#that way i could have the best flavor for last after suffering through the wet paper chex and dry ass pretzels

[neuroticrobotic]

You fuckers hate flavor. We know who reigns supreme in that wretched bag of grains.

DOWN WITH THE CORN CHEX, ALL HAIL RYE CHIP!!!

didnt get the responses i thought i would on discord so im bringing it here

[ktheist]

01 — show me yours & i’ll show you mine | m

“then won’t you fuck me right now? i’m already wet for you.”

“not tonight,”

➙ muses. seokjin x college student / gamer!reader ft. best friend! taehyung

➙ genre. best friend’s brother au. university au. working au. fwb au. 

➙ word. 5k

➙ warnings. explicit content, reader coming onto seokjin who’s still hung up about how he watched over her and his little brother, taehyung, all these years, they’re six years apart, fingering, rimming.

➙ index. 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | finale | side story 1 |

➙ synopsis. you’re a horny bunny yet kim seokjin always seems to manage to slide out of your grasps like a fox every time.

follow these two as they embark on a sexual adventure whilst keeping their relationship on the low from kim taehyung who may or may not just pull out the (your) best friend and (seokjin’s) brother card to call a time-off on them for good.

➙ note. if you’re used to reading my fics, this one is a little different. it focuses less on healing and more on getting it on w your best friend’s brother ykwim.

also, if you’re not okay with the age gap or the nature of their dynamic, keep it to yourself. block and don’t engage. much love x

x

“i watched you grow up!” seokjin shouts right in your face as he leans so far back against the counter, you thought his back would break.

“exactly,” a suggestive smirk curls on your lips as you lean your breasts against him, making sure the angle allows him to have an eyeful of your voluptuous slopes, “i’m grown now.”

but your words seem to have snapped him out of your wonderful spell, eyes going round with realization, “you’re nineteen!”

“and,” your finger teasingly travel up from his chest and a few inches above dip of his collarbone where the protrusion of his adam’s apple dips and stops at, “legal.”

“taehyung will kill me,” he reasons, large, secure hand wrapping around your wrist before he holds it away from his throat.

“only if he knows,” your free hand caresses the noticeable protrusion in his pants that’s pressing deliciously against your stomach.

seokjin’s mouth opens and closes twice but no words come out. and he’s not exactly making any moves to hold your teasing hand away from his boner.

“please, seokjin?” with a voice as sweet as angel’s and a tilt of head just in the right angle, you give him your best puppy eye, “i can’t take it anymore, after i saw how hung you were last month when i accidentally walked in on you in the bathroom... you’re all i think about - and you weren’t even hard back then!” you giggle when his hand finally captures yours when you try to pull down the zipper of his pants.

seokjin’s lush lips glisten from his tongue swiping out to wet them - you may not have spent as much time with him than with his brother but you know that whenever he does that little tongue thing and seem to stare off into nothing in particular - it’s because he’s heavily considering the possibility of delving into whatever that had his head occupied.

but before he can even say a word, the sound of keys jiggling from the other side of the door echoes into the space where you’d trapped him, in the middle of twirling around with a newly filled glass of water. you’d easily took the glass out of his hand, noting the way he arched a brow but silently watched as you placed it on the counter next to him before you boxed him between you and the counter.

“...that’s why i’m telling you! we need more cheese!” taehyung walks in with two bags of groceries, head craned towards his elder brother and middle child of the kims - namjoon who only shakes his head at the younger boy’s antics.

“we already bought three packets of cheese,” by the time namjoon’s pointing out the unbelievable bought, you’re already helping taehyung get the backs off his hands and placing them on the counter across where seokjin stands, front facing the counter, boner hidden underneath and hand gripping the poor glass until his knuckles turn white.

“oh my god, spicy carbonara ramen!” you squeal, finding out the signature light pink packet before setting that aside - you don’t trust anyone in this house to not steal your food unless you keep it safe in your room.

“you’re too obsessed with that thing,” taehyung asserts from next to you, sitting on one of the stools, eating out of the bag of cheese-flavored chips.

“uh-huh, maybe if seokjin or namjoon says that, i’d take it more seriously,” you don’t miss the way the eldest brother’s eyes sweeps up to you in an automatic response to his name.

to anyone else, your smile would look as if you’re sharing the same humor for teasing taehyung.

“uh, i’m like the boss of moderation,” taehyung waves a dismissive hand.

“the three packets of cheese in the fridge disagrees,” you twirl around, stealing the bag out of his grasp and leaning against the counter as you place one chip into your mouth.

you notice seokjin padding towards the hallway where the rooms are and somewhere at the end, lies the infamous bathroom you speak of that changed your life forever.

x

the kims and your family have known each other for years. having been next door neighbors, it’s almost inevitable that you’d be best friends with the same-age, truck toy-wielding boy. your parents didn’t need to worry when they didn’t find you in your room - they could just ring up the kims’ and ask if their daughter were over without telling them which, most of the time, was the case.

you didn’t get to hang out at school because you went to an all-girls school and taehyung and his brothers went to a co-ed school. seokjin was the kinder but still fun to hang out with brother but wasn’t around most times. he was already in high school when you were in elementary - had his own set of friends, joined robotics for the entirety of his high school career which made him immesurably busy. namjoon’s alright but he’s more quiet and also somehow managed to get you and taehyung to do your homeworks even though you initially came over to get away from your parents nagging you to do said homework.

you should’ve seen that diplomatic but persuasive nature of his would have landed him a job in one of the biggest firms in seoul. seokjin took on a much different route, choosing to work for samsung’s sister company that specialized in r&d-ing micro-everything that goes into the phone - which is also in seoul.

you and taehyung got into the same university but the different in majors yet again obstruct you from hanging out whenever you wanted to which was why you were almost always around in the weekend at the kim brothers’ shared apartment. that meant sacrificing your back, sleeping on the thinly layered futon taehyung bought for you on sale because he finally took pity on your sleeping on the couch and suffering from back pains every morning (they were exaggerated and taehyung knew but you guessed his guilty conscience got the best of him).

“what? so your girlfriend found out i’ve been crashing at your place and she wants you to choose between me and her?” you’re in front of the laptop (they don’t have a tv) in the living room, eating a bowl of ramen while taehyung has his cheesy burrito, the movie freezing in the screen before you turn to him with the most, you’d say, nasty frown.

“i mean - she just said a girl and a guy shouldn’t be sleeping together in a room regardless if one’s on the bed and the other’s on the floor,” taehyung’s avoiding your eyes and that’s how you know he’s actually debating following that snobbish little bitch’s instructions.

now, you don’t call just anyone a bitch but when you do, she’s on your ‘don’t fuck with’ list.

“do you see my girlfriend complaining about us sharing a room when me and her were dating?” you point out in a matter of factly.

“th-this and that are two different things!” taehyung slams the burrito onto the plate in his lap and slams said plate onto the coffee table.

you say slam but it’s really possibly just a tad bit aggressive than what taehyung’s like usually.

“how is it different?” the bowl of ramen clicks sharply when you place it on the coffee table too.

“i-it just is,” taehyung shrugs.

“i can’t believe you’re choosing some bimbo over me!” hand over your chest, you look at him dramatically, jaw hanging loose and eyes accusing.

“you’ve been sleeping in the living room before i got the futon. it’ll just be like one of those days, you know what i mean?” he shrugs - or at least attempts to look casual about it.

“look at this place! it’s not even big enough to fit the futon,” hands flailing, you gesture towards the minimal space on the floor.

“it’s fine, we can move the coffee table somewhere-” taehyung still tries but you’re already vexed-marching towards the hallway with your bowl of ramen without another word.

to just about anyone, it would’ve been obvious that you’ve had it with your best friend. but taehyung being taehyung is probably desensitized to your anger fits because this time, he does sound casual when he shouts, “what about the movie? can i continue watching without you?”

“do whatever you want!” you shout back before slamming the door behind you.

it takes you a moment to gather yourself before you notice the heat of a pair of eyes on you from all the way across the room. seokjin lies in bed with his laptop on his lap, pillows elevating his upper body. he’s staring at you with arched brows and cute naturally puckered lips.

“oh, don’t mind me. i just had a fight with taehyung and i can’t stand to see him right now,” you say, walking over to the vacant table and chair, “do you mind if i finish my ramen here?”

“be my guest,” before he even lifts his hand from the laptop to gesture towards said desk, you’re already plopping down with a “thanks!”

soon enough, the tapping sound of his keyboard fills the otherwise silent room. you don’t know how long time’s passed but you’ve already finished your ramen and scrolling through instagram on your phone when you see seokjin’s latest post.

he’s sitting in a cafe, dressed in a denim jacket over a white turtle neck with a cap casting shadow over his eyes. the angle he has head head lowered makes it all the more difficult to see his expression. only his soft kissable lips are visible.

so you double tap on the picture before going into gallery and scrolling through your own pic. there’s one with you standing in front of a brick wall, clad in all black, bringing out your colorful eye makeup in conjunction with pride month. the way you’re standing accentuates your curve, bringing attention to your hips after the beholder would be done with admiring the emotions in your eyes.

you have taehyung to thank for that picture but you’re not about to tag him for credit because you haven’t really forgave him. he’s on his phone since it dinged with a notification, probably from you liking his picture. but he hasn’t even looked at you once throughout the course of that and you posting a new picture.

relentless, open up snapchat, posing for a picture and making sure the frame captures the sight of your perked breasts as you stick the tip of your tongue out, smirking and biting on it ever so gently.

with a caption of ‘don’t have a bedroom to sleep in tonight, can i sleep in urs, ggukie-yah?’

it takes a second and a half for him to set his phone down... and go back to his laptop. the tapping sound continues without even the slightest hiccup to it - and he’s already opened your snap.

so with that, you stand up, pick up your bowl, making sure to stand in a way that makes your hips more curved and breasts more defined, “well, i guess i need to get out of here since taehyung’s jealous ass girlfriend doesn’t want me sleeping in his room.”

“hm?” his brows raises at that, “you’re leaving? but it’s night time.”

your dorm is at least half an hour away and it’s too expensive by grab - you usually go back on monday with taehyung since he has a car. but since you’re not on speaking terms, both you and seokjin know that even if the youngest brother offers to drive you back - you’d straight out refuse him. would probably even say something along the lines of your friendship being over and that he has no obligations to ensure you return safely. all of it’s gotta be dramatic though. maybe add in crocodile tears.

“i’d probably stay over at a friend’s at least he’ll lend me his bed to sleep in, unlike your woman-choosing brother.” when your hand is on the handle, seokjin stops you.

“this friend... is it ‘gukkie-yah’?” and there goes the fish biting the bait.

“how did you know?” you’d like to think your tilted head and confused, drawn together eyebrows are convincing enough.

“you mistook me for him... i got your snap which was probably meant for him,” he waves his darkened phone screen in the air.

“oh my god, you did?” hand over your mouth, you gasp, “i’m so sorry, that was embarrassing.”

“it’s chill,” he shrugs.

“anyways, i’ll text him on my way there. he usually has no qualms lending a helping hand to a friend in need,” and with that, you twist the doorknob.

“are you guys... close?” the question hits the air with a different kind of tone.

“kinda,” you say, face struggling to stay neutral when you see the way his eyes glint with a dangerous gleam, “we were fwb’s in freshman year before i started dating yoona... might continue where we left off.”

“cool,” is all he says before he goes back to his laptop, the incessant tapping sound echoing throughout the room. not even a glance is spared at you the whole time you slip out of the door and close it behind you.

taehyung’s eyes catch yours for the briefest second and before he can even say anything (he looks like he would’ve said hi like he didn’t just choose his girlfriend over you), you’re holding up a hand, “don’t talk to me. i’m still mad at you for choosing a girl over me.”

as soon as you’re done washing the dishes, you pad back towards the hallway, not even caring that taehyung’s not bothering to get up from his spot or pausing the movie to talk to you - guess you’re both in that stage where you know no matter how mad the other is, they’ll never be mad enough to break the friendship for forever.

either way, if your best friend already exiled you from his room and your crush doesn’t even care about you going over to another boy’s place, you might as well actually go over to said boy’s place.

at least jeongguk’s dick game is good.

“you’re really going?” seokjin’s sillhoutte leans against the door frame whilst you’re stuffing your clothes into a h&m’s paper bag.

“yeah, like, i’m done. i’m not gonna let that bimbo think she won,” you huff while in the middle of shoving your headphones on top of the neatly folded pile.

“you can sleep with me,” as soon as he said those words, you can see panic spread through his face as he quickly adds, “in my room- on the bed- i can sleep on the floor.”

“why can’t we sleep in the same bed?”

his eyes follow the sweater that you were in the middle of folding and discard, tossing it onto taehyung’s bed.

“you and taehyung don’t-” he starts but you’re convulsing in disgust.

“ew,” you manage to hold back your rising bile. so he stays quiet. clad in a creme colored sweater that makes him look cozy and warm, “why’d you think i never complained about sleeping on the couch or on the floor? it’s cause i don’t wanna catch his cooties!”

okay, so maybe that was a lie. taehyung may be cootie-less but you’ve never been the huggy-cuddly kind of best friends. for one, it’s because you both did believe that touching the opposite gender will actually render your whole body spotted with incurable diseases and before you know it, you both were allergic to physical contact with each other at least.

seokjin doesn’t seem to believe so, otherwise he wouldn’t be shaking his head and smiling to himself.

“does that mean we can sleep in the same bed?” you cross the short distance between the bed where you’re standing over and to the door, putting on your best puppy eye.

“sure, why not?” seokjin caves like he always does back then.

you squeal in delight, arms wrapping around his waist as you give him a big hug whilst he freezes under your touch but doesn’t tell you to go away, “eeep, thanks!”

it’s almost as if the incident at the kitchen this afternoon was just a dream.

x

taehyung has tried talking to you - you say talk because no word of apology slipped through his mouth - but you’re having none of it, hiding behind seokjin’s big bro influence, or so you’d like to call it, when he burst through his eldest brother’s door, demanding for his best friend, “i know she’s in here!”

“she is,” seokjin says simply and you’re about to shoot him accusatory looks before he chuckles, “but she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“____, come on, the squad’s all ready to play,” so that’s what he’s after.

over the years, you and taehyung have gathered your own like-minded people when it comes to video games. you don’t own a personal computer so your laptop suffers for it but the upside is that you get to bring it everywhere and it’s a pretty sturdy, gamer laptop.

“i’m playing here,” you say, laptop already set up on seokjin’s desk, headphones on.

“okay, whatever,” with a roll of his eyes, taehyung closes the door, leaving you and seokjin alone again.

and so it goes, you giving rapt attention to the game and the occasional comments spilling out of your lips when one of you make a dumb mistake or when one of you manage to kill off the enemy team’s avatar until you end up being killed yourself.

“what?” jeongguk - oh, he’s part of the squad - drags out as if he couldn’t belive his eyes.

“that’s cheating, bro,” taehyung’s voice rings in your earphone, “they literally ganged up on ___!”

“shit, shit, shit, shit, we’re gonna lose,” hoseok chants like a mantra.

“no, we’re not gonna lose,” you can just hear jimin rolling his eyes.

“bro, stop capping! we lost our fighter!” hoseok is at a point where he’s shrieking now.

“well, take however-long-it-takes-for-me-to-respawn, i guess,” you say in the middle of them arguing that they still have a hybrid fighter who is jeongguk.

either way, you’re already standing up, stretching your stayed-in-one-position-for-too-long limbs just in time for seokjin to walk in with a towelette draped over his head - you remember him using those cute little printed ones back then to dry his face after he brushed his teeth and cleansed his face. sure enough, he looks as fresh as the air that you’re about to take.

“you’re going to bed?” you ask the obvious.

“yeah, don’t worry, you don’t have to turn off the lights.”

“oh, don’t worry, i’m used to playing in the dark - my eyes are immune,” you wave a dismissive hand.

then he steals a glance at your laptop where your headphone lies next to it, emitting the lowest mumblings from your squad.

“you died?” he asserts - it’s obvious because otherwise, why would you even be talking to him.

“yeah, i think i’m gonna go wash my face now too.”

and with that, you’re out of the door, bursting in taehyung’s and shaking his shoulders to distract him as he reports the act of disturbance you’re comitting to the squad before you leave for the bathroom where your toiletries have made home in the cabinet along with taehyung’s belongings whilst namjoon and seokjin opts for placing theirs on either corners of the sink.

when you’re back, the room is already dark with your laptop being the only thing guiding your steps. there’s a lump underneath the blanket on the left side of the bed and another bright light casting sight on seokjin’s face as he scrolls through his phone.

he doesn’t bat an eye when you climb over, only looking up when it’s too late. thanks to his phone light, you can see how his eyes widen as he gazes at you with a mixture of disbelief and confusion.

you just pecked him on his cheek.

“good night,” and with that, you bound over to your laptop, noting that you’ve already respawned and getting shit talked by your squad for your tardiness and almost being the cause that the whole team was going to lose.

but fifteen minutes in, you make a blunder that causes the whole team to lose, “alright, alright, i don’t think i’m in my zone right now. maybe i’ll hit the sack.”

a chorus of protests erupts through your headphone as jeongguk starts calling you out on uncanny ability to stay up all night playing.

“i’m hitting twenty!” you dramatically moan, “my body doesn’t work like it used to!”

the protests floods in one more time but by then, you’re already saying your goodbyes, making sure to give taehyung a warning not to come bursting into seokjin’s room because he’s already asleep and you don’t want to get kicked out for being the cause his little brother disrupted his sleep to find the best friend he’s housing after she got exiled.

“seokjin?” you whisper into the dark, climbing onto the bed for the second time of the night but this time, you’re on top of the human-sized lump.

when no answer comes from the man, you giggle, “please, i heard your phone shutting off when i was telling the boys i was going to bed- had one headphone over my ear and the other off.”

only then does the man underneath you move, his tone bearing a warning, “taehyung is right across the hallway.”

“shh,” you’re groping blindly, but lady luck deems that you find seokjin’s neck and then his plump lips with ease, “then we better be real quiet.”

unlike this morning, he isn’t as deflective. doesn’t tell you to stop even when you’re grinding directly over him. and boy, is he hung.

“you know,” he lets you pry the sheets off him, kicking it off his feet completely as you take a seat on his hardening self, breasts pressed against his chest as you slowly lay yourself on him, “i was hoping you’d fuck me when i was playing,” his heartbeat is deliciously erratic, “bend me over the desk and fuck me while i talk to my friends like nothing’s happening.”

seokjin’s teeth grazing over your thumb that you use to shush him comes off as a pleasant surprise. your only regret is not letting the laptop stay on so you’d at least be able to see what kind of expression he’d make.

“you might not be able to keep your moans in on your first time with me,” the unadulterated confidence reeking off him is enticing. so ever different from the kim seokjin who’d throw around dad jokes in the house whenever the four of you sit down to have dinner, “none of the ladies i slept with could.”

“is that a challenge?” you don’t pretend to hide your excited tone as you shoot up, eyes searching for a face but all you see is darkness.

but you feel him underneath. you smell his fresh minty breath. you hear his deep breaths. you feel him.

“touch me,” it doesn’t take long for you to find both of his hands after you took off your tanktop and bra, mainly because they’re caressing your ass. all you do is cup them over your exposed breasts.

his hands are larger than jeongguk’s. they swallow your voluptous breasts like they were quarter sized cups. but by god, does he know how to fondle a woman. he teases you, grazing his thumb over your erect nipples ever so gently that you crave for more. it’s no surprise that when his hand snakes behind you and pulls you down, you easily submit.

you’ve always wondered how his lips would feel on you - but you never thought the first thing they’d be on is your nipple. suckling and biting tenderly whilst his hand makes sure your other nipple is kept accompanied.

“ah!” a mixture of a moan and a shout escapes your lips when he bites a tad too hard. teasing. testing the waters.

“for a little minx, you’re quite sensitive,” his chuckle is as warm and endearing. too warm and endearing for someone who’s doing things he shouldn’t do to his precious little brother’s best friend.

“the boys dig it,” you remark, not knowing that it would spark a fire that burns so bright, it can only be put out by your silent suffering as he flips you two over.

“that’s right, you’ve only ever had boys,” it’s not a question and even if it is, you wouldn’t have the time to answer because you’re yelping in surprise at the coolness that licks your entrance, legs forced open by seokjin’s knee.

“and girls- ah!”

a lone, single fingerpad rims around your opening. and that’s all it takes for you to swallow thickly. breath coming out bated with anticipation. heartbeat racing.

“let’s see, if you don’t make a sound, i’ll fuck you while you play next time,” he slips the tip of his finger in as if testing you, hoping you’d moan right when he sets down his offer on the table. your bottom lip hurts from suddenly forcing your teeth on it but that’s a small price to pay especially when you haven’t heard of the second half of the deal, “if you do make a sound, we stop this whole thing - no more teasing, no more seemingly innocent little gestures.”

“alright, bet,” that might’ve come off a little prickly, but it’s all seokjin’s fault! if he wasn’t hung like a horse, you would’ve taken one speculative glance and left him to his own devices!

the sweet chuckle echoing off the walls is disarming. so much so, when he slips one digit into you, your back arches and you’re biting into the pillow to stop a moan from escaping.

“is that a moan i hear? since we just started, i’ll let you off the hook,” there it is again, that disarming trickle of hymn as he slips in and out of you, loosening you up for something much, much bigger.

“it was a cough, god damn it,” you barely manage to get that out before you’re shoving your curled index finger into your mouth when he starts inserting two fingers inside without so much as a warning.

“that’s cheating!” you whine but your legs spread wider anyway.

“all is fair in war and sex,” he comments, free hand pinning your hips down on the bed before he starts thrusting his digits faster, the squelching sound of your juices reverberating against the walls - you fear that even without your moans, the two other brothers that are walls apart would’ve heard and come knocking on seokjin’s door.

along with the fear comes the electrifying euphoric sensation that courses from the tip of your toes to your core and all over your body. you remember clawing at seokjin’s hand that’s pinning you down because of how unbearably rapturous he’s making you feel. you remember his hand not budging a single inch from your meek attempts. you remember trying to bring your legs together but something’s wedged in between them. you remember tears pricking your eyes as the background slowly fades - taehyung’s presence in the room across from where you are, the possibility of namjoon coming back and walking down the hallway right as your back arches upwards and toes curling inwards as sparks course through your veins.

when your senses come back, seokjin’s in the middle of complimenting your hardwork, if “not bad” is even plausibly a praise. his fingers are still inside you, unmoving, possibly waiting for you to come down from your pleasured state.

“did i pass?” you might have been a little too elated.

“surprisingly,” he affirms, that beautiful sound of chuckles spilling out of his mouth.

“then won’t you fuck me right now? i’m already wet for you,” the last part, you say with a tinge of spoiled-ness.

“not tonight,” he says, before instructing you to lift up your head and slipping his shirt over it. you know it’s his because his heat still lingers when you slip your arms through the arm holes, cheeks hot as you forearm brushes against a nude chest as he pulls the sheets up over you.

but you being you, manage to ruin the moment with your, “why not?”

seokjin hums, that sound alone enough to make your heart shake with a sort of emotion that you can’t pinpoint, “like taehyung says - things are better in moderation.”

“he never said that,” you plainly dispute.

“well,” a kiss lands on the side of your head and an arm drapes over your stomach, just above the area where he used the same hand attached to that arm to pin you down as he fingered you, “let’s just say it’s my way of keeping you from going back to that ggukie-guy.”

you gasp into the dark, “are you jealous?!”

“i sure am,” he admits, a bit too willingly - as if it’s a known fact.

“oh,” you say, lost for words becase - “no one really admits that they are, not the people i’ve been with at least.”

“that’s cause you never been with a man... or woman. but i’d say being with a man - me - is better. i’ll show you what you’re missing out on,” he shushes you up with a “shhh” and a hand on your jaw to turn you towards him.

a pair of the softest lips meets yours and whatever retort you’re thinking up of is already out of the window.

x

note. this is different than what i’m used to writing so i’ll probably need some help!! i’m planning to update this from time to time with scenarios like ‘where he picks you up from your uni’ or ‘wherein he takes you shopping’ - idk djashdsakj send in suggestions that you think will fit oc and seokjin’s dynamic and i’ll incorporate them for the upcoming parts in their (nsfw) adventures to realizing their feelings for each other while also sneaking around behind taehyung’s back! it’s cool if you don’t though! but heads up, my smut writing skills aren’t as good so you’ll probably see more sexy times / implied smut most of  the time lol

 either way, hope yall enjoyed this!

[sebbybooks]

Wreck My Daydream

Part Two

Sebastian Stan x Fanfiction

18+

Tagged🎄

@wayward-mikaelson

Cataglottism

(n.) kissing with tongue

I’m already wet and Sebastian barely even touched me.

I hardly gave myself a moment to be ashamed or even stir in the crass words I was using even if I had only thought them. Like a diary I suppose there was no need to lie to myself considering it was one hundred percent true. I, Nellie Lennox, was unabashedly met with unending desires that washed away my trepidations that led up to this moment.

In its place I felt this newfound sense of possibilities that I wasn’t actually making an ass out of myself with my sudden confession of feelings for Sebastian. In my defense I didn’t just wake up one morning after having some epiphany as to why I wanted to be with him. The thought of us together made itself at home in the back of my mind.

Almost like a what if. . .

However, I couldn’t help but be terrified of all the ways it could go wrong. What if I had made things weird between us forcing us apart? Life would be a bitter existence if Sebastian wasn’t around in some capacity. For the longest time I tried to find him in different relationships. It is a messed up philosophy, but it almost worked. Whenever things would get too serious it nearly terrified me. I was their someday and they were my maybe. I owed this last relationship that is still so freshly cut more than that.

I owed myself that.

On the unique and rare chance I somehow got lost in a very realistic maladaptive daydream, I’m pretty certain Sebastian wants this too. Just thinking about what he had told me seconds ago made my heartbeat drum to a dizzy rhythm. Imagining myself getting fucked to the beat of it was a completely different type of sensation.

Retraining my focus on the now I could see it in Sebastian’s face all the wheels going around in his head. Confusion? Uncertainty? Regret?

“You don’t get to do that.” I tell him. I felt like I was going to climb out of my own skin if he left me suspended in the silence for a second longer. Sebastian tipped his face closer to mine, our lips gingerly brushing against each other. Perhaps he was feeling ambivalent in regards of his feelings for me? After all this was sprung on him in the middle of the night.

Sebastian shook his head as if he was at war with himself. “I want to.” His voice was strained and dangerously low, like something was causing him utter misery being this close, yet not knowing exactly when to pull away.

“Then why don’t you.” I dared him.

I was growing impatient with this slow burn we had somehow started. I wanted to play with this fire. If I got burned in the end by his touch then so be it. At least I would forever be marked with a reminder of knowing that I at least went after something I wanted with no apology. I wanted to see how far he was willingly to go.

Sebastian removed his hand from the security of being wrapped around me. I feigned a disappointed sigh at the lack of contact. My entire body must have been on autopilot , because I didn’t recognize the position I was in. I practically sat in his lap with one leg wrapped around him and the other one mindlessly dangling over the bed. Of course the mind reader that Sebastian was naturally grabbed ahold of the side of my thigh and wrapped it around his back.

It wasn’t like I was naive to sex or never had my fair share of romantic conquest. Regardless of my experiences I still felt like a gigantic ball of nerves. The way he stared down at me with a heated look in his eyes as if he wanted to posses every inch of me. Hell, I felt like I could come undone from that alone.

The hand that was planted on my back slowly drifted downward trailing the curve of my backside gripping my ass through my thinly silk hunter green shorts that matched the top. Earlier I had berated myself for wearing scantly clad pajamas to bed. Now I am thanking my lucky stars I opted out of the option of wearing a red Christmas onesie that had polar bears wearing scarfs around their necks. They were ones my mother insisted the whole family wear.

If I had I probably would not have been able to feel his erection that was restrained in his sweatpants. Trying to situate myself closer I rocked into him slightly, massaging myself on him. My ears didn’t miss the subtle groan Sebastian let out from the feel of my weight pressing further into him.

His silence wasn’t lost on me and he still hadn’t answered my question so I did it again. I wanted him to say something. My nervousness abated at this point. I twined my arms around his neck, grinding myself against him again and again. All the while Sebastian watched my every movement with a hint of a star struck look in his eyes. The feeling was certainly mutual I was even shocking myself at my behavior.

“Nellie,” Sebastian finally says, voice husky. He usually only ever calls me by my nickname so I was more than sure that he was not fully himself.

“I’m a big girl Sebastian I can handle whatever you need to say.” I tell him, holding in my breath.

“Alright,” he said with uncertainty. “You and me, this, it’s not a good idea.” His tone was barely audible and even more so he sounded hurt. Everything in me froze.

“And why is that?” I asked him more confused than ever. Suddenly feeling absolutely self conscious as I over analyzed every intimate word I just shared with him. I was even more horrified by the fact that I was dry humping my best friend.

He let out a darkly laugh. “It’s pretty damn obvious Nells.” Sebastian says rather ominously.

“...It’s not actually.” For someone that wants nothing out of this, Sebastian was holding on to me like an anchor and I on the other hand just wanted to get away and sink.

Admittedly, I was losing this game of tug a war. There was only so much I was willing to endure even I had my limits. “You’re giving me whiplash Sebastian .” I tell him honestly, “ I’m not like those other girls you go for that are satisfied with you just dangling yourself in front of them like a piece of cake that I can’t have. I meant what I said when I told you I didn’t say it just to hear you say the same.” My voice could only rise so high in pitch.

I definitely didn’t want to wake up the upstairs guest that would love nothing more than to recap this conversation over breakfast. Then like an unexpected bolt of lighting startling you from a distance, Sebastian kissed me.

Sebastian

I am a selfish bastard.

My mind fell quiet when I looked at her. I wanted to swim in the serenity and peacefulness that was this smart, vibrant, sexy, and uniqueness this woman possessed. I only wondered even in the darkness could Nellie see my eyes as plainly as I can see hers. If so could she see the shame reflecting in them? I could feel the nagging weight of my conscience siting on both of my shoulders, arguing back and forth over what I should and shouldn’t do. It was kind of ironic that the devil in my ear insisted that I give in to the angel in my lap.

God knows I waited for her and that I would keep waiting if I had to in this lifetime or the next. It was always going to be Nellie for me. I wanted to tell her all of this, but the longer I held on to this slice of heaven I was given during this random hour. I also knew that this moment was fleeting. I basked in the way she looked at me, the way she held on to me like I was an object of virtue. I also got a sample of what it would be like to lose her the second she began to slip away on her own accord. So, I did what any poor fool would do in my position. I kissed her.

It wasn’t exactly suave or how I imagined it would go. My mouth sort of crushed against her unmoving lips in a rushed and unskilled manner. Frankly, I wasn’t sure what I was doing, I certainly could do a hell of a lot better than this. An yet, it was still like I predicted it would be, filled with pure unadulterated pleasure. Nellie’s lips were sweet and warm, exactly how I imagined forbidden fruit to taste like.

A perfect mixture of firm and softness that drove me wild. She flattened her hands on my bare chest as if to brace herself. Nellie pushed herself away, but her face was still so close to me. She didn’t speak and neither could I. I forced myself to look up at her and hoped that she could see I would do everything in my power to earn her forgiveness. That it was a mistake I will make right somehow.

“Nell,” I let out an exasperated breath. “ I have a need for you that goes deeper than just lust and I know that it will never truly be sated. The killer thing is I’m already at risk of losing you before I even had you.”

Nellie stared hazily up at me.“You already have me.” She whispered, our lips still grazing. Those four simple words set off a firework in me. This time when I kissed her our mouths came together like we needed to feed off of each other’s oxygen in order to survive. I’d suffer if I didn’t have it.

My mouth was greedy for hers, and I could imagine she felt the same. The moment I felt her lips slightly part open to let me in, less than a second our tongues slid together in a torrid and sensually slow pace. We kissed like a couple of eager teenagers. My heart threatened to leap from my chest when the tip of Nell’s tongue moved across my bottom lip. She tastes like gingerbread , mixed with some other divine flavor that I can only assume is Nellie. She arched herself closer into my chest and I could feel the points of her hardened nipples through her top. I seized the opportunity to press her body close because I needed more.

I wanted to feel the heat of her soft skin on mine. She returned her arms back around my neck tightly holding me in place as she angled her head kissing me back with the same ferocity. Deeply, and oh so thoroughly by the way she sucked on my tongue. I had a rough grip on her ass keeping Nellie steady as she straddled me. I was so damn hard for her. If my dick could get even harder it was bound to. Nellie did that thing again where she grinds down on my erection and I cursed at myself to not combust. I grabbed ahold of her hips guiding her to move faster, harder.

I kept telling myself to savor her, fucking take my time with this moment. I couldn’t just rip those tiny little shorts off and sink myself into her over and over until we’ve both had enough. But even then I would always need more of her. I wasn't a sentimental man, with Nellie I at least wanted to try. I wanted my first night with Nell to be a little less spontaneous than this. It wasn’t like I came prepared for festivities filled with endless fucks. Plus the added fact I couldn’t let things get too carried away especially since she still didn’t know what I have done.

Yeah, I am a very selfish bastard.

I didn’t want this to end. I wanted my mouth to explore every single part of Nellie. I wanted the taste of her to live on my tongue. I wanted to go as far as she and my consciousness would allow me.

“I need to touch you.” I panted, between every nip and kiss I left on the delicate area of skin under her jaw.

“You’re already touching me.” She says with a soft laugh, which was a melody to my ears. I was but at the same time I wasn’t. I needed to rid Nellie of any barrier that prevented me from branding her skin with my touch.

“This…off.” I tug gently on the bottom of her tank top before returning my hands to rest on her thighs, caressing them as I sucked on her neck for dear life. Going back and forth between grazing her neck with my teeth then licking over the area to soothe any imprint I’ve left.

Nellie crisscrossed her arms reaching for the hem of her top gracefully pulling it over her head. She purposely fell backwards onto the mattress aiming her shirt at my face. For as long as I’ve known Nell she was never one to be shy in her own skin.

“Imagine how unsexy that would have been if I hit my head on the headboard.”

“As long as you didn’t hurt yourself I would have just pretended that I didn’t see a thing.” I teased.

“Ah, to think they wonder where all of the good men have gone.” Nell scrunched up her nose pretending to be lost in critical thought.

I cock my head to the side. “Mm-hmm. Are you mocking me?”

“What if I am?”Her plump wet lips spread into a smile.

It was miracle I caught a word of what she said to me. I swallowed a groan as my eyes drift over the area of her body that was naked from the waist up. Nellie was clearly a stolen painting from the Louvre that I had no intention of returning. All I could do was stare.

With her legs still draped around me, my hands slide up the curve of her torso passing her ribs. I sensed that she was watching me, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off of her just yet. The pads of my fingers traced over to her breast and my mouth practically watered at the sight of them. She was ethereal.

“Don’t suddenly go mute on me Sebastian.” She let out a shaky breath.

I’ve heard her say my name a thousand times. Hearing her say it in this state created a feeling of warmth that filled my chest. I could only begin to imagine the different ways I wanted to hear her call out my name. My gift, my best friend, my Nellie. Those last words had a sting to them even as I thought them. Deep down I knew that was never going to be true.

I eased all the way down my tongue traveling around the dip of her navel. Creating a path up the center of her abdomen. I knew that Nell was extremely ticklish. The slightest form of contact would automatically turn her into a ninja. From the way she was pressing herself back into the mattress I knew she was trying her hardest not to flee. Of course I found it rather enticing so I made sure to spend extra time over the areas of her exposed skin I knew to be the most sensitive. Brushing the tip of my nose between her breast my mouth finally latched on to what I’ve been waiting for.

“So fucking beautiful.” I say as I graze my mouth over the stiff peak of her nipple. I was in awe over the ability that they simultaneously could feel hard yet felt extremely soft. I dragged the tip of my tongue around the bud of it in a languid movement before sucking it in deep. I loved listening to the sounds she made while I sucked and devoured as much as I could fit into my mouth. I wanted to hear a symphony of the noises that escaped from Nellie.

Going for one after the other not wanting to miss out on either. Nellie kept a limp hand pressed into my hair keeping me close as if I dared to stop.

Writhing underneath me Nellie gasped,“Touch me.”

Now she understood what I meant. My own body felt betrayed by my decision. I literally ached from pain and pleasure. Truthfully I wouldn’t opt for a better scenario than this. I would be more than gratified with giving Nellie an orgasm or two.

Still leaving featherlight kisses across her chest. With one hand I reach down and brushed along the dip of Nellie’s hip, then began to tug away at her shorts. To my surprise she was bare underneath. This was a new and uncharted territory we were crossing.

Tell me to stop, say that this is just the wrong time, tell me we would never work. Those words never escaped me, the sound of the goddamn doorbell intervened for her. My movements hesitated then shortly I picked up on inaudible chattering out in the hall. Nellie turned her head in the direction towards the door which I hoped like hell was locked. “Maybe we should go see what’s going on.” Her eyes widened.

“Or we could stay here and not shame the fact that I was two seconds away from wrapping your legs around my face while I tasted the slickness between your thighs. ” Nellie released a ragged breath and I meant every word.

To my dissatisfaction we were composed in under three minutes. I felt a strange sense of comfort and pride seeing that ever so often I’d catch Nellie looking in my direction smiling like she had some big secret she was bursting to tell. Which only made me feel like an even bigger asshole. The walk downstairs was surprisingly noisy. Someone had plugged the Christmas tree back up and there was a chilly wind breaking in as the front door came to an immediate shut.

Nellie’s parents were both moving around in a fast pace trying to find new spots to put a couple of suitcases. I had to swallow down a chuckle at the sight of their bold choice of pajamas. Nellie had already beaten me to the bottom of the staircase just as I rounded the corner of the spiral stairs.

“Cousin!” Vanessa squealed rushing over towards Nellie, who excitedly embraced her the same. They exchanged a few excitable words to each other that I tuned out. I was busy focusing on the six foot son of a bitch with a puppy dog expression on his face standing awkwardly behind them.

“Now you know Nells Bells you can’t have Christmas without good ole St. Nicholas can you?” She winked at a stone faced Nellie who just looked straight ahead at her ex boyfriend Nick. “I hope it’s okay I brought him over with me. I saw him at the airport dozed off in a chair.” Vanessa whispered as she leaned into Nell, like she just earned a gold star. Soon as Vanessa’s wild dark brown eyes caught ahold me I knew my bubble was about to pop.

“Something told me I was off the naughty list this year.” Vanessa bit at her glossed up lips and made a beeline towards me, wrapping her arms around my waist. She smelled like an overtly sweet perfume that tortured my sinuses. “Did you forget how to work a phone or what? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for days. I miss you.” She cooed.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nellie watching the two of us. This was my punishment.

[mkakki]

The Things I Couldn't Say

Inumaki is one of the best boys, and I adore him. He deserves so much after the Shibuya incident

I can't wait to see what updates Gege has once back from haitus

Until then, sweet boy ಥ‿ಥ

I listened to this because I like to break my own heart

Manga spoilers below if you aren't completely up to date.

Broken, utterly defeated, useless, unable to perform. All of these vicious words chipped away at his already fragile soul as he stared blankly up at the ceiling. Sure, he had done a relatively good job at evacuating civilians, there were more survivors because of him. Yet he couldn't help protect his friends, his underclassmen.

He couldn't help to protect you.

The guilt that continued to flake away at his mind prevented him from opening the door whenever you came to visit. He pretended to be asleep, listening to your soft words from the other side of the door. Promising to come tomorrow, that you missed him, and that you wanted to help. He flexed his hand at his side, mouth paper dry.

Your relationship had always felt so one-sided, he knew you could do better. He couldn't even tell you that he loved you without worrying about possibly hurting you.

He couldn't tell you how your smile lit up his world.

That he would do whatever it took to make sure you were safe.

"Toge, I know you're awake in there. Panda told me he was here not too long ago." He couldn't bring himself to wince at the way your voice trembled, muffled by the door. The most he could manage was to turn his head to face it, already knowing what you were doing on the other side.

Trying to keep a brave face while wringing your hands in front of you with worry. You had always been a bit of a cry-baby, but you always insisted that you weren't. It never bothered him that you mourned so freely, that you didn't allow this twisted world to take that piece of innocence from you.

"Why won't you let me see you?" Your voice cracked under the pressure on the last syllable, which made part of his heart crumble.

He wasn't sure how many days it had been, or how much was changing outside of that door, but he felt that this was his penance. Despite his age, he knew that you would be the person he wanted by his side for the rest of his days. It was never a question to him. From day one, his soul had touched yours and felt immediately at home. Whether it was some sort of weird phenomenon with cursed energies, or just his brain convincing itself that this was fact, he didn't care. He would face down a million special grades to prove his worth to you, even though you would never want him too.

"If it's something I did- something I said, or maybe even something I didn't do, just- just please tell me Toge."

Pulling himself free of his bed was nearly impossible, but he managed to push himself up with one arm, trembling the entire time. He crossed his darkened room, knees ready to buckle the entire time, and contemplated.

This might be his penance, but he wasn't alone in it. You were suffering just as much as he was, and it wasn't fair to you. He remembered the pit that had opened in his chest when they pulled you from the hole, unconscious, and bleeding from injuries he couldn't keep track of. The panic he felt when you stopped breathing for a moment, hand cold in his.

"If you want me to leave, just tell me."

Someday, you would die, and he wouldn't be far behind.

The doorknob felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds as he tried to twist it open.

There you stood, his angel, his light, the person who held his heart. He thought giving it to you might leave him feeling empty, but that space was filled with so much love that it never made him second guess his decision.

"Toge." your lips trembled at the sight of him, bruised and battered. Bandages still bulked around his left shoulder. You weren't in much better condition, bruises in various stages of healing peppering your face. Your lower lip still swollen and scabbed slightly.

How scared were you when you woke up, and he wasn't there? Blood loss had made him drift off into peace shortly after you both arrived at the hospital, despite how hard he had tried to fight it off. He didn't want to allow himself to possibly miss your last breath.

He was careful when he pulled you to his chest, mindful of the bandages wrapped around your torso.

Panda had told him how hard you had fought. How a curse had run you straight through, and that the patchwork-faced curse nearly ended you.

He tried to open his mouth, for any sort of comfort to come, but all he could do was produce a weak and pained noise.

"I'm so sorry Toge," you sobbed against him, hands bunched in the front of his wrinkled shirt.

What did you have to be sorry for?

"I should have listened to you- I shouldn't have tried to do more than I could." You tipped your chin up to look him directly in the eyes, only to pause.

Tears fell from his eyes with no hesitation.

When your hand came up to cup his cheek, it felt like warmth being pressed back into his weak soul. It only made a wet sob rack his chest, his guilt finally dissolving into a semblance of relief.

"It's okay, we're both okay, I promise. I'm out of the woods now, I promise."

How could you switch it up so quickly? How was it so easy for you to go from needing him to comfort you, to you comforting him as if it was the most natural thing in the world?

He might not be able to speak it, maybe not now, but he could write all of the words he couldn't say.

He swore as you drug him back into his dorm that this wouldn't be it. Even as you quietly began the electric kettle he kept ready, he began to harden his resolve. He would do whatever it took, go through whatever hellish training he needed too, just so that someday he could safely tell you everything that you ever made him feel.

"I understand that you feel bad about everything that happened, but next time you need to think about me too, Toge." You sat a chipped mug on his bedside table, eyes downcast. "You weren't the only one hurt and scared."

He watched the tea leaves bleed flavor into the steaming water, a lump forming in his throat. The way you put up with his selfishness was astounding.

"Next time, I'll just have Panda break the door down."

He grasped one of your hands in his, a silent plea.

Love of mine, some day you will die, and I'll be close behind. I'll follow you into the dark.

[americasass81]

Make Her Mine - Chapter Five

{Warnings:- 18+, Dark theme, Smut, Dubious Consent, Non-Consensual Sex, Spanking, Attempted Suffocation, Anal, Use of Inanimate Object, Swearing, Implied Breeding, Oral (male & female receiving), Brief Mention of Real People, Spitting}.  Do not read if any of these warnings are upsetting.

This contains adult themes and by proceeding you are acknowledging that you are over 18 and are consenting to the content below the cut.

A/N: Okay so I know it's been a while since we last checked in here but life and story block decided to pay me a visit.  At least the good news is I got the whole thing finished (will never reveal how I beat the block though😂).  Hope you all enjoy it.  Feedback is welcomed.

Pairing:- Tony Stark x Reader

Word Count:- 3,820

Waking beside Tony the next morning, your mind worked through all the possible options available to you.  You could try to escape, but with his stupid technology inside you, not only could he always find you but the two shocks you already received were still fresh in your mind.  Carefully reaching across him for the phone on the bedside table, Tony opened his eyes, caught hold of your hips and despite your struggles, placed you on top of him before thrusting up into your waiting pussy as he pulled your hips down to meet his.  "Fuck darling, what a way to wake up?  You feel fantastic.  Tell me you love how full I make you feel."

Holding onto his chest to steady yourself while trying to free yourself, you refused to even look at him.  Unhappy with both your non-participation and refusal to answer, he lifted you up until only his tip remained inside you and repeated the process again.  Each time he brought you down, a hand left a slap on your ass cheek and it wasn't long before his efforts brought a reaction from you.  Just not the one he expected.

Managing to successfully grab your pillow, you brought it down on Tony's face and couldn't believe your dumb luck when he started thrashing beneath you, before his hands fell from your body.  Holding the pillow in place a bit longer for good measure, you then removed yourself from his cock while grabbing his phone, t-shirt and boxers before running from the room.  Throwing on Tony's clothes while simultaneously making your way towards the kitchen, you tried the phone only to find it locked.

Upon reaching the kitchen, your spirits sank further when, as Tony had told you previously, both doors were indeed locked.  Searching around for some means to pry any door open, you eventually dropped to the floor while you contemplated the fucked up situation you now found yourself in.  Here you sat in a house you couldn't leave, with a dead Avenger and apparently no way of opening any door that wasn't your bedroom.  You would have cried at the dire circumstances now facing you if it wasn't for the sharp pain that radiated throughout your body, signaling that Tony Stark wasn't as dead as you thought.  Screaming and wrapping your arms around yourself as the pain increased, darkness claimed you once again before a pissed off Tony towered over your unconscious form.

                   *************

Finally coming round in a room you didn't recognize, the double doors however told you that you now occupied Tony's bed.  Looking around, you saw that while it might look similar to your room, it was in fact much bigger with three doors along one wall.  Above the bed proved another difference however and this one made you wish you could reach a bathroom.  Where the window in your room sat above the bed, here Tony had a mirror running the full length of the bed with the same ceiling window on either side.

Tearing your gaze away from the scene above, you looked once more at your naked form, but this time instead of being secured to the bed your hands and feet were simply bound together.  Giving you a bit more freedom, but still not allowing you to move, a noise off to your right brought your attention back to the three doors.  All of a sudden, the single one opened and there before you stood a dripping wet Tony Stark, draped in a black towel that left very little to the imagination.  Winking over at you, he made his way to the other two doors before emerging a short time later in boxers that were no better than the towel.  Rounding the bed and sitting on the couch you now just noticed, Tony couldn't help but admire the effort you made to roll onto your side in order to face him.  It seemed your determination and perseverance were fast becoming his favorite qualities.

Taking your time to catch your breath after the effort moving took, the look on his face did nothing to quell your rising anger or frustration.  "Well Mr. Stark, I guess it's safe to say you look pretty good for a dead man.  Do I get to find out what's in store for me now or later?"

"Oh Y/N . . .," he smiled, rising from the couch and laying down next to you on the bed.  "what I have planned for you will totally depend on the path you choose to take going forward."

"Path?  What path?  I can't believe you're actually going to give me a choice in any of this."

Sliding his hand along your side, he smiled broadly before cupping your face to make you look at him.  "You know, with as smart as you are you should be way higher up in the company.  How come you've never once applied for any promotional opportunity?" he asked, failing miserably to put you at ease.

"I already told you, I was happy where I was.  I was good at my job and it was well paying, while still affording me ample time to enjoy various hobbies.  Not everyone needs to be lord of everyone else." you directed at him.

"Lord of everyone?" he scoffed, his other hand stalling on your left thigh.  "Is that what you think of me?  Excuse me for seeing something I want and going after it.  As circumstances and you keep proving, life can be quite short.  One never knows when it might end."

"But I'm not something, Mr. Stark.  I'm someone.  Someone who's not interested in being your flavor of the month or however long you plan on playing with me."

"Oh darling, no.  No no no.  You're not a flavor of the month.  You're my forever.  All you have to do is choose it."

Bursting out laughing at this ridiculous statement, you rolled over onto your back again as you tried to compose yourself.  "I think I might have cut off too much air to your brain when I tried to smother you, because I honestly don't see any scenario where I agree to be yours."

Propping both of you up against the headboard, you cringed as he placed his arm around your waist before speaking again.  "Let's watch a little visual presentation and then you tell me where you stand."  With that a tv screen rose from what you thought was a box at the end of the bed, while Tony played around with the watch on his wrist.  As the screen came to life, your eyes widened when he opened a file titled 'New York Mob.'

Sebastian, Sabrina, Anthony, Scarlett, Jeremy, Chris and Brie, all possible known information about each and every one of them was displayed in eye opening clarity.  Tony it seemed had been thorough.  So thorough, you thought, that he could probably teach the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. a thing or two.  Looking as the information continued to scroll by, accompanied by an array of private pictures, your blood ran cold when you realized, this was his leverage.  While he had told you he didn't want a war with Sebastian, it seemed he was more than willing to mobilize the Avengers if necessary to keep you with him.

Turning off the screen when he felt your tears fall on his chest, he pulled you closer and wrapped his arms tenderly around you.  "You know you can keep them safe, right darling?  Just say you're mine and Steve, Wanda, Vision, Rhodey and Bruce need never know of their existence."

Wiping your tears, you managed to pull yourself free of his arms before glaring up at him.  "Are you out of your freaking mind?  You're a goddamn Avenger.  Heroes don't do this sort of shit."

"You're right Y/N, this is the kind of thing your friends do all too frequently.  But good girls also don't behave the way you do.  Now come here, say you're mine or by god you can face the consequences." he threatened as he held out his arms to you.

Figuring the worst he could do was shock you until you were gratefully unconscious again, you turned away from him, before curling into a ball and waiting for the painful darkness that never came.

                    *************

Snatching you up, while you fought as best you could, Tony sat back down on the couch, before placing your bound form across his lap and his left hand on your back.  Feeling his right hand massage your ass cheeks, you turned your head to face him as you realized knocking you out would be a blessing compared to what he had planned.

"Mr. Stark . . . Tony . . . you win.  I'm yours.  Now how about we get something to eat and discuss this future you envisioned?" you suggested, with as much fake sincerity as your frightened body could muster.

Having freed your legs and smiling broadly, Tony continued to stroke your ass as he leaned forward and kissed your lips before meeting your terrified gaze.  "Seven to ten minutes darling.  That's how long it takes to properly suffocate someone.  Shall we see how long it takes for my proud little girl to beg?"  With that, his hand left your ass before coming back down sharply.

Eyes fixed on the floor and thinking of all the ways you would love to see him suffer as a means to distract yourself, you let out a cry somewhere around slap nine, when this time it seemed the nanoparticle armor had made an appearance.  Not knowing how much time had passed, six more rapid blows of metal against flesh had your ass stinging and tears falling from your eyes.  Turning to face him once again, this time you hoped your current state could swing the situation in your favor.  "Tony please, it hurts so freaking much.  Stop this and I will say, do and be whatever you want."

"Aw Y/N, darling, we've only been at this a few minutes.  You and I both know your stubborn streak is much stronger than this.  Besides, I can tell when you're lying.  Now if you don't mind, I have some work to get back to."

Knowing you had failed to appeal to him, you renewed your efforts to free yourself, only for Tony to increase the pressure of his hand on your back.  Raining down many more metal slaps on each cheek, a scream ripped through you and your struggles died down when Tony spit on your ass before plugging you up with what you now knew to be a nano-cock.  You didn't know if it was sheer stubbornness or hatred that kept you from passing out, but as Tony picked up your crying, trembling form and placed you back on the bed, you were more determined than ever not to submit to him.

Wiping the tears from your eyes as he once again secured your hands to the bed, Tony couldn't help but lean closer to whisper in your ear.  "No more tears now, be my good girl and everything your heart desires will be yours."

"What my heart desires right now is to see you bleeding at my feet." you spat, moving around to head butt him once again.  "Ow fuck, that hurt."

Collapsing back down on the bed while trying to ignore the throbbing in your forehead, you watched as Tony rubbed his head before moving down the bed and discarding his boxers.  Then taking hold of your legs, he quickly secured each one to the bed with soft rope.  "Y/N, I really don't know what I did to warrant this level of hostility.  Where's the polite young lady who dropped off those files to my meeting Wednesday morning hmm?"

"Where she's been, is held captive by a delusional billionaire playboy who doesn't get that not every woman he meets wants to suck his cock."

Having settled himself between your legs, he seemed to contemplate what you said as one hand stroked his length, before the other made its way to your waiting folds. Once there, he then proceeded to slap your mound until tears and curses fell from your body once again.  "See darling this is the fundamental problem we're having right here." he smirked, as he ran his fingers along your slit before plunging inside.  "You run from me, claim you want nothing to do with me.  Hell, you even try to kill me, yet your body still craves my touch."  To prove his point, he withdrew his digits and brought them to your lips.

Opening your mouth when his other hand left his shaft to grab the nano-cock in your ass and push it deeper, his slick fingers entered your mouth, forcing you to taste your body's reaction to him.  Working in tandem, his other hand began moving the nano-cock at a steady pace, while your mouth hungrily latched onto his fingers.  In no time at all, shame bloomed within you as your back arched and the grin on Tony's face confirmed that he knew you had just come.

"Well now Y/N, what a way to prove me right.  Shall we try for another one?"  With that he removed his fingers from your mouth, moving them instead to your swollen clit.  Slapping it again, while continuing to move the cock in your ass, the nanoparticles and ropes kept you exactly where he wanted you.  Your demeanor changed dramatically however, when he slipped two fingers into your pussy and began pumping them and the nano-cock in and out of your body while his lips latched onto your clit.

"Oh my fucking god Tony, what the hell are you doing?" you cried out as your body fought not only the restraints, but the intense pleasure now radiating upwards and outwards from your core.  Now crying full on tears, this was a level of pleasure you had never before experienced and it scared you to think what the end result would be.  As Tony worked faster and harder, your breathing reached the point where you could no longer string two words together and as the nanoparticles loosened around your wrists, the coil in your stomach finally snapped and you saw black.

Coming around a few minutes later, an empty feeling in your ass told you the nano-cock had been removed while the smuggest looking Tony Stark you had ever come across, gently trailed his fingers up and down your over sensitive and tender folds.  "There's my beautiful Y/N." he said, as he leaned down to kiss your lips, while you were too tired to currently fight him.

Looking around, you discovered that you were no longer tied down to the bed, but for some reason your body also seemed to have trouble responding to your commands.  Sensing your rising confusion, Tony stopped his actions and instead focused all his attention on you before speaking.  "It's okay darling, everything is fine.  I just wore you out a bit is all." he smirked as he continued explaining.  "Your orgasm was so intense, that you actually passed out on me.  Thankfully the nanoparticles reassured me that nothing was wrong."  Leaning forward to kiss you once more, he brought his lips directly to your ear before whispering, "Tell me Y/N, am I the first man to ever make you squirt?"

Looking up at him in abject horror, your voice finally seemed to return to you, even if the rest of your mental faculties still seemed to be rearranging themselves.  "Squirt?  Tony what the fuck are you talking about and could you please stop doing that." you exclaimed, as his hand returned to your pussy while his mouth lavished attention on each of your tits.

Looking up at you, you couldn't recall ever seeing Tony Stark so proud of himself and that look alone almost made you feel sick.  "You soaked the sheets darling.  There's cum and fluid everywhere.  It was glorious.  V.I.R.G.I.L. taped it, I can replay it if you want."

As the vaguest memory of what had occurred finally bloomed in your mind, you at last returned to your senses and scrambled as far away for him as you could physically get.  "Jesus no, Mr. Stark.  What you can do is erase that fucking video right now and get it through your thick head that what happened will not, I REPEAT WILL NOT happen again."

"Oh, so I see we're back to Mr. Stark are we?  Well that just isn't going to work for me." he huffed out, as he moved quicker than you ever thought possible and had you once more held down on the bed beneath him.  Fighting back as best you could, the battle was lost when Tony sat atop your thighs before caging both your wrist in his powerful hand.  "Here's what's going to happen darling and I don't want to hear any complaints from you.  First I'm going to fuck this pussy of yours so good you'll never let another man near it.  Not that I'll ever let that happen anyway." he said, as your eyes followed his other hand down to where it stroked his now hard, red and leaking shaft.

"Then," he quickly added, noticing you were about to argue, "I'm going to fill you with so much cum that you'll always have a part of me inside you.  Afterwards we are going to move to the kitchen where you and I are going to enjoy a nice dinner before getting to know each other better.  Do I make myself clear?" he finally asked, as the tv returned to show images of your friends silently scrolling along the screen.

Reluctantly admitting defeat but too stubborn to let him see you break, you turned your gaze away from the screen to focus on him.  "O-okay T-tony," you croaked out as a victorious smile bloomed across his face and his lips moved down to capture yours in a searing kiss.

With that, he quickly removed himself from your thighs and parting your legs, lined his aching cock up with your now abused entrance before gently sliding home.  Failing to control the moans that left your lips as he set up a surprisingly tender rhythm, Tony was totally taken aback when he released your hands only to have them latch onto his shoulders as your legs left the bed to wrap around his waist.  It seemed for all your protests and complaints, Tony had been right about one fundamental point . . . your body craved the feelings he pulled from it.

Pulling out to just the tip and then thrusting back in just as slowly so your walls felt every vein and ridge of his impressive member, Tony kept up this slow, torturous pace until you couldn't stand it any longer.  "Oh for fuck’s sake Tony, put me out of my misery and fuck me like you promised."

Having finally gotten the desired result, Tony smirked down at you before releasing your legs from his waist and shoving them forward as far as they would go.  Now able to pound into you at a deeper angle, his cock reached places you never knew could feel so good.  Hitting your cervix and rubbing deliciously over your g-spot you finally gave voice to the pleasure he was working out of you.  "Ah yes Tony, right there.  That's it, please don't stop.  Fuck!" you begged as you tried your best to thrust against him.

"Oh my beautiful girl, you never have to beg me for anything and I have no intention of stopping." Tony panted while gazing down on you.  True to his word, Tony continued to pound into you and as he felt your walls begin to clench around his length, he reached his hand down between your joined bodies and began to apply enough pressure on your swollen clit to make you come undone.

"Ahh fuck.  Uhhh, make me come Tony."

Getting the hint that you were so close to the edge that you simply needed a little extra push, Tony looked into your eyes as he placed his mouth over your left breast and bit into your tender flesh.  Hearing the scream as your walls clamped down on his aching member, it was now Tony's turn to curse as his balls clenched up and both of you came in a torrent of cum and tangled limbs.

                    *************

Laying down beside you as you both began to recover from your release, Tony failed to notice the tears leaking from your eyes as you rolled onto your side with your back to his chest.  Wrapping his arms around you, he placed countless kisses all over your neck and shoulders while his hands roamed over your chest.  Once he heard your breathing return to normal, he released his hold on you before rising from the bed.  "Okay darling, let's get you cleaned up so we can see about that dinner I promised you."

Holding out his hand to help you from the bed, you couldn't remember a time when your body ached so much.  Leading you to the door he exited earlier, Tony opened the door to the luxury shower and ushered you inside.  Leaning against the tiled wall as the water hit your body, you jerked away when Tony came up behind you and lined his body up perfectly with yours.  "Easy darling, it's only me." he whispered as he handed you the bottle of shampoo.  Gazing down at the bottle, Tony seemed to understand what you were thinking and quickly used his powerful arms to cage yours by your side.

"Don't even think about it Y/N.  You've already proven you don't value your own life, but Sabrina's seems to be a different story.  All I have to do is have F.R.I.D.A.Y. alert Steve and your friend is nothing but a distant memory."  Dropping the bottle as the fight died in you, Tony released you to pick it up as you slumped against the wall.

However as the tears you were shedding had now dried up, your anger seemed to have returned and turning around as he neared you again, you raised your fist and connected squarely with Tony's jaw.  "You may have proven that my body craves you and you may hold my fate and that of my friends in your hands, but I will never accept being yours." you spat as Tony reached out and forcefully grabbed you by the hair.

Pulling your face close to his, he kissed you hungrily and spit in your mouth, before pushing you onto your knees and shoving his cock against your lips.  "Bite me darling and the New York Mob will witness a massacre the likes of which has never been seen." was all he said as he squeezed your jaw and thrust his length down your throat.

Tagging:- @nsfwsebbie , @hoseokchild , @ironlady1993 , @gotnofucks , @floatingdaisy7 , @taintedgenre , @buttercandy16 , sorry if I missed anyone.

[goodlucksnez]

a sky full of stars

Hello everyone so I wrote a er//aserm//ic fiction and it’s 5513 words I know right what the fuck I just kept writing and I didn’t want the story to end but it came to a lovely end

TW WARNING it deals with sui//cide depression,anxiety,panic attacks as well as medical surgery

TO NOTE In the story endeavor is not a hero and is a local tea maker and his wife is the surgeon which I just think it’s cute it comes together in the story it will make sense don’t worry

This is using my original AU with the Quirk flu

And lastly I hope you enjoy it I had a lot of fun riding and it has definitely improved since my last fic enjoy

you can read it on A03 or down below

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33360760

How Shouta got here was anyone's guess. Sitting on the edge of the roof of UA looking at the shifting colors as night began to fall around him. As the shades of reds mixed with the blues and yellows, how they washed over the buildings and trees with a gentle golden glow, Shouta closed his eyes and smiled. The tear-stained face of the Pro was hidden from view under foundation and tired eyes. With the still night air, he heard the roof entrance unlock and movement behind him.

“Hello, old friend,” Shouta said not even turning to look at him.

“What the hell are you thinking, step away from the edge now.” Mic's voice boomed over the concrete and echoed in the tranquil night air. “Please, people need you…. I need you.”

Shouta took a deep breath and stood to face his old friend. Mic’s face was panicked and he could see the crumpled note in his hand. Shouta was glad to see his friend one last time. He shook with adrenaline as he spoke in a quiet voice barely louder than a whisper. Years down the road Shouta in the confession of therapy would say he said it this way because whispers make people listen while shouting just falls upon deaf ears.

“All my life, I have been in love with the sky. Even when everything was falling apart around me, the sky was always there for me. I’m glad to see it hasn’t changed. Goodbye old friend.” And he stepped off the roof Mic’s voice echoed in the night sky as Shouta plummeted down and down until darkness.

---

That was five years ago. Shouta had been getting better about talking about his depression and the struggles but the one thing he could not do was hurt Mic again. Hizashi also died that day, his cheery disposition of the world changed, and he hasn’t been the same since. He had improved but Shouta still had guilt deep down but would never admit it. Hizashi's confidence was always so fragile, like a child’s, it took him years to return to radio and music. He once in a foggy drunken state told Shouta that music died the day he fell and all the sounds of the world that created such unique and beautiful different melodies, fused into one agonizing wave of sound that made Hizashi hate music and his Quirk. He had gotten better they both had recovered from that day but if they were both being honest, they were still those scared little Pros inside.

When winter came the vows of in sickness and in health were tested. Hizashi got sick first and Shouta played the role of nursemaid and helped him get better therefore it was no wonder Shouta got sick. When he was a child Shouta would hide under his bed to avoid being seen as sick, he had enough of name-calling at school he did not need it at home too. This continued into his adult life even after the accident 5 years ago.

The next time he had woken up he almost suffered acute heart failure from the number of stress hormones that were immediately pumped through his system as long-term best friend and husband Hizashi better known as Present Mic had busted through the bedroom door with a shout of “Shouta” with his remarkably deafening voice. “Wow were you sleeping?”

As if it would be a shock that he was. He has been up most of the night coughing and generally feeling ill. Shouta was having trouble getting out of bed today as a dull pain racked through his body pulsing through every limb. He merely grunted in response and the strawberry blonde-haired man sat down and rubbed his back.

“Shouta,” he asked his voice worried with concern and suddenly Shouta was back on that roof. He shut his eyes and winced at that memory and shook his head. The movement of his head caused the room to spin and he reached out to grab onto something stable the only thing near him being his husband.

The pressure in his cranium had built itself up to the point where he knew he had to get away to get checked out. Somehow, he had to take a trip to get medicine, the question was how would he succeed with such a mission when Hizashi worried about his every movement.

Mic continued to rub his husband's back. After receiving no answer, his usual jovial expression continued morphing into one of pure concern. “Hey, Shouta are you okay?”

The tired pro sighed but when he went to open his mouth the tickle which had been prominent in his sinuses flared to life and he quickly turned his head to the side gripping the side of the bed as the sneezes ripped through his body.

“Heh-R'SSHH! Hh-Hih-AET’SCHHH! ESCCH!”

Hizashi jumped in surprise. “Woah, many blesses,” he said. “I’m going to pick you up some meds, okay?”

Shouta grabbed his arm and said, “no you barely over being sick, I can get some.”

As he went to put on his shoes, he sniffed back the congestion that was threatening to flow. Hizashi watched him gathering his wallet and keys before hugging him tightly and whispered in his ear.

“I know how you get with these things; I call you in a few hours and you better pick up or you’re in trouble. I love you Sky.”

Shouta hugged him back and said, “I love you to songbird.” And he left the house with the sound of thunder in the sky boomed over him.

---

His feet hurt.

It was a stupid thing to focus on. Stupid because Shouta was still heavily limping his way through darkened alleyways and shuffling through crumpled up newspapers and puddles of...something. His breath came out in ragged gasps, the medicine still clutched close to the chest. Shouta had no idea where he was going. He just kept moving- one hand drifting along chipped brick walls and graffiti-stained cement, something to keep him steady. Focused. Home was the mission but it wasn’t the goal. The goal was-

Freedom from the pain.

His knees buckled and Shouta couldn’t stop himself from tumbling forward. He smacked into a dumpster; the weak thump of a body against rusted metal ringing in his ears. The stench of rotten food clawed its way into his nose; the pain now liquid fire in his veins. Get up Shouta told himself even as his eyes started to flutter close. You have to get up. His fingers twitched; they landed in a puddle of something gross. “Please,” Shouta whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut. “Please~” Thunder rolled off in the distance- a heavy, almost shuffling sound. Maybe- maybe he could get clean in the rain? Maybe-----

“Ah, your awake!”

Fuck! Shouta started, brain a sluggish mess. He- the last thing he remembered with solid clarity was collapsing against a dumpster. Rain pattered against the rooftop- a strange melody that did nothing to put the Pro at ease as he stared at the old man before him. He was heavyset, a long red beard neatly trimmed and a topknot giving him off an old school look. Shouta glanced around the room, just a little more awake now. He still felt like shit, wet from the clothes he had when-

“My shoes,” Shouta rasped, gaze falling to his feet. They were bare, his socks neatly placed on the floor with his shoes beside this...futon. A sad, threadbare thing on the floor. It took all he had not to run his hands over himself-no. No injuries. The only thing Shouta wasn’t wearing was his shoes. Shouta inhaled congestion thick and he wiped his nose on the back of his hand. An oven mitt was sitting on the floor between them, a teapot gently clutched in the old man’s hands. “You put band-aids on my heels?”

“I did,” came the quiet hum. “You’ve traveled quite a way. Those blisters are impressive.”

Shouta’s gaze flicked to the two clay cups- one by his feet, the other next to the old man’s knees. Steam started to curl out of the teapot; a fire Quirk perhaps? “...You’ve got a fire Quirk.”

The old man smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “You’re very observant. Yes, I do. Would you like some tea? I have some delicious Herbal Spring at the moment it might help with that cold you got.”

Shouta eyed the teapot in question- the steam was barely more than a little trickle of a cloud. Could he have poisoned it while I was out? He shrugged, looking away.

“Ah good!” The old man leaned forward to pour tea- Shouta first, then himself. “Herbal Spring is a very fragile tea, you know. Raise the temperature too much and you’ll ruin it. Keep the water too cold, and it loses its flavor.”

Shouta didn’t reach for his cup. He heard the soft clink of China being set down on the oven mitt. He- he saw the near-empty room he was in. “Where am I?”

“My tea shop! Aaah well,” the old man smiled again as he reached for his cup. “Soon to be my tea shop. This is a storeroom of sorts.”

Shouta watched the old man drink first. A happy hum, a deep sip that made the Pro finally reach for his cup. He brought it to his lips, taking a tentative sniff. Even with his blocked nose, it smelled sweet. Shouta took the tiniest of sips; the warm liquid sliding down his parched throat with ease. It had a soft note to it; sweet and almost fruity, enough to make Shouta …breathe. “Who are you?”

“Just a simple tea maker.” Another calm sip, the old man closing his eyes for a moment. “Who are you?”

It...it lacked the same venom that Shouta’s question had. The same cautiousness, an almost feral edge to it. The old man’s question was simple. Calm and steady; Shouta bit the inside of his cheek before he took another tentative sip. “No one.”

“It is an honor to meet you, No One.” The teapot was held out like a porcelain olive branch. “More tea?”

Was this...a joke? Shouta bit the inside of his cheek before he held out his cup. There was still plenty of tea left in the small cup and it took all the Pro had not to wince at how hands were still shaking. Hot liquid sloshing about, threatening to go right over the dull rim. Yet...if the old man was going to say anything, he didn’t. He merely poured Shouta more tea, careful to keep the liquid from the rim.

Shouta brought it up to his lips, taking a bigger sip. “You’re,” this time he winced. His throat was still a raspy mess. “You’re not going to ask me why I was outside?”

“Mmm, you’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

Shouta watched the teapot be set gently on the oven mitt, the old teamaker once more quietly enjoying his cup. The two sipped their drinks in relative silence- only broken by the steady drumming of the rain overheard and Shouta sniffling. An odd sort of silence, almost peaceful; Shouta wasn’t bombarded with questions. The old tea maker was content to drink his tea; he’d already downed three cups by the time Shouta had managed to finish one. He sneezed 3 harsh sneezes and drank more tea hoping to soothe the throat. The teapot seemed to rise without being asked; a second cup poured, a second cup that Shouta found himself willingly drinking. “Aizawa,” he whispered, staring down at the amber liquid. The Pro’s voice was painfully loud in the quiet. “My name is Aizawa Shouta.”

The old man gently smiled; callused hands curled around his cup. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Aizawa Shouta.”

“What-” Shouta shifted on his futon; the tremors had finally left his hands. “Who are you?”

“Just an old man with wisdom and regrets,” came the happy reply. “You can call me Enji if you wish.”

Enji? It was a familiar way to address someone he’d just met. Right. “...I’m not calling you Enji.”

“Fair enough,” the old man chuckled and there was something warm in his voice that begged the Pro to relax. Maybe he has another Quirk? Can someone have two Quirks?

Shouta glanced down at his cup, his thumbs brushing the rim. “Why are you doing this?”

“Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life’s true delights~”

That...was not what Shouta was expecting. He frowned; was it too late to make a run for it? He was pretty sure he had strength in his legs now, even if he still felt awful. “That’s some bullshit,” the dark hair huffed, settling on something solid. Something he could trust. He attempted to rise to his feet and he wobbled for a moment. Pain that rolled through Shouta, begging for him to plop his ass back down. “You’re crazy, old man.”

The old man didn’t move from his spot on the floor. He merely hummed, a red eyebrow rising at the uptick of rain against the roof. “You will need a proper raincoat then. You’ll be soaked if you leave now.”

“...You’re not going to stop me?”

“I cannot stop you from your long journey, Shouta. Just as we cannot stop the fire from burning the log or ice freezing a pond.” Shouta watched the old man set his cup down; empty. “But please,” he groaned as he lumbered to his feet and Shouta was pretty sure he heard joints pop. “Let me get you an umbrella at least.”

His chest hurt. Shouta’s throat was stupidly tight. Painfully tight as he stood there, watching Enji dig around in the storeroom for an umbrella. “...You,” Shouta tried to clear his throat. To stop himself from crying like the idiot he was. “You don’t have-”

He shouldn’t have wasted his breath.

The umbrella was pressed into his hands with care. It was an old thing that had seen better days- a raggedy blue thing with a few frayed strands and a scuffed handle. It was old and worn and the most precious thing Shouta had ever held in his life. “Thank you,” the Pro whispered, clutching it close to his chest.

“Of course,” Enji hummed, bowing in return. “Please stay dry.”

---

Shouta descended the step of the tea shop, his body aching with every step. The medicine still clutched to his chest. The words still echoed in his mind. “You tell me when you’re ready.” He found himself walking the feeling of cool water running down his wet body was quite unpleasant. The wind blustered and the rain pattered on the antique umbrella and the way home seemed twice as long as usual. His mind raced, how could a stranger see so clearly into his mind was it that transparent to everyone that he was broken. As his feet hit the sidewalk a single thought crossed his mind. Hizashi. His songbird. His love. He was probably worried sick. As he pulled out his phone, he saw the screen was broken and as the light lit up his face, he could see 54 unread messages. Fuck. He ran, he didn’t even notice the tightening of his chest and the pain in his limbs, as he rounded the corner almost slipping on the wet pavement. He saw the lightly tan building of his home; the outside light was still on. As he unbolted the door and took a step inside, his heartbeat deafening in his ears, a pair of arms wrapped around his torso and pulled him inside.

As Shouta panted, Hizashi's grip gets getting tighter and tighter. No words were said but the silence spoke volumes. Shouta felt tears spring to his eyes and choked back a sob as Hizashi guided him to the living room sofa and sat him down. Wordlessly Hizashi began to take Shouta's shoes off, gently searching his dark eyes for some kind of answer of where he was. Shouta could not meet his gaze, and just shook from the wet clothes and clutched the sofa tighter. Hizashi nodded and went off down the hall. He returned a moment later with fluffy towels and the first words were spoken.

“Out of those clothes.” Shouta blushed but did as he was told and as each soaked article of clothing was removed from his body it was replaced with a warm fluffy towel. However, it didn’t stop his shivering and Hizashi started rubbing the frozen skin of his lover. After a few minutes, Hizashi suddenly stopped and stood up, turning his back from Shouta.

Suddenly the blond jolted forward. “heh… ehh…. heh'ISSShooo!" and went into the kitchen to grab a box of tissues.

As he sheepishly returned and met the gaze of his husband, he muttered an apology. “Sorry.”

Shouta was at a loss for words. Why was he sorry? It was not his fault Shouta got sick, not his fault he was broken. He had done everything right, Shouta was wrong. He blinked in rapid succession before finding his voice. The voice of Enji filled his head ‘When you’re ready. He spoke with a voice broken and small.

“The day that the rain smelled like ice cream, my cat went to heaven in front of my eyes. The day that the copper pipes in the old building smelled like burnt food, my best friend... went to heaven in front of my eyes. I couldn't save them. It's sad. Neither one had the chance to become an adult. They should have become adults. They should have had children of their own and loved those children. And I want to make that possible for other people. So don’t be sorry. You saved me. I love you.”

He had never expressed that amount of raw emotion in his whole life, not even to his therapist but it felt right. The nerves he felt flowed out of him as his tears decorated his face. As he sat covered in the towel he sobbed, all the emotions he had been holding released like the steam from that teapot that brought him warmth not a few hours before.

Hizashi cradled him, as his body racked with sobs, gently like how a mother would cradle a baby, pausing to kiss him and repeat gentle nothings. As Shouta began to wind down, all the strength he had been pretending he had disappeared and he slumped against Mic and closed his eyes and soon unconsciousness took him.

--

Shouta slept for hours it seemed like. Each dream he had was confusing and odd as if he had two brains competing for the dream. His tired muscles ached and the dull pain between his eyes had increased to a dull migraine. Truth be told he felt awful. But soon his body had had enough and he felt the being of a sneeze. He tried to hold back for a while longer but found it futile. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling as the tickle reached its climax.

“Eschht, Eschht eh ugh sniff heh hhh AET’SCHHH!”

The last sneeze ripped through him with such force all the blankets and towel that had kept him warm fell off of him and he was left sniffling chest exposed to the room and his husband who look just as surprised as himself.

“Goodness bless you Sho, you have caught my cold.”

The tired man just groaned and said with a voice still raspy and strained “Not a cold, it's probably the flu, I should have told you sooner, I just- ugh sniff again heh hhh Hit'choo!! Hih-tschh!! Hihh…hih-tsCHEW!”

With the last sneeze, he felt his Quirk go haywire and soon his hair was floating above him and his eyes had turned a red hue. Luckily for him, no one was in the radius but he still felt awful. A hero could only depend on two things in this world, their Quirk and the one they loved. If Shouta could take one of those away without realizing it, it could mean trouble.

Mic had knelt in front of the laying down Pro and gently cupped a tissue around his husband's nose. “Bless your hon, come on blow for me.”

Shouta did a wet gurgling blow and groaned as the Quirk deactivated his dry eyes yearning for water. Mic dabbed at Shouta slowly being red nose and stood. He made his way over to the linen closet and grabbed the warmest winter sweater and returned to his sick husband.

“Arms up you know the drill.” As Mic helped the Pro get dressed, he called out to Siri.

“Hey, Siri, text Doctor Green we are coming in an hour.” As Shouta's head came through the sweater hole he simply frowned. This Doctor had treated him after the accident but was a close friend of theirs. As Siri confirmed the appointment Mic sensed Shouta's discomfort and replied to him. “I know sweetie you don’t like the doctor but you know he can help better than over-the-counter drugs. He continued and I will be there the whole time.”

Shouta shook his head. “Together,” he said in a small voice

Mic helped the sickly Pro stand and guided him to the mirror next to the door and kissed him on his flushed skin. “Forever Together.”

--

The train ride for the first leg of the journey was uneventful. The hum of the fluorescent lights and the moving subway train was distracting enough to distract other passengers from Shouta's constant sniffling. Mic was stood holding on to the overhead bar while Shouta was sitting with his head in his hands. Mic was constantly asking if Shouta needed anything even though he would not be able to provide much relief besides encouraging words. As the overhead speakers announced their stop Mic helped Shouta stand as the train came to a hard stop be cursed in English as Shouta stumbled forward again him.

The misty afternoon after the rainstorm was heavy in the air but still, Shouta shivered a clear sign of a fever and the couple picked up the pace to the doctors. As they rounded a corner a few blocks away they were met with the flashing blue and red of a line of police cars. As heroes, they knew a situation was happening. Mic half dragging Shouta went to them who seemed to be in charge of the crowd of citizens and asked what was happening. The short man with light brown hair replied with the normal answer for any citizen. “Nothing to worry about Sir heroes will handle it.” Mic frowned and dug in his pocket and grabbed his Hero license and flashed it at the man. Taken aback the man quickly responded. “Oh, um sorry, a Jewelry store has been taken hostage, he paused before continuing “my chief might need an extra few hand…he paused and looked at the struggling man Mic was holding up “is he also able to help.” Mic didn’t have time for this and he ducked below the police tape and began walking to the line of cop cars. Shouta followed but sluggishly. As he neared the chief of the police, he quickly scanned the street. He could see the jewelry store in question had a broken window and was heavily surrounded by local heroes as well as other members of the police task force. As Shouta caught up his eyes were half-closed and looked like he was going to pass out any second. Before Mic could attend to Shouta a round of gunshots filled the air and out of instinct he grabbed both of them and they hit the pavement hard. After a few moments, he helped Shouta lean against a cop car tire and checked over his body. ‘No wounds’ Mic thought ‘I don’t have time for this we need to get through this street.’

Mic looked at the task force and saw the numbers had decreased whoever was in the store had an amble firearm. As a local hero approached the car Mic asked what the status was and what they know. The local hero stating that the man inside the store had a bullet-type quirk and could shoot many rounds of ammo and was demanding everyone to leave and no one would get hurt.

Mic thought ‘a bullet type quirk, like Pro hero Edgeshot’ Mic continued to question. Did they have any other people with them? The local hero shook his head no they are alone. Mic could work with this. He waved over the chief, a man he had worked with a few other times.

If they could stop the man quirk do, they have enough to help the hostages and defeat the villain. The chief simply nodded his head and Mic set to work.

He gently shook the arm of Shouta who barely raised his head. “Hey love I know you are exhausted but we need you Quirk right now can you aim your Quirk over to the storefront.

Shouta tried Mic had to give him credit for that, but as soon his hair started to rise it quickly fell. Shouta mumbled a response thick with congestion. “I. Can’t…tired”

Mic rubbed his arms in understanding and replied “What about if we use your illness as an advantage, you can’t control when it happens right, what if we use that.”

Shouta turned to look at Mic. “What are you suggesting?”

Before he could reply another round of gunshot shot at them and he quickly covered Shouta's body with his. He immediately felt the sharp pain as a bullet entered him under his ribs, and he could feel the blood start to spill. With an adrenaline-filled body, he quickly pulled Shouta into a somewhat kneeling position and aimed his head toward the storefront. “I’m sorry about this love this isn’t going to be big on dignity.”

He grabbed the end of his ponytail and brought the split ends to the underside of Shouta's nose. The already irritated organ began to twitch as the strands of hair slowly twisted around.  

Shouta tried to ignore the incessant prodding of the frizzy hair against his sensitive nose, but with each swipe, the tiny hairs that shook loose were soon sucked up into his twitching and quivering nostrils.  He shuddered and froze in place a tear slowly trailed down from his eye to his cheek as his nose began scrunching and wriggling from the irritation.

“Come on Shouta you can do it,” Mic said. Shouta’s chest heaved and he couldn't help but give in to the itchy and tickly urge to expel those irritants from his nostrils.

“H...hhih...” The beginnings of a sneeze showed as his eyes began to droop. His chest expanded further “Haaahhh! Aaahhhh!”  His eyes fully closed, head tilting back and signaling the oncoming release.  Mic aimed his face toward the storefront and sent a silent prayer that this would work.

“Hit'choo!! Hih-tschh!! Hihh…hih-tsCHEW!”

As Shouta sneezed his hair lifted with ease and soon the storefront was temperately Quick free. Mic activated his Quirk and told the task force to go. Shouta was still panting from sneezing but his eyes were open however Mic didn’t know how long he could keep them open. As the task force ran in the subject found his Quirk would not activate and soon found himself being put in handcuffs and a medical device being placed that would stop his Quirk without the help of Erasure.

As Mic received the thumbs up, he spoke to his shaking husband who was struggling to keep his eyes open. “Bless your hon you did it, you can relax now.” As Shouta did all the energy slipped from him and he lost consciousness and slumped over on the wet pavement. Mic grabbed the fragile man and began to walk to the nearest ambulance, as he stepped into the back of the ambulance the medic and himself helped Shouta into the gurney, and soon the siren wailed and they were finally off to their destination.

--

As they entered the hospital fast lane and the medic was ready to receive both of the ProS, Mic was insistent to be placed near Shouta as he wasn’t comfortable around hospitals. The medic nodded and escorted them to their joined room. Shouta was seen to first. They took blood and gave him fluids; they also provide pain medicine and sadly they had to wait until he woke up.

Mic surgery was quickly scheduled. He met with the surgeon while sitting next to Shouta and rubbing his arm. The female was fairly tall and had blue tint to her eyes and white hair. She explained the surgery before Mic consented.

“Upon examination, we identified 1 cm diameter entry wound at the left lower abdominal wall, Sir. The images we took showed the bullet in the peritoneal cavity but no injured intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal viscera. We decided to remove the bullet laparoscopically.” Mic nodded. She noticed the band around his finger and smiled. “How long have you two been together?”

Mic smiled and replied “4-year next month, but I have known since we were 14 that this is what we both needed.” He paused before swallowing hard “We've been through a lot but I can’t imagine life without him. He is my whole life, my Sky. He bent down and kissed the sleeping man's hand.  The surgeon smiled and spoke “I see, well that must be hard with both of you rushing into battle all the time,” she looked down at her clipboard before continue “I have treated a lot of patients in my day but never have I seen a love quite like your, it’s very special.”  A monitor beeped and the surgeon motioned him to follow. “Well, shall we take care of the bullet Mr. Hizashi. Mic kissed Shouta’s hand before leaving the room.

--

Shouta was hot. It was too bright wherever he was. His mind was foggy. He groaned as he sat up, he immediately recognized the smell of a hospital. What happened. The last thing he remembers is the sound of gunshots and Hizashi…Shit Hizashi he jerked into a sit-up position and looked around. The nurse that had been changing his fluid jumped back. “Calm down you’re okay! Just relax.”

“Where is he…what happened?” He asked rage filling his croaky voice. The nurse replied, “Sir he is in surgery he will be out soon don’t worry he is okay.” She laid him back against the pillows before continuing “We need to make sure you’re okay Sir make sure you don’t have a concussion. He pulled out a light and shown it in his eye without much warning. The tickle flared to life and he turned his head.

“Issh’iIEWW!....hhh..heh… “TSCHTIEW” Thankfully his Quirk did not activate he wiped his nose on the back of his arm as the nurse apologized.

“Sorry Sir, but the good news is you don’t have a concussion so you will be out of here as soon as we can get some medicine and your husband is awake.”

Shouta relaxed slightly and closed his eyes and tried to keep the panic from getting too much to handle. Within the next 2 hours, Shouta tried to not be a bother to any of the staff but his flu had proven a little too much for him to handle.

As a nurse with a gravity-type quirk was walking down the hall with floating plates of dinner, he groaned as another tickle forced him to sneeze and he felt his quirk activate and he heard the crash as the dinner plates fell and crashed on the floor. Many of the nurses were understanding but he still felt awful. When his husband was wheeled into his room Shouta's eyes began to water and he had to fight back tears. The surgeon explained the surgery was a success and he would be discharged later today. She told Aizawa in a voice soft and comforting. “He loves you so much, you are a very lucky man.” She sat on the edge of his bed and looked into his eyes. “I know you feel broken but he is trying so hard to make sure you are taken care of. The world is a cruel place and I know you have suffered more than most. But know this, he loves you and has sworn to protect you. You might be a Hero to the public but he is your Hero, let him save you. She wiped a tear from her eye and turned to leave. Before leaving the room, she said “Oh and you have a gift make sure to grab it before leaving.” And placed a small box on the counter next to the door before leaving him.

When Hizashi woke and passed all the discharge tests and Shouta had his medicine they left the hospital holding each other’s hand and holding a box of tea that they would use for the rest of their life.

The end.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 46: The Marauder's Map

Warmth! The sensation after such harsh conditions was quite literally the best experience they'd had through all these trying times. Eyes still watering and adjusting to these new surroundings, none of them felt the need to stay so close and huddled together anymore as the rest of this place came into focus.

It was still too eerily quiet, save the wind howling outside which helped some. The place was so heavenly though, for once they didn't care about the outside world.

"Padfoot, I think we actually may have died during that last one," Remus stated as he spun slowly on the spot.

Sirius inhaled deeply, mouth already watering a bit, and feared answering for getting spittle on every surface. Not in Honeydukes of all places.

Shivers already slowing in such a homey environment, James quickly ruffled his hair back to normal. He swallowed, but not for their surroundings. As mad as he was at her, those last few moments had left him legitimately concerned about Evans, and spotting her now he realized he'd been right.

She was still crouched down on the floor in the far corner, her dark red hair plastered to her face but not quite hiding her red tinted eyes and sniffling noises that had nothing to do with being next to a barrel of All Icing For All Occasions, Flavors Include Strawberry, Dragon Breath, Chocolate and More! Frank and Alice had landed behind the register a bit away from her, so he still managed to get there first.

"All right Evans?" He couldn't help but ask, even as his innards clenched and he still felt like snapping at her for all she'd thrown at Sirius lately. It was the angriest he'd ever been at her, and still he couldn't think to do anything else but offer her a box he'd swiped on his way over. "Bean?"

Anyone hearing their last words could not be the most pleasant of things, let alone what she must have been suffering through. Maybe that was why she looked at him and said with the calmest, most indifferent expression ever, "no thanks."

Ignoring his outstretched hand still, she got herself shakily to her feet and murmured something about checking for the book upstairs, all the while James couldn't help but notice such an alteration in her personality. Somehow seeing her so subdued was even worse than her usual anger at him. He bit down on his lip and looked around with intent, there had to be something he could do.

The upstairs flat very quickly showed there was no book in sight, though that had been the least of her worries. Alice and Frank truly were very good friends, one look exchanged between them before she'd gone up these stairs had explained she hadn't wanted to be followed, she'd just wanted a moment alone.

Around her was a one bedroom, tightly packed but clearly very loved and lived in space. A small kitchenette sat in the far corner looking out into the alley way, a comfortable bed was all made up, and a door cracked open showed a closet charmed to hold the rest of their belongings. The only door closed she quickly rectified to find a bathroom.

The smell of the candies still managed to waft up here, but that wasn't why she took an uneasy breath. All her reservations were screaming at her for the invasion of privacy she was considering, but her hair was still dripping slightly on the floor, and she needed some way to chase away this cold that was still settled around her. The last time she'd had the privilege of a shower had been in the Gryffindor dormitory ages ago...

This was finally a decision she made for herself, no outside voices telling her what she should and shouldn't do, and she needed this for herself. Decided, she quickly set to work.

The tap was easy enough, and she set the spray as hot as it would go while she pursued the linen available. There weren't enough spares, so she gently took a rather threadbare butter yellow towel, and duplicated it eight times before putting the original back and leaving the rest on the sinks edge, shucked her wet clothes into the basin and finally managed to relax.

After she was done, a quick charm left her attire still grungy with use, but warm and dry once more as she made her way back downstairs, amazed to find no one had started the next part yet. Her answer came in the form of the Marauders, as usual.

If she hadn't known better, despite Harry's loss in the last chapter, Gryffindor would have just won another game. Potter and Pettigrew were juggling various sweets between them, while occasionally still managing to swipe a parcel into their mouth and continue their exuberant game. The elder Black was busy stacking various boxes of every candy available onto his younger brothers head, and it didn't even look like it was under duress. She couldn't imagine how he'd talked him into it, but he was smiling as much as the others. The only thing missing was the cheering crowd and the butterbeer for their usual antics. She found herself smiling and relaxing even more than the steaming hot water had provided.

"I've found it!" A voice cheered, from below her feet? Lily looked around and finally spotted a door behind the register she hadn't noticed before, and Lupin came charging out holding nothing apparently but he had a pleased enough smile on his face. He looked surprised to see her back and quickly went over to Potter and Pettigrew, sidling up like he was going to join the game.

The others seemed so busy they either didn't notice, or didn't care. She cleared her throat and polity informed, "err, I've found a shower up top, I'm sure they wouldn't mind, I mean I've tried to keep it as put together as I found it. So long as we all do-"

The older Black, Sirius she forced herself to distinguish, looked around at her, and before she was even done was sprinting towards the stairs.

"Oi!" His little brother spluttered, but too late, there was already a door slamming shut upstairs and the sound of running water again.

Potter fell to the floor laughing at the display, a pile of sweets quickly covering him. The others were all snickering as well, but Pettigrew came over and waved his wand to begin unpiling the makeshift, edible hat. The younger- err, Regulus finally took the base off his head, a whole box of licorice wands, and cracked it open to begin unwrapping one, offering Pettigrew another in thanks. "Black, red, green, brown, purple, blue, or the one that's all mixed together?"

"The rainbow one," he asked. He took a huge bite of the mixture, and his skin quickly took on the same tie-dye effect. Regulus snickered as he took a bite of the green one, his skin taking on a sickly hue but clearly enjoying the flavor anyways.

"Oi, Evans," Potter had suddenly popped up right beside her again, somehow unburying himself from his pile of sweets, but unsurprisingly still clutching some. "I found a chocolate ganache flavored pack of All-In-Rolls. Padfoot already ate the turkey one, and I may or may not have nibbled on the hash one. Had to pry this away from Remus and Peter nearly killing themselves for it, so I hope you enjoy such a sacrifice." He flashed her a winning smile and offered it to her with a slight bow even.

She couldn't help it, she snorted out a laugh. Through all of this madness and mayhem, something was finally normal again. She quickly regained herself back though, ignoring the bright twinkle in his eye, and told him sternly, "I'll not have it, and you shouldn't either! You can not tell me you've brought enough money to repay this shop all the madness you've already caused."

"Evans, you wound me!" He flashed her that smile again, clearly pleased as ever at the proceedings. "I've been keeping this business afloat for as long as we've been here, of course I'd never run them out without proper compensation now." He pulled a money bag, which she swore he hadn't had in their Potions class when all this started, and jangled it purposefully.

She let out a resigned sigh, but finally took the dinner bred flavored in her favorite dessert.

James smiled to himself as she turned away, towards Alice and Frank already levitating a few feet off the ground as they enjoyed their sherbet balls. Bless Moony for having the quick hands to pass him the gold without anyone noticing. He was patting his past self on the back for keeping a stash of galleons in the basement below right under the secret trap for just such occasions, it was quite lucky he had still managed to get in, even if he was sure had he traveled all the way back to the school that one would have been blocked.

There were alternately seven of them all enjoying themselves as one excused themselves to the bathroom, Remus going last because he just hadn't been able to bear putting down his salt water taffy until he'd finished it. The water was still as warm as ever, thank Merlin for magic.

In all the hubbub, Frank finally found the book behind a stack of Shock-O-Choc. They were all in such a relaxed and comfortable mood, everyone having savored a few chocolates first, that at first he almost glossed right over the chapter title.

"What map?" Alice asked in confusion, looking from the book to the suddenly shifty Marauders.

"No idea," Potter said with a completely straight face.

"Yeah, beyond us," his best friend nodded along.

"We're not the only Marauders on Earth," Lupin casually studied his fingers, picking fudge out from under his nails.

"Why would you assume otherwise?" Peter asked back innocently. He kept his hand in his pocket where said item currently was. They'd only finished it over Christmas break of this year, no way were they willing to show it to anyone else in this school! Not to mention, it wasn't really working anyways, the place would be more deserted than it ever had in its life. Even during holidays you could find some teachers who lived there about the school, now there wasn't even that.

The three exchanged a look of exasperation, but really they couldn't force another answer out of them, considering none believed this, so Frank just got started hoping for more answers from the book.

Regulus just kept eyeing Sirius, though he wasn't sure what for. He wasn't expecting some special treatment and an explanation, but he'd been well aware for ages his brother and friends got up to something around school. Even without Snape going on about it to anyone who would listen it was obvious enough, there just wasn't enough care from the general student populace to find out. Now here was an honest clue to it all, but what did a map help? By second year most students didn't need such a thing.

A kid voluntarily staying in the hospital wing for the weekend was quite the depressing way to get things started. It was nice his friends all came to visit him, Frank actually got a chuckle out of the fact that he didn't share his recent Grim sighting because he could accurately predict his friends reactions. There was irony abound in there.

Sirius didn't seem to find it as funny, blanching in unease and taking a step closer to Prongs at the reminder Harry had nearly died both times he'd caught sight of him. Was he really some omen? Twelve people had all died around him for some reason... "Oi Padfoot!" Remus cut in loudly. "Come here and play Exploding Bonbons with me."

"You two are so lame," Peter rolled his eyes as Sirius at once darted over. "Only couples do that sort of shite."

"Just because you caught Bertha Jorkins and Florence Jr. playing that last month doesn't change the fact that they've been doing this since third year," James rolled his eyes at him. "Now come here, I want a witness to see how many Pepper Imps I can fit in my mouth at once." Peter frowned in confusion at him why he hadn't instead made some joke towards Evans about trying the same, but willingly followed him over to the shelf where he could grab arm fulls of the little candies.

Alice was filling her pockets with plenty of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, while Frank was popping Crystallized Pineapple into his mouth every few sentences. Evans was now ignoring everything as much as she could as she dug into some No-Melt Ice-Cream Every Flavor, but she seemed to have a hard time swallowing it. He sighed and wished more than anything he could skip ahead, but the blasted book only let a few lines appear at a time. No one should have to listen to their final moments being lived through by their child. There wasn't any comfort they could give her for this.

Sirius nearly choked on his next bonbon when Ron threw a crocodile heart in Malfoy's face, spraying Dynamite Coconut all over Remus and neither of them caring as they knew they'd do just the same.

"I won that one," Moony smirked, wiping the crumbs free from his scruff, he needed a shave soon.

"Blast," he grumbled as he snatched up the next one blindly, and then scowled when it came up black.

Remus did so next, coming up with a red one. The two held each others gaze as they popped them in, but Sirius lost again this time because the little concoction exploded in his mouth faster, forcing him to quickly and visibly swallow. "How do you win at this every time?" He demanded as the prick still sat there smirking with his jaw firmly held around the candy even as Sirius blindly began choosing another. Luckily he came up with a white one this time, while the book turned to Professor Lupin's class.

"I've always been better at handling my sweets," he muttered for Sirius alone, nearly causing him to drop his candy. He grumbled and eyed the staircase, but didn't think the two of them could skip off without their friends noticing and coming along this time. Blast Wormtail putting the idea in his head, he'd been fighting back the urge to snog Remus for a whole minute now, the candies would have made such an experience even better.

They were interrupted anyways by the two joining them, smoke still pouring out of Prongs' nose and a very satisfied look on his face. "New record!" He crowed, collapsing on the ground beside Sirius and offering him a Jelly Slug.

"You really must make quite the good teacher Moony," Peter snickered. "All those kids complaining to you, and you taking it in stride like that."

"Least I managed to take your advice and keep my cool," he sighed, knowing full well he wouldn't be having any words with Snape. If he wasn't already avoiding him before, he would be now, even though the question of that mysterious potion was still on all their minds, Harry didn't seem to be picking up any more clues about it.

Lupin did call Harry back, and that following conversation was wrenching for them all. More talk of Azkaban and those dementors wasn't helping anyone's mood in here despite the warmth surrounding this room. No amount of Chocolate Flavored Pumpkin Pasties was going to make hearing of this better, but it was quite interesting to hear he promised Harry dementor lessons soon! The four exchanged almost excited looks for that promise, finally someone who was going out of there way to help Harry.

"Thanks, err, Remus."

Moony nearly startled to his feet, the only one who didn't seem surprised by Evans coming over was Prongs. He seemed determined to be unfazed by this, shifting through some Treacle Fudge with an absent expression.

"Oh, ah, you're welcome," he quickly smiled at her, meeting her expression openly. "I'd ah, do it for any student of course, but, well, I don't need to tell you I'd do anything for James' kid."

"Right," she said quietly, turning back away now that she'd said her peace, unable to shake the dark thought her friend had certainly never bothered to do the same. She held the two beside each other in her head, trying to age them up nineteen years, it was almost unfathomable. Her best friend had turned into some bitter tyrant of the school and here Potter's friend was, going out of his way to help Harry.

Of course this didn't explain Black on the loose, and Lupin just so happening to be at the school the same year. There was just no way that could be a coincidence, but would another of Potter's friends really be out to kill Harry?

Alice distracted her by offering her a Sugar Quill, gazing around at Honeydukes with a new eye and asking, "you know, I've just thought. Why would this place have any significance to Harry? He's not getting in here, and I wouldn't think his friends bringing him more sweets from this place would be so big a deal."

"Who cares," Frank managed around a mouth full of toffee. How he'd been getting the words from the book out with any semblance of intelligence was the real mystery today.

Regulus stopped sorting his beans into different colors and looked up with interest as the twins pulled Harry aside right before a Hogsmeade visit, instantly guessing what all this was about. He'd heard rumors from some of the older students the school had dozens of secret passages, and he'd certainly put money down those twins knew some of them. Then his eyes widened further as he turned to look at his brother, the four of them looking as if they were holding their breath in anticipation, all sweets forgotten and expressions locked in on Frank. A map of those secrets of the school would come in handy, and the Marauders were certainly more than capable of making such a thing; and then it somehow got even more fantastical!

The four of them had to scramble desperately to hide their sudden euphoria of Prongs kid of all people just stumbling across this! Instead they were forced to fix confused expressions in place, trying to make themselves look as intrigued and curious as anyone else should. It was like staring down Dumbledore!

"Wow, ah, what a marvel that thing is!" James began earnestly.

"My, my, we must be geniuses to figure this out, by our seventh year surely!" Sirius quickly agreed.

"If it's even ours," Peter quickly tacked in.

"Oh yes of course, how silly of us, or anyone to think we alone could engineer such a thing and-"

"Sign it with your bloody stupid nicknames you keep calling each other," Frank interrupted with an eye roll.

"You lot are the worst liars, really pathetic considering how often you try practicing at it," Alice snickered.

"Can't we see it," Regulus asked with such an excited little squeal to his voice, Sirius swore he was that ten year old again asking to see his big brothers wand.

Then James made the mistake of looking at Evans, five years of habit unbroken, and found her looking nothing but curious for this.

The two caved. Remus knew they'd lost. Peter pulled it out.

Sirius snatched it away, cleared his throat with far more importance than anyone really thought was necessary, and stated clearly, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Little ink lines began spreading about at once, and the other four crowded forward eagerly.

"Well I don't know what you were expecting," Remus couldn't help but say defensively into the silence. "You knew as well as us there's no one in the castle for it to be properly working right now!"

"Mrs. Norris is still there," Regulus noticed, prodding a corner that housed Filch's office.

"Huh, none of the other animals are," Alice said curiously.

"Or that basilisk," Frank shivered.

"We had to put a special charm in to track that cat," James shrugged, "doesn't work on all animals."

"And we don't have the Chamber on here, we never found it," Sirius sighed.

"I'm not particularly fond of the idea of adding it in," Remus agreed.

"How did you manage such a thing?" Evans asked, a wide-eyed student in class again. She held her hand out curiously, Sirius reluctantly let it go.

"Some modifications to the Homenum Revelio spell, had to transfigure a textbook on revealing charms," James quickly said with bursting pride. He was more than happy to brag about this to her now that it was out in the open, but Peter was still frowning at the four suspiciously.

"It's not exactly something we made overnight, took us ages to get it all-"

"Isn't Hogwarts unplottable though!" Frank interrupted. "How did you actually manage this?"

"Drew the whole thing myself," James crossed his arms with a smirk. "The magic didn't stop us from animating our own map, we just couldn't con one up from the school. Padfoot and Moony managed all the fancy wand-work, then Wormtail went around and marked all the details."

"I can't imagine this thing when the school's, well, normal," Alice giggled as she scanned every corridor. Even having lived there the past six years, she hadn't found half the places marked on this thing. "How can you make out anything with so many people about?"

"Practice," all four said at once.

"I want to know how the twins got a hold of it," Regulus took his turn holding it, Evans offering it without a second thought. He held it up to the light, then flipped it all around to get every angle, before finally folding it up again. "I can't imagine you lot letting this out of your sight much, let alone how it fell into the Weasley's possession."

"They said they swiped it from Filch," Peter recalled. "It wouldn't be too far fetched for him to confiscate it from us and for them to figure out how to get it working from there." Then he shifted uncomfortably and again tried to caution, "of course, the more people who know about it, the more likely-"

"You think Harry's going to get into Hogsmeade with this!" James suddenly shouted above everyone, snatching it away and quickly tracing his finger to the corridor Harry would be in.

Regulus gave Peter a sympathetic smile and whispered, "don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks," Peter sighed back while Frank scrambled back to the book curiously. "I just hope those three will keep their mouths shut."

"It's hard to imagine Evans doing it," Regulus agreed. "She might lord this over you lot, threaten to turn it into a teacher once the novelty wears off."

"That might put Prongs off her once and for all," Peter couldn't help an ironic laugh.

James' prediction came true of course, and Harry was soon on his way to this very building. The other four of course went traipsing down the stairs as if to meet him, all of them crowding around the basement now looking for the secret hatch.

The Marauders stayed on the stairs with smirks in place, their eyes knowing just where to fall.

Frank tried to keep reading and get a clue, but despite Harry coming up and then above into the shop, he still couldn't spot it. Alice cast a few spells to reveal any such thing but nothing happened, while Lily was walking purposefully on the floor, clearly listening for something. Regulus was watching, and finally managed to follow Sirius' eyes, right to a square spot on the floor that had slightly less dust then everywhere else.

Alice yelped in excitement when he pulled it up, jumping down the hole with abandon.

"Bit of a squeeze down here, hard to imagine you four all scampering around in here," she called back.

"We manage," Sirius snorted.

It took a while for them to finally stop badgering questions, but the Marauders couldn't find it in them to be very upset at these four learning one of their secrets. Well, two, but plenty of students knew of the secret passages existences. They still had one secret that was just for them after all, and still no one had thought to ask them about their nicknames.

Harry was now able to explore Honeydukes, and eerily running right into his friends. They'd all had their fill of candy already and were more than happy to hear of Harry getting to explore even more of the village. James expected the chapter to be winding down soon so went wandering back upstairs to make sure and drop enough money in their till, Remus going with him to see if he couldn't stuff a few more sweets into his pockets for the continuing trip, who knew when they'd get food again. Regulus thought up a few more questions and managed a decent conversation with Peter and Sirius for a time, while Lily and Alice were discussing the merits of that kind of magic. Their thoughts of those boys being layabouts felt laughable now, how much research must have gone into that map?

Frank was as surprised as anyone when the kids reached the Three Broomsticks, got comfortable, and then choked on the words as teachers appeared.

"Blast it all, Harry can't have one decent thing!" Sirius scowled.

There was a thunk from upstairs, and they didn't have long to wonder what had been dropped in surprise as a cascade of Tooth-Splintering Strongmints came tumbling downstairs, James and Remus close behind.

"This is madness," Potter protested, skittering on the last few steps and nearly sliding into the entrance that had been left open.

"He didn't even bring the Invisibility Cloak," Remus sighed.

Hermione did some quick thinking and hid the kids from sight, but the relaxed tone couldn't quite come back.

"Has anyone tracked how long Hagrid's been in this place before?" Peter sighed. "I feel like Harry's going to miss curfew before he can slip past him."

"Have a bit more faith in the lad," Sirius tried to laugh off. "He's on the smaller side," sending a superior smirk at James, who in turn flipped him off. "He'll sneak out in no time."

Frank hoped they were right, he didn't particularly want to be the one to read about Harry's adventure getting ruined so thoroughly when he wasn't really doing anything that wrong. He'd expected the conversation wasn't much to listen to, but was quickly proven wrong when once again Black and the dementors were the topic. In all the excitement of this news he'd almost forgotten about Black's future misdeeds.

Judging from the mingled horror and resignation on his face, he might have as well. He shrunk back into the shadows with ease, nearly vanishing from sight and murmuring something for his friends ears alone.

"It's alright Pads," Remus caught him up in a reassuring embrace before he could slink too far away.

"Yeah, we still don't believe a word of it, no matter who says what," James stated in no uncertain terms.

"Even McGonagall of all people," Peter laughed awkwardly as their head of house even managed to share light on the tail. The four managed a pleasant smile for a moment as she reminisced about James and Sirius being as close as brothers, it was a wonder she didn't mention the other two, even a little offensive considering she now worked with one of them! Sirius' teeth sunk uncomfortably into his lower lip as he wondered at that, if he'd really done something to make her not associate Remus with him anymore.

Things weren't going that badly for a moment, James even perking up with interest at Sirius being his best man at his wedding to Evans. He glanced over and saw her scoffing, as usual, but even now he couldn't help but grin at the idea. She would look lovely in white. He turned away much quicker than usual though with an uneasy sigh, he wasn't sure how to look past her attitude towards his best friend. He'd named Sirius Harry's godfather for crying out loud, the news unsurprising to him. Shouldn't that be enough for anyone to know what kind of person Sirius was?

He missed Lily watching him out of the corner of her eye, her own mind a tumultuous mess of wondering at her future. A marriage to Potter of all people sounded ridiculous of course, but what would it have been like? His best friend had been there, had hers? Her sister? For just a moment, she could imagine it. Tired of feeling so alone, and the one person still trying to fight for her attention, she'd cave and possibly say something civil to him-

She'd missed some of it in her musings, Black being a Secret Keeper or something and the Marauders vehement protests something must have gone wrong with Dumbledore's spell before their mate had done anything against Potter. She wanted to scoff and laugh at their naivety in such a reckless friend, but stopped cold before she could even start, forcing herself to remember this time she once would have said the same about Sev- still would! Right?

Frank was growing increasingly uncomfortable the longer he had to keep going. Hagrid's shame at not stopping Black but instead accepting a gift from him like that bike was only making things worse. When he'd dismissed the Marauders as naive for thinking their friend couldn't do what the rest of the world said he'd done, they all must have been some level of crazy. It just kept getting worse, Black managed to kill Peter in that explosion?! It didn't seem real.

That arrogant pureblood stepping off and taking out a dozen muggles to prove himself had been perfectly in line with the character he knew, but taking out one of his own friends with it? After having just stabbed another in the back? It was hard to imagine any human with half the loyalty he'd witnessed in the past few days conceiving of such a thing.

Regulus had started to back away from his brother at the gore in this story, feeling like he was interrupting something private between the four even as he was forced to listen to the grisly tale. He stopped though when he realized what he wasn't seeing. The four just seemed frozen in place, expressions stuck on shock and nothing else. Regulus drew his wand and flexed his fingers, scenarios running through his mind of six of them turning on his brother. He didn't care what mother said, what anyone said, Sirius hadn't done anything yet to deserve this fate. Regulus still wasn't convinced this was the whole story, he wouldn't trust anything second hand now if details were already admitted to being covered up.

James unfroze first, stuffing his hands casually into his pockets, eyes flashing with fire about the room as he snarled what a horrible story that had been. Remus crossed his arms and put a calculating expression onto his pasty face, whispering to no one all the inconsistencies that could be had from this. Then Peter moved, Regulus raised his wand with a curse on his lips, but the guy merely launched himself into his friend, half shrieking, "glory Pads, to think what was going through your head finally wasn't your insanity! It's alright, whatever the hell that was, I know you'd never really!"

"I, wouldn't," he managed in half a sob, fingers trying to shake right out of socket as he patted him on the back, before crushing him in a life threatening hug. "Course I wouldn't," he repeated with a conviction no one would have believed moments ago. "I'd never."

Frank and Alice exchanged another of their unspoken looks. After such tenderness, watching their friendship in action, he found himself trying to guess what story in this future was missing a few holes, while watching those in front of him band around each other. Frank read the last few lines, Harry's shock at hearing all this as fresh as theirs, and begged of the new chapter to give some relief.

[fearfulkittenwrites]

A Hurt Bird - Part 1: Sprained Ankles and Ice Cream

Words count: 2569

Summary: You find out just how broken the local hero really is. It's a good thing you don't mind fixing wings.

Notes: Hey there! This work was beta'd by @foxam-vampire​. Thank you friend! Now, some more notes! I'm avoiding gendered terms on this, bc I wanted as many people as possible to be able to enjoy it. If that needs to change at any given time, I'll let you know in the notes. There will be at least one nsfw chapter in this. I'll try my best to split it in a way that will make it easy for you to skip over it if you don't want to read that kind of stuff. This fic mostly consists of random one-shots that are very much connected. It may grow forever or stop soon, depending on how much I feel the need to update it. Also, this will mostly consist on the reader caring for Dick instead of the other way around, although that may happen too. If there's something you'd like to see in this, feel free to leave it in the comments or head over to my tumblr and leave me an ask!I hope you enjoy this!

It was about three in the morning when you heard a loud sound coming from your window. Normally, those sounds wouldn’t trouble you, seen as you lived on the last floor of an old, relatively small residential building. Disoriented birds would crash into windows every now and again, but it was nothing to worry about. However, considering that most birds should be asleep by now, and that the sound came from the fire escape window, you got a little worried.

In your recently-awoken, adrenaline-filled mind, picking up a broom for protection and investigating the noise instead of calling the police and locking yourself up in the bathroom seemed like a very good idea, so you did just that. As you got closer, you heard annoyed mumbles.

“Stupid lose brick.” A man’s voice said “Fucking fell like an idiot, Jesus Christ. I feel like a damn teenager again.” He hisses, seemingly in pain. You held your breath for a second. He grumbled something you couldn’t quite get, sitting on the floor.

Suddenly, you pushed the window open and swatted at him with the broom, causing him to scream in surprise and you in fear.

“Wait, wait, stop!” He said, trying to evade your hits and yell louder than you “I’m not here to rob you!”

“Y-you’re not?” You stop, finally taking a better look at the stranger “Wait. Are you...”

“Nightwing, yeah.” He smiles. There was a cut in his lower lip and a little bit of blood tainting his teeth “Sorry for disturbing you, I’ll be on my wa-Ah!” He attempts to get up, hissing in pain as he tries to support his weight on his right leg.

“You’re hurt.”

“Yeah, it happens a lot.” He jokes in a strangled voice, holding on to the metal handrail.

“Come in, I’ll get you some ice.” You say, giving him some space.

“You don’t have to, I’ll be fine.” He waved you off.

“Yeah, but I want to.” You shoot back “Besides, I hit you with a broom several times, so I’ll feel really bad if you don’t let me help.”

“You really shouldn’t be inviting strange men into your house in the middle of the night.” He raises an eyebrow.

“You’re not just a strange man.” You argued, tilting your head from side to side lightly “You’re our hero.”

“But you don’t know me.” He lets his head drop down a little, cocky smirk on his face. You rolled your eyes.

“I’m helping you. Like you help us. Let me, okay?” You motioned for him to come in “I have ice, and water, and food.” He stares at you hesitantly “C’mon.” You say, a little impatient.

“Alright then, if you insist.” He caved in, accepting your help to climb into the house. You wrapped his arm around your shoulder and supported him, holding him by his waist, walking with him to the couch.

“You’re – ugh – heavier than you look.” You grunt. He huffed a laugh.

“Maybe you’re just weaker than you think you are.”

“I just woke up, give me a break.” You roll your eyes, setting him down on your old couch “Besides, you are thin, but you’re also a mountain of muscles. That makes you heavy.”

“My friends can carry me.” He teases.

“Are your friends heroes too?” You ask, taking the ice tray out of the freezer and cracking the cubes into a towel.

“Touché.” He laughs.

You kneeled down, bringing the ice with you, and slowly attempting to remove his boots.

“You don’t have to.” He says, trying to reach down. You put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Let me.” You stared at his eyes, or at least tried to; they are being covered by the mask, making it impossible for you to see the color under that abnormal white screen blocking them.

“They’ll smell bad.”

“Yeah, it’s a thing that happens with feet.” You shoot back, rolling your eyes “I’m used to it, don’t worry. My friend used to sprain her ankle a lot while running. Now shut up, sit back, and let me help, okay?” Nightwing seemed a little taken aback by that, cheeks assuming a light pink hue as he leaned back against the couch, slowly.

His ankle was swollen, but it still hadn’t turned purple. You delicately pressed the ice against his skin, and noticed how he grimaced.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” He answers “There’s no way of doing this without a bit of pain anyways. You’re very gentle.”

“That’s good to hear.” You smile, pressing your lips together as you stare at his injured foot “So, uhm, what about your mouth?”

“My mouth?” He asks.

“Yeah.” You look up “There’s blood on your teeth.” He brought his hand to his lips slowly “You... Do know that there’s blood on your teeth, right?”

“Yeah.” He answers, staring at the blood on the tips of his gloved fingers “Yeah, sure. I did know that. I was... aware. Of the blood, that is. I did know of blood on my teeth.”

“You had no clue, did you?”

“I had no clue.” He whispers, lowering his head.

“But didn’t you... I don’t know, can’t you taste it?” You ask.

“I can. It’s just that it lingers for quite a while, to be honest. I thought it had stopped, but apparently there’s another cut on my mouth, or maybe a loose tooth.” His tongue searched around a little “Yup, found it.” He says, words kind of mumbled because of the position his tongue was in “Definitely a loose tooth.” He grimaces “Man, those suck.”

“Uhm... Do you want some ice, maybe? I have more.”

“I...” He ponders on it for a moment “Yeah, actually. If it’s not too much trouble.” He places a hand at the right side of his cheek “It’s starting to hurt more now that I’m aware of it.”

You nod, trying to balance the ice pack on top of his ankle.

“Leave it.” He says “Can I put my feet on your couch?”

“Sure.” You got up as he turned to the side, stretching his left leg out and pulling the right one a little closer so he could hold the ice pack in place.

You picked the other ice tray and repeated the process, filling both of the trays and placing them in the freezer before going back to the hero. You handed Nightwing the ice pack and went back to the kitchen to get him a glass of water. When you came back again, he pulled his left leg closer, giving you space on the couch.

“Thank you.” He says after emptying the glass.

“No problem.” You smile “Give it here.” You used two fingers to ask for the ice pack back.

“It’s okay, I’ve got it.”

“C’mon. It’s better for your leg to be stretched out.” You insist, tapping your thighs.

“You’re very stubborn, aren’t you?” He teases.

“Yes, I am, now give me the damn ice pack, hero.” You stretch out your hand. He placed the wet towel-ice pack in your hand and his feet on your lap “Was that so hard?” You tease. He stuck out his tongue.

“Very.”

“Awn, you poor thing.” You sarcastically add “Being made to suffer by a civilian tending to your battle wounds.” He chuckles.

“Why are you being so nice?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” You shrug “You saved my life.”

“Did I?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah. A while ago, when that shooter walked into the subway station? I was there.” You look down at his feet again as you nervously bite the inside of your lips “I was scared shitless. And then you came in, swinging through the stairs, and knocked him out so fast.” You swallow “So yeah. Thank you for that.”

“I was just doing my job.” He smiles, face leaning into the ice pack pressed against his cheek.

“I guess.” You whisper. He nods “You don’t normally get too much help, do you?”

“Not so much.” He purses his lips “Working and living alone have their downsides.”

“Yeah...” You look at him for a moment.

The hero seemed more battered and bruised than you ever thought he could be. Before tonight, you couldn’t even be sure that he was human, but now, watching him talk and walk (well, limp), he barely seemed like a masked vigilante. He looked like a lonely guy. Before you realized it, your thumb was drawing slow circles on his clothed leg. You weren’t even sure if he could feel them under the material, but the way that he stared at your fingers made you believe he could.

“Okay, uhm, would you like something to eat?” You offer “I have some chinese food that I ordered earlier, but I don’t know if your mouth is in a chewing mood.” He laughs again.

“Yeah, I don’t think my mouth is in a chewing mood.” He smiles “It’s okay.”

“Well, I do have ice cream. If you want any.”

“Really?” His face seems to light up a little “What flavor?”

“Chocolate. Want some?”

“Uuuh, yes, please!” He smiles, removing his legs so you could get up from the couch “Listen, I don’t want to sound like a child, but, do you have any sprinkles? I really like them.”

“Sadly, no. I don’t really like sprinkles. But I do have caramel syrup.”

“Caramel syrup with chocolate ice cream?” He makes a weird face.

“It’s good!” You try to defend yourself.

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“Look, you can try some of mine, and if you like it I’ll put it on yours, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

“Alright then, wait here.” You went to the kitchen yet again, looking for cute bowls to put the ice cream in, unfortunately realizing you only had one old, glass bowl, sometimes used for soup “Well, shit.” You murmur in embarrassment, picking up your wide coffee mug for yourself and the bowl for him. You took both of them and the syrup to the living room “Here.” You hand it to him, sitting down again.

“Thanks!” He grins, watching as you poured the caramel on your mug “You’re eating it out of a mug?”

“I don’t have any other bowls.” You murmur, ashamed.

“Oh, I see.” He says, looking at your lowered face “Hey, that’s fine. I mean, I have only one mug and three spoons at my place.” You chuckle a bit.

“So we’re both broke loners, huh?” You ask, handing him the mug “Here, try it.”

He took it, picking some up with his spoon.

“Hum, that’s good.” He hands it back to you “And yeah, guess so.”

“Told you.” You pass him the bottle, letting him pour as much as he wants in his ice cream “So, uhm, what will you do about the tooth?”

“I’ll try to see my dentist tomorrow.” He answers.

“Isn’t it a bit suspicious? I mean, I imagine this happens a lot.”

“Well, I usually say it happened while I was practicing my acrobatics.”

“So you’re an acrobat?” You raise your eyebrows.

“I thought that much was obvious. You know, with all the spins and impressive sky stuff.” He smirks. You giggle and nod “Awn, that’s a pretty laugh.”

“Oh, shut up.” You blush, staring at his feet again.

“I wasn’t teasing you. You do have a pretty laugh.”

“Thanks. You have a pretty laugh too. And your feet don’t smell thaaaat bad.” You tease, causing him to snort.

“Okay then. I suppose that is one of the most sincere compliments I’ve ever been given.” Both of you laugh for a while, before finishing your ice creams in silence.

You set your mug down, noticing how the ice had melted almost entirely, leaving a very soaked towel on his foot. When you motioned to leave, you noticed him trying to stop you.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to take these to the kitchen. It’s all melted now.”

He pouts.

“But I like you here.”

“I’ll come back, Nightwing.” You laugh.

“Alright.” He lifts his legs.

“Is there ice left on the one in your cheek?”

“This one is alright.” He replies “Thanks.”

“No worries.” You rush out, putting the bowl and the mug in the sink, along with the wet towel, before coming back “See? I’m here.” You lift your hands, showing off playfully.

“That’s nice.” He turns around as you settle on the couch, catching you off guard as he places his head on your lap “Hi.” He grinned, white teeth showing.

“Ooookay...” You said, a little startled, but smiling. You placed your hand on his head, playing with his hair.

“Hmm, yeah. That’s great.” He closed his eyes, sighting “You must be an angel. So kind, so helpful... Gives the best head scratches...”

You huffed out a laugh.

“Well, I’m glad you like them, you needy boy.”

“Hey! I’m an attention-seeking whore, and a man, get it right angel.” He smiles.

“Makes sense.” You raise your eyebrows, watching him melt under your touch, breathing deeply “Listen, if you want to crash here for the night, that’s okay.”

“Oh. No.” He says “I should go.” He gets up, and the sudden lack of warmth scares you a little.

“I wasn’t kicking you out or...” You turn on the couch, facing him.

“No, I know!” He smiles extending his hands “I just shouldn’t take advantage of your kindness.” Nightwing looked down, hands behind his back.

“You’re not taking advantage of anything, hero.” You support the weight of your head on your elbow.

“Really?” He asks, a little cynical “What do you get from all of this?”

“It’s not about what I get.” You roll your eyes “It’s about what I’m willing to give.” He raises an eyebrow “You help people, right? People like me, my friends, my family... So you should get it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You help because you can. Because you know you can’t keep waiting for something magical to happen and eradicate all human suffering from the earth. You can save people, so you do. Right now, I can help you, so,” You shrugged “I do.”

“Yeah, alright.” He scratches the back at his neck “Still, I feel like I’m acting a little too...” He gestures towards your lap “Friendly.”

“That’s not a problem.” You chuckle a little, and he does too. You bite your lower lip “You sure you don’t want to spend the night here? The couch turns into a bed, and it’s more comfortable than it looks.”

“No, it’s fine.” He smiles at you “But thanks for the offer.” He stands up “I can already walk again, so I’ll be on my way.”

You followed him to the fire escape, watching as he picked up his grapple gun.

“So, uhm, listen...” You start, hugging yourself to try and keep the cold wind out “When it gets too hard... you know, being a loner. You can come here again. If you want to.” He looked at you for a moment, and his features seemed to soften as you spoke “You don’t have to care for your wounds by yourself, if you don’t want to.”

“Thank you.” He smiles “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Nightwing leaped from the metal staircase towards the ground, before surging up, holding on to the grapple gun, swinging his body forward and falling again, then going up, and down, and up, until he was too far to be seen. 

(Hey! If you made it this far, consider rebbloging? It’d make me very happy :) )

Thank you for reading! <3

[herohotline]

Warmth of You

Shouto Todoroki x Reader

A/N: HA! what was I thinking? ME? On a hiatus? as fucking if. that lasted a whole day.

Summary: Suffering from frequent insomnia, you find yourself drawn toward Todoroki and the warmth he provides. You’re absolutely sure that a crush has nothing to do with the fact that he’s the only one who can help you go to sleep.

Word Count: 5,500+ (god d. dammit. fuck)

When you go to a school like U.A, you naturally want to do your best. You want to get good grades, excel with your quirk- and never interrupt class. 

You interrupt class with a big, uncontrollable yawn that has you reeling back with how hard it hits you. Shame immediately crawls up your neck and heats your cheeks as you notice how everyone’s eyes are on you- including your teacher, Aizawa. 

“I’m sorry,” you groan, shoulders hunching up at Aizawa’s peeved expression. He quickly moves on to the next topic and you try your best to hold in the next yawn that comes- and the next one after that. 

Sleep has been hard lately and you’re not exactly sure why. Maybe it’s because of all the new information you’re absorbing in U.A, but your mind can never quite settle when you need it to. Sleep will either be consistently interrupted from waking up hourly or you just won’t fall asleep at all until ridiculously late hours. You’ve tried your best to fix the issue since you really do want to do your best in school- your brain only being half-awake during class wasn’t the best way to achieve that goal. 

You barely learn anything from Aizawa’s class today. It was something about hostages… you think. As class ends and everyone begins to gather their things, you think about how screwed you’ll be if Aizawa decides to do a surprise quiz again. You don’t think you’ll be able to keep your good grade if he does that…

“___,” a voice shakes you out of your stupor and you jolt, looking behind you. Todoroki stands there, his backpack around his shoulders and a curious look on his face. “Are you coming?” He asks. 

You look behind him and see Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida waiting by the class doors. That’s when you remember that you were all going to go shopping today at the mall- you hiss through your teeth when you realize that you completely forgot. How could you have forgotten? “Yeah! I- uh, I just need a minute. I’ll catch up!” You tell Todoroki and he nods, leaving with the rest of the group and heading down the halls. 

Now alone in the classroom, you sigh and put all your books in your bag as quick as you can. Your body is practically swaying with exhaustion, but it’s not like you can do anything about it. You were looking forward to today! It was a chance to hang out with your friends and relax- and you really needed to relax. With a determined mindset, you force your body to stand straight as you heave your backpack over your shoulders and run down to U.A entrance where your friends are waiting. 

---

The train ride is chaotic and hectic, as it usually is around the evening. You’re pressed awkwardly between Todoroki and Uraraka the entire time- Uraraka is at least understanding about it and you two make frequent jokes about your situation, but Todoroki remains stoic and silent as ever. You don’t mind too much, though, because you’re pressed up against his left side and it’s unusually warm. 

You’re actually comforted by it- the warmth reminds you of your bed and covers at home. If it wasn’t for the train’s constant swaying and jumbling, you could have fallen asleep. 

Finally, it’s your stop, and the five of you all hold hands as you exit the train so you don’t lose each other. It was Iida’s idea, actually, and it was pretty smart. Once you’re all away from the station, Uraraka and Midoriya immediately break their handhold with flushed faces- the scene honestly makes you laugh. You thank Iida for the idea with a squeeze of his hand before you let go as well because you honestly don’t know if your sleepy mind would have made it through the crowd alone- and then you’re off to the mall! 

Being inside the mall wakes you up quite a bit. For a straight hour, you’ve gotten energy from your friends to shop, eat, and make funny jokes with everyone. 

“___!” Uraraka whispers toward you, gaining your attention as she hides behind a rack of clothes and urges you to come over. You quickly head over and look at the item in her hand- it’s a rather cute pink sweater dress that reaches to the knees. 

“That’s so pretty!” You say, reaching out to feel the fabric. It’s soft and warm- just what you want from a dress like this. “Are you gonna buy it?” 

“I think so,” Uraraka hums, her cheeks matching the color of the dress as her eyes dart away. When you follow her gaze you laugh under your breath. 

“Thinking of wearing it for someone?” You giggle and she shoves your shoulder with a huff. “I think he’ll like it.” 

“You think so?” She asks, looking down at the dress again. Her expression is akin to a love-sick puppy as she shyly bites her lip with a smile. “I think so too.” 

After helping Uraraka secretly make her purchase and shoving it at the bottom of a bag so ‘he’ won’t see it, the shopping shenanigans continue. You buy a few things for yourself, but not as much as the others since you don’t have very much money. You save most of it for the food court since your stomach is rumbling, and in the middle of the crowded hall between shops you ask if anyone wants to come with you. 

“Oh, I’m not very hungry,” Midoriya says, “but I can still come with you!” 

“You don’t have to! I can just go by myself, honestly,” you wave him off with a smile- no one really looks interested and you suppose that makes sense. Everyone else had lunch today, but you took a nap instead, so you’re a bit more lacking in the food department than anyone else. 

“I can go,” Todoroki offers, already walking next to you. 

“Really?”

“I could use a drink,” he shrugs, and you suppose that’s fair. After the discussion you and Todoroki head off to the food court, promising to text Iida once you’re done so you can regroup. 

Talking with Todoroki is always fun, honestly. He’s got a unique personality and has interesting answers to otherwise uninteresting questions, so you like hanging out with him. You feel a familiar sleepiness as you walk together so closely- his left side giving you that heat again that makes you so drowsy. He’s usually quiet, but today he’s surprisingly talkative, so you try your best to keep up with him even though your feet are dragging and you feel another yawn coming on. 

Oh no, here it comes. 

You interrupt Todoroki’s speech about All Might with another big yawn that brings tears to your eyes and makes your body sag- it honestly drags on for a long time since you’ve been holding them back and you groan in embarrassment. 

“I’m sorry! What were you saying?” You ask him as you rub your wet eyes- if anyone had been looking, they’d think you were crying. 

“...Are you alright?” Todoroki asks. His lips are pursed and his eyebrows are drawn together in concern- you notice how he’s slowed down his walk considerably so you can keep up with him. “You were yawning in class too.”

“I yawned. It was only once,” you argue.

“You kept doing it. I saw.” 

Ah, dammit. You forget that Todoroki sits right behind you- he probably saw you struggling to keep it in. “I’m fine, really. Just didn’t get a lot of sleep…” You honestly don’t want to get into it, not wanting him to worry over you- so it’s quite a miracle that you finally made it to the food court. “We’re here! I want to get a crepe, okay?” You eagerly change the subject as you rush forward, leaving your classmate behind as you get in line for one of the shops. 

That familiar heat comes back to you as Todoroki stands behind you. Honestly, you want to push him away so he’ll stop making you so tired, but it’s not like he’s doing it on purpose. His head hovers over yours as he observes the menu and you frown, squinting in his direction.

Is he doing it on purpose…?

Nah. 

Todoroki was a lot of things, and dense was one of them. You love him to bits, truly, but you don’t think he’d be the kind of person to notice when you maybe migrate towards his warmth when you were sleepy. And if he did notice, he’d probably just ask you about it bluntly- not subtly indulge you. 

The two of you make your order- you with a sweet crepe in your favorite flavor and Todoroki with a simple green bubble tea. You decide that it’s a little too hectic to eat and shop at the same time, so you make your way to a bench next to a wall, sitting there with Todoroki as you both eat silently. While talking with your classmate was fun, doing this was just as good too. 

Just the silence carrying you as you eat, watching people walk by and observing the world go on as you sit back and take it all in. 

It’s not surprising that eventually you start to nod off in the middle of it all, right?

---

Todoroki only notices that you’ve fallen fast asleep when he feels the weight of you on his shoulder. He looks down at you- you’re already breathing deep and slow as you lean into the warmth of his body, the hand holding your treat slowly loosening. He’s quick to grab it before you spill it all over yourself and the floor- and then he’s stuck. 

Sitting on a bench, a crepe in one hand and tea in the other, and then you leaning on him as if he were a pillow. 

But surprisingly, Todoroki doesn’t mind. He lets you use his heat- he has been all day. It would take an idiot not to notice how exhausted you were, but even though you were, you pulled through so you could be there for your friends. Todoroki admires that about you, truly. But you deserve rest- and if he had to be stuck on an uncomfortable mall bench for you to get that rest, he supposes he’s willing to sacrifice his good posture. He continues on with his day, sitting there while sipping on his drink and eating your crepe in little nibbles he hopes you won’t notice when you wake up. But you’re totally conked out and the crepe is melting, so Todoroki eventually has no choice but to quickly eat it all before it drips all over him. 

He’ll pay you back later. Now that his hand is free, he tries to reach into his pocket to reach his phone, but you’re laying on it and start to move around when he does. 

So there he is. Stuck again, not wanting to wake you because his phone is in the wrong pocket. Thankfully, Todoroki is a patient person and he doesn’t mind sitting around. He doesn’t have to wait very long until a worried Iida is practically blasting through the food court. 

Not wanting to wake you, Todoroki simply raises his free hand and waves it until Iida notices- though he’s too distracted calling out your names and spinning in frantic circles. It’s Midoriya who notices eventually and waves back- trying to get Iida’s attention once he knows where you are. The fire-ice user watches in amusement as his friends attempt to calm Iida down and point frantically toward the two of you- Iida could be such a worry-wart sometimes. 

“You never texted us, we were wondering if something happened!” Midoriya says as the group finally makes their way toward Todoroki. “...Is ___ sleeping?” 

Todoroki simply nods, placing a finger over his lips as he keeps an eye on Iida. “What time is it?” He quietly asks and Iida gives it right away- thankfully keeping his voice down. 

“5:14!”

“They’ve been sleeping for about twenty minutes,” Todoroki murmurs, trying to remember when he last looked at the time. Twenty minutes? That sounded about right. Just before five, when a sudden rush came in the food court… He recalls he saw a woman in rather tall high heels and flamboyant clothing and he had wanted to take a picture for Aoyama. 

“Why didn’t you text us?” Uraraka snorts, looking at your sleeping form against him with a smile. 

“Phone’s in my left back pocket…”

“I see,” Midoriya laughs. “You didn’t want to wake them up. I’m glad you’re both okay, though!” Todoroki watches as the brunette girl brings out her phone and he can’t help but tense- 

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing!” Uraraka sings, pointing the camera in his direction. He hears the familiar sound of a fake shutter- purely put in for aesthetic reasons but telling him that she definitely just took a picture. “It’s a nice memory, isn’t it?” 

The fire-ice user purses his lips. He doubts that was her intention. 

“Shouldn’t we wake them up soon?” Iida finally butts in, “it’s getting late! We should get back to the dorms right away!” 

“How lovely of you to remind us, class president.” 

“You’re welcome!” 

Todoroki hums- he would really like to get off the stiff bench, but he’s hesitant. “You guys head out without us. I’ll wake them up eventually and we’ll be back soon.” 

“Are you sure?” Midoriya worries and Todoroki nods- he wants to give you at least a few more minutes. Uraraka smiles beside him, most likely taking another picture before tucking it away in a pocket. 

“Alright. You want us to take some bags?” 

“Yes, actually. Thank you.” His friends proceed to take what they can carry of the bags sitting next to your feet- you didn’t buy very much, and neither did Todoroki, so they leave only two full paper bags for the both of you to carry. The fire-ice user waves with his free hand, smiling gently as his friends set off. “See you later,” he whispers. 

“See you!” 

Once the three of your mutual friends set off, it’s just him again. Silently, Todoroki ponders on how he’ll wake you- and if he even has the guts to do it. The mall will be closing soon, surely… He looks out one of the many windows of the mall, watching the sky slowly darken as time continues to pass.

He’ll have to think of something soon. 

---

You wake up to the strangest feeling. Your whole torso feels lovingly warm- as if you were laying next to a firepit. But your legs tingle from a chill cold- it was as if your temperature was split in half. 

Half and half… That sounds oddly familiar. 

Your eyes are heavy as you barely manage to blink them open- you honestly can’t remember falling asleep in the first place. Your whole body and mind feels disoriented for a minute as you realize that you’re moving- how are you moving? Are you outside? 

“Did you have a nice nap?” 

“HMmuh?” You quickly fail at finding any words as you look up and find Todoroki staring down at you, a gentle smile on his face and his mismatched eyes shining. Okay- what’s going on? You force yourself to blink your eyes open again, but he’s still there. 

You realize that the varying temperatures you felt along your body were because of Todoroki. The fire-ice user was carrying you in his arms- quite easily, might you add- with one of his arms locked under your knees and the other placed behind your back. Realizing this, your body is no longer cold at all- it’s all heated up from your toes to your head as you flush in the embarrassment of being so tenderly cradled by your friend. 

“Y-you… you didn’t have to carry me!” You pathetically stutter, quickly looking away from his face- looking at him just makes you more nervous. 

“I just wanted you to sleep a little longer…” He says, “would you like me to let you down?” 

Did he really have to be so sweet?

“If our class sees us like this, I’ll never hear the end of it…” you grumble- you’re reluctantly comfortable in his strong arms. “Do you think… you could let me down at U.A?” It’s shameful to ask- he must be tired, right? But to your surprise, there’s no hesitance in his voice as he agrees. 

But then you remember. “Wait! Our bags!” 

“The others took them to help out.” He shakes you in his arms once- making you hear the sound of paper rustling. “I’m carrying the other two. They aren’t heavy.” 

“They all saw me sleeping on you?” You groan. You almost don’t want to know, but you have to ask… “Did Uraraka take a picture?” 

Todoroki seems surprised. “How did you know that?” 

Ugh, of course. “Because I know her and I know her little demonic mind,” you frown, letting your head fall back dramatically as you sigh. “She’s totally going to blackmail me.” 

“Ah. I was wondering about her intentions…” Todoroki shuffles you in his arms again, probably trying to deal with your weight. You realize you’re really not helping him at all by just sitting in his arms lifelessly, so you try to sit up as you wrap an arm around his neck. Your other hand goes toward his arm, blindly reaching until you find the paper handle of a bag and you slowly wiggle it away from his arm. He seems to get it as he stops walking for a moment, letting you take the bag and hold it in your lap before you wrap both your hands around his neck. 

“Is that better?” You ask- you still feel a little hot from being so close to him. And with your arms wrapped around him… It almost feels like you’re in a fantasy, to be honest. 

“It is, thank you,” Todoroki continues to walk as he smiles down at you- you bite your lip subconsciously and look ahead. Even if you’re doing your best to avoid his gaze, you can feel his eyes on you. 

“Eyes on the road, bucko,” you mutter under your breath. Todoroki hums, laughing silently before doing as he’s told. 

It’s silent the rest of the walk back. 

---

After the whole sleeping-on-Todoroki and being-carried-by-Todoroki incident (something you tried to keep on the down-low, but Ashido found you both at the gates and immediately told everyone), things were a bit awkward for you. Todoroki was one of your best friends, but right now you couldn’t be in the same room with him without being teased relentlessly, so you find yourself subtly avoiding him just to get some peace of mind. You feel awful about it, but you swear to make it up to him once your classmates settle down. Rumors never lasted very long, anyway. 

In the meantime, your sleep truly hadn’t gotten any better. The best sleep you’d gotten was when you were in Todoroki’s arms, as embarrassing as it was to admit. You tried to recreate his warmth- you bought a weighted blanket and a heating pad- but it wasn’t the same. 

What was it about him, anyway? It drove you crazy just thinking about it. What sort of cure-all did he have hidden away inside him that made you sleep so soundly? 

Ashido and Uraraka seemed convinced that it was your crush- but that was ridiculous. You didn’t have a crush on Todoroki. Definitely not! 

Uraraka bugged you about it a lot, but then you’d bring up her little pink dress and she was quick to shut her mouth. Now you just needed to find a way to shut up Ashido and you’d be peachy. 

Though you’ll admit- a week later, you were at the end of your rope. Aizawa won’t stop scolding you for nodding off or making amateur mistakes in class, and your grades are starting to suffer because of it. It doesn’t help that you can feel the burning of Todoroki’s eyes on your back nearly every day- it just adds to your guilt. You know he’s confused about you avoiding him- but it’s not like your friends will give you enough peace and time to explain it to him. 

Bags are starting to show under your eyes- you really don’t know how much you’ve slept this week, but it’s worse than all the other weeks. You can’t afford to play around anymore. So on a Saturday night, you throw your stubborn heart in the garbage as you grab your phone and text the boy you’d been avoiding.

Tomorrow was a full day off, and you were determined to sleep in. You wanted to catch up on all those hours spent awake, and there was only one proven method on how to do that. 

It was pitch black out- most of the students were sleeping or getting ready to, so as you were sending your text, you just hope that Todoroki is one of the night owls in class and you aren’t waking him up. You don’t want anyone to catch him on his way here- that is, if he even takes your invitation. 

It wasn’t anything too revealing. You told him to come to your dorm because you wanted to talk. You want to apologize for avoiding him and tell him about your insomnia- and then slowly, slowly convince him to possibly snuggle with you until you fall asleep. 

You know, normal friend things. 

It’s not long before you hear someone knocking on your door. You quickly scramble out of bed and look through the peephole- once you see familiar white-red hair, you open the door and quickly drag Todoroki inside before shutting the door behind him. He makes a sound of surprise as you pull him by his shirt and you quickly let him go once the door is closed. 

“Sorry. I just don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.” You sigh and lead him to your bed, sitting down and patting the spot next to you. “Which is why I wanna talk to you. I’m sorry for avoiding you.” 

Todoroki hums and when he sits on your bed, the mattress sinks and your thighs touch. “Why have you been?” He sounds indifferent, but his expression says otherwise. He’s obviously upset. 

“I- I’m sorry,” you apologize again, “it’s just… When you carried me last week and all of that, our classmates were just relentless with teasing us. I just didn’t want to add fuel to the fire, so I ended up avoiding you a bit.” You pick at your nails self-consciously while you admit this to him. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“They’re just rumors,” he says. His lips purse as he pauses, thinking out his next words before carefully saying them. “I wouldn’t want half baked rumors to be the reason you don’t want to be friends anymore.” 

“No!” You quickly wave your hands in protest, crying out on accident. That’s the opposite of what you wanted! “No, I- I still want to be friends! I’m really sorry I made you think I didn’t, Todoroki! I- uhhm- I really wanted…” Putting your hands back down in your lap, you bite your lip and huff. “I wanted you to know that I really appreciated how considerate you were for me at the mall. I really appreciated it… you’re kind, Todoroki. Especially for putting up with me.” 

Todoroki just shakes his head. “I liked helping you. I’m glad I could… and I’m glad you want to be friends.” The vulnerability must be getting to him because he’s getting pink in the face. It’s now or never, right?

“Well, about that…” Oh boy, here we go. You sit up a little straighter, trying to fake confidence as you face your friend completely. “My sleeping hasn’t gotten any better. It’s basically gotten worse during this whole thing, and- well, I could sleep really well when I was with you, so I was- I was wondering-” Looking up at Todoroki, you hope that he gets where this is headed, but he isn’t showing any sign that he does. And right when you were thinking he wasn’t that dull, too… “I was wondering if you could… stay with me until I can fall asleep. Do you- do you get what I mean?”

You stare at him while he processes the information. His expression slowly but surely changes from stoic, confused, and then most definitely surprise and embarrassment as his eyes light up and his cheeks flush again. 

“Oh. You want me to cuddle you?” 

You can feel yourself basically bursting into flames. “I mean- sort of! No?? I- just- just close enough that I can feel your body heat? Oh god, nevermind.” You put your face in your hands- how could you have thought this was a good idea? You’re in the middle of doubting all your life choices and wishing you could disappear into the dark abyss of your hands when you feel the bed dip considerably. At first, you think Todoroki is leaving- but when you look up you see him trying to make himself comfortable as he lies down and readjusts your pillows. 

“...I’m not used to mattresses like these. It’s squishy.” ...Right. If you remember correctly, Todoroki’s room has a tatami mat instead of a mattress- 

“Wait. You’ll really do it?” You stare down at him from where you sit. He looks like the very definition of awkward- he hasn’t even gotten under the blankets, he’s fully clothed with socks still on and everything, and he looks like he has no idea how to relax on a mattress. 

But even though he has no idea what he’s doing, he’s still there. He’s willing to help, even if it’s a little weird. “Yeah… I want you to sleep.” His hands lace and rest on his stomach as he finally finds a comfortable position: laying very straight on his back. Todoroki tilts his head so he can look at you and says, “plus, it wasn’t so bad the first time.” 

You suppose this is just Honesty Hour, then. You think you’ve run out of energy to get embarrassed anymore, so you accept his statement with a sigh. “You could at least remove your socks and get under the blankets.” 

“Right.” You don’t feel like watching him strip- even if it’s just his socks, so you stand up from the bed and head to your dresser. It might be a bit weird, but if you’re going to be cuddling Todoroki under your covers, you’ll need to lose the pants and get a tank-top. It’s going to get unbearably warm if you don’t. You gather some other nightclothes and head for your bathroom, leaving him alone for a minute as you change. The basketball shorts you picked out aren’t even yours, really. You remember you made a comment once about how you needed shorts and Bakugo threw these in your face once you wore your old ones which were too small. 

While it was a rude way to give a gift, it was sort of nice of him to do. 

Now that you’re ready for some awkward friend-cuddling, you open the door of your bathroom and take a peek into your bedroom. Todoroki’s socks are neatly piled at the foot of the bed along with his shirt- he’s under the covers and you can’t tell if he’s actually shirtless or if he’s wearing a tank-top like you. 

“Um. Todoroki?” 

He looks up at you, barely lifting his head from the pillows. “Yes?”

“...Are you shirtless?” 

“No.” He pushes the covers far enough that you can see that he is, in fact, wearing a tank-top, but you almost burst out laughing when you see what it is. 

“You wear an All Might undershirt?” 

A little self consciously Todoroki nods and puts the covers back over his chest. He looks adorably small as he flusters over his shirt. “Yeah… It’s- it’s not too weird, is it?” 

You finally walk out of the bathroom, heading to the bed. You cross your arms as you observe the bed- a hand on your chin and you hum. “No, it’s cute… what we’re about to do is a little weird, though.” 

Todoroki huffs through his nose with a smile, silently laughing. “Yeah.” Good, at least you’re both on the same page. “What are you doing?” 

“Figuring out how I wanna do this.” Because it deserves some thought! How can you make this comfortable? “Okay- back up toward the wall and lay on your right side.” He does as he’s told silently and after preparing yourself for a few moments, you turn off the lamp on your nightstand and get under the covers. You lay on your side so the both of you are facing each other, and now the two of you are in a standstill in the dark. 

Todoroki makes the first move, his hand inching toward your abdomen and his fingers barely brush your waist. You practically freeze up from his touch even though his hand is so warm, and he hums silently. “Come here,” he whispers, his hand slowly grabbing your waist and gently tugging you. 

You do as he says, shuffling close enough that you can feel that familiar warmth that soothes you so much- his arm staying around your waist as you come closer. You’re still hesitant- Todoroki’s knees touch yours, but that’s it. Maybe this wasn’t a great idea, you think- how can you go to sleep with your heart beating so fast? 

As if he can hear your heart- and maybe he can, Todoroki whispers again. “Relax,” he says. 

Impossible, but ok. 

“How… do you feel about this?” You ask him slowly. Sure, he’s willing to help… but why? Todoroki sighs, his whole body melting into it as he sinks further into the mattress. 

“I feel…” He hums. “I feel that if you can get peace from a part of me I really don’t like… then maybe that makes me feel better about myself.” 

Taken aback by his honesty, you don’t even realize as he scoots closer. Your legs are intertwined, now. 

“I don’t even have to try- you know? Just the very state of me… you lean into it.” One of his hands brushes through your hair. Your eyes still haven’t adjusted to the dark, so you can’t see his expression- his absolutely beautiful expression as he looks right at you. “It makes me happy.”

“Oh,” your breath leaves you shakily- honestly, he’s stolen all the breath from your lungs and the words from your tongue and now you’re left with nothing as you lay next to him. He is absorbing you more than you are him. 

“Go to sleep,” his voice is so soft and quiet, you can barely hear it. “Please.” 

He doesn’t have to ask you twice. 

---

Todoroki is a light sleeper. 

So even though the several people stockpiled in your room try to be sneaky, he wakes up the moment they all begin to whisper, his eyes cracking open and glaring at the people who woke him up. 

Todoroki guesses you forgot to lock the door, which is why half of the fucking class is gathered in your room and staring at the two of you like you were animals in a zoo.

“Go away,” he says coldly and everyone jumps- obviously they hadn’t noticed how he woke up. 

“We were so quiet!!” Ashido yells in a whisper, looking very upset at being caught. 

He really doesn’t want to deal with this, honestly. Yeah, call him a little cranky- but he wanted to keep sleeping. Todoroki frowns and wraps his hands tighter around your waist. The two of you must have tussled a lot in your sleep- the blankets are shoved toward the foot of the bed and you’re lying directly on top of his body. 

“You guys are so cute together!” Uraraka coos silently, and he recognizes her phone. God, how long had they all been in here?

“Go away,” Todoroki tells them again and with a quick movement, he twirls you around in his arms until his back is toward the class and he’s successfully surrounding you- away from all your friends who groan at the cuteness being taken away from them. 

“Todo-”

A sudden burst of ice shoots out of his leg and he shoves himself up with his arms, glaring daggers at them all- Ashido, Uraraka, Midoriya (how could he), Kirishima, Kaminari, Momo, and Jirou. After that, they all quickly scatter out of the room- no longer trying to be quiet as they beg Todoroki not to kill them and slam the door shut. 

The door slam is what finally wakes you up. You shuffle from under him, body stretching as you groan. Todoroki lays back on top of you, making you loudly wheeze from the sudden weight. “Todoroki!” 

“Mmm… no. Go back to sleep.” 

You laugh from under him, your arms lazily wrapping around his back and patting him. “Someone got comfortable, huh?” 

“Mhmm.” 

“Well, at least let me-” You heave yourself up from under him, probably going to grab the blankets before you freeze up. Todoroki stays laying face down on the mattress. “...Todoroki.” He hums. “Why is there a wall of ice in my room?” 

“You wouldn’t even want to know.” 

You already know. In a quick second, you’re suddenly no longer tired- your body filled with a fit of hot anger as you throw yourself out of bed and shove on a sweater that lies on the floor. “Dammit! I’m so fucking stupid!” 

Todoroki lays on his side as he watches you slam open your bedroom door. “Alright!” You yell. “Which one of you assholes am I hunting down?!” 

“Momo, Jirou, Ashido, Uraraka, Midoriya, Kirishima, Kaminari,” Todoroki immediately tattles and he can hear voices yelling at him from down the hall. You’re already running and students are screaming. 

Even though he should really get up and do something about this, he doesn’t. He melts the wall of ice in your room, letting it puddle on the floor before grabbing your thick blanket and letting it cover him as he lays back down. 

Your bed is very comfortable, after all, and he thinks that he’ll probably be sleeping here again soon. 

[fae-fucker]

Review: Death Wind by Tara Grayce

Essie should be planning her happily ever after, not planning a war. Although they once were enemies, the humans of Escarland and the elves of Tarenhiel have allied to fight the trolls from the far north. But alliances are tricky things even in the best of times, and with Farrendel, the elves’ foremost warrior and Essie’s husband, captured by the trolls, the circumstances appear dire indeed. But Essie won’t give up, and she will make her two peoples work together to fight this war if it’s the last thing she does. One way or another, she will get Farrendel back, no matter what it takes.

Gonna be honest, didn't expect much given my lukewarm reaction to the previous two books, but this one? This one actually held my attention for genuine reasons rather than just being a light read. Because the plot involves a lot of conflict (arguably the biggest conflict possible, war), the pacing is steady, and two of the three POV characters are mostly suffering and/or being tortured, there's actually tension for once. It's a welcome change, and proves that the author is very much capable of writing it but just chooses not to in favor of boring and conflict-free family interactions.

With Melantha introduced as a POV character, we're offered a pretty buckwild concept for this series: a character that makes mistakes and has to live with the consequences. I actually found myself liking Melantha, not because I thought she was a compelling character (she wasn't) or because I felt bad for her (I didn't), but because she had what Essie didn't: flaws. There's even a point in the book where Melantha thinks about how much she dislikes Essie because Essie is so sugary perfect and everything Melantha wishes she could be, and I think it's supposed to show us how bitter and insecure Melantha is? Except she's 100% correct, Essie is literally too perfect to be a real person and I just sat there going "yeah, you're right, and don't feel bad for being shitty because literally nobody can actually be like Essie."

However, Melantha suffers from Stupid Bitch Syndrome, which doesn't exactly make for a good protagonist/POV character. She's not intended to be dumb, the book expects us to think she was simply misguided and bitter and not, like, a complete idiot who should've known better. But her instant remorse feels less like character development and more like her suddenly realizing she’s actually a huge idiot who fell for the enemy’s nonsense, which she is. She's supposed to be an older elf, a grown woman, yet she makes such an obvious mistake and immediately regrets it and folds like a wet blanket the moment shit hits the fan. It's honestly a bit pathetic. The only reason I preferred her over Essie was because she introduced some much-needed depth to the character roster, but that depth was still about the size of a teacup, compared to Farrendel's thimble and Essie's singular water molecule. Her relationship with the troll prince was actually ... interesting? It was all mostly unspoken, which I think made it stronger than the overly telegraphed thing Essie and Farrendel have going on, and I’m sure it’ll be flattened out and become boring in the next book, so enjoy this potential before it’s wasted.

Farrendel spends the entire book being tortured and thinking about how he's being tortured. I can't blame him, but it doesn't make for good reading. I honestly think his POV could've been left out altogether and it wouldn't have changed much. Melantha is already there with him letting the reader know he’s suffering, we don’t need two POVs telling us the same thing. Oh uh, except for the part where he ... puts his magic in a soul-bond pocket. I'd mark this as spoilers but it's literally on the cover. I guess if his POV was removed then we'd never know how Essie learned to blast his power in battle at that one convenient moment, but it barely affects the plot afterward so um, yeah. I'm having a hard time justifying his POV at all. I'm still not over that part btw, how Farrendel just ... makes a "mental fist" (no, really), grabs his magic in one and his soul bond with Essie in the other and just puts them together like he's connecting two cables to an adapter. And he knew to do this ... how? It's not like we've seen him experiment with his magic before, in fact he's been shown to hate it and only use it when necessary, but apparently this tortured and exhausted man has the presence of mind to try something as vague and theoretical as ... putting his magic in a soul pocket. He spends a few pages going “I wonder if I can do this” and then it works on the first try. He does consider whether it’ll hurt Essie and decides not to try it, but as I said, he does it soon after anyway so like ... I don’t think it’s supposed to be funny or show how little of a shit he gives about Essie, but that’s sort of the implication and I thought it was funny as hell. 

Anyway, the magic pocket is about as much worldbuilding/lore as we get from this series entry, aside from the trolls having their own political intricacies and tensions, which I’m assuming the next book will expand upon. The writing itself in this book was pretty bad at times. The repetition of certain words and names was really glaring in some parts and felt amateurish. Take a shot every time the word “magic” appears and you’ll be in the grave before the book ends. Prince Rharreth and King Charvod are almost always referred to with their full titles and names for some reason? A few editing rounds would’ve helped this a lot, methinks.

The plot is mostly moved along in Essie’s POV, which is slightly less insufferable than usual because she’s the one observing the movement of the two armies and there are actually action scenes in there that, while don’t exactly made me worried about her (there’s no way this perfect idiot will ever die), still provided some tension. But it’s honestly not much, the “war” lasted two entire weeks (and that’s including the strategy, logistics, and mobilizing) and with how fast the armies travel and how little resistance they face (and how Deus Ex Farrendel-d the final battle was, the guy is apparently full of godlike destructive power despite being starved and tortured, go off king), it all felt very unrealistic and easy. Like, we have two armies marching in the middle of a mountain chain during magical snow storms, all while being regularly assaulted by the defending army, and they still get there no problem, without a single mention of soldiers struggling not to die of exposure. Aight. I guess these elves and humans are just very resistant to the cold, for some reason.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason it goes over so fast in-universe is because the author wanted Farrendel to be horribly tortured throughout his captivity, but also knew that if that lasts too long, the damage will be too severe to easily resolve in the next book. But instead of easing off the hardcore torture, because then we’d lose out on that drama and those High Stakes, she decided to speed up the whole war thing, because hey, who cares about that, anyway? We just want Farrendel back, right? Riiiight? Better hurry up guys! Don’t want Farrendel to be too tortured to fix with some strawberry-flavored medicine and vague counseling in the next book!

So yeah, the plot moves on speedily, but at what cost? Mainly depth. Again. And once again, Essie suffers the most from being a bland caricature of a person and dragging the whole thing down. The author’s GR bio says she writes “spunky and tough” leading ladies, and I guess having no other things in your brain except sparkly kitten gifs is a certain kind of toughness in an “immovable object” sort of way, but “spunk” implies a of counter-culture edge that sweet widdle Essie simply does not have.

There was one small section where Essie felt bad over how the human and elven warriors were going to die, how many mothers and sisters and daughters would suffer just so she didn’t have to, but then we don’t find out the death count, the casualties are never even mentioned, and Essie moves on from this without even a single thought questioning the morality of a monarchy or her own position of power. Now, I get that that’s not the focus of this series, but it just adds to how Essie’s worries are always surface-level and never justified by the plot, how she never has to do any introspection and is never allowed to not always be annoyingly positive. Whenever she even begins to think something negative, she instantly, almost compulsively changes trajectory and just decides not to worry about it, and then it never comes up again anyway. This would’ve been like, an interesting take on toxic positivity and how Essie represses her own emotions, but no, the book never goes there, she’s just that perfect and wee and optimistic, even during a war and when her husband’s being tortured to near-death. It’s kind of insulting to read, honestly.

Oh yeah, that’s another thing that annoyed me. Even when she loses Farrendel, she takes it surprisingly well and focuses mostly on keeping a positive attitude for his sake, so he doesn’t feel her sadness through their “heart bond.” I never really felt her loss, her love for him, when she so easily could just decide not to feel bad “for his sake.” I want her to feel bad, I want her to miss him and to ache at his absence and to fear for what they’re doing to him. But no. That would just upset him more and hurt him more. So Essie doesn’t get to experience any negative feelings because it might upset her husband. Essie doesn’t get angry and determined to fight, she just keeps being her cheery little Stepford Wife self because being nice will keep everyone’s spirits up and make them hope and fight harder to preserve that hope!! :)

It just comes off as really flat and moralistic yet dishonest at the same time, because nobody would fucking react like this IRL. Essie might be a good person in-universe, but she drags the entire series down just by being perfect, cheery, and never, ever challenged or even allowed to challenge anything herself. Essie isn’t allowed to have any negative feelings because it might affect her husband, and yet we’re supposed to find this empowering somehow? We’re supposed to believe she’s spunky and confident and a sweet little firecracker of a redhead?

Eugh.

At least Melantha is an idiot, I guess. One whole female character gets to have a flaw, and she’s the almost-villain who needs to be fixed with love.

Idk man. The sexism in this series is like a constant undercurrent that grows stronger with each installment as our “understanding” of this world expands. All of Essie’s brothers, including the king, are at the front lines because they are manly men “have to” be there, while the women who aren’t Essie or Jalissa stay behind to be mothers and caretakers. It’s never expanded upon and just sort of accepted as part of both human and elven society and the narrative treats it like this obvious thing that even Essie doesn’t really bother noting how unfair and/or weird it is. There’s not even a single comment on it. Essie is in the war not because she can fight but because Farrendel needs her, and Jalissa is there because ... Um. Because ... she. Uh. She needs to be there when they confront Melantha? She’s Farrendel’s sister? Idk. Jalissa’s main point in this series so far seems to be the ship tease between her and Edmund that feels awkward and one-sided as fuck.

So yeah. The pacing and plot flowed along really well, but the characters and the writing and worldbuilding are all just really undercooked, which, at three books into the series, feels more glaring than ever.

But hey, at least it was a quick read!

[endless-whump]

Simon/Oliver: Broken

CW: triggered whumpee, food trigger, referenced emeto, references to box boy whump, creepy whumper, ptsd, self blaming, self deprecating thoughts, panic attack, conditioning

Masterlist

y'all getting TWO WHOLE FICS TONIGHT 

Note: Takes place right before Trust, a crossover between Simon/Oliver and Marcus/Luca

----

Broken

That's the best word Oliver could seem to come up with to describe himself.  Even after he was home, he was safe, he was confident Simon wasn’t leaving him, he couldn’t stop himself from cracking and crumbling into a million pieces, unable to let himself surface.  

He felt like he was drowning, falling into depths he couldn’t even see, unable to reach out and grasp hold of anything for support.  He could barely close his eyes without seeing him, seeing sir.  

He felt sick whenever they tried to get him to take the medicine, images burned into his mind of men holding him down and forcing him to take pills, keeping him docile when Cedric wanted to bring him out for some fun.  They made him barely cogerient, and by the time they put him back in the dark room he didn’t even remember leaving in the first place.  Maybe it was better that way, though.  Maybe it was best if he didn’t remember what happened outside that room.

He clung to Simon whenever he could, glued to his side in fear of being pulled away.  He never, never wanted to be pulled away like that again.  He didn’t even care if Simon hurt him again.  As long as he didn’t have to go back.

Simon seemed to accept it, and seemed to be comfortable with Oliver becoming his shadow again after that night they confronted in the hallway.  Everyone in the house seemed to come to a silent agreement that they wouldn’t talk about Simon's outburst, or anything spoken that night, and Oliver was completely ok with that.

“Peach or lemon?”  Simon asked softly, metal spoon clinking against the mug on the counter.

Oliver stood by his side, a thin finger hooked on Simon's shirt as they stood in the kitchen.  It was early, Oliver had woken up with nightmares again.  Simon had brought him downstairs as quietly as he could, murmuring reassurances and moving to make him something that would calm him down.

“Lemon.”  He replied softly, resting his head against the other's shoulder.  Simon hummed in acknowledgment, grabbing the box and rummaging through it for the right kind, and Oliver couldn’t help but notice his hands shaking.

“I’ll take care of it.”  Marie offered softly, moving to take the mug from Simons shaking hands. Oliver hadn’t even noticed her in the kitchen, flinching a little at the sudden voice beside them.

Simon didn’t even argue, letting her pry the mug away from him. He was tired too, and they all knew it. Oliver felt guilt twist inside him at the thought, knowing he was the cause.

Simon muttered his thanks, guiding Oliver to sit at the table with him, resting his forehead on his arms crossed on the table.  Oliver watched him intently, fingers tapping at his leg nervously. Simon was spending all his time taking care of him, staying up when he couldn’t sleep, there when he woke up yelling.  He was always there, and Oliver was starting to wonder if that was a good thing.

He reached a hand out hesitantly, setting it on Simon's arm. He startled a little, blinking as he looked up, worried.

“Sorry- did you need something, Ollie?”

Oliver retracted his hand immediately, face falling.  He felt like he was shriveling up, cracked pieces falling from where he’d clumsily tried to put them back together.

“I..no..no sorry, was trying to..nevermind, sorry.”

He was trying to be comforting.

Instead he just bothered Simon more.  Maybe it would be best if he just didn’t try at all.

If Simon noticed anything wrong he didn’t mention it, dropping his head back down in his arms.  Oliver bit his lip, resolving to leave him alone.  He needed the rest and the break from taking care of him.

“Here you go, Oliver.”  Marie said kindly, setting the finished mug in front of him.  “Make sure you and Simon have something to eat later, I’m going back to bed.”   He blinked, looking up at her and forcing a small smile.

“Thanks.”  he murmured, picking it up and bringing it to his lips to sip at it as she ruffled his hair, making her way back towards the stairs with a yawn.  It was warm, the sweet tanginess of lemon flavor being the first thing to hit him.  The second thing to hit him almost made him gag.

Oliver froze, stomach twisting as the taste hit him, disgust and terror seizing him and making him go still.

Honey.

She’d put honey in it.

Simon knew not to put honey in it, he knew- but Simon hadn’t made it.  Marie did.  Marie didn’t know.

His hands shook slightly as his eyes went blank, breaths coming in quiet, pained gasps.

He wasn’t with sir, he tried reminding himself, failing.  He could almost still feel the hand on the back of his neck, sliding across his throat and up to tilt his chin, delicate china forced to his lips.  He could feel the hand on his leg, the collar tightened around his throat, the pleased hum right next to his ear.

He wanted nothing more than to hurl the mug across the room, watch it shatter against the wall.  He wanted it as far away from him as possible, wanted to disobey, to say no.

He knew he couldn’t, though.  He couldn’t force himself to throw the mug even if it was what he wanted most in this god forsaken world.  He couldn’t, he couldn’t, unable to even bring it away from his lips or even make a sound, Simon falling asleep next to him, oblivious.

There was only one thing he coulddo in that moment, and that was obey.

So he drank the whole thing.

He drank it silently, tears running down his face as he tried to hold back sobs, using two hands to make sure he didn’t drop the mug as it shook in his hands.  He drank the entire fucking thing, and then stumbled to the bathroom to throw it all up.

---

Simon groaned, looking up from where he’d dozed off at the table.  How long had he been asleep?  It was lighter outside, sunlight illuminating the kitchen through the blinds on the windows.

The first thing he noticed was that Oliver was gone.  His brain seemed to be processing everything too slowly, it taking a second to even register that the younger boy wasn’t next to him.

He stood quickly, blinking away the remaining sleep and scanning the room.  Oliver’s mug of tea was at the table where he’d been sitting, empty.  The kitchen was quiet, no sign of him anywhere. Simon was moving past the counter to check the living room when he spotted the small, plastic container of honey next to the box of tea packets, and his heart sank.

“Ollie?”

He went straight to the bathroom, testing the handle and thankfully finding it unlocked.  He gently pushed the door open, being met with exactly what he was expecting. Oliver was hunched over, shaking with sobs as he pressed his forehead against the edge of the bathtub.

He felt guilty as he moved to crouch beside him, setting a hand carefully on his back.  He should have been paying attention, he let Marie make the tea without it even crossing his mind to let her know.

Oliver flinched away, curling in on himself at the touch and close to hyperventilating.

“Hey, it's me.”  Simon soothed.  “I’m so sorry, Oliver.  I was tired and got careless-”

“I,I,I’m sorry.” Oliver choked out, surprising Simon. “M,Msorry for waking you up, I, I’m sorry..”

Simon blinked, brow furrowing in confusion. He grabbed a washcloth and wet it in the sink, wiping the sweat from his forehead and setting it around the back of his neck to soothe him.

“Ollie, you didn’t do anything wrong- here, let's get you to the couch.”

Oliver braced himself against the side of the tub and tried to stand but Simon didn’t let him, knowing better than to let him try to walk and end up passing out after working himself up this bad.  He picked him up as carefully as he could, the boy light enough to be carried with ease even in Simon’s tired state.

“N,No-”  He protested weakly, shaking his head even as his eyes struggled to stay open. “You..you were asleep, didn’t mean to, to wake you up..mfine..”

Simon sighed, holding him close as he walked to the living room.  There were two new rescues curled up on the armchair together, sound asleep.  Mia and Marie had picked them up over an hour away, something about the police being involved.  He couldn’t imagine how, the two looking so young.  

“You didn’t wake me up, I did on my own.  Didn’t even hear you until I went looking.”  Simon reassured.  He grabbed a water bottle, sitting down on the couch and offering it to him.  “Drink some, you’ll feel better.  Promise.”

Oliver took the water without question, shakily opening it and lifting it to his lips, drinking desperately.  He looked pale, and Simon didn’t have to think hard about it to guess he’d gotten sick.  He finally handed it back once it was half empty, and Simon set it aside.

“Look, if you’re worried about me getting sleep, we can go right back to sleep here.”

He laid down on his back, settling Oliver on top of him as he pulled a large blanket over the both of them.  He rubbed circles against his back comfortingly, coaxing him to relax, head resting by his collarbone.

“Just let yourself calm down, ok?  You’re right here, you’re safe.”

The last thing Simon needed was Oliver working himself up over him of all things.  He didn’t deserve that kind of guilt for being taken care of.

“You deserve to feel safe, Oliver.”  He hummed, staring up at the ceiling.  “You deserve to be taken care of.  You’re not a burden to take care of.”

He wasn’t sure if the words meant anything, but he needed to say them.  He needed Oliver to know he wasn’t a burden.

“I’m ok, Oliver.  I get tired sometimes, but that's not your fault.  None of this is your fault.”

He ran his fingers through Oliver’s hair, feeling tears soaking through his shirt but not commenting on it.  He was very, very familiar with the kind of guilt weighing down on you when you felt weak, when you felt like you were just dragging people down.  The kind of guilt that made you suffer in silence, a scream for help never being allowed to reach your lips as you try to make yourself as unnoticeable as possible.

Oliver was the last person on earth who deserved that.

Simon pressed a kiss to his dark hair, repeating it over and over.

“You deserve to feel loved,”

After months of darkness and pain and fear, that's all he deserved

“You deserve to feel safe and protected,”

After he failed Oliver again and again and again, Simon owed that to him

“You aren’t bothering me,”

Never.  He’d go to the moon and back for him

“I love you so, so much, Ollie, and you deserve every bit of it.”

Every single bit, and he meant it with everything he had

----

Taglist

@insanitywishes @18-toe-beans @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @simplygrimly @cinnamonflavoredhugs @finder-of-rings @deluxewhump @ashintheairlikesnow @briars7 @albino-whumpee @thatsthewhump

[meflemming]

The Ghost of You, It Keeps Me Awake || Solo

TIMING: Present  LOCATION: Flemming Residence, The Woods SUMMARY: Miriam is visited by an old face. She doesn’t take it very well WARNINGS: Body Horror, Gore, Death

Or, a reminder that tigers never change their stripes, and Miriam is, was, and will always be the villain (even if it’s her own story). 

A glass of wine dosed generously with blood. A bathtub filled with bubbles from one of those strange, sweet smelling bombs that Morgan had gotten her. The cursed Alexa actually playing decent music, something soft and classical. All perfect ingredients for a nice day in. 

Miriam didn’t want to stay cooped up in her workshop, pouring over half finished products or cleaning bloodied instruments. She wanted a small break. She wanted to… oh, what was it called? Relax. She wanted to relax, and desperately. So she pulled her hair up and sunk in slowly to the claw-foot tub in her bathroom, feeling more than a little decadent. The wine was nice, the hint of iron bringing out the other, sweeter flavors. She sank down into the water until her nose was completely covered, leaned her hand back, and closed her eyes. She let the music soothe her and willed herself to thinking. This was a relaxing time, not a thinking time. She just needed a bit of a think-free time.

There was a half-finished drawing on her bedside table, a portrait of Theo as she remembered him. She’d been thinking about him far too much, lately, hence her need to not think. More than just thinking about him, she was remembering him far too fondly, all the good times they’d had together. Trips to the lake on hot summer days, going to the movies, candlelit date nights, whispers of sweet nothings in the dark. And he’d faked all of that. There had been no love for her, only for her money, what it could do for him and his rotten coven.

The drawing was half finished because she kept destroying them, throwing his face into fires and garbage disposals. Miriam knew that Elle had found the remnants of one shredded drawing on the kitchen table when she’d watched the house a few nights before, but her assistant hadn’t said anything, merely cleaned the area up and left Miriam a bar of chocolate in its place. Elle didn’t ask questions; what she knew about Miriam’s life was what Miriam had deemed fit to tell the girl, and Elle didn’t blab. It was one of the many things she liked about her. 

Miriam sank down even further into the water, completely submerging and chastising herself. There would be no thinking, not right now. And so she didn’t. She simply stayed submerged in the water, listening to music until the water went cold and the incessant sounds of the ridiculous teeny bopper band that she’d recently learned was called Vampire Weekend started playing on the Alexa, forcing her to emerge from the water to scream at it to shut up.

Reaching for her wine glass, Miriam was going to give herself just a few extra minutes before she drained the tub and dried off. Except there was no wine glass. Miriam’s eyes brinked open.

Theo was not as she remembered him. Rather, he was sitting beside her tub as she’d killed him. Half dressed, half skinned, pale, and with dark, sunken eyes. He’d died of blood loss before she’d even made it above his hips. Her first time skinning someone alive, and it had been messy. She’d cried, too, as he cursed her name to hell and back.

Miriam jerked away from him. Theo took a sip of her wine.

“You even drink blood pretentiously,” he said, his nose wrinkling at the contents of the glass. He smacked his bloodless lips with a bloodless tongue.

“You aren’t real,” Miriam said. He wasn’t. He couldn’t be. She couldn’t smell him, couldn’t hear his wicked heart beating in his wretched chest. He was just another nightmare, a waking one this time, one that had tricked her into thinking she’d brought a glass one wine into the bathroom when she hadn’t. She hadn’t. This wasn’t real. “And I have no desire to deal with any more frivolous fantasy versions of you. Go away, Theo.” She stood up, soaking wet, and grabbed a robe before getting out of the bath. If she didn’t need a drink before, she certainly did as she avoided looking at him. He was just a figment of her imagination. Nothing more. Never anything more. 

“Oh, I’m very real, baby,” he said, his glassy eyes trained on her every move. “I thought, of all people, you’d know better than to not believe in ghosts.”

“Then you’ve finally decided to haunt me after all these years?” she asked. She laughed, the sound of it ringing bitter and hollow.

Theo grinned, taking another sip of her bloody wine. Apparently, even apparitions could grow fond of the taste. “I’ve been given an opportunity. I couldn’t let it pass me by.”

“You’re thirty years too late with any sort of opportunity, darling,” she spat out as she passed him, expecting to go right through him.

Except he was solid. His hand reached out and grabbed her arm, gripping it tightly, so tightly. Miriam jerked away from him, shocked. Theo held firm, his grin full of blood stained teeth almost reaching his eyes.

“I think I’m just in time, darling.” He leaned forward. He didn’t smell, but she could feel his breath on her cheek. It was unnerving. “You killed me, and that would have been enough, but you just had to keep going, didn’t you?”

“You ruined me, you--”

“No, I made you happy, you stupid bitch. I gave you a loving husb--”

“Bullshit!” She pulled away from him this time, her eyes flashing red and her teeth sharp, deadly. She would kill him again if she could. “You didn’t love me. You never loved me! You loved money, and when I ran out you would have left as quickly as you came.”

Theo sneered. “And I thought the Flemming family would never run out of money.”

“Fuck you!” Miriam shrieked, her voice hurting even her own ears. “Fuck you! You lied to me! You never loved me, and you lied to me!”

“And you killed me!”

Miriam looked over at this man, this corpse in her bathroom. Solid though he was, real though he seemed, he was nothing compared to her. Because, as he said, she killed him, and she could do it again. “Then we’re even.”

Theo got up in her face then. She’d forgotten how tall he was, especially when she wasn’t wearing heels. Neither of them looked as put together as they had in pictures. Her, with her wet hair and red, vampiric eyes. Him with his pale parlor and bleeding wounds. A ghoul and a ghost. Even in death, they made a miserable pair. At least, now, they both realized how miserable they were.

“You killed my family,” he said quietly, almost confused. “Me? I can understand me. But my mother? My aunts and uncles and cousins? Gilly?” His voice cracked, and she looked away. Gilly was still recent on her own mind, though it had been months. “They’d cared for you. They didn’t know why I brought you into my life, just that we all benefited from it, and they’d liked you far more than your own damn family had liked me.”

“They all deserved to die,” Miriam said, shaking her head. “They all deserve to die. All of you. Every last, wretched witch.”

Theo looked like he was suffering, and she took a sick amount of pleasure in it, even if her stomach twisted. It was just like when she killed him the first time. “And, what, Miri? You gonna kill us all?”

“Yes,” she snarled. She shoved past him into her room, and he followed, leaving bloody footprints in the wake of her wet ones.

“You can’t. It’s not possible. You can’t even leave the damn town line.”

“Watch me, you bastard.” She dried off her hair. In a flurry, she started getting ready, even though she had hours before the sun sank below the horizon, yanking open drawers and pulling shirts off hangers. She laid her jacket out on the bed, and he walked over to it, fingers just barely grazing it. “Don’t touch.”

“Why not?” he asked. “It’s mine.”

“Not any more.” She proceeded to ignore him as she spent hours prepping. Eventually, she watched him die all over again, and she looked away, unwilling to watch.

She strutted out, passed Elle, and drove off without a word.

***

Miriam licked her lips and looked over her handy work.

Far from her first time, she wasn’t nearly as messy with the middle aged alchemist she had pinned to a barren tree by her hands, her skin flayed from muscle and her muscle flayed from bone. She hadn’t even gotten any of the blood on her. Good. 

She kept her face impassive, stared for as long as she could before the scene in front of her no longer looked real. It was a painting from the Renaissance, a monument in the Louvre. It was ghastly and horrifying, and it satisfied her.

She fed off the scene before her, its pain and misery, just as it fed from her. 

When she was done looking, she doused the tree in gasoline and lit it on fire. After all, she was a witch hunter. All good witch hunters knew that the best way to dispose of a witch was to burn them.

That’s what she’d done with what was left of Theo, all those years ago.

She’d stay until there was nothing but ashes left, and she tried to tell herself that the feeling in her chest was pride over another witch dead. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn to see a gathering of people ready to welcome another of their own to the other side. Theo was among them. Gilly, too. They both looked away from her. She looked away from them, as well.

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 26 - Respite

Haida and Retsuko were on shore leave, holding paws and taking a stroll down one of the many coastal paths in Zootopia. The reminders of the war were still on their minds, the thoughts of a spy network in the city, and the fact that the wreckage of Chinese and American ships sat just off the coast.

But these thoughts were secondary, the pair were just having fun together, enjoying some ice cream they had bought from a shop.

Retsuko had gotten ice cream with liquor in it, saying she needed it to relieve some stress and unwind.

Haida had gotten coffee-flavored ice cream, and his red panda girlfriend chuckled when the hyena ordered it, citing that his favorite drink was canned coffee.

“What would you like to do?” Retsuko asked, “when this is all over?”

“Well, I think I’ll keep my current job. I assume we are still needed.”

“I agree. It’s the best job I’ve ever had. Of course in my last job, I met you.”

Haida blushes a bit & scratched the back of his head, which was something he did when embarrassed.

The pair found a bench to sit on and stared out at the harbor. Sea birds flew overhead and hunted fish in the water. Engineering crews worked on the wreckage of ships and aircraft in the bay, planning to tow them out to sea to become artificial reefs.

“What else?” Retsuko asked, “I know it might be hard to think about your whole life.”

The hyena was quiet for a moment, prompting Retsuko to speak.

“Don’t feel like you have to answer.”

The hyena’s mind raced. He didn’t know much about what he wanted to do in the far future of his life.

“Well... I don't know everything I'm going to do in my life....”

The hyena struggled with his words, but seeing the beautiful red panda in front of him, he was able to find what he wanted to say.

“....but I do know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

A slight gasp escaped Retsuko's lips, as Haida took Retsuko's paw in his own. It felt cold and slightly wet, as she had been holding the ice cream in that hand. But the hyena didn't care, he enjoyed the red panda's touch.

Retsuko looked at Haida's hand and thought to herself. She loved him, and every time the pair was together she was enjoying herself. If the hyena wanted to spend their lives together, then that meant every day of her life would be enjoyable and happy.

“I’d also like to spend the rest of my life with you.”

The red panda stood up on the bench to get closer to the hyena and gently put a kiss on his lips.

Haida blushed and was stunned for a moment. However, he had gotten more comfortable around Retsuko, & was able to regain his composure quickly.

“Come on, let’s go find a karaoke bar around here.”

The red panda smiled, her hyena knew what she liked.

000

ZIA HQ had been targeted by the Chinese during the first invasion, but since then it had been repaired. Bullet holes in concrete had been filled, and shattered glass panes had been replaced. Some ZIA personnel had gotten killed during both assaults on the city, but the agency had since been supplemented with recruits.

Jack and Skye were currently in their shared office, a rabbit & foxed size room with a window that faced out onto a stone pathway outside the building. 2 desks with computers were set up, along with some file cabinets and a few other random bits of furniture. On the wall sat a large conspiracy board with pictures, maps, and sticky notes. It did include the Dark Heroes, and information on the Chinese.

Skye was just returning from a lion run fast food restaurant named burger pride, while Jack had stayed in the office and worked on some things

“How was your training session earlier?” Skye asked, setting a brown paper bag & a drink down on her mate’s desk.

“It was good, although it would have been more fun if you were there.” Jack flirted.

“Ha! Although your accuracy would suffer since you’d just be staring at me all the time. I know you do that.”

“Is it that obvious?!”

Skye laughed, and opened the bag on her desk, taking out a burger covered in aluminum foil, and unwrapping it to reveal the delicious meal. Jack did the same, quickly biting into the burger.

“Is this plant-based?” The rabbit asked, seeing that the wrapping foil had a small green sticker with a plant on it.

Skye nodded.

“The menu said it was a plant-based substitute, perfect for prey creatures.” The fox paused to take another bite of her burger and chew. “Mine is real meat.”

She pointed to a small red sticker that showed an icon of a steak. The burger was made from unevolved cows and provided all the proteins that a carnivore needed in their diet.

Jack took a sip of the Pawpsi cola in his cup, & pondered what the real meat burger tasted like. He stood up from his desk and went over to Skye.

“Let me take a bite of yours.”

“What?”

“I want to see what yours tastes like.”

“Go away,” Skye said playfully, holding her burger up & out of reach.

But Jack just hopped up and swiped the food out of her paw before taking a large bite.

“Mmm... can’t taste the difference. The plant substitute is a very close approximation.”

“Well if you get to taste mine, then I get to taste yours.”

She plucked Jack’s burger from his paw and bit into it.

“Yeah your right, I can’t even tell it’s plant-based.”

“I still want it back.”

The pair playfully tried to reclaim their food from each other, eventually succeeding and laughing at their immaturity.

“I love you,” Skye said with a full mouth.

Her bunny responded, his mouth also full.

“I love you too.”

000

“We’re getting some weird looks,” Eris said, her and Laval walking down a street, through the meadowlands area of Zootopia.

“Toothdee told me this area was mostly inhabited by prey animals. I guess that could explain the weird looks.”

“Or they’ve just never seen an evolved eagle before,” Eris said.

“I don’t know, I’m getting some stares too.”

The pair had wanted to get out and explore more of Zootopia, and toothdee had recommended the meadowlands to them as somewhere to visit. Their current location was comprised of small stone buildings that were overgrown with plants. Not a result of neglect, but instead just attempts to incorporate civilization with nature. Prey animals such as goats walked the streets. While most were too busy to care about Laval and Eris, others found it appropriate to give them weird glances. Fortunately, the 2 would not have to be the subject of awkward looks for much longer, as they left the street and turned onto a trail through a grove of trees. The ground turned from pavement to dirt, and the leaves stretched overhead.

“You notice how lions here have a different style of mane than those in Chima?” Eris said.

“I have, I wonder if it’s a cultural thing or something. Just a different style of mane wearing.”

“Don’t forget Kion wears his in a mohawk.”

“Oh yeah, true. The lions here remind me of my dad. Maybe because his mane is kinda similar to theirs, in that it has more hair.”

Laval paused and then spoke again.

“I wonder what my dad is doing in Chima right now. I miss him.”

Seeing that Laval was feeling a bit sad, Eris reached down and gripped Laval’s hand with her own, making the lion brush a bit and causing a slight smile to cross his face.

“He’s proud of you.” The eagle said. “Think of all you’ve done for Chima and the world.”

There was another pause as Laval thought for a moment, and the smile stayed on his face.

“Thank you.”

The pair reached a large hill, next to a stone cliff, with a view looking out on rolling fields of grass and rivers that stretched as far as the eye could see. The sky was darkened by clouds from an approaching storm, and the wind blew through the grass, causing patterns that looked like waves.

Laval took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the fresh and damp air. Eris stretched her wings, took a running start, and took into the sky. She soared high above the grass and rivers, gazing at the magnificence of nature. The eagle dove down and flew low above the river, looking at her reflection on the water. She reached her hand into the river and created a trail of water as she continued to fly along.

“I wish I had wings,” Laval said to himself, watching Eris dance across the sky.

The eagle soon returned after a few moments, landing next to her lion.

“Do you have to show off, wing girl?” Laval asked playfully.

The pair sat together, looking out at the rolling grass hills, the wavy rivers, and the turbulent sky. It wasn’t sunny or particularly colorful but was pretty in its own way.

“Ok, what’s a prettier view?” Eris asked “this or the view from Spiral mountain.”

“Hmmm... Spiral mountain,” Laval answered. “Of course, nothing is as pretty as you.”

The eagle blushed and covered her face with a wing.

“Do you miss home?” The lion asked, still thinking about his father.

“Yes, I do. But we’ve left our home behind before, to do some good somewhere else.”

“True, plus we have some of the best of friends with us, and plenty of battles to test our skills.”

“See, things aren’t so bad.”

There was a loud clap of thunder, causing both Laval and Eris to look up to the dark skies above.

Raindrops began to pelt down, making the pair groan as the raindrops started to hit. Eris brought her wings up as shields to cover the pair, protecting them from being drenched.

“Let’s get out of here,” Eris said, and the two retreated to the safety of a dry area.

000

“Sure, I got 4 tickets to the Gazelle concert tonight,” Nick said. “What’s it to you?”

He and JayJay were currently alone in a hallway on the typhoon, & Nick had 4 tickets sticking out of his back pocket.

“I want 2 of them,” JayJay said

“Why?” “I want to have a good time with Alex. That’s all you need to know.”

“I don’t know if a concert is his thing, he’s a real introvert.”

The wolf groaned and shook her head.

“Just, name your price for 2 tickets.”

“Well, do you have anything you think I could use?”

A smirk crossed JayJay’s face. She excused herself and told Nick to wait, before leaving him in the hallway. A few minutes later she returned with 2 quivers, one in each hand, each filled with arrows. The wolf proudly held them up, a smile on her muzzle.

“I already have one of those,” Nick said

JayJay rolled her eyes and tilted the quivers so Nick could see the projectiles inside. He took an arrow out of one of them & examined it. At the head, the arrow didn’t widen before tapering to a point. The diameter of the shaft tapered to a point that looked like the head of a bullet.

“Bullet point arrows,” Nick said. “Impressive.”

JayJay nodded towards the other quiver, and the fox put the bullet point arrow back in its quiver & turned to the second one. Removing an arrow from this quiver, he saw that it had a very wide head that was jagged, and designed to inflict as much damage as possible. The arrow itself was also finely crafted, and extremely sharp.

“Death arrows,” Nick said, examining the object. “Expensive, but very finely made.”

“You can have one quiver.” JayJay said, “in return for 2 of those gazelle tickets.”

The fox rubbed his chin & thought for a moment.

“Death arrows”

Nick reached into his back pocket and produced 2 of the tickets. He passed them to JayJay, took the quiver of death arrows, and slung it over his shoulder.

“Front row, Judy and I will be there as well.”

The wolf looked at the tickets to make sure they were genuine, before thanking her ally & walking away. She was giddy with joy and practically jumped in the air as she went down the hallway.

“A pleasure doing business with you.” The fox said, looking at the quiver of death arrows.

JayJay immediately searched for her mate and discovered him in Toothdee’s cabin, the two were playing some game on their computers.

The wolf knocked on the wall, alerting the 2 to her presence.

“Alex, could I see you for a moment.”

The Heroes captain joined the wolf outside in the hall, noting that JayJay had a large smile on her face & was radiating excitement.

“What is it?”

“I have 2 tickets for the gazelle concert tonight, and I was wondering if you’d like to go with me.”

“I don’t know, large crowds aren’t my thing.”

“Please, I’d like to do something special with you, and I’ve told you how much I love dancing.” The Heroes leader thought for a moment, looking at JayJay’s face. She was smiling widely and her eyes were bright. The captain sighed and gave in, he couldn’t resist that adorable look of excitement.

“Ok, fine. If it would make you happy.”

“Yes!” JayJay said, pumping her fist in the air, before giving the human the ticket. “Ok, it’s in a couple of hours, come get me an hour before the show.”

“Will do,” Alex said, looking over the ticket, and returning to Toothdee.

000

A few hours later, it was not Alex who went and got JayJay, but rather JayJay who went and got Alex. She was very excited, and couldn’t wait any longer.

The pair caught a train to the stadium where Gazelle was singing and made small talk as they navigated through the crowd of mammals headed into the building. Out of either affection or not wanting to get separated, the Heroes captain took his mate’s paw in his hand. The female wolf smiled and leaned against the human’s shoulder. As the pair made their way into the stadium, they heard a familiar sound from behind them.

“Well, look who it is.”

Alex and JayJay turned to see Nick and Judy, walking up in the line behind them. The 2 had arms around each other, and both were dressed in casual, light fitting clothes. Even Nick, who usually only wore Hawaiian shirts.

“Alex? Didn’t think you’d be here,” Judy said.

“Well, someone wanted to do something special and fun with me.”

JayJay smiled happily at the comment.

“Aww, is it ok if we join you?”

“By all means.”

The 2 pairs merged into 1 group, but both couples still held onto each other as they continued to walk.

“Thank you for doing this.” Captain Boehm said, turning to the wolf on his shoulder.

“It’s my pleasure,” JayJay responded.

“Say, where did you get the tickets?”

JayJay pointed to Nick, who smiled slyly and played it cool.

“Ah, there we go. That explains everything.”

The arena was circular, with a circular platform at the center that the performer stood on. The platform was surrounded by water, both as a decorative measure, and a security measure. On the walls of the arena were dozens of small open windows, either so people inside could see out, or just part of an interesting design.

The group of four mammals found their spaces, which were in a pit, slightly below the platform where the performer stood. There were many other mammals all around them, but the spots were premium seating, or rather, standing.

After a few minutes, the arena darkened, and everyone grew silent. Water fountains activated, and lights turned on, as the figure of a female Gazelle in a glittering red dress came on stage, lifted onto the central platform by a small elevator in the stage.

“Hello, Zootopia!”

The crowd erupted into cheers, as the pop star began her first song.

Soon the melody picked up, and the 4 young heroes started to happily dance along. Dancing was much like combat, a beautiful display of movement and actions, perfectly in sync.

Just like when they were walking into the building, Judy and Nick danced together, while JayJay and Alex did the same.

The blue wolf was totally in her element, spinning and moving rapidly. The color and speed impressing her 3 companions.

Judy also pushed Nick along, silently prompting him to dance. The fox obliged and smiled slyly whenever he was encouraged to dance.

The 2 boys were not really as into the dancing at the girls, but they were still having fun, which was the most important thing.

All of a sudden, the lovely sound of the music was overpowered by a much louder noise, one that was like gas and sound moving extremely fast. Even Gazelle stopped singing and looked up to the top of the stadium, to see a large ball of fire engulfing part of the arena.

000000000

Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out. Blame my college work. Though I hope everyone still enjoys reading this!

[the-yellowturtle]

Title: By The Way (I Tried to Say Not to Eat That)

Rating: G

Summary: Zuko really, really likes spicy food. 

Note: This is for @zkdrabbledecember‘s Day 27: Don’t Worry :)

Check out the AO3 Link for the A/N 

For as long as history has been recorded, the Fire Nation archipelago has been known for its spicy cuisine. Believed to be good for chi flow, Fire Nation people till this day will consume chili peppers by the bucketload. Many think that spice is the most invigorating of the flavors, and thus it is not uncommon to find a bowl of plain chili peppers on the table for every meal. Even if someone does not partake in the peppers, the rest of the food will certainly give them their fair share of spice.  

It is undeniable that a high tolerance for spice is a source of national pride in the Fire Nation. However, despite their pride in being able to handle spice, there is one place that even Fire Nation citizens will request a mild dish: Ember Island.

The average Fire Nation citizen likes to claim that they do not fear spicy food. In Ember Island, they say that they fear non-spicy food. If the aroma of a dish fails to make your eyes water, then the dish is bland. Wielding the locally cultivated Sishen Pepper, the Ember Islanders never fail in weeding out who is not a local.

This is the place that Princess Ursa called her hometown, and it is this Ember Island heritage that undoubtedly gave birth to Zuko’s own insatiable appetite for spicy food.

___

Let it be said that Zuko never started to breed his own peppers with malicious intentions. He was well aware that his spice tolerance far succeeded that of the average Fire Nation citizen, let alone the foreign dignitaries that frequented the palace halls. He would willingly and gracefully suffer through the bland food that his guests preferred if it meant protecting world peace.

No, Zuko’s interest in growing peppers began a year or so after becoming Fire Lord. As one might expect, governing a country after a hundred years of war was a daunting task. An exhausting and stress-inducing task. It was during long nights in his study that Zuko discovered one way to cope with his new position: Sishen Peppers. Lots of Sishen Peppers.

Zuko had always loved to eat them with his mother as a boy, and now as Fire Lord he found himself snacking on them at every opportunity. The spiciness of the pepper never failed to reinvigorate him, and made it much easier to focus on the work that still had to be done. Besides daily firebending training, meditation and writing to his friends, eating peppers was one of the few ways that Zuko managed to curb his stress levels.

The thing was, though, being Fire Lord was extremely stressful. And if you ate spicy peppers enough, you would eventually become immune to the spiciness of said peppers. This was the predicament that Zuko found himself in shortly after taking the throne.

The solution? Breed peppers that were even spicier.

With words of encouragement from Uncle Iroh, Zuko slowly began to invest himself in the world of crossbreeding pepper plants. It’s a rocky start, but after a few years Zuko managed at last to produce a tiny, bright red pepper covered in blisters that he was proud to call his own. It was a pepper so spicy that even the Ember Island Representative had balked at Zuko’s offer of having a second bite.

Except for Zuko, the turtleducks were the only other beings willing to partake in the new breed of pepper. Turtleducks being incapable of tasting spice probably had something to do with this. Nonetheless, he decided to name the variety of pepper after his favorite animal.

In hindsight, calling it the Turtleduck Pepper was probably not the best choice.

___

As the Southern Water Tribe Ambassador to the Fire Nation, Katara was very familiar with the spicy cuisine of the country. Although she initially possessed the spice tolerance of an average Fire Nation toddler, her palette had come a long way. After a few years of spending her summers in the country, she could now easily enjoy the offerings of Caldera City. To her immense pleasure, even her fellow Southerners —her embassy coworkers and their families— began to use the local flavors in their own cuisine. It was heartwarming to see that chilipaprika seal jerky and ginlic chili stewed sea prunes had become beloved by Water Tribe and Fire Nation people alike.

Yes, Katara had developed an appreciation for spicy food. However, she was nowhere near the level of her boyfriend, Zuko. Unfortunately, she was greatly reminded of this fact one day when they were feeding the turtleducks in his private garden.

Katara blames herself. She really does. If she hadn’t been so caught up in staring at Zuko’s gorgeous smile, then she wouldn’t have gotten herself into this situation. However, Katara was only human and Zuko always looked so content when he was feeding the turtleducks and he always had the gentlest smile on his face and he just looked so beautiful and her brain just kind of disconnected from reality as she realized once again just how much in love with him she was and—

Instead of taking a bite of one of the blue bell peppers Zuko had personally cultivated for her, Katara took a bite of one of the Turtleduck Peppers.

The effects were pretty instantaneous. Katara knew she wasn’t dying, but between the coughing, the runny nose, the wet eyes, and the intense burning in her mouth; it sure felt like it.

“Katara! Agni! Are you okay?!” Zuko screeched while taking out a handkerchief to dab at her face. “What happened?!”

“The— The peppers! The Turtleduck Peppers!” Katara managed to croak out between coughs, and pointed to the half-eaten culprit on the ground.

Zuko muttered a few curses before handing her some hippo cow milk. “Drink that, it will make you feel better,” he explained as he rubbed up and down her back.

It took chugging down about another two bottles of the milk before Katara could feel her tongue again.

“Do you feel better now? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left the Turtleduck Peppers near y—”

“Zuko,” Katara interrupted, “Don’t worry, I feel a lot better now! And it’s not your fault. I should have been paying more attention instead of staring at you— instead of staring at the turtleducks!”

Zuko froze for a moment before getting a sly look on his face. “You were staring at me?”

“Yes,” Katara admitted with a grumble, dabbing at her wet eyes. “Of course I was looking at you. I love watching you do the things you’re passionate about. You just get this look on your face, and… La! It just reminds me of how much I love you.”

His response was to cup her cheeks and press a quick kiss to her lips, “I love you, too.”

“I know,” she smiled.

[theholyyuunoaduck]

Purpouse......every living thing has it but what is it thats what we all search for what we all crave

Perhaps life is just all of searching for that very thing that gives it meaning so what might be yours....hm?

Copper thats all that was registering towards his senses the taste

The smell full of copper yuu was suspended in the air by his friends possessed body being held by the throat beaten badly the remenants of his sword formed of salt began to crumble yet his hand gripped and gripped the handle of his blade as if it would somehow save everyone and everything the markings across his body from the curse began to receed

"Ah...i wish the sky was blue instead of this red shade" he would think to himself

"You know its rude to ignore the one you love when they ask you something" her voice or perhaps his voice reverberated in his ears the melodic tone of shigamas vocal cords ran through his brain sounding like the mix of the both of them

Go......to hell...

Hmm intresting

Shigama braught yuu's face closer to the body of the possessed girl with lilac hair her wings seemed to suspend them both in the air looking as if her lips were mere inches from his as her lips parted revealing her fangs

What makes you think this isnt hell already

Her lips curled around his exposed neck but stopped midway as her body shook ever so slightly as if there was a break sputtering towards a stop

H..haha...still trying to fight are you shinoa....just stay asleep for a while longer....it'll all be over soon

Yuu now!! A voice entered yuu's mind as if the words were always there the familiar voice of his demon called out to him they wouldn't receive this chance again and yuu knew it

There was no time for hesitation

No room to falter right now everything had been entrusted to him guren his freinds his family everyone was counting on him the entire world but most importantly shinoa was counting on him and he knew this as his blade peirced her heart before shi could regain control of the body he so longed for the perfect vessel as he would always call it

Gh! H-how dare you..! The angelic figure sputtered and coughed blood doing his best to pull away but yuu wouldnt let him get away they both began to fall together towards the fall however this was of no concern to yuichiro as he closed his eyes and took another deep breath within himself

The wind blew through his hair and the sweet scent of roses tickled his nostrils as he opened his eyes he no longer found himself within the world only humans new the plane of existence we could all see and feel now he was within her heart asuramaru had been right this was the only way to enter her heart the sensation falling did not leave him as he looked around the white cloudy noise that seemed to perfiate all around him he was now within the demons heart and his destination where the iron doors leading to the heart of another the source of the sickly sweet smell of petals dancing in the wind his wounds had healed and he felt as if there was nothing that could stop him however he knew this to be far from the truth

Youll only have a few minutes before the angel takes over yuu...and once you give me to shinoa

Ill be gone....right we already know the plan....lets just hope i can do this....

We will....

Right......yuu's eyes no longer held the depth of despair and emptiness his eyes gleamed with new found determination and purpose everyone was counting on him

She is counting on him his eyes began to turn a shade of darkness that would swallow the ocean themselves leaving the iris of them stained with honey a sweet flavor perhaps the only sweet thing that could be said about all day since the fight had begun as he passed through the gates that seemed unmovible before his sense of balance began to shift as if the earth within their hearts rotated and started pulling him up rather than gravity pulling him down and there he was the vestige of everything leading up to this moment all the suffering the pain the loss all of it culminated before his eyes the angel seemed to not have noticed but only a naive fool would beleive in those thoughts it was more accurate to say he did not acknowledged his existence as a threat chosing instead to keep his back turned consuming his long awaited prize blood trickling from his fangs as he panted and let go of the milky white skin of shinoa's neck perverted by the crimson wholes that gave evidence of shigama's testiment towards the word vampire

Shinoa was slumped over chained to pillars as if she was long gone but the world around them the deep red rather than the white skys would say other wise his senses were now more in tune due to the curse and the angel that the boy seemed to be comprised of his ears could catch it the faint yet evident beating of her heart so much of it had already been consumed by the demon a tenth maby even less had remained of the girl and this infuriated him to no end his teeth grinded his fists clenched as he stared down the monster before him the fight against time.....the fight to save her heart her very existence was about to begin and the odds had never been stacked higher against him and he knew this his breath hitched but from what he could not descern from fear? Fear of what? Fear of death? He had died before multiple times in fact no he did not fear death....there was only one word that could describe this feeling

Anger

Pure unfiltered rage thats all that clouded his mind the images playing freshly within his mind of shigamas pale lips against her neck the deep gnashes within his friends his father were they dead? He couldn't think of such things right now

He needed to focus

Thats right yuu focus your attention here...right now for this will be....your final death......the beautifull angel turned to look towards his creation

I will be God by the end of this ba-

He could not finish the words before yuu charged him focusing everything he had towards his speed pushing him farther and farther towards the open gates he had tried so long to open yet could never so much as budge them he was surely suprised by this development as he flapped his wings open hoping to stop the momentum of yuu's wings and physical strength that focused on the point of his neck it was obvious what his goal was remove him.from the heart of his beloved

GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The room filled with his anger his rage but it would not be enough as his heels began to screetch against the walls that were stained red signifying shinoa's humanity

ASURA-KANNON: THOUSAND BLADES

Yuu yelled at the top of his lungs with such force the taste of copper began to fill his mouth again

Thousands of blades appeared from nowhere and everywhere all of them fixed on a single point aimed and poised towards one objective

FORCE HIM OUT

Yuu yelled once again as the blades all flew towards the pair that seemed to slow in their stop every milla second that passed

Youre desperate.... He said calmly as the blades began hurdling towards him causing smoak to rise with each blade hitting him causing his body to take another screetching inch backwards towards the door

He was right yuu knew this all too well this wasnt a sign of strength being able to push shigama doji back this was an act of desperation forcing every muscle strand to strain and pop all in the vain effort to force him out as fast as he could before his body would give out

Klank the final blade hit the floor with the sound that seemed to echo once again deepening yuu's despair he gasped looking up as shigama slapped him across the face sending him huddling towards the spot where this all began rolling through the floor he gasped coming out of the ground panting the dust just begginging to settle

Fuck....

Mmm smart....but that was all instinct wasnt it yuichiro

Had you not blocked that attack when you had

The dust revealed yuichiro's mangled arm that seemed to be a simple cracker after dropping it from the empire state while the other was completely grinded to dust

Youd have lost your head.....

It was a good attempt dont get me wrong...futile as it may have been

Yuu began to wobble back to his feet the blade of salt begginging to form within his palm

Oh please...shigama crossed the distance between the both of them within the flash of a second split by the same blade that so desperately tried to sever his head and push him back a second ago

The explosion of the impact destroyed the pillars holding shinoa down crushing her body underneath the same pillars and sent yuichiros blade flying through the air slicing it and landing near her viscinity

Atop him was the angel that seemed to toy with him yuu's hands seemed to bearly hold hi head away from him

N-nghh!! His grunts where loud and strained he gasped as shi's needle like fangs punctured his neck like wet paper he gasped in pain and tugged at the hair of the beast his body began to go limp as he looked towards shinoa for what felt like would be the last time....how many times has he failed her in such a way..

Shi...shinoa..!....please..!

His hand outstretched towards the rubble and his blade

Shinoa...please was all that she could hear where was she was this a dream it sure felt like one weightless and without strength as if no matter how hard her fists would move itd feel as if something held her force back within a dream but she willed every finger every fiber of her being to reach towards the emerald blade so close to her if only she could reach out for it

Yuu's vision began to fade towards black perhaps this was finally the time to resign there would be no happy ending no hero saving the day after all he aways wasn't much of a hero the real hero to him had always been

Her

His eyes shot up as wide as they could possibly go to see the strands of lilac push against the winds of fate as his head rung from the blow and her battle cry she was doing it she peirced the blade through the monsters shoulder and pushed him towards his destination

HRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

She yelled at the top of her lungs pushing and pushing once again shigama flapped his majestic wings but this time in desperation

Shit!! Stop!

GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

shi turned his head to witness the monester that yelled that same cry once again the angel he had created charged at the both of them and held tight to the appendages that begged to be let go in order to stop the flow of motion however

HAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

They yelled in unison as they both with all their combined might threw the first outside the walls and quickly shut behind them the world no longer red but white they had succeded in the first step to victory the first shook in anger and looked towards his hands that trembled but not shierly of anger nor fear but from weakness having been ripped out of his hosts perfect body essentially split his power by half...the other half found its way towards their true owner as she puffed her chest with her trademark smirk

The balls on our side now...

Grr....dont be so cocky now..ive been in before and ill return once more

The both of them stood up panting staring down their assailent hearts quivering in anticipation at what would be undoubtedly their final confrontation as their eyes glossed over with determination and anger every emotion culminated in thousands of years burned within their eyes as they stood up slowly

I forgot who asked me to write what i would think about would be the ending of owari no seraph and i have to say sorry!! Dyslexia is a bitch!! If you remmember who you are please slap me for forgetting

Anyway to keep my stories fresh ill be posting it in peices

[tea-and-conspiracy]

Dragonfall (Amaurotine AU)

Persephone stared as fire rent the sky. She wanted to tell herself that she’d merely found a falling star, but something about the smoldering wound it left behind didn’t feel right. The helpless spark spiraled behind the mountains and vanished from sight, leaving her longing for it.

The Traveler scrubbed tiredly at her eyes and returned her mask to her face. It was late, and she should have been in bed by now, but some instinct had kept her in the observatory just a little longer. Was it to witness this?

It’s nothing. Sleep, she told herself.

She also refused.

Persephone gathered her robes and raced down the stairs, only to all but collide with Lahabrea the moment she reached the ground floor. The way his mouth hung open suggested he was just as wired as she was -- and not merely because he, like her, had a habit of not sleeping.

“You saw it?” he asked.

She nodded. “Any idea what it was?”

“No debris. No discharge. I think it might be organic.”

“What? What drew you to that conclusion?”

He held his hands out as he tried to find the words to explain. “Primarily the shape, but it also appeared to be in…almost a controlled fall. I don’t think the fire came from its re-entry; I think the fire came from the entity itself.”

Persephone blinked. “A…creature? Falling from the heavens?”

Lahabrea chuckled. “Oh trust me, I find it just as curious. I could be wrong of course, but when was the last time that happened?”

She folded her arms across her chest. He smirked.

“…I’ll find where it is.”

“Make haste, Speaker.”

Lahabrea gave a sloppy bow and left.

He was 10 minutes late to the Convocation meeting the following morning which, as far as Amaurotine etiquette was concerned, was a slap in the proverbial face. Lahabrea stormed in with a whole armful of papers and dropped them in front of Persephone in triumph. Emet-Selch pinched the bridge of his nose with a suffering sigh; the other Convocation members stared in silence.

“…Summarize, please?” Persephone dragged her gaze up to the Speaker, and then added, before he could talk, “In ten words or less.”

That momentarily set him off-balance. Lahabrea opened and closed his mouth, and said at last, “We think it fell in the lakelands.”

She nodded. “What is Anyder’s suggested course of action?”

“To retrieve it, of course.”

“If…I may…” Elidibus stood. “Given that this might be a who we are encountering, and not a what, I should like to be present on the expedition.”

“By all means. It might enjoy a nice fruit basket,” Emet-Selch intoned.

Elidibus stared at him. He didn’t bother noticing. “To that end it might be wise to send the Architect as well, lest we require some means of containing this thing,” the boy added.

Emet-Selch frowned.

“And you, Azem?” Lahabrea asked. “Courting the foreign and bizarre is soundly your domain. I daresay your skills may be required here as much as any other.”

That seemed to placate Emet-Selch somewhat.

Persephone considered, but she could not restrain her grin. “You make my job sound so frivolous,” she said, “but if this is the Convocation’s will then how can I refuse?”

~*~

There was an unspoken rule that no one was to settle the lakelands -- or at the very least, it was widely known how adamant the Amaurotines were on preserving it. Thus its grasses and trees grew with primordial vitality; its waters ran so pure that one could see to the bottom of every river and stream, and indeed the very lake itself. The Silvertear Falls lived up to their name in the afternoon sunlight, roaring with enough power to reverberate within one’s chest and flavor the air with tangy wet earth. It was all so pristine that the blackened hulk shuddering on the shoreline felt a harsh rebuke. They could hear its ragged breathing even from yards away.

“That…is terrifying,” Lahabrea said at last.

“A…serpent? Or…?” Elidibus canted his head to the side.

Persephone glanced to Emet-Selch. “What do you see?”

“…Many lives,” he replied, after a moment. “It brought children. I see the glow of its eggs through the grass. Its own power might have once been enough to level Amaurot, but now it is much diminished.”

“But is it hostile?” Elidibus asked.

Emet-Selch shrugged.

Persephone stepped forward, but Lahabrea caught her. “Are you mad?” he demanded. “A brooding animal will be paranoid around her eggs!”

“Look at it, heaving into the shore! It’s in pain. There’s no way in Creation that thing has any fight left in it!” she replied.

And before he could answer, she stormed off.

The creature was elegant and serpentine, armored in thorny black hide. It lifted its head as she approached, watching with smoldering eyes from where it curled protectively around a spectrum of different-colored eggs. Smoke yet plumed from atop its head, but there was no obvious fire to the beast that she could see. While it bristled at her approach, however, it gave no signs of outward aggression. Persephone extended a hand in greeting while the other three ran to catch up behind her.

I would not suffer thee to approach… the creature rumbled, if thou dids’t not smell so of the world.

Persephone ground to a standstill, staring at him.

Thou understandeth me? His eyes flashed relief, and he bowed his head. Then hear me, messenger. I am Midgardsormr, the last of my kind. I have fled here seeking asylum after the destruction of my star. I do not mean thee or thine harm, but seek only a safe haven where my young may yet hatch and thrive.

“I can hear him…” Elidibus spoke in awe, appearing at her side. “That sounds like language, and yet…I understand. What do you seek asylum from, dear friend? What was so terrible that it could destroy an entire world?”

In response, Midgardsormr lifted his magnificent head to the sky. An empty shell. A construct born without empathy. Something ever-evolving, such that it would forever remain at the apex of war. Mindful of that mandate, it destroyed everything to fulfill the wishes of its creators. I was not the first to stand against it, but now I am the last.

“It is a crime to give any one creation full autonomy.” Emet-Selch frowned. “And so we find our fears fully realized, it seems.”

“But if no one was able to lay this calamitous creation low…” Lahabrea squinted. “Then what became of it?”

Midgardsormr bowed his head. It gave full pursuit as we fled. I have not seen it, but I hold tremendous fear that it may have followed us here.

Persephone felt her heart drop into her toes. She and the others exchanged tense glances.

Lahabrea took a step forward, his eyes like coals between the slits of his mask. “If this rogue creation threatens this world and the people in it, then we will destroy it. We are masters of Creation magic, able to bend the very laws of reality to our will – and should we will it, it shall be done. What threatened your home will not threaten you here.”

‘We’, he said, but Persephone got the distinct impression that this thing was mainly going to be Azem’s problem -- her problem -- assuming it was here.

It possesses those very same abilities, came Midgardsormr’s response, only it lacks thy physical limits, leeching instead the life of the land. So tell me, mortal, can thou truly say with certainty that thou canst best such a creation?

For once, the Speaker had no answer.

Elidibus strode forward, placing a hand over his heart and bowing his head. “If we were able to promise safety to you and your children…might you lend us your wisdom? We may not be as mighty as you, but we are intelligent, and many; it is said that no true Amaurotine shies from the impossible.”

That is your people. Amaurotine?

“The people of our land anyway, yes.” Elidibus smiled. “Our word for our people simply means, ‘those with hands’. So if you must, you can call us human.”

Human. Midgardsormr lidded his eyes. On our star, we were called dragons.

 ~*~

 Amaurot rejoiced at the arrival of the dragons, collectively tripping over itself ensure that they were nurtured and cared for. Akadaemia Anyder built an incubated aerie for the eggs, and made certain to provide Midgardsormr with as much meat as he could possibly consume. Their finest healers looked to his wounds, briefly stymied at points by his alien physiology; in time he began to recover, though the fire in his mane never returned.

The Father of Dragons proved a font of wisdom, and each Convocation member drank deep of it. Lahabrea brought his entire faculty with him to take notes on Midgardsormr’s world, categorizing it so that, even in its destruction, it would not be forgotten. He plumbed the dragon’s mind for all he knew of his mysterious adversary, a metal shell with the powers of Creation.

Elidibus longed to learn his alien language. Midgardsormr taught it patiently, explaining that music was as much communication for dragons as speaking was. It held such a special significance for them that the Emissary, ever conscious of those around him, made certain that various musicians paid the great wyrm visits from time to time. Something about Amaurotine music clearly lulled the dragon into peace; it reminded him of the ocean, he said.

When Emet-Selch heard the dragon Sing, he returned the next day with a variety of crystals. As ever, he bent entirely to his work, such that the rest of the world was shut out around him. In time he learned that the crystals would attune to different frequencies in a dragon’s roar, which would, in turn, make them immensely more powerful. Hythlodaeus occasionally lamped nearby, being helpful for once.

But Persephone did none of these things, for she learned plenty through her colleagues. Instead she invited the dragon to ask her about Amaurot, and the greater world beyond.

Why dost thou conceal thy faces? he asked one day, as she worked to scrape away a molting patch from his hide.

“Is that a request to see my face?” she asked with mild amusement.

I would like to know what humans look like, yes.

Persephone smiled, pulled down her hood, and removed her mask. She stood still as he craned his head to look down at her, watching her first through one eye, then the other.

Curious. But not displeasing.

“How very kind,” she teased. “But to answer your question: some of us are born more beautiful than others. Some of us are old and some of us are young. Want and envy are born from inequality, but by wearing the same masks and the same clothes, we remove such vain concerns. It’s the fair thing to do.”

And does it work?

“Pardon?”

Are all in thy society equal?

Persephone moved to give her automatic response, but the question gave her pause. The dragon was not asking out of curiosity, she realized – no, she could see that in his eyes.

“…You are most keen, Father of Dragons.” She smiled and bowed her head humbly. “How could you tell?”

When Lahabrea bringeth his students to me, I notice how differently they treat one another based upon their magical aptitude.

“Oh.” Persephone smirked faintly. “Yes, that’s...the unfortunate reality of Amaurot. I travel often. I’ve seen so many peoples and so many places -- some of which have ceased to exist even in my lifetime. And do you know what I’ve discovered?”

The dragon did not speak, but he blinked the question at her.

“I’ve discovered that the more you try to make everyone the same, the harder everyone tries to find what’s different. Case in point -- if you are not a powerful creationist here in Amaurot, you are considered someone worthy of pity, as though you possessed some inherent defect. But if you are skilled, it is expected you will do something fundamentally life-changing, for the betterment of all mankind. If you do not, you are at best an underachiever and at worst, selfish. See the conundrum?”

As I expected, then. T’would seem that some behaviors are universal, even across the stars. The dragon’s eyes squinted with amusement, but he turned to consider her. Dost thou know thy fellows without the masks? Is such a thing permitted?

“If you are familiar enough with one another, yes.” Persephone found herself smiling. “It’s a...personal thing, sharing your appearance. It’s something you give to those you trust the most.”

Such as Emet-Selch.

She flinched up at him in shock. The dragon threw back his head and made a sort of bark-growl-roar-chortling noise that she assumed was laughter.

He speaks of thee fondly while he works. Not often. So when he doth speak, I know it to be of great import in his mind.

Persephone smiled faintly, eyes upon her weathered boots. “I did not quite grow up with Emet-Selch. Or with Hythlodaeus for that matter. But we spent many years of schooling together. They are…very dear to me.”

But thou revealed thyself to me so readily. Thou hast done me a great honor, Azem.

“That’s moreso something I do. Revealing myself casually, that is.” She laughed softly and shook her head. “See, my duty is to traverse this world and interact with its people, and I find people are far more willing to engage when you don’t hide your face all the time...” And so she went on with tales of her travels while she worked – though she left her head bare for the time being, seeing as how it was important to him for whatever reason. “Consider it a favor in return for all the knowledge you have given us. You have been tremendously generous. How much longer will it take for the eggs, do you think?”

Still much time. The dragon lidded his eyes, resting his chin on the grass in contentment. The chill of space sent them into deep slumber, and long will it be before their inner Fire is rekindled. I did not wish for such, but I was left with no other choice. A pause, and then, Seen thou aught of Omega?

“We’ve had eyes upon the sky at all hours of the day, but still, nothing. You are sure he was close enough behind you to know where you were going?”

Midgardsormr whuffed, parting the grass blades immediately in front of him. Mayhaps I am wrong, Azem the Traveler. I pray that I am…but I very much doubt it. This star must needs prepare.

“We will.” She tried to sound as confident and reassuring as possible. “You’ve the greatest minds in the universe at your side.”

Midgardsormr did not respond.