#sorry for the dash disruption everyone i just had to talk about this

[friendlyneighborhoodwizard]

I just reblogged that post about east coast vs west coast US hiking and almost added a long-ass addition to explain, but I figured I'd make it short there and write my spiel on my own post to not be obnoxious.

So, as someone who has been on trail crews both in the west and the east and is very interested in the history of trails, I can kind of explain why east coast trails are Like That.

Before the 19th century, recreational hiking wasn't really a thing. Most trails were made just to get from one place to another as quickly as possible and, as a result, often took pretty steep routes, especially if they weren't meant for horses. For most people living in rural areas, the general philosophy was that the wilderness* wasn't necessarily something to appreciate for what it is, but rather something either to fear or to conquer.

In the 1800s, however, as industrialization brought more people into cities to live and work, rich city folk on the east coast who wanted to get away from the smog and pollution and crowds of the urban sprawl would often catch a train up to the white mountains in New Hampshire for some fresh air. Mt. Washington in particular was (and still is) a hotspot for tourism. All these tourists needed something to do and they found it in hiking trails.

It makes sense. Hiking is a great way to get outside, be active, and enjoy the natural beauty of your location, which is especially important if you're usually stuck in the city. Thanks to the likes of Thoreau and Muir, American thought on wilderness was also changing from the wilderness being a desolate wasteland to it being a place to enjoy nature's beauty uninterrupted by civilization. Thus, the concept of hiking for recreation became more popular creating a demand for trails to be built across the mountains, usually by private entities such as hotels, mountain clubs, and even business-savvy individuals like the Crawfords (who I could also talk about for a long time but alas. I want to keep this as streamlined as possible).

When it came to what hiking was supposed to be, however, there were two primary camps. One of those camps proposed that hiking trails should be easy, leisurely walks up the mountains that were meticulously constructed to avoid scrambles. There are some trails in the white mountains that were built this way and they hold up really well.

As anyone who has hiked the white mountains or in most of the northeast can guess, though, this was not the camp that won the great debate. The camp that won was a group of rugged victorian outdoorsmen who believed that hiking should be an adventure through the wilderness and that those adventures should be hard. They believed that trails should preserve these wild places the best they could and that over-engineering the paths would just take away from the experience. Their trails proliferated across the white mountains and the rest of the northeast.

All of these trails were also built before we really knew (or cared) about the effects of erosion on hiking trails and the environment. To a modern trail-builder, these trails suck. Water flows right down them, just widening and deepening the paths which creates a greater impact on the surrounding environment. When the trails are difficult, people tend to walk off the trail, again, impacting the surrounding environment. They're just generally not sustainable. They erode way faster than a switchback.

But it also costs a LOT of money and takes a lot of time and energy to reroute these trails, so we're kind of stuck with just managing erosion on the trails we already have: crotchety old trails built by 150-year old outdoorsmen who wanted to make life harder for everyone. And you know what? They succeeded.

*I have a lot of thoughts about the concept of wilderness that I won't get into here, but I just want to say that when I talk about wilderness in this I'm mainly talking about historical USAmerican conceptions of wilderness.

[blkgirl-writing]

What Happened at the Moon Lit Pond PART 2

Gale of waterdeep x F!Reader smut

Summary: You and your companions finally made it to baldurs gate, well, rivington. And it's finally time to relax and have a fun day out.

TW: drinking, sex, oral, PnV, F/M sex, thigh riding, brothel, overstimulation, a bit of anal, begging, everyone is consenting! I'd love to do a public sex chapter sometime, but not today.

word count 3.3k

{part one} {part 1.5}

-

It had been a long time since that night at the pond. You had long since left the grove and past the shadows, almost to baldurs gate, actually, in the small town of rivington. It was a long and difficult journey, yes, but with ample time and opportunities to talk about what had happened. But it never came up. Instead, there were many longing stares shot your way on gales part, small flirty conversations, and even more excuses to skip away from your companions to get any alone time with Gale, practically praying to the gods he’d say something first. But Gale wasn’t the type to come out of his comfort to express his feelings, let alone such complex ones. He had been rendered speechless.

Today was different. Maybe it was the long journey nearing it's end, but everyone was ready to let loose, even if it was just for a short while. Karlach and Wyll had split up to look for some armor, jaheria stayed back at camp to care for the small child who lost their mother, so it was a smaller company than you were used to. Just halsin, Shadowheart, Astarion, and of course, You and Gale. It was really a perfect day to mill about town, the sun beaming down in warm rays of light, not too hot and not too cold out, not even a hint of rain, so the dirt paths often muddy were dry, no ruining the clothes you had just washed.

Everyone was at their happiest, though of course, the underlying anxiety and pain for events soon to come were lingering, just pushed aside for the time being.

"Is the sun usually this blinding?" Astarion hissed, shielding his eyes with his hand "I don't remember everything being this bright"

"It simply feels brighter coming out of the shadows, you will get used to it" Halsin smiled down at Astarion, slipping behind him slightly to cast a shadow around him, guarding him from the sun. "We Haven't been inside in a while, why don't we find a shop to rest in for awhile, we have some money to spare"

"I could use a new hair ribbon, My old one looks a bit strange now that my hair has changed.." Shadowheart commented, lightly playing with her hair.

You went from shop to shop, it didn't matter, stopping by everything on the way, getting food, drinks, jewlery, and other small goods, the last place you had any energy for was a small looking shop with people outside raving about their service and pleasure being a customer there., without really looking at the sign or name.

Inside was dimly lit, a dark oak, cream, and red color scheme. Easily the most expensive place in all of the town.

"this is...awfully fancy, isn't it?" Gale murmurs, eyes flickering across the room.

"Certainly. I wonder what we could get to drink, I need a good wine..." Astarion immediately glided across the hall and to one of the counters, a huge smile graced his pale face. He stood there, talking for quite a bit, meanswhile, shadowheart wandered around, peaking her head into a room, she slipped a bit more into the room, then suddenly jolted out.

"Shadowheart? you look like you've seen...a lot"

"It's a brothel!" Astarion and Shadowheart said in unison, shadowheart nearly a whisper, Astarion nearly a yell. The woman behind the desk gave them both a nasty stare for the disruption of the ambiance.

"oh of course, sorry, beautiful" Astarion cooed at the woman. the immediate reaction to his flattery and dashing smile visible as she tucked her auburn hair away from her blushed face. He sauntered over to your merry group, that smile still plastered over his face. "I got us a discounted rate on a pair very talented drow."

"Excuse me, what now?"

"I got a discounted rate for an absolutely lovely time with drow twins for the same rate as one person but five. And we will have two rooms for comfort of space. I'm just that good, you all should be thanking me."

"Thank you, Astarion-" Halsin crossed his arms, a small smirk on his lips.

"I-thank you?" Shadowheart sputtered, still looking a bit frazzled by her earlier revelation.

you were still trying to process all of what just happened when even Gale spoke up.

"Well, looks like you'll have just...four people joining you, I'd prefer the company of a good book and an ale right now, i think."Gales eyes met yours for a split second, as you looked up at him. A very distinct look. He wanted you. It was hunger, lust, but restraint. He wasn't going to stop you from having fun with your company, but god did he want you to stay with him.

"I...um.." you looked up at Gale, fully taking him in this time. Gods...He was really the only thing you wanted. You wanted his soft hair between your fingers, your thighs wrapped around his waist. You wanted to feel his tongue shoved inside of you again.

"I think I'd like an ale or two as well."

"Oooookay...Well, since i already paid for two rooms, why don't you both buy a round for the spare room while we get busy." Astarion's eye roll was quite visible and very pointed, but that didn't matter, no one would actually remember anything that was said, as they'd be wrapped in bodies and sweat, including you.

So you ordered two bottles of ale and two of a beautiful red wine, they sat in the middle of a small round table. The room itself was stunning, the walls painted a deep purple, with a golden trim at the tops and bottoms. There was a bed centered in the middle of the room, with an abundance of fluffy pillows on top and a velvet sheet to top it off. It was by far the fanciest room you'd stayed in. Everything dripped of gold and pearls, there was even a damn chandelier. If this was a side room, you wondered what the main room must've looked like.

"This is...." You trailed off, still taking in the whole room.

"extraordinary?" Gale muttered, taking no time to sit down and pour out two glasses of wine. Something was obviously on his mind, as he swirled the red liquid around, his eyes were slightly distant, and his brows furrowed. It didn't surprise, you, though, there was a lot going on, and he had the chance to end his own life to possibly save the world, and yet here he sat, already on his second glass. There must be a lot on his mind, you thought.

Really, he just wanted the courage to make a big move, and a bit of liquid honesty couldn't hurt. While you drank, he tried not to stare, but it seemed to be getting harder and harder. He wanted so badly to reach out and devour you. He wanted to taste you again, grip your thighs with his hands, leave hickeys across your whole body, he wanted everyone to know how much he could pleasure you. He couldn't help but look at his drink, look at you, and the bed. he kept repeating 'just tell her' Tell you what? He wasn't sure what to even tell you?

Was he madly in love with you? Likely. Did he Lust for you? Always. Of course he did. Out of all the worldly and otherworldly beings, things, concepts, you were the most perfect. He Would year the night sky apart to see your smile. Commit crimes to stare into those eyes endlessly.

"They're certainly making some noise," The drinks were certainly kicking in, your voice was a bit shakey, but your head still fairly clear, clear enough to hear the moaning and grunts from the other room, even some....weird god kinks, you weren't sure and didn't care to be that snoopy.

Gale chuckled, nodding his head. "I would bet 5000 gold I could get you moaning louder than all of them, combined."

"Is that the wine talking?" You tried to blink away the disbelief and shock you clearly wore on your face, Gale was an upfront man, but this was on another level...

"Only to help say what's been on my mind." His deep brown eyes looked at you with incredible lust, more than you'd ever seen before, It was hot, searing, intense. "You have always been on my mind."

You got up from your chair, legs weak not from the wine, but from how this charming wizard looked at you like you were the entire world, right in front of him. "Is that so?" You wanted nothing more than for Gale to wrap his arms around your waist and take all of you til night passed and morning arose.

Your legs slotted through his perfectly, your knee nearly grazing his crotch. In one big gulp, you downed the rest of your drink, and leaned over Gale to set the glass down on the table, not very subtly getting closer to him, and even though your chest was practically in his face, he was still looking into your eyes.

"it would be such a waste if we didn't use such a beautiful bed. We're not often afforded those luxuries.." You took one more small step closer to him, reaching out to the hand free from drink, guiding it to your waist. "And we don't want to be wasteful..."

"Certainly not." Gale took one last sip of wine, licking the small drip that fell from his lips. He stood from his chair, his obvious hard on graising your hip. A small gasp left your lips, gods, you had forgotten how badly you'd wanted him, how big he felt...It was all returning to you. Your face flushed with heat as you remembered his tongue deep in your pussy, your lips wrapped around his cock.

Gale was emboldened by the wine, tipsy off of lust, his mind racing with all that he wanted to do to you, sweep you off your feet and into the weave. but that would have to wait, the here and now, right in front of him, you practically offering yourself to him yet again, he'd be a fool not to take it. "Come here, beautiful."

You let out a sigh, biting down on your lip as you sat down on his thigh. He wrapped his hands around your hips, squeezing slightly, almost reassuringly. He guided your hips back and fourth, while pressing you down further onto his thigh. your dress rode up to your waist, only your thin underwear creating all the friction you ever needed between your pussy and his thigh, getting ungodly close his his bulge yet never quite close enough.

His pace was slow and hard, Still clutching onto you like you absolutely needed it, which, was true, as the longer he rocked you the more wobbily your legs felt. You breath started to get heavier and heavier. Your head fell to his shoulders, the pleasure wracking through your whole body.

"No no, beautiful, look at me when you cum" Gale's hand inched its way to the back of your neck, pulling your head off his shoulder and holding you steady as you looked into his eyes,

It was all so much, his needy eyes begging for you to cum, your throbbing pussy, the small wet stain now on his pants from how gods damn much he turned you on, it was hard to keep his stare but you did, as you moaned his name, gasping as pleasure kept pulsing through your body. "fuck..." you chocked out. He let go of your neck but kept his hand on your shoulder, still keeping a firm grasp on your hip as it was clear you weren't exactly stable.

"I...That was..." You nearly whispered, still shuddering from the orgasm. You were so flustered, something that wasn't too easy for you, yet, he made you. His intensity with a smile had you dizzy. "Do you want me to return the favor?"

He raised a hand back to your jaw, tilting your head to look at him fully, to stare into his eyes.

"Let me make love to you-" Gale cooed, soothing you with his charm. "Sit back and let me give you everything."

"Yes, please-" you practically begged. Gale used his fingers to tilt your head slightly, leaving room for him to trail kisses and love bites down your neck, sucking on your skin, leaving you with shivers down your spine. You leaned into his touch, your hands nearly shooting up to grasp his soft hair, pulling him even closer.

"you're so beautiful-" He muttered between hickeys, breath getting heavier as you pressed your hips against him, feeling how much he wanted you, straining

You pulled away slightly, grasping his hand and struggling a bit to get up, turning to lead him to the bed. Although your eyes were set in front of you, you felt his gaze scan your body, how your hips swayed as you walked, he wanted to take all the time in the world to explore your body, learn it more than anything he'd ever read.

"just lay down, beautiful." He pressed his hand to your chest, pushing slightly, letting you fully relax into the bed, his body hovering over yours, his steady and strong arm next to your head, the other making quick work of unbuttoning your dress.

"Take those off for me," he looked down at your panties, slipping a finger at the band of your underwear and pulling it back, snapping it against your skin. It took a moment to register, there was so much distracting you, but you somehow managed. Completely bare and laid out, displayed like a work of art for him to admire. Gale took a moment, sitting up on his knees, to take you all in. His fingers traced along your stomach, lowering slowly, with such a light touch you could barely tell if it was him or a chill.

It shouldn't have been surprising but when he slipped his middle finger inside, you gasped, letting a moan escape your lips as his finger curled in and out of you, working in a slow and consistent pace. His index finger grazed your clit every time he pumped in and out, lightly, still taking you down from the high of riding his thigh, him knowing you'd still be sensitive, to not overstimulate.

"Come here" You pulled him in by his hair, now slightly tosseled and looking frankly unfair. "kiss me."

He didn't need to be told twice, quickly pressing his own lips to yours. He tasted of the sweet red wine, with hints of caramel and clove. He was delicious , addicting. You licked his bottom lip, opening his mouth to allow you deeper into his mouth. While you explored his mouth, he slipped another finger deep inside you, pushing in further than he had been doing before, quickening his pace.

His lips left your own, slightly panting, a bit out of breath. He then trailed down your neck to your breast, looking back up at you, asking permission to suck on your skin. You nodded desperately, gods you needed anything he would give you. His lips attacked to your nipple, sucking and licking, bobbing his head with every pull, it was all building up.

"I'm gonna cum, gods, Gale please I'm close-" You begged, yet he pulled back quickly, you let out a disappointed groan, why would he stop now? It didn't take long to get your answer, he wanted your cum on his mouth. He moved fast to move his mouth to your pussy, not relenting in his speed with his fingers and now, tongue. It didn't take long for the wave of bliss to wash over you, uncontrollable sounds coming out while he rode our your orgasm with one less finger and slowing down with his lips. It wasn't until your hips stopped shaking that he drew out his fingers, moving them to his mouth where he sucked them dry, letting out a small moan when they were clean. "divine.."

His clothes were stripped off, yours now completely tossed aside, the cool air hitting you both, but neither of you really noticed. You were focused on his hard cock pressed against your pussy, grinding againt your lips, getting slick with his spit and your cum. It would be so easy just to slide it in, but he drew it out, teasing you til you begged, pleaded, please, you needed it, you wanted him so desperately. Yet still somehow a fraction of his need for you the past weeks.

Gales restraint was shocking, even to himself, but the sight of you underneath him, begging for his cock, glowing from the orgasm he brought you, was enough for a lifetime, though he hoped there'd be many more lifetimes of this.

One more whimper is all that it took for him to shove himself deep inside you, all the way to the hilt. You felt him pressing against your cervix, a small but sharp pain from the sudden sensation , a good pain, that meant you were taking it all, and so well for him too. He had waited too long for this to stop, he kept pumping inside you, at an unrelenting pace, fast and hard. He switched between sucking on your neck, your breast, and biting your lip, keeping eye contact whenever he could. He wanted to see how much you wanted him, and he wanted you to know how much lust he had in his soul, just for you.

Gale held your neck with his hand, grasping lightly, as he came for the first time, shoving his cock even deeper into your pussy as he slowed his pace down, nearly whimpering in your ear as his head fell to your shoulders, biting down on your skin to keep from some more sounds he found embarrassing, but was so very sexy. You expected him to lay down and rest, after that, but he kept going.

"Flip over for me." He asked, giving your earlobe a small nibble as he spoke. You couldn't move fast enough, laying down on your stomach as he held down your waist, fingernails digging into your skin, leaving small crescent dents. You shoved your ass down on him with every thrust, wave after wave of orgasms wracking through your body, it felt endless, overwhelming. When it all felt like enough he kept going, adding more, rubbing your clit as your ass bounced on his cock, his thumb slipping in and out of your ass, him completely exiting you and only coming back in when you came from his words alone, sweet talking you into more orgasms. Or stopping completely to finish you off with his mouth again, you'd squirted in his mouth more than once, and he came once just from that. Maybe the stopping and starting was also so he himself could keep going as much as he could muster, but that never crossed your mind.

"You take it so well-" and "I want to see you need me" and "You're just too beautiful when you cum, I can't help but follow."

You went until your bodies gave out. Too sweaty, too raw to take anymore.

Gale fell beside you, out of breath, tan skin glistened with sweat and cum, his cock still leaking a bit, though even he was shocked there was anything left in him. You laid there for minutes, maybe longer, it didn't matter. It didn't click that the room next to you had fallen silent until you'd finally caught your breath. Actually...you remember the screams and moans ending a while ago. you notice Gales eyes had also turned to the shared wall, probably coming to the same conclusion as you.

"Do you think they heard us?" You asked, a small smile forming.

"Most definitely."

_

A/N: Well that was a lot huh? This took probably 20 hours straight of writing if not more, so please tell me if you liked it! It would mean a lot to me. Requests are always open but slow, as i'm not a fast writer haha. Thanks for following along! My gale fics have done better than I ever expected, I've gotten about 1k new followers from them I believe, so thank you all!

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[astranite]

CH1 Coming Home Loudly

John isn't okay because it sure is lonely up in space. Scott follows through on his promises; he's here for his brothers and nothing, not even the distance between Earth and Thunderbird Five could stop him. Gordon is also Making Sure This Happens. --After suffering in silence, John comes home.

This fic follows @janetm74 's Suffering In Silence which I love. So much. This is about the emotions and the hugs and coming home.

Also thank you to the amazing art and inspiration of @lenle-g !!!

---

Scott powered down Thunderbird Three’s engines as he docked with Five and the clamps engaged, anchoring the two Thunderbirds together. John's voice was calm over the radio when he granted them permission to dock. It was so perfectly calm, without even a tremble to break the illusion that he had everything together, to the point it came out flat. Scott winced. Beneath it all John sounded completely exhausted. 

Gordon had been quiet most of the flight but for terse navigational directions, focused to point of singularity on why they were here. Around them, the metal hull of the rocket ticked and snapped as it cooled, adjusting to the lack of engines firing as they were left floating in the cold, unforgiving, lonely void of space. Scott shuddered, averting his gaze from the viewports to the stars. Nope, give him his blue skies any day of the week.

He jiggled his foot beneath the dash in a rapid tempo, hand bouncing on his knee in time. The anger that had flared up at his father while defending John had fled, leaving him with only restless worry. It filled him to the brim where thoughts about their father and their discussion turned argument, about Alan, and most importantly in this moment of John intermixed with flight plans and overflowed into movement.

Gordon shifted in his seat, picking up on Scott's emotions, ever in tune with everyone else. His mission focus snapped as he twisted around in his seat.

Hey Scotty, are you gonna explode?" he burst out. "'Cause you seem like you're about to."

The tap tap tap of Scott's leg shaking sounded too loud in the rocket's cabin. He was probably driving Gordon mad with it like it did their father when Scott got impatient in a meeting. Scott pressed his foot to the floor, forcing himself to go still. 

"Sorry Gordo, I'm all good," Scott muttered as the airlocks clunked together and begun to pressurise achingly slowly.

At least picking at the outer leg seam of his uniform with his fingers was less disruptive and obvious when he couldn't help the need to move. 

Gordon rolled his eyes. "I didn't say you had to stop, I just want to know how you're going. Y'know with everything."

"So now you ask me about my day?" Scott snarked back as he resumed bouncing his leg. 

He wouldn't say it was a relief Gordon didn't care, but it was. His brother was now mimicking his jittering but bigger and louder because this was Gordon he was talking about. He was probably also doing it to show Scott that it was okay.

"You seemed pretty wound up after your chat with dear old dad even by the time I came in,” Gordon said.

"How did you—? I didn't tell you we spoke."

Gordon counted off on his fingers. "One, we're going to get John down from Five even though Alan has very conveniently extended his rota. Two, the back of your neck gets red when you're mad."

Scott rubbed at it self consciously. "No it doesn't."

"Ya, it does bro. How do think I get the message of when to steer clear with the pranking? It's the same with Virge but don't tell him I told you that."

Scott blinked in silence in light of Gordon's astute observations.

And three," Gordon continued, "You can't sit still anyway but it's like ten times worse when you're worried about a brother. That brother isn't Alan when he's tucked up snug as a bug in a rug in the sick room probably watching racing vids by now, it's John."

Scott put his head in his hands as Gordon gestured expansively. "Ergo, you and Dad fought because as usual he thought everything was peachy when John's been practically radio silent lately, so if it ain't broke no need to fix it. Plus you're pissed about the whole thing with Alan."

Gordon kept talking as Scott tried to process exactly how much his little brother picked up on because Gordon’s anxious tell was the inability to shut up. 

"Bonus lucky number four, John's been in space far too long and it's getting to him, and damn it to all hell but Dad was wrong and I'm really glad we're here."

They both let out a long breath after that, looking to each other. The airlock safety dinged.

Scott leapt out of the pilot's chair as fast as he could, pausing only when Gordon didn't follow.

Brown eyes watched him, as soft and sharp as the tangle of contradictions that forged Gordon. 

"Johnny will just want you. You're our big brother, he'll be a mess and you know he hates anyone seeing him like that. He’ll take it better from you."

Scott leant over the back of Gordon's chair to wrap him in a hug. "Thanks, Squid."

"Anytime. Now you bring our space-case home." That ridiculous nickname was said with all the affection in the world.

Scott saluted him, getting a casual two fingers flicked from a brow back as he pressed the door release.

The doors shifted open with their customary hiss-clunk, allowing Scott entry into Thunderbird Five. His brother's Thunderbird, just as clearly as One was his own. Maybe even more so when it came to it. It wasn't like Scott lived on his twenty-four seven without pause, even if after long rescue shifts sometimes he felt like he did.

John was waiting for him on the other side in his customary blue uniform and lilac baldric, looking smaller than Scott thought someone so tall and lanky could possibly make themselves. His arms were wrapped tightly around his chest. Hugging himself, Scott realised.

A step closer showed exactly how crumpled his clothes were, as if he'd pulled them off the laundry floor pile. Or slept in them. Or, if Scott was going to bet on it, spent a good amount of time crying his heart out while hiding in his bed, like Scott had found John too many times in their lives after he retreated. Their father would never allow anyone under his command and certainly not his sons to be seen with their uniforms in such disarray in any other circumstances.

Another couple of steps until he was standing right in John's space had him meeting his brother's over-bright eyes. It was impossible to miss how red and puffy the skin around them was. John glanced away down to their feet, blinking quickly.

His hair stuck out like a set of radio antennae, his fringe bent in no less than three different directions.

Scott had been right. Gordon had been right. John wasn't coping up here alone. 

"Hey, John," Scott said softly.

"Scott." 

Only now John's voice sounded utterly wrecked, like he had in fact spent the last hours sobbing.

Scott was ready to kick himself for not doing anything earlier. This would've kept on going, leaving John suffering in silence when he couldn't make himself say anything to their father for even longer, if Scott hadn't stepped in. 

Twelve weeks. John had been stuck up here alone, no one to keep him company, the time stretching out longer and longer as Alan put off or cut short his own rota whenever he could get away with it. It was a pattern, going back far longer than this round. 

Scott would've gone mad in about a day over his allotted month without room to run in the fresh air beneath the sky and more importantly, have his family by his side. John had had none of that for far longer.

This was why Scott didn't take rosters on Five very often without good reason. But if he was up here, he was damn well going to stick it out and do his job properly. He'd be having a long talk with Alan about taking responsibility for his own actions after he got John home and gave him a chance to settle before tempers blew up the house. The kid would take it hard being told that he'd hurt John, but this couldn't go on.

The reason why stood right in front of him.

John wobbled on his feet, rocking forward before hesitating as he reached out towards Scott. 

" Oh, Jay," Scott murmured near silently, just between him and John.

Scott opened up his arms and John fell into them. 

John didn't hug back; his arms remained pinned around himself, crossed protectively over his chest, but he leaned his body into Scott's before tucking his face into the crook of his big brother's neck.

Ever so carefully, Scott folded him close as John trembled. 

His brother felt far too... Scott refused to use the word fragile, his John was as strong as the rest of them, no matter what anyone said, and yet he also wasn’t the collected Thunderbird Five they usually knew. All Scott wanted to do was hold him, to keep the weight of the world off his brother’s narrower shoulders and stand between him and the storm. Right now that was what John needed; it didn’t make him any less of a Thunderbird though.

John would step out again from that shelter, quicker and cleverer than anyone or simply however John was in the moment, but that was his choice, not Scott’s to keep him. It was about whenever John felt ready to do so, Scott swore to himself: he would be there for as long as that took and be still there to come back to, yet when the time came he’d let go and cheer John on from the sidelines.

It had been the same with Gordon when after the accident the world had been screaming that he was fragile. In the early days Scott had been... overprotective too. He'd treated his brother like glass and stopped him from doing what he wanted to do out of fear, for his own sake, not Gordon's. They had a deal now: Gordon would tell him upfront what he could and couldn't do, and Scott would believe him. He’d call dad out when he refused to listen to Gordon too, backing his brother up when he wanted it.

Even when hard rescues turned recoveries had Scott wondering why the hell he was letting any of his baby brothers do this, he'd never take away being a Thunderbird from Gordon against his will. Nor from John. He’d fight the whole world kicking and screaming if it tried to, because being different didn't make any of his brothers broken. 

He held John, a hand resting on the nape of his neck to gently tangle in soft, blonde hair while John’s uneven breaths were warm against Scott’s collar bone, where his eldest little brother hid his face. 

Sometimes after nightmares Scott was left lying awake, staring at the blurry ceiling in the dark. The majority of his service held no happy memories; none of the promised glory was found in the senseless bloodshed of a violent conflict there had been no reason for but greed. When he was so shaken, so sick to the pit of his stomach that the tears he’d woken up with wet on his face flowed freely, Scott thought he wasn't as strong as Dad wanted them all to be either.

John was far too like him when you got down to it. So was Gordon. Alan was barely not a kid and still figuring out a lot of how things worked. He hadn’t had the easiest time of it growing up without Mum holding his hand like she had been there for the rest of them, not matter how they all had tried to compensate for the youngest. Scott had tried, he’d stepped up as the man of the house even when Dad checked out. He hadn’t known what to do with five motherless boys either.

Scott’s Virgil too had a sensitive artist’s soul, he always had. He was a bit of a hopeless romantic and an easy crier, but Scott couldn’t truly tease him for it. Virgil made the choice over and over to continue to be soft and to be kind no matter how many times he was knocked to the ground. He was the one Scott looked to when he felt he was forgetting how to believe in the good in people. 

Right now, John had forgotten how to take up room in the world. In Scott’s arms, it was as if he would shatter if he was dropped suddenly or grow smaller until he faded away invisibly. Even when Scott knew he wouldn’t , deep down he was still scared that his brother would disappear into space, becoming another part of the stardust and the big, empty void instead of being his John . He saw it in the silence that settled over him after so long away, where his usual quiet gaped like an open wound. He couldn’t bear to lose John to it.

But Scott would never let it happen, not while he still breathed. He would hold John up until he could stand on own his feet again and never leave him alone and forgotten. That’s why he shouted down their father, the echo of his palms slamming into the desk thrumming through his fingers in synch with his heartbeat. Proper meals, rest, sunshine and time with their brothers would do John good, then they would all hear John’s laughter ringing out across the pool decks once again. 

John let Scott take his weight. His brother was truly here, real and solid in his arms, Scott needed this to remember how it felt, that this was John not just the staticky waves of a voice down a radio channel or flattened 2D image from far away. Those weren’t warm and human, it wasn’t the same.

Scott froze when John wriggled after a minute, immediately loosening his grip to give John room to breathe, but John only let his arms drop to his sides so he could squish himself closer to Scott.

Using the few extra inches of height he had on his brother from how John slumped small, Scott wrapped himself around John more. He shifted so he could rest his jaw against John’s hair, taking a deep breath in. 

Oh Jay, dammit . Scott had missed him so much.

He smelt so familiar; he was space and John and home. Scott’s brothers were his home, beyond the island, beyond Kansas, or Earth or space or whatever the hell else the universe was made up of.

Home, home, home, home, home. Scott mouthed the words near silently, a reminder, a promise .

Scott swallowed hard as John nuzzled into his shoulder. Like he knew exactly what Scott was thinking at any point, like he saw straight through him clearer than windshield glass of a Thunderbird, no matter he was trembling, John got him. 

Scott tried not to cry over all of that either.

His brother shouldn't be a shaky mess from just getting a cuddle, he should be demanding them off of Scott whenever he wanted to without care that they were busy, and fighting over who got to sit next to him on movie night like the others. 

Scott rubbed a hand up and down his back, promising himself first and foremost that they were all going to do better by John. Stars knew John would never say anything when he was hurting until he drowned beneath the gravity of it, alone on Five.

[elliesguitarstrings]

promises, promises || part one: what used to be

masterlist || series masterlist

tom holland x reader

summary: you're crying over someone you haven't seen in two years, tom is straight up depressed, your friends are trying to set you up, and sam is just trying his best to help

warnings: ANGST, language, mentions of sex, little bit of fluff, probably typos

A/N: PART ONE IS HERE!!!! i absolutely love this fic and i hope you guys love it as much as i do :)

p.s. this ended up being really long sooooo i decided to make it into a series instead lol if y'all haven't figured that out

wc: 5k

~~~~~~~~

"I got the part! Holy shit I actually got the part!" Tom throws his computer across the bed in disbelief, almost hitting you.

"Wait, like THE part? Like Spiderman?" you question excitedly.

"YES!!! Check the Marvel Instagram right now!" he crawls over to you as you whip out your phone and quickly search up the account. You scan the page to see a post captioned, "Click the link in our bio to see who the new Spider-Man is!" You quickly find the link and impatiently wait for the page to load. And then you see it, boldface print and giant letters across your phone.

The new Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man will be played by: TOM HOLLAND

"HOLY SHIT TOM! You're fucking Spiderman!" you tackle him with a hug, squeezing him so tightly that he has to fight for breath. "I'm so proud of you, I knew you were gonna do big things." you smile brightly.

"We have to go tell everyone else, come on!" Tom pulls you off of him, dragging you out of his bedroom and down the stairs to give his family the big news.

The rest of the Hollands were already together in the family room, and they immediately took notice of yours and Tom's excitement as the two of you are bounding down the stairs.

Out of breath, Tom sprints to the center of the room. "Attention everyone, I have an extremely important announcement to make!" He pauses for dramatic effect, his family waiting in anticipation. "I'M GONNA BE SPIDERMAN!"

This causes an outburst of cheers and applause from his parents and brothers, each one of them getting up to hug Tom and congratulate him on this huge achievement.

Paddy pipes up, "How did you get the news? Did they call you or something?"

"Um, not exactly. They posted it on their Instagram and on the Marvel website as well, wanna see?" He turns to you, "Y/N, show them your phone!"

You pull out your phone and open the screen you were just looking at, showing the Hollands the Instagram post and article.

"No way, they're totally hacked." Harry remarks, earning disapproving looks from Nikki and Dom. "if you were really gonna be the next Spiderman, they would have called you."

Before Tom has the time to argue back, his phone rings, as if on cue. Tom pulls it out of his back pocket and nervously studies the number across the screen.

"Well, what are you waiting for div, answer it!" Sam chirps impatiently.

The rest of the room is silent while Tom listens intently to the person the other line. You can't make out what they are saying, but the eventual smile on Tom's face completely gives it away.

"Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for this opportunity," he holds while the other person talks again. "Yeah, I'll be in touch, definitely. Thank you again." Tom ends the call and lets out a sigh of relief. "That was fucking Kevin Feige! I got the part! I actually am gonna be the next Spiderman!"

You and the rest of his family cheered even louder than before, enveloping him in a giant group hug.

"I say we celebrate!" Nikki announces. "How about we go out for a nice dinner?"

Tom smiles, "If I'm honest mum, as nice as that would be, I'd rather just stay in and celebrate here tonight. I like your cooking better than any fancy restaurant anyways."

"Of course honey, I'll make your favorite. We can have a nice big family dinner, how does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect mum, thank you."

She dashes into the kitchen followed by Sam, the aspiring chef of the family, while Dom, Harry, and Paddy go to dress the table.

You take this as your cue to leave, seeing as you don't want to disrupt the rest of Tom's night with his family. "I guess I should get going then," you turn to Tom, hugging him once again. "Congratulations again, I'm so proud of you Tommy." you smile as you head to grab your things before you leave.

"Nonsense! You're staying for dinner too!" Tom stops you.

"Tom, I can't, you should spend this night celebrating with your family." you try to reason with him.

"But I want you here too!" he pouts.

"And you are family!" Nikki pipes in from the kitchen, earning nods of agreement from the rest of the family.

"See, everyone wants you here Y/N, please celebrate with us?" Tom cups your face.

"Are you sure? I really don't want to-"

Nikki cuts you off, piping in once again, "Y/N, I insist you stay for dinner with us. You've been a part of this family for so long, and you know that. So please stay and celebrate with us!" she smiles.

You giggle, "Well, I guess I can't say no to that." Tom smiles, giddily engulfing you in another hug.

After a long and delicious dinner, you and Tom now lay under the stars in the treehouse in his backyard. Dom had built it for you two when you were eight years old, and it's been your special place ever since then. Obviously, it has been upgraded and redecorated since then, now that you and Tom were both eighteen, but it still takes you back to the old days when you were just carefree little kids.

You cuddle into Tom's chest, looking up at the night sky through the small window in the roof of the treehouse. "I wish we could stay here forever," you whisper.

"Me too." Tom pulls you closer, kissing your forehead.

"Everything's gonna change you know. We're graduating in two weeks, and then you leave for America. I don't know what I'm gonna do without you." A small tear rolls down your cheek which doesn't go unnoticed by Tom.

He wipes the tear off your face with his thumb, cupping your chin to make you face him. "Hey, hey, look at me. Things might be changing, but that doesn't mean we have to. I'm only gonna be gone for a few months, and then I'll be back. I love you so much, and a few hundred miles is never going to change that. I will never let anything come between us, ever, okay?"

You smile softly, "You promise?"

"I promise darling. It's you and me forever. I'm never letting you go. Never in a million years." he kisses you lovingly, and you swear you could just live in this moment forever with him, and only him.

That was six years ago. And what Tom said was true, everything had changed. You just wish everything else he had said that night was true too.

Now, Tom is a world-famous actor, living a luxurious life out in Hollywood. You, however, have stayed in England, living only thirty minutes away from your childhood home with your newfound best friends Julia and Finn. You are no longer a part of Tom's life, and he is no longer a part of yours. But that doesn't mean you've forgotten about him.

How could you possibly forget about Tom? Your entire childhood was spent with him. From the ages of two to twenty-two, you were inseparable. To this day, you still remember when you first met, and you think about it often.

"I no wanna go! I stay home and watch princesses!" you cry, defiantly pulling away from your mother's firm grip as she tries to stuff you into shoes that are much too small for your rapidly growing feet.

"I know honey, but we have to go welcome the new neighbors who just moved in across the street. We made them brownies, remember?" she smiles.

You scrunch your face up, " No! I stay home!"

Your dad chimes in, kneeling down to your level. "Listen peanut. How about we make a deal. You come with us and say hello to the new neighbors, and then after we get home you can watch any princess movie you want and maybe even have some ice cream, how does that sound?"

You smile, "Ice cream with rainbow sprinkles?"

He rubs your head, "With rainbow sprinkles."

"Okay. I go then."

Your parents smile, and you hold their hands as you walk across the street to meet the neighbors. Your mom rings the doorbell, and the door opens to reveal a red-headed woman, smiling at you and your parents. Hiding behind her is a small, curly-headed brunette boy about the same height as you.

Your mom introduces herself, "Hi! My name is Y/M/N, this is my husband Y/D/N, and this is my daughter Y/N. We live right across the street, and we just wanted to welcome you into the neighborhood." She outstretches her arms, holding the brownies, "I made these for you as well, I hope you like them!"

The woman smiles, "Oh, wow, thank you so much, you are so sweet! Would you like to come in for a bit?"

"Of course, as long as you'll have us."

She ushers the three of you in and you stay close to your mom, still wary of entering a stranger's home.

As she closes the door behind her, she introduces herself as well, "Sorry, the house is a little messy, we’re still getting settled in. But I'm Nikki, my husband Dominic is unpacking in the kitchen, and this is Tom." She motions to the boy behind her, "Tom, say hello to the nice people!"

He timidly steps forward, waving at you and your parents. "Hello." he says quietly.

"Oh my, he is adorable!" your mom gushes. She walks over to him, "How old are you Tom?"

He holds up two fingers, "This many."

She smiles, "Two years old? Wow, you're so big! Guess what, you know who else is that many?" Tom shakes his head no. "My daughter Y/N!" She motions for you to come, and you shyly walk forward.

You wave at him, and that makes him smile. Nikki taps Tom on the shoulder, "Do you maybe want to show Y/N your toys upstairs?

He nods his head, smiling at you, "Wanna go play?" he asks.

You smile back, looking at your mom for permission. She nods her head and pushes you forward. "Okay, we go." you respond. He takes your hand and pulls you upstairs, seemingly coming out of his shell. You don't know what it is about this boy, but he makes you feel warm, like a hug. It's something your two-year-old brain can't quite comprehend, but suddenly you couldn't care less about watching princess movies or eating ice cream.

Sometimes you wish that day had never happened, that you had never met him. You wish your little two-year-old self had fought harder against your parents so that you wouldn’t have to endure the years of pain he would cause you later in life. But you can’t go back, and in part, you’re glad about that. He was your first friend, your first crush, and your first love. But he was also your first heartbreak, and that’s something you can never forget.

You're snapped out of your thoughts by a sharp knock on your bedroom door. "Hey, are you almost ready? We have to leave in ten or we'll be late!" you hear Julia's muffled voice from the other side of the door. Finn is hosting a gala tonight for his art studio, and being his best friends and roommates, you and Julia are basically required to go.

"Uh, yeah, I'm about done, I'll be out in a minute!" You haven't even started getting ready, but you don't have any more time. You quickly raid your closet and find a short v-neck black dress and matching heels. You wiggle into the dress as you make your way into the bathroom. You had planned on straightening your hair, but you have no time, so instead, you brush it back into a sleek low ponytail and spray it with a bit of hairspray. There's no time for the elaborate makeup look you had planned either, so you quickly throw on some concealer, blush, mascara, eyeliner, a bit of highlight, and you're set. As you walk to the door, you grab your purse and slip on your heels, making sure you have your phone and keys. Finn and Julia are already waiting in the car, both with disapproving looks.

"What the fuck took you so long? We were supposed to leave five minutes ago! You know I can't be late for this thing." Finn complains as you slip into the backseat.

"Sorry, I, uhm, don't feel well. A little nauseous." you lie. You don't feel like telling them that you were actually crying about someone you haven't seen or talked to in two and a half years like you do every other night.

"You're not pregnant are you?" Julia chuckles.

"Oh please, we all know that Y/N hasn't gotten any since he who must not be named." Finn replies for you.

"Thanks Finn, what a great friend." you joke sarcastically.

He's not wrong though. Since you and Tom broke up, you haven’t slept with a single person. You’ve been on a few dates and kissed a few guys, but nothing past that. The closest you got was about a month after Tom broke it off with you. You were looking for someone to take your mind off of him, so you found a random guy named David at a pub and took him back to your place. But as soon as he took off his shirt, you saw a birthmark on his back that looked eerily similar to Tom’s, and you promptly broke down crying.

No matter what you do, you just can’t seem to get him off your mind.

"Alright bitches, we're here." Finn sighs. "Help me bring my stuff in, we don't have much time thanks to someone who took ages to get ready."

You give a halfhearted apology as you grab Finn's paintings from the back of his car. Julia stops you before you follow Finn into the venue, "Babe, are you sure you're doing alright?"

You smile lightly, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be fine."

"Okay, if you say so. And sorry about Finn mentioning... him. It's been two years, he should know better."

"Oh, no. No, don't worry about that. It's okay. I don't care." you lie.

She gives you an encouraging nudge on the shoulder, "Hey, who knows, maybe you'll find a hottie here tonight and finally get back out there! What do you think, huh?"

"Yeah, that would be great, actually. Maybe Finn can introduce me to his friend James, I know he's pretty hot." you say just to get her off your back. You know for a fact that you won't be going home with anyone tonight, but you want to ease her conscience, so you continue to lie.

"That's the spirit! Good luck hun, love you."

"Thanks Jules, love you too." you smile.

Halfway through the gala, you already want to go home. Finn is over at the bar flirting with some guy, probably trying to get him to buy his artwork. Meanwhile, Julia has disappeared into the bathroom with her boyfriend Ollie, who she invited about thirty minutes into the event because she "got bored."

You look at your phone and realize it's already midnight, and you know the event won't be ending anytime soon. You slowly make your way over to Finn through the sea of people and tap him on the shoulder, drawing his attention away from whatever guy he's flirting with.

"Hey Y/N, how's it going with James?" he asks excitedly.

"Oh, um, it didn't work out, thanks for introducing me though. I just wanted to come tell you that I'm still not feeling well, so I think I'm gonna head home, sorry."

"Oh, okay, no problem. You're probably gonna be alone tonight though, just a heads up. Jules is going back to Ollie's for the night, and" he starts to whisper, "I think I might be going home with this hunk."

You laugh, "Okay, thanks Finn, see you tomorrow then."

"Bye babe. Do you have a ride?" he questions.

"Uh, no, I'm just gonna Uber home, it's no problem."

Finn gasps, "Not this late at night you're not! Let me drive you, hottie with a body over here can wait."

"No, no, don't let me ruin your night. I'll just call Sam then."

His eyes widen, "Like... his brother Sam?"

"Yeah, we're friends still, it's not a big deal. Trust me."

"Okay, fine. But text me when you get home, okay?"

"Okay, love you Finn, see you later." you give him a quick hug and walk outside to call Sam.

You aren't lying, you and Sam are still good friends. Back when you and Tom were together, Sam was the brother that you were closest to, and you felt that it would be unfair to cut ties with the rest of the Hollands just because Tom was a dick to you seeing as they were as much of a family to you as your own parents were, maybe even more. He was attending culinary school in the area anyway, so you decide he’s the best person to call.

As expected, he's happy to drive you home, and about ten minutes later he arrives at the venue where you are still standing outside.

"Hey Sam, I'm sorry for calling this late, but thank you so much for picking me up." you smile as you slide into the passenger seat.

"It's no problem, I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. How've you been?"

"Fine, I guess. How about you?"

"C'mon, I know that look. Something's up with you." he pries.

"I told you on the phone, I'm just not feeling well." you lie, hoping he doesn't catch on.

"It's Tom isn't it?"

"How the fuck do you always know?"

He chuckles. "He is my brother, remember? And you're basically my sister too. I've known you both for literally my entire life, so trust me, I know when it's about him."

You sign in defeat, "I don't know why I can't get over him Sam. It's been nearly three years since we broke up, and I haven't seen him since. My roommates think I'm overreacting, and honestly, I'm starting to agree with them. I should be moved on by now, but I just can't stop thinking about him."

"Hey, hey, don't listen to them, you aren't overreacting. You and Tom were literally attached at the hip for twenty two years, and you weren't even dating for most of them. It's completely normal for you to feel like this, trust me. And I know it doesn't help much for me to say this because I've said it a million times before, but Tom's a complete dick for what he did to you. He's my brother, and I love him, but he's a dick."

"Thanks Sam. I just wish I knew why, y'know? Why, after twenty-two fucking years, he just completely cut me out of his life." you feel your eyes brimming with tears.

"I wish I could have an answer for you Y/N, I really do. But I haven't got a clue. Hell, I honestly don't even know if Tom knows why he did it."

You sigh, "Well, he must have had a reason. Plus, he seems to be doing great in Hollywood. He seems perfectly happy without me."

"You've been stalking him on Instagram, haven't you?" Sam chuckles.

You laugh, "Shut up." That's the great thing about Sam. He can always lighten up a situation, no matter how serious or how sad. Tom did the same thing, that was one of the things you liked most about him.

You and Sam sit in silence for a few minutes, until he finally breaks it. "He's not, you know."

"Huh?" you question, confused.

"He's not happy. You said he seems happy without you, but he's not. He's doing terribly, and it's not just from stress or his work. He won't admit it, but he misses you." he pauses, "I know I shouldn't be telling you this, but he asked about you the other day. About how you were doing and shit like that. I think he would take it back if he could."

You want so badly to believe him, belief that Tom actually still cares about you after all this time. But false hope is the last thing you need right now.

"Well, he can't, can he?" you say sharply, tears still threatening to flow out.

You and Sam sit in silence for the last five minutes of the ride back to your apartment. As he slows the car to a stop, Sam looks over at you sympathetically, "Look, I'm sorry if what I said made things worse. I just wanted you to know that your feelings aren't... one-sided I guess."

You know better than to yell at Sam, he was just trying to make you feel better, so instead of spitting out the sarcastic remark that was on your tongue, you manage out a half-hearted, "It's okay, thanks Sam." and shut the car door.

As soon as the door of your apartment closes behind you, all of the emotions come crashing down on you. A mixture of sadness, anger, guilt, and regret crushed your heart, smashing it into a million little pieces. It feels like two and a half years ago, when he first broke up with you, all over again. Everything was fine until Sam brought him up again, and the memories just all flooded back in. You fall to the floor, clutching your chest in pain, wishing someone was here for you. Wishing he was here for you. At the moment, it feels like you have no one. In reality, you do; you have an entire support system of people who love you so much and would do anything to protect you. But you only want him. You need him. He is the only person you have ever wanted, ever needed, and he's gone.

You want to hate him, you really do. He's caused you more pain in the past two and a half years than anyone or anything has ever caused you in your entire life. But you can't. You can never, and will never, hate him. Which makes you hate yourself.

After what feels like hours of crying, you finally calm down. There's no one at home to talk to and it's too late to call anyone at this point, so you flip on the tv. There's nothing good on Netflix or Hulu that you haven't seen yet, so you scroll through the other apps. You remember that you just got a free Apple TV subscription with your new phone, so you check to see what's on there.

And there it is. Cherry.

His face right on the screen in front of you, lighting your dark bedroom red. You know it's a bad idea and you know you'll regret it, but something draws you to watch it. You need him right now, and this is about the closest you're going to get.

It's fine at first. It's actually nice to see his face again after so long. He looks basically the same as the last time you saw him, just a little more mature. You feel good supporting him, even if he doesn't know it.

But then it's not fine. His character had just gotten into a fight with his girlfriend, so she comes to visit him in his apartment. They talk, and eventually he reveals that he joined the army and has to go away for two years.

"It's just a couple years. Just a couple years and a lifetime together." he whispers.

Then it all hits you, and you break down crying once again. You can't help but think back to that night in the treehouse, and how the conversation is so eerily similar. You wonder if Tom was thinking about it too, while he was filming the scene. Obviously, the circumstances were different, but it still makes you wonder.

You quickly shut the TV off, unable to bear it anymore. With nothing else to do, you try to sleep, but your thoughts keep you up. And as much as you try to fight it, your mind drifts back to the day you so badly want to forget. The day that it all ended.

"Hey, Tommy, what's up? I'm excited to see you tonight!" you pick up the phone. Tom is supposed to come back to London after filming his first solo Spiderman movie, and you could not be more excited to see him. It's been almost a full year since he left for America, and you miss him so much.

"Yea, uhm, about that. Plans have, er, changed a bit." you can hear the solemn tone in his voice.

"Oh no, what happened? Did your flight get delayed or something? I know there's some rough weather in Atlanta, but I didn't realize it was that bad."

"No, no, it's not that. I don't really know how to say this," he sighs, "I'm not coming home."

Your heart drops to your stomach. "What?"

"Yeah. I'm, um, I'm staying in America for now. I found a house in LA, it's nice."

"Well when are you coming back then?" you utter in disbelief.

"Not anytime soon. I have work, so it's just easier for me to be in America. I'm sorry." his tone is stiff.

"But what about us? I miss you so much, these past few months have already been hell for me. I don't think I can survive much longer without seeing you."

No response.

"Tom, are you still there? You know I can't move in with you. I'm already enrolled in university here in London, I can't drop everything and come to America if that's what you want."

"That's not what I want." At this point he seems to have no emotion in his voice, as if he's reading directly from a script.

"So then what do you want?" you start to really worry, tears already stinging your eyes.

"I think you can probably figure that out by now, Y/N."

"Tom, no. You seriously can't be thinking-"

"Yeah, I am thinking that. You've already said that these past few months have been hell, and I'm too busy with work, so I think that's the only option."

You plead with him, "Tom, please! We can figure this out, I love you so much. We can't break up Tom, I can't lose you." You're sobbing at this point, scared to lose the one person you need the most.

"No, we can't figure this out. We have to break up, there's no other choice."

"What happened to you and me forever? That- that night in the treehouse you said you wouldn't let anything come between us!"

"We were kids, Y/N! We had no idea what our lives were going to turn out like. That was a stupid thing to say and I never should have said it, okay? You can't keep every promise you make, especially when you're eighteen. But we're mature adults now, and the mature way to handle this is to break up. Understand?" His voice is booming through your phone speaker, and it's nothing you've ever heard come from him before. He was always calm, looking for a way to work things out. But now, he's completely giving up.

"Tom, please, I-"

"No, Y/N, I don't have time for this right now, I'm sorry. Goodbye."

He hung up. He's gone.

That was the last time you spoke to him. You didn't even get to properly say goodbye, let alone see his face before he was gone forever.

Unbeknownst to you, that phone call is still, to this day, Tom's biggest regret. Almost immediately after he hung up, he wished he had never called you in the first place. He was stressed from work, he was angry at his management team for making him stay in America, but most of all he missed you. So he did the only thing he could think of to take it all away - separate himself from you. He thought that if he broke up with you, he would feel better about his career choices and he wouldn’t have to wwc:orry about missing you anymore because it would be over.

He was wrong.

Every day since then, he’s wanted to call you, text, you, or somehow contact you to apologize; explain why he did what he did and how he still loves you, still needs you, still misses you every second of his life. But he knows he can’t. You would never be able to forgive him for breaking it all off so suddenly. There’s no way in hell you could still love him after something like that.

So he’s stayed out of reach from you for good. And he hopes that maybe one day he’ll be able to move on, find someone new like you’ve probably done by now. But deep down he knows he never will.

You’re still unable to sleep, and now that it’s almost four in the morning, you decide that you probably won’t be able to for the rest of the night. Not knowing what else’s to do, you begrudgingly roll out of bed and go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. As you fill up your mug with warm water, you hear a knock at the door.

Who the fuck would be coming to your apartment this early? You suspect it’s Finn, as he always manages to forget his key. Maybe his night with the mystery bar hunk didn’t go as well as he had planned. You quickly set a tea bag in your mug and walk to open the door.

“Back so soon Fi... what the fuck.” your heart drops to your stomach.

It’s him. The same brown-haired, brown-eyed, British boy that you remember, staring down at you from outside your apartment at four in the morning.

“Hey.”

~~~~~~~~

tags: @pxkajesus @roseke @agentsofparker @lifeasjazzz @damnrancidchicken @tomhoelland01 @iwannabekilledtwice @rafehogwarts @non-eexistent @rosiexx8 @nearlydanger9 @realityisabitch07 @midgardassassins @jbreenr @cap-marvxl @ellesmythe @deepestcolorgiantopera @that-one-person @nevertrustapanda16 @rxmanxff @bubbleskz @quinn-spn58 @idkkkkaaw @aayaissaa @pjmjams @tiredstudenttrinity @isabella-bby @hollandprkr @pure-ghost @ladykxxx08 @white-wolf1940 @runawayolives @geekgirleve @thathurtbrolol @lost-girl24 @justafangirlduh @emistrash @writingrem @hallecarey1 @adayasgeorgia @mathletemadison @paulaabellag @miraclesoflove @captainamirica @mlmarint @quaksonhehe @laneybobeczko-g @peterspideysense @hollandstanevans @anna-sofia

[strawberrylemonz]

Masked Crowns

Part 16

Part 17 [CURRENT]

Part 18

@petrichormeraki @applepie1000 @artistconk @ivorylin @sydneys-sketches @snapdragonfirefly @bargledblocks

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

“Theo, stop moving around! Clem, stop fucking around and quite biting my ankle! Hey, don’t use that tone with me, young lad- Clementine!”

Fundy appeared half dead as he laid on the couch, exhausted. He watched as both Theo and Clementine hounded Tommy, who was just trying to make adjustments to their formal wear. Groaning as he hoisted himself into a sitting position, Fundy rubbed his eyes as he addressed his uncle.

“Give it up, Tommy, they aren’t gonna sit still. Wilbur gave them candy this morning.”

“I know, Fundy. Jesus, what the fuck was Wil thinking?!”

“Look at the bright side, you were able to quickly make adjustments to the bot-boys.”

“Only because Grumbot and Jrumbot are saints. I swear, Grian is a better father than I am at times. Don’t fucking tell him I said that- Clementine! What the fuck?!”

Both Fundy and Tommy looked down to the two children, who both appeared to be offended. Clementine huffed as she stomped her kicking foot on the ground, her arms crossed as she glared at her father. Theo did his best to match his cousin’s level of intimidating energy, giving an annoyed looks at his father and great uncle.

“No!”

“No what?”

“Noooo!”

“Ender- Clem, I can’t understand what's wrong when you throw fits, okay? Take a deep breath, collect yourself, then tell me what’s wrong.”

“Hnnnn”

Tommy frowned as he stared at the younger girl, who seemed to grow more irritated by the second. He knew her, though, could read her body language perfectly. She wasn’t angry or irritated, she was hurt and upset. Kneeling down, he held his hands out to his daughter, who glared at them in fury. After realizing her father’s hands weren’t going to combust, she sighed as she placed her tiny hands in Tommy’s bigger ones. Slumping her shoulders in defeat, she frowned down at her feet. Giving a frown of his own, Tommy lowered his head to try and make eye contact with Clementine, to no avail.

“Hey, look at me. Please?”

He watched with slight appeasement as she tilted her head up, her eyes slowly meeting Tommy’s. He gave her a hesitant smile, gently rubbing her tiny hands in a comforting manner as he did so.

“What’s wrong, little moth?”

Clementine didn’t talk much, opting to use her growls and grunts to communicate. This, however, wasn’t a situation where that form of communication would help things run smoothly. Moving her eyes from her dad’s face down to their joined hands, she frowned as her bottom lip began to quiver.

“I’m bad.”

“...What?”

“No good. Bad. Not nice. Not calm.”

As he stared at the sad expression resting on the girl’s face, Tommy suddenly felt small once again. He felt the same way he did when his father complained about him, not realizing his youngest was listening. He remembered the self doubt he felt and the hurt in his chest when his dad would compare him to his older brothers. It had fucking hurt when he was a kid, and it still did. And now? Now he was doing the same to his daughter. He was the fucking worst.

“No-Clementine, that isn’t true. Fuck, I- That’s not what I- Listen-”

Tommy sat down completely as he leaned forward, peering into the sad eyes of his daughter. Fuck, who knew being a parent would hurt his heart so fucking much? He was in his fucking feels at the moment, and it was all because of the toddler that stood before him. He was so scared of hurting her, of giving her reasons to despise and disown him as her father. He had to fix this, he needed to.

“The day I found you, I felt a piece of me return. It’s okay that you’re not like your cousins. You know what? I’m glad you’re not like them. You’re you, and you are being the best you there is. You’re not bad, Clementine, you’re fucking lovely. Don’t ever doubt yourself, okay? You’re a fucking badass, a brilliant one, too. I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to compare you to your cousins.”

The small smile that graced Clementine’s lips was enough to fill Tommy with relief. Pulling her into a hug, he smiled as he felt her cling onto his shirt for comfort. Looking to the side, he hummed as he motioned for his great nephew to join in on the hug. Theo, who was quietly watching it all, happily ran into the hug, pulling his father along with him. So much had happened in such little time that Tommy forgot that kids were easily overwhelmed. From discovering new family, the park’s opening, house renovations, and then personal schedules, it was too much for the two to handle. They got along and enjoyed their cousins, but Tommy and Fundy had forgotten that they needed more than just that. They needed reassurance that they were enough.

“Now, can you two please let Tommy make final adjustments to your outfits? We have a ball to attend to, after all.”

--------

Attending the ball was truly a blast from the past. Tommy snickered as Kristin gushed about the matching outfits her grandbabies and youngest son were wearing, alongside with her own. Most of the members from the Dream SMP just gawked in silence as Lani, who was matching with both Drista and Tubbo, twirled and bragged about how wonderful of a designer and tailor Tommy was.

“Tommy made those?”

“Yup! He sure did!”

“But they’re so...elegant.”

“Oi! Fuck you!”

Laughter erupted from the group as the music played in the background. As the group conversed among one another, pairs began to break off to dance.

“Pa!”

Tommy peered down at Clementine, who held her hands up expectedly. Letting out a laugh, he scooped her up into his arms, smiling as she giggled with every bounce her father caused with his laughter. She smiled brightly at him as he fixed the tiara on her head. She laid her head on his shoulder as he swayed along to the music, both content. After a moment, Tommy felt his daughter’s head lift from his shoulder.

“Cousins.”

He turned to follow her line of sight to see Theo, Grumbot and Jrumbot all waving at him, their suits and hair fixed appropriately for the occasion. Returning the wave, he smiled at his daughter, setting her down with a nod.

“Yeah, you four go dance and have fun. Be careful.”

He couldn’t help but smile as her curls bounced as she squealed in excitement. Giving Tommy a hug, she quickly grabbed a hold of her cousins and rushed to the dance floor, smiling as her cousins argued as to which pair should dance with who. As he watched his only child scurry away with her cousins, he couldn’t help but sigh. The feeling of a hand on his forearm caught his attention. Turning to the side, he saw Tubbo smile at him, Lani and Drista right behind him.

“C’mon, let’s go dance.”

----------

Tommy and Lani were doing their best to not disrupt their dancing with silent wheezes of laughter, they really were. It’s not their fault, everyone was making it so hard for them!

“It’s like he’s dancing with Mount Everest!”

“Holy shit, this is hilarious.”

The pair watched in amusement as Tubbo bossed an awkward, but happy, Ranboo around the dance floor. The height difference in itself was enough to make the sight laughable.

“Tommy, over there.”

Following Lani’s line of sight, Tommy damn near belted out laughter as a grumpy Drista was stuck paired with one of the park’s guests, who would not shut up about her relation to Dream.

“Poor girl, losing her sanity.”

“She’s about to break, it’s fucking hilarious. Should have given her a fork.”

“We’re here to dance, Tommy, not commit a felony.”

“Rich coming from a girl with multiple knife pockets installed into her dress.”

“You installed them!”

“You commissioned them!”

The two began to bicker like the besties they were as their friends and family danced around them. Phil and Kristin danced and twirled as they shared whispers to each other, their smiles brighter than ever. Wilbur and Techno were awkwardly dancing with one another, their empty insults to one another growing louder the longer the brothers were with each other. Grian was teaching Grumbot the proper way to waltz, Bad and Skeppy goofingly twirling around them. Clementine and Jrumbot happily danced off beat, no one even daring to teach them the proper moves. Quackity, Karl and Sapnap laughed as they spun around together, the three pulling George in from the sidelines. Just as Tommy was about to make a comment, a sharp elbow jabbed his side.

“Ow! Lani, what the fuc-”

“Shh! Look!”

“What are you-”

“Just look, it’s important!”

And important it was. There, standing at the food tables, was Fundy. He wasn’t alone, though, not at all. There, making the hybrid blush and stutter, stood a guy. Lani and Tommy exchanged knowingly looks, before dashing over to the nearest hiding spot.

“Move over!”

“No, you!”

“Shh, listen!”

----------

“Go away.”

Theo frowned as the words left his mouth. He crossed his arms as he glared up at the emotionless mask before him, the face behind it hidden well. That didn’t stop Theo from being able to read body language, and the vibes he was getting weren’t necessarily hostile, but they weren’t welcoming as well.

“I just wanted to get a good look at you, to know you. Makes sense, doesn’t it? You are my son after all.”

The word sounded so wrong coming out of the unseen mouth. Son. As far as Theo was concerned, Dream was no father to him. His only dad was Fundy, and Fundy was all he needed for a parent.

“Your crown looks very nice, did you design it yourself? And I like your suit. I noticed that it matches Fundy’s perfectly. In fact, both of your crowns match perfectly with one another.”

Theo wasn’t planning on responding to any of the comments, not that he’d have to try. Dream just didn’t seem to catch the child’s drift, continuing to talk despite the boy not responding. 

“You have my hair color, it looks good on you. You’re obviously a shapeshift, like Fundy. Have you tried shifting to your more humanoid form? Oh, your eyes. You have-”

“My eyes.”

He may have been young, but Theo wasn’t daft. He knew that Dream (he would not call him father) was the reason for him having to live in the burrows up until then. He didn’t know what all Dream did, but he knew that it was enough to make his papa and uncle Tommy hurt very badly. He wasn’t going to let Dream see him with his guard down, not around him. He just stood and glared at the older man, who seemed to not have taken a hint to the child’s body language. Theo just confidently stood his ground as he watched Dream kneel before him, reaching over to gently pat his head, not seeming to care about pushing the crown around. Theo was quick to catch his crown, which fell off his head the moment Dream pushed it off. Much to Theo’s relief, the unwelcomed form of affection didn’t last long.

“Ow!”

“Dickhead! Dickhead!”

Dream pulled his arm back as Theo hid a laugh behind his hand. Standing in confidence was Clementine, who had just bitten Dream’s hand. She just growled and hissed at Dream, taking a protective stance in front of Theo as Grumbot and Jrumbot stood by his side, ready to defend their cousin. Dream just rubbed his hand, before pointing at the emerald jewel dangling from the girl’s necklace.

“I only know one person with an emerald cut exactly like that. You must be Tommy’s brat. What did he name ya again? Clementine? Figured. I guess it’s true after all, trouble attracts trouble. Don’t tell me that you’re just as problematic as your dad-”

“Shut up!”

Theo huffed as he yelled at Dream, who wasn’t expecting such an outburst from the quiet child. Grumbot narrowed his eyes as the man, pulling Theo behind him as he did so. Jrumbot, on the other hand, just mocked the masked warrior.

“-meanie mask man!”

“Fine! We’ll talk once you’ve all calmed down. I’ll see you around, Theo.”

Dream let out an annoyed huff as he walked off, giving a half-wave to Theo. Once he was completely out of sight, Theo was mobbed by his concerned cousins, who were quick to assess him. Clementine began to sniff for any off scents while Jrumbot clung onto his arm, whines escaping his artificial mouth as his older brother inspected Theo. Whilst checking for any possible injuries, Grumbot began to question the younger boy.

“Were you hurt?”

“No.”

“Did he threaten you?”

“Nuh uh.”

“Well, is he as big of a jerk as Uncle Tommy said he was?”

Theo blinked a few times before laughing, causing the worried faces of his cousins to morph into confusion. After a moment, an amused look graced Grumbot’s features. Clementine and Jrumbot only continued to watch in confusion. Finally calming down, Theo responded with a nod.

“Yeah, he is. He tried acting like he was my dad.”

“We should tell your dad.”

“Are you kidding me?! He’s talking to a potential dad! Let’s just go bother Uncle Tommy.”

“No! Spy. Uncle Grian!”

“I’m sure dad won’t mind us bothering him. Let’s get going.”

Making sure they all had their belongings, the four children scurried off towards Grian. As they happily spoke with the father of the bot boys, Theo felt a chill down his spine. Turning around to peer behind him, he noticed a familiar white mask. If he clung onto his uncle a bit tighter than usual, Grian didn’t mention.

:)

[shtern-and-art]

"Skeppy will probably cry" "Bad will probably cry". Bish, screw, that I am crying!!!

This whole thing was bloody gorgeous and I wasn't expecting that ending. I had no clue what ending to expect but that was definitely better than any I could have hoped for. Forest spirit to soulmate your honour!

I was terrified that you were gonna leave it at the point where he loses the spirit and becomes mortal again. If you had I would be actively sobbing!!!! And oh my god, the art!!! I still can't get over how wonderful your style is.

Imma ask fun things because if I don't I'll sit in a puddle of emotion all night:

What's the first tech thing Bad will buy and how annoying will he be about it? Poor Skeppy trying to answer 101 questions about something he doesn't really use XD.

Is no one concerned that the odd couple from a town they never name has a pet wolf??

Do they immediately go over to a different town or do they wander for a while. Find hidden creeks and befriend bears?

Does Bad still have a connection to nature and animals, like are creatures naturally more trusting of him?

Do they ever visit the og town again?

Does Skeppy still cause absolute chaos in other towns or has he learnt his lesson and only causes minor trouble now?

Does Bad ever try and study again? If he did what would he study and would Skeppy try to study as well?

Does Skeppy steal? I dunno, he just give off the vibe of a naughty lil trickster who'll pocket something if the owner refuses to sell it him.

Immediately after leaving the forest what the first 'argument' they have (not including the car one)?

Would they ever ride horse? If yes, how terrified would Skeppy be?

Skeppy falls outta tree. I don't know why but my mind keeps telling me that this man has great balance until he climbs trees. They are his mortal enemy and Bad finds this both hilarious and terrifying because he is going to hurt himself.

I had waaaaay more questions than I intended to have. My bad '^_^ but this story was way too much fun to read and you are entirely to blame for making it so engaging!

Make sure to take care of yourself and do stretches after and during drawing. You don't wanna hurt yourself <3

AaaaI’m so glad you liked it! :D And, dang, man, I cried while writing that part too :D

And I promised a nice ending for the main story, I did, and this one also makes the most sense narratively! For the story I wanted to tell, at least. Bad can’t really become human again, he’s changed to much. He can only move on, and do something with what he is, and has. And he did! :D That’s really nice and inspiring, this story will always have a place in my heart, heheh <3

Being a guardian spirit connected to a person and all, Bad may be not as strong as before, but he can’t die unless Skeppy dies first. And Skeppy can do that, but he’s pretty sturdy, and his lifespan operates on a whole other scale than human ones. And Bad knowing Skeppy’s real name balances it all out, makes them equal in the power and influence they have over each other.

So hellyeah, soulmates for the win :DDD

I’ll answer all questions under the cut, and this close up from one of the pages!

1) What's the first tech thing Bad will buy and how annoying will he be about it?

Probably a pager! Because it’s a more feasible thing to get than a wholeass computer Bad actually wanted :D An it means Skeppy will have to get one too, and that Bad will be having the time of his life texting him and everyone he can get a number from, even if they’re still in the room with him.

Poor Skeppy indeed, he can learn to appreciate the pagers, and later phones, too, and computers, but he really has 0 idea on how it all works and why Bad is so fascinated by it all.

2) Rat and regular people

Oh, she can shapeshift, just like Bad! If they’re out with people around, she takes form of a puppy, and Bad can pass her off as a weird mix breed rescue doggo.

3) Do they immediately go over to a different town or do they wander for a while?

Oh, since they have no end destination in mind, they can ride around for a bit, go visit some cool places and roadside attractions. Sadly, Skeppy is probably not spiritually or morally ready to full on befriend wild bears yet, and they do need money for gas and snacks. So, at some point they will have to stop somewhere and find work – at least for a bit, to save up. Life’s gonna be a bit complicated with all that, until Skeppy figures out his treasure-finding abilities :DD

4) Bad and nature and animals

He is definitely still in tune with all wildlife! Even more – Bad could become a proper guardian spirit for Skeppy in part because, in a way, Skeppy himself is part of the nature.

So yeah, Bad can understand animals (and plants) and communicate with them; they’re just more free to not take his shit, and Bad’s emotions do not “possess” them unless he makes an effort to do so.

He doesn’t like doing it, tho.

5) Do they ever visit the og town again?

Hm, I think they will completely forget about it for a while, until, like, 30+ years later they will be going somewhere, and find themselves around those parts. And they try to not appear too often in the areas they’ve spent a lot of time in already (they can be pretty recognizable, and also barely show signs of aging). But it’s been a long time, and the town’s really different now… So they make a stop, and spend a day there. They walk the unfamiliar streets between the new buildings, check out the popular hiking trail, the advertisements for hot springs and winter activities. The old cinema is still there, and is hosting an all-night marathon of classic horror movies of the last century.

Bad and Skeppy leave the town after sunset – the day was nice, but they have nothing more to do there. They ride through the forest on a well paved road, with radio playing something barely above the whisper. And in the dark of hot summer night, Bad can see the white stag running between the trees alongside their car. Shadows dance over the shimmering light of it’s fur.

Somewhere after the towns border, the stag disappears back in the forest. But the air in the car stays light and fresh, saving the smell of old pines and dry leaves all though the night.

6) Skeppy and chaos

Well, after the whole mess in the main story, Skeppy definitely learned some lessons, especially about not being a dick :D

But the thing is – he can’t really help the fact that things tend to stir up around him a lot. He naturally brings in chaos into everything, because he is, in part, a personification, or an outlet for it in the world. And so, to feel, well and good, and himself Skeppy gotta do stuff that disrupts balance, and creates some mayhem. And in gave him a lot of trouble in early life, but in the course of the main story he learned that he can chose were he lets that chaos to take hold, learned what can come of that chaos, apart from utter misery.

Like, where it can help dismantle something destructive, and where – bring in the more positive change, that was already brewing, possible, but is stagnant for some reason.

Soooo, I can’t say Skeppy causes only minor chaos in his life, but he sure learns even more about not being a dick :DDDD

7) The studying

I think Bad will want to get a higher education at some point, because he wanted to, and because it’s already new millennia and all that. Bet he’ll go for something very technical and/or literature. Maybe he’ll start by piking up some classes in small time colleges, when they stop in one place for a while, and later get into an online program, because why not.

Skeppy is not a college guy at all. He’ll listen to Bad talk about it, read textbooks if he wants to, can research stuff, buuut going to classes and doing homework is definitely not his thing.

8) Stealing

Well, you’re right, Skeppy can and will steal stuff out of spite! And will be scolded by Bad for it, and will not feel (that) sorry about it. But real stealer between them will be Bad himself :D

It’s just… he has the corvid tendencies, and a hoard (a box) of sentimental mementos from different people and events, and the thrill of stealing something small and harmless is very exciting. Bad is very proud of his little collection. Skeppy finds it very adorable, a bit hypocritical, and kinda creepy. Like, that pretty box he gifted Bad at some point is now full of stuff like:

- pressed flower from the clearing they had a picnic at on their anniversary

- the button the waitress lost that one day the storm caused a black out in the whole town

- some small animal bones

- couple pretty rocks Bad stole from Skeppy’s pockets

- penny that was once glued to the ground

- a handful of teeth people (and not people) lost in fights with Bad

- pen from some fancy hotel

- rainbow dash keychain that belonged to a child

- the list goes on

9) Argument

Oh, that same day they’ll fight over whether they should stay at the really crappy and suspicious looking motel, or go sleep in a perfectly fine forest near the road. Ironically, Bad wanted to try out the motel (because, yay, first time spending the night back in civilization), and Skeppy was the one insisting on sleeping in nature (because the motel looks like it could give you 10 diseases if you even stand near it, and sleeping in the forest is kind of nice, and means they can cuddle).

10) Horses

The guys will probably ride them at some point. Well, Bad will ride, and Skeppy will sit on his horse and hope it knows what to do and where to go, because trying to make this giant thing do something seems dangerous. If they’ll have to actually go somewhere fast, Skeppy will not survive that day, his butt (and legs) will be dead for days to come.

And riding with Bad on one horse may sound romantic and nice, but all romance dies when the gallop starts.

F.

11) Skeppy and climbing

Skeppy is more down to earth kind of guy, more of a “rocks and caves” kind of creature, real-life lizard person or something. Up on the trees and in the air – not really his element, yeah. But it doesn’t mean that Skeppy will accept this fact easy. The embarrassment of never managing to safely make it down a tree is too strong, he just has to do it all over again, and again. And again. Because, clearly, he was distracted this time. And the time before that Bad was teasing him, and it “disrupted his flow”. And, really, maybe these trees here just do not like Skeppy much, and make him slip a lot. Yeah.

So, more often than not, if Skeppy climbs a tree, he will not stop climbing it until he falls, or the tree ends. Bad had to take him off high branches couple times, forcefully, because, of course, Skeppy was sitting there for 2 hours just to properly enjoy the sunset. He can climb down at any point, he just Choses not to. The view is amazing. The bark is literally part of his skin now, not because he holds on tight, no, he’s just Than Much one with the nature )<

---

Don’t apologize for the questions! It’s always so fun to answer them, and it makes me think more about stuff I may have skipped, or didn’t think about before. It’s really nice :3c

Again, thank you for the ask, and for being here for this story! <3

(And I’ll try setting timers for rest breaks while I draw, mb that will help)

---

In The Dark - masterpost

[shoichee]

Hi, congrats on 100!! Could I please request 27 for Kasamatsu? Thank you very much, and good luck on your finals! :D

Kasamatsu x Reader

27. “If we get caught I’m blaming you”

Word Count: 4416

prompt list here

Note: the Replace novel starring the Kaijō team was a HUGE inspiration for this, and dear anon who requested this, I hope you’re still around;; I’m sorry it took so long EEEEE But yes! I did okay on my finals anon! I hope you’re doing well too~

@knb-kreations

»»—————　☼　—————««

“If we get caught, I’m blaming you.”

“Look it’ll be quick… n-no one’s here as far as I know.”

“B-But…”

“J-Just… be quiet for a s-second, okay?”

“H-H-Huh?! Ah…”

Huh? Kise stopped himself before leaning closer to the edge of the building, slightly doubting his ears. Wasn’t that Senpai’s voice? With someone else…? Alone?

“Oh come on, why are you even block the wa—oh, ohhhhhh, are there any cute girls nearby?—”

“Shh,” Kise hissed, harshly waving his hand over Moriyama’s face to give a signal to stay quiet. “Listen…”

“A-Are you done, Kasamatsu-san…?”

“I-I-I… uh, just…um…”

Kise and Moriyama shared a look of shock… then registration… and finally a look of that spelled nothing but trouble. Immediately, they both simultaneously crouched to squat and share their “realizations” together in hushed whispers.

“Quick—when was the last time Senpai talked to anyone outside of basketball?”

“Hmmmmmm, certainly none of the girls I’ve tried to approach.”

“No, that’s obviously not what I meant!” Kise said, facepalming. “Anyone in your year that he’s been talking to? Maybe anyone in class?” Moriyama continued to hum in deep concentration before he lifted his index finger in a “eureka” moment.

“He’s been talking to (y/n)-san in the hallways recently!” he quietly exclaims, pounding his fist against his open palm to emphasize. “Though their conversations have sounded nothing remotely romantic. No charm, I say.” He struck a pose after to imply that he himself was the charismatic individual.

“.... Right,” he deadpanned, expecting nothing less from his quite… eccentric upperclassman. “Welp, now that we narrowed it down who he might be talking to, I don’t wanna spy on them… but I’m really curious if it’s really this (y/n)-san you mentioned.”

“Well,” Moriyama pouted with a grumble. “One peek wouldn’t hurt.”

“I guess you’re right…”

Kise cautiously scans his surroundings and gauges the situation “clear” to slowly peer from behind the corner of the building, where both of them had been seeking shelter from for the past several minutes. Moriyama follows suit, poking his head out just underneath Kise to see.

Kasamatsu’s back mostly covered your figure, but the view of what was happening did not slip by either Kaijō players’ eyes. He had his arms partially around your head while you were pressed up against his chest. You were gripping onto his loose blazer on his sides to presumably stabilize yourself while Kasamatsu was… fiddling with something on top of your hair? Even so, there’s no denying that the both of you were currently very, very physically close.

“Look… d-does it really take that long to take out petals from hair strands?” you mumbled, looking up at Kasamatsu’s face while trying not to move your head to avoid disrupting his “handiwork.” “I can do this myself....”

“W-W-Well, you can’t risk yourself being unkempt when you go back to class.” Kasamatsu gave a poor attempt at trying to lecture you, judging from his stammers and the way he slightly turns his head to the side to avoid your curious scrutiny. “It’s more thorough this… way. It’s the w-week where these blossoms fall rampantly… you have to be careful where you’re walking under…” In turning his face slightly towards Kise’s and Moriyama’s direction, his exposed flushed face puts the cherry blossom trees around them to shame.

So that’s what he was doing. Kise narrowed his eyes in pity at his captain, and Moriyama expressed a similar expression at Kasamatsu’s struggles. The poor captain’s hands were shaking non-stop. Not only that, he’s been darting his eyes everywhere since you’ve been gazing up at him from below. No wonder he’s been standing there unable to quickly pluck off the petals.

“Should we leave our captain alone to let him lead his own destiny?”

“What are you even talking about, Moriyama-se—”

“W-Whoa!! What a(l)e you [guys doing] he(l)e? Why a(l)e you sneaking a(l)ound (r)ike that?”

Kise and Moriyama instantly whip their heads behind in a panic, seeing a curious Hayakawa jogging up to be with his teammates, and the both instantly pounce on the poor rebound player to slap desperate hands over his mouth.

“Sh-Shhhhhhhhh!”

“Mrmpgh—?!! Lef—What [is going] on?”

“Hayakawa-senpai, please—just be quiet for a sec!”

The ruckus causes Kasamatsu and you to break out of the oddly intimate moment to face towards the direction of the sudden noises. After looking at each other questionably, albeit briefly and with stiff eye contact, there was an unspoken consensus for you two to investigate behind the corner of the building. Imagine both of you guys’ surprise when you two see a tangle of limbs between the Kaijō starter players. Kobori somehow arrived prior, separating poor Hayakawa from his two assailants.

“What… What the hell are you guys doing?!”

“Kasamatsu-senpai!! Is it t(l)ue [that you] and (y/n)-san a(l)e da—mrmf—!”

“Ahaha… we didn’t expect to see you here, Senpai~” Kise smiles with a slight grimace, hand still firm on Hayakawa’s mouth.

“It must be fate, yes surely!” Moriyama confidently speaks, flipping his fringe. Both Kise and Moriyama drop Hayakawa and straighten themselves up. “How else would we encounter such a situation as unique as this?”

“Why are you all here?” Kasamatsu sputters indignantly, but everyone (except you) saw how horrendously red his face was. You peek out from behind his back curiously, noting how Kasamatsu did a 180 in his personality compared to whenever he spoke with you.

“Kasamatsu-san… are they your teammates? You seem very close with them.”

“That’s—”

“Now, now, Kasamatsu-san… we’re only here because we were concerned where you went is all,” Kobori reassures a flustered captain. Kise only stares at him incredulously, but it seems that Kasamatsu, as usual, buys into Kobori’s naivete.

“I see…”

“Wow… the fact that your entire group came to look for you is very sweet of them,” you chime. “They really care for you, Kasamatsu-san…” When you elbow him at his ribs playfully, he immediately straightened himself like a plank.

“N-Nn.”

“Well… it’s almost time for class, so I have to go, see you all!”

“W-Wait, your… uh, hair, um—”

“I can get out the rest of the petals in the restroom, but thank you for trying! I’ll see you later!”

“R-Right…” He puts up his hand in a shy wave as you dash away, but he immediately drops it once you are out of the vicinity to hound on his teammates. “Were you watching this entire time? And stop with the looks—that’s creepy as hell!”

“Sooooooo…”

“Senpai, could it be that you and…”

“Kasamatsu-senpai! I’m (l)ooting fo(l) you!”

“N-N-No!!” he denies, ready to hold an iron fist to stop their antics, but Kobori gently holds onto his raised arm.

“Alright, let’s calm down a bit,” Kobori reasons with a placid smile. “I’m sure we’re all a bit curious because you hardly talk to anyone outside of basketball, right?”

“Kobori…”

“Have you heard of the prerequisites of the key elements of the blooming spring, Kasamatsu?” Moriyama asks, immediately drawing confused looks towards the 3rd-year.

“Moriyama-senpai, we have no clue what you’re talking about,” Kise says, asking the question that’s occupying everyone's mind.

“The key elements…! In the season of new birth, to enrich the experience, they are ‘hanami,’ ‘plums,’ and ‘spring cleaning!’ Of course, the prerequisite to these would be…”

“Please stop—”

“... to have a cute date.”

“... This is ridiculous,” Kasamatsu says irritatedly. “I’m going to class.” He immediately speed-walks to the adjacent building, leaving a scheming group behind.

“You know, if it’s true that he does like (y/n)-san, shouldn’t we help him? It’s the least we can do for our captain,” Kobori suggested.

“That sounds too troublesome,” Kise frowns, averting his gaze to also start to walk away, but Hayakawa immediately latches to his arm to pull him back.

“Don’t be (r)ike that! We have to do this as a team effo(l)t!”

“How did it become like this?!”

“Well…” Moriyama audibly ponders, stroking his chin. “If we make this successful for Kasamatsu, perhaps this can be a template for our own love lives! A sign that we will meet our fated ones this spring!”

“Yes, yes! Mo(l)iyama-senpai is abso(r)ute(r)y (l)ight!”

Oh god, Kise mentally sighs. What has he gotten himself into?

———

“Why are you guys surrounding me like that? Did you not hear me say that we have to change quickly? We can’t have the lockers for long today, considering that the janitor will come to do their routine clean-ups.”

“According to my online research,” Moriyama states, “this mint-scented deodorant will guarantee mutual attraction from the person you like.”

“Wha—?”

“Ignoring what Moriyama-senpai said,” Kise elaborates, scratching his head. “Is it really true that you like (y/n)-san? Otherwise, they’ll keep getting the wrong idea, senpai.”

Kasamatsu gapes like a fish, pulling his shirt collar as he starts to sweat and flush.

“Kise! Be a bit tactfu(r)! You do not unde(l)stand how to app(l)oach this!”

“What’s there to understand, Hayakawa-senpai!? It’s better to be direct about this, or otherwise we’ll be doing this for nothing!”

“Kise may be right,” Moriyama muses. “To be honest gives a feeling of a fresh start in the spring. Kasamatsu, you should follow this example and leave all the baggage behind to obtain a new start.” Kasamatsu could only stand there glued to his spot as his teammates continued to corner him, blocking any possible route to the locker exit.

“I… I…” he gulps. “Th—... that’s… I… like…” His voice dwindles to the softest whisper, but it easily resonates throughout the locker room, where the team had fallen silent in straining to hear and hang onto his every syllable.

“So you do like (y/n)-san,” Moriyama exclaimed, the first one to break the silence. “I see, I didn’t think they were your type.”

“H-Hey…?! Can you not say it like that!?”

“You can’t distort the truth, though. Anyways, you should chat with (y/n)-san nicely.”

“I already do!!” Kasamatsu half-shouts, but he immediately bows his head down shyly. “Wh-What’s a… good topic, you think… to talk to (y/n)-san…?”

“Huh? Just normal topics,” Kise replies, not sure what Kasamatsu meant by the question.

“What’s… normal?”

“Just talk to them like you’ve always done, senpai.”

“Y-Yes, but… h-how can I talk to hint that I l-l-l-like… never mind this is hopeless—”

“Ask them to come watch ou(l) next match [and have] (y/n)-san chee(l) fo(l) you!!”

“N-No! Anyone would run away from that!”

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted when the locker doors opened with a bang, with a very weary janitor standing with his equipment on standby. With a flurry of apologies to the janitor, Kasamatsu recovers himself and ushers everyone out before bidding him a good evening. Walking out of campus several minutes later in silence, Kobori breaks the silence.

“Why don’t we help you, Kasamatsu? Maybe through different methods you will find the best way to ask for a date. Perhaps asking for a cup of tea would be sufficient…?”

“I’m not gonna involve myself with this! No way in hell!”

“Senpai, so you’re just gonna wait and let it fester—u-uwah?!” Moriyama immediately sprays the mint-scented deodorant down Kise’s back to silence him before turning back to Kasamatsu with a straight face.

“What if someone else steals (y/n)-san away for their own elements of spring? After all, it is the perfect atmosphere for them to communicate with the person you like with pickup techniques, with high chances of success.”

“N-No way (y/n)-san would just go along with a random stranger!”

“Who knows? Maybe they’re more suave and have that particular charisma that they’re secretly weak to.”

“Moriyama-senpai, you might be going too far…”

“Kasamatsu, he’s right though, if you hang around (y/n)-san more, not only would you learn more about them, but you’ll protect them from potential unwanted people.” Kobori’s calm voice rang louder above the clamors of the starter players, and everyone immediately looked to Kasamatsu for his response. Kise mentally sighs at how Kobori always manages to misinterpret Moriyama’s words.

“Fine—but only to make sure (y/n)-san will be safe! Don’t get any funny ideas!”

———

Praise. Make them laugh. Praise. Make them laugh. Say something interesting. Say something interesting. Praise. Use a normal topic.

Kasamatsu stands at his usual spot, waiting for you to leave class and meet up with him after school. Only this time, his hands grow clammy, his thick brows deeply furrowed as he wills himself to stop shaking. His teammates spying on him from behind the hallway corner certainly wasn’t helping him either.

“I told you, there’s no way I’m gonna involve myself with this!”

“Come on, Kasamatsu,” Moriyama sighed, shaking the mint-scented deodorant on hand. “We talked about this yesterday. You agreed to this, remember?”

“It was to make sure no one weird bothers (y/n)-san! Why do I have to go along with this?!”

“So you’re fine if I hold (y/n)-san’s hand in the name of destiny…”

“To hell with that!—argh—you!”

Moriyama immediately sprayed the can on the captain’s neck, watching his spine jolt and jump before he was met with an intense glare.

“You’re the captain, right? Come on, you have to show us how it’s done. We all want to see the ways to push the boundaries of romance. Who would lead us if you don’t?”

“What kinda—”

“I ag(l)ee with Mo(l)iyama-senpai! Take the (r)ead, Kasamatsu-senpai!”

“Wouldn’t Kise be someone better to learn from if you wanted to learn how to hit on people?!”

“Senpai, I’ve never done such a thing in my entire life.”

“Kasamatsu, I’m sure Moriyama is just telling you how much we all admire and look up to you. Naturally, we want to see how our captain fares in these situations. Besides, as a team, if something happens, we’ll be there to cover up for you.”

“Well… if you put it like that Kobori… all I have to do is talk to (y/n)-san… right?”

“That’s the spi(l)it!”

“... Kasamatsu-san? Helloooooo…?”

You wave a hand repeatedly over his face, and he immediately blinks and flinches back when you pull him back to the present. He’d been standing still for the past five minutes.

“I-I-I-I…”

“Are you okay? You’re all tensed up… if something’s bothering you, wanna talk about it?”

“W-W-Well… wh-what’s… up.” Normal topic, normal topic.

“Well, nothing much really,” you say, smoothing out your blazer. “I got out the petals but barely made it to class in the nick of time!” You laugh at your own recollection, and he immediately flames a radiant flush.

“N-nn.”

“Is it me… or is our captain…. really, really stiff right now…”

“Shhh.”

You perk up at the noise and slightly tilt to the left of Kasamatsu to discern the source of the hushed whispers… only to spy a conspicuous group of basketball players. You merely raise a brow at your discovery, but you return your attention back to Kasamatsu before he notices your change in gaze. The Kaijō teammates were too busy shushing each other to notice your attention on them.

“Ah, yes! Kasamatsu-san, you just had your trigonometry test right? Those identities and proofs are always so difficult to remember… how do you think you did?”

“G-Good.”

“Wow, that was too quick of a response! I didn’t know you were that confident about it—obviously not a bad thing if you studied for it.”

“N-nn.” Come on, say something interesting. Interesting topic. Something you like. “U-U-Uh… w-weather…?”

“The weather…?” You look outside the window in confusion before you make a face of realization. “Oh! Like how’s the weather?”

“N-nn.”

“Well, it has been a bit windy with all those branches and leaves flying around, but I think it accompanies the refreshing atmosphere of spring very nicely, don’t you think?” You turn back to face Kasamatsu, who’s been slowly bowing his head down gradually more and more the entire time to avoid scrutiny.

“N-nn.”

“You’ve been… really quiet since lunch. I’m serious, if something happened… is there anything I can do to help?”

“Kasamatsu, take advantage of the elements of spring! The elements of spr—”

“Moriyama-senpai, shut… up…!”

“Hey—what are you—?”

“Wait!! Kise! Don’t push, [or else] we a(l)e gonna fa(r)(r)—!”

“Shit—”

Right on cue, the gradual leaning weight from the three players on Hayakawa at the bottom gave way, and everyone tumbled out smack dab into plain sight. Kobori was the only one who managed to break his fall and stayed behind the corner, holding onto Kise in a failed attempt to stop him from exposing his presence. Kasamatsu breaks out of his shy stupor and turns around to see awkward smiles and chuckles.

“Y-Y-You guys—?!”

“Ahaha… sorry Senpai… the floor was a bit… slippery?”

As Kasamatsu forgets about you in dropkicking Kise, you note how the other upperclassmen had their own little quirks in interacting with the captain. Seeing how assertive and gutsy he was compared to talking with you makes you feel unbelievably warm. Little did anyone know, you held a hand to your face as you turned away to let out a chortle before you collected yourself again.

“Ah, I guess I’ll be going now! Your practice will start soon right? I’m sure your friends were only waiting for you… Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Kasamatsu-san!”

“W-Wait—” Kasamatsu drops Kise from his collar before he turns to you, but in making eye contact he immediately loses courage again. “I-I-I… s-see… you.”

“Of course!” You give a close-eyed smile before you leave.

“You missed the opportunity to set up the atmosphere,” Moriyama sighs, staring wistfully at the mint-scented deodorant. “Was the mint scent not enough?”

“It was going fine until you crashed in!”

“Now, now, there’s always a next time…”

As the upperclassmen continue to bicker and banter (mostly one-sided from Kasamatsu’s end), Kise, who was dropped on the floor by Kasamatsu moments prior, silently stares at the direction you left. Did you leave because you knew how embarrassed Kasamatsu was from that incident?

———

For the next few days, Kasamatsu has been quite clipped with you, reduced to mere “nn’s” and “no’s” during your conversations, and Kise doesn’t know whether you’re just as oblivious as Kobori or whether you’re ignoring it to spare his remaining shreds of dignity. He mentally sighs at how oddly persistent Moriyama is about this even though the captain refused all of his ridiculous “suggestions” every time.

“I believe Moriyama is trying to help out Kasamatsu as a close friend,” Kobori had said, when Kise grumbled about his tenacity. “He just wants the best for him.”

Even so, Kise still heaves a sigh when he sees Moriyama and Hayakawa with an agitated Kasamatsu, knowing that whatever is going on won’t be smooth-sailing. He had no choice but to join them when Kobori sneaked up on him to sling an arm around his shoulders and called over the trio.

“Huh… what’s up with Kasamatsu-senpai?”

“Ou(l) captain is af(l)aid [because someone] da(l)ed to app(l)oach (y/n)-san (l)ight now!”

“Huh? Is that really a problem?” Kise shoots a tired look at the rebound player, but Moriyama solemnly sends a gaze to where he assumed was where you were at right now.

“I knew my online research would come in handy…! Someone also has the knowledge of taking advantage of the perfect atmosphere! Look at the intimacy shared between the two…! The undeniable auras exhibited by them, and elements of spring they embody together!”

“What the hell! No way!” Even through the denials, Kasamatsu looks visibly distressed about the possible “new revelations” between you and what looks to be a close companion of yours.

“I’m gonna have to agree with Senpai on this one, Moriyama-senpai.”

“(R)ook! They finished ta(r)king and (y/n)-san waved them [off with] a smi(r)e!” Kasamatsu whips his head at the speed of light to see you sending them off with the smile Hayakawa spoke of as your friend exits the campus gate. At his dilemma, Moriyama gently nudges his arm to encourage him to go talk to you.

“... According to my online research, talking under sunny weather with a fresh scent is the formula to having the desirable spring experience.”

“Oh shut up, will ya?” Kasamatsu mumbles half-heartedly, but he slowly walks in your direction before he stops to turn back. “You better not interrupt.”

“We [will be all] the way back he(l)e to suppo(l)t you!”

With a final sigh to expel his nerves, he gives a nervous smile to his teammates before coolly walking until you turn to face him once you hear his footsteps. Almost immediately though, his calmness easily dissipates into thin air once again, and his teammates only look on in dismay and worry from afar.

“Er…” Come on, just be direct. Talk normal.

“Kasamatsu-san?”

“Y-You were… d-datin—I mean t-talking, with… someone…”

“Oh, you saw? Yeah, I asked them to meet up with me here actually.”

“Is… that so?”

“Mmhm, I asked for their notes to compare to mine because I feel like I can’t get a hand on the subject sometimes.” Kasamatsu finally finds his voice for the first time in a while when the conversation finally re-enters familiar platonic territory.

“Was it… trigonometry? I did, um, do well on it last time, so…” Normal topics. Normal topics.

“I know,” you laugh. “You told me that a few days ago, remember?”

“W-W-Well…” He coughs to clear his throat and find his voice. “Y-You could’ve… a-a-asked—er…” You patiently wait for him to try to finish his sentence, and out of the corner of your eye you accidentally made eye contact with Kise from the distance.

Kise didn’t expect for you to notice the group even from a sizable distance away. He stayed still for a few seconds to make sure the shared eye contact wasn’t a fluke. Seeing how Kasamatsu was standing there like a statue again, he puts a flat hand next to his lips to discreetly mouth out:

He’s jealous.

To his surprise, you caught onto his cues, giving a subtle yet playful smile of your own before you carefully mouth out:

I know.

The others don’t seem to notice the secret exchange, all too focused on the poor captain bowing his head down out of extreme shyness. Kise doesn’t even know why he’s doing this, but perhaps Kobori was right that it’s only right for the team to help out their hardworking captain.

“Ah, Kasamatsu-san?”

“N-Nn?” He lifts his head up abruptly at the call of his name, and he turns red from mortification at the realization that he stood there like a dunce for the past several minutes. He doesn’t even have time to react to you stepping closer to him with an outstretched hand, and he stands motionless as you slightly fiddle with his cropped hair before you pull out a vivid cherry blossom petal.

“Remember what you told me?” you muse. “That ‘you can’t risk yourself being unkempt?’ After all, you’re right… it is the week where these blossoms fall rampantly… Must I also remind you to be careful where you’re walking under?”

At this point, Kasamatsu is sputtering like a broken engine, his mind barely functioning enough for him to think about putting a hand over his face in a desperate attempt to cover his frenzy.

“I, um, I…”

“Ah… can I ask you something first instead, Kasamatsu-san?” you gently interrupt him, and he flits his gaze back to you before staring at the ground again, and you took that as silent confirmation. “A-Are… are you free to go cherry blossom watching this weekend…?”

He snaps his head up in shock, only to see you slightly pink after that slight stutter in your question. It was your turn to avoid looking at his face.

“N-nn, I’m-I’m free.”

“Ah, that’s great…!” You muster your own courage to hold his clammy hands at his sides. “Can I ask to confirm if this is a romantic date between us?”

“Y-Yes,” he says in a hurry and you only laugh at his shyness. But his piercing eyes focus on your figure before he frees his hands from your loose clasp and reaches out to you, albeit with a slight shake in his hand still, before he clumsily takes out a petal from your hair. “It was… stuck.”

“See?” you shyly tease. “I knew it shouldn’t take you long to take out petals from hair.”

He completely lost his cool in front of you again.

You didn’t really care though… not when he looked absolutely endearing with the onslaught of petals settling on top of his head and shoulders to complement his flushed face.

———

Bonus:

“So are you two dating now?” Kise asks you. You both coincidentally met up at a hallway intersection the next week.

“Well, I think that’s a bit too fast,” you inwardly laugh. “You know how he is more than anyone.” Kise gives a light chuckle of his own before he asks you the question that’s been on his mind for a while.

“Hey (y/n)-senpai, how did you know Kasamatsu-senpai liked you?”

“Eh?”

“It was pretty clear from that time last week that you knew how he felt.”

“Ah… well, remember when he was… trying… to tidy up my hair? When you all spied on us?” you say, continuing when Kise gives a slightly sheepish nod. “It felt… different from how we normally talked. I’m sure he felt it harder than I did. I’ve always been nervous talking to him, but… seeing him so flustered and shy like that made me connect the dots, and then, I became more at ease and knew to be patient, realizing that he does hold a degree of feelings for me. I just didn’t know when was the right time for us to take it a step further.”

“I see. Yeah, that makes sense.”

“I must say, please send my thanks for the rest of the team. I think without you guys, this wouldn’t have happened as smoothly… or quickly.” At your words, Kise only sweatdrops as he remembers Moriyama’s antics, Hayakawa’s over-enthusiasm, and Kobori’s good-natured naivete.

“I’ll… send your regards to them.”

“... Why do you look so hesitant?”

———

End note: the cherry blossom falling season only occurs in the first to second week of April, which would conflict with the timeline of this scenario IRL. The Japanese new school year also coincides with this week, and as 3rd-years, Kasamatsu, Moriyama, Kobori, and the reader would be college freshmen instead. If I wrote it in terms of “last year” with the 3rd-years as 2nd-years, then Kise would still be in Teiko. So for convenience sake… ignore the “realism” in the setting for this :^)

[levis-little-nuggie]

(SFW) prompt 84: “Leave me alone.” “I brought cookies.” “… fine, come in.” with Leviathan and f!mc

Hey nonny! For this prompt, I immediately knew how to start this and I knew it was going to be "easy" for me to write it but it took me... awhile... to finally sit down and write this.

Thank you so much for the request, I hope you enjoy this at least half as much as I did writing it 💜💜

Inspired by this rolling pin

SFW, female MC, fluffy with a dash of angst, no warnings (but can be added if requested)

Cookies for the Otaku

The timer rang and she picked herself off the counter. Sliding on the oven mitts, MC opened the oven, pulled out the tray, closed the oven, and turned off the timer. The kitchen resumed its relative silence as she inspected the baked cookies. She'd made enough, she hoped, for Beel and the other brothers, but this last batch was special.

Resisting the urge to sigh again, MC waited a few minutes before removing the cookies from the pan to let them rest on the wire cooling rack. What better way to cheer up the otaku than with her signature snickerdoodle cookies imprinted with Ruri-chan and Azuki-tan designs from the limited edition "Baking With Ruri-chan Rolling Pin" she'd bought specifically to make for Ruri-chan's number one fan.

She'd overheard the brothers this morning teasing the third-born over a picture he'd posted of the two of them from Christmas he'd tagged with #ChristmasDate and #WithMyBeloved. Mammon had started the fuss showing it to everyone and soon after, the brothers had followed suit. They filled the halls with their squawking and opinions saying things like "you wish she saw you more than a friend," and comparing what they saw as their redeeming qualities with his "flaws."

Before MC even had a chance to step in, Lucifer intervened. Much to her disdain, the eldest criticized Leviathan's decision to post the picture at all, saying he'd had the intention to cause a ruckus. MC felt Leviathan's growl of frustration vibrate the air around her before he stormed back to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. Distracted during her classes, MC sent Levi a few messages throughout the day, trying to reach him through a few of his social media accounts but his status was always unavailable or offline compared to the almost permanent active/online status.

Plating up the special cookies made just for him, MC set off down the hall not knowing what state he'd be in but wanting to help him any way she could. She knocked on the door, but only silence responded. Knocking a little louder resulted in the same silence. Starting to worry, MC jiggled the locked door handle and knocked louder; he would be able to at least feel the vibrations if he was in the aquarium.

"Go away." His voice was rough, not necessarily loud but it was low and threatening reminding her of a rattlesnake.

"Levi? It's me, I-"

"Leave me alone." He cut her off and she heard a splash of water followed by soft footsteps. His voice, no longer filled with venom, sounded defeated and sad.

"I brought cookies. Snickerdoodle? Said to hold magical powers that can turn any grumpy guppy into a silly sea turtle..." Silence stretched out the seconds and her hope gradually deflated until she'd heard him sigh and a rustle behind the door. The lock clicked soon after, the door opening barely a sliver.

"...fine. Come in." Usually he'd at least smile, tease her for using such childish alliterations when she'd attempted to cheer him up in the past. Levi's deadpan tone crawled under her skin uncomfortably but she reached out to open the door, pulling it closed behind her and locking it as he had done previously.

MC's eyes followed the trail of puddles decorating the floor around the room before her gaze landed on the culprit. Levi had fallen back in his bathtub bed, legs dangling over the edge as his computer's screensaver cast an unsettling glow in the room.

Walking over to his desk to set down the plate of cookies, MC moved the mouse slightly causing the screen flicker to life; she wasn't interested with what was on the screen so much as the default screensaver had been silently mocking her.

MC took a cookie from the plate and placed it in her mouth, moving to stand between his legs. She held her hand out expectantly, waiting for the third-born to take it and let her pull him up. Eventually when he reached for her hand, Levi locked his legs around hers, lifting her before pulling her down into the tub with him. The cookie had fallen during the movement as she had yelped in surprise, and landed on his chest.

Arranging themselves to be comfortable, MC was lying on her back and Levi had his head resting on her stomach, her fingers brushing through his wet hair with the cookie lying innocently on her abdomen. It was quiet for awhile, neither of them spoke but the atmosphere was comforting, reassuring.

Finally, MC felt his fingers ghost along her stomach to inspect the cookie. It was too dim to see the pattern but she wasn't concerned about it; he'd see the design eventually.

"You made these?" His voice was barely above a whisper so as to not disrupt the mood.

"Mhmm," an affirmative hum in response, fingers still sifting through his hair, nails lightly scratching at his scalp. Levi hugged her a little tighter before lifting himself up, cookie in his mouth like she had done earlier, and held his head right above hers, the cookie gently pressed against her lips. Levi couldn't meet her gaze and she swore she could feel the heat radiating from his face, but she raised her head to take a bite from the offered sweet.

Crumbles rained down onto her face and she laughed, bringing up a hand to swipe them away causing Levi to shove the rest of the cookie into his mouth not knowing what else to do with it and not wanting to drop any more crumbs on her.

"It was supposed to be romantic, I'm sorry I messed it up," she could hear the pout in his voice. Looping her arms around his shoulders, MC pulled herself up to kiss him on the cheek, his skin warm against her lips.

"Romance is for boomers and normies. You're adorable and literally perfect the way you are." Levi groaned and leaned forward, burying his face against her neck, his chest rumbling as he tried not to whine.

The two of them shifted their positions again with practiced ease learned from maneuvering around in his narrow bathtub bed. Her ear against his chest listening to the rhythm of his heart beat and his arm resting gently on her upper back. She could feel his hand ghosting over her arm, still showing his shy, hesitant nature.

"Do you want to talk about it? This morning I mean." She felt him tense up and moved her hand from under her chin to splay her fingers gently on his chest to which he flinched from the contact. "We don't have to if you don't want to, I just want to make sure you're okay. You weren't online all day." Her voice got quieter the longer she spoke until the last sentence was mumbled.

"Eh? I bet you jumped around all my accounts to see if I'd been active." MC shrunk down trying to make herself smaller and he let out a laugh. "You did? Oh you totally did! Let me guess, DevilTube, Devilgram, Devilbook, Devcord, don't tell me you also checked Devtrest? Man I haven't been on that one in ages!!" Levi continued laughing and MC playfully smacked her hand on his chest with a scoff, her face burning as he teased her.

"And you even made me cookies too?" Levi sighed and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, squeezing her for a few seconds before pulling away. A hand lingered on her shoulder made her heart swoon. "I just," he started before stopping short, trying to collect and organize his thoughts and she waited patiently as he knew she would.

"You're so patient with me, I'm, I should be able to show you off to my brothers, to the world like you deserve. I should be confident enough to announce that we're, y-you know, t...to..., GAH! I can't even say it! I'm sorry MC, that I'm so use-"

"I don't think so," MC snapped back and pushed herself up to straddle him, smooshing his cheeks together to make fish lips, effectively cutting him off. "Do you remember what we talked about?" Levi looked away and huffed an exhale through his nose. "About being nice to ourselves?" MC still had a hold on his face squishing his cheeks together so he wasn't able to vocally respond but he huffed again before nodding slowly. She released his cheeks and patted his head, watching him expectantly. It was a battle they had frequently, waiting for the other to break first, but he always caved.

"Fine, fine, I give in, you win." As part of their agreement, whenever they caught each other saying something negative or self-depreciating, the one that was caught has to then say a compliment about themselves. "Ah, I'm Ruri-chan's number one fan!" Levi laughed and MC playfully huffed in response before standing and leaving the bathtub bed.

Levi peeked his head over the rim of the tub, worried he'd actually upset her, his eyes following as she walked to his desk and spotted the plate of cookies. He smacked his lips relishing in the sweet aftertaste and his stomach growled signaling it hadn't had a morsel of food all day. Pulling himself out of the tub, Levi padded over next to her and sat down in his chair.

Waiting until he got comfortable, MC sat down in his lap, facing him, and wrapped her arms around his torso, nuzzling her face against his sternum. Levi rested his chin on the top of her head and opened up his social media accounts to catch up on notifications and news, forgetting about his hunger. Hearing his stomach rumble, MC reached over for another cookie, holding it so the glow from the computer highlighted the imprinted design on top.

"If your her number one fan, then that makes me an enabler." Confused by her words, Levi looks down at the cookie in her hand and squealed, cupping her hand holding the baked good gently like it was a precious delicacy.

"MC," he whined. "Is this from the Limited Edition Baking With Ruri-chan Rolling Pin featuring Ruri-chan and Azuki-tan in their aprons and chef hats?" The designs smiling back up at him confirmed his suspicion. "But, we went to all the stores, all the lottery tickets, how were you lucky enough to get one?" She tittered knowing he was impressed and her surprise a success.

"Someone bought one by accident not realizing the design was themed. They wanted the original Ruri-chan design and returned the limited edition one."

"What?!? That's, how does that even happen?" Levi exclaimed, confounded by the happenstance.

"The store clerk was confused too, they could have made bank if they would have sold it instead but nope; they made an even exchange. The clerk remembered how desperate we were to get one and held on to it in case we were to stop by again. Mammon and I were window shopping when the clerk flagged me down. He said by doing us this favor, he hopes we'll seek him out first for future rare merch drops."

Levi was quiet for a moment, considering the design imprinted on the homemade baked good. His free hand lifted, running his fingers along her neck, urging her to pull back and she followed suit, her eyes blinking wide up at the otaku. Levi's hand held her head steady, his finger under her chin, blinking slowly and a soft smile parting his lips.

"I change my answer, I'm your number one fan." Her heart skipped a beat as he pressed his lips softly against hers and she melted. Their flushed cheeks mirrored each other and as she found herself dazed, he realized what he'd done and his face burned hotter. Looking everywhere else, Levi's attention was brought back to the cookie and he quickly took a bite as a distraction. Actually tasting and enjoying the sweet, he let out a delighted hum while he chewed and MC laughed in response, grabbing another cookie for herself to eat.

"You know," he spoke up after finishing his cookie, "I'm a pretty big fan of these cookies too."

"You're not gonna kiss the cookie too, right? Cause that'd be weird." MC snorted with laughter and Levi sputtered before following her in laughter feeling the weight of the day, of the morning, finally drift away.

[meltwonu]

64. “You’re not taking me to bed. ever.”

          “Who said it had to be on the bed?”

67. “For the love of fuck.”

           “Yep, that’s me. I love to fuck.”

notes; softdom!jeonghan, cockwarming, dirty talk, thinkin abt this after watching them play that pc game and soonyoung saying “you’d be surprised but jeonghan and jihoon are quite competitive” and knowing Jeonghan has the patience of a fuckin god 😩😩, also sorry i kinda played with the first prompt a bit hehehehe, this is also just a little long so the rest is under the cut as to not disrupt your dashs with long wall of text eheh💕💕 also sorry i fucking write so much i literally dont know how to shut up :( lmfao, anyway thank you for requesting! enjoy! 💕

“‘Hannie… are you almost done?”

He grunts in response, fingertips still on the laptop keyboard and eyes still glued to the tiny screen. “C’mon, you said you’d be done playing that game an hour ago… I need you…” You whine quietly, eyes burning holes into the back of his head.

“Is it a want or a need? And anyway, didn’t I already fuck you last night?” He mumbles; exhaling harshly when his character on screen falls again. You shimmy off the sofa with a sigh and sit next to him on the floor, immediately placing your palm down onto his thigh and squeezing.

“Yeah but… dunno, think I can go for another round~”

You lean over, lips ghosting against the shell of his ear. “I can’t stop thinkin’ about how good you felt inside of me…”

A shiver runs up Jeonghan’s spine when you softly whisper in his ear and he can’t deny the way his cock twitches in his grey sweats. “Is that all, baby?” He loses focus for a second; his on-screen character falling over for the umpteenth time.

“No~ What I really really liked is when you finally came ‘n filled me up with so much cum~ Just thinkin’ about it makes me so wet, ‘Hannie~”

Your hand travels further into his lap, palming his half hard cock through his sweats as he moans.

“For the love of fuck.”

Giggling, you slowly ghost your fingers to the waistband of his sweats; sliding them underneath when he doesn’t tell you to stop.

“Yep, that’s me. I love to fuck. Now please, Jeonghan, I’m begging you! Finish your game later!” You whine, hand already wrapped around his cock as he continues to play.

He can only grin at you when he beats another level, eyes filled with mischief.

“You want my cock that bad? Ok, sit on it and be a good girl. I’m almost done.”

And If there’s anything you really know about Jeonghan, it’s that he’s just extremely convincing.

You sigh, half in content and half in annoyance, facing the sofa as you sit on his cock and you knew better than to defy his word, so you sit put even if you want to move. “‘Hannie~ Aren’t you done?” Whimpering, you nuzzle into his neck, kissing the skin as he groans.

“What did I say about waiting, baby? Be patient. You’re already doing so well for me.”

All you can hear is the sound of the keyboard clicking and Jeonghan’s furious scrolling of the mouse, a soft whine spilling from your lips when he shifts slightly underneath you. The chuckle he lets out reverberates in your chest; your hands curling into the back of his soft sweater.

You can’t tell how much time passes in your position but eventually you feel Jeonghan’s fingers on your waist, softly caressing you through your shirt. “You’re so good for me, baby. I’m so proud of you for being patient. Think you’re ready for your reward?” Jeonghan smiles at you genuinely when your eyes meet, pouting when he sees your teary eyes. “Why’re you so teary, baby?”

“‘Cause you’re mean and--and made me cockwarm you while you played your dumb game!” You sob, hips already swiveling atop his lap. He lets you do as you please, guiding you as your cries slowly turn into pleasured moans.

There’s a clipped laugh from Jeonghan before he’s pushing the small coffee table aside with one hand, pushing you onto your back where the table used to be when the space is cleared. “But I gave you what you wanted, didn’t I? You wanted my cock so I let you sit on it.”

He wraps your legs around his waist, fucking into you at a slow pace. You get lost in the pleasure, eyes fluttering shut when the head of his cock taps your g-spot. “O-oh fuck, Jeonghan! M-more, there, please!” You cry, nails digging into the rug underneath you. “More? Here?” Jeonghan thrusts into you harder, laughing lightly when you mewl.

“Don’t you want to move somewhere more comfortable? Or do you wanna cum on the rug?” He quips; no real intention of stopping.

“Nooo~ You’re not taking me to bed. Ever. Again.” You grit out; already feeling your impending orgasm coming. “You’re on a pussy ban after you made cockwarm while you played that stupid game and made me wait.” Jeonghan can’t help but laugh at your retort, reaching a hand down between your bodies as he thumbs at your clit. You whimper in response, clenching around his cock when you feel the tension building up in your body.

“Fuh---fuck! Jeonghan!”

“Who said it had to be on the bed? I can fuck you on the sofa so that whenever the guys come over they can see the cum stains on it and know exactly what I do to you. Or what if the shower is more comfortable? No clean up, y’know? Fill you up nice and full with my cum and watch it spill down your legs.” He pauses, doubling his pace when he feels your pussy getting tighter around him. “Or what if I wanted to fuck you in front of the window, hmm? Let everyone see how greedy you really are for me when you’re begging me to let you cum for the third time in a row.” He rubs harsher circles on your clit, loving the way your torso arches off the floor when he adds just the right amount of pressure.

“And you say that but what happens when you wanna sit on my cock again, huh? Let’s be honest, baby, you always want me just as much as I want you. ”

Jeonghan says no more as he quickens his pace, soft moans of his own spilling from his lips when he feels you about to cum.

“Cum with me, baby. Let me feel your ‘lil cunt get this cock wet.” He groans, already feeling his own orgasm coming. And it only takes a few more thrusts and his thumb on your clit before cries of his name are tumbling out of your mouth in a hurried mess; eyes clamped shut as the bliss pours over you.

Jeonghan’s grip on you tightens as he cums as well; opting to grind against you as he cums inside of your tight pussy.

“Ngh, fuck,  J-Jeonghan…” You mewl, enjoying the feeling of his throbbing cock filling you up with his cum. Feeling sated and cozy, you sigh contentedly, smiling up at Jeonghan who mimics your content expression.

The two of you stay in that position a little longer; riding out the remnants of your orgasms before a familiar look crosses Jeonghan’s features. 

“You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”

You nod, sitting up on your elbows as Jeonghan leans down to kiss you on the forehead. “Shower?”

“Shower sex, to be precise, baby. ”

[livingforthewhump]

Congratulations on the follower count, that's seriously impressive!

If you'd like, I've always been rather curious to see what Paladin is like when fighting an "actual" villian, as I imagine he has to do at least occasionally!

Oooo I really like this ask (also don’t mind me using this as an excuse to incorporate secondary plot. This takes place about a year before the main story) ALSO Paladin is a horrible human being with no redeeming qualities so I’m sorry about that. this got a bit dark.

TW for gun violence, bombs, and death

—

Paladin finished herding the civilians out of harm’s way, throwing winks at those that were filming.

“Paladin-“ A college aged girl grabbed his arm as he turned back towards the building. “Be careful in there. Don’t let it blow up in your face.”

He gave her a dashing grin, knowing it would be enough to distract from him levitating a suspicious-looking gadget out of her purse and into his hand. “Surely you know me better than that.”

Then he turned back to the building, flying up to the second-story window. Civilians always craved that personal connection to someone they idolized, and pretending like he had one with everyone he talked to was one of the ways he remained so popular.

The hallways of the government building were eerily empty and dark. He hovered over the ground as he made his way to the room where the captives were being held so he wouldn’t alert them with any sounds.

The smooth wooden doors of the main hall was barred somehow, so he took a step back and summoned enough force to blast it open. He could, of course, have gone for the subtler approach of unblocking it with his power, but subtlety had never gotten him anything.

People screamed as the doors were thrown off their hinges, cowering behind anything they could to not get hit by the wreckage.

“You again?” Paladin said when he saw the man standing in the center of the room.

The villain was one who had been active for a few weeks, and he had already gone from small-scale robberies to threatening every government official in the city. Honestly, the ego of most villains was impressive.

“Paladin,” the villain sneered. “I thought you’d be coming.”

“If you anticipated me stopping you, why did you go through with this at all?” Paladin crossed his arms and began circling the room, trying to find an angle from which he could strike without harming any bystanders. Lots of them were instrumental to keeping his public image positive.

“I said I thought you’d come. You can’t stop me this time.” The villain seemed awfully proud of himself, and Paladin laughed.

“What makes you so sure?” He could almost always get this type offended enough to let important information slip.

“It’s impossible to. Somewhere in this room, I’ve hidden a bomb that’s going to kill you and everyone in it.”

“And you too, I’m assuming.”

“It’ll be worth it to bring you down,” he sneered. Paladin raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue. “The bomb will be activated by one of the bystanders outside. You don’t have time to find the bomb and dismantle it, and if you went out to search random people for the activator, you’d fail and your public image would be destroyed.”

“So my options are: everyone dies except me, or everyone dies including me?” Paladin drawled, unimpressed. He slid the gadget he’d taken from the girl into his palm. The villain’s accomplice had been cocky. ‘Don’t let things blow up in your face’ indeed.

“I know what you’re thinking. If you get out and look for the activator and still fail, you might be able to save your public image. But if you take one step out of this room, I’m open firing on everyone here, starting with him.” He pointed at a scared-looking college aged boy, probably an intern. “And it’ll be awfully hard to explain walking away just before the gunshots start.”

Paladin looked at the intern. He was just a kid, really. Someone that people would gather over if he happened to die tragically. Casualties on the job weren’t good, of course. If they happened too often or were somebody too important he got a lot of negative attention. But if it was just someone every now and then, some little nobody that Paladin could show remorse over, show up to their funeral and give a speech about his shortcomings, maybe cry a little... the only negative attention an act like that got was quickly drowned out by people supporting him.

He glanced to the door as if considering.

“Paladin,” one of the officials said warningly.

He looked at the general group. “Can make it.”

“Don’t-“

He sprinted out the door, using his power to make him go fast. Fast enough to reach the front of the building and back in barely any time at all, though he stopped just outside the door.

A gunshot rang out, followed by a series of horrified shouts, and Paladin waited until he heard the body slump to the floor before dashing back in. He threw down the activator and smashed it beneath his heel, glaring at the villain like he could kill him with a look.

“You’ll pay for that boy’s death,” Paladin promised, voice dark and low.

The villain snarled and pointed his gun at someone else, but Paladin was on him in an instant, wrestling it from his grip and striking it across the man’s head with a thwack. The villain collapsed, unconscious.

About a week later, Paladin stood at the back of the funeral for the intern. He’d made a quick speech that he pretended he hadn’t prepared, and was now stepping aside to give his personal apology to the boy’s mother. Her name was Mel, a middle-aged woman with shoulder-length sandy hair and a crease between her brow that only deepened as he spoke.

“I don’t want your sorry words,” she spat, glaring with so much emotion he was taken aback.

“I know that nothing I say or do can make up for what you’ve lost, ma’am,” he started, voice thick.

“Don’t you pretend to be emotional, you could have saved him.”

Paladin glanced around to be sure they weren’t disrupting anybody, but no one seemed to be paying attention. “Ma’am, I-“

“No. I saw the security footage. You went into the hallway and stood there while they shot my son! You could have stopped him the whole time.”

Paladin raised his hands in surrender. “I don’t know what video you saw. But the security records are private and it’s not possible for you to have seen them, so whatever you saw must have been doctored to frame me. I’m not saying I didn’t fail you and your son, but-“

“No,” Mel said again, fury shining in her wet eyes like hot coals. “You chose to let him die. And I am never going to forgive you.”

[sdvvillagers]

Fic - Marnie and Gil

Received a writing prompt in a Discord server I’m in that assigned me two random SDV characters to build a story around.  How screwed did I feel when I got Marnie and Gil? 😂I ended up remembering that awhile back I’d answered an ask for Marnie and Marlon which can be found HERE and it inspired me to write a follow-up.  The first part isn’t really required reading, but I figured I’d include it in case anyone wanted to check out the first part as well.  I hope you enjoy some very unexpected Marnie and Gil interaction!  It was very challenging but very fun to think outside the box for this one!

It was a long walk across town square and up the mountain to the lake but time somehow flew by in Marnie’s excitement.  The day before had been the spring Flower Dance and for the first time in over a decade, Marnie actually enjoyed herself.  Hopes of enjoying the Flower Dance had been dashed very early on by Mayor Lewis and when it seemed as though another lonely, miserable Flower Dance would pass, she was rescued by the most unexpected savior; Marlon.  Marlon showed her kindness and empathy while Lewis had only shown her callousness and disdain.  Though Marnie had always wanted a partner to dance with at the Flower Dance, it was actually okay to spend an afternoon with Marlon in a secluded corner of the forest clearing.

Time spent talking and laughing with Marlon seemed to fly by and before she knew it, the event was over.  Marnie was actually quite disappointed when the festival had ended, Marlon wasn’t someone she often saw day to day in town.  In fact, she only ever saw him at town festivals.  As Marlon was leaving the forest to return to his secluded home in the mountains, Marnie made a bold move and asked if she could see him again sometime.  Though he was very caught off guard by her request, it brought a warm smile to his heavily scarred face and the eye that was visible had crinkles in the corner from his happiness.  Marlon invited her to visit him in the mountains the very next day and Marnie was eager to see him once more after they had spent such a lovely afternoon together.  She had been hurt too many times to allow herself to feel too hopeful, but even she couldn’t subdue the small glimmer of hope she felt deep down that Marlon could be someone in her life that would treat her right and appreciate her.  It was sad that these were how low her standards had fallen over the years.

Marnie stopped outside of the cabin when she arrived, taking a moment to lean against a tree to catch her breath.  It was a trek across town that took over an hour and Marnie certainly didn’t want to appear winded and short of breath when she entered.  It was no wonder Marlon very rarely came into town, the walk up and down the mountain was difficult enough one time let alone multiple times a week.  By the time Marnie finally caught her breath, she took an extra few seconds to flatten her hair and straighten her dress before knocking on the door to the cabin.  From the other side of the door she heard a gruff response of “come in” that didn’t quite sound like Marlon, but the door was so thick that his voice was coming across distorted.

When Marnie stepped into the doorway of the small cabin, her eyes scanned the room.  It hadn’t occurred to her until now that she’d never been inside of the mysterious Adventurer’s Guild in the mountains.  It was never often she found herself in the mountains anyway and the few times she made the trek there, she only went as far as Robin’s cabin.  Inside was a small, rustic room that matched well with the exterior of the building.  Marnie’s eyes traveled to the counter at the back of the room with a lopsided frown.  It was difficult to remember that Marlon was a business owner himself, his services weren’t exactly anything Marnie required.  In fact, the more she thought about it, she couldn’t really think of anyone in town that would require Marlon’s services and she wondered how he was able to keep such a niche business running.  Before she could think on it any longer, she heard a low rumble to her right of someone clearing their throat loudly for the purpose of catching her attention.  They certainly had it.

“You just gonna stand in the doorway and let the bugs in?” a gruff voice called out to her right.  Marnie jumped in surprise, she hadn’t seen the figure in the rocking chair until he spoke.  “Close the damn door!”

“Oh, I-uh, I’m so sorry,” Marnie sputtered, rushing further into the room to close the door behind her.

The rocking chair to the right of the room stopped moving and the figure whose face had been hidden under the brim of his gambler hat tilted his head upward to reveal not much more of a face than was visible before.  The majority of this man’s face was covered by a bushy grey beard.  However, now his intense blue eyes, flanked by wrinkles and creases, were visible as he stared at Marnie.  Marnie had known that Marlon lived with someone else in his secluded cabin, but there were many that thought this other person couldn’t possibly exist.  He had never been seen anywhere in town in decades despite Marlon mentioning him every so often at town festivals.  Marlon alone was barely seen in town but this other man almost seemed like a ghost story.

“You must be Marnie,” the man remarked.  He made no effort to rise from his rocking chair, though he nodded in Marnie’s direction as a small show of welcome.  At least Marnie hoped it was welcoming.

“Y-yes I am,” Marnie stammered, still very put off by this man’s intense gaze.  “I apologize, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Gil,” the man spat in reply.

“Well it’s a, uh… it’s a pleasure to meet you, Gil,” Marnie replied kindly.  She crossed the room to shake Gil’s hand but pulled back when she noticed him subtly recoil.  Perhaps he wasn’t fond of strangers, especially considering he’d supposedly lived in the valley for decades but never made it a point to visit town.  She glossed over her almost handshake by looking around the room in search of Marlon.  “Is Marlon home right now?”

“In the mines,” Gil answered shortly.  This short answer seemed a decent enough explanation for Gil, though it only raised further questions for Marnie.  Marnie didn’t dare ask any, though.  Gil seemed bothered enough already by her presence.

A silence passed between them as Marnie stood between the empty counter and Gil, unsure of where she should linger while she waited for Marlon.  Though Marnie was incredibly uncomfortable by the silence, Gil didn’t seem to mind it at all.  He sat back in his rocking chair and tilted his head down once more to cover his eyes, resuming the gentle back and forth rocking of his chair.  With each motion, a high pitched creak came from the seat of the old wooden chair.  Weathered strips were worn onto the hardwood floor beneath the rockers as though this were a very regular activity of his.  To pass the time Marnie glanced along the walls of the small room, but there wasn’t much to see.  A few weapons were displayed along the wall but for the most part, the room was very minimalistic.  Marlon and Gil seemed to live a modest life in their home.  After what felt like an eternity, Marnie finally couldn’t take the awkward tension in the room and had to break the silence.

“How long have you and Marlon been living together?” Marnie asked casually.

The rocking of Gil’s chair stopped and he tilted his head up once more to look at Marnie with his same harsh gaze.  It really was difficult to tell if this was just his usual expression or if he was legitimately annoyed by the disruption.  Gil was a difficult man to get a read on.  His brow furrowed as his face screwed up in thought and he silently mulled the answer over for nearly 30 seconds before speaking to her.

“‘Bout 50 years,” Gil finally answered plainly.  He answered as though there was nothing at all astonishing about five decades spent living with the same person.

“Oh!” Marnie called out in surprise.  She knew that the two of them had lived in Pelican Town together for quite some time, but somehow hearing out loud just how long the two had lived together put it into greater perspective.  It hadn’t occurred to Marnie until she really thought about it that maybe their relationship was more than anyone had ever considered before.  “So… are you two…”

Though Gil was never social with anyone in town, he certainly wasn’t ignorant to social nuance and could tell right away what Marnie was attempting to ask.  Marnie was surprised to hear a gruff bark of laughter from Gil and see him smile for the first time since she’d met him.  It seemed he was incredibly amused by her question.

“I always wondered what everyone in town must think,” Gil mused.

“No, I wasn’t trying to- I didn’t mean to-” Marnie sputtered, but Gil barked in amusement once more.

“Frankly I don’t give a damn,” Gil went on plainly.  “What we have has worked for this long, don’t really matter what we call it.  I ain’t much for caring what other people think.”

“As well you shouldn’t,” Marnie answered casually, though on the inside she was starting to feel very confused.

Gil hadn’t exactly answered her question but at this point, she wasn’t about to ask for clarification.  Already she was thinking back to the day she and Marlon had spent together the day before trying to make sense of it all.  Silence passed as Marnie tried to interpret every conversation they’d had, every compliment he gave, every good feeling she’d felt.  This time it was Gil who broke the silence, clearly noticing the distress that Marnie was feeling.

“Marlon’s quite fond of you, Miss Marnie,” Gil finally spoke up.  “Thinks you’re a real nice friend.”

The word ‘friend’ put all of Marnie’s thoughts into harsh perspective and she could feel her small glimmer of hope extinguish.  Without meaning to, Marnie audibly sighed and hunched her shoulders forward, her head hanging low in disappointment.  She was unlucky in love yet again.

“S’matter, you all filled up on friends?” Gil asked bluntly.  Marnie immediately straightened her shoulders and lifted her head high.  She felt rude for reacting the way she did.

“N-no, that’s not it, I-” Marnie answered, but Gil clearly hadn’t finished speaking yet and barreled on without even acknowledging Marnie’s answer.  It was certainly clear that he was out of practice socially speaking.

“Personally, I ain’t got a need for friends,” Gil went on, a subtle look of disgust on his face at the word ‘friends’.  “Not Marlon, though.  Marlon’s always wanted to be a little more social than I am.  ‘Specially now in his old age.  Talks about you a lot, Miss Marnie.  He thinks highly of you.”

“I think highly of him,” Marnie answered honestly.  At the very least it was flattering to hear the kind words that Gil spoke to her.  She couldn’t exactly imagine him being the type to make something up just to cheer her up so she had to assume his words were genuine.

“You probably didn’t come here today hopin’ for a friend but I can promise you won’t find a greater friend out there than Marlon,” Gil said sincerely.  “But if that’s not what you’re interested in, well, you know where the door is.”

Gil was blunt and most certainly hadn’t developed the social grace necessary to sugar coat anything, but in this instance Marnie appreciated his honesty.  He was correct, she hadn’t shown up today looking for a friend, but it was nice to know from the very start that this was all she was going to get.  It was better than whatever she had going on with Lewis which she still couldn’t make sense of even after all this time.  Marnie couldn’t blame Marlon for giving her an incorrect impression, if anything the blame fell on her for being too eager.  But having a kind man like Marlon in her life, even as just a friend, sounded wonderful.

“I think I’d like to stay,” Marnie answered with a nod.

“He should be back any minute now,” Gil remarked, leaning back against his chair to resume rocking.  “‘Til then, try not to make too much noise.  You’re already interrupting quality time with my best friend.”  Gil patted the arm of his rocking chair and laughed to himself at his little joke before tilting his head low once more to resume dozing off.

Marnie smiled at Gil as he rocked back and forth in his chair, already tuning her very presence out.  He was such an odd man yet she found him to be incredibly fascinating.  It was made very clear that he would never be in a position to want or need anyone in his life beyond Marlon, but the thought that she would likely see much more of him as her friendship with Marlon blossomed made her oddly excited.  Today was proving to be a day full of pleasant surprises.

[purrincess-chat]

Song of a Caged Bird (Kagami Zine)

Hi everyone! I participated in the @kagamizine this summer, and the whole zine is out now! Please go check out the whole thing and show all of the creators some love because everyone worked super hard and all of the pieces came out amazing!

For my piece I decided to go with some girl squad bonding cause I want more of it in canon. Let Kagami have a group of loving gal pals!

Read on AO3

“Wait, you’ve never had a sleepover?”

Marinette’s jaw hung slack as Kagami took a slow sip of her juice and averted her gaze. The warm spring sunlight filtered through the trees, tiny birds flitting through the branches. Kagami envied them a little getting to spread their wings and fly away from home. A chance to be free. She turned back to Marinette and pursed her lips.

“I’ve never really been allowed to have friends. Even in Japan, I was always home training and studying,” she said, swirling her drink around with a frown. “My mother views such things as unnecessary and distracting.”

“But she let you be friends with Adrien and now me,” Marinette offered. She had a way of making anything seem positive. It was admirable, but unfortunately in this case, it didn’t work.

“Adrien is an elite fencing partner and potential suitor in her eyes. Nothing more,” she said. “And you’re…an exception. To keep me from rebelling, but even with us, the only time we’re allowed to hang out is to get juice once a week. This is my mother’s idea of friendship.”

“Well, maybe that can change. After all, you went from not being allowed to have any friends to being allowed to have at least one. Maybe she’ll have a change of heart,” Marinette said as a red car rolled up to the curb.

“I doubt it, but thank you, Marinette,” Kagami said, standing up and bowing. “If this is all I can have, then I will happily accept it. I’m glad to call you my friend.”

“Me too, Kagami,” Marinette said, hopping up to hug her goodbye. Kagami wasn’t usually one for hugs, but for Marinette, she made an exception. It felt nice.

“I’ll see you next week,” Kagami said, climbing in the car.

“Yeah. See you.” Marinette smiled though the sentiment didn’t reach her eyes.

She knew it must have been eating away at her. Marinette liked to help her friends after all, but there was nothing she could do. This would always be Kagami’s life. There was no way around it.

***

“Okay, girls, we have to do something,” Marinette said later that evening, pacing back and forth across her bedroom floor. “Kagami is all alone, and she’s never had friends before. She likes to act tough, but I can tell how sad it makes her.”

“Okay, but her mom is literally a huge brick wall. No way she just lets Kagami have a sleepover with us,” Alix said pointedly.

“Yeah, M. She’s ten times as strict and overprotective as Gabriel,” Alya added. “I get that you want to help Kagami, we all do, but in this case, I don’t think there’s anything we can do.”

“We’ve got to try! I’m sure we can get through to her mom if we ask really, really nicely,” she said, but when her friends didn’t seem convinced, she pressed her palms together. “Come on, please?”

“Okay, fine. We will help you talk to Kagami’s mom, but seeing as this plan is bound to fail-”

“It’s definitely going to fail,” Alix said.

“-we need to be ready with a backup,” Alya finished.

“What kind of backup?” Mylene asked, tilting her head to the side.      

“Well, if her mom says no, which she likely-”

“Definitely,” Alix added.

“-will, we need to think of another way to help Kagami get to the sleepover,” Alya said, and Marinette quirked a brow.

“Are you suggesting-”

“Yep.” Alya’s lips curled into a crooked grin. “We’re going to sneak Kagami out.”

***

“Stand up straighter.”

Kagami tensed under her mother’s demand, but adjusted her posture nonetheless. She was used to her cold tone, and during practice, Kagami saw her more as a drill-sergeant than a mother. It was better to do as she was told without question. Even without sight, Kagami’s mother knew every wrong move she made. On most days, she’d push harder to get everything right, but today her mind wandered, replaying her last conversation with Marinette.

All her life, she’d done as she was told and never questioned. She’d let herself become numb to the patronizing voices and walled herself off from feeling. Never before had she paid much thought to making friends or playing outside – those things were luxuries Kagami couldn’t afford. Her days were spent training to be the best, so sacrifices had to be made, but all of that changed when she moved here.

When she met Adrien and Marinette.

Her friends.

When she was allowed to have fun for the first time - to be disobedient, even for a little while. Kagami had never considered such things before, didn’t dare. But like a child tasting sugar for the first time, once she had a taste, she wanted more. What made her so different from everyone else?

“Your form is sloppy today,” her mother said. “Perhaps you’re sluggish from drinking so much orange juice.”

“No, mother, I’m just a little tired, that’s all,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut to push the thoughts from her brain. Her vision blurred with hot tears as she ran through the maneuver again, but midway through, she faltered at the sight of her friends approaching her mother on the park bench.

“Um, hello, Mme. Tsurugi,” Marinette said when Alya pushed her forward.

“What is the meaning of this? Kagami, did you invite your friends to interrupt your training?” Her mother’s head snapped in her direction, and despite her mother’s lack of sight, Kagami shrank a little under her stare.

“No, mother. I didn’t invite them,” Kagami said, hoping to portray what a horrible idea this was to Marinette with a look. Still, she was touched that her friends would even try.

“She’s telling the truth, ma’am,” Alya interjected, and her mother tapped her finger on her walking stick with a frown.

“Why have you disrupted my private training with my daughter?” She snapped, and Marinette bit back a wince.

“Well, you see, ma’am, my friends and I are planning to have a sleepover tonight, and we were wondering if Kagami could-”

“No.” Her reply was clipped, final, leaving no room for argument, at least Kagami thought so, but Marinette squared her shoulders and took a breath.

“I know you’re very protective of your daughter, but she’s just a kid. She should be allowed to have fun every now and then,” Marinette said, and instant regret flashed on her face as her mother stood up.

“How dare you tell me what is best for my daughter! I am her mother, and she will do as I say!” Tomoe said, brandishing her stick like a sword, and her friends shrank back.

“Mother!” Kagami stepped in, batting the stick away with her boken. “Please, they are just trying to do something nice for me. They mean no harm.”

Her mother lowered her stick, but the tension remained in her shoulders. “Tell them goodbye, Kagami. We have work to do.”

“Yes, mother,” Kagami said, lowering her head as she turned back to Marinette. “I’m sorry, but I’m in the middle of training right now. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I understand,” Marinette said, pulling her in for a hug.

Kagami clung tightly, soaking up all of Marinette’s warmth in hopes of defrosting the cold ache surrounding her heart. Marinette’s hand slipped into her pocket, and she blinked in confusion when Marinette pulled away and winked. As the girls made their retreat, Kagami traced her fingers over the outline of a note, her heart skipping. The small slip of paper weighed heavy in her pocket throughout the rest of her practice until she returned home to her room and read its contents.

Pack a bag. We’ll pick you up at 9:30

Kagami sat back against her pillows, heart pounding. Her friends were either the coolest people in the world or the craziest, but she was already counting the seconds.

***

“I think we need a new plan,” Alix said as the girls stared up at the tall wall surrounding the Tsurugi estate that could rival Adrien’s or the local prison.

“I don’t suppose any of you brought a ladder or a set of wings,” Mylene said, and Marinette pursed her lips, desperately searching for a way over and coming up empty.

“Not only is that wall insanely tall, but Kagami’s family manufactures crazy technology. I bet their whole house is booby-trapped to keep intruders out and more importantly, keep Kagami in,” Alix said, crossing her arms over her chest. “It was a good idea in theory, but I think we should abort mission.”

“But we promised Kagami we’d come get her,” Marinette said, whipping around to face them when the walls refused to give up their secrets.

“Actually, you promised Kagami,” Alix shot back, and the other girls winces spoke to their agreement.

“Your heart is in the right place. It’s just not possible, M,” Alya said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Yeah, you’d need superpowers to be able to get inside,” Mylene said, and Marinette’s spine stiffened.

She spun around again to examine the wall then flicked her gaze down to her purse. It was risky, but…

“I’ve got an idea,” Marinette said, taking off up the street.

“Where are you going?” Alya called, and Marinette plastered on a suspicious grin.

“Uh, I might know a way to get Kagami out, but I’ve gotta run and get it, you girls stay here, I’ll be right back!” She said, dashing up the street.

“I know what you’re thinking, and it’s out of the question,” Tikki said, popping out of her collar as they rounded the corner.

“No one will suspect anything,” Marinette promised, but Tikki simply frowned.

“That’s not the point, Marinette! Your powers aren’t meant to be used for-”

“Selfish reasons, I know, but is this really selfish? I mean, my job isn’t just to protect the city from akumas. Part of being a hero means giving people hope, and don’t you think Kagami needs a hero right about now?” Marinette said, ducking behind a car. “My powers are meant to help people, and what good are they if I don’t use them to do just that?”

Tikki weighed it for a moment before sighing. “Okay, but just be careful.”

“I will,” Marinette said, brushing her cheek with a finger. “Tikki, spots on!”

***

Kagami glanced at the clock for the hundredth time, nerves bubbling in her stomach with each tick.

9:46

Her friends were running late. Maybe they weren’t coming at all. No, she shook her head. Marinette promised, and she was always true to her word. They would come. Kagami just had to wait, but as the minutes past, those worries turned to doubts. What if her mother had scared them away? What if they didn’t like her anymore? What if…

Tap tap tap

Kagami jumped at the knock on her window, surprised by the person dangling on the other side.

“Ladybug?” She blinked as she pulled the window open.

“Someone requested a taxi service,” the heroine said with a smile, and at Kagami’s bewildered expression explained, “I was out patrolling when I ran into your friends outside the gate, and when they told me what they were up to, I offered to help. So, are you coming?”

Kagami flicked her gaze down to her outstretched hand. She smiled, shifting her bag over her shoulder, and placing her hand in Ladybug’s without a second thought, and the world around them flew by as Ladybug leapt over the other side of the wall to her friends. To freedom.

The girls were waiting on the sidewalk, and Kagami teared up when their faces brightened at the sight of her. They’d all come after all. All of them, except for one.

“Where’s Marinette?” Kagami asked, glancing around, and Ladybug stepped away.

“Uh, I’ll go find her for you guys and tell her to meet you at her house,” she said, waving them on. “Have fun with your sleepover!”

“Thanks for your help, Ladybug!” Alya said.

“Yeah, you rock,” Alix added, and Ladybug smiled before shooting off into the rooftops.

Kagami found herself surrounded by bodies as the girls pulled her in for a tight hug. She could barely breathe, but in a weird way, it felt nice.

“We are going to have so much fun! We’ve got movies and games and face masks, oh! And Mr. Dupain baked us special personalized macarons, and-” Rose rattled on while they walked, and Kagami took in the buildings with new eyes.

She’d snuck out. She’d snuck out. The streets were dark, but they’d never been more vibrant in her eyes. Her limbs were lighter, coursing with adrenaline as the tall walls grew distant, and with each step, her smile grew wider. She wasn’t sure she’d ever smiled this much, and it was starting to hurt her cheeks. But she didn’t care. This was…fun.

When they made it to Marinette’s front door, the absent girl came rushing from the other direction, stopping in front of them to catch her breath.

“Girl, where were you?” Alya asked, placing her hands on her hips.

“Sorry…I was…fireman…ladder…it was… You’re out!” She extended her arms to Kagami who was finding that she really liked hugs.

“You’ll never guess who helped us bail her out of jail,” Mylene said with a wicked grin.

“Uh, yeah, she explained everything to me. We got really lucky that Ladybug passed by. My plan to borrow a fire truck ladder was a long shot,” Marinette said, rubbing the back of her neck. “But the most important thing is that you’re free, Kagami, and tonight is your very first sleepover.”

“Girls, I just took a hot pizza out of the oven,” Marinette’s father announced, opening the door, and Marinette and Alya took Kagami’s hands, pulling her inside.

Marinette’s home was warm as if the heat of the ovens below had seeped into the bricks. The air felt different, lighter, sweeter, and Kagami realized that the warmth inside wasn’t from an oven, but from the people who lived there. Kagami had many houses. There was one here in Paris and two in Japan, but she’d never realized before now that none of them felt like this. That she’d never truly been home.

“So, Kagami, if you and Marinette ever had to fight for Adrien, who do you think would win?” Alix asked a while later after they’d stuffed themselves on pizza and watched some cheesy movie about a teen girl falling in love with her neighbor, and Alya whacked her in the arm. “What?”

“Alix! That’s not-”

“Well, considering my years of training and expertise in several styles of sword fighting and archery, I could best her easily in any combat scenario, though I do suppose she might have an advantage in strength seeing as she has lifted heavy sacks of flour in the bakery for many years, but strength can only take an inexperienced fighter so far before skill becomes a necessity,” Kagami answered, and the girls all stared at her in shock.

Just when she was starting to worry that she’d said something wrong, she was blinded by the soft fabric of a pillow. She blinked up at Marinette who wore a mischievous grin and saw the other girls arming themselves. It was an odd ritual for friends to beat each other with pillows, but that’s what made it so fun (and in the end, Kagami did prove herself victorious with very minor damage to anyone which was a stark contrast to how most of her fencing bouts ended, and Adrien had the bruises to prove it).

They talked. They ate so many sweets that Kagami wasn’t sure she remembered how to move. She laughed so hard, her sides hurt. If all sleepovers were like this, she understood why Marinette felt it so important for her to attend. Every girl should get to have fun like this, even just once.

“Are you having a good time?” Marinette asked as she painted Kagami’s nails a sparkly ruby red.

“Yes,” Kagami said with a nod, studying her every move. “I’ve never had my nails painted before. They’re beautiful.”

“I can paint them for you whenever you want. Your mom never has to know,” Marinette said with a wink, and Kagami smiled down at her fingers, watching the light catch the color.

“Thank you for all of this, Marinette. I am honored to have friends like you,” she said, and the warmth in Marinette’s eyes bore the same sentiment.

“Maybe one day we can convince your mom to let you out for real, but until then, we’re always here for you, okay?” Marinette said, and Kagami couldn’t help it. She hugged her.

She couldn’t really describe how she felt, but nestled between her friends on the floor of Marinette’s living room that night, she knew it was a feeling she’d never forget. When her alarm went off at 5:30, she hadn’t slept a wink, but her mind was alive with excitement, replaying the night over and over and over. It was time to return to her home before her mother woke and found her missing, and despite the stiffness of the floor or Rose’s elbow jabbing her side, Kagami wanted to lay there for just a minute longer, surrounded by her friends.

“Hey, we have to get you home,” Marinette yawned, shaking her shoulder.

They left the other girls asleep and made their way out into the quiet streets where businessmen and women were heading to their favorite bakeries. Neither one said much, and Kagami wasn’t quite sure if Marinette was truly awake, but when they arrived at her house, Marinette turned to her with a smile.

“Sorry you have to leave before breakfast. My dad always goes all out,” Marinette said. “But I’m glad you got to come.”

“Me too. Thank you for everything.” Kagami bowed, but she hesitated in the gate, biting her lip. “I’m glad we’re friends, Marinette.”

Marinette’s sunny expression said she felt the same way, and Kagami replayed the evening as she made her way inside. She was already dressed and ready when her mother woke up and met her in the tatami room for morning meditation.

“You seem happy this morning, Kagami,” her mother remarked as she took her place beside her.

Kagami smiled down at her ruby red nails and thought of her friends.

“Yeah, I am.”

[phantom-curve]

someday this will have a real title pt. 3

wow this one got away from me a lil bit. did I use it as an excuse to listen to Wake Up on repeat for an hour? yes. did I cry while writing it? yes. do with that information what you will. 

I really like how this is turning out. honestly, thinking of writing a companion piece from Luke’s POV once I finish Julie’s. also, I realized while writing this that Luke basically ‘poofs’ into Julie’s space every time he interacts with her even though he’s not a ghost and I love that consistency.

still have no idea how long this will be, so thanks for just going on this adventure with me!

tag list: @blue-hat-girl, @lwhoscribbles (thank you! honestly, they’ve got such strong voices writing these characters is a delight. also, titles are hard), @bluefyoto94 (thank you!), @5sosmukefan, @moonlightxnder, @leahthewonder​ lemme know if you want to be added!

The second the entrance of Los Feliz High School was in her sight, Julie was unbuckling her seatbelt, bolting out of the car in a mad dash to escape into the academic institution. Luke didn’t even have time to fully park the car before she had slipped out of it, her curly head disappearing into the mass of students surging through the front doors as the first bell began to ring. Social etiquette dictated that she wait around long enough to at least thank Luke for the ride, but honestly, social etiquette could suck a fat one. She had been dealing with fake social graces for the last year and frankly, she was sick of all of the bullshit. She didn’t feel particularly inclined to extend said graces to overconfident band boys intent on disrupting her carefully constructed routine.

For the last year Luke had been content to ignore her presence in the few classes they shared, perfectly happy basking in the glory of being an upperclassman with unprecedented musical talent. Luke knew exactly where he was going and how he was going to get there. He didn’t stop to wait for the school to hook him up with gigs, he went out and made the shows happen for his band himself. Julie had always admired his confidence, wished she could be more like him.

She hadn’t always loved the cockier side to his attitude though. He had a tendency to act like god’s gift to music and it drove her insane considering there were kids at this school that worked just as hard as him but wouldn’t ever make it quite as far. Not everyone could be born with that kind of talent, but that didn’t mean he had to rub other people’s faces in it! She should know, hadn’t she always been complimented on her musical ability before anything else? And now that she didn’t have that same gift to offer up to the masses, wasn’t she just another forgotten face in the crowd?

Head low, shoulders hunched against the onslaught of emotion, Julie pushed her way through the morning crowd of students. She didn’t look up until she knew her locker would be in front of her, and even then she only lifted her head long enough to bury it inside of the metal box, pretending she was searching for the schoolbooks already in her backpack.

“Hey, under achiever.”

The familiar voice was warm, the nickname affectionate instead of insulting. It pulled a reluctant smile from Julie as she turned to meet her best friend’s gentle gaze.

“Hey, disappointment.”

Flynn gave her a little hip bump and a sad smile. Oh. So, word had already spread around the school.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Julie hefted her backpack higher on her shoulder, one hand reaching to pull her hat low. Too late she recognized how her own actions almost mirrored Luke’s earlier. Flynn, best friend that she was, linked her arm through Julie’s and began to lead them down the hallway towards homeroom.

“Okay.”

Julie breathed a sigh of relief. Her best friend could be like a dog with a bone sometimes, unable to let any perceived injustice go without a fight. She was thankful she had avoided whatever rant Flynn had at the ready for the time being.

“But we’re gonna have to talk about it eventually, Jules. You can’t just let them kick you out! You’re Julie Molina! Voice of an angel! Queen of-!”

Or maybe not. Flynn’s declarations cut off immediately at the cold look Julie sent her way.

“Right, don’t wanna talk about it.”

Julie nodded fiercely, unmoved by Flynn’s disappointed sigh as she pulled out of her grasp and slipped into her desk. Flynn hadn’t lost her mom and her ability to play music all at once. Flynn didn’t have the entire school breathing down her neck. Flynn’s life wasn’t falling apart in front of her eyes. Flynn didn’t get to judge. Head down, Julie fought back the feelings of shame and guilt, focusing on her anger instead.

She made it through most of the day like that, relying solely on the fuel her fury provided to get her through her classes. Until her last two classes of the day. Composition and Solo Vocal Studies. Except, she wasn’t in those classes anymore. She had been dropped from them like the useless failure that she was. Her dad still didn’t know, so there hadn’t been a meeting with the school to change her schedule. But she couldn’t just go to a class she had been asked to leave. The final bell rang, and Julie was left by herself in the empty hallways. She glanced at the closed classroom doors around her, feeling small and lost. Suddenly, the red-hot rage that had sustained her all day was doused by an overwhelming wave of sadness. She was alone.

Unable to stomach the thought of losing it in the middle of the school, Julie sprinted for the nearest exit. Her surroundings were a blur until she practically slammed into the metal doors, crashing her way outside. She took a few steps before doubling over on her knees, gasping for breath. She squeezed her eyes shut, focused on nothing more than the air going in and out of her lungs. It was breezy, the warm wind blowing her hair around, the wayward curls tickling her face. The sensation helped to ground her, and she finally opened her eyes, the panic receding as she stood. The door creaked open behind her. Julie stiffened at the noise. The hair on the back of her neck felt electrified, and she didn’t have to hear him speak to know who it was. A throat cleared.

“You, um...you dropped this.”

She heard fabric rustling, the soft swoosh of what must be his arm lifting. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, the frustration she’d been thriving on all day creeping in at the edges. She clung to it like a lifeline as she turned to meet his puppy dog eyes.

“What, are you stalking me or something?!”

Her voice was hoarse, not as strong or snappy as she had intended. She balled her hands into tight fists at her sides, ready to verbally attack as she leaned forward waiting for him to respond. He didn’t say anything, eyes soft as he looked down to where his hand was outstretched holding...her hat. Her hands flew to her head, landing on hair instead of the trusty ballcap she had kept perched there for the last year. So that’s how her curls had gotten loose earlier. Heat rose again, burning its way up from her chest to her cheeks to the tips of her ears. She snatched it out of his hands, shoving it back on her head with more force than necessary.

“Thanks.”

“Sure thing. You, uh, bolted outta there pretty quick. Everything okay?”

She watched him bob slightly, like he couldn’t stop moving for even a second. His voice was melodic, somehow everything he said sounding like he was on the verge of bursting into song. In another life, she probably would have been charmed by him. Not in this life though.

“Fine. Looks like I’m done with school for the day I guess.”

She practically sneered at him. Something about his gentle prodding scratched at her. Everyone knew she was a disaster. Everyone knew she was out of the music program, a washed up has been before she had been able to even make it in the first place. He didn’t need to use the kid gloves with her.

“Oh yeah, I forgot you usually have...”

He trailed off, eyes downcast, hand reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. She glared, not even noticing that he somehow knew her schedule.

“Yeah. Usually. Not anymore. So.”

He rocked back on his heels, hands shoved in his jean pockets, arms flexing in an unfairly aggressive display of hotness. His eyes were still looking at her with that same gentle expression. Like he cared. Her fingertips itched and she realized with a start that she desperately wanted to grab her keyboard and pound out an angry ballad about this...this too nice fuckboy with a pretty face and she could see the notes forming now and she could practically feel the smooth chill of the keys under her fingers and...she staggered backwards.

What the hell was that?! Her heart raced, adrenaline spiking. Oh no. No no no. She couldn’t want to play for this dumb boy. She hadn’t been able to play for her dad or her brother. She hadn’t been able to play for Flynn, hadn’t been able to play for her mother. She couldn’t even play for herself! What kind of special magic did Luke freakingPatterson possess that made her want to play again? It wasn’t fair.

“I gotta go.”

She swerved around him, reaching for the school doors. They held fast, locked from the inside. Her shoulders slumped. Just her luck.

“Hey, Julie?”

She didn’t answer, but it didn’t stop him.

“I’m really sorry about your mom. She was an incredible songwriter. You are too.”

The last part was said quietly but Julie heard it anyway. She couldn’t help but scoff as she turned to face him again.  He stood perfectly still this time.

“How would you know that?”

His eyes, still so soft, crinkled a bit at the edges. Not a full smile, but she could tell he wanted to. Without breaking their stare down, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a worn, folded square of paper. Her gaze dipped, eyes widening. Her breath caught in her throat. It couldn’t be. He held it out to her.

“I found it last year. In the practice room. I know I should have given it to you earlier, but there was never a right time. I’m sorry.”

Julie’s vision swam. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she reached out to take the paper he offered.

“I thought...I tried to...”

��I know.”

His voice was the sweetest croon as his fingers closed around hers, tucking the sheet music safely into her palm.

“I went back the next day, but...it was gone.”

“I’m so sorry. God, I should have had Alex give it to Flynn or something.”

“No.” She locked her eyes on his once more. “It wasn’t the right time.”

He gave her a small smile, bouncing just a bit on the balls of his feet again. And then, as if understanding that she needed this moment to herself, he gave her a small nod and disappeared around the side of the building. Julie closed her eyes for a moment, clutching the papers to her chest.

Last year, in a fit of heartbroken rage and unable to express herself through music like she had for her entire life, Julie had locked herself in the practice room after school and thrown an all-out tantrum. She had screamed herself sick, cried until she couldn’t breathe, and in a final fit of uncontrollable emotion, trashed the last song that she had written with her mother, finished just days before she took her last breath. It had been satisfying in the moment. A vow to give up the part of herself that was made up of her mother, cut the pain off at the source so to speak. She had regretted it the instant she woke up the next morning, but it was too late. By the time she got to school, the first student on campus even, the practice room had already been cleaned. The hollowed out, empty feeling of loss that had followed had been gut wrenching. The realization that she had thrown the last connection to her mother in the trash left a gaping hole in her heart. It had been a fitting punishment that Julie had never even gotten to play the final product. A fitting punishment that she would never play anything again.

Luke had just changed all of that. He had given her that piece of her heart back. Fingers trembling, she unfolded the pages. She traced the looping letters of her mother’s familiar handwriting, following the notes up and down the bars, the melody playing in her head as she read. At the very end, a final message she had missed before:

Julie, you can do it.

Love, Mom

It felt like coming home. Pages clutched to her heart once more, Julie leaned against the building, lifted her face to the sky, and wept.

[kookiebunnii]

pairing: mark(got7) x reader

genre: fluff for the birthday boy 🥳

word count: 4.3k

warnings: mature language

When Mark had been dating your roommate, you barely spared him a second glance.

Being a college undergraduate meant that you had plenty of exams and coursework to worry about without having to keep track of who Ingrid was “dating” this month. The two of you got along as well as two individuals who kept to themselves could get along. She was rarely home, and when she was, she’d spare you the awkward introduction to her new fling by quickly ushering him into her room. You always told yourself that your living situation could’ve been way worse, so you let Ingrid’s business proceed without much of a complaint.

You couldn’t even remember how long the two lasted, given the amount of fuckboys that had walked through her door. It was a wonder that you could even recall his name, to be frank. Perhaps he left some semblance of an impression because of the way he never walked around like he owned the place like most of Ingrid’s conquests. There were times you’d find an unknown shirt hanging haphazardly across the couch or one of your pudding cups gone missing from the fridge. Despite these occurrences, you disliked confrontation, so you chose to endure rather than address your grievances. While Ingrid had been with Mark, you remember being considerably more comfortable in your own residence.

If someone had told you that you’d be head over heels in love with Mark Tuan only a month after your roommate ended things with him, you’d probably have a good laugh. You were more invested in the comebacks of the boy groups you loved than some boy your roommate, of all people, had once been with. Besides, you were a commitment-seeking gal, and anyone that pursued your roommate was definitely not expecting anything long-term.

The suggestion that you would grow attracted to such a guy would have seemed ludicrous. Yet maybe this is why the saying “not everything is as it seems” exists.

The whole ordeal began relatively innocuously. You were waiting on your hazelnut latte at the university’s central coffee shop, preparing to head to the library for some much-needed studying. Midterms were around the corner, and you had spent one too many days dozing off in lectures to feel prepared. It seemed that most of the student population had the same idea as you, since the café was bustling for a Wednesday afternoon. You tried your best to stay out of everyone’s way, focusing instead on checking the time on your cell phone and planning out your schedule for the rest of the day.

When you finally have your order in your hands, you take a small sip before heading for the exit. Right when that happens, a form in your periphery suddenly rushes in and knocks the hot coffee out of your grasp. Thankfully, or as much thanks as you could offer in such a tragedy, most of the drink cascades on the tiled floor. Only a little of your latte scalds your hand and paints your white sweater with brown polka dots. The disappointment you feel about losing your drink is quickly overshadowed by embarrassment when people start staring and the painful burning blossoms across the back of your hand.

“Shit, I’m so sorry.”

Your offender rushes to grab some napkins, immediately going to work on wiping the floor. As his head is lowered, you try to think of a smart response. Just as you were about to give the rude kid a piece of your mind, he looks up and the words dry up on your tongue.

“Y/N?”

“Mark?” you finally manage, surprised he even remembered who you were.

He quickly hands you a napkin, looking even more apologetic before responding, “Here, for your hand and sweater…I’m so sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s fine,” you quickly reassure, doing your best to clean yourself up. The coffee will likely stain your sweater at this rate, so you decide to simply study at your apartment instead so you can change into new clothes.

This certainly puts a wrench into your plans, doesn’t it?

“Let me buy you another coffee. A new sweater too, it looks like,” he gives you a timidly awkward smile, as if he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to do so.

You offer him a quick rise of the corners of your lips, but not much else. It still felt a little shocking and disappointing to be in such a predicament, and you sure as hell didn’t want Ingrid’s ex to be owing you any favors.

“As I said, it’s fine. Really. This was an old sweater anyways,” you grab the hem as you speak, before trying to dodge around him to leave.

When he quickly blocks your attempt to escape, you realize the guy’s reflexes are quite remarkable. However, you wanted to be rid of this awkward situation as soon as possible, so his actions made you purse your lips together in discontent.

“I’m really sorry, Y/N. This really wasn’t the way I’d imagine bumping into you again. Literally I guess,” he shyly runs his hand through his hair, which is now surprisingly dyed blonde. You knew something about him was different, but now you pinpoint it as his hair. He used to wear his natural dark brown locks when he was with Ingrid, so the change catches you off guard. It suits him well though, the way it easily brightens his whole demeanor.

“Don’t worry about it, it happens,” you tuck your hand into your pocket and continue, “Look I’ve really gotta go, I have midterms to study for.”

He promises you that he’ll pay you back as you rush out the door.  

It seems that Mark is a man of his word, because the next day, you find a mysterious package addressed to you waiting outside the door. With no shipping label and your name scrawled on the top of the box, your survival instincts tell you that opening it on the living room floor was probably the last thing you should’ve done. However, that happened to be exactly what you did.

The first thing you notice was a small note laying atop a variety of items that were wrapped up with layers of navy-colored tissue paper. Reading through the note causes a bright flush to dash across your cheekbones, as you realize that the suspicious package was from Mark.

Ingrid’s Mark.

You began to slowly examine the rest of the contents with less zeal, hoping that your roommate wouldn’t pop out of a corner and accuse you of having something with her old flame. The neatly-folded white sweater you discovered inside was very similar to what you previously wore before the coffee incident. However, the material was definitely a lot nicer and you spent a good two minutes just stroking the material with your fingers. His attention to detail regarding what you had worn was crazy good, leaving you more than a little impressed.

Moving forward, you found a package of instant coffee—hazelnut-flavored to be exact. You grinned, realizing that Mark’s attention to detail really was impeccable. Perhaps anyone could’ve identified the hazelnut syrup in your drink if they spent five minutes wiping it off the floor, but he had gone out of his way to identify the same flavor for you.

It was kinda cute, actually.

As soon as the thought appears, you quickly shake it out of your head. Mark couldn’t be cute. He couldn’t be anything more than somebody you knew, someone who was paying you back for an inconvenience. He was doing these things because he owed you—even if he wasn’t exactly obligated to go through such lengths.

Before you could try to evaluate your feelings about the matter, you decide to boil some hot water for the coffee you’ve just received. It seems as if the universe is conspiring against you however, as Ingrid emerges from her room right on cue. She gives the box on the floor a quick glance before asking, “Did you order something?”

You tuck the thin pack of instant coffee in your pocket next to Mark’s note. Your fingers tighten across the slip of paper, crushing it into a condensed ball as you spoke.

“Yeah. Just some random stuff.”

“Sweater’s cute,” she remarks, grabbing your gift and running her hands through the material in the same way you had previously. You felt something twist in your heart at her ministrations, as if her touch were contaminating and wearing away what that article of clothing had meant to you.

When she finally leaves after dropping the sweater back in the box, you take the entire box to your room and dump it in a corner of your closet with a slam so you wouldn’t have to see it anymore.

It just so happens that that package from a boy with golden locks would signal the start of a series of frequent disruptions within your day-to-day lifestyle.

Fate probably thought it would be funny to let Mark Tuan slip into your life little by little, for a few seconds each day, just to tease you. You were starting to wonder if the boy was stalking you, given how often you would see him at unpredictable intervals. If you went to the library to study, he’d be there borrowing a textbook from the front desk. If you wanted to buy a coffee and a pastry for breakfast, he’d already be at the cashier paying for his own. If you were rushing to class, slightly late because you’d overslept, you’d almost crash into him in front of your building.

He’d always give you that cute smile with a little wave of his hand to accompany it.

Your life was a grade A joke at this point.

Midterms had long been over by the time you finally took him up on his offer to hang out one-on-one. You had spent a lot of time and effort into putting him off, making excuses for why not a single day of the week would work for you. When November rolled around, all Mark had to do was raise his lower lip slightly in a pout for you to forget why you were trying so hard to avoid him in the first place. You’d never seen the boy purposefully act in such a cute way to get something, but it definitely made your heart leap in your chest.

Even when he took you to a nice minimalistic café to pay for a drink and slice of strawberry cake, he couldn’t stop apologizing for bumping into you during midterms season. You had honestly forgotten about it, but the way he talked about how foolish he felt after the whole ordeal made you smile unconsciously. The consideration he had put into making it up to you stressed him out greatly. He couldn’t stop wondering whether or not you even liked the sweater. Did it fit you alright? Did you actually like hazelnut lattes, or were you just trying something new out that day?

At this point you couldn’t help but laugh. It was such a minute detail, something he really didn’t have to worry this much over, but he had worried nonetheless. It was really silly of him, but also showed that maybe he was more than just trying to play with your feelings. You’re about to tell him how you appreciate the thought he put into his apology gift when you realize he’s staring at you.

“W-What is it? Is there something on my face?”

He shakes out of his reverie and reassures, “No you’re fine. It’s just, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you laugh like that.”

You blink in confusion before playing with your napkin in embarrassment, “Oh uh…I’m not laughing at you. I promise. I just think it’s amusing that you cared so much since I never held anything against you in the first place.”

Looking back into his soft brown eyes is a mistake, because as soon as you do, your heart starts racing again. He gives you a grin of his own in response, brushing his honey-colored hair back to briefly reveal his forehead. It’s stupid how much that simple gesture makes you want to jump his bones.

“I’d say it was a worth it, considering we’re basically friends now,” he says, happily taking a sip of his iced americano.

The assertion makes you hesitate briefly as you ask yourself whether or not the two of you were “friends”. You didn’t know him all that well yet, but a part of you looked forward to doing so. If anything, the only thing holding you back was that he was Ingrid’s ex. She’d probably laugh at you if she found out about your interest in him, and it also meant that you couldn’t be sure who Mark really was. Ingrid was notorious for having her pick among fuckboys, and maybe Mark was just one of them who was really good at hiding it.

It seems that he notices your lack of agreement in his earlier sentiment, so he says, “What will it take for me to be your friend Y/N?”

Using your fork to play with the cream left from your cake slice earlier, you reply, “I don’t know.”

He doesn’t push you further, sensing that your answer probably meant something deeper than what you were able to convey. You feel thankful that he lets the matter go and goes back to giving you an excited puppy-dog look.

“Come on, there’s something I wanna show you.”

Turns out “something” means the ice cream parlor down the street. As he walks you back to your apartment, you can’t help but notice the way he goes to town on that poor cookies n’ cream ice cream cone.

“Are you trying to fatten me up with sweets today?” you muse, enjoying your second pastry of the day courtesy to Mark.

“As if. You look perfect Y/N—nothing a cheat day could do to you.”

It’s like the guy’s a professional sweet talker too, since he barely bats an eye at the compliment. Not something you’re used to, you try your best to not blush obviously at his statement.

God, everything about Mark Tuan was too much for you. He was the epitome of a honey boy.

The walk is fairly interesting, as Mark turned out to be simultaneously a good listener and a good conversation carrier. He’d ask you some questions that you were comfortable answering, listening intently as you shared some details about your studies, your childhood, the things you liked and the things you didn’t. You knew he was paying attention because he’d always laugh along with you, as you recollected some embarrassing things that had happened to you in the week prior.

By the time you reach your apartment door, you’ve forgotten exactly who Mark was supposed to be to you. In his large, tan hoodie with his hands in his pockets, he felt like a nervous boy walking you to your door at the end of a first date.

But could you really expect life to do you any favors just when things started to look up?

The door swings open just as you fumble for your keys, and out steps the last person you wanted to see. Ingrid takes one look at Mark and another at you before a smirk blooms across her bright red lips. Her makeup told you that she was heading to another one of her parties where she’d definitely bring a boy or two home.

“Long time no see,” she addresses Mark first, giving him one of those smiles that probably instigated all those hook-ups she partakes in.

You can’t help but feel overshadowed and uncomfortable. It would hurt you beyond measure to see the two flirt with each other right in front of your eyes. You had half the mind to just push past Ingrid and call it a day, but Mark’s words stop you in your thoughts.

“Sure.”

It’s curt and simple, lacking the flirtatious tone that Ingrid had injected into her words earlier. If you didn’t know any better, it honestly sounded downright bored—as if the speaker couldn’t wait to get rid of her.

Not giving her much to work with, Ingrid turns towards you instead. “Didn’t know you’d go for my sloppy seconds Y/N.”

Your throat feels dry and you refuse to let yourself expect anything different than the reaction your roommate just gave you. Of course, you expected her to make fun of you. It made sense that she would think of you and Mark being outside the apartment as you picking up a boy she left behind.

But why did it fill you with shame anyways?

“As if anyone would. I wouldn’t get involved with one of your boy toys,” the words leave you mouth with disgust, a tone you couldn’t help given the way you were trying so desperately to hide your true feelings. Liking Mark was dangerous and it would mean that Ingrid was right. You weren’t involved with him. You couldn’t be.

As soon as your statement pierces the air, you sense Mark’s form stiffen next to you. Immediately, you’re filled with regret. Did you need to word things that harshly? Even if you could never get to know him beyond being an acquaintance, he had shown you nothing but kindness. He never tried to get in your pants or act like a certified sleazeball like you were insinuating.

When Mark turns around and leaves the two of you standing in the hallway, it’s almost like you’re stuck in a wall of honey. The figurative sticky syrup prevents your limbs from making a move after the blonde-haired boy, as you’re stuck watching him go—watching him hurt over your words. Your throat tightens painfully with the way you try not to cry, fearing that you really ended up harming a boy that didn’t deserve the way you just portrayed him.

For the next 11 days according to your count, you don’t see Mark again. You were used to finding him leaning around the corner, listening to music on his airpods as he waited for a friend’s class to end so they could go play basketball. You had just started to adjust to his daily presence by entertaining the idea that you could start spending time with him. Props to your big mouth and careless words for shattering the prospect to pieces. The sense of guilt you carried was far heavier that the notebooks you lugged to class, and you were hoping—no, praying that you would see that bright smile of his to unexpectedly bump into you again.

Maybe meeting him again was the most luck you were fated to have.

As you doodle in the margins of your notebook, wearing the sweater he bought you all those weeks ago, you formulate an apology plan. If you showed him you were sorry, actually really sorry, maybe he’d forgive you. It wasn’t like you deserved it but seeing him again would sure beat the dreary days you were currently victim to.

Wracking your thoughts for comments Mark had made to you regarding things he liked, you realized he hadn’t talked much about himself beyond seemingly having an affinity of cookies n’ cream ice cream. He did mention wanting to have a puppy if his apartment landlord would allow it though. If it were possible for you to be more depressed, you realized belatedly that he had spent a good amount of time learning more about you than you did about him.

After your classes, you head out to find something for him. It wasn’t like you could afford getting him a puppy, especially since he literally told you he wasn’t allowed to have one, so you searched for the next best thing. It took you a few hours of searching to find something that satisfied your expectations, and you set out to spend the rest of the day preparing it for when you would confront Mark yourself.

Standing outside of his apartment at 9 PM on a Friday night was probably one of the dumbest decisions you ever made, and you made a lot of those. He probably didn’t even know that you knew he lived here. Ingrid had made you pick her up once from a party one of his roommates hosted when she was still with him, and your trusty sense of direction never really allowed you to forget how to get from one place to another. Even if you wanted to turn around and run home straight away in fear, you forced yourself to knock on the door with three quick thumps.

Praying that it was Mark and not one of his rambunctious roommates who opened the door, your wish actually comes true and you’re greeted with the sleepy frame of the honey boy you missed so much over the last two weeks. He’s wearing a thin white tee with grey sweats, as he rubs his eyes as if he can’t believe he’s actually seeing you at his door.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” he quickly runs a hand through his hair, as if trying to hide the fact that you probably just woke him up.

Did Mark always look this good? It’s actually unfair how pretty he is.

Clearing your throat, you gather up as much courage as you could muster before saying, “Yep it’s me. I’m here to beg for forgiveness.”

“What for?” he tilts his head slightly in question before mumbling, “Come inside, it’s cold.”

He gently rests his hand on your shoulder before urging you inside, and the way he touches you sends a shiver down your spine. Trying not to let any surprised noises escape you, you hurry on into the warmth of the apartment. You look around as you take your shoes off, noticing how surprisingly clean it is despite five boys living here. Perhaps your preconceptions need to be changed.

You shyly trail behind his large figure as he leads you into what appears to be his room. Taking note of the light-up rainbow keyboard and gamer chair with scarlet red highlights, you realize that Mark is one of those boys. You almost laughed aloud imagining him as one of those kids that whined “Mom I’m busy!” while playing Call of Duty.

He collapses on his bed unceremoniously with a groan, looking like he was ready to pass out again. Wondering who in their right mind took naps at 9 in the evening, you awkwardly stood in front of him while playing with the ribbon of the gift in your hands.

Opening one eye to look at you, he sits up and pats the corner of the bed closest to him. Wide eyed, you point to yourself before pointing to the same bed corner. He chuckles, and the deep sound sends another shudder through your body.

“Yes, I’m talking to you silly,” he grins, as if he had already forgiven you.

Hurriedly, you plop your butt down on the bedsheets and push your apology gift into his hands. He seems confused at first, messing with the sides of the wrapping paper as he examines what you just gave him.

“I got this for you because…I’m sorry for the things I said,” you relax, shrinking down in sadness before continuing, “You’re my friend.”

He looks at you through your entire confession, hanging onto each word that slips out of your lips. When you stop and slowly look back at him to gauge his response, he gives you a small smile. But it’s only when he grabs your nervous hand in his own do you finally let the small sigh hiding inside your chest escape you.

“I’m more than just someone Ingrid messed with. You know that, don’t you?”

Nodding quickly, he laughs as if admiring the great bobblehead impression you were giving. Your hand in his grasp starts to become unbearably warm, as you bite your lip to keep your dangerous thoughts at bay.

“I thought I knew everything that happened. But I don’t, and I shouldn’t hold that against you,” you admit, slightly losing your train of thought when he begins to gently rub circles into the back of your hand with his thumb.

“Don’t hold that against yourself either.”

You allow yourself to meet his gaze again, and the amount of warmth and comfort you find there almost breaks you down instantly. Perhaps he knew more than he let on regarding the inner turmoil you struggled with by only thinking of Mark as someone Ingrid once had. But from the first time he ruined your study plans to the moment he bought you various sweets until you verbally forgave him, he was slowly disproving those preconceptions. The amount of understanding he offered you made you feel even worse for referring to him the way you did all those days ago.

All along you thought that Mark was bad for you. Perhaps it was you that truly didn’t deserve him.

Momentarily pulling away from your fingers, he begins unwrapping the package you brought along with you. Suddenly nervous, you fiddle with the hem of your petticoat as he slowly pulls out the adorable puppy hat you purchased for him from the mall yesterday. Mark stares down at the hat in his hands, and it’s only when he bursts out in laughter do you finally let your cheeks warm in embarrassment.

“What are you laughing at? I-It’s cute!” You stutter, furiously crossing your arms.

When he finally stops his fit of laughter, he sets the hat on his head in triumph as if he were wearing a crown of honor. Seeing it on him makes you giggle too, knowing that it was somehow possible for the boy you liked to get even cuter than he already was.

“Here, press the paws and the ears move,” you hand him the paws that dangled from the side of the hat and experimentally press one of them to demonstrate.

Mark spends the next few minutes pressing the ears at varying intervals and laughing at his reflection in the mirror.

“You know, maybe I should get upset more often. You’re great with gifts.”

Rolling your eyes, you retort, “Sure thing, honey.”

  -----

[limit-list]

this is not about the ask game but was wondering if you had any thoughts about modern au princess yue? (super random but i think i saw some yue love from you on my dash this morning and saw u were taking asks right now) have a nice night/day 💛💛💛

Hiya Sonny!! I’m a lil late responding cause today was hectic lmao, but it was good!! I hope you’re also having a good night/day haha.

Bud I am always taking asks, I love getting asks, I love this ask. I have never once had thoughts about a modern au Princess Yue, but now I’m BRIMMING with thoughts.

(This got a lil long, sorry bout that)

Imma put this in a modern bending world, cause I can

This is long post-war, don’t think too hard on how the history played out. Doesn’t matter.

Arnook is still the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe, and Yue is the princess. There’s still a bit of sexism in the tribe, but benders are equal and Yue is treated with the respect she deserves.

Whenever Arnook went to World Leader Conferences when Yue was little, she went with him as his heir apparent. Similarly, Sokka and Katara attended with Chief Hakoda. Lu Ten attended with Fire Lord Iroh, and Zuko tagged along sometimes.

All that to say, childhood gaang antics ensued.

Sokka had a crush on Yue from age 7 to age 14. Yue had a crush on Sokka from age 8 to age 10. At age 10, Suki came to a World Leader Conference with the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors to observe the guard work (aka her guardian couldn’t find a babysitter) and Yue instantly decided she was in love.

When she wasn’t traveling with the Chief, Yue had tutors teaching her about etiquette, politics, languages and dialects, cultures, and anything else a future Chief would need. She didn’t have time for friends back home, and even if she did, she never had the freedom for them.

Aang was raised by the Air Nomads, and was presented as the Avatar at 16.

So what I’m getting at, is that in this perfect world where there’s no war and no tension between the four nations, the Gaang are a well established group of the children of world’s leaders.

Yue, aged 17, presents her case to her dad for permission to attend University outside of the Northern Water Tribe. Arnook is extremely against it. After like 4 months of arguing and persuading, he lets her send in an application. She gets accepted to a prestigious Political Science program, and after another month of debate over it, he lets her go.

At this point, Zuko is the oldest at 22, Sokka is 20, Suki is 20, Katara is 19, Yue is 18, Aang is 18, and Toph is 17. They all study at Republic City University (RCU). Have I ever seen LOK? No. Did I do any research for this? No. Our imaginations are flexible. They study in Republic City cause I say so.

Everyone already knows each other except for Toph, who they meet at RCU.

Yue is dating Suki, Sokka is dating Zuko, who is now the heir apparent of Fire Lord Iroh. Katara, Aang, and Toph are all single.

Yue loves talking cultural differences with the Gaang. Whether that means ideological beliefs, ethics, laws, government systems, religion, the arts, everyday life, whatever, she finds it fascinating.

Religion-wise, Yue is very spiritual. She strongly believes in the power of nature. One weekend every month, Yue and Katara go on hikes in the mountains. She has a window-sill garden where she grows flowers and herbs.

Yue and Suki like to explore Republic City together. They dip into thrift stores, tea parlors, skate parks, the drive-in movies, everywhere they can. Ofc, the Gaang goes on adventures across the city all the time, but Yue and Suki make sure they have date night at least once every two weeks.

Yanno how back when Obama’s daughter was in college, they tried to make her look like a bad person for doing normal teenager things? People definitely do that to Yue and the Gaang. People follow them around campus sometimes, taking pictures without permission and generally being nuisances. After someone follows her into a lecture class, pestering her and disrupting the class, Yue calmly and politely posts a statement that clearly states that she’s entitled to an education just like everyone else, and if people insist on disrupting her education like this, she will be forced to take legal action. Like a bad bitch.

After Zuko, Sokka, Suki, and Katara have all graduated, only Toph, Aang, and Yue are left in school. Toph, Aang, and Yue rent out a big apartment near campus. Sokka and Zuko live together, and Suki and Katara also share an apartment. Their parents or guardians have all agreed to let them have until the youngest ones graduate before they have to come home and get started on life.

That summer after Toph, Aang, and Yue graduate is absolutely insane. They sit down the week before graduation and craft an epic bucket list of everything they want to do before they have to enter the real world. They spend summer going through every single one, from pro-bending tournaments to hosting their own bake-off.

Sadly, everything must come to an end. Summer ends, Zuko goes back to the fire Nation, Sokka and Katara go back to the Southern Water Tribe, Suki heads back to Kyoshi, Toph decides to stay in Republic City with her girlfriend Smellerbee, and Yue and Aang go to the Northern Water Tribe.

Years later, they bring the world into a Golden Age. Avatar Aang holds peace among the four nations, but really it’s a Gaang group effort. Connections between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes have never been better, after Fire Lord Zuko married Ambassador Sokka in a wedding officiated by Chief Yue. Katara becomes Chief of the Southern Water Tribes. Toph is a master sculpter. She smuggles money, jewels, and drugs inside hollow sculptures sometimes to get things where they need to go, but that’s not the point here. Suki teaches martial arts in the Northern Water Tribe, and she advises her wife, Chief Yue, on the side. Together, they see about finally ending the sexism of the Tribe once and for all.

They’re all really fucking happy. Yue dies of old age.

[dyaz-stories]

Out of The Woods — One: Acceptance

It’s here!! You guys might remember this post of mine, and that is what this story is based on! I had planned to have everything done by Inukag week and... yeah that didn’t happen, but this is chapter one, the next ones will be based on prompts, though I definitely won’t have them all out this week. Let me know if you want to be tagged for this specifically (tagging everyone just for the first one) and I hope you’ll enjoy this first one!

Thank you so so much to @sweetchcolate for being my beta for this chapter, you helped improving the final result so much and you’re amazing ❤️

Tagging: @shinidamachu @sailorbabydoll92 @sweetchcolate @clearwillow @zelink-inukag @cstorm86 @digital-art-monster @danycontreras90 @redflamesofpassion @lost-amidst-the-stars @eternalnight8806-3 @desiree239 @keichanz @ashleys-canvas @mustardyellowsunshine​ @meggz0rz @contacting-u @ramen---boi @superpixie42 @kazeinori @disgruntledbeast

The full moon shone high in the night sky, its soft light falling on empty streets and tightly shut windows. The villagers laid restless in their beds, waiting for the morning to come, pretending nothing would be happening tonight, pretending that they didn’t know about the white form dashing through the trees in the forest, pretending they hadn’t left him an offering that was far more than they had ever expected to pay. Pretending that the moonlight was enough to repel the darkness.

In the forest, things looked very different. Even the midday sun hardly pierced the thick foliage, and the moonlight barely reached the ground. Unlike the village, the forest was full of life and movement, even at night. Small demons, animals, owls and bats… It was like they knew the humans wouldn’t venture in here tonight, and they intended to make the most of it.

Sometimes, however, the noise was interrupted for just a moment. Silence fell brutally on the trees, as a flash of white appeared, only to vanish just as quickly, letting the animals resume to their lives as though nothing had happened. The silhouette stopped in front of a clearing, sniffing the air, as it checked its surrounding. Once it was satisfied, golden eyes focused on a bag laying on the ground. Good. Relief overtook it for just a second, before resolve flashed in its expression, and it jumped in.

The action was only a matter of seconds. The form jumped in, easily threw the bag over its shoulder, paused, only long enough for an exterior observer to discern red clothing underneath long white hair, before he ran away, just as fast. A blink, and you could have missed it.

It didn’t stop until it had reached a small river. There, it took north, going up stream, the sound of bare feet on rocks barely audible over the brook’s whisper. Finally, the shape slowed down as the banks of the river started to rise to form a small ravine. After one last glance over its shoulder to make sure it wasn’t being followed, the white shape disappeared behind the rocks.

As it walked to a small wooden hut by the lake that had formed there, the moonlight revealed a definitely humanoid shape, an impression that was only disrupted by the two triangular ears on top of its skull. He unceremoniously dropped the bag onto the grass, only to freeze when a yelp came from the bag.

Slowly, he knelt down next to it. The moonlight caught onto claws, and they briefly shone in the dark as he prepared to open it.

Kagome didn’t regain consciousness until she was moving. She remembered the men, showing up in her house, dragging her out as she asked, begged, for an explanation. She remembered Mo, the leader of the village, telling her that he was sorry, that this was for the best, for everyone. She remembered the pain exploding in her temple. She remembered hitting the ground. And nothing after that.

She woke up, disoriented, unable to see, terror coursing through her veins, aware that someone was moving with her at full speed. Her stomach immediately protested against the up and down movement, and made it all the more difficult for her to fight her first instinct: to scream. She dug her teeth into her lower lip in order to keep from making a noise. Trying to calm herself down, she took a few quick breaths. That, however, only fueled her panic as she realized with horror how hard breathing through the cloth was, but she somehow managed not to have a complete meltdown. She could breathe, after all. It was just difficult. She focused on that for a moment, and used that to consider her situation.

It wasn’t easy to form coherent thoughts, not with the fear that was infecting her system, and certainly not with the fact that she could feel the youki of the person carrying her. Her reiki was always under control, and she had never had any problem with it, but as it was, it took everything she had not to let it spike. If she did, it could have disastrous consequences.

She swallowed, and forced herself to focus. What did she know? The men of the village had knocked her out, but clearly, she wasn’t with them anymore. She closed her eyes, both to calm down her breathing and to try to remember Mo’s words.

“I’m really sorry, Kagome,” he’d sighed, shaking his head dejectedly. “If there was any other way, I would choose it, but you’re the village’s priestess, and I know you understand why you must offer yourself in this situation.”

“What are you talking about?” she’d asked, tensed, not aware of the gravity of the moment yet.

Her eyes shot open as his words finally came back to her.

“I’m sorry,” he’d repeated. “I believe what we need right now is a virgin sacrifice.”

‘The situation’ had to be a reference to whatever lived in the forest. From what she’d been told when she had joined the village as a priestess, only a couple of weeks ago, in replacement for a distant cousin of hers who had been murdered, everyone believed it was a god that they had angered. They made regular offerings to it, once a month, on the full moon. And tonight was…

Gods. She was tonight’s offering.

She had just realized it when she felt herself falling, and let out a cry of protest when she hit the ground. She closed her mouth shut, but the damage was done already.

The silence that followed was excruciating. She felt the bag being lifted as though she weighed nothing, and she knew that it wouldn’t be long until it was open. Concentrating her reiki in her hands, Kagome prepared for a fight. She would not go down easily. She knew herself, knew her power, and she didn’t doubt that she would be able to take out a demon, even without her bow, if she had the advantage of surprise.

But, as she prepared to deal it a death blow, knowing that she wouldn’t have another chance, she hesitated.

Maybe she was being unfair. Maybe it was her fear speaking, and not her reason. Her work was not to inflict death. It had never been, and in fact, she had always held strong beliefs against that practice. Kagome knew that gods and demons could often be reasoned with, and that they would rarely go out of their way to attack humans unless provoked.

It was stupid, not to kill the demon instantly. An act of folly. It was taking a chance on something nonsensical.

Kagome took it anyway.

When the bag was finally pulled down, she held back her power, only sending a flash strong enough to make the demon jump back with a surprised growl. Sharp pain to her cheek told her she’d been hit, but she didn’t care as she stared at the supposed god that terrorized the village, and all she found was…

A young man. No older than herself, probably under twenty. Sure, his hair was white, his eyes seemed like liquid gold, and the dog-ears on his head weren’t human, but other than that— He was practically a boy. Skinny, almost to the point of being called scrawny, and his entire body tense as a bow string.

Kagome slowly lowered her hands, though she didn’t disperse her reiki just yet. The man kept growling as he glared at her, claws in evidence. His eyes moved over her clothes, a priestess’ garment, and the growl only became louder.

“What the fuck are you doing here? Where’s my food?”

Fear was soon replaced by anger, and Kagome shot him a death glare that would have made most men cower. He didn’t react to it — she hadn’t expected him to. Clearly, he was not ‘most men’.

“Oh I’m sorry, am I not a sacrifice satisfying enough?”

“Sacrifice?” he repeated with a frown. “The hell sort of sacrifice are you? Am I supposed to— eat you?”

People didn’t eat other people, did they? He couldn’t say he was tempted, even if she smelled a lot like fresh meat.

“No, I’m—” Kagome rolled her eyes. She had not expected to have to explain that part of the situation, and now it was weirdly uncomfortable. “They said they needed to make a— a virgin sacrifice. To appease you.”

A puzzled look appeared on the man’s face, and for a second, Kagome really feared that she would have to explain to him what a virgin sacrifice was. But then, his eyes widened in understanding, and, much to her surprise, his cheeks heated up. He glanced away from her, blushing and clearly embarrassed, which only made her feel more awkward.

“K-keh! So there’ll be no food this month?”

The question took Kagome off guard, yet again, and she was starting to realize that she really did not like that sensation. Why was she always one step behind? Something was wrong here.

“I… suppose not.”

For a few moments, there was only silence. He was crouching and glaring at her and she was trying her best to assess the situation, now that her fear was mostly gone, but she still was far from having enough information. First things first, then. Clearing her throat, she asked him about the thing that had been on her mind ever since she had felt his aura.

“You’re… not a god, are you?”

His lips curled to reveal his fangs, and his growl, which had stopped when she’d mentioned being a virgin sacrifice, picked up again.

“Are you making fun of me?”

His voice was defiant, and Kagome didn’t doubt that he would have attacked her if he hadn’t feared her powers. She swallowed as she looked him over once more. His youki was extremely powerful, so she had assumed he was a demon from the beginning, but now that she was looking at him, there was only one explanation that made sense. She hadn’t even considered it before, but the ears spoke for themselves.

“You’re a half-demon,” she said slowly.

“Gotta problem with that?” he snapped.

“Everyone believes you cursed the village,” she said, shaking her head, just trying to understand. She didn’t know how such a mistake had been possible. She’d only ever met Kikyo a few times, but based on what she’d heard about her power, there was no way she wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Maybe, maybe, she would have believed him to be a full demon, but she doubted even that.

“Sounds just like those assholes to blame their problems on me,” he mumbled bitterly. “Been blaming me for their priestess’s death, too.”

That caught her attention again.

“You’re Inuyasha?” she asked.

He almost jumped when she said his name, before focusing back on her. His eyes were shining dangerously, and Kagome resisted the urge to lift her hands defensively in front of herself. She didn’t want to risk escalating the situation.

“How would ya know that?”

“I was told that, on her deathbed, Kikyo said you were responsible for her final injuries.”

She watched his face crumble. The shock in his eyes, the way his lips fell. He whirled around, turning his back on her, but his reaction told her everything she needed to know. Having seen that— she couldn’t believe he had anything to do with her cousin’s death.

“She said that, huh?” he asked, voice sounding a little too loud and too clear. “Sounds just like that bitch. Keeping me her dirty little secret and stabbing me in the back last second. Nothing surprising about it.”

Kagome watched his back, silently. She didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know where she went from here.

“I’m Kagome, by the way,” she said, awkwardly.

That snapped him out of whatever emotion he was feeling, and he turned around.

“I didn’t ask,” he growled. “So ya said ya were— a sacrifice? Were ya okay with that?”

Her lower lip started to tremble, as it finally dawned on her what the men from the village had been willing to let happen to her. Whether they expected she’d be killed or— It would all have been horrible for her. The worst part was that she was pretty sure she could have been guilted into accepting it.

“Well, that’s humans for ya,” the half-demon said with a shrug, able to tell what the answer was from her silence.

Kagome forced herself to breathe in, but it didn’t help. She had been called to the village. They had asked for her presence, and she hadn’t thought much about it. She travelled a lot, usually going where she was needed. When they had called for her, she had assumed they wanted someone powerful, given what was living in the forest. She hadn’t doubted their intentions at all. Did they know then? Had they planned this all along? Did they think of it whenever they saw her walking through the village in her robes?

Inuyasha cleared his throat, right before she lost herself completely in questions she didn’t have any answers to, and she looked at him, blinking the tears away.

“What are ya gonna do now? Going back? Are ya gonna tell them that I ain’t a god and I haven’t cursed their village?”

He was trying his best to sound detached but, judging by his previous reaction, he did count on the offerings of food, which meant he did care about what her answer would be. She wanted to give him something, she did, but she didn’t know what to tell him. Even if he hadn’t killed Kikyo, he had injured numerous villagers who had ventured into the forest. She couldn’t find it in herself to feel bad for them right now, but he was still very much dangerous, even if he looked so young and normal. He could probably feel her reiki, and that might be why he hadn’t done anything to her yet. He might very well be waiting for her to lower her defenses to strike.

“I don’t know,” she admitted regardless, voice weak. “I can’t say I really want to go back there.”

The silence that followed was heavy and uncomfortable. Kagome wrapped her arms around her knees, pressing them against her chest, and finally let the reiki dissipate in the air. She would be able to summon more energy if needed, but it didn’t look like it. For now, at least.

“I guess ya can sleep here,” Inuyasha finally said, reluctantly. “’s not much, but it’s warmer than outside, and demons don’t come here.”

She could understand why. The air was infused with his youki, clearly marking the place as his territory. It made sense that other demons wouldn’t want to challenge him.

“…I think that would be for the best,” she said.

His reaction was less than enthusiastic. He sighed, obviously considering retracting his offer, then pointed at the hut with his chin.

“C’mon.”

Kagome pushed herself up, wincing at the sudden wave of pain that shot through her head, where she had been hit. If Inuyasha noticed it, he didn’t show it. In only a few large strides, he was in front of the hut, pushing the curtain that served as a door.

“You comin’ or what?”

Well, even if he didn’t kill her, he was pretty insufferable, Kagome decided as she followed him, walk a little wobbly.

The hut consisted of one room, with no furniture whatsoever. In a corner, there was some straw and what looked like a blanket, laying directly on the earth, and that was about it. It was not, by any means, comfortable, and Kagome found herself almost horrified at the thought that he lived here. These conditions were definitely not good.

“I told ya, it ain’t a palace or anything, but unless you wanna sleep outside, you should get your ass in here.”

Inuyasha’s annoyed voice — though Kagome was pretty sure she detected a hint of shame in there as well — finally got her to step in.

“You can sleep there,” he said, pointing at what was probably his bed.

“But what about you?” she questioned, concern filling her voice despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to collapse on there to soothe her throbbing head.

In the darkness, with the only window in the hut being the sole source of light, she missed the suspicious glance he shot her. When he didn’t find anything in her behavior that should keep him on his guard, he merely shrugged.

“I’ll be good. I’m not like you humans, my body can handle a lot more.”

Kagome accepted his explanation, too tired to object that demons, while more resistant, still needed sleep.

“Well, if you’re fine with it…”

The only response she got was another shrug, so she slipped under the blanket and did her best to wrap herself in it. As expected, it wasn’t pleasant, but it was better than nothing. She watched as Inuyasha went to sit against the wall opposite her, putting as much distance between them as he could in this small space, and closed his eyes. She hesitated a second before rolling around, turning her back to him. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest decision, as she wouldn’t see him coming if he attacked her, but she knew she’d hate it if someone watched her as she slept.

Even with her exhaustion, sleep wouldn’t come to her, and the pain did not help. After a while, she rolled over again, attempting to find a better position to sleep. When she moved, she saw his eyes opening. It lasted less than a second, just long enough for her to see a golden flash, but it told her that he was keeping track of her actions.

It seemed that he was as weary of her as she was of him. The thought was almost reassuring. She wouldn’t attack him, unless he did first, and if he felt the same, well, they were both probably safe.

And with that thought, Kagome was finally able to find sleep.

When she stepped out of the hut in the morning, Kagome at least felt a little better. Her head still hurt, and the cut on her cheek stung, but she assumed she would be okay. The first thing she did was to examine her surroundings, something she hadn’t been able to do when she’d arrived at night.

There was something surreal about being here, in the middle of a forest she’d been told was inhabited by dangerous monsters since she’d arrived, and to see that it was, actually, a really normal place. The sun was shining bright in the sky, the birds were chirping in the trees. Today was looking like a beautiful day.

Looking around, she realized the hut was by a lake, in an enclosed area surrounded by cliffs. There was a small waterfall just a little further, making the river the only easy way out, though she assumed Inuyasha had other ways. The scenery was idyllic, in stark contrast with everything she’d imagined about the forest. Sure, she could feel youki all around her, even with Inuyasha’s so present, and she couldn’t forget that this place clearly wasn’t inhabited by humans, but it was all so… peaceful.

She heard a noise above her, and was startled when Inuyasha simply jumped down from a cliff. He landed with a grunt, and she took her chance to examine him as he pushed himself back up as though he hadn’t fallen from at least ten meters.

She hadn’t noticed in the night that he was dressed entirely in red, and that was not the only way he looked very different in the daylight. He went from a mythical being to— a person, simply put. She noted his sharp jaw, the hard glint in his eyes, the frown that she doubted ever left his face. When his eyes turned towards her, she glanced away quickly, then berated herself for her reaction. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Hey!” Inuyasha yelled at her, “I got some food for ya!”

Joining her, he hastily handed her some fruits.

“It ain’t much, but ’s all the forest gives at this time of the year,” he explained.

“It’s fine,” Kagome replied, forcing herself to smile. “Thank you for that.”

A look of suspicion passed on his face, and he had to bite back a comment. He didn’t like her behavior, not one bit. People were never nice to him. He definitely expected her to try some shady shit. Maybe she wanted something from him. He couldn’t figure out what for the love of him, but that would explain that ‘virgin sacrifice’ story she’d told him. After all, he’d never asked for that. Surely, those guys weren’t twisted enough to get that in their mind without any suggestion?

Keh. All things considered, he wouldn’t put it past them.

Humans couldn’t be trusted, after all.

“You should try to wash yourself,” he said bluntly as she bit down on a pear. “You reek.”

In fact, she smelled like animal blood. That was why he hadn’t been able to tell she was in that bag. Which was definitely weird and—

“Excuse me?” she protested, eyes wide. “I’m so sorry I didn’t have time to wash myself before I was given as a sacrifice, you—”

Was she insane? Did she think that, just because she was a priestess, there’d be nothing he could do to her?

“Whatever, wench,” he growled. “Should probably take care of your clothes, too, ‘cause it ain’t any better.”

Kagome didn’t think she’d ever been so insulted. It took a lot of her self-control not to shoot some reiki at him. She tried to tell herself that he had helped her so far, and that it was probably a bad idea, but damn if it wasn’t tempting. She folded her arms on her chest, self-consciously tightening her clothes around her.

“And what am I supposed to wear then, you pervert?”

The way his eyes widened as color rose to his cheeks his face told her that he had not considered that difficulty.

“That’s not what I— Ah, fuck.”

He quickly got rid of his haori and pushed it in her hands.

“Just get it done. I’ll be— around. Scream if a demon starts eating you alive or— something.”

With that, he was gone, and Kagome was the first surprised when she felt a grin lift the corner of her lips. She’d been told before that she trusted too easily, clearly she had, and perhaps this was another one of those situations, but Inuyasha just seemed weirdly… inoffensive. She didn’t doubt that he could be dangerous, however it was also strangely easy to forget.

Shaking her head, she walked to the lake, and found a place where she would be hidden by rocks to take off her clothes, before taking a deep breath and plunging in.

It was the middle of spring, and the water was biting cold, which didn’t stop her from immersing herself completely. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Inuyasha was right about her needing a bath. She didn’t think she reeked — jerk —, but she didn’t think she smelled great either. She took the time to rub her body energetically, then to rinse and disentangle her hair. She was almost done and was about to start working on her clothes when she felt a disturbance in the forest’s youki.

She only had the time to look up before a giant centipede, with a woman’s chest and head, came out of the woods, screeching in a high-pitched voice. Instinctively, Kagome tried to reach for her bow and arrows, only to find them missing. She didn’t have time for anything else, so she moved as though she did have them at her disposal. With only her mind, as the Centipede was closing in on her, already opening its mouth wide enough to swallow her whole in one bite, she shot a reiki arrow.

The shot was unfocused, difficult to maintain, and it wasn’t nearly as efficient as an actual arrow would have been, but the creature was close enough that there was no way she could have missed it. Fortunately, purification was her strong suit, and the Centipede was destroyed in an inhumane scream.

Kagome remained there, trembling, frozen in place, unable to comprehend what had just happened. She was still immobile when Inuyasha burst into the clearing, jumping in the water in front of her, fully clothed.

“What the hell was that? What—”

His eyes widened and he spun around, though not quite quickly enough for her to miss the blush forming on his cheeks. Kagome slowly realized, while staring at his back, puzzled by his reaction at first, that it was because she was naked. That finally got her to move, and she wrapped herself in his haori, hands shaking so hard that she had to try several times before she made it.

She forced herself to breathe in. She’d fought and killed demons before. Sure, this time she’d been taken completely off guard, and she didn’t have her weapons here, but still. She’d been through worse. She couldn’t let this affect her that much.

“Wash your clothes,” Inuyasha ordered, though the effect was undercut by the fact that his back was still turned to her. “I’ll be closer, ‘kay?” Then, after a moment of awkward silence, he added “Good job on that one”, and took off as fast as he had the last time.

Kagome didn’t even have it in herself to protest his manners right now. She started to wash her priestess garment, with regular movements that she had done a hundred times before. Still, the Centipede’s scream kept replaying in her mind, and she couldn’t seem to shake off that horrible feeling she’d had when she had realized that her bow wasn’t there.

Despite all her efforts, her hands didn’t stop shaking.

Inuyasha watched the woman from above. Seeing his haori on her shoulders made him feel— weird, to say the least. He hadn’t expected her natural scent to be so pleasant for his nose, and he knew his clothes would definitely smell like her afterwards. Right now, though, the aroma from the mix of their scents was having more of an effect on him than he’d have wanted it to. Stupid demonic instincts…

It would probably only get worse if she chose to stay. He didn’t have much experience in that domain, because he hadn’t been in contact with many dog demons, or not for a long time, but it was likely he’d start to consider her part of his pack. Which meant he’d feel protective of her. Get attached to her.

He sat up with a growl at that thought. He knew he should have wanted her to leave, if only to avoid that. She was human, after all. She wouldn’t have the same instincts as him, and judging on how easy it had apparently been for Kikyo to stab him in the back, he didn’t have many hopes for that one.

Keh. He couldn’t believe Kikyo would have done something like that to him. He’d— Fuck, he didn’t know if he’d loved her, not when they’d spent so long openly distrusting each other, but saying that, on her deathbed? She’d really done him dirty.

And it sucked, because he hadn’t been able to mourn her. He’d been preparing himself to meet her, in the clearing when they found each other, when it had happened. It was like a refuge for them, a place where they just— sat, next to each other, and talked, ignoring their differences. She spoke a lot about not wanting to be a priestess anymore. He listened, mostly. Let her daydream out loud about a world where they’d both be simple humans. Normal.

It had almost made him want that, too.

But Kikyo had died, and the villagers had tried to kill him, almost succeeding that night, because they’d taken him by surprise, and he’d been all alone once more.

He swallowed, risking another glance at the new priestess. He should have gotten rid of her as soon as he’d realized she was a— a person. Should have made sure she wouldn’t be able to guide anyone to this place, and shouldn’t have looked back. However, even though she clearly viewed him as a threat, judging by that first shot of reiki she’d fired at him, she hadn’t commented on the fact that he was a half-demon. Her gaze had lingered on his ears, but outside of that, she hadn’t shown she was even aware of the implications of his status, something humans were usually very keen on reminding him.

That had gotten him… curious. Not hopeful, he didn’t do that anymore, but if she proved to be somewhat interesting, if she could dull the loneliness, even just a bit… Let’s say he wouldn’t be opposed to her presence.

He’d been alone for almost as long as he could remember. The memories of his mother had been fading, and he now tried his best not to think about it, because he couldn’t take that her face wasn’t as clear in his mind as it used to be. He clung to her scent, which he still knew, but he didn’t have much else, and when that’d be gone— He’d have nothing left. He knew it was stupid, to try to make new memories, hadn’t worked well with Kikyo and wouldn’t work with that one either, and yet he couldn’t help but try.

He could take being alone, had for years. He couldn’t take not having a single good thing, a single good person to remember. He just couldn’t.

Down there, the priestess was done with her washing and had laid her clothes on a rock, waiting for them to dry, and he decided that was his cue to go back down.

She jumped when he landed next to her. In other circumstances, he might have found that funny, but right now, he was just satisfied with her reaction. She should be afraid. This place was deadly, and ignoring it wouldn’t do her any good. If she was on her guards, it was all for the better. As long as she didn’t zap him with her reiki, at least.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, frowning, when he didn’t talk immediately.

Yeah. Fine. Just, there was this weirdly childish part of him that liked to imagine that she wouldn’t remember she was supposed to choose whether to leave or to stay today, and that she’d just end up… Well. Staying.

Like she could fucking forget something like that.

“’s all good. You?”

She shivered at the question, but quickly caught herself.

“I’m… fine. I didn’t think a demon would come here. Your youki is pretty powerful. I thought it would keep them at bay.”

“It usually does,” he replied, shrugging off her concern. “Could be ‘cause they smelled the blood, or ‘cause you’re a new smell. Some find reiki… tasty, I guess.”

She threw him a horrified glance, and he took offense at that.

“Calm the fuck down. I don’t eat people. Would be shit if you taste as bad as you smell anyway.”

Kagome rolled her eyes, reminding herself that she should not waste her energy on getting offended because this jerk implied she would taste bad. It just was not worth it.

“Men at your village did that?” he asked, pointing at the injury on the side of her head.

She had done her best to clean it, and she didn’t think the wound was infected. It still throbbed painfully, and it couldn’t possibly look good, but there was not much she could do about it right now.

“They did,” she replied, mouth dry. “They knocked me out before… You know.”

He did, and it still didn’t sit right with him. He wondered if they just wanted to get rid of her and were hoping he would do the dirty work for them, or if there was something else underneath it all, but he just couldn’t come up with an answer.

“So? You gonna go back there or what?”

She flinched, suddenly snapped out of her thoughts, and Inuyasha cursed himself. He was supposed to approach the subject carefully — or, ideally, not at all — and that just wasn’t the way to do it. Especially since he had this irrational wish that she would stay.

“Well, I clearly can’t for the moment,” she said, finally. “My clothes are drying, and I don’t think I feel well enough to travel. But…”

Inuyasha’s ears had perked up, which was pretty pathetic in his opinion, but at least she hadn’t noticed. That wasn’t definitive, not by any means, but it was something, right? If she stayed for a few days, he could perhaps— pretend. Pretend she was something for him that he could never even hope for. Pretend that, maybe, she didn’t feel sick and disgusted from being in his presence.

“But?”

“I just— I have nothing here. I’m not talking about the food, you can clearly find those things, even without the offering—” Inuyasha felt his chest swell with pride, as his instincts to provide for his pack kicked in. “—but there isn’t much I can do about the creatures here. I mean, I barely took down the Centipede, and you and I know it’s not the most dangerous thing to live in those woods, not by a long shot. Not to mention I don’t have herbs to take care of my wounds, or…”

“I know where herbs humans like grow,” Inuyasha interrupted her. “Can’t help you with picking them, don’t really know the difference between ‘em, but I can take ya there. I can go steal stuff from the village, too, but if you’re talking ‘bout your bow, I don’t think I’d make it to the temple. That’s usually under heavy guard.”

Kagome frowned, but nodded.

“I suppose I could learn to focus my reiki without it. It’s doable, in practice. If you know where herbs grow, that would be great, though.”

Inuyasha couldn’t help but think that there was something weird in the way she spoke to him. He was vaguely aware that it was because she talked to him normally, without calling him a monster, a half-breed, or an abomination every sentence, but there was something other than that. He couldn’t identify it as respect — he hadn’t been faced with it enough — however he could hear the underlying kindness in it.

That definitely played a role in him letting her stay, in walking her to the spot where herbs grew, later in the day, and in waiting around to make sure she wouldn’t get in trouble. It was rather nice, to have someone talking to him like that, he wasn’t gonna complain, that was for sure, and yet…

There was also something worrying about it. If she kept it up, it would probably get harder to endure the way others spoke to him, so, when he recognized it for what it was, he told himself he shouldn’t get used to it.

But fuck if he didn’t want to.

Days passed. Kagome was healing slowly but, though she appreciated not feeling pain every time she got up anymore, the idea was more worrying than pleasant to her. Every time she thought about it, and about going back to the village, she felt a pit in her stomach. She hated it. She had always lived to help others, devoted herself to it body and soul.

And they had betrayed her so easily.

She didn’t think she would be able to change her behavior, even after that. She knew herself well enough to be able tell that if someone was in danger, she would jump in without a second thought. She spontaneously took action for others. It was just who she was, what she did.

Now though, the thought of doing this for them was actively sickening. The thought that they would use her, would take advantage of her again, and the knowledge that she probably wouldn’t be able to stop them— it hurt in so many ways. She didn’t want to be the type of person who couldn’t trust. It was— She believed people were good. Maybe not entirely, and maybe they hadn’t always been, to her and to others, but all in all, she thought everyone deserved her help, her kindness. If they talked to her about their issues, she wanted to be able to listen to them and  to believe them.

The idea that she might not be able to do that anymore was soul-crushing.

Inuyasha, as it turned out, wasn’t of much help when it came to her moral dilemma, and she hated that he had been the first recipient of her new-found mistrust. He didn’t deserve that. Clearly, he had been through enough already.

Not that he had talked to her about it. In general, they didn’t talk much. She’d tried to engage in some conversations, but he’d shrug her off quickly, take off in the woods, or close his eyes, leaning against the wall of his hut. She knew he could probably still hear her, because there was no way he fell asleep that fast, but she got the message, loud and clear.

It didn’t mean there was no communication between them, though. It wasn’t much, and he certainly didn’t make any grand gestures, but if she mentioned something, he’d make sure she would get it. It generally manifested in food, but he also stole some items she’d brought up. She knew she should have said something then, but she hadn’t found it in herself to berate him.

“Thank you,” she’d just said, genuinely grateful.

“Keh. If it can get you to stop talking my ears off, it’ll have been worth it.”

But she was starting to be able to read him, and even if his arms were folded on his chest, and he was frowning, she knew that when his ears perked up that way, it meant he was happy about the attention.

It was the cutest thing ever.

“You shouldn’t put yourself in danger by going to the village, though,” she’d added, genuine worry piercing in her voice. “I can make it without these. I really don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

As most of their conversations, it had ended abruptly, with him rolling his eyes and growling “Whatever” before running off in the forest, and she’d let out a long sigh. Just once, she would have liked not to feel like a complete nuisance when she talked to him. Was that really too much to ask?

It wasn’t even like they could avoid each other completely, otherwise she would have given him as much space as he wanted. Instead, they lived together, in a really small space. He had taken to sleeping regularly outside, and when she’d voiced her concerns, because she really, really didn’t want to push him out of his living space, he had vaguely replied that he did that before she was here, that he liked sleeping in trees, and that she was overestimating her own importance.

Another extremely fulfilling conversation.

So Kagome had done her best to use the same language as him. She couldn’t be as silent as him, because she was the type of person to express herself vocally, and not with growls and grunts, but she could pick herbs and fruits, even if she still didn’t stray far from the hut, and she could kill small demons. So that was a start.

She did her best to pay attention to him silently, to avoid scaring him off, which wasn’t simple for her. It was obvious that he was used to a rough existence. There was no hidden softness in him. Whether in his body, all muscles and bones, or in his behavior, he seemed to treat everything with the same harshness, including himself. It was that very harshness that came out when he was talking to her. That became a lot easier to accept once she realized that it was just who he was and that it was very likely that he hadn’t received anything else.

She wanted to show him something else.

That turned out not to be such an easy task. He always pushed her away when she tried to show him kindness. She didn’t know if he just really didn’t like her, or if it made him uncomfortable for some reason. She didn’t want to impose anything on him, she just wanted him to know. Not everything needed to be so hard all the time.

When she was coming back from picking fruits, she found him knees deep in the lake, and chest bare. It wasn’t the first time, and she was pretty sure he had caught glimpses of her naked as well. Normally, she would have been uncomfortable with it, but her attachment to privacy had greatly diminished recently, so she just watched him from the corner of her eyes, absent-mindedly noticing his toned chest.

She heard him groaning in annoyance as he attempted to untangle his hair. His claws seemed to be doing a pretty good job at that, but it still looked like an unpleasant experience. She winced in sympathy for him, and then the idea hit her.

“Do you want me to brush your hair?” she asked, words leaving her mouth before she had really decided whether or not it was a good idea.

The look he gave her told her that it definitely wasn’t one. Yet, because she just didn’t know when to quit, she insisted.

“You got me a brush, remember? That would be a lot easier, and I would actually see what I’m doing.”

Inuyasha glared at her, and Kagome swallowed. She was pretty sure that was an argument she’d just lost. It was obvious, from the look in his eyes, that he was doubting her. Well, it would just be another failure to add to her list. No big deal, fine, whatev—

“Okay. But if you try anything funny, I’ll tear off your hand.”

“That’s great!” she beamed. “Just give me a second to get the brush!”

He was still eyeing her suspiciously when she came back, and she wondered what he thought she would do. Beat him to death with the brush?

She sat on a rock, and he took place between her legs, back turned to her. He tilted his head, and she got to work, an inexplicable grin forming on her lips. His hair was surprisingly smooth and silky between her hands, and it was a pleasant feeling underneath her fingers. After the first tense minutes, Inuyasha started to relax. His shoulders fell down, and she heard him taking in a deep breath, followed by a long exhale.

Her movements were slow, careful. Soft. Evidently, he didn’t mind the treatment.

“Can I touch your ears?” she asked, curious, after a while. She had wondered about them since she had first seen him.

“Don’t pull on ‘em,” he mumbled back, voice almost slurred, as though he was falling asleep.

She decided to take that as a yes. Hesitantly, she reached to take one in her hand, and let out a small exclamation when she found it feeling like real fur. Not just that, but it was pleasantly pliable, and she had to actively resist an urge to play with it.

Don’t, Kagome, she told herself. She didn’t want him to push her away again.

But Inuyasha didn’t say anything as she massaged them. Instead, he let out what she thought was a contented sigh.

“So,” he said, still with that half-asleep voice, “your injury’s better. Are ya, y’know, going back there? Have ya made your mind ‘bout that?”

Kagome froze and let go of his ears. She cleared her throat awkwardly as she took back the brush and got back to taking care of his hair.

“I’m in no hurry,” she admitted, voice small. “Why, do you want to get rid of me that bad?”

She had intended to say it as a joke, but it sounded desperate instead.

Inuyasha’s long silence after that only made her feel worse. If he was trying to find a nice way to say it, it was more than she had expected. She thought she would only receive bluntness in response, but she could take him at least not wanting to hurt her feelings too badly.

“…nah,” he said, so low she almost missed it. “Y’can stay a while longer. Or a lot longer. I don’t mind.”

That almost had her dropping her brush.

“Really?” she asked in disbelief. “You told me I was breathing too much of your air.”

“Didn’t mean that.”

“You said if I hurt myself when picking fruits, you’d me get eaten by the wolves.”

“I wouldn’t have done that.”

“You—”

“Ugh, fine, go, see if I care!” he finally exploded, standing up and stepping away from her.

He found her with a bright, wide smile on her face, and his heart skipped a beat.

He didn’t know he was capable of making someone smile like that.

“I’d love to stay,” she said softly. “I just didn’t think you’d want me to.”

“Well I told ya. I don’t care.”

“Actually,” she grinned, leaning forward, “you said you didn’t mind.”

“I meant I didn’t care!”

“Right.”

“I don’t care! I fucking mind if you’re going to be like that!”

Then Kagome bursted out laughing, and Inuyasha felt like he couldn’t breathe simply from listening to her. The laugh flew high in the sky, losing itself between the clouds, and Inuyasha felt lucky from having been there to witness that. Hearing her laugh. Certainly felt like an event in and of itself.

“Thank you,” she said, simply.

“Keh. You’re welcome.”

When she pushed herself off the rock to get up, he held out his hand for her. He didn’t know why he did, certainly couldn’t find a good reason, but he did anyway.

She took it without any hesitation, ignoring the calloused palms and the claws. This time, he felt like he could finally breathe, like she was injecting air directly to his lungs.

He could get used to that feeling.