#something about behaving like teammates when you're not in one team and something about fighting and despise while being in one team

[paint-it-red-and-black]

alpine with 16 points before the race earning 33 points during it

you can see lestappen everywhere if you want to

[burrowbaddie]

Sorry Not Sorry

Joe Burrow x Female Reader

Series Summary: Childhood friends to lovers to nothing. You and Joe had history, you were each others first and then you were nothing. Years later, you guys rekindle the flame but with more obstacles in the way this time.

Chapter 5.5 Summary: Your perfect life with Joe doesn't exist without cracks.

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: Afab!reader, smut, swearing. Oral (female & male receiving), vaginal fingering, penetrative sex, vaginal sex, unprotected sex, cheating! (You are the side girl, sorry.), the small fight scene, jealous Joe, mild violence, stalker, mentions of bullying

Series Masterlist

"Joe, you have had a fantastic season so far. You're glowing; You're making plays: calling the right calls. What has changed from the last season to this season?"

"I'm happy. I feel good. My teammates feel good, so it's all showing on the field." Joe responds with a wide grin.

"Is there something special that's happening? Like you really have a pep in your step these days. You're undefeated. What do you think the chances of getting to the Superbowl are?"

"I mean, we still have some games before we can talk about the big one. But we are going to get there and get that ring. I can guarantee you that." Joe winks and finishes his interview. You turn the tv off and place a blanket over Tate. Dr.Brian had to extend his leave for a year, so you've been adjusting to your position quite well. You're hoping he returns soon because you will be on maternity leave in a few months. Your pager goes off, and Tate jumps out of his sleep.

"Get some more rest. I got a call; it's okay." You tell him.

"Nope. I need to clean something before my boss catches me." Tate follows you towards the ED.

"What's going on?" You ask, making your way over to the commotion.

"This bitch really thinks I have time to sit around waiting for fucking tests! Discharge me!"

"Okay, sir, you need a CT scan; you were involved in an accident, and you need stitches on your head." You say, reading his chart.

"I'm fine, bitch! I want to go home!" He yells, getting in your face. A male nurse pulls him back, but the guy swings at him, knocking him down. He then turns his anger towards you. He grabs your arm and starts shaking you, shouting in your face. You quickly shield your belly out of reflex when Tate steps in, knocking the man to the floor.

"Are you okay?" He asks you. You're shaking and zoning out. Tate grabs your hand while security deals with the guy. You nod, and Mya takes you away to check on you.

"You're six months pregnant. Should you really be working here? You need to be in the office doing administrative work." She wears a look of concern on her face.

"I'm okay. It happens. Thank you, Tate." You turn to the boy, who wears a soft smile. Mya sighs, walking away.

"I didn't know you were pregnant."

"Have you seen this belly?" You laugh, rubbing it. Tate scratches his neck.

"So you have a boyfriend?" Tate's voice is filled with sadness as his eyes drift down. You put together what is happening and sigh.

"Tate. I'm much older than you, even if I had no boyfriend."

"You're acting like your 35. You're in your 20s! It's not that much older."

"I see you as a little brother. I'm an only child, so it's nice having you around." You pinch his cheeks, and he pouts like a child.

"I guess. What's the surprise you have for us next weekend?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you."

"Unless it's your hand in marriage, I don't care."

"Tate. Behave." You warn him. He nods and tells you he can't wait for the surprise. Fast forward to the following week. You pull into the parking lot of the Paycor Stadium. All three boys' eyes widen with excitement.

"No way! We're seeing the Bengals?! That's my favorite team!" TJ shouts, hopping out of the car as soon as you park.

"It's all of our favorite teams." Trey follows him out of the car to take in the scene. Tate wears a big grin and turns to you to thank you. But your gift doesn't end there. Before the game, you take them to meet some of the players.

"Ja'Marr, you're my favorite player ever! You've been a beast this season!" Trey says, watching Ja'Marr sign his jersey. You take notice of Joe and Tate talking and make your way over to them.

"Best QB in the game. No one can tell me otherwise! Plus, your girlfriend is hot. I have a crush on her for sure." Tate says with a cheeky grin. Joe's eyes drift to you.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I only watch the news because of Nicki. The rack she has is out of this world."

"Tate, watch your mouth." You shake your head laughing.

"But she is really hot. But my girlfriend is this one right here. Hottest woman to walk the earth." Tate throws an arm around you. You giggle and wiggle his arm off. Joe stops signing his jersey and eyeing Tate. You cough, getting Joe back to focus. He returns to signing but doesn't reply to Tate.

"Here. Enjoy the game." Joe walks away, and you shake your head. He can be so childish sometimes.

"You think he's mad because I called his girlfriend hot?" Tate asks you. You nod.

"Yeah. He can be petty like that."

"Ha. I made Joe mad. That's awesome."

"Grab your brothers and let's go get our seats." You tell him, making your way to Joe. Joe is sitting down getting his ankle wrapped when you approach him.

"You are such a child."

"How?"

"Why are you mad right now?"

"Why's he calling you his girlfriend?"

"Joseph, he is an 18-year-old boy with a crush. You are my grown-ass man boyfriend. Get a grip." You run your hand through his hair. Joe places his head on your belly.

"How is she?"

"Sleeping for now. Making me crave hot dogs and a ton of mustard."

"I'll go get-"

"Get ready for your game. I'm going to meet your mother and get our seats."

"I love you, baby." Joe looks up at you, waiting for a kiss puckering his lips together. You bend down, kissing his lips.

"Good luck, Joey boy." You turn to walk away when Joe slaps your ass.

"You know it turns me on hearing you call me that." He shouts after you. His athletic trainer finishes wrapping his ankle. You and the boys take your seat. The Bengals continue their winning streak. Robin hugs you and places her hand on your belly.

"I was so excited when Nicole said she was having a baby. But hearing that it was a false alarm made me sad. I hope I can be a pseudo-grandma to your little one."

"Of course. She's going to get all the love in the world." You tell her. After the game, you take the boys home and drop Tate off at his apartment. Tate was able to save up and get a small one-bedroom apartment with your help. The homeless house you signed off on should be opening in the spring. You made a hospital donor a deal he couldn't refuse; his name was on the project. Basically, you would be able to provide housing for the homeless for a lower cost for up to 18 months until the person could get a steady job. The small changes you've made around the department have helped open up the budget a bit, and with the donor ball coming up, you're sure you can persuade some more donations out of the rich.

At home, you draw yourself a bath, while your frozen pizza cooks in the oven. Your doorbell rings, and Geroge, your live-in security guard, jumps up to answer it. You moved in with Joe a month ago, but he refused to let you be alone, so he hired a guard to stay at your house whenever he was away.

"Where's Joe?" Nicole crosses her arms, staring Geroge down.

"Ma'am, you are not permitted to enter this house."

"Who the fuck are you? You can't keep me out!"

"What's going on?"

"Miss Nicole seems to be drunk. She is trying to enter your home."

"Oh gosh. It's okay. Let her in and get her some water. Thank you." You help Nicole into the house, and she stumbles to the living room.

"Nicole. Are you okay? How did you get here?" You ask her, helping her sit down.

"I fucking drove."

"That's not safe. Here drink some water." You give her the glass George hands you. You let her drink it while you call Joe. Joe is pissed and on his way home when you relay the message.

"Here," Nicole mumbles, handing you a manila envelope. You empty its contents and look over the photos and written messages. Nicole has been receiving the same threats as you. You stare at the negative pregnancy tests. Nicole confessed about not being pregnant last month, which wasn't a surprise to Joe.

"We thought it was you this whole time. After the attack, Joe got really protective. If he knew this was happening to you, he would have done something and-"

"He doesn't care about me. He hates me." She covers her face with her hands crying. You place a hand on her back, trying to console her, but you don't know what to say. Joe slams the door and makes his way to the living room.

"Nicole, what are you doing here?" Joe stands there waiting for her explanation. You get up and grab Joe by the forearm, pulling him to the kitchen.

"She's drunk, Joe. I think it would be best to let her sleep it off here."

"She's probably faking. Nicole is insane."

"Can I use your phone to call Amber? He clearly doesn't want me here." Nicole stumbles into the kitchen. You unlock your phone and hand it to her. Joe rolls his eyes and grabs water from the fridge. Nicole returns to the living room, ensuring you're occupied with Joe. She reaches into her pocket, pulls out a device that looks like a small charger, and plugs it into your phone, downloading everything.

"Fine, let her stay. I don't care." Joe walks off upstairs to the bedroom. You return to the living room, and Nicole hands you the phone.

"No answer. I guess I'm staying here." She whispers. You nod and take her to the guest room. Nicole stops in front of the nursery.

"You're having a girl?" She asks, leaning on the doorframe. You back peddle and stand beside her, looking at your progress in the room.

"Yeah. Her name is still being decided."

"Cool." Nicole rolls her eyes, and you close the door continuing to the guest room. Nicole sits on the bed, taking in this situation while you get her some clothes to sleep in.

"Just because I'm drunk doesn't mean I want to be friendly. I would rather sleep in my own clothes, thanks." She says, shoving them into your arms.

"Look, Nicole, I'm sorry about how we handled things. I'm not saying we should be best friends, but-"

"All I wanted to show you is the envelope. I've been getting the same thing for months. I didn't come here to make friends with you. You and Joe can die for all I care."

"Right. The envelope. Do you know who it might be? We thought it was you, but I guess not. Have they contacted you personally? From a phone or-"

"No. Just envelope and pictures."

"Umm, what do the photos of you and DJ mean?"

"I didn't cheat, if that's what you're asking. After Joe tried to break up with me, I might have had a fling with DJ. I was angry. That's it."

"It's fine. We should take all this to the police whoever this person is attacked me. They could very well attack you next." You warn her. Nicole rolls her eyes and climbs into bed.

"I'll be fine. Trust me."

You sigh and gather the photos taking them to your bedroom. Joe is already in the shower, so you join him in the bathroom. Leaning against your sink, you take a deep breath.

"The same person watching me has been watching Nicole."

Joe slides the shower door open.

"That's what she wants you to believe. Nicole is up to no good. I know her very well." Joe turns off the shower, grabs a towel, dries off, and wraps it around his waist.

"If she's such this terrible person, why were you with her?" Your tone takes Joe by surprise.

"What do you want me to say? She was nice, okay! But somewhere along the lines, her true colors started to show. Even if you didn't come back into my life, I would've broken up with her. She is a scheming, manipulating, egotistical person." Joe runs his hands through his wet hair waiting for you to say something; when you don't reply, he walks off. Joe intended to break things off with Nicole before you, but things happened fast.

"Look, I don't want to fight, but she is being stalked. She doesn't deserve that. I think if we both go to the police, something can be done. We have more evidence here." You shout, shaking the photos. You're getting frustrated that he isn't taking the situation seriously enough for you.

"It's Nicole. She wants you riled up. Why would she drive here of all places."

"Joe! They attacked me! I don't think she would be here showing me this stuff if she was part of it. What kind of person-"

"Nicole is that type of person! I am telling you! I know her. She only cares about her fucking self! She wasn't even picked for the news anchor position. Ask me how she got it. Ask, go on?" Joe's voice boomed through the room. You crossed your arms, shaking your head.

"She exposed Kelly, the girl who actually earned the position. How? Because she blackmailed Kelly into quitting. She's not a good person. That's why I can't take the bullshit she says to you seriously." Joe is calmer, but you are on the verge of tears.

"You knew what she would do to me if she found out about us, and you just let it happen?"

Joe realizes what you're thinking.

"Baby-"

"You let her do this. You should've ended things. Get out!"

"Cheeks, I'm tired and-"

"Get out!" You scream, throwing his clothes. Joe quickly dresses, and you slam the door on his way out. Joe sleeps on the couch while you sit in the bedroom, thinking about everything. If Nicole was playing you, you needed to find out yourself. But if she were telling the truth, you'd be even more of an ass attacking her. You tossed and turned all night until finally letting sleep take you. In the morning, Joe entered the kitchen to find Nicole eating cereal.

"Wifey said I could help myself. Noticed you on the couch. Sorry if I caused trouble." Her smile annoyed Joe, who ignored her, walking over to the fridge.

"Hey, don't be so mean, Joey babe! I came here to talk. Soon the news will break about your infidelity. I'm sure your publicist will contact you shortly. I thought I should warn you in person. " Nicole empties her bowl into the sink and pats Joe on the back.

"Nicole, come on. You know we broke up so-"

"You started seeing her before we broke up. I'm going with that story. Prepare yourselves." She smiles and turns away.

"If the stalker is after you, that means they have something on you too. What is it?"

Nicole freezes up.

"None of your fucking business. Have fun, pretty boy." Nicole leaves the house as you enter the kitchen. Joe tries apologizing, but you tell him you work a double today and will see him tomorrow. Just like Nicole warned him, his publicist calls him.

"When is the story dropping?" He asks.

"We can hold it off for now, but the best thing to do is come forward. Who knows how Nicole will bend this story."

"Cheeks is six months pregnant."

"Jesus, Joe. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"The stress from this story won't benefit the baby or her. So do what you can, Helen. Please." Joe is defeated when he ends the call. He drives to his parent's house to tell them everything. Only his father is home, and Joe takes a seat.

"You look stressed. This season is going so well. You are going to the Superbowl again. I can feel it, son."

"Dad. I need to tell you something."

"You're not doping, right?"

"No. No way. I cheated on Nicole."

"Joe. I don't know what to say. Have you made up with her? I'm sure it was a lapse in judgment, and you guys can work it out." His dad shakes his head, leaning back in his chair.

"Cheeks is pregnant with my child. I broke things off with Nicole, but now she will expose the affair. I wanted to tell you guys before the story broke." Joe can't look at his father as he tells him everything. His father is shocked but not really all that surprised.

"I had a feeling. You look at that girl the same way you did in 6th grade. The best thing you can do now is to come forward before Nicole does and flips the story her way. You have to protect what you love. Your career is meaningful. This could damage your public opinion."

Joe doesn't take much from the conversation besides the fact that his father wants him to protect his career. He should have gone to his mother first. Sure, she would be disappointed, but at least he could get some advice. Joe makes his way to practice trying his best to keep his head focused. As the holidays blend, no story drops. But Joe can't keep calm. He knows this impending doom can drop any day or anytime. You and Joe have been going through the motions since your fight a few weeks back. You decide to pick up shifts just to keep busy and avoid him. When you and Joe are home simultaneously, the words you say to each other are few. He holds you in bed, and you both drift to sleep, ready to start the next day. Except for this morning, when Joe insisted on coming to your check-up. You laid down watching your OB put gel on your belly. Joe couldn't stop smiling as soon as he heard the heartbeat.

"Very healthy heartbeat. She sounds great." Your OB says, helping you up. She looks at Joe, who kisses your head and smiles.

"That's our baby girl in there." He whispers. Your heart melts, and all your passive aggressiveness toward each other goes out the window. Joe offers to take you to lunch, but. You tell him you have to go to work.

"You're seven months pregnant. Do you think going to work for almost 14 hours is okay?"

"I'm chair right now, and it's important I do everything I can. Besides, I'll see you at the charity gala, right?"

Joe kisses your hand and watches you walk away. You go to your office, and Mya stands outside, holding her phone up. You take it and look at the photo a fan took of Joe in the OB's office.

"Rumors are spreading fast about Nicki being pregnant now." Mya follows you into the office. You sit down reading blogs and tweets about the speculation. Joe has attended every appointment, so this was bound to happen soon.

"It's fine. I'm sure it will be okay. Not many people were there." You're lying. This will not be okay, and it's only a matter of time before the shit hits the fan. You don't have to think of something because your pager goes off, indicating an emergency—the rest of the day counties with crisis after crisis. When the day whines down, you finally shower and get ready for the gala. You attend the gala with Mya and work the room. Dr. Brian pulls you into a big hug.

"You've done amazing things. I knew I had left my department in the right hands. The housing you opened, I don't know how you finally got that knucklehead to donate so big but thank you."

"My charm and promised it would be named after him." You smile, rubbing your belly. Dr.Brian takes you to more donors, and you guys get a few people talking about donating to the department. Joe spots you across the room and stands there staring at you. It seems almost unbelievable how beautiful you are. Joe feels like he's starstruck. He wipes his palms on his pants and makes his way over.

"Hey." He whispers, looking down at you.

"How do you know The Joe Burrow?" Dr.Brain shakes his hand laughing. You shy away because Joe's eyes haven't left you.

"We went to school together."

"Childhood friends," Joe adds. Dr. Brain smiles between the two of you and excuses himself. Joe pulls you to the dance floor, and you sway with the music.

"You look so beautiful. I feel nervous. I don't know how to explain it." Joe whispers against your forehead. The smile you're wearing doesn't falter. Being in his arms feels safe and warm. Joe wants to kiss you so bad, but he controls himself. The smile on his face disappears as Nicole makes her way over. You feel a tap on your shoulder and turn around to Nicole, asking you to cut in.

"Nicole, what are you-"

"Nice to see you too, babe." Nicole cuts him off, and you step aside, letting her dance with him.

"Why are you here?"

"My job has someone covering the gala. I am still your girlfriend. Wouldn't it be weird if we didn't attend together?" She smiles up at him. Joe stops and looks over at you, standing to the side.

"Not after tonight. My publicist is telling the public about our breaking up. I found out what the stalker has over you."

"You're lying."

"It took some digging, but Helen probably has even more connections than you. You're a bully even after all these years. The girl that you damn near bullied to suicide, yeah, she spoke with Helen. If it got out, what a bully you were. Would that fit your pretty perfect image?"

Nicole is speechless.

"Didn't think so. Leak anything about Cheeks to the press, and you will hear from our lawyer."

"You can't do that to me. You cannot."

"I tried to end things peacefully, but you took it to another level. Cheeks trust you, but I don't. I know whoever the stalker is, is probably working for you. Goodbye, Nicole. I wish you the best." Joe kisses her cheek and walks over to you, taking your hand. Some people look confused, but Nicole smiles and storms off. You ask Joe about what that was about. Joe shrugs and tells you not to worry about it. So you leave it be. Nicole rushes out of the gala and drives home. There is no way in hell she is going out like that. She lets that night stew for days. Everyone in her path feels her rage, from the poor barista at Starbucks to her assistant.

"It's fucking ugly. If you think I'm wearing that bullshit, you have another thing coming! Find me something else!" She screams at her assistant. The girl nods her head and runs off. The door opens to Ariel, who runs the gossip portion of the news.

"I gave you everything you needed to leak the story. Do it now."

"Joe's pub-"

"Do you like your job? Or do you want to go back to writing stupid little articles? I can and will ruin your fucking career!"

"Okay. I'll do it, but I don't want to get sued and-"

"You let me handle that. Go do your job."

"Is this better?" Nicole's assistant asks, holding up a new outfit.

"Perfect. Everything is perfect." She giggles to herself.

You spent the morning assisting in the ED and finally had some downtime around six, so you went to the cafeteria. With Tate following behind you, complaining about his shift today. Mya joins you, taking her usual seat next to you. You leave them to go to the bathroom you miss being able to hold your pee for longer than 5 mins. You enter the break room, and all eyes seem to be on you.

"Do I have food on me?" You laugh, trying to look at your shirt. Mike turns the tv up, wearing a huge smile.

"Allegedly, Joe has been seeing her for at least a year. Nicole and Joe's reps have yet to make a statement. It seems like the endzone isn't the only thing he has been scoring in. That is all for Ariel's Gossip corner. Back to you guys." Ariel smiles, ending her segment. The camera pans back to Nicole, whose eyes are filled with tears s she wears a smile. Her costar, Malcom, coughs and brings the 6 pm news to a closing. Everyone in the room continues to stare at you.

"Holy fuck. I thought you were seeing Dr. Brian but this- this is so much better. What a fucking cunt." Mike says. Mya slaps him across the face. Your chest tightens, and you run out of the break room before everyone can question you.

Nicole wipes her tears as the camera cuts. People start asking her if she's okay and apologizing. Nicole shakes her head and rushes to her room. She closes the door and starts laughing.

"I win." She whispers to herself.

Joe stands on the sideline, watching the defense play against the Jet's offense. A water boy looks at him and then at his phone, then back a Joe. He whispers to the girl next to him. She pulls out her phone and does the same. Joe focuses back on the game until a benched player approaches him.

"You are the man." He says, slapping Joe's back. Joe thinks he's talking about the game and nods. The game ends with the last play. The Bengals are going to the playoffs. Joe does post-game interviews, and one comment catches his attention because your name is mentioned.

"What?" Joe asks the girl to repeat herself.

"Are you seeing her?"

"No comment." Helen grabs Joe dragging him to the locker room. The guys are celebrating while Helen breaks the news. Joe punches a locker and goes through his bag to find his phone. He has messages from everyone. The calls from his mother won't stop. But the only message that sends his blood boiling is Nicole's three worded message.

Sorry, Not Sorry.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffy! I'm so busy, so I wanted to get this part out first. Are my tags working idk if you guys get it when I stage you because sometimes I can't tag you? Next chapter will be the aftermath of everything! And we will get to see the stalker for sure! Who do you guys think the stalker is? The reblogs and comments and likes and the team Nicole omg I LOVE IT ALL! It has been so much fun writing this. Don't worry I will be doing the requests this week too! Until next time take care :)

Tags: @joselyn001@savii999@lostaurorax@simpgirl-lat@edenhess @blinkloverx3 @dboanalooaa @nm112495 @mhm-ok-sure@katiehud@blu3jeanbaby@mrosales16@wineauntharry @Cosmolover96 @loviingjihyo @hrlzy @spideybrina @wickedfun9 @dessxoxsworld @Tjb113 @heartsml @munsonrry @blu3jeanbaby

[hestialevy]

~Epiphany ~

Today's the 6th of January, also known as Epiphany day (or Three Kings' Day for some). Christians are celebrating the day of the Magi, when the Three Kings came to see Jesus after his birth.

Traditions calls for a King cake to be shared on this day. The cake is different depending on where you set your eyes to, you may know for example Rosca de Reyes but here we're going to talk about the French one, obviously.

We call it Galette des Rois (there's no real translation), this King cake is made of puff pastry and frangipane (an almond flavored custard) : there's a fève inside (literally translated to fava bean since this is what was used originally) a small porcelaine figurine hidden. If you find the fève you're crowned King or Queen of the day, with a paper crown often sold with the Galette.

Because there's a price (the title and the paper crown) some may accuse the other of cheating, so it's tradition for the youngest one to go under the table and designate a slice to someone randomly.

a few more words for you under

“I am now your King, you may bow to me !”

And because my brain goes brrr and I have an unhealthy obession with Pierreste, of course I had to :

Of course Pierre had to find the fève and that made Esteban sigh, his teammate wasn’t known to be the  humble kind -at least not in front of him. 

They wanted to make a part of the team try a galette des rois, actually having to buy two because he knew one would never be enough for the group. Their engineers had loved the idea, watching Pierre trying to cut even slices for everyone while Esteban explained at the same time the tradition behind it. 

 Pierre was now wearing the golden paper crown on his head, going to every single person and asking for a bow. Esteban had yet to finish his own slice, too busy watching Pierre and his stupid crown, he hated how well it suited him. And the engineers actually played along and were giving him bows that made him smile, it quickly went away as Pierre was now going his way.

“Your turn !”

Esteban took another bite, getting flakes everywhere on his shirt, and giving himself the opportunity to shut his month. He shook his head, hoping Pierre would simply give him.

He did not.

“C’mon Este, I’m the King.”

“I think you cheated. You’re the one who cut them” 

He didn’t actually think that, Esteban wasn’t a kid anymore, fighting Pierre for the crown and begging his mom to choose the “good one” for him. He remembered how the last time he went to Pierre’s house to eat a kings’ cake with his parents he had been the one to designate everyone’s slices. 

“Alright kids who wanna choose ?”

Pierre’s mom had cut her homemade galette, setting each slices in small plates, still a little warm. She watched as the two 12 year old kids both designated the same  plate and she knew they would fight for it.

“I chose first !” started Pierre

“That’s not true, he copied me !”

That’s when Pierre’s dad arrived and sat at the table watching the two boys bicker again for third time that day. 

“Alright Esteban ! Under the table young man.”

“Why me ?”

Pierre turned to him like he had asked the dumbest question ever.

“You’re the youngest”

“We’re the same age”

“Still the youngest here” 

Esteban couldn’t argue more about it, Pierre of course understood that and stuck his tongue out. His mom stopped the exchange by waving her dish towel in front of them.

“Pierre, behave. Esteban, you both fought about it, so we’re making it fair, the youngest choose under the table. Hop hop.” 

Esteban obeyed.Pierre’s mom took a plate and asked Esteban who this one would go to, until they all had plates in front of them. He still decided that going under the table had to be worth something and pinched Pierre’s leg, he had tried to fight back and kick him but only managed to hit his dad. Esteban had somehow made a good choice, because he almost chipped a tooth on the fève hidden, he had been so certain he’d never get it he forgot to be cautious. 

Pierre had been the one to crown him King that day, he had made sure it would fit him first then placed it on his head. 

“My king” 

Esteban had never been able to tell if he meant it as a joke, to mock him or only to play along. 

“It doesn’t taste good to win like that, I don’t cheat Este … I’m a fair King, so, can I get a bow ?”

Esteban smiled. To be fair, he had decided to play along with Pierre’s antics, until he felt something hard with the last bite. 

Spiting out a little porcelaine baby jesus on his plate, he stretched out his arm to get the second crown and handed it to Pierre.

“ I’m King too, will you bow to me?”

[leqclerc]

So so pissed off with how the broadcast has been (I know that they're usually so selective against charles, but today seemed deliberate). Like on sky them saying that the slow stop at the beginning was charles fault because he boxed without giving the team a chance to get ready, but if you watch the onboard they argued for so many seconds they could've been ready if they just listened to him (like red bull did with Perez, who was ahead on track and hence had less of a warning to get ready). And then also with the damage, like duh something was wrong. He was like 2 seconds slower than his teammate and getting overtaken by a rookie in a bathtub. No shit there's something wrong with the car. Firstly where is the Ferrari press officer? When other teams have something going on, they usually text the commentating team to keep them up to date on what's happening. Is the Ferrari team too busy editing the next ice bath content to do their job. And second, the broadcasters have people listening to team radios. Surely if you see something out of the ordinary happening you go to investigate, a quick tune in to charles radio will tell you he was managing a problem (and a big one at that). Today FOM (and sky) were working overtime to sell their narrative against charles.

It probably depends on the broadcaster (and language version) and the commentators there. I wasn't watching with Sky comms but my experience was largely the same. I believe they made it known that he had front wing damage (a bit more obvious because he actually pitted to change the front wing), but then I only found out about the floor damage and just how terminal the issue was because I had Charles's onboard on. But for the more casual fan, or whoever doesn't have access to onboard radios, there was no clear explanation about the damage, just the comms making an assumption that Charles was tumbling backwards because he had no pace or just "had an off day" or whatever. No real explanation came until the session was red flagged and with no on-track action and ample time they showed a brief clip of his interview from the media pen, and even then they kind of glossed over it.

I mean, like you said, if he's tumbling back and hardly defending against the overtaking cars, which are, by all accounts, weaker than the Ferrari, then something's not right there. They made a big deal out of Liam Lawson overtaking a Ferrari on debut, as if the circumstances were normal and both cars were operating at full capacity. It was very frustrating to witness, especially knowing the reason and the extent and how it just kept getting worse, to the point where Charles was actively asking them to consider retiring because it was just a struggle with no real gain in sight.

And you're right, I'm pretty sure the commentator booths are fitted with several monitors and they have access to all kinds of data and all the driver's radios, so I'm not sure why they... didn't seem aware or hadn't checked on the situation with Charles. I think the whole debacle with Barcelona qualifying, and how despite carrying out checks back at Maranello Ferrari failed to produce a concrete reason for why the car was behaving the way it was (or if they had, they didn't share it publicly), kind of set a precedent for just assuming he's having a stinker of his own accord, without really delving into the technicalities of why he's having such a bad race.

Lbr he wasn't really in the fight for top positions in this race so maybe that added to how little they cared? Maybe if he started rapidly losing pace while running in the top 3 or something there would've been more attention on him, instead the generally accepted narrative seems to be that he just had a very anonymous underwhelming outing today, which doesn't tell the full story.

Then again George had basically the exact same thing happen to him in the closing stages of the race, and I don't think they even bothered showing footage of him losing all those positions, it was all just happening on the leaderboard, and then a brief shot of him in the pits. But yeah, frustrating that no real explanation was broadcast on the main feed—Charles and Xavi spent quite a lot of time discussing the situation and how badly it was impacting Charles's performance, so they had an abundance of audio to choose from 🙄

[xexiar]

Keep Watching. 22

Ch21 Ao3 FFnet

____

Chapter 22

As I watched the match between Deku and round face, I couldn't help but take note of a few things. For one, that girl thinks she's so clever with trying to set up debris traps. And the other thing was how sloppy Deku's moves were. He's still dragging his feet when he runs. It doesn't help that his overthinking was slowing him down. God! He's such a nerd.

The way he scaled the outside of that building clearly meant he had done this before. But when has he… Oh that bastard. Was that how he was able to escape his mom and me those few times last year? Then the way he rode that door. He's so off-balanced, and yet neither of the idiots was able to knock him down. He was practically throwing his weight around, and nobody was stopping him. Pathetic. Same old Deku.

While the teams walked back to join the class, I couldn't help but notice how close that round face was to Deku. In fact, it somehow annoyed me. But when she hugged him, I felt my body burn when anger. How dare she hug Deku! She doesn't even make sure Deku eats his lunch! At that, she didn't even win this match. No way she deserves a hug for her horrible behavior!

She had yet to prove herself as a worthy friend to the nerd. Four eyes has been proven to be a better character than her. But here she is, daring to steal a hug from Deku without earning it. How dare that bitch to behave in such a way. When Deku pulled away from her, I couldn't help but smile. That's right, round face! You're not allowed to hug him.

As I started heading to get my match out the way, round face stuck her tongue at me. "What the hell!" So, she wants to fight me! That has to be it! Well, extra! Who am I to turn down a challenge by a stupid nobody? But before I could go up to her, something sticky wrapped around me and pulled.

When I looked down I saw some white-looking cloth was what was wrapped around me. But it wasn't like the cloth around Sensei's neck. At that, it was sticky. Almost like tape. I looked behind me and saw that whatever this stuff came out from my teammate's elbows. Eww. Gross. Yet, as I was being dragged I had an idea.

Since I had some arm movement, I reached for one of the laches that I learned my tanks had. Taking out some sweat collectors, I put a few of them in the grenade shells I had. The rest, I tried to see if they would stick to whatever this thing was around me. To my delight, they did. Was this some kind of tape? Maybe this time I will win this training class, unlike last time.

When we reached the building we were using, is when my teammate started to free me from this tape stuff. But I was at least happy to see that the collectors still stick to it. "What are you thinking?"

I didn't look at the extra as I gathered the tape and my collectors. "This might not be enough. But it'll do." That's when I did look at him. I handed him the tape back. "Make yourself useful and set these on the stairway that you use." He just looked at me before looking at what I gave him.

"What are you talking about, man?"

"Don't be an idiot." We then went off to different stairways on the way to the base. If that extra did what I said then I could blow up the staircase. Since that round face thinks she could be smart by setting traps. Let me show her how true genius sets up traps that will work. When I got to base I saw the extra didn't have the tape. "Once the timer starts, I'm heading out. You set a spiderweb."

"Why a spiderweb?" I looked at him. But before I could say anything the timer went off. So, I headed to the staircase he would have used. Thankfully I was able to see where he left the tape. At that, the end that had my grenade was at the start. So I activated as I ran down the stairs. It went off with a bang and broke parts of the stairs. Now, I needed to hurry because the hero team would have heard that. Not to mention, that grenade set off the domino effect I was after with the other collectors.

As I tried to outrun the domino effect of my grenade I went into the second floor. Running to the other staircase, I could hear the other team. I could fight them here and now. But I'm not repeating the same mistake twice. So, I carefully avoided them as I finished heading to the staircase. Thankfully we didn't cross paths, and they weren't near the staircase. At best, four eyes and pinky are going to be faster than me if they want to win.

Without any issue, I was able to collapse the second staircase and made it back to base. When I did, I was disappointed that the idiot didn't do anything while I was gone. "What the hell, extra?" And this is why I don't get why I had to work in teams. This would be so much easier if I was alone. But after that long conversation I had with sensei on Tuesday, I had no choice but to deal with working in a team. I walked over to extra and got within arm's reach. "You keep an eye on the windows. I'll deal with the door. You can do that much."

"You're not the boss of me, man. And we have to do this as a team."

He's being so annoying. "Shut your face and do as I say extra. Those other idiots are bound to show up soon."

The extra dared to push me away. "Get off me, man. And how are they going to get here if you blow up the staircases?"

I will ignore the disrespect since I really need a perfect score today. "Stop being an idiot for once, and get ready." Without looking at him, I walked back towards the door. As I tried to keep my ears open for any sound, I rubbed my palms together. When those extras finally showed up, I needed to be ready to react quickly. If I remember correctly, four eyes was my teammate the first time. At that, he was fast. Then there's raccoon eyes with her acid.

I won't fail this time. And Deku, you better be watching carefully. Your sloppiness will not be tolerated. For I want a proper rematch next time. At that, I hope to face you during the sports festival.

Before I knew it I heard what seemed to be a crash. I looked behind me and saw that four eyes came through the window. I knew it. But where were raccoon eyes? I quickly braced myself when I heard the door open. She tried to get around me, but I easily shot a blast to knock her back.

I looked to see where four eyes was, and he was taped up by my teammate. I couldn't help but smile. That perfect score is looking better by the second. I quickly brought my attention back to pinky and shot a few small blasts to keep her back and down.

We kept them back effortless until the timer was up. "Villain team won." With that, we headed back to the rest of the class. As we did so, raccoon eyes walked alongside me.

"That was so amazing, Bakugo." I didn't even look at her as she kept talking. Her voice was so scratching and high-pitched that it was hurting my ears. So, I tried to drown her out as I thought about the match. Maybe there could have been more I could do instead of waiting around. I felt so restless just standing there. But I didn't want to risk another lecture.

When we reached the rest of the class, I stared directly over at round face. I take it back. I want to fight her during the sports festival. Especially to put her in her place. She needs to learn that she has to earn being close to Deku. No way was she going to be friends with the nerd if she couldn't get past me.

After All Might and Sensei went over our match, I was disappointed I didn't get a perfect score again. What the hell! What did they want from me? I didn't beat the shit out of the other team this time. I held back a lot. Yet it still wasn't good enough. Something about I wasn't being a team player. How the fuck? I told him what to do and everything.

I angrily walked to the back of the room, but not before I shoulder-bumped round face. She looked at me, and I glared into her eyes. Daring her to say something. That scared little shit just backed away. This is the kind of behavior that makes her worthless in being Deku's friend.

While the next match went on, I stood in the back of the class. I didn't even watch the screen as the match went on. Instead, I was being annoyed by shitty hair and raccoon eyes. They went on and on about how impressive I was during my match. But I completely ignored them since I had the perfect view of Deku. He was going about writing his notes. Not to mention speaking with that round face extra. Why staring at them had me grinding my teeth? I never did this before, but somehow I just didn't care.

"Yo, Bakugo." I felt something poke the side of my face and saw it was shitty hair. "Since it was your birthday yesterday—" I didn't hear the rest of what he said, with how fast I covered his mouth.

"How the fuck you know that?" I looked back at Deku in annoyance. Then I stormed my way over to the nerd. I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look at me. "Did you tell the extras about my birthday?" Deku kept trying to look away from me. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Answer me, nerd!"

Deku tried to push away from me. "I didn't say anything, Kacchan. I swear."

"Don't lie to me." I raised my hand to punch him. But I was quickly grabbed and pulled off the nerd. "Deku!"

Instead of shaking in fear, like usual, Deku puffed up his chest and walked in front of me. He even got in my face and spoke in a tone he never used before. It was clear and sounded like he was mad. "I didn't tell anyone anything. I know how you feel about your birthday. So, why would I do something so stupid behind your back?" I've heard him be mad before, but it was always layered with tears. Yet this was very different. For once, I didn't get angry back. Instead, I felt this strange sense of fear. That shouldn't be the case.

But I quickly pushed that emotion down as my anger returned to full force. I got out of whoever was holding me and towered over Deku. "If you didn't tell anyone, then how do the idiots know?"

Deku pushed me back as he spoke. "How about you ask them!" He then made the motion that he was about to turn away. But I quickly grabbed him. I went to throw a punch, and he grabbed it. HE GRABBED IT! At that, his voice carried that angry tone that had my spine shiver. "Back down." Which I did.

I stood there in shock for a moment before looking at to shitty hair. I then stomped over to him. "How did you find out about my birthday?" He looked over to raccoon eyes, which was also shaking. I looked between the two as my anger began to rise again. "One of you answer me."

It's then that raccoon eyes stepped in front of shitty hair, with her hands up in defense. "We may have overheard you and Midoriya yesterday." At that moment, I felt cold all over. Did someone hear my interaction with Deku yesterday? Someone actually witnessed my pathetic behavior. So did that mean these two were now mocking me?

I started to walk past them. "Leave me alone."

"Wait." I felt someone grab my shoulder. I tried to get away, but they wouldn't let me go. So, I looked back, and it was raccoon eyes. "We wanted to invite you to karaoke after school to celebrate."

She then let me go, and I turned away. "No thanks." I was still in disbelief that someone actually saw my interaction with Deku yesterday. They probably think I'm weak. That has to be it, and why they were mocking me today. It's why they didn't fear sitting with me at lunch. They were pitying me. I can't make that mistake again. Heroes aren't supposed to show weakness. Now nobody would respect me. Now more than ever, I have to stay on my game. I can't show that level of weakness again.

At the end of class, I gathered my things to leave. As I did so, I happened to see everyone talking among themselves. It was probably some stupid thing that extras took part in. But for some reason, I couldn't help but feel sad. Even though I shouldn't care. What the extras did in their little friend groups was none of my concern. It doesn't matter if I felt lonely and left out. I have just to keep pushing forward and not deal with pathetic behavior.

But as I started making my way to the door is when shitty hair approached me. "Hey, bro. Give us your number for the class group chat."

"Why should I?" He didn't respond. But just as I was about to open the door, I overheard round face asking the same to Deku. Oh no, you don't! I will not stand for this! So, I pulled out my phone from my pocket and shared my number with shitty hair. "There. Happy now?"

Shitty hair smiled as he held out his fist. "Yeah, bro." I just looked at the fist. What was I supposed to do with this? That's when I recall how sometimes Kato and Saito did this thing called a fist bump. Is that what shitty hair wanted me to do? I tried it and saw shitty hair's smile turn to a toothy grin. Does that mean I did something right?

With that, I made my way to the shoe locker and changed into my boots. But it was after I locked the locker back up that I saw Deku was next to me. It's then that I recalled our interaction from earlier. It was then that I felt my cheeks slowly start to burn, and I felt nervous. Why was Deku here? Was he still mad at me?

I was surprised that Deku hadn't said a word the whole time. In fact, he was silent throughout the trip back to our neighborhood. But when we got to the corner before our homes I decided to face him. I couldn't take the silence any longer. "Spill it, nerd."

He started to fidget with his book bag straps, which was cute. It didn't help that his cheeks were slightly pink. His freckles had them looking like strawberries. Deku didn't look at me for a while. So, I decided to walk towards him and force his head up. "I'm sorry." That was not the response I thought I would get.

"For?"

I let him go. I then watched as Deku let out a sigh before straightening his back. The shade of pink left his cheeks as he stared directly into my eyes. Why was I starting to get nervous now? Especially with the way Deku stood there. Before my very eyes, he went from looking like a cute little nerd to something completely different.

At that, I don't know how I would even begin to describe the way he looks right now. All I did know was that my palms were starting to sweat, along with under my arms. Why was I sweating all of a sudden? The only time I ever sweat this much was when I was fighting.

But here I was, just waiting for a response from Deku. It was also very confusing how hard it was to breathe while staring at him. For some reason, it felt like I was trapped by his gaze. At that, it was confusing how much I was liking this look on Deku. "I'm sorry I didn't get you a gift this year."

I couldn't help but blink a few times. Did my ears try to trick me? Did Deku really just apologize for not giving me a birthday present? I wasn't sure what to feel now. Should I feel happy that he apologized? Or maybe I shouldn't even care? I just don't know what I'm supposed to feel or do at this moment. But for some reason, I got angry. And snapped out of whatever pathetic trance I was in. Pointing a finger at Deku, I yelled. "Well, you better not do that again."

It was then that Deku held his usual smile before dropping his shoulders. "I promise, Kacchan." I can't put my finger on it, but something about how he said my name right now was different. In fact, it had my cheeks burning up again. Let alone this strange feeling of wanting to hear him say my name like that again. But I quickly push that emotion down. Whatever that was, was pathetic and useless. "Is there any way I could make it up to you right now?"

Is there something he can do? I looked away from Deku for a moment as I thought. Then I had the perfect idea. Looking back at him, I tried not to focus on his face. Something about staring at it now made me feel something I did not want to address. Can't believe I'm now scared to look this nerd in his face. I'm so pathetic. "Just this once, I will allow you to give me birthday punches."

Usually, Kato and Saito gave me birthday punches when we were in elementary school. But I quickly put a stop to that because the old hag told me to. "Are you sure about this?" I took my chances and looked at Deku. Why was he suddenly cuter than he was growing up? The way his eyes glowed in the sunset was so unfair. Yet there was something else, and I did not want to pay attention to that.

"Either do it, or you have to get me two gifts next year."

"Ok." I turned to my left side, so he could hit that arm. Watching as Deku gave me one more look before looking at my arm was nerve-racking. But it was the moment that his fist made contact with my arm that I automatically regretted my decision. The nerd was stronger than he looked, which was a huge understatement.

With each punch, I was able to feel it down to my bones. How was he so skinny and small, yet hits so hard? Maybe it was due to him being so bony? Then again, he was training all last year. That could be it! And when he was done punching me, I was left with another strange feeling. For some reason, I felt giddy.

That's strange. Why would I be giddy that Deku's punches hurt? Or the fact he's stronger than he looked? He was still sloppy and couldn't throw a punch properly. Yet I still felt the strength behind each of his movements. It was both frightening and exciting. Which I still don't get where the excitement and giddy feelings are coming from. "I hope I didn't hurt you too badly."

I looked back at Deku, who seemed to have a small frown. Should I tell him that his punches hurt? On second thought, I should keep that little information for myself. "You call those punches. A baby could do better than that." At that, Deku's frown deepened for a moment before he smiled at me. Oh god! That smile was behind his typical cuteness. How I wish I could take a picture of it and be able to see it forever.

What was I saying? I mentally slapped myself as I watched Deku leave. What is wrong with me? As I made my way into my house, I was greeted by my old man. "Well, someone must have had a good day."

[soyl4ndo]

Double Win | Lando Norris

english is not my first language word count: 1.4k words request from @gpiggy98: Can it be were I’m Lando’s teammate and we don’t really get along, when we have to play a game for the Mclaren channel we get competitive and get into one of our bickering and teasing fits, when we get told to separate, we both get frustrated and I follow him to the drivers room and we subconsciously get closer when we kiss and it’s all cute and sweet. Lol thanks :) warnings: angst, swearing, fluff MASTERLIST

It was your second year as Lando's teammate. In your first year, you thought you two were becoming best friends. You would often hang out until late at night at the track. Sometimes during your off-weekends, you would be at his place or the other way around. People around you two started to assume you were together, and it wasn't until then that you had thought of Lando as something more than just a friend. You discovered that you had feelings for Lando, but found a way to perfectly hide it. You don't know what happened or what you did, but out of the blue Lando started to ignore you. All your fun weekends turned into boring ones at home all by yourself. Lando started to even distance himself more from you, not wanting to drive with you to the track, and spend as less time as possible with you in the same room. You were hurt by it, and it got only worse over the weeks.

It was a home race for the both of you and you remember Lando saying to you he would love to share that podium with you one day. You had been training your ass off, to get that first podium this weekend, whether it was with him on it or not. Charlotte had informed you that you would be shooting a video with Lando today. She had asked Lando to behave, and she was expecting the same from you. You took a deep breath before you left your driver's room to sit down with Lando for that video. You were going to film a quiz about England and most importantly the history of Silverstone. It started off alright until the team started to give you points for a few of your almost correct answers. You had both been told off a few times, as either one of you would make a snarky comment. You knew Lando could be competitive about these little games, so you tried to have as much fun as you could. You were almost done filming without any big fights. That was until you were asked a question about the track's length. It was something so stupid, but you and Lando made a big fit about it. You were off by 1 km, and Lando couldn't handle that the team was accepting that answer. "You're always choosing her over me" He bursts out and storms off to his driver's room. Charlotte tells you to calm down, as she saw you were getting fed up with his comment. It wasn't the first time he had said something like that, always thinking you were the team's favorite when to you it was clear they favored Lando over you. So it might have not been the best for you to follow him. You caught the attention of many people in the paddock, as they saw two McLaren drivers storm after each other. "What is wrong with you!" You screamed at him as he continued to walk off.

When Lando arrived at his driver's room, he wanted to slam the door closed, but you were not far behind him and stop the door with your hand. "Don't you dare slam the door in my face" You hadn't been in Lando's driver's room for a while, but you could see that nothing had changed. You could sense Lando was frustrated as he was pacing up and down his room. "What? You can't handle I was clearly winning, and there was no way for you to get back" You teased him, as you cross your arms. "Oh shut up, you don't get it," Lando growled back. Both of you were frustrated, not because of all the pressure you had felt lately, no you were both keeping a secret from each other, and being in each other's presence was messing with your head. "Then for fuck sake explain it to me. It is the least I deserve after you abandoned me." It did really feel to you like that, because from one day to the other Lando wasn't your best friend anymore. It was the first time Lando heard you say that. He knew what he did wasn't right, but he didn't know how to handle his feelings, nor did he know how to explain them to you. "I don't know how to" "Bull shit." In your subconsciousness you had stepped closer to him, so by the time, you said that you were basically a few meters apart. "May I?" Lando turned all soft as he grabbed your face, there was no time for you to respond, as you felt his lips on yours. You couldn't believe what was happening. You placed your hands on his and kissed him back. He slowly pulled away and said "Does that explain why I couldn't spend any more time in your presence. You have been messing with my head for a while now." All your thoughts from a minute ago disappeared. You chuckle as Lando pulled you into a hug.

After the kiss on Thursday, you had been sneaking around with Lando. Stealing a kiss from each other just before the session, without anyone noticing. Visiting each other late at night in the hotel, to cuddle and relax for the next day. It was remarkable how McLaren's performance changed that specific weekend. You qualified behind Lando, who was in second place, the only driver you had to beat was Max Verstappen. You were in a briefing just before the race. The team was talking about who was getting the place in front of the other. All heads turned towards you and Lando as the team couldn't decide themselves. For you, it was an easy decision "Lando should deserve the priority this weekend, he has been with the team the longest." You looked into Lando his eyes and you could see he appreciated your words, as he knew you meant something different. There wasn't too much bickering around in the team, as they accepted your decision. You left the briefing room and went straight towards your driver's room. You were preparing by yourself after your trainer left. You heard a few soft knocks and soon Lando's head sneaked around the corner. He slipped into the room and closed the door right after he got in. "Shall we try to make this a double McLaren podium?" Lando asks and wraps his arms around your waist. You let out a sigh "It is worth a shot" You were very nervous about the race as this was the first time you were so close to a podium, yet it felt miles away. "We got this" Lando says before placing a kiss on your lips.

It felt like you had been holding your breath the whole race, as you got out of the car. You had dropped a few places down after you made a pit stop, and for your own good, you asked your engineer to not mention the position you were in until the end of the race. The whole time you could see Lando in front of you. You had lost him once or twice, but you somehow made your way back to him, so it wasn't long after him until you reached the last corner. You could see the whole team lined up on the sideline, hanging into the fences, cheering not only for Lando but also for you. You were reading Lando's board and saw he got P1, it was at the exact same time your engineer screamed over the radio “you got P2!” as you reach the checkered flag. You were so proud of Lando and happy with your own result that you felt tears rolling down your cheek while you were parking the car in Parc Ferme. As you jumped out you basically run into Lando his arms. "I'm so darn proud of you," You said, both of you had your helmets on. "I told you we got this!" You let go of each other and run up to the team followed by your parents. After the interviews, you make your way to the podium. Patiently listening to the national anthem, you were ready to celebrate. As soon as the anthem ends and the celebration begins you grab your champagne bottle and start spraying Lando, who apparently had the same idea. Not only brought this weekend a big change to the team, but it also brought an amazing change to your relationship with Lando.

[l-artemisia-del-secolo]

Wounded

Yelena Belova x reader, oneshot, kinda hopeful.

Yelena spent her whole life in a neverending loop of physical pain. Maybe you were the one to show her that it wasn't the only way to feel alive

Yelena chose to be in pain a long time ago. Back in the Red Room girls where not allowed to go to the doctors if something was wrong. They had to use their own knowledge of medicine and anatomy to treat themselves.

Usually the girls helped each other. But Yelena never allowed others to see her wounded. She had to be invincible.

Getting injuries during the missions meant, she was doing everything right and was in control. Was doing her best to achieve goals. She was herself and she was alive.

After being released from the mind control she was overwhelmed by everything around her. But the pain she felt cutting her own hip to get the receiver out was a much needed impulse to be aware of the situation again. It was a familiar pain, comforting pain.

When the Red Room was destroyed she didn't change anything. Still no painkillers, no doctors, no helpers. Others didn't care as long as she was doing her job well.

But the job itself was getting harder and harder. Since she joined the Dark Avengers, she discovered that fights with aliens, robots and magicians required not only her pain, but also blood. By the end of the assignments her skin was soaked in both.

She thought it was not important. But you were the one, who didn't agree.

You were different than the others. Never a core member of the team, you were joining only rescue missions. You tried to save, not destroy. It seemed that Val didn't hold any power over you. It was always your decisions. Yelena didn't understand that, but knew that you were right. She wanted to be like you, but didn't know how.

Soon enough she started choosing you as a part of her squad as often as she could, letting you lead. She admired your determination not only to save the victims, but also protect your teammates. For whatever reason their safety during the assignments and their health afterwards was your personal responsibility. Yelena wasn't an exception.

You always were keeping an eye on her. Extraordinary fighter, but completely reckless. She behaved as if she herself was bulletproof and indestructible.

But when you were flying back to the headquarters after the mission something was off. Yelena was silent with eyes closed, barely moving. As soon as you landed, she ignored everyone and just left. But she was barely walking.

"Is everything OK?" You followed her to one of the medical offices on the 15th floor.

"What are doing here?" She already took off her vest and was searching for right syringes and capsules in the drawers. Yelena didn't even look at you. There was no time for that. "You should leave."

"You're clearly wonded" You gestured on the blood stains on her t-shirt. "We need the doctors."

"I can take care of myself." Yelena really hoped that you didn't notice how hard it was for her to stay on her feet.

"I never said you couldn't..."

"Fine, fine." Yelena muttered. She had to lean on the table to maintain the balance. "But no doctors. Only you. And if you're ever gonna tell about this. I'll kill you."

"Yeah." You helped her get to the chair. "I figured."

"Good."

You quickly found the right painkiller, antibiotic and medical device.

"What are you doing?" Yelena noticed scissors in your hand.

"Your t-shirt. Hope, it's not your lucky one." You cut the wet fabric and examined the wound. "Well, the bullet went through, but I need you to be still."

There was no need to say that. Yelena was already still and quite. And it had little to do with weakness. She didn't know how to react to what was going on. Never before she was like that in front of anyone. Let alone a woman she actually felt something for.

As you were using CT scan, cleaning the wound, making injections, Yelena tried to remain focused. It wasn't easy. Nobody took care of her like this, nobody touched her like this, nobody was gentle like this. She wasn't sure the the medicine eased her pain, she wanted to believe it was the tenderness and warmth of your fingers.

"Aaand done." You just finished dressing the wound. "I did my best with stitching. Sorry, if I was a little slow and if I were you I'd take a few days off."

"You did great." Yelena was already getting up. "Perfect in fact."

She tried to sound as friendly as she could. Even gave you a smile. Which definitely confused you.

"Well, ok then."

As you were ready to open the door, you heard a cough. You expected that. A deadly threat and a reminder not to tell anyone.

"Yes, Yelena. I know. You'll kill me..."

"No, that's different." Her cheeks were burning. "I wanted to say thank you. Sincerely."

"You're welcome, Lena."

Hearing you say her name like that, confused her even more.

"Then maybe I could buy you a drink as an official thank you. One day. If you want to of course..."

"Yeah." You answered quickly.

"You don't have to. I mean, I'd like to..." She kept rambling without hearing your answer.

"Lena, I've heard you." You chuckled. "And I said yes."

"Tomorrow?"

"Perfect."

And at that moment she thought that maybe, just maybe she didn't need to feel pain anymore to be alive.

[animeyanderelover]

Yandere Fairy Tail Hc’s

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, delusions, clinginess, overprotective behavior, manipulation, stalking, blackmailing, threatening, sabotage, kidnapping, killing

Hibiki Lates

✨Hibiki is a semi-delusional Yandere. I admit it, he obviously is quite perceptive and intelligent so he isn't a fully delusional Yandere. Still though he can't help, but think of his darling as something more. He's a womanizer and rumors say that he's had many different girlfriends at the same time. But with the sudden entrance of his darling something seemed to change. He suddenly turned extremely obsessive, wanted to know everything about them and he could never stop thinking about them ever since. So even if he knows that some things he does aren't technically right, he views this whole situation as some sort of destiny and that his darling is his only one. He's quite infatuated with his darling for that reason.

✨Manipulative and overprotective. Hibiki obviously has his charm upon his sleeve and there is a reason he's been voted for several years in a row as a boyfriend every girl would like to have. Problem is that if his darling is looking for a serious relationship, they might ditch him since he is a womanizer and they wouldn't want to be with someone who hangs out with numerous women at the same time. Hibiki has to prove something in here and he is aware of that. But he's a determined and persistent man and he will make sure that he'll court his darling successfully and he isn't above making himself look better than other possible competitors. And a man has to protect his lover after all so of course he is more protective, though he overdoes it in order to look more like a gentleman.

✨Hibiki might just experience for the very first time in his life how real jealousy feels like when you have someone you want to love and cherish for the rest of your life. As someone who is constantly being talked over and the knowledge that he is everyone's dream man give him a certain confidence and since he is a polite man, he never really lashes out on someone. But he learns quickly that he dislikes it when someone else tries to charm his darling the way he does and that e likes it even less when they react flattered by it. Such experiences never really fail to make him a bit more possessive since it's a brilliant reminder that he wants no one else to steal you away from him.

✨He ensures protection as good as he can, but if his darling is a mage themselves he naturally admires their strength and respects it when they can kick someone's asses all by their own. We did see in the Grand Magic Games that he isn't exactly strong when it comes to brute strength so in that aspect his darling might actually surpass him, but he is smart and great in other things. He has without a doubt his own little fanbase and has influence due to his popularity so it may very well be that he uses this against people he views as serious threats and destroys their reputation just like this. He does this more with people who harrassed the s/o or make their life hard rather than people who try to snatch his darling away and make them theirs. In such cases he rather trusts his own looks and charms.

✨Assuming that he does manage to become his darling's boyfriend, it might be not very likely that they would break up very fast since Hibiki almost appears to be the prefect boyfriend, he's probably just a bit too much. But since Hibiki views the whole reason you two met in the first place as fate he of course doesn't plan on letting his darling leave now that he's found true love. He uses manipulation over violence since he sees himself above such brute methods and in general he prefers blackmailing and bribing over physical force the moment he fails to solve an issue the normal way.

✨It's really not seen as anything serious when he first is seen in public with you, but when it is suddenly made clear soon after that he stopped looking at other women and stopped flirting with every women he's encountering, it's made clear that this is due to his relationship with you. His teammates and Ichiya congratulate him soon after for having found the real passionate love. Hibiki is actually a bit careful around his teammates when you're with him since they are womanizers as well and for that might behave the same with you which does make him jealous a bit. I think he has no real problem being extremely cheesy and romantic with you even in front of others. That guy does give his darling space even if he can be rather clingy from time to time, but if he misses them he tends to try to communicate per telepathy.

Eve Tearm

💛Eve is pretty much alike to Hibiki in this matter. He as well is a semi-delusional Yandere. However, he isn't like Hibiki a more intellectual character yet and different from Hibiki lacks the more serious side. He is younger after all and views that as part of his charm so he has a far more stronger side to himself than Hibiki has. Because Eve falls much more faster in love than Hibiki does and for that has a much more stronger view on destiny and that him and his darling are meant to be. He is protective as well. He might be younger and maybe less experienced than his other friends, but he as well wants to prove his dedication and love to the s/o.

💛Obsessive which should be obvious. What kind of lover would he be if he wouldn't know how to make you happy and how to always surprise you pleasantly. Something that still marks a big difference between him and Hibiki is the fact that Eve actually turns out to be more on the shy side once he's really fallen hard for his darling which is why he at first tends to be a bit more on the stalkerish side before Ichiya, Ren and Hibiki encourage the young man to go for this beaty before someone else takes them away from Eve. That includes them as well, they are womanizers. Eve uses manipulation less than Hibiki does since he is surprisingly bashful, but he will sweet talk things more harmless and appealing if he has too.

💛Eve is less possessive than Hibiki is and overall is less jealous. His darling gets their freedom and can talk to others all they like, he can endure them having friends and spending time with others. He is somewhat more cautios around other members of The Trimens for clear reasons. It isn't like Hibiki and Ren don't respect the fact that yo are Eve's lover, but being charming and flirting with women runs simply through their blood and so they might subconsciously accidentally and up doing just that. Eve of course is respectful with his friends and they understand him and stop quickly as well. In front of strangers flirting he still retains that more mature approach similar to Hibiki, but just like him he shares the dislike of seeing other people being all gentleman and nice to you the same way he is. He's not shy when it comes to making it to others clear that you already have him.

💛Similar to Hibiki he will share the same respect and admiration in case you are a wizard yourself and for that have spells up your own sleeves to fight for yourself, though in case of a sudden battle Eve would like to fight right besides you. Even with his whole soulmate belief Eve still mostly turns away from the idea of killing someone as long as it isn’t an emergency situation. He likes discussing it out as well and in the case that someone does try to cause troubles, you have a guild ready to help you out since Eve naturally won’t let anyone harm you. He can sabotage certain situations as well where odds are put against the person he views as a threat.

💛Assuming that you are part of Blue Pegasus, you two would already spend a lot of time together so there would be no need for him to kidnap you since he constantly hangs around you in the guild, regarding clinginess he can be more extreme than Hibiki is. He is younger and more delusional after all. And since he is seen from everyone in the guild as sie sort of younger brother he would definitely be able to count on their help in case something should have happened that caused you to be mad at him.

💛The wizard, despite higher clinginess, still respects the fact to hold back in public more than Hibiki would. Ren and Hibiki most likely triggered him to go out of his way and talk to his darling way back when he was still a secret admirer and didn’t know how to set up a good scenario and how to talk to them. Has a more submissive nature to him so he would like his darling to be the one to lead this relationship whilst he follows along and does in the meantime things to please them and make them happy. But similar to Hibiki he stops flirting with other women as we for the sake of you.

Ren Akatsuki

🎆Funnily from all three of them, he probably is the most lucid one. But he still only is a semi-aware Yandere to have, he's stained ith the same delusions as his team members. He can view many of his habits as rather unusual and he knows that as well, but in the end his belief in the greater love manages to overcome most of his doubts and insecurities whether he's wrong about his feelings or not. He mostly tries to show his feelings in a more tsunderish form, but in the end he as well is far too much lovestruck to come over as very cold and his darling can tease him greatly for it. From The Trimens he's notably the most possessive Yandere to have.

🎆Protective and manipulative. No matter how cold he may try to act, he'll always defend you from others and save you when you do trip into some issues and even if he complains afterwards that you should have been more careful, he was very worried and that's evident. Ren is subtle about his manipulations as well, mainly because he wants his darling to love him without him having to use bribing and other sorts of lies and tricks, but similar to Eve he will do it when there would be the need for it.

🎆He doesn't get along very well with other men except Ichiya, Hibiki and Eve for the real funny reasons because he views other guys as his rivals in love (don't expect girls to be safe from this either, he'll merely be more polite). And Ren is the most rude about his jealousy because even if he is more embarrassed to show how much he really do loves you, he sure as hell won't have others flirt with you and take you away from him. He's the passive-aggressive type with such people and his feelings for his darling are always made obvious during such times. In front of people like Hibiki and Eve he is less harsh, but it doesn't stop him from shooing them away when they are suddenly all over you as well.

🎆He might just be the one who would be the easiest triggered from all of them to act when someone starts looking more and more like potential troubles for the s/o and the relationship. I would say that with love rivals he wouldn't be violent, more focused on just scaring them away and use threats and warnings to stay away the moment someone becomes very persistent on having his darling. If it comes to people such as bullies or perverts he has a faster way to react because simple flirting isn't anywhere near as worse as being catcalled or otheriwse humiliated. But just like with Hibiki and Eve I really only see him killing someone when the circumstances are very bad and the person turns out to be a possible death sentence for his darling if he doesn't do something. Anything can happen in the heat f a battle.

🎆Despite his tries to come over as a Tsundere, he still spends a lot of time with his darling which kind of blows his cover up, but that really isn't something new. Ren isn't necessarily clingy unless someone triggered his jealousy extremely or recently something bad happened to his darling and for that reason he decides to accompany them for safety reasons. Kidnapping is still something he wouldn't really consider since, as already mentioned, he is the most self-conscious Yandere to have from those three.

🎆How you can tease him about his constant tries to come over as a Tsundere despite easily getting flustered around you is really funny. Ren wants to look cool in front of his darling which means he obviously doesn't want to embarrass himself whilst you're watching so he always tries his best. He cools his interactions with other girls extremely down after he's courted you since he obviously cares about you more than anyone else. He might still fall back into the habit of simple flirting, but he learned his lessons quickly when you had enough of it, avoided him and did the exact same thing with Hibiki and Eve who naturally flirted back. He got quite mad at them afterwards for this, though they only helped you giving Ren a taste of his own medicine.

[babeyvenus]

Revival (BNHA OC)

Chapter 2: Learning Something New

Keeping herself hidden from her villainous father, and studying to be a hero for the sake of her and her deceased mother, Sunako Homura pushes her way through countless challenges in her highschool years. Will she lose it all, or lose herself?

Story Genre: Fluff, Angst, Romance, Family/Comfort

Tags/Trigger Warnings: Gore/Blood, Suicidal attempts, Alcohol, Language, Panic Attacks

_______________________________________________

He glared at me on his way out. Douche.

"Homura, your costume is here.", Aizawa says, pulling out a suitcase labeled 21.

I grinned, taking the suitcase from him. "Thanks."

When everyone left, I made my way to a bathroom and changed. I huffed, staring at my reflection, smoothing out my suit. I walked out, finding my way to where everyone was waiting and they all turned to me.

"Wow, Homura! That's a pretty cool costume.", Uraraka says. "Thanks.", I said, looking down at hers. "Yours is cute."

She blushes. "C-cute...?"

"Don't you think it's a bit tight for a boy?", a smaller purple haired boy asks, looking me up and down.

"Can I kill him?", I hear Tatsuo ask in my head. No, behave.

I sweatdropped, backing away from him. “Mind your business.”

"Alright! It's time for your first task of the day!!", I hear All Might's voice booming. "Let's get on with it, you bunch of newbies!"

I can't believe I get to work as All Might's student....

"Your task of today will be Hero V. Villains. Team A will be Homura, Uraraka and Midoriya. Team B will be Todoroki, and Shoji. Team C will be Bakugou, and Iida. Team D, Ashido, and Aoyama. Team D, Sato and Koda. Team E, Kaminari, and Jirou. Team F, Tokoyami, and Asui. Team G, Hagakure and Sero, finally, Team H is Kirishima, and Ojiro.", All Might finishes.

We all look at our teammates with either smiles, looks of confusion or nods.

"Looks like we're working together, Homura!", Uraraka says. “Yeah.”, I mutter.

Midoriya walks up to me. "Are you ready, Homura?" I nod. "Yeah. By the way, that guy we're going up against... what's his problem?"

He grimaces. "It's kinda...it's a complicated thing. Kacchan's angry that I'm here."

"Kacchan...?", I asked, tilting my head a little in confusion. "Ohh, that's his nickname?", I asked, catching on. He nods. "Pretty much."

"Yeah, I still think Deku should be your hero name! I think it shows bravery!", Uraraka says, making Midoriya burst into a blushing mess. Deku…?

"In these lots, are the heros and the villains. The villains are supposed to have a weapon inside the building, endangering citizens and hostages in there. The heros are either supposed to evacuate the citizens or defeat the villains without having that weapon blow with the time ticking down. These two teams....." , he pulls out two balls. "Will go next!!"

A vs. C.....

I look over at Team C.

Bakugou glared past me toward Midoriya. What does he have against him....?

"Looks like we're going against him.", I whisper to Uraraka and I notice she's shaking. "Are you really scared of this guy...?"

"He does look intimidating with his costume...", she says.

I frown. There's nothing he can do against us if he wants to be a hero.

Team C walks past us and into the building. We found our way up a few steps of stairs and found a map to the rest of the building.

"We got the map, let's go.", I say.

We only got to the 2nd floor and Bakugou's already sent a surprise attack, sending us back. "Midoriya, Uraraka! You guys okay!?", I asked.

"He only grazed me.", Izuku responded.

I looked back at Bakugou, but his gaze was on Midoriya.

"Why're you dodging me, Deku....? Use that damn quirk.", he mutters.

"I knew I'd be his priority...", Midoriya mumbled.

"Damn straight!!", Bakugou threw a right punch toward him and Midoriya grabbed his arm.

"I won't let you hit me!!", Midoriya yelled and flipped Bakugou over.

Everyone stood in shock as Bakugou became winded.

"Kacchan... I'll never become your personal punching bag anymore.... I'm not the same weak Deku you know. I'm more than that! From now on, DEKU IS THE NAME OF A HERO!!"

Bakugou looked like he was about to blow. "You just pissed me off....", Bakugou mutters.

He stalks over to Midoriya. "Uraraka, Homura, get away from here!!", Midoriya yells.

Uraraka runs but I stay. "You're gonna need help. Uraraka can take care of that Iida guy."

He looks at me but dodges another attack from Bakugou.

"WHY ARE YOU IGNORING ME!?", he yells.

"Dude, get a grip!", I yell and stomp the floor making the platform rise above him.

Midoriya drags me somewhere around the corner and continues running as Bakugou’s screaming sounds further away.

"Is this the plan now? We’re running!?", I ask.

"Not exactly. I need another plan now.", Midoriya says.

"QUIRK OR NO QUIRK, YOU'LL NEVER BEAT ME, DEKU!!!", I hear Bakugou roar behind us.

We kept running until we made it to the 4th floor and eventually took a break to breathe. I leaned on the wall, "Do you think we passed it up....? Uraraka's gotta be around here somewhere.", I say.

"I think she's already past us.", he says and starts muttering to himself.

I look around to hear faint footsteps. "Midoriya...."

He's still muttering.

"Mi-"

"Deku...."

I look up as Bakugou turns from around a corner.

"We're dead...", I say.

"Why don't you use your quirk, Deku...? You're looking down on me, aren't you...?", he sneers with an intense glare.

"W-what...?", Midoriya whispers and shakes his head. "I'm not afraid of you anymore, Kacchan!"

Bakugou frowns and holds his hand out to us.

"As your stalking ass may know, my sweat is what powers up my quirk. My sweat is made of nitroglycerin.", he explains.

Is that why I was smelling burnt caramel....?

"These grenade gauntlets are holding the very thing that makes my regular attacks seem small.", he says grinning. "If I were to...you know...pull the pin on one of these...", he reaches for the pin on the gauntlet.

"You'd be stupid. Were you not listening earlier? I’d only absorb it.", I exclaim.

He only grins. "If you can dodge it, you'll live!!", he says, pulling it.

I pull Midoriya behind me as I start absorbing the heat.

Bakugou's frown deepens.

I swallow the rest of the blast and grin. "I told you. That was useless, but thanks for the meal."

"Homura, that was amazing!", Midoriya boasts.

"Good thinking and defense, Young Homura!", I hear All Might .

The only bad thing about it, that blast was huge. I'm already full.

"I need to let the blast go. I'm full.", I whisper to Midoriya, rubbing my stomach.

"WHAT THE FUCK!!", Bakugou yells, and stomps.

We both look at him in shock.

"The fuck is going on!?", he yells and stomps again.

"Use your quirk, Deku!! Stop holding back!!", he yells.

"What's the status, Uraraka...?", Midoriya whispers into the earpiece.

"I got to the weapon and Iida's really getting into this role.", she replies.

"So is Bakugou.", I say.

"Uragh!! Fuck it!! Let's just fight!!", Bakugou yells running towards us.

I get into a defensive stance as he runs to Midoriya.

I'm not his priority...I gotta stop him from trying to kill Midoriya.

He thrashed against me as he managed to get me off his back. I pulled at his shirt as he dragged me.

"Damn you!! Get the fuck off me!!", he yells at me and drags me with him.

He's a weapon even without his quirk. Just how powerful is this guy!?

I dug my feet into the floor attempting and hoping to slow him down. "How's it going up there, Uraraka!?!", I call into the earpiece.

"I still need a little help!", she replies.

Bakugou grabs me by my collar and slams me down, taking the wind out of me.

I roll into my side, "This is bad,” I groan. “Midoriya, run!!", I yell and Bakugou kicks me off to the side.

"Run all you want, Deku!! I'll find you and I'll crush you!!", Bakugou yells with a creepy smile.

"Dude's got problems...", I mutter, getting up and running towards him, sending a drop kick, but he grabs my foot and slams me down again.

Midoriya, you had better come up with a plan!!

I used the explosion he practically fed me and shot it near his feet.

He looks at me and shouts at the roof. "All Might, that's unfair!! I can't use my explosions, but he can throw one right back!?"

"I had to let it out, idiot!!"

Bakugou growls and runs toward Midoriya, leaps over him, grabbing Midoriya by one arm. "Here's your favorite move, Deku!! Your favorite right swing!!", Bakugou yells swinging him around.

"Don't you ever forget what you are!!", he declares, slamming him down. "You're a weakling!!"

Midoriya gets up, shakily. "Why won't you use your damned quirk, Deku!? You like looking down on me, don't you!? You have been ever since we were kids!!"

They've known each other that long...?

"You're wrong....," Midoriya whispers. "You're an idiot!! I know that you're better than me, so that's why I wanna beat you!! Because you're amazing!!"

"COME AT ME, YOU DAMN NERD!!!"

I gotta do something....! They'll kill each other!!

"STOP IT!!"

The mixture of Bakugou's power and Midoriya's power combined was enough to get Uraraka to the weapon...

"....what...?"

I collapse, getting crushed under some of the debris. "This was all I could do....", the last thing I could hear before passing out.

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

"You're finally awake!", I heard a female's voice and looked up to see an old woman hovering over me, her lips puckered.

"You're.... Recovery Girl...", I mutter, looking at her attire, then looked up at the ceiling.

"What happened....?"

"You were crushed under the debris of the practice building. Luckily you had a sprained arm and it should be healed by now, due to your amazing recovery rate.", she explains.

"How'd I get here...?", I rasped, and widened my eyes looking down at my wrapped up arm.

"A student carried you here. Don't worry, I won’t tell anyone.”, she gave me a knowing smile, gesturing to my wrapped chest. “I won’t pry or tell. Also, Midoriya is doing just fine.", she says.

I let out a breath of relief that I never knew I was holding and got up to leave.

"Thank you.", I say and leave the room.

I was about to head home until I heard yelling outside.

"It was given to me!! No matter what, I couldn't tell anyone! I know it sounds like it came out of a comic book, but I'm serious.", I see Midoriya yelling at Bakugou, looking at the ground.

"I still can't fully control it...it's just a borrowed power!"

What....?

"I'm nowhere near strong....! But still.... I'll make it my power. Then, I'll surpass you.", he says.

"What....?", Bakugou whispers.

"What the hell is that....? 'Borrowed power'.....? I don't understand. Did you really come over here spouting some bullshit.....? To make a bigger fool of me...!? Huh!? Even if you're not....so what!?!", Bakugou yells.

"Today you beat me, you shit nerd!! That's all there is to it!! What more do you need!?", he grips his head.

"And, get a look at that fuckin' ice creep! There was no way I could've stood up to that!! That ponytailed bitch was right, I was fuckin' reckless!! Fuck!!", he drops his hand and I faintly see sparkles in his eyes.

"Damnit! Dammit!! Dammit!!! NEXT TIME, IT WON'T HAPPEN! I'LL BEAT YOU!! I'LL BECOME THE BEST! I'LL BE NUMBER ONE!! YOU GOT THAT!? I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!!", with that he walks away rubbing his face with his arm.

I sigh and frown. This is ridiculous, even for him.

"He's acting like a complete child. It was nothing more than a test, not some competition.", Tomohiro says, in my mind.

Midoriya sighs.

I hear fast footsteps behind me, making me move out the way.

"BA-KU-GOU! I FOUND YOU!", All Might exclaims with a smile, clasping his hands on Bakugou's shoulders.

I snickered and jumped over the wall outside the school gates, and leaned on it.

"Self confidence is a very powerful thing, my boy! There's no way you couldn't be fitting for a hero.", All Might says.

If he keeps going the way he's going, there's no way pros will accept him.

"Get off me, All Might. I can't walk. And let me make this clear for you too.", Bakugou says. "I'll be more powerful than you, too. I'll get past you."

.....what...?

"O-okay...", All Might says.

I heard Bakugou's footsteps as he turned to the left and walked far enough from the gates and turned over his shoulder a little, glaring at me. "You. Fight me."

The fuck, dude....?

I walked up to him. "Didn't you have enough from earlier....?"

His glare only intensified.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Alright. Where, so I can get this over with."

"The beach. Meet me there no later than 7.", he said and started walking off. Rude, bossy and arrogant. A whole package.

I walked his way and I saw his shoulders getting tense by the second.

"Why the fuck are you following me!?", he turned to me and yelled.

I stopped. "I go down this way, moron."

He scoffs. "Whatever.".

"How was the first day, kid?" Shura asks as I walk in. She gasps seeing my bandaged face.

I just groaned. "There's a guy that wants to brawl again."

She sits up. "Really? Wait, again!?"

I nod and walk upstairs to my room.

I got dressed in my black windbreaker and red joggers, running a hand through my hair, letting out another exasperated sigh.

I understand that it was none of my business....but what the hell....?

Tatsuo appears and sits on my bed, the creaking mattress giving under his weight. "You sure you wanna go fight? You'd be exposing yourself."

I shrugged. "I mean it's whatever. I'm not the one with the problem."

He crossed his arms. "You also don't have to do this."

I give him a nod. "I know. But what's the harm in doing a little sparring?"

_______________________________________________

A/N: My first taglist, yay! Also I hate this chapter but I feel like the other chapters will be a little better so I'm meh.

@dakotacecily @xartisticmdx @savnofilter @mci-writing (just in case you guys are bored 🥺) @weird-dere @moonfairy-h @afuckingunicornn

[l-artemisia-del-secolo]

First snow

Yelena Belova x reader, oneshot, angst+fluff, mentions of the red room training

You have to face the consequences of Yelena's past during your first snow together

Masterlist

Yelena always hated snow. That feeling of the cold on her skin, that just in a few seconds was always crawling in her bones and blood.

That hopelessness of sparkling snowflakes that were doomed to disappear in the dull light of a street lamp.

She never could quite forget the shiver, that was so despicably devouring her from the inside, as the wet fabric of a uniform was becoming her new skin.

When she did return to her barracks after long nights of punishment, her fingers couldn't feel the difference between her own warmth and the iciness of a frost.

Yelena knew how much you loved winter, enjoyed the freshness of the wind and snow. Even the whiteness itself was so intriguing for you, so captivating. It was never the holidays, it was the glacial aura of a heavy calm after a raging storm. Yelena loved you, admired you enough not to make you feel her burden. Not to make you notice her every flinch. Not to make you lose your serenity.

The shorter days were becoming, the more she was changing. More drinking, more lying, more dominating, more cunning. You knew she was preparing for something, that was yet to come.

Her training became more vicious, her fighting more reckless, her tricks more malevolent. Yelena was either not hearing, or chose to ignore pleas to stop. She cut Hawkeye's hand and almost broke his nose.

When you returned from work, your girlfriend was staring in the largest window in the house. You couldn't see her face, but her posture was giving everything away. She was tense, expecting something, ready to run at any moment. Ready to destroy in order to survive.

"Kate called me."

Yelena shuddered, when your voice reached her. She didn't turn to face you, but you knew, that she was listening.

"She's worried." You continued. "You were taking your training too seriously."

"Of course, she called you. Her precious Clint is..."

"It's not about Clint." You cut her off. "It's about you. She's not the only one who spoke with me these past few weeks."

This time there was no immediate answer. Sure, her teammates could notice something, but she wasn't aware, they cared about that.

"Who else called?" Her question echoed in the silent room.

"They all did at some point or the other. You can find the calls yourself." With a heavy sigh, you took the phone out of your pocket and threw it on the table. "But I don't need the others to know, that you've changed. You think, I don't see that?"

You made a few steps in her direction. She didn't move, still concentrated on the darkness outside and vapors of cold, brought by the wind.

"I respect your privacy, your past, your secrets. And one thing is to behave like that with me." You remembered all those times Yelena ignored your questions and lied to you, that everything was great. You blinked away a few tears, that were ready to fall down. "But you can't be like that with your team. Your life often depends on them."

"I can take care of myself."

"That is not enough. I need to be sure, that when you're away from me, you're protected. That your team is ready to do whatever it takes for you."

"I was just training. Not my fault they're not taking it serious."

"Yelena..." You carefully put your hand on her shoulder. And even through the fabric felt how cold she was. "What kind of training requires the blood from your sparring partner?"

"Red room." Yelena clenched her fists and you caught a familiar shiver your fingertips. "Rule of the first blood."

"I didn't know." You closed the remaining distance between you and your girlfriend.

"No-one knows. Even my sister didn't know." She pulled your hand to her face and brushed her lips along your knuckles. "They started using this approach on my generation of widows."

"Lena, are you sure..."

You felt her body pressing into yours. She was asking permission to be accepted, to be shielded. You whispered in her ear, that you were there for her.

"After Dreykov took over the program after Headmistress, the program became more... Demanding. The requirements changed. We were supposed to become even stronger, tougher, more resilient. Our sparring routine was changing every season. And the winter one was the worst." She tilted her head as a first snow of the year started falling, covering the ground with the white blanket. "We were to fight each other till the first blood. And the one who lost was supposed to stay and watch the other sessions. The one who won could return to the barracks."

"And you..."

"I was losing a lot at the beginning. You know how it is to be distracted by Russian temperatures?" Yelena smiled at the silliness of her own question. "Good thing, that you don't. But in time I became the best. And the others had to pay the price for that."

You felt the weight of the strained  confession. Her winters were poisoned by the choice that was made for her. Her snow was always red, because of the people who despised her.

"We had our first training under the first snow. Just another cruel tradition."  She turned her head to you and you were surprised to see the red on her cheek. "You love your winters and I didn't want to ruin them for you."

"Yelena, sometimes you can be so..."

You squeezed her tight, before letting go. She finally turned to you fully in confusion, searching for the answer in your eyes. Space between you was the question she always was afraid to ask. "Do I repel you?"

But you were already in the hallway.

"Put it on." You threw her a coat. "And let's go."

"I don't..."

You pulled her hanging sleeve and in a few minutes the door was closing behind you.

Young snow was gently crunching under your footsteps and the cold was embracing you. You suddenly stopped and Yelena almost bumped into you, slipping on the white surface.

"I don't care about winters, seasons, weather. I don't care about anything else other than you." You smiled when you noticed snowflakes being trapped in her eyelashes. "What you've been through... I promise we'll talk this through, step by step. You, me, your team. But now, this very moment let's create a new tradition."

Yelena felt the warmth of your lips on her own, taking, demolishing all the winter cold on her own. Your hands were lost in her already wet hair, pulling her closer, saving her from the past. You turned all the cool air around you in dense and heavy fire. She didn't want you to let go, to end this burning instance. Instead Yelena wanted to melt in your touch, but the moment couldn't last forever.

"How about a kiss under the first snow? Is it good enough to be your new tradition?"

"This will be our  best tradition."