and Monochrome had arrived nearly an hour earlier, to ensure that they would catch the first train available. However, only one of them would be leaving that day. A chill hung in the spring air, accompanying the grey clouds that desaturated the world around them. Daring had eased herself out of the far recesses of her mind, where she too often found herself time after time. Old memories were lingering clear as if they had only transpired within the past year. Happy memories. Bittersweet memories. Though now they were clouded by a layer of heartache. Ever so slightly she tilted her head towards her eldest child beside her, chancing a glance. But she only found a tight, unreadable expression as Monochrome focused on the wooden boards beneath them. Her violet eyes then apprehensively drifted towards the horizon. There, the train tracks faded into a thin point in the distance. At any moment she knew a city train would be rolling into the station. And even now, despite the acceptance, a heavy pit sat uncomfortably in her stomach. "You didn't bring a book..." The question broke the long, dense silence, almost startling Daring. Monochrome's gaze remained fixated away from their mother. After seemingly feeling her eyes on them, Daring watched them angle their head to finally make eye contact. It was a casual remark. But the mare could sense a second layer beneath it; an open question. Monochrome's gaze fell away. "You...always bring a book when you have to wait." Daring managed a small smile and shrugged. "It's a little hard to read when you're lost in thought." She admitted. There was a hint of a laugh in her voice as she spoke. She wasn't sure if it was for them, or for herself. Monochrome's brow creased, shifting their body to face her better. With the melting tension, it was as if they were jumping on the chance to give her their undivided attention. "What were you thinking about...?" Daring could tell from the hesitation in their voice that Monochrome was bracing themself for something. And with how quietly the weeks had passed since their last real conversation, even with Daring's assistance with moving preparations, she knew why. The elephant was right there. She wanted to promise them things were fine. But they both knew well that was far from reality. "I'm just reminiscing a bit...it's silly, but I guess this just feels a lot different from when you first moved out," Daring explained. Her smile saddened. "You won't be on the other side of town anymore...it'll be something to get used to." Monochrome nodded lightly to themself. "Yeah...we'll be miles apart." Their soft words hung in the air, bringing about another length of silence. "...I'll visit..." They assured quietly. But there was unmistakable uncertainty and guilt in their face. "I just..." Daring smiled. Weakly. Knowingly. "When she's not here?" Monochrome winced, immediate discomfort visibly taking hold. Daring couldn't help her shoulders from slumping at the confirmation. But of course she knew. It was near unspoken the moment Monochrome had chosen to plan and carry out their move while their mother and brother were away. Daring sighed, her eyes falling close as she leaned her head back against the station wall behind her. "....you can't be around her right now. And it feels suffocating to stay here after everything. I know...I get it." In the blackness of her mind, she could see bleary images. Old faces that had earned her own bitterness and ire once upon a time. She slowly reopened her eyes, staring up at the wooden boards of the station above her. "It's not like I never left home for similar reasons, you know...?" Distantly, even with open eyes, she could rewatch her household's conflict play out again from that doorframe. Fury and grief, regret and confusion, all contained in one room. Her wife had a good heart. She could never be compared to the discriminative, controlling caretakers Daring's own grandparents had been to her in her youth. But Rainbow Dash was flawed like anybody else. Including herself. Daring Do had solved plenty of puzzles during her treasure-hunting days, but one that concerned her family left her at a complete loss. It had taken her days to rack her brain, desperately grasping at some understanding over the drastic decision her eldest had brought before her. While Rainbow Dash's mistake had been immense, and Monochrome had every right to be as furious as they were, a single grievance couldn't possibly be enough of a catalyst to force them away from their own hometown. Daring originally had tried to convince them to wait a while longer, to break their winter-long isolation and at least attempt an open dialogue with their mother. But once she thought back deeper, analyzing every interaction and past event, a series of unfortunate memories began resurfacing. And then it clicked. They connected to one another, escalating unnoticed by her to the fractured relationship that now existed before her eyes. Sitting back up, Daring noticed Monochrome's eye silently - even uneasily - follow her. She offered a warm albeit tired smile. "Time to yourself away from your roots will be good for you. I know you'll do great out there." Daring averted her gaze, then, out towards the grassy field beyond the station, and then towards the mountains beyond that. She felt a sad laugh bubble out of her, and an ache accompanied it in her chest. "But I suppose now I'm just... wondering if I've really done all I could for you." Daring lowered her head and slouched, feeling a weight to her muscles. There was newfound uncertainty and shame in light of her realization; in only now seeing the long-term consequences of Rainbow's absence and the accumulated disappointments made in their foal's life. Why did she think a child could move pass each one? Why did she always assume Rainbow's heroism made up for any of it? To think she had convinced herself that she knew her foal better than anyone. And now she sat here, feeling like an oblivious fool. Daring squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm sorry if I didn't do enough...I've been so short-sighted. There were things I should've seen sooner. And if I'd done more, maybe you wouldn't be hurting now-" “It was more than enough.” Daring's head shot up just as she heard Monochrome's hooves clack from rising up to their hooves. Their green eyes were wide with disbelief and bewilderment. In seconds their expression grew intense, with Monochrome taking a heavy step forward towards their mother. "Nothing was your fault," they spoke slowly and firmly, staring intently into her eyes. They held her gaze, and Daring felt too astonished to look away. But it didn't take long for Monochrome's expression to soften, their eyebrows narrowing back. "You...were everything I ever needed." Daring involuntarily sucked in a breath. It took a moment, and a fluttering of her eyelids, to realize that tears were beginning to prick the edges of her vision. She quickly moved to swipe them away, and this time, a genuine laugh escaped her. "Shut up and come here..." The golden Pegasus didn't wait to wrap her forelegs around her foal's neck and tug them down into a snug hug. The way she felt them tense gave her the impression that she had caught them off guard. But within a few beats, Monochrome slowly and wordlessly hugged her back. A bump against her hoof had Daring pull away to look down at their momentarily forgotten third party. Tank's beady tortoise eyes greeted her, an affectionate beam spread across his wrinkly green face. It wouldn't have surprised her if it had taken him all this time to walk around Monochrome just to reach her. Resting his leathery head against her foreleg, he released a grunt up at her. Daring smiled warmly, kneeling down on her forelegs to meet his level. "Say, I can trust you to keep looking after our kiddo, right?" she playfully asked. As she expected, Tank nodded back earnestly, and that gesture somehow helped alleviate some of the worry that she couldn't bring herself to shake. Upon looking up to meet Monochrome's eye, she noticed the pale Pegasus quietly studying Tank. There was a subtle crease to their brow, one that had Daring frowning and opening her mouth to speak- -chik chik CHIK CHIK Returning to her hooves, Daring followed her perked ear to catch a new sight in the distance. As if on cue, the multicolored train released a sharp whistle into the air, piercing the morning atmosphere to signal all in its vicinity. Almost immediately, Monochrome had straightened their posture, and that serious demeanor Daring had grown accustomed to washed over them. It was vastly different from her memories of a far more timid foal, clinging anxiously to her leg. But if that wasn't an indication of how much they had grown into adulthood and changed, she didn't know what was. Strangely enough, time seemed to quicken. As the train grew closer, a few other ponies arrived at the platform, seemingly living closer or perhaps having less to pack. Within minutes the train was pulling into the station, and a conductor and porter were stepping out of its opened doors. "ALL ABOOOARD!" the older stallion bellowed. Daring went on to assist in handing over Monochrome's baggage to the young porter, who gave a friendly salute as she piled the luggage in the caboose. And as they stepped back from the train, creating a space for themselves away from the small few preparing for boarding, Daring willed time to slow down. Because now came the moment she had been dreading. How funny it was, to realize how much she herself had changed. A long time ago, Daring Do lived a life of few attachments, leaving her a hardened, fearless adventurer with very little that daunted her. Yet here she was, restless over watching her child head off on their own personal journey. "Write me when you're all settled, alright?" "Yeah." "And don't worry about your brother. I'll handle everything here." "Thank you." The two stiffly stood before one another. Daring searched her mind for anything else she could say during this last brief moment. There had to be more she could say. Surely there was some sort of advice or assurance to part with as their mother, to make up for where she had lacked. "See ya..." She jumped as Monochrome's hooves slid away, their body turning to move towards the sizable structure of the train. Her hoof shifted, wanting to reach out. Despite parting her mouth, no words formed. And so she forced her lips to press into a firm line. Soon, they would be out of her immediate reach, hours of travel away. But at least they would be happier. At the very least, a new life away from their family was what they wanted. Monochrome's hoofsteps stopped. Turning her ears forward, Daring stared quizzically at the motionless Pegasus. She would have thought that they'd forgotten something- In a flurry of motion and feathers, Monochrome galloped back and threw their arms around their mother, clutching her in an all-encompassing embrace. Their outstretched wings followed after, with black and white plumage enclosing the two of them, creating a warm barrier that blocked out any prying eyes or noise. Daring could only sit there, stunned and confused, before Monochrome gave her one last squeeze. Pulling back, they pressed their forehead against hers with eyes shut tight. "I love you, mom..." They gently murmured. Slowly, their eyelids rose. And there, Daring saw something somber, and anxious, and familiar in those soft, misting green irises. Emotions flooded Daring Do at that moment, realizing just how silly she felt. Taking in her foal in front of her, she let out a watery laugh while tears gathered in the creases of her own eyes. 'You dummy...putting on a tough face for me. You haven't changed after all...' Somehow she felt better, knowing Monochrome looked just as nervous about the move as she felt. It made her realize just how long they'd cherished each other's company, and how much they had relied on one another during times of unspoken loneliness. And even after all of her lamenting over her failures as a parent, maybe there was some merit, knowing her kid would miss her as much as she'd miss them. Daring cupped Monochrome's face in her hooves. The pale Pegasus leaned into her hold. She smiled fondly at them, pecking a kiss onto their nose. "I love you too, Momo." With that, she pulled the younger Pegasus into one final hug, one relaxed and comforting. It was strange how she was only realizing new details now. Such as how their height dwarfed her own, leading to a face full of chest feathers. With a teary sniffle, a laugh shook her shoulders. "Where in the world did you get your height from? Honestly...you used to be so tiny." A rumble of a chuckle sounded from Monochrome's throat. Pulling away, playfulness danced within their own eyes. "Who knows...unless there's something you're not telling me." Daring lightly rolled her violet irises, smiling. "That is not unveiled until book thirteen, honey." Monochrome smiled back and shook their head, just as the loud whistle sounded off once more. "LAST CALL! ALL ABOARD!" the conductor shouted. Monochrome planted a quick kiss on their mother's head, lightly nudging her temple with their muzzle. "I'll see you." "See you soon," she answered, giving a lop-sided smile as she motioned her head towards their carry-on bag. "And don't forget those dried peppered pears I packed you! Canterlot is a ways away." Smiling back gently, Monochrome reached down to rev Tank's enchanted 'copter, wrapping the leash attached to the contraption's strap around their hoof. And just like that, Daring was quietly watching Tank and her Pegasus board the train. They spared her one last glance, holding it for a second longer, before walking further into the car and out of sight. Once the doors closed behind the conductor, the steaming train picked up speed. Daring was left waving them farewell until the vehicle was but a speck on the horizon. Her heart felt worn. But now there was also warmth and, more importantly, hope. If she had learned anything from her own experiences, this was Monochrome's time to heal and learn far more about themself than their small world of Ponyville could ever offer. The well-traveled voyager in her wished them nothing but the best in traversing that unknown. And the mother in her was ready to support them however way she could. Daring Do wanted to believe with every fraction of herself that Monochrome would find what they needed to return and face this. She herself did in time, after all.

[chocochar]

Scorching Gaze [Dabi x Reader]

Chapter 1 First Memories

Author’s note: Hey, I finally decided to try getting back into writing reader inserts!! It’s been a few years, so I’m rusty and I’m taking kind of a leap with this given the theory hasn’t been confirmed but hey, why not? This won’t completely follow canon, like not much, so things will occur in this that don’t obviously happen in the manga/anime and vice versa, but this is fanfiction so let’s just have fun! :D Now enough of my talking, let’s hop right in!

~~~

[(F/n)’s POV]

I remember the day I first met them, met him.

I was about 8, and my family had just moved into our apartment in Musutafu while my dad was pursuing his role as a pro hero; he had wanted to live in the bigger city instead of the smaller hometown we came from in hopes of getting more jobs and catching more crime. It was a nice place, I guess, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, the main room and a kitchen area. I missed the friends I did have back home, when your quirkless it’s hard to make more, especially in a city that’s home to one of the, if not the, best schools for up and coming heroes. Despite this though I kept a bright outlook and a smile on my face, just like my dad and the other pro heroes I looked up to.

I had finished all the unpacking I had to do that day, which mainly consisted of my room and part of the bathroom. Given we’d been unpacking for a few days by that point everything was pretty much done and when I came out of my room it was only about 1:30 PM. I found my mom finishing up the kitchen area and when she noticed me she smiled and asked,”All done, (F/n)?”

I gave a nod, her smile growing as she dusted her hands off and approached me, continuing,”Great! Mom’s all done too. I was about to head out to do some shopping since we’re basically out of food not including rice, and I don’t know about you but I am soooo done with rice!” I smiled, knowing she was just being dramatic to get a giggle out of me. I think she noticed I was a bit down with the move despite trying to hide it, and my wonders were confirmed when she added,”C’mon, why don’t us girls head out and get some ice cream too?” Of course my little ears perked at that! With her purse slung over her shoulder we headed out.

Shopping went alright, and after dropping everything off at home first mom and I went for the cold treat she promised; my eager, little 8 year old self was excited to go, I’d heard of this place from my friend Niri before and always wanted to go! It resided in a part of Musutafu housing the bigger and richer families, where big name pros lived. The place was small, surprising given the neighborhood it was in, but it was busy, and when mom and I finally got ours a lot of their flavors were out, but they at least had (favorite ice cream flavor) so I was content as was my mom. Given how busy it was we decided to go somewhere else to eat our sweets and noted a park not too far from the shop. I nearly dropped my cone a few times, with mom telling me to be careful, and reaching the park I felt a smile light up my face. Children ran around all over, parents sitting on benches or joining their little ones on the large playground, and so many kids showing off their new powers to others who stood in awe. While the sight made me excited I remembered feeling a bit left out. I was the only kid who couldn’t show anything. My mom seemed to notice immediately how my eyes followed each one, from a kid who could make turn his hands into any shape he pleased or a girl whose hair was strong enough to lift another child in the air, so tapping my back she gestured me to go make friends while she headed over to a bench.

I felt isolated, but I shook my head and took a breath, preparing myself. ‘I’m going to my friends! I’m going to make friends!’ I had this thought bouncing in my mind and ignored the negativity lingering, smiling brightly and skipping ahead. The sun bounced off my (hair color) locks and my (eye color) eyes sparkled with a newfound purpose: make a friend today! Even if it’s just one there’s always tomorrow!

Everything went fine at first, until every one found out about my ‘handicap’. Some asked questions, one threatened me, and some pitied. As a kid I was only a little used to this, but with each one that walked away distracted by yet another quirk my confidence started to fade and I prompted to just sit by my mom at the bench. Ice cream in hand I began to head for mom, licking the cold treat absentmindedly. I never understood why I was different, and I tried to push it back how I felt; maybe because I just didn’t understand or worry about it, or maybe to keep my parents from worrying about it.

I looked up from the ground when I heard another voice by my mom to see a young woman talking to her. Her hair was snow white, about shoulder length, and her eyes while grey were pretty. Her pale skin was fair and I tilted my head curiously wondering who this was. I’m pretty sure my mom initiated the conversation, as she seems to be leading it, but the lady seemed nice and they appeared to be getting along. I almost didn’t want to interrupt, and decided to eat my ice cream elsewhere. I stopped when two kids ran up to her, noting their hair was also white with the girl having little red streaks throughout I chalked it up to her being their mother; the older looked maybe a little younger than me, her short hair framing her petite face, and the younger only looked to be at most 3, his white hair on the spikier side. Tears pricked their eyes, which matched their mother’s, and while the sister explained in a panic,”Mo-Mom, Touya--- He’s---!” while pointing towards where they ran from my (eye color) orbs trailed to where she was pointing to. I couldn’t fully hear what she was saying but I was taken aback.

All I saw were blue flames and another child with red, messy hair crying as the flames rose up his arms and sprouted from his right cheek. Bandages covered his lower arms and a white patch rested on his cheek, but still the flames persisted. I couldn’t fully tell what was going on, except that a few older kids was backing away from him, the same fire partially surrounded him like a wall with a few openings, and he looked upset, but I also took note of how the flames left odd marks along where they came from. I’d only ever seen burns when my mom accidentally burned her hand while cooking one time, and given these looks similar my little brain chalked it up to being just that. ‘His flames hurt him?’ I thought, while also wondering if they came out because he got so upset. The bandages around his arms added to my suspicions, and I… I felt sorry. I didn’t even know this boy but he seemed to be in pain as he touched his arms and couldn’t seem to stop the bright flames.

While I didn’t know what to do and my brain raced my body seemed to move on its own as I approached the boy; the kids who I’m guessing surrounded him minutes before backed off and ran, parents seeming concerned and telling their kids to come over. To be honest I was scared like them and I even had my mom calling me to come over while the woman she was speaking to stood up and looked shocked at the boy, but I just glanced at them before continuing. I passed the flames, my heart thundered while my quirkless body trembled and I stopped only a couple feet from him. I was terrified, what if this boy kills me? What if I wind up charred in the hospital?? What if he explodes or something?! Shaking my head I took a breath and dispelled the thoughts. ‘No, I don’t think any of that will happen! He just seems sad… Maybe…’

I raised my hand and with a,”Hello.~” I held out the ice cream to him. (Luckily it wasn’t hot that day, the ice cream stayed mostly unmelted but I made sure to wrap the cone in a napkin just in case!)

You could practically feel the tenseness in the air but I kept my smile up and waited for a response. When he finally opened his eyes and looked up at me my expression went from friendly to surprised as my (eye color) orbs met those of a bright, striking blue. They contrasted beautifully with his fiery hair, his height being only an inch or two taller than me, and his face… Without realizing it pink dusted my little cheeks and I shook my head coming back to reality. My smile returned and I slowly held out my other hand for him to take. “Here, can I see your hand?” I asked. He seemed on guard so I stayed patient and showing a warm grin I asked,”Please?” He still seemed cautious but I watched as he did as asked slowly and carefully. When he did this the flames on that arm seemed to disperse almost like he was calming down and turning his hand over I placed the ice cream in his palm. I used the hand holding the ice cream to close his fingers over the cone and meeting his eyes again I let his hands go.

He seemed confused as he glanced at the treat before looking at me again, I was pretty sure he was wondering why I did that, but I just said,”It’s for you! My mom always gets me sweets when I’m upset and I could see you were mad. Taste it!”

Still he seemed confused, but to my joy he nodded and licked it; I watched as his face lit up and the flames died down until they disappeared. He no longer looked in pain and he continued to taste the ice cream while I eagerly say,”You look much better now!”

He stops and looks up again surprised this time, but straightening he replies,”... Thank you.” His face seems to turn pink in embarrassment and I giggle, unable to not think about how adorable his face looks right now. Which quickly makes me blush again and look away. I hear steps coming hurriedly and look back watching the woman and her kids coming over with my mom who immediately jumps into a lecture about how I need to stop going head first into dangerous or possibly dangerous situations. I only partially listened as I was distracted watching the mom fret over the boy, the older sister hugging him while crying and the younger brother mimicking her. He nodded as the woman, who I guessed was his mom too, talked to him and when she finished he looked over and once more our eyes met.

“(Mom’s name) I am so sorry,” the other mother apologized, pushing some of her bangs back while her face appeared distraught. “He’s not used to his quirk yet, he got mad and…”

“Rei, it’s okay! (F/n) should’ve let you handle things but hey, she helped him out of it so everything is okay now! See, little guy is all happy now huh?” My mom grinned at him, and while he smiled back he seemed bothered, looking at the ice cream again before me.

“Did you want this back?” He asked, but I shook my head.

“No, it’s okay, I gave it to you,” I replied, plus he licked it already, I did before him but I figured I’ll just let him have it since he doesn’t seem bothered by that.

“Anyways, now that that’s all settled, Rei, this is my daughter, (F/n),” my mom introduced me. Peering up at the other woman she smiled and I bowed.

“It’s nice to meet you, (F/n), you look a lot like your mother,” she chuckled, and I shook my head denying it. Everyone said that but I didn’t think so!

“(F/n), this is Rei Todoroki, we went to school together, crazy running into her huh?”

I tilted my head and shrugged. “Yeah, although you like to talk to everyone.” This gained me a look of playful annoyance from my mom but she ignored it and continued.

“And these are her kids, Touya,” she pointed to the redhead,”Fuyumi,” the next she pointed as the girl,”and little Natsuo.~” She pointed to the toddler last and my eyes glanced over every one, landing on Touya when my mom added,”Touya is only about a year older than you, and Fuyumi about a year younger. They don’t live too far from here so mom had an idea: What do you say about maybe playdates and stuff?”

Playdates?? This piqued my attention immediately as my goal for the day suddenly popped up in my head and my eyes lit up. I nodded nearly wasting no time in doing so and she held up a thumbs up at Rei, who softly smiled. My eyes returned to the other 3 children, all 3 looking back and stepping up to them I held out my hands to shake theirs.

“It’s nice to meet you guys.~”

~~~

“--/n).... (F/n)!!”

With a gasp my eyes opened wide and in surprise I fell out of my bed hitting the carpeted floor below with a thud. Groaning I don’t move at first, which changes when someone taps my back with their foot. Slowly I look back, rubbing my head wondering who the hell is in my apartment, to find it’s Kanishi, my partner at work and also a friend from high school. His black hair is spiked as always, the dark circles under his eyes ever present, but his suit looks nice like it does every day.

“What the… How did you get into my apartment?” I ask while yawning. I stand up and head for my bathroom to start my morning routine.

“You gave me a key, remember? Why aren’t you awake already?” He asks, crossing his arms while a stern look plasters itself on his  face. If I caught as many crooks as I’ve seen that face I’d be detective of the year 3 years running.

“Cause my alarm hasn’t gone off yet, aren’t you here too early?”

“Do you know what time it is?” He asks, the look hardening. I freeze, toothbrush in my mouth and shake my head. With a sigh he pulls his phone out and shows me the time. I nearly choke on my toothbrush and finishing up immediately I push him out of my room before slamming the door and rushing around looking for clothes.

‘Dammit!! Why didn’t I hear my alarm?!’ I think, throwing on simple clothes for the day. I rush around brushing my (short, long, etc) (hail color) hair and not worrying about makeup before I grab my phone, keys, badge, and bag.

“5 minutes, new record,” Kanishi comments, which just gains a glare from me as I run out of my room and pull him along. We leave my apartment in a rush, hurrying out to his car and groaning as I sit in the passenger side rubbing my temples. I’ve never been late, why is today so different?! A detective is supposed to be punctual!... At least how I see it. Although if it wasn’t for Kanishi I would’ve been late at least 3 times by now. Becoming a detective I try to make it my job to also be on time just in case, especially with the crime rate really picking up in the last couple months. With this ‘League of Villains’ stuff going on villains have gotten more daring, and wound up in jail just the same. Rubbing my neck and slumping in the seat, my eyes feel heavy as I feel like I forgot something important at home… “You seem kinda absentminded, you okay?” my partner asks, to which I nod but am too lost in my thoughts to respond.

He’s not wrong, my brain has been elsewhere the last few weeks. “I don’t know why, but… I keep having this dream of when I met some childhood friends of mine, specifically… One friend.”

“Is it the one about the Todoroki’s or something?”

I nod, my brows furrowing.

It goes quiet as I can’t seem to think about anything other than why I’m having it so frequently. After all there’s no reason right? Everything happened years ago, with… Him. I still keep in touch with Fuyumi, Natsuo, and I even met Shouto. So why-

“Maybe it’s a sign or something.”

I freeze and slowly look at him with a confused expression. “... huh?”

“It makes sense, right? Who has the same dream or dreams like it every night or every time they sleep if the dreams aren’t trying to say something?”

I’m silent but my expression shows I think he’s lost it, as he tries to validate his point. But smiling I listen to him ramble on while again getting lost in thought. A sign huh?

.... No way.

[dokidoki-tae]

Hey! I really like your blog so far! I was wondering if you also do some sad/angst stuff... how would each member of la squadra react to finding out they have a little daughter (like 5 or 6 yrs old) that they didn't know about? And then meeting her? Thanks!

Hello! So I will break this into individual parts throughout the next couple of weeks since they are turning out longer than I thought. I will post them one by one! First, we have Risotto!

Risotto: He never thought he’d be back in hometown inSicily especially so soon. It had been a little over 5 years since he had lefteverything behind. When he was assigned an assignment to take out a targethere, he wanted to pass it on to someone else, but the situation called for him.Evidently, almost nothing had changed, only a few new businesses had poppedup and some of his favorite stores he loved visiting as a child had closed down. Hedidn’t have the luxury of walking around in the open; he would stand out toomuch and be recognized. Using Metallica to cloak himself in case he needed togo out, other than that he had to hide out in his motel room until his mission wascomplete. This whole assignment had Risotto convinced Boss was doing this tospite him in hopes to bring up old memories. Boss doesn’t know much aboutRisotto or his stand, but he does know where Risotto originates from. He probablyexpects the assassin to “feel” something “nostalgic” from this trip. Begrudgingly,old memories stirred up for Risotto, memories of the family he abandoned. A smallprice to pay to avenge the murdered child of his cousin. It wasn’t like Risottohad many happy memories here. All his life he felt estranged and detached from thepeople of the Sicilian town, only ever feeling attached to his family, thebeauty and history of his home, and someone special.

Until he was 18, Risotto was once an awkward short teen, hitting his growthspurt when he was 16 and towering over his classmates who often bullied him forbeing the shortest and then for being the tallest. His neighbor and classmate wereoften there to speak up for him and defend him. The bullying never got to Risottobut to watch someone defend him with such passion, feelings began to develop.They spent much of their time together; she was there to support Risotto and theNero family when their family member was killed by the drunk driver even whenRisotto lashed out at her to leave him alone. She stuck by his side, and she was the one who Risotto lost his first kiss and virginity to. He thought she couldbe the one who could help him make peace with the cruelties of this world, butwhen he heard this family member’s murderer was going to be free after justfour years, any thoughts of settling down and living a normal life no longerexisted for him. He left his family and left her without a word.

He found himself thinking about her without warning one night andmindlessly went out without hiding himself to walk and feel the cool airagainst his skin. He needed to feel something, to experience the nostalgia ofbeing back home at least once. He knew it was a senseless and reckless thing todo, but he didn’t care. On his walk, he heard his name being called out, knowinghe had been recognized by a local. Deep down, maybe it was something he wanted.To be remembered as the young, awkward, Sicilian boy and not the cold-bloodedmurderer he had become. When he turned to look at his caller, his breath hitchedwhen he discovered who it was.

“Is that really you?” He heard no resent in her question, just confirmher suspicions. As she walked closer, her eyes and smile grew wide, extending herhand to wave eagerly at him. “Long time no see, Ris!” Just like nothing haschanged, she softly punched his chest, and he couldn’t fight his smile.

“It has.” He wanted to say more but couldn’t bring himself to. He simplysmiled down at her, hoping she would continue, but she equally struggled to saysomething, making the air awkward.

“Who’s that?” A small voice bringing them out of their own world. Risottohadn’t noticed the small presence holding the hand of his former lover. A smallgasp escaped his lips when he saw the little girl with ashy hair and red eyes. Thislittle girl couldn’t be…

“He’s an old friend of mine, sweetie.” She explained, nonchalantly. Herbehavior made Risotto question if this was his child. The little girl’s appearanceand the time he left, it added up but her casual attitude made him questionhimself.

The little girl remained watchful and looked Risotto up and down, observinghim. He watched her for a reaction, but the little girl gave him nothing,completely stoic. Though, she did stick her tongue out at him when he staredfor too long.

“Are you just visiting or…” His childhood friend asked, unsure if shewanted to know his honest answer.

“Visiting.”

“Oh. I see.” He watched as disappointment made its way onto her features,but she quickly perked up. “If that’s the case, come have breakfast with ustomorrow morning! We were just out buying some last-minute groceries, turns outwe were out of eggs and milk and a few other things. You should come over beforeyou go!” She offered, hopefully.

When Risotto opened his mouth to decline, a simple “okay” came outinstead. His childhood friend enthusiastically told him where she lived and thebest to go over while the child frowned and pouted, scrunching her nose at Risottobut said nothing. When her mom wanted to continue her conversation, she pulledat her mom, telling her she was tired and wanted to go home. They bid their goodbyesuntil the morning.

Risotto had a mind to simply not show up, but his mind was not beingreasonable, so he found himself eating breakfast with the mother and child.Risotto and his childhood friend talked and caught up. She spoke animatedly abouther career and hobbies while Risotto nodded along. She did all the talking andnever once made Risotto explain himself for leaving so abruptly without sayingso much as a word to her. While she spoke passionately about herself, she madeno mention of where this child came from.

“Can I go play outside?” The child asked before pushing her empty plateto the middle of the table.

“Oh. Don’t you want to get to know Mr. Nero?”

“No.” She said bluntly.

“It’s alright. Let the child play outside. She must be bored just hearingus talk.” Risotto interjected. He wanted to speak privately anyway. The child narrowedher eyes before heading off outside.

“I’m sorry about her. She’s can be very straightforward about her thoughtsand feelings.” She apologized, getting up to wash the dirty dishes. “People sayshe’s exactly like me when I was her a-“

“Who is her father?” Risotto interrupted 

She pressed her lips into a thin line and went silent, letting the sink faucet run, the running water replacing their conversation with neither of them moving an inch for a couple of minutes.

“I-“ She paused again. “I’ll discuss this…” She sighed. “I can’t say, not when you’re leaving again.”Her voice shook.

“So she is mine?” Risotto asked one last time to confirm.

“I…Yes. I’m sorry…” She breathed, Risotto watched as her shouldersshook but didn’t move to comfort her. He had his own feelings he needed to sortout. What did this mean for him? Did this change anything?

“Has she ever asked about me?” Risotto wondered out loud, catching himselfand her off guard. She looked down at her fiddling hands and thought deeplyabout his question.

“Only once.” She said honestly. “Only once did she ask where her fatherwas. When I told her I didn’t know, she never brought it up again.”

Risotto bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself composed; hecould not let this get to him. Not here. He got up before asking permission tospeak to the child.

“You're not going to tell her, are you?” She instinctively moved to block the door. He could see the fear,distress, and hope in her movement, expression, and voice. Fear and distress as to what the child couldfeel and hope that it could mean Risotto would stay.

“I am not. I just want to speak to her if you’ll let me,” Risotto reachedout and held her cheek to calm her. She relented and gave him permission as shesat down to collect herself.

Risotto found his child sitting by a tree, seeking shelter from theunforgiving sun and saw her filling in a coloring book. She must have grabbedit before heading out. She glanced up when he approached, giving him a quick “hi”before returning to her messy coloring. Knowing that this little girl was hisdaughter caused his heart to lurch, and he was angry at himself for it but choseto ignore it in the moment.

“Hello,” he greeted awkwardly, seating himself next to her.

“… Hi.” She responded quietly, not looking at him. Risotto noticed her downtrodden faceas she colored absentmindedly. As the adult, Risotto figured he had to strikeup a conversation, but his child beat him to it.

“That’s the happiest I have seen mom in a long time…” She opened up, “EvenI never made her that happy,” she said mumbled bitterly. Risotto didn’t know a childher age could saying something with such bitterness. She stabbed her cartoon onto the page and color furiously,breaking the crayon in the process. “… Thanks for making mom happy, I guess,”she muttered.

Unable to find the right words, Risotto placed his large hand on her headand gently ruffled it. Without direction, his child leaned into him and restedher head against him. The sadness on her face chipped away at his heart. Thiswas his child, and he had no way of comforting her; he couldn’t tell her who hewas to her. Not when he couldn’t stay.

“Are you my dad?” She suddenly threw her question at him.

He paused before asking, treading light. He didn’t want to break his word to the mother. “Why do you think that?” He wanted to know.

“Because of how happy mom was when she saw you because we share the samecreepy eyes.” She said, pointing to her own.

“Creepy?” Risotto repeated?

“That’s what all the kids here say about them. My eyes are creepy,” shesaid, matter-of-factly and unbothered.

“They aren’t creepy,” Risotto expressed, a protective and sudden paternalside manifesting, wanting his child to be confident in her appearance.

“Are you my dad?” She repeated, ignoring Risotto comment.

He remained quiet, knowing his silence was both an answer and not an answer at once,and she seemed to accept that and chose to go back to drawing. Things suddenlybecame tense, and Risotto realized he had made a mistake and stayed too long.He had to go. Without warning, he used Metallica’s ability to cloak himself andleft without uttering a word to his daughter and former lover. As time passed,the young girl’s mother came by to check on her.

“Where is Mr. Nero?” She asked her lonely daughter who told her that heleft a while ago.

“He told me to tell you sorry that he couldn’t say good-bye and that he’llmiss you,” she lied, hoping she lessened the blow for her mother.

“Is that so?” She smiled understandably, kneeling to give her daughter asoft kiss on the forehead. “That was very kind of him. Thank you, bambina.” Thelittle girl trembled and wrapped your arms around her mom’s neck, fighting theurge to cry. “There, there, my little sweet pea. There is no reason to cry.” Shetook her into her arms and carried her away, leaving her coloring book behind andtaking her inside.

The mother and daughter did not come out the rest of the night when Risottofound himself on their property once last time. He was tempted to cloak himselfand see them one last time but now had enough sense to know it was not a goodidea and would stop him from going back to Naples and his team.

As he began to walk off, he noticed the coloring back, picking it up and flippingthrough the pages. He smiled at his child’s reluctance to stay inside the lineand using random uncommon colors for common things. He didn’t expect to takeany gifts for back home, but he carefully placed the coloring book in hissuitcase when he finally headed back to his new home in Naples.

On the plane ride, he fell asleep thinking about his former lover andtheir child and dreamt about the life they could have had if things had turnedout differently.  

[deaky-disco-queen]

New Neighbour - Maylor Week Day 2

A/N: Here we are! Sadly, my only piece for this week but I tried to make it Count. Written for the prompt ‘dancing in the kitchen’ even though that’s hardly the Focus of this. Whoops. Thanks to @iamnotbrianmay for organizing this week!

Can also be read on AO3.

+++

Roger could faintly hear his phone ring from the edge of the pasture where his bag and the rest of his stuff was. He let out a sharp whistle, alerting his herding dogs Clover and Kit who immediately starting herding the sheep closer to the barn while he jogged towards his phone. A very unflattening picture of John was on his display and he chuckled lowly before accepting the call.

   “Deaks? What’s up?”

   “Hey, sorry, I know you’re out with the sheep right now but I need to borrow your truck on Saturday.”

He frowned slightly and wiped the seat off his forehead, mentally already going through his to-do-list for the weekend. He knew John’s truck was still out of commission, waiting for replacement parts at Jim’s garage but the younger man also hadn’t worried about that because in their village, nobody really needed them anyway which is half of the reason only John and Roger had one in the first place.

   “When and what do you need it for?”

   “Somebody bought the Criston House and Miami asked me to fix the roof before the guy moves in but-”

   “-but the supplies are at the factory, I got it. Yeah, you can have it, just bring it back by Monday.” 

They exchanged a little bit of small talk then but both of them were busy and they quickly wrapped it up, not wanting to keep the other one. He put his phone back into his bag, quickly grabbed the rest of his things and walked back to the barn to have on last look at the sheeps, just making sure everything was alright, before calling his dogs and making his way back to the house.

He patted Clover’s head in passing, opening the door for his girls and they immediately slipped inside, making a beeline for the kitchen, knowing there were treats waiting for them. He followed them, laughing quietly to himself. After giving them their well-deserved treats he refilled their bowls and then went to take a shower.

Roger didn’t waste much time in the shower, he really only wanted to change into his sweatpants and curl up in front of his TV with something to eat. He knew he still had left-overs from back when he had been invited for dinner at Freddie’s parents place and he was already looking forward to eating it because his mother was an amazing cook.

Kit was trailing around his legs as he was heating the curry back up, wanting his attention and probably something of the meat but he chastised her softly and sent her off to play with her toys. He filled a bowl with his food and grabbed a beer and sat down heavily on the sofa, groaning happily. Immediately, Kit was with him again, jumping on the sofa and resting her head on his legs. Clover laid down on the floor in front of them, chewing on her teddy bear, her tail wagging happily. Roger turned on the TV, catching one of the crime shows he was following half-heartedly whenever he found the time to watch them.

   “So, somebody bought the Criston House, huh?” He said to Kit, scratching behind her ear. “That’s a decision, I guess.”

The Criston House was an old house on the site next to Roger’s ranch. It had been empty for as long as Roger could remember and he hadn’t thought it would ever be sold but apparently he had been wrong. Bad for John as he was the guy people went to when things needed fixing but good for someone, Roger assumed.

The house was beautiful for a house that had been abandoned for over twenty years. Nice grey brickwork with ivy growing on it and a beautiful oak tree in the backyard and the river was running by closely. He had never been inside but from the outside, it looked like a nice house to live in. Except maybe for the roof which got a bit damaged over the years but John didn’t sound too worried about fixing it so it couldn’t be too bad.

   “Looks like we’re getting a neighbour, girls.”

+++

A perk of having your friend work next to your house was definitely having lunch together. Most of the time, Roger didn’t have the time to sit down for a lunch but John had no issue with walking beside him, eating whatever lunch he had brought and holding Roger’s food when needed.

It was nice because it meant Roger had someone else then his dogs to talk to and work had kept both of them busy so they couldn’t hang out as much as they had wanted to. Neither of them was much of a gossip but then again, it was a small village and there wasn’t really much happening and so the most interesting thing was whoever didn’t make it to church on time. Or, in their case, the fact that Paul Prenter had let his car fix by a mechanic from a different town instead of going to Jim’s garage which was incredible stupid because Jim was the best mechanic Roger had ever seen and even if he couldn’t stand him, he’d get his car fixed by him.

   “He’s being ridiculous.” John said, shaking his head.

   “Yeah, but what’s new? I never really liked him anyway.”

John hummed in agreement, taking a bite out of his sandwich. Roger pulled his hair band out of his hair to gather them into a new ponytail since too many strands had escaped over time and had fallen into his face. John passed him a bottle of water and he drank almost half of it before giving it back. He nodded towards the Criston House.

   “Have you met the guy who bought it yet?”

   “Yep, met him a few days ago. Nice guy, tall, wild hair. Probably the type who gets on my nerve after a while but very polite.”

John shrugged, absently flipping the bottle in his hand a couple of times then put it back into his bag and shrugged again, this time pulling an unimpressed face. Roger snorted and gently knocked their shoulders together.

   “But I guess we’ll see how he is soon enough. He wants to move in by, uh, end of August if I remember correctly.”

   “Let me know if you remember the date. I don’t think Miami will let me live it down if I am late for a welcoming present again.”

He laughed and Roger slapped him playfully, grumbling under his breath.

   “Well, you forgot the present for Freddie. And you literally annoyed us for months because you were so excited for him to move in. I don’t think Jim was so excited and they are married. And then you forgot the present.”

Roger threw his arms up and groaned in mock-frustration but John wrapped his arm around him, pulling him close and next thing he knew they were play wrestling and falling back into the grass, pushing and pulling at each other while yelling, cursing and laughing. John’s elbow digged harshly into his side and he let out a strangled breath before he managed to turn them around, effectively straddling his friend. Both of them were breathing hard but giggling, trying to outdo the other.

   “Will you two ever grow up?” An old voice asked.

They quickly sat up- Roger flicking a clover out of John’s hair who stuck his tongue out at him- to see Mrs. Thompson, their former school teacher, standing just behind the fence, two big bags in her hands.

   “I’m afraid not, Mrs .Thompson.” Roger chuckled.

She shook her head at them and they scrambled to their feet quickly, stuck somewhere between thinking this situation was embarrassing and being incredible amused by the whole thing.

   “Do you need help with those bags, Mrs. Thompson?”

   “At least your manners never were an issue.”

They quickly jumped over the fence which made Mrs. Thompson sigh quietly and shook her head again but she did let them take the bags from her, setting the way to her house not far from Roger’s.

+++

Roger carefully wrapped the cheese into wax paper, sealing it with a sticker and placed it into the basket to the jam and sausages and quickly grabbed the bottle of wine he had bought for this, also adding it to the other things.

He brushed his hair out of his face. He really needed a haircut.

The basket was looking really nice and he wiped his hands on his shirt before grimacing and deciding he needed to change before he could go over to the new neighbor. He washed his hands and quickly changed into something he hadn’t been wearing out for taking care of the sheep. Only then he grabbed the basket and walked over to the house.

John had done a good job with the roof, not that Roger was an expert in these kind of things but it looked better than it did before. It had also been John who reminded him about the new guy moving in. Usually, he would have noticed things because a big moving truck was kind of a dead giveaway but Roger had been out of town yesterday and he was thankful for John because he would have forgotten it again.

Sometimes, he missed the big city. Nobody really expected you to know everyone or give every new neighbour something for moving in and nobody gossiped about you just because someone came late for church or whatever town festival was happening. On the other hand, he loved his hometown and he did move back here after all. He really couldn’t imagine himself in a different job besides being a sheep owner.

It took only a moment for his neighbour to get the door and Roger’s kind of fake, polite smile grew into something much more sincere.

He was pretty. Long, dark curly were framing his face and he had gentle, dark eyes. His sweater was too short, leaving his wrist and part of his lower arm bare and there was just a sliver of skin between his pants and the sweater but Roger quickly looked up again, not wanting to be caught staring.

   “Hello, I’m Roger and I live next door. I, ah, just wanted to drop off a welcoming gift.”

The man smiled softly and took the basket from him, looking it over quickly.

   “This is lovely but, um, I’m actually vegetarian.”

   “Oh, sorry, I just take the sausages back then.”

They shared an awkward smile during the exchange and Roger cursed himself inwardly for making this meeting weird already.

   “Oh, I’m Brian, by the way. Do you want to come in for a cup of tea?”

   “I’d love to.”

The house was nice. Roger had never seen it from the inside before but he assumed a house that had been empty for twenty years couldn’t look that great but Brian had done a nice job with the interior. Not that he had any real idea about what good interior design looked like since his house was basically a mismatched collection on old furniture still from his grandparents and the ikea furniture he had brought with him when he moved back after college. Brian’s furniture seemed to fit together most of the time, though, and everything was neat and tidy.

   “You have a beautiful house.”

   “Thank you.”

The kitchen had a door to the backyard and Roger could see a couple of his sheep grazing close to the fence and watched them while Brian made the tea.

   “Do the sheep belong to you?” Brian asked.

He pulled two mugs out of a cabinet, looking to him for a moment before putting the kettle on the oven.

   “Yeah, I sell their wool, milk and meat to others in the village. The cheese is made from milk of my sheep and so were the sausages but that’s not that important.”

   “I only have jasmine tea and mint tea unpacked so far so, uh, I hope that’s fine.”

Roger nodded and smiled at him. Brian honestly didn’t look like the type of guy who would like to move into a village in the middle of nowhere. The only people who move out here were couples with young children because ground was cheaper here but except that, the people who lived here were the same families that had lived here since what seemed like forever. Some people, like Roger, left for a while to go to college and get a degree and some stay and don’t come back but some do.

Brian poured some water into the mugs and put both of them on the table, followed by the tea bags and some sugar and milk. Roger took a mint tea bag and added two sugars to it.

   “So, what brings you here?” He asked.

   “Ah, I’m a writer but I’m kind of stuck so I decided maybe a change of scenery would help.” Brian shrugged, then chuckled softly. “But I guess I’ll see that with time.”

Roger made an interested sound, his eyebrows lifting as he gestured for him to continue. Brian blushed. He laughed, sounding quite embarrassed.

   “It’s nothing really. I wrote two books before and they did pretty well all things considering but the next one just doesn’t want to come to me as it seems.” He shrugged again and waved his hand through the air. “I just want to bring it to a good end, that’s all.”

He smiled, looking almost shy and Roger decided to prod a little bit because not only did it actually interest him- he didn’t always had the time to get into a book but he used his limited free times to find some good reads- but Brian seemed embarrassed talking about it. It was kind of sad, in a way, as he was obviously passionate about his writing and when Roger was passionate about something, he would talk about it with everybody, given the chance.

Brian was hesitant at first, quietly telling him about his Science Fiction novels but quickly realized that Roger really wanted to hear about it and his voice grew more sure and eventually, he was basically rambling, gesturing animatedly.

   “That sounds really cool.” Roger said, drinking the rest of his tea. “But I’m afraid I have to go back to work now.”

   “Thank you for stopping by. And thank you for the presents!”

+++

The next time Roger saw Brian was in his backyard and he waved at him from the distance, a grin appearing on his face when Brian waved back. He jogged over to where the fence separated his backyard from his pasture.

   “Hey! How have you been doing? Settled in nicely?”

Brian smiled and nodded. Roger spotted a watering can in his hand.

   “Hello, Roger. How are you doing?”

Roger jumped up the fence, sitting down on top of it, legs dangling above the ground as he grabbed the wood to steady himself. Kit and Clover trotted over to see what he was doing.

“Oh, good, busy with work, you know.”

He wiped his forehead, his shirt clinging to his body from the sweat and nodded at the watering can.

   “Planting something?”

   “Oh, no, I don’t think I could.” Brian laughed. “It’s just pretty hot and I figured the bushes might need some water.”

Roger took him in, with his half-unbuttoned shirt, leaving his collarbone exposed, that was haphazardly tucked into his jeans and his curls were messy, looking as if he had been running his hand through it several times. He looked tired, too, dark shadows beneath his eyes.

   “If you want to know how to plant things, you should talk to Jim. He owns the garage but also has a great garden. It’s relaxing, he says.”

Brian crouched down and reached through the fence to pet Clover’s head who yipped happily.

   “I don’t really think I will. What’s their names?”

   “That’s Clover and this is Kit.”

He watched him scratch both dogs’ chins for a while, occasionally glancing back to his sheep. Brian cooed at the dogs for a moment longer, then he straightened up again. Roger smiled at him.

+++

Brian was out in his backyard alot and Roger often found himself caught up in conversation with him, idly chatting over anything as he watched over his sheep. Sometimes, they would talk about Brian’s books or Roger’s work but they quickly found other things to talk about like music and animals among other things.

Having a neighbour was nice, Roger realized. And Brian was nice, Roger might have developed a tiny crush on the man but nobody could really blame him because he was handsome and intelligent and didn’t know how to button shirts. It was distracting.

He started to look forward to seeing Brian, seeking excuses to keep talking with him even if it meant he had to miss his crime shows.

+++

Roger watched how Brian was cutting apples and took out a big bite out of one of the leftover apples as he sat on top of the kitchen counter. Brian was cutting them with practiced precision, his sleeves rolled up and Roger cocked his head to the side, humming softly.

His hair was pulled back into a ponytail so it wouldn’t hang into his face as he made his pie.

“Okay, help me out for a second: What even is a fall festival?” He asked.

Roger chuckled and wiped some juice off his chin.

   “It’s just good food, music and lots of dancing. It’s fun and just the people hanging out.”

   “I’m going to have to skip the dancing, I guess, but the rest sounds like fun.”

He frowned slightly before putting his apple to the side and jumping off the counter, clapping his hands.

   “Come ‘ere. Dancing is easy. I can show you.”

Brian stopped cutting for a moment and laughed, shaking his head. Roger just clapped again, wiggling his fingers at him.

   “Come on, Bri! It’s fun!”

He shot him a long look, then sighed, placed the knife carefully to the side and wiped his hands on a towel. Roger’s grin grew and he quickly grabbing him before he could change his mind again, pulling him close. He put one of his hands on his hip and placed his own on Brian’s shoulder. Brian’s hands were surprisingly rough.

   “I guess you’ll be the one guiding so you put your hands like this.”

He started humming a song he knew would be played at the festival and just moved them along the steps of the dance. Brian was clumsy at first, stumbling over his own feet and stepping on his toes a couple of times but soon he caught up to it and they were dancing somewhat decently.

   “There we go! You can dance!”

   “Barely, I can barely dance.”

Roger laughed, looking up at him. He was close enough now to smell him which should be way weirder than it was and he tried not to sniff him too obviously. It was a nice smell, clean and fresh but nothing Roger could clearly identify.

At some point, they had stopped dancing, more swaying back and forth in place. Only then, Roger noticed that they were actually really close to each other and that Brian’s hand had slipped from on his hip to the small of his back. His heart jumped in his chest and a blush rose on his cheeks. Hoping Brian wouldn’t notice it, he lowered his head a little bit, his forehead almost touching his shoulder.

He took a deep breath, trying not to immediately expose himself. Brian cleared his throat.

   “Is there anything else than dancing?”

They were still swaying in place, the apples forgotten on the counter. Roger looked up quickly, shooting Brian a short smile.

   “Uh, not really. It’s mostly about the food, the music and the dancing.”

Brian hummed softly, nodding to himself.

   “I like that, I think. This kind of dancing, at least.”

   “What? What kind of dancing?”

Brian smiled at him, his hand squeezing his. Roger swallowed hard at the look on his face. He couldn’t quite discern it but it looked somewhat fond.

   “Slow dancing. It’s nice.”

There was a short, heavy silence as they were just looking at each other and then he chuckled, licked his lips and leaned down, pressing a short, chaste kiss to Roger’s lips. Roger blinked, taken by surprise and they stopped swaying, just standing close to each other as they kept looking at each other.

   “Was that okay?” Brian asked quietly.

   “Yes, yes it was. Completely okay.”

Another moment of silence followed, then they broke into giggles, leaning into each other. Roger hid his face in Brian’s chest, the taller man’s hand on his back gently pulling him closer and he wrapped his arms around him, his face red from laughter.

   “That was awful!” He laughed.

   “Am I that bad of a kisser?”

Roger shook his head and pushed back far enough so he could lean up and kiss him again. It was a longer kiss this time, both of them moving with purpose this time but it was still chaste, just shy lips moving against each other. Brian’s hand slid up his back, cupping his neck.

They pulled away from slowly, smiling dopily at each other.

   “Better?”

Roger nodded, stealing another quick kiss before taking a full step back. He laced their fingers together and squeezed them.

   “Uh, let’s finish your pie? And then maybe practice some more dancing?”

Brian laughed, throwing a quick look over his shoulder where the apples were and nodded.

   “Yeah, good idea.”

Roger sat back down on the counter and Brian went back to cutting the rest of the apples but they kept stealing glances at each other, unable to stop smiling.

   “We could, uh, go to the festival together?” Roger asked.

   “I’d love that.”

[chillmichelle]

Bad Nights

Shawn and Y/N are best friends in love with each other, so why does he keep being with other girls?

Word count: 4.8K

Angst & Fluff

-

November, 2012

“Don’t worry, Y/N, i’ll be fine.” Shawn has a little too much gel in his hair as he places his headphones in his ears, one after the other. There are small pimples scattering across his forehead, and his braces make his words seem a little slurred, but he confidently (Although Y/N can tell he’s nervous enough to practically shit his pants) stands in front of the movie theater, waiting for Jess to show up.

“Well, I guess if you say so…” She trails off, still feeling uneasy about leaving her best friend there. Shawn had liked Jess since the sixth grade, and now he finally had a shot at actually dating her. He’d been so excited, the date being the only thing he’d talked about for the past few days. Y/N had helped him choose what outfit to wear, what movie to see, and shown him the basic principles of getting her to like him.

Drowning in his father’s cologne, Shawn stands at his tall height in front of the local movie theatre, eyes occasionally shifting to the automatic wristwatch on his right wrist. He nervously tilts back and forth on the pads of his feet, seeing that as the minutes roll by his mind fills with more possible reasons why she isn’t there.

Y/N, who he assumes trudged off a while ago, stands at the corner of the movie theatre, staring at her unknowing best friend who teeters more and more. Y/N counts the minutes as they tick by, and with every person who walks into the theatre (some of them apologetically staring at the cold, defeated boy out front) his expression deepens, frown drooping more and more.

The movie’s started at that point, Jess is 30 minutes past when he was supposed to meet her. He runs the dialogue Y/N’s been feeding him through his head.

“You look beautiful.”

“Don’t worry, i’ll pay.”

“I’m glad you came out tonight.”

His heart is shattered, the one girl he’s had his hopes up for since the 6th grade had finally given him a chance, and then when his hopes had gone up, she’d abandoned him and stood him up. Shawn takes a seat on the bench in front of the movie theatre, not caring if anyone sees him as he bows his head.

Y/N takes this as her chance, she walks out from where she’s been silently watching him from afar and walks to where he sits sadly on the bench. Shawn, who wants nothing more than to sit there and disappear, think’s she’s just another person walking by. But then he hears the footsteps stop right in front of him, and spots the snow boots he gifted her for her 14th birthday on her feet, and his head lifts to meet her eyes.

“Hey Curly, don’t sit here looking like a debby downer when there’s whole spiderman movie going on inside.” Y/N pulls her cold hand out of her pocket, using it to grab his fist as she tugs on it for him to stand up. He looks defeated, eyes swollen, and Y/N can tell he’s properly heartbroken from being stood up.

“Just because the night doesn’t turn out like you want it to, doesn’t mean it’s a shitty night. When I first met you, you were putting gum in my hair.” She tells him, ruffling his improperly gelled hair and tousling the messy waves.

Shawn smiles a little but, lips just barely perking upwards, but Y/N is happy nonetheless, and she pulls his hand, which has now unraveled from his fist, and leads the way into the movie theatre.

-

“Shawn if you don’t fucking get your flat ass back here right now, I swear to god I will rip every curly strand off of your head!”

Y/N climbs over the mess of sheets on her bed, stubby legs trying to run after him as he dips out into the hallway of her home. Her phone is gripped tightly in his hand and he laughs as he merely jogs, long legs still giving him the ability to be far ahead of her.

“You’ve been on this phone since I got here!” He says, sprinting down the wooden stairs to her home. As he makes his way into the kitchen, he hears little feet pad down the stairs behind him.

“That’s because it’s important!” She yells back, finally having caught up to him. They circle around the counter, Shawn turning on her phone and quickly entering in her password. She takes his distraction to quickly run towards him, hands reaching out to snatch the phone out of her hands. He immediately raises his arm up, his height giving him the advantage as Y/N stands on her tippy toes and tries to retrieve her precious device.

“Wow, who’s Grant?” Shawn asks, eyebrows going up and down as he scrolls through the conversation on her phone. Y/N’s cheeks immediately flush, knowing that their conversations weren’t necessarily the friendliest. She jumps up to grab her phone, and fails once more.

Shawn’s eyebrows stay furrowed as he reads through the messages. His heart tightens up a bit, stomach weirdly flipping inside of him as he reads the displays of affection exchanged between them. Playing it off subtly, he clears his throat and laughs, tickling her sides before handing the phone back to her.

He should be used to it by now, but he isn’t.

Shawn had been standing by Y/N for the past fifteen year of their lives. They’d been closer than any of their other friends, having more inside jokes and spending more time with each other than anyone else in their group had. Y/N remembered the time he suckered her into the school choir, despite her tone deaf voice, and laughed with him time to time about how the choir teacher made her stand in the corner of the stage and play the triangle so that her voice wouldn’t throw off the whole performance.

Growing up, it seemed as if they were inseparable. People always thought they were dating, and when they would both deny the accusations (which people never believed), the suspicion grew even more. After all, Shawn and Y/N were both attached by the hip all the time.

But when Shawn left for tour at 15, things changed a bit every time he came back home.

He was never really in Pickering for long, and neither was she anymore, now that she’d gone off to college. When he would visit every few months ( if it were up to him it would be more often), she’d hear different stories about him from other people, ones that she didn’t want to believe were true, but ones that she knew were.

Y/N wouldn’t necessarily say that she was in love with Shawn.

Of course, she loved him as a friend. She loved the little dimples that he had during his chubby phase in elementary school, and she loved the way that his eyes changed shades depending on his moods. She always knew how to read him, and when Shawn went missing for hours on end after getting into a fight with his family, she always knew to find him behind the sketchy Gas station in front of their old elementary school, a handful of quarters in his pocket as he stress chews packs of gum and writes song lyrics into his mind.

So why did she feel that way every time she heard another story of him coming back from tour, to hook up with another girl who wouldn’t have dared to be with him if he wasn’t who he was? Why did her stomach feel uneasy whenever an advertisement for a gossip magazine, with him hugging a supermodel who was dressed in his clothing, bother her so much?

Why did she coincidentally get drunk every time he stood her up when he came back home?

She wasn’t exactly sure. She loved him, but she didn’t want to be in love with him. She was well aware that there wasn’t any way that he felt the same way as she did.

So she drowned herself in other boys, ones that just happened to also have hazel eyes and a head of curly hair. Ones that happened to also enjoy John Mayer, and ones that also just happened to play guitar.

She wasn’t the proudest she could be at her choices, ut what choice did she have, really? He was a celebrity, no matter how much he felt like her best friend from home.

Tucking her phone back into the waistband of her sweats, Y/N shoots Shawn a glare, flipping him off before she turns around to grab a cookie from the small carton she’d purchased. The carton was almost empty, and she sighed knowing that she’d eventually have to go back to the grocery store.

“So, tell me about this Grant guy?” Shawn asks, leaning his elbows onto the kitchen counter and placing his chin in the palm of his hand as he awaits her answer like a giddy school girl. Y/N scoffs, tucking a cookie into her mouth before speaking with her mouth full.

“There’s really nothing to say. It’s just a fling, I don’t really want a relationship right now.” She shortly answers. Unless it’s with you, she thinks to herself, but mentally slaps herself in the face. Shawn nods, trying to hide the feeling of hurt flinch at him from her words.

I don’t really want a relationship right now.

Shawn was sure that he was in love with Y/N.

It had taken him a while to admit it to himself, but he had been in town one night, visiting their hometown and strolling through the streets of his neighborhood, and he had seen a small basketball hoop on the side of the walls of one of the homes.

He immediately thought back to their childhood. When Shawn was 9, his parents had gotten him a portable basketball goal for their large driveway. After a day of practicing (missing all of the shots) basketball one day, with Y/N cheering him on jokingly from the sidelines, he’d fallen and scraped his knee on the asphalt. Instead of going inside and giving him a proper bandaid, Y/N had taken a scrunchie off of her wrist, and placed it on top of the wound on Shawn’s knee.

He still had the scrunchie lying around somewhere in his bedroom.

There was a party going on that night, and Shawn remembered seeing various childhood friends getting drunk at the party that was a short 10 minute walk away from where he was. Then he recalled seeing the video of Y/N, drunkenly singing along to a song from the early 2000’s, her arms pulling someone’s neck closer to hers.

And it had bothered him.

A lot.

Shawn had noticed from then on the feeling he would get whenever she would mention anyone else. He tried to fight his feeling, tried to find love in other girls, tried to save his friendship by stopping his feelings for his best friend. But after a while he noticed how all the girls he’d be attracted to, would have traces of her with them.

That girl at the bar looks pretty, he would think.

Shit, she looks like Y/N.

Shawn knew that one of these days, he was bound to say at least something to her. That’s why he would sometimes cancel his plans with her, he was so afraid of slipping up and letting her know that he loved her in some way. And as much as he did love her, he knew that having any of her was better than having none of her at all.

So he swallowed her words about not wanting a relationship, mentally cursed out whoever this Grant guy was in his head, and stole a few of her cookies, stress eating his way through his problems.

-

Y/N’s sitting next to Shawn in the passenger seat of his jeep, her legs are dangling due to how high the seats are, and she watches the way his arms flex as he rolls the steering wheel with his wrists on the surface.

“Remember the monkey bars at that place?” Shawn points to the abandoned preschool, vines forming over the worn out concrete structures. It was where Shawn and Y/N had both met, growing up on the crappy equipment together.

“I’m pretty sure our entire grade got the flu from those bars.” Y/N laughs, remembering the time her and Shawn both got sick. She swears that it was him who sniffled first, but he always assured her it was her who gave it to him.

Their reminiscing is cut short when Shawn’s phone suddenly buzzes a number of times all at once. Multiple texts hit his phone and Y/N, without thinking, reaches down to grab it from where it’s connected to the aux.

“I’ll check it”

She expects to see a text from his mum, or his sister, maybe his friends about hanging out now that he’s back in town for the winter, but instead she’s met with an array of text messages from various other girls.

She sees some of the texts have attachments sent with them, vulgar words pressing at the conversations that he was apparently having. Y/N’s stomach feels a bit sick from the flirty nature of all of the messages, and she quietly puts his phone back down onto the console before closing her mouth and waiting for the tears welling at her eyes to dry away.

“Y/N, they’re just-”

“It’s none of my business, Shawn.” Her heart pokes against the frame of her ribcage, the small piece of hope that she had that maybe, just maybe he could like her back being shredded as she stares out through the foggy, iced up window of his car.

-

Shawn stands on her front porch, a small bundle of daisies in his hand as he nervously paces back and forth. His footsteps are quiet on the hardwood of her patio, and he presses on in his head what to say to her.

He hadn’t been this nervous since his first performance.

He finally gathers his thoughts together, hands lifting up in a loose fist to knock at her door, but before his knuckles can reach the door, the door swings open and in a panic, Shawn throws the daisies over the bush next to the porch.

“Shawn?” Y/N’s eyes are wide. She has a cute little blush to her cheeks, and Shawn wants nothing more than to lean forward and shower he soft skin in kisses. He refrains, though, and clears his throat as he replies.

Why was he so fucking nervous?

“Hey.” His voice cracks as he speaks, he feels embarrassed at the action, but is relieved when Y/N lets out a snort, laughing at his mistake.

“What are you doing here?” She asks him, fingers tapping against the back of her phone as she awaits an answer.

“Thought maybe you’d want to go to the movies or something?” He suggests. His eyebrows raise and he gives her a soft look, and she’s reminded of how he looked back in secondary school.

“I’d love to Shawn, but I can’t. I have plans tonight, maybe tomorrow?” His heart drops a little, but he keeps his composure. Before he can reply, a pair of headlights flashes it’s way behind the two of them, and Shawn snaps his neck backwards to see a sports car pulling into her driveway.

The door to the expensive looking car opens, and a tall boy (not as tall as Shawn, but still tall) steps out of the vehicle. He has a bundle of daisies in his hand, and Shawn immediately curses himself for panicking and throwing them behind the bush.

“Y/N? You ready to go?” His voice is deep, hair perfectly done in a messy neat kind of way and Shawn hates it because he looks like a good guy. A guy who could give her a good time, without having any phony articles written about him or fans hating on his girl. Y/N lets out a little smile, a dreamy one that Shawn would admire if it weren’t for the fact that he wasn’t the one causing it.

“Yeah! Get back in the car Grant, it’s chilly outside.”

Y/N looks up at Shawn, her eyebrows raising a bit, “I’ll see you, Shawn.”

“Yeah, t-tomorrow?” He stutters out and she merely nods before walking towards Grant’s car. He waits for her, opening the door of the car before closing it behind her, and pulling out the driveway. Shawn stays standing on her porch, daisies scattered across her lawn as his chest aches a little bit at watching her leave.

-

“Heard Shawn had quite the night with that instagram model who goes to Western.” Y/N munches on some complementary pretzels as Brian speaks loudly to his friends across from her. Shawn’s excused himself to go to the restroom, and right as he leaves the boys continue talking about his crazy adventures as a celebrity.

Her heart aches just a little bit, and to relieve the tension, she fills the rest of her body with beer and floury chips. Her mind is a bit gone and she refrains from any sort of conversation in fear of giving herself away.

“Gotta give the man some credit, he has good game.” Im laughs as he reaches forward to steal a pretzel from the bowl held in Y/N’s lap. She slaps his hand away and stuff two more down her lips.

“Can I get a fucking pretzel?” Ian playfully questions. Y/N shakes her head, mouth too full to give a response. When she swallows a bit later, she opens her mouth to speak again.

“Why do you all always insist on talking about Shawn’s love life instead of getting one of your own?” She digs, a bit pissed off at them. She knows it’s not at all their fault, but she can’t help her emotions getting the best of her.

“Jesus Y/N, what’s got you so worked up?” Brian spits back at her, actually sounding a bit defensive. Y/N reaches for another pretzel, but faces disappointment when she realizes the bowl is empty.

The truth is that Brian was right. She had no right to be upset, at all in fact. She wondered to herself. If she hadn’t gone out with Grant, and if she’d instead gone to a movie with Shawn, would he have not slept with someone else that night?

Y/N knows she shouldn’t be talking. But last night she had begrudgingly ended things with Grant. He was a nice guy, and she knew of it for sure, but he wasn’t Shawn. She was planning on spending more time with him, maybe seeing what they could be to see if she felt anything more than friendship towards him.

And then he’d slept with someone else.

Did that mean that he didn’t like her at all? Did it, perhaps, mean that she’d given up Grant for no real reason? She wanted to believe that she had made the right choice in ending things with him. After all, she knew she had all of these feelings for Shawn that she was unsure of.

But was she trying for nothing?

“Did you finally realize you’re head over heels in love with Shawn?” She hears Ian say, and she’s immediately snapped back into reality.

“What?” She quickly asks, head snapping over to look at Ian. He has a relaxed expression on his face, the alcohol clearly having taken the edge off of him as he leans against the booth with his body slouching off of it.

“Well you’re in love with him.” He tells her, expression scrunching up after he says it, “Aren’t you?”

Y/N gulps, she didn’t want anyone else to know, especially Shawns friends. But on another hand, they were also her friends.

The part that conflicts her the most is the fact that she doesn’t even know how she feels. Was she in love with Shawn? Maybe. She was definitely bothered by the idea of him being with someone who wasn’t her. He knew her better than most people did, and he’d always at east made an effort to talk to her whenever he was home.

But he was Shawn.

He travelled the world every other month, probably getting with tons of other pretty girls in the process. He wouldn’t have time for her, and he wouldn’t like her after all of the other amazing girls he had the ability to be with. Y/N knew there was no way her feelings were reciprocated.

So she blames the beer when she nods lightly, eyes staring down at the bar table as she accepts the fact that there’s no way he’d ever want someone like her, no matter how much she misses him when he’s not home.

“Pretty fucking obvious.” Brian remarks and she turns to glare at him, throwing a crumpled up wrapper from a plastic straw at his face before huffing and leaning down to take another sip of her beer.

“Just drop it, i’m sure that he wouldn’t want me anyways.” She grumbles, head ducking down uncomfortably. The boys shrug, and they change the subject to some recent hockey match their school had. Y/N debates leaving, and she boredly fiddles with the napkins on the table before she feels a quick tug on her hood.

“Can I have a word with you?” Shawn stands behind her, jaw clenched, and he looks a little bit angry from what she can see. Her head hurts a bit from processing the words, and she’s aware that he probably heard her entire conversation with the boys.

When she doesn’t respond, he grabs her hand and pulls her out of the booth, walking her to the counter of the bar where the bartender stands with a cleaning rag and an empty glass in his hand.

The stand silently, both obviously overwhelmed by the plethora of information. She stares at the prefilled bowls of pretzels behind the bar, and feels like asking for one. Instead, she lowers her head and remembers where she is: Standing in front of Shawn, having just admitted that she’s in love with him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice sounds strained, as if he’s trying to keep it quiet. Y/N doesn’t want to be in front of him, especially when he seems irritated and angry, but she swallows her fear and responds.

“Just, didn’t want to ruin our friendship, I guess.” She quietly responds, tucking her bottom lip into her teeth. The room feels suffocating and her arms begin to sweat.

“Y/N, you should’ve told me.” He sternly says, “You have no idea what this means.” His eyes close and he shakes his head, stoic expression on his face. He smells like cologne and Y/N wants to tuck her face into his neck and just hug him. She then remembers that she might’ve just ruined their entire friendship, and her imagination shuts off.

“It’s embarrassing.” She truthfully admits. It’s embarrassing to her, yes, because she knows there’s no way someone as successful and amazing as him could ever love her back. She knows she’s stupid for loving him, and it kills her that he seems angry at her feelings. She knows just how much she’s going to be devastated because she’s in love with him, and all he sees is red.

“It’s embarrassing to be in love with me?” His expression hardens even more, if it’s possible and Y/N nods her head.

“Y/N, i’ve been in love with you for-” He takes a deep breath, “The longest fucking time.”

Y/N doesn’t know how to feel. Her shoulders feel empty, mood lifting, and she knows she’s no longer sad. But now she feels a surge of hurt rush over her.

He was in love with her, but he still messed around with all of those girls?

Grant was the first boy Y/N had ever given a chance since Shawn had left for tour, since they were both 15. Y/N never got further than an awkward kiss with Grant, mostly because it felt wrong to do so when she knew she had feelings for someone else.

And here he was, a hundred models literally in his contact list as he tries to tell her he’s been in love with her all this time.

“You were in love with me?” She asks Shawn, her voice raising a bit as she no longer feels sad, “You were in love with me.” She repeats to herself, eyes darting into midair as she processes his words.

“Well then why did you talk to all those other girls?” She questions, wanting to clear things up before she’s sure that they have a solid chance. She sees Shawn gulp, a habit he has when he’s intimidated and her heart drops a bit because she knows he hasn’t changed.

“Shawn, you know how shitty I felt every time I would hear you got with another girl?” She bites at the skin of her lip, nibbling on the chapped skin, “You even cancelled on me sometimes just to hookup with other girls.”

Her lips curve downward. Shawn chokes, he thought that her reciprocating his feelings meant they would actually have a chance at being together, but he’d neglected all of his mistakes in his mental image of them together.

“That was-” He clears his throat, “A mistake.”

Y/N scoffs, “A mistake you made up until last night.”

Shawn knows it’s not supposed to be like this, they were supposed to be happy when they found out they loved each other. He’d been imagining this moment for months, yet now that it was here, it was so different. All because of his stupid decisions.

“Shawn  just found out I love you.” She tells him, sadness lacing her voice, “But i’m just not sure if you love me back.”

Shawn wants to step forward, and lock his lips against hers. He wants to tell her he loves the way she sometimes snorts when she laughs, or how her hair tangles in the morning, or how he knows every single detail about her from the day her parents separated, to how she likes her eggs. He wants to show her the photo album on his phone of candid pictures he took, just admiring her. Wants to run his fingers down her skin like he’d always dreamt of doing.

“Of course I love you.” He defends himself harshly, “I’ve always loved you. It’s always been you!” He tries to tell her. She shakes her head, not believing any of her words, but why should she? He hadn’t given her a single reason to make her believe he was serious about her. He sometimes declines her calls on tour, and he’d slept with another girl just the night before.

“Shawn, give me your phone.” She asks him. He furrows his eyebrows, not knowing what she’s trying to do.

“What?”

“Give me your phone.” She tells him more urgently. He grabs the device out of his back pocket, handing it over to her quickly, and she taps in the password before pressing on the messages icon.

Scrolling through the texts and contacts, Y/N feels her heart sink deeper and deeper. Now she was definitely sure that there was no way he loved her. He had the audacity to exchange these - these words with all of these other girls just moments before he had told her he loved her, and how was she supposed to believe him?

Shawn feels disappointed in himself, because his careless actions may have just costed him the one thing he’s wanted. The one thing that money, or fame, or acclaim can’t buy him. Her.

She clicks his phone off, half heartedly paying it onto the wooden bar counter before shamefully looking down at her shoes. Shawn doesn’t know how to fix things, or if she’ll ever want to be with him.

“I love you, Shawn.” She tells him, and Shawn’s heart skips a few beats at her words alone, “I’m just not sure if you’re ready to love me.”

And when she walks past him, coat clutched to her chest as she stumbles out of the cozy bar, shawn can’t help but smile a bit to himself as he remembers that the night may not be shitty, just because it didn’t turn out like he hoped it would.

[theboyz-engup]

New Kids

pairing: student!hwall x reader

word count: 2k

requested: yes

---

Settling into class was the usual. Your friends and you were separated early on in the semester, your teacher clearly thinking you the problem group. It wasn’t that you didn’t do any work, you just talked a lot and that wasn’t a crime. Sometimes, you just really had something to say. Other times, gossip overtook your ears and mouths. Though, you supposed that was also something to say, even if it’s not very constructive. 

Still, nothing had changed. Your uniform was pressed new, hoodie overtaking your arms and waist. Now that school had begun bleeding into the colder months, you’d taken to the thick material and used it as a way to shield yourself from everyone around you. On days like today, you rather be left alone with your headphones in and class never starting. 

It sure did seem like the world was working against you when your teacher, Mrs. Kwon, strode into class, someone on her heels. 

With her presence, it was hard for people not to quiet down when she walked into a room. There was something hardened about her, though it wasn’t mean or unfriendly. You wouldn’t want to start a fight with her, stocky build and witty tongue to match no fair opponent for anyone; but that didn’t mean unfriendly. Sometimes, you would find yourself lingering after class just to chat with her about dumb things, glad she didn’t dislike you. 

She gave the room a look over and then proceeded to point to the empty desk beside you. “That’s your assigned seat, Mr. Heo. I trust it’s to your liking.”

You gave the boy next to her a long hard stare. It didn’t matter that you were staring much, he was coming to sit in your empty desk- the one reserved for anyone but a real person- and everyone knew how you felt about that. Slowly, you shifted your books and large binder back over to your own desk, unhappy with the task but happy to see a new face.

At least one that was as pretty as his. 

Mrs. Kwon made her little comment about the seat being to his liking and, instead of some sort of reply back, the boy gave a small smile and nodded. His eyes were small and shaped like thin almonds, with a long nose between them. A small shadow cupped his bottom eyelashes, as if fatigue was something that permanently plagued him but he worked it. You, for one, loved it. There was something about racoon eyes that made you feel like there was more to someone’s story. His face was small, something you knew people seemed to like, with soft cheekbones.

Cat, you decided, giving yourself a nod as he slid into the seat beside you. It was a habit of yours to assign animals to people. Your best friend was a penguin and the other resembled an owl and the other a turtle. From the way the boy beside you smiled though, you could definitely see cat. There was no mistaking it. 

As he sat, he gave you a small smile and a nod. You supposed you didn’t look all too inviting, with your hood still on and a line across your lips. Without knowing it, you pressed a little grin back and faced the front. He was beautiful, yes. Slender and tall, with proportions for the gods, but now wasn’t the time to assess him. You were in class and had some English to learn. 

----

Mrs. Kwon spoke briefly before break started, giving announcements about in class president elections and a few other things. The boy, who’s name was Hyunjoon, seemed to be very attentive at first but then, slowly, his energy dropped. He was awake, yes, but present in the room? You doubted it. 

The moment Mrs. Kwon slipped away, you found yourself turning to him. 

“Hi.” Embarrassingly enough, it was the only opener you could think of. Trying to save yourself from the look on his face, you extended your hand and said, “I’m y/n.”

Politely, Hyunjoon took your hand and shook it once, his grip soft. “Hyunjoon.”

“Is this your first day here? Or did you just transfer from another class?” The answer to the question was one you already knew but you wanted to make him comfortable. Sure, beginner questions weren’t always the best but you supposed they might help break the ice bit by bit. 

“No, I’m a new student,” he murmured, voice low but not meek, “I moved here about a week ago so after getting settled, I started going to school again.”

Funny how a pretty boy could make your mood start to slip away.

“Oh,” you perked up, hoodie slipping a bit from your head as you propped your elbows up on the desk, palms facing up so you could rest your chin in the cradle they made. “Where’d you move from? I was also a transfer student way back when.”

“South Hamlet. My feeder school was LPS Academy, if you know it?”

You blinked a bit before smiling. “Y-yeah, I do. That was also mine, I used to live there.”

This made Hyunjoon perk up. Instantly, he became more open, glad to meet someone who knew where that was. You couldn’t lie, you wished you knew someone who knew of your hometown as well. It was far and completely different to everywhere else. Each Friday, there were mini festivals depending on the season. Summer and fall always had farmer’s markets and street food, whereas spring had your annual lantern lighting. Winter was your favourite though. Your hometown was in a little pocket where very little snow fell but, when it did, it felt like a wonderland. Plus, winter held your best memory. Thinking about it now, compared to where you currently lived, a pang in your heart came along. You never realized how much you missed it there. 

“We still do that,” he mused, sighing a bit as you mentioned the fireworks that are set off every independence day, “recently though, they aimed one of the fireworks wrong and it shot into Oaky and almost cracked one of its branches off.”

The tension that was previously in his shoulders seemed to melt away as he turned more to face you. Seeing him so open like this, glimmer in his previously guarded eyes, you found yourself feeling much better. Familiarity was your favourite feeling and, somehow, he felt like home. He held South Hamlet in his soul and carried it around with him. 

You snickered, shaking your head. “Oaky is so old, I don’t know how they didn’t do that before.”

Joon opened his mouth to say more but the bell took the sound away. Seemingly disappointed at the next teacher waltzing in, Mr. Burns looking especially cross today, Hyunjoon settled back into his seat and faced forward. Despite yourself, you leaned towards him and whispered, “let’s have lunch together, yeah? I want to know more about how home’s doing.”

The smile he gave you then was genuine, short nod the only confirmation you needed.

---

You showed him the ropes of the cafeteria, telling him which ones would give more food if you asked politely. Making sure to acquaint him with Jisoo and the rest of your friend group, you sat across from each other and began your little conversation.

“You know so many people here,” he mentioned lightly, looking around as he took his seat. 

A shrug fell from your shoulders, hands tugging at the sleeves of your hoodie to pull them forwards. “I’ve been here since grade nine so it came naturally, I guess. But I get what it feels like to be you, I was new to my elementary school.”

He looked a bit shy, giving a nod. “There was also a new kid in my school but we ended up being close friends. His name is Bomin, maybe you know about him?”

Feeling a bit disappointed in not knowing every kid from your town, you shook your head. The hopefulness in Hyunjoon’s eyes faded a bit but none of the happiness did. Secretly, you wished he felt just as comfortable with you as you did him. He seemed eager to open up though and you continued to press about multiple things, wondering how everything was doing. You hadn’t been to visit family in such a long time that updates felt necessary- or maybe you just wanted to hear him talk more.

“My favourite is also the winter festival,” he said, looking extraordinarily excited. “Not a lot of people really love it but I always remember it the most.”

This piqued your interest, leaning forwards on your arm as you listened to him speak when asking why. It seemed second nature to forget your surroundings when you spoke to him, everything else consumed by the thin framed boy and the way his eyes disappeared when he giggled. 

“It’s going to sound dumb since it happened a really long time ago but both elementary schools had this field trip on Friday to the centre square and we were meant to explore. All the kids had decided on doing this snowball fight and it was fun at first.” He trailed off here, giving pause. It was enough for you to start losing his smile, wondering if- could he be-?

Jisoo and Hana sat on either side of you in bed, your sleepover going well. In your hand, you held the little green hat and smiled, finishing your story lightly. “He led me home. He didn’t have to but he did.”

“Would be kinda romantic if you met each other years later, don’t you think?” Hana crooned, getting a far-off and misty look in her eyes. You smiled lightly, not wanting to meet her eyes as you ran your thumb across the rim of the hat. 

“I doubt that’ll happen,” you decided, not wanting to get your hopes up. You didn’t want to seem overly enthusiastic about it. “I don’t live there anymore and people hardly move.”

“You did,” Jisoo pointed out, arching up her eyebrows. All you gave her in return was a smile before you got up and softly placed the hat back on your desk. 

Hyunjoon’s voice ripped you from your memory, story continuing lightly. “All the boys kind of ganged up on this one group of friends and all of them scattered except one. They just stopped and tried to hide their face from the snowballs until they decided to run and they just kept running.

“I had to yell for the boys to stop chasing them until I caught up to them. This kid was just there, sitting on a staircase and crying their eyes out. I guess I looked familiar because, when they saw me, they tried to take a step forward.”

Something about his little chuckle here seemed bashful, but it was enough to make your heart stop. “I think I was scared so I just started to run away, back towards the square. They yelled, asked me to wait up. They were lost. So, every few steps I would run and then wait, looked back to make sure they were following and then kept going.

“I took them all the way home,” he said lightly. It was hard to stop your heart from beating and you hoped- prayed the surprise wasn’t clear on your face. When you gave a look to the side, you saw Jisoo bearing her eyes deep into you. She was also listening. She also knew.

“And when I got there, paused outside of their apartment, I-”

“Gave me your hat,” you finished, watching him get caught off guard, “it wasn’t a winter hat, just a green baseball cap with black writing on the band. It says ‘happiness’ on it.”

Both you and him paused. You wondered if he also had his heart in his throat, barely able to breathe but trying your best to. 

“That was you,” he murmured. You couldn’t help but repeat his words, meaning it a completely different way. Hana’s words dripped through your memory once more and you found yourself smiling. 

Fate was a funny thing.

[deck-of-cards-arc]

🃏-🌹

🌹 “Jacques?”

I could only see their blonde head flinch upon their name, before turning back to me

🃏 “Oh! Rose, sorry I must’ve woken you!”

🌹 “It’s fine. What about you?”

🃏 “Hehe, I just like to get up and early. Maybe a little too early, whoops!”

🌹 “Uhuh…”

🃏 “No worries! I’m okay. I have the sound of the water reminding me of the rain. I always enjoy the rain, splishing and splashing in the puddles. Like when I just a wee child too!”

I raised an eyebrow as Jacques giggled, it wasn't long before the laughter had died down. The sound faded, blended into trickling of water.

🃏 “Guess I don’t really fool anyone anymore, do I?”

🌹 “After your breakdown, maybe not. You know you don’t have to fake a smile for me.”

🃏 “Just, a force of habit, really”

🌹 “It’s okay, you can just…be honest with me right now.”

🃏 “Then, hmm, I guess…I could use a walk. This place is really stuffy, after all. There’s a bit of a problem with that.”

🌹 “And what’s that?”

🃏 “I…I don’t know where to go”

🌹 “…really?”

🃏 “I get lost easily, sometimes. I’m not exactly too bright with directions, not unles I’ve been here before. And everyone else is asleep so…”

🌹 “I can just teleport you out, but I have to tag along to bring you back.”

🃏 “It’s alright, it’s only a walk. Plus, it’ll be a quick bonding time for us”

🌹 “Heh, sure. C’mon.”

Crawling my body near the edge of the wooden frame, I placed a limp hand on their shoulder and snapped my fingers with the other. Just as they blinked, their heterochromatic eyes met the coloured night sky. The darkness above us, painted with blue and pale white streaks of midnight across the clouds. The soft luminance of the moon, coupled with the splatter and splash of the stars across the canvas. The breeze passing us by as we stood in front of the view of the village. Some lights were left on for the night owls, though the most had shut or began to shut their windows tight for the eventide. It was a gorgeous sight, one to be distracted by. And Jacques was completely enthralled, their eyes seemingly regaining the sparks they once had. Although, not as excitedly as I would've imagined, just a calm smile as they surveyed the sleepy town. The Joker-bound stood up from the grassy plain, bending back down to offer a hand. Naturally, I took it and let them pull me up to stand as well.

It was automatic, we began strolling the perimeter near view. How far we had walker, I wasn’t sure. All I could tell was that we made a considerable distance yet it felt mere second passing. I simply walked with my hands holding each other behind my back. The blonde skipped slowly, hopping from each spot of grass with satisfying crinkles. However, despite such playful behaviour, the silence was solemn. As if it were to send one’s condolences rather than enjoy the peaceful night outside. I clutched my own hand tighter upon such a thought, so I picked up my paces and scampered closer to Jacques.

🌹 “You seem to enjoy the outside a lot”

🃏 “Mhmm…I don’t think you know this about me, but my family is entirely made up of farmers. I practically grew up with nature as my third parent”

🌹 “Really? That's interesting trivia.”

🃏 “Yeah, it’s apparently a shock to many as well... I guess they envision me from a long line of warriors or noblemen, or something. Really, the Joker card can pick anybody…doesn't really matter as long as the card deems you fit to wield it”

🌹 “Does the card have a sort of consciousness then? It should have since it made the choice to pick you”

🃏 “I think so, maybe. Nobody really knows how these cards came to be, what gave them this power. Not even the Priests and Priestesses truly know the source of it all. And they dedicated years to learning these cards.”

🌹 “Hmm…”

🃏 “I don’t come from a family that bothers too much in this sort of stuff, so it’s a mystery as to why I was picked. But my fate was sealed anyway…”

They stop skipping, halting in their place. I stopped too. Taking an eye off the scenic spot, my ice blue gaze trailed to their hand. Holding the Joker card, possibly crushing it in their grasp.

🃏 “And I’ll have to bear the costs this power has. Until I die.”

The silence afterwards was just as crushing. I couldn’t really think of anything to say to alleviate the tension all of a sudden, at least not before Jacques's head perked up.

🃏 “Wait a minute, I know this stretch of land!”

In just a blink, they launched themselves into a full sprint towards the west. I barely had the bearings to run fast enough behind them. I didn’t even know where they decided to venture towards, not even sure where exactly my feet were stepping on. All was on m mind was simply catching up. Surprisingly so, I did manage to make some good headway before Jacques pulled the brakes and drifted through the soil. I was panting heavily until Jacques clamped my mouth. Just before I could retort, they shushed and pointed just far beyond the shrubbery. I poked my head of charcoal hair through, spotting a small field of soil. Raked, sowed and watered seemingly with love and care. Tiny dots of green sprouts poked through the group, as far as I could see. A barn with fenced-in cattle and poultry situated just beside the field. Along with a smaller house a few feet further away. The town was just a drive away, or rather a horse ride away. Amongst the flat field, was a lone farmer, tending to a small plant. Whoever it was, it seemed to bring Jacques a wide smile.

🌹 “Is this…”

🃏 “Home.”

🌹 “Wait, so this town is YOUR hometown?”

🃏 “That’s why the resistance is here, this is the only place that wasn’t afraid to let us stay. All the other towns were fearful that the Rouge Kingdom attack them. But here, everyone knows that I’m ‘amazing’ and ‘undefeatable’, or something”

🌹 “Guess they idolise you too, huh?”

🃏 “In a more a way your parents would be proud of you for achieving something grand. Still hurts to be treated like prize more than anything.”

🌹 “Do you want to say hi to your parents? We have time”

🃏 “No, at least not at this hour. Papa likes to work late but it gets him sort of cranky. Plus all that work does a bit on his back, so he can get extra mad too. So we just leave him be to sleep at night. I’ll visit them in the morning, no worries.”

🌹 “How old are they? You’re twenty now, right?”

🃏 “They’re uhm…around fifty? Or younger, maybe. My my, it’s been a while since I counted their ages, oh no”

🌹 “So they’re on their own without you?”

🃏 “It's not like they're completely alone, I have siblings. Even then,  I didn’t want to leave, they just decided for me. I just had to smile for them as they wished me well and sent me off.”

I heard the rustling of the foliage and fingers tracing the dirt just beside me, causing me to turn my head back to Jacques

🃏 “I guess everyone changes when they’re around me. I’m the chosen hero of the lands, after all. I was fated to bring hope, peace, balance…To bring a smile to everyone's faces”

🌹 “You’ve never been given a choice in any part of this. Even far beyond being the Joker…”

🃏 “I was chosen for a reason. All Jokers are chosen for a reason. My reason is that I’m good of heart, I can't just reject the choice to be the hero of the lands. Not when it saves lives. And it has”

🌹 “Still, you were pushed into this life, driven away from your home. You had to put on the persona of the Joker by force. Hasn’t it hurt you?”

🃏 “I…I don’t regret becoming the Joker, Rose… I met so many friends through my journies…but…”

🌹 “But?”

🃏 “…But…it has hurt me in more ways than one. I miss my home, I miss my parents, I miss my siblings, I want to just come here without the threat of war down my neck. I just want to help out on the farm, just like I wanted since I was a kid. I don’t want people thinking so much of me. S-so many eyes, so m-many standards, so m-many t-things to think about a-all the time…”

Their legs curled up to their chest, blond head ducked into their knees. Without their beanie, their locks simply flowed in the gentle wind as soft sobs began to gain volume. I kneeled in front of them, pulling them into a tight but breathable hug. Arms wrapped around their fragile form, shivering in my grasp. It didn’t take too long for them to hug back, their arms weak but enough to hug back. Their face laid against my shoulder, I didn’t mind a few tear stains on my shirt anyways. Rubbing their back, patting their head, softly whispering comfort, all the like. I wasn’t going to mind. They needed some release after today…after so many years. How could I deny them of that? So there they were, curled up in my hold until no more tears dripped from their eyes. In the gentle, still night…I let them relax. Let the ambience of the midnight lull them away from the worries for tomorrow. For now, it wasn’t time to think about being the Joker. For now, it was just Jacques and me under the glow of the stars.

 > Next morning

[owlieboi]

Zora Tate

Ch. 1:

The young girl ran joyfully around the park. Her mom called out for her yet she ignored. She ran without a care in the world, determined to reach some undetermined destination. Yet, this path came to an abrupt end when her foot came into contact with the tree root she had ignored in her haste. The fall was so short it didn’t register until she was laying on the ground. 

Her eyes opened to find a young boy standing in front of her. He had brownish black hair and soft blue eyes like a gentle sea. She found herself oddly calmed by these eyes; completely forgetting the scratches that now covered her body. She felt herself oddly frozen in this moment; some part of her wanting to hold onto it forever and never let go. 

“Hey, are you alright?” the boy questioned. This broke her out of her haze. She quickly jumped up out of embarrassment. “What’s your name?” he asked, “Mine’s ----”. This name sounded so familiar to her somehow. She had never seen him before but something inside her was reaching out; as though she was reuniting with a friend she once thought she would never see again. These feelings shocked her. She was in utter confusion at how she could be so drawn to a random boy in the park. 

“I’m fine,” she finally replied, “And my name is Zora.” She didn’t know why she volunteered this information. She was still feeling the odd warmth, as though the boy’s presence removed any emotional walls she might have had. She tried hard to build those walls back up but all she could do was run away. She ran once more, except this time not to something, but from something.

Ch 2.

Zora was in floating in space. She didn’t know how she was aware of this since she couldn’t see anything. She sensed nothing but her own consciousness, but it didn’t matter. The abyss she was in felt the same as the one outside. 

Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her side; like a hot knife slicing clean through her hip. She felt herself scream, yet it was empty. She screamed her hardest, reaching out for something or someone. She wasn’t sure which. “-------!” The words left her throat but she couldn’t make them out. It was as if the words were far away, only the cry for help strong enough to reach her. It was useless though as the pain continued. More and more strikes hit all around her body. Her arms and face received the same sharp strikes that her torso did. All of a sudden, her face felt a different sensation. This pain was much worse than before; in a manner similar to a stone slamming into her face and ripping it apart. Her screams worsened, yet there was a hint of sadness to the cries, as she came to realize she was all alone. She…

“ZORA!” She woke up with a jolt. She was laying on her bed, having slept in on yet another school day. “ZORA!” She came to realize that her mother was hovering over her with a concerned look on her face, yet she wasn’t paying attention. All she could think about was the dream she had just had. She thought about just how real it felt. That deep, guttural desperation was still present in her heart. 

“ZORA!” Her mom was now shaking her, bringing her focus back into reality. She looked over at her mom. “Zora, you were screaming in your sleep and shaking so violently. I tried so hard to wake you but you just wouldn’t I thought you were dying or suffering a seizure or something!”

“Mom?” she asked in a soft voice. She could no longer remember what she had been doing before her mom woke her up. “What happened?” she continued. “You mean you don’t remember?” she replied. “No. All I remember is waking up and you shaking me while screaming.” These words shocked her even though they were her own. She knew something had happened. She felt it deep inside her but couldn’t remember anything. 

A few moments later, she was sitting in the kitchen eating her oatmeal while her mother prepared her lunch for school. Her mother still seemed concerned, occasionally glancing at her, but she was too deep in thought to notice. She pondered her strange awakening that had occured in the morning yet was also occupied by thoughts about the boy she had met the day prior. Who was he? She had never seen him before and yet she had felt such a strong connection to him. She turned to her mother. “Mom, did I have any friends as a child I haven’t seen in a while?” This was apparently a strange question based on her mother’s reaction.

Ch. 3:

The trip to school, she was still thinking of those two things; her confusion only getting worse. Her mom was driving quietly with her favorite radio station playing. Zora simply stared out the window, watching people walk around the bright city in which she lived. She remembered once being fascinated by the lights of her hometown Mistil yet now the sight was nothing more to her than ordinary office buildings. She wished she could go somewhere else but there existed only three cities in the world she lived: Mistil, Hofu, and Oni. She wished the World Revival project would move faster so she could explore the world. Then she could escape from the boy who wouldn’t leave her thoughts.

“Okay class, ------- ----- -----?” Zora’s teacher was saying something but she never paid attention. She usually stared off into space out of sheer boredom. 

“ZORA!” 

Ah, the second person to yell her name today. What could she possibly want? Zora looked and saw the entire class staring at her.

“Zora, please repeat back what I just said” her teacher asked with a scolding tone. Her response was as sarcastic as always. “I don’t know, something about dumb history I guess.” Despite the class laughing, it was apparent that her teacher didn’t get the joke. 

“How are you so cocky at such a young age Ms. Tate?” Zora suddenly perked up at the mention of her last name. She hated her last name with the fury of dragon with stolen treasure. It always remind her of her abusive father. She and her mother became free of him a few months ago when he died in a car accident, yet due to his importance to society, his funeral was a city-wide event. She loathed that even in death, people celebrated him as a great man. 

“Don’t you…..ever…...call me bY THAT NAME AGAIN!”

Her teacher stood shocked for a moment before scolding her. “Young lady! You may not shout at a teacher! I know you hate your father but now is not the time for your whiny attitude.” 

Once again her hatred for her father was dismissed as nothing but being a whiny child. She wanted so badly to share her reality with others but anytime she mentioned abuse, people thought she meant taking her toys away rather than being strapped to a table and experimented on. 

Her teacher kept talking. “Please sit back down so that I may continue the lesson.” Zora reluctantly obliged. “Now who can tell me what we discussed last class?” A hand shot up and the voice below it answered.

“We were learning about the society that existed before this one. You mentioned that the humans of the time had children a little older than us fight in giant machines to protect the small towns they were assigned to similar to the armed militia we have now.”

“Very good, ----”

Zora froze. That name again…. Her heart leaped after hearing it but she didn’t know why. She jumped out of her seat again to get a good look and saw that same faded black hair she had been seeing in her mind since yesterday. She froze. Her teacher was shouting again but she couldn’t hear. She was too deep in her own head trying to decipher the boy’s identity and how she could possibly know him. Why didn’t she notice him before? Why did he keep appearing to torture her? Why did hearing his name dredge out such powerful emotions? 

When she finally came to she was in the nurse’s office. She sat up with weak arms and felt a bump in the back of her head. She noticed the nurse marking down notes on a tablet as well as the fact that the room was abandoned beyond the two of them. She looked outside to find the sun almost touching the horizon. How long had she been out? It was early morning last thing she remembered. The nurse had apparently noticed her being awake as she now stood at the side of the bed and was chattering on about something. All she could make out was something about having fainted during a lesson and being asleep for eight hours. The pain in her head throbbed and it was made worse by the endless stream of thoughts that were swarming around in her mind. She tried to step out of bed but as soon as she did, she lost consciousness again. 

She was in the same blackness as before, once again feeling the same sharp slices plague her body. She continued screaming like last time, except she realized some part of her was determined to keep going. Keep going where? She knew not where she was going; only that she had to keep pushing forward. The strikes continued, as did her screaming, but it was no use. She had made her choice to abandon him. She had chosen to take on the task alone so that he could be safe and live happily. 

Yet, she couldn’t stop herself from crying out in the vain hope he would hear. For all her heroic spirit, she was still a scared girl wishing to be saved by her prince. She felt her voice stretch itself to be as loud as possible, and she finally realized what she had been screaming all this time. Her screams were no longer far away but clear and in front of her. 

“DARLING!”

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Ninety-One: The Patent Office ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Itachi ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

A few days after arriving back in his hometown, Sasuke decides to finally ask Hinata if she’s ready for him to come work.

After bumping into her completely by accident, and then arranging some volunteer help with her new flower shop business, Sasuke’s finally ready to speak to her again. He’d been so taken aback by just so happening to run into her, he’s admittedly put it off for a bit. After all...it’s not every day you come face to face with your high school crush.

A crush he...really isn’t over, apparently. Seems his time traveling the world and learning photography didn’t fully bury the feelings. Because they popped back up like spring daisies the moment they locked eyes again.

He still feels a little bad...he sort of dropped all forms of communication with his old classmates post high school. True, he hadn’t had many true friends...and he and Hinata weren’t exactly best buddies. And it’s not like she’s the only one he hasn’t spoken to in ages. But the general feeling of being a distant jerk remains. After so long with such poor luck with “dating” (he never did have a girlfriend in high school...she was the only one he ever had a crush on, and her sights were always elsewhere), he thought traveling might help him forget, or at least find something new.

But instead he developed a new passion, and it let him shift his focus for a while. A silly high school crush, after all, isn’t anything to cry over once you graduate. Especially since he hadn’t even worked up the guts to admit anything…

And even now, he’s not sure what to do about it. They haven’t spoken in years, and even in school that was rare. The stupid love square they were in meant everyone was preoccupid by the wrong person. Didn’t help her own object of affection got married almost immediately after high school. Sasuke had gotten roped into being the best man, but she hadn’t been there.

...not that he blamed her.

So now, here they are: two practically strangers thrown together after so long. With Sasuke partnering with his brother for several projects, he’s back in town for about a month. And he, running his big mouth, offered to help her with her newest pride and joy: a little flower shop just a few blocks from his brother’s place.

Funny how that worked out…

Breaking from his thoughts, Sasuke takes out his mobile and sends her a short text.

Need any help today? I’m free.

Before he can slip it back into his pocket, he can’t help a small jolt as it jumps in his hand. Huh...someone’s a quick replier.

Sure! Head down any time u want!

Huh...that was easy. Moving downstairs, he gives his brother a small wave. “Heading out for a bit.”

Itachi blinks. “...will you be back for dinner?”

“Probably - why?”

“I thought you might like to go out to eat, since we’ve not had a chance to do so yet.”

“Oh, uh...sure. Just text me when you wanna go, I’m not going far.”

“...oh?”

“Got a little part time gig down the street.”

That seems to get his brother to brighten. “...I’m glad! I’ll let you know when I’m ready, then.”

“Cool.” Giving a mock solute, Sasuke heads out and takes a quick pace down the sidewalk.

It’s funny, he grew up on the other side of town, so despite being home, not much here is familiar. Itachi insisted on remaining due to the town’s artful focus. As a musician, it’s suited him well. Hence Sasuke being ‘hired’ by the orchestra he plays with to take promotional pictures at their shows this season to sell as prints and use for posters. It’s actually a pretty sweet gig, especially since it almost means one long visit with his brother...and no rent for a month.

Hence why he can afford to volunteer a few hours at Hinata’s. Poor thing’s been running her new little business all by her lonesome. While he can appreciate the drive, he’s worried she’s working too hard. Maybe by the time he leaves, his help will convince her to hire on someone else to help reduce her workload.

At the corner before the store, he perks up. Several people linger outside, admiring the displays and heading inside to see more. She was right: she is getting good business. Makes sense: it’s that plant growing time of year.

Heading in, he finds her behind the counter, helping a small line of customers as others take to perusing her goods. While she’s bright-eyed and clearly enthused, he can see a small lag to her frame that betrays some exhaustion. Hinata doesn’t notice him at first, too involved with her clientele, so he hangs back for a bit until they find a lull.

“Hey.”

“Oh! Hey!” She gives a crooked smile. “Things are hopping!”

“I can see that. What do you need me to do?”

“Well, um…” Teeth nibble her lip in thought. “...I guess for now, you can help with inventory…? I think we’re doing okay, but if anything looks low, there should be more in the back you can grab. I’d have you help juggle customers, but…” A sheepish glance. “You...probably don’t know about the flowers, or...anything, r-right?”

“Not really, no.”

“Okay...that’s fine! Just having another pair of hands will be a b-big help!”

He starts by familiarizing himself with some of the basics, noting what looks to be running low. Thankfully he’s got a good visual memory, and it doesn’t take much to head to the back, find what looks right, and bring up more to fill the emptying shelves. Larger items like heavy pots and cement edgers for flower gardens he helps pack around. Her shop isn’t that big, and there’s a noticeable lack of carts or trolleys for carrying large or heavy loads. He might have to suggest that.

Overall, Sasuke has to admit...he doesn’t feel like he’s all that much help. Hinata, being the only expert, still has to handle all the questions, the till and the prices, and taking custom orders for bouquets to make later. But they get through the day well enough, Hinata turning off the ‘open’ sign with a weary sigh.

“Is it like that every day?”

“Nearly,” she admits, a hand at her neck. “If the w-weather is bad, it keeps people away. But nice days like this get pretty busy.”

“Sorry I couldn’t do more…”

“Oh, no no! You were a great help! I’ll admit, some of that heavier stuff is rough…”

“Any way you can get, like...carts to carry things?”

“I should, yeah…” Another sheepish glance. “I have a very long list of “‘should dos’, to be honest.”

“Like hiring some permanent help?”

“...maybe…”

Before they leave, however, Hinata drags out a pot from behind the counter, carefully tending to the plant inside it.

“...what’s that?”

“This,” Hinata explains slowly, concentration mostly on her task, “is a new breed of flower I’m trying to germinate.”

“...wait, like...a whole new species?”

“Mhm. I’d...well, I’d explain it, but…” She gives a soft giggle. “I’m...guessing you might not find it very interesting.”

“Interesting, yes. Something I can comprehend...probably not,” he easily admits. “Not really a plant person. You’d have better luck with my mother, honestly. But it...looks pretty.” A hand gestures, earning a small snort from his companion.

“Thanks...it’s supposed to be a tribute to my mother. She inspired my love of flowers, so...it’s meant to be a thank-you for that. Something that...reminds me of her. I’m hoping I can get them stable and maybe sell some. Sort of help...spread her love, and mine.”

Sasuke softens at that. “...I take it she’s...gone?”

A somber nod. “She died when I was five, a w-while after my sister was born. She had medical complications, and...only lived a few weeks after that. But before she died, she taught me about plants, and how much she loved them. She always had a big garden that would be so full of flowers, the backyard was like a rainbow...and it always smelled so sweet…”

“...well, you’ve accomplished that,” Sasuke murmurs. “I stopped when I got here because everything smelled so good. And the plants you had outside were beautiful.”

“Thanks…”

“So if you do make a new...specie, can you patent it? Or somehow mark it as your own creation?”

“Maybe! I’m not too concerned about that, though. Mostly it’s a personal project. I’m not looking to make it into something big, or worth a lot of money.”

He gives a nod.

The pair lapse into silence for a time. “So...did you want to try to sell some of your pictures here?”

“Huh?”

“The ones you took of the flowers! I thought maybe people might buy them here!”

“Well...I could try. Maybe make a few prints and have them on the counter. I think most people are here for the real thing, though.”

“Well, not everyone has a green thumb,” Hinata laughs. “And that way, they’d have the pretty blooms all year! I bet they would sell!”

“...I’ll have to give it a try.” Smiling, Sasuke then jumps as his phone buzzes. Seems Itachi’s ready to go have that dinner. “Well...I better run. Meeting my brother.”

“Okay! Next time you’re free, let me know! Maybe during a day off, I could...show you more about the products? So you’re more familiar.”

“Sounds good.” Maybe he’d be a better help that way…

Leaving her to lock up, Sasuke exits the shop only to pause as Itachi pulls up to the curb in his car. A window rolls down to show a knowing smile.

“I had a feeling this was the place,” Itachi muses.

Pouting just a hair, Sasuke hops in. “...it’s something to do.”

The elder brother doesn’t reply, still smiling as he drives them off toward dinner.

                                                       .oOo.

     OKAY, all caught back up as I should be xD      Ngl this prompt was kinda like...what? But I managed to...kinda tie it in to this piece, lol - I dunno how patenting really works, but apparently you CAN do so with new plant species, according to google! Don't worry Sasuke, I wouldn't understand it either xD (Also, this is a sequel to day 135, if you're interested!)      Anywho, it's way past bedtime for this nerd - thanks for reading!