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middleearthpixie · 1 year

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Wanted Man ~ Chapter Thirteen

Summary: A price on his head, Loki of Asgard finds himself stranded on Earth and in need of one woman's help in order to free himself from the bounty and try to reclaim what he sees as his rightful throne in Asgard.

McKenna Carlin just wanted to put a horrible day behind her. She had no idea that things would get worse before they get better…

Pairings: Loki Laufeyson x ofc McKenna Carlin

Characters: McKenna, Loki, Shannon

Warnings: None

Rating: T

Word Count: 2.3k

Tag List: @fizzyxcustard @court-jobi @guardianofrivendell @piggledy-higgledy @evenstaredits

If you’d like to be added (or removed) to the tag list, please just let me know!

Previous chapters can be found here!

The next morning, McKenna woke up in a tangle of sheets, blanket, quilt, and god. Loki lay on his side, his arm draped about her waist, his hand flat against her stomach as if he was afraid she’d try to get away from him in her sleep. His left leg from the knee down was over her right leg. She blinked sleep from her eyes, reaching up to rub one and then the other, but that was it. She was perfectly content to simply lie there with him.

Then, with a sigh, Loki rolled onto his back, the hand that had been on her sliding off to come to rest on his stomach. She shifted, facing him and rising onto one elbow. All traces of bruising and healing cuts were gone from his face. Left in their stead was smooth, pale skin. Apparently gods didn’t need to worry about shaving, either, for there was no hint of beard to be found on him.

How many women could say they were able to watch a god sleep? She smiled. Not many, that was for sure.

He had a face she could study for years without ever growing tired of seeing. He was just gorgeous—arched black brows, perfect straight nose, strong jaw line, perfect lips. Everything she could ever imagine wanting in a man.

But he wasn’t a man. Not an ordinary man, anyway. He promised to return, but would he? Could she trust him? No one else seemed to think him at all trustworthy, and with good reason, but did she have to think it as well? He’d kept his word to her, such as it was.

But could she trust him with something like her heart?

She wanted to. Then again, she wanted to trust Joe as well. And the ones before him. And each time, she had her heart smashed. Her track record with men wasn’t exactly a stellar one. She trusted too soon and her judgment often grew clouded by what she wanted to see in a man instead of what she actually saw.

As if able to hear her thoughts, Loki woke. His eyes opened, the lids fluttering as he reached up to stretch his arms overhead. His back arched, and he groaned, although she couldn’t tell if it was in pain or appreciation.

Then, his head turned and he offered up a sleepy smile as he leveled an equally sleepy look at her. “Is it morning already?”

“’Fraid so.” She rolled onto her stomach, bunching the pillow beneath her. The room was cool, the curtains fluttering in the breeze. The morning sun was clear and pale, splashing across the room, across the foot of the bed.

“You look as if you’ve something on your mind,” he said, mimicking her position. “Something quite weighty.”

“No. Just the usual things. How much longer can I lay here before I start to feel like a slug? How long will it be before Shannon comes banging on the door? How bad will traffic be? That kind of stuff.”

“What is a slug?”

She smiled. “It’s like a snail, only without the shell.”

“And a snail is…?”

She sighed. “It’s about three inches long, slimy, and gross. Like a leech.” He shook his head and she said, “They’re gross. That’s really all you need to know. They’re gross and they move slow. Like me in the morning.”

His gaze never wavered. “McKenna.”

She couldn’t tell him what she was really thinking about. It made her sound like an insecure dolt and she didn’t want to come across that way. She was never one to have those What do we mean to each other talks. They always sounded so whiny and stupid.

“What? We should get up and get moving. I don’t feel safe here any longer. S.H.I.E.L.D. is just in Point Pleasant,” as she spoke, she slid across the bed, away from him, “and I’d rather—oof!”

He’d lunged, snaked an arm about her waist, and hauled her back. “Don’t lie to me,” he said, his voice low. “What is troubling you?”

“It’s stupid. Really. Not worth the time it would take to tell you.”

��McKenna.” He shifted, coming up to pin the upper half of her body into the pillows. “Just tell me.”

“I just have a bad feeling. Like my hair’s standing on end, only it isn’t.” It was the first time she’s been able to put a finger on what was bothering her in addition to her foolish insecurity. “Like it did the day the Chitauri showed up at my apartment.”

For a moment, she thought he was going to scold her about lying to him, but then something in his eyes shifted. They went from soft and teasing to far more serious. “You do? All right, then.”

He slid away from her and out of the bed, crossing to the windows to stare down at the beach. It was a good thing they were three floors up. Loki wasn’t shy about walking around naked. Why should he? He was magnificent.

He braced his hands on the windowsill and leaned forward to peer out toward the beach and she had to look away before she overheated. And as she wasn’t nearly as blasé about her state of undress, she tugged the quilt with her, wrapping it about herself as she shuffled into the bathroom to start the shower.

It heated and she dropped the quilt to step into the glass cube. As she shampooed, she expected the door to whoosh open and for Loki to join her, but he never did. She finished showering without interruption, although her heart was a little heavier. Perhaps he was annoyed with her.

But when she emerged, it was to find him still standing at the window, staring down at the beach. “What do you see?”

He shook his head. “Not a thing out of the ordinary.”

She came up behind him, slipping her arms about his waist and pressing her cheek into the swell of muscle on his back. “Maybe I’m just imagining things. My mother used to say my imagination was always overactive. I’d tell her I saw ghosts and she’d tell me it was because I created things that weren’t there.”

“You saw ghosts?” He straightened up, gently turning to face her.

“I thought they were. It used to happen a lot when I was a kid, but the older I got, the less it happened.”

“Where they people you knew?”

She frowned. It’d been a long time since she thought about some of the odd things that happened to her when she was younger. She learned at an early age to keep them to herself, because everyone either teased her or dismissed her about them. “Some were, I think. I saw my grandmother once, only I didn’t realize it until I was a little older. And some weren’t. When I was about seventeen, I saw a girl about the same age. She would come into my room and just sit on the edge of my bed.”

She looked up to find him gazing down at her with rapt interest. He believed her and didn’t think she was either making it up or trying to get attention. “She looked so sad and when I’d ask her what was wrong, she would shake her head and vanish. Then, when I came home from college, she stopped coming around. I always kind of missed her because I wanted to know what had happened to make her seem like she’d given up all hope.

“I know, that sounds corny, doesn’t it? Shay likes to tell me what a sap I am.”

Loki shook his head. “I don’t think that makes you a sap, McKenna. As I said once before, you have a good heart.”

“Maybe. I think it just makes me an easy mark sometimes.”

He nodded. “It can, I’m sure. I’ve studied your people enough to see many will look to take whatever advantage they can of those they perceive to be weaker. It’s part of the reason I wanted to rule over your kind. I thought it might bring some sort of peace, seeing as how no Midgardian can overpower me.”

His eyes softened then and a smile played at his lips. “Save for one, I think.”

“Me? Jeez, if I’d known that when you crashed into my apartment—”

“You’ve already done it, Midgardian.” His eyes searched hers and he curved one hand against her cheek. “I’m yours to command, love.”

Her heartbeat sped up and it felt like that bevy of sparkling white butterflies had been set free in the pit of her stomach. Her mouth went dry, but she managed to whisper, “That could be dangerous.”

“I’ll take my chances.” It was only a whisper and yet, as he caught her lips in a soft kiss, she felt it clear through to the center of her being. He touched a place inside her, one no one ever took the time to explore, and as he brought his arms about her, she melted into his embrace, not even flinching when her towel hit the floor.

***

“What took you guys so long?” Shannon shaded her eyes with her hand as Loki and McKenna came out of the B&B and walked over to her car. Then she grinned. “Wet hair. At the same time? Never mind. I know what it was. Plenty of room for two in those glass boxes, eh?”

“Indeed,” Loki replied, and McKenna's cheeks grew hotter as his gaze fell on her.

“Some girls just have all the luck,” Shannon jingled her keys in her hand and pushed the unlock button on the remote. “So, I’ll give you a call later and let you know what Scott says, but if he gives me shit, I’ll talk him into it anyway. Where are you going to be?”

“We’re going to head toward L.B.I. The further I get from S.H.I.E.L.D., the happier I’ll be.” McKenna shivered. The breeze had died down and the sun splashed all around and yet, she was cold. Loki wasn’t touching her. It made no sense.

Then she felt a tingle rush along the surface of her skin and her stomach rolled over painfully as it felt like every hair on her body rose to stand on end. Without thinking, she reached back, for his hand. “Loki…”

Their fingers touched. The first blast came from seemingly nowhere to throw her away from him. She went flying across the pavement, slamming down hard with a bone-jarring thud.

The air left her body in a mighty whoosh to leave her gasping and struggling to breath. She heard Shannon scream, “What the fuck!” and heard another horrifying crash. She managed to lift her head to see Loki between her and some of the most frightening-looking creatures she’d ever seen.

They were skeletons. Reptilian skeletons. With bulging eyes and a mouthful of what looked like razor-sharp teeth.

“How dare you,” Loki's voice sounded so far away and was deep, almost raspy, with fury. “Do not touch her again.”

Pain burst through her skull as she turned her head and as she caught sight of Loki, it chilled her to her core.

Gone was the Loki she’d come to know in jeans and shirts. Somehow, he was clad in the same green, black, and gold leather outfit he’d been wearing when he landed in her apartment. Only now, he wore a golden helmet as well, one with golden… antlers?

Her head felt so foggy, her thoughts so muddled. Loki was positively fierce as he faced the Chitauri with no weapon save for his magic and his wits. “Leave her be. Your fight is with me. Not her.”

“True.” One of the Chitauri spoke. Or perhaps it was all of them speaking at the same time. She couldn’t tell. The voice was low and gurgly, as if the speaker were gargling with broken glass, and it split through her head like a sword. “But the Other had grown tired of the chase.”

“So tell him he can have me.”

“No…” McKenna grimaced as it hurt to force the words out. She tried to stand, only to find herself blown backwards again. This time, she lay on her back, stunned as she stared up at the cloudless sky.

“I warned you,” Loki growled.

She saw a blue-white flash, heard a howl of pain, and found herself being lifted up. Actually, thrown into the air was more like it, and she let out a cry of pain. She couldn’t help it. Something wrapped about her wrists and ankles that felt like shards of hot glass tearing at her skin. And when she opened her eyes, she found herself dangling over them, and saw Loki staring up at her with an expression she thought she’d never see on his face.

He looked terrified.

But, he faced the Chitauri again. “Release her and I come willingly. Harm her, and I will see to it every last one of you is erased from the universe.”

“The Other is no longer interested in what you have to say, Asgardian. He will take her as payment in lieu.”

“NO!”

Loki's voice reverberated in her ears, swelling in pitch and tone until she thought her eardrums would burst from it. She dropped to her knees (or she would have, if she hadn’t been a dozen feet in the air) and clapped her hands to her ears as the noise continued to rise.

Then it felt as if something snagged her about the waist and jerked her forward. The air rushed from her body again, like it would on a roller coaster or the Tower of Terror in DisneyWorld. She screamed as the sky raced toward her, the clouds burst as she tore through them.

Then everything went black.

#Loki #Loki Fanfic #Loki x ofc #Tom Hiddleston #Thor #Romance #Is it hot in here?#Jersey girl #Marvel #Marvel fanfic

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iruiji · 2 years

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Somehow an idea of having Yuu's BFF from their world coming with them and literally fights anything that moves especially when it involves the Ramshackle Prefect themselves is nagging at me.. holy shit my brain is just so random sometimes. Alright this birthday is boring anyway lemme just sit somewhere more hidden..

Aight. Onwards!

- - - - - - -

The opening ceremony was just pure C H A O S OHMYGOD DON'T FIGHT AN ACTUAL FIRE-BREATHING CAT, YOU GOD DAMNED BATTLESEXUAL IDIOT!

Yuu had to pull their friend from the neck to stop them from smashing the mirror in smithereens after the revelation.

Like, we all wished to punch Crowley at one point - and, surprise surprise, Yuu's bestfriend did exactly that after they fought Riddle at Heartslabyul asking 'ARE YOU ACTUALLY HOPING US MAGICLESS, LITERAL TEENAGERS MIND YOU, FIGHT DANGEROUS PEOPLE?!' as the headmaster explained the situation in his office and then BAM Solid Right fucking Hook™. Deuce was impressed! Yuu and Ace both wince as Grim cackles.

That whole month of additional chores was SO worth it (also Trey's baked goodies delievered by a cheery Cater everyday helped).

And Yuu has long given up on their friend, because they knew them well. Too well. Yuu apologized profusely to Crowley though.

That Overblot battle with Leona from Savanaclaw?

Oh, yeah. That was some anime shit. After Leona used his magic on Ruggie his friend just lost it and gave a really intense killing intent some students felt it from the other side of the stadium. The scene was so violent both were panting and bloody at the end. And then BAM POWER OF FRIENDSHIP OR SHIT AND BAM PROBLEM SOLVED-

Oh wait, did Yuu already told you about their meeting with Malleus?

Boy, oh boy. HIS FRIEND PROCEEDED TO JUMP AT HIM- a laugh, and then their friend is eating dust. Yuu was so done they almost forgot to apologize after slumping down the bench. God damn it, this life is tiring.

From then on the two developed a.. love-hate relationship? It's more like a chase of cat and mouse, really. And Yuu's friend is the mouse that kept trying to pounce a dragon cat. Even Lilia joined in at the fun one time they did it as Diasomnia, with Sebek screeching, 'HOW DARE YOU, HUMAN?!' earning a sparring partner in the form of a green-haired dolt.

Was that Silver under the bench? Probably.

Malleus' expression turns jovial everytime they see both of them, so Yuu thinks it wasn't that bad? Tsunotaro can be really playful at times so Yuu is almost always stuck with his Tamagochi whenever they start chasing each other, with the fae stating facts about Gargoyles at the same time.

Octavinelle, oh no. Their friend loved swimming that they almost got lost a few times during the journey down the water, if not for the ever dutiful Jack pulling them back again and again. Floyd, Jade and his BFF almost killed each other they - for some reason the injuries their friend got was even worse than the full-brawl they received from Leona. Ah, but well, it's the leech brothers, what else they were expecting, really.

That day Azul received the Solid Left Hook™.

Yuu's friend had called bullshit after the scene with Octavinelle, and they were trying to spy at Scarabia when Jamil used his spell and they became trapped lolol. Did the Ramshackle Prefect told you guys about what happened with Kamil at the end? No? Just the guy having a blackeye for 2 weeks.

And Jamil? He gets two and a slap on the wrist. But after that Yuu's BFF actually visits Scarabia several times a week to help with Jamil's workload lmao. To say the Scarabian tenants are bewildered would be an understatement.

But then.. Pomefiore happened and then.. Yuu's bestfriend actually.. folded on themselves.. what?

'He's so beautiful!'

Jesus christ, really?

"Step aside, Rook, Vil has now another knight!!"

STOP! STOP ROOK WILL KILL YOU, DAMMI- STOP FIGHTING THE TREE, FUCK'S SAKE!!!

Sigh.

That was the strangest overblot yet - Yuu's bestfriend was actually trying to talk things out with Vil that they almost thought the world is ending.

Vil then tries to attack them and then-

- an actual whimper.

Yuu gives their friend an icy look.

Do you want to get beat up instead, BFF?

Surprisingly, they didn't stop helping Jamil after that, but they do treasure everytime they saw Vil and 'sweet Epel' (they just curse each other, really, and Vil getting highblood is one of the highlights in their day).

"Rook can suck a dick, though."

"Oho? Is that a challenge, mon minou?"

"First, ew-"

Sometimes you can find them trying to snatch away some Pomefiore's uniform from randos and try to sneak past only for Rook or some other senior to block their way-

God, the fanboying/fangirling, 'Vil actually kicked me out of the dorm himself! Look!' and Yuu would just facepalmed at the mark of soles on their face.

Now.. now his friend is trying to infiltrate Ignihyde, of all the god damned places, trying to role-play as a spy once again.

No- please don't fight the 'robot child', BFF, Ortho can kill you easily, and Yuu can't handle Idia cutting off the WiFi.

Really, Yuu ought to kick them out of the dorm because they just triple the severity of the situation with Deuce, Ace and Grim-

- but also they're bestfriends, so Yuu just sighs as they iced their friend's cheek from sparring with yet another student.

------

HOLY SHIT THAT JUST LITERALLY WROTE ITSELF HOW IT'S NOT EVEN 20 MINUTES- I feel like I missed someone (barring teachers)(and Neige)(and Cheka and Sam and Chenya-) ignore me it's just my sadistic thoughts escaping lmao. This is literally.. idk even know why these random thoughts plague me, help- also im sorry im still at 4-2 of the Story so idk the details about Pomefiore chapter yet-

Yuu, everytime their BFF does some shit:

(pic not mine ofc)

#twst wonderland #twisted wonderland #disney twst #twst mc #twst yuu #very random #why am i like this

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atsadi-shenanigans · 8 months

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Feeding Alligators Ch 5: Man vs. Wild

It rains. You disappoint your ancestors and come to a few conclusions.

On AO3

A sound startles you out of your miserable doze. Mumu stands before you in a fuzzy, purple robe—more classical sculpture, less fluffy bath accessory. He looks concerned.

You try not to shiver.

You fail miserably.

He mutters something, brow pinched in what you hope is worry. He takes your sodden bedding from you. The downpour woke you from a dead sleep. Fancy Pants was nowhere to be seen, and neither Goth Girl nor Mumu roused themselves. So you crafted the only shelter you could, and huddled beneath your sleeping bag.

It soaked through within an hour. You soaked through in half that time.

Your limbs are stiff. Muscles scream and bones creak as Mumu helps you up. His hands are so warm against yours. He guides you, staggering, over to where the fire went out. He says more echoing words.

Nothing happens.

He mutters what you’re sure are swears, and tries again.

Nothing happens, again.

You drip miserably. You’re pretty sure some great, great grandmother is clucking her tongue at your complete lack of outdoorsy skills.

He gestures to the soggy pile of ash and stomps over to his tent. Returns with what must be a spare mumu.

The thing is, it’s awfully close to a dress. Dresses are pretty and there’s nothing wrong with anyone wanting to wear them. You’ve even eyeballed a few, wishing. But actually on you?

This garment seems clean, should fit even your thicker frame. But when you picture yourself in it, the feel of loose fabric on your bare legs beneath it, the vulnerability, you can’t stop the shudder. Yes, you were one hundred percent naked on the ship. That’s different, your brain insists. The feel of it is completely different. The context of it is completely different.

“No, sorry,” you say. You hope the smile and the shake of your head will translate to polite refusal.

He chatters—you can guess some form of, “this is how you catch hypothermia, dolt”—but. You can’t. There’s only a few things these days that you just Can’t, and this is one of them.

“I’m good.” You hold up a hand in what you hope is a universal “stop”.

He stares at you like a disapproving PTA board member. You keep smiling. Playing dumb, playing innocent. You can’t understand each other, after all. He can chalk this whole thing up to bad communication. No one’s fault, couldn’t be helped.

He sighs and—oh hey! Here comes Fancy Pants strolling into camp! What fantastic timing.

***

The group has an argument. Or a kerfluffle, at least. And it’s not over your soggy self, you think. (You hope.) You stand around, trying to keep yourself moving, as everyone (Goth Girl and Mumu) pack their things away and snipe at each other. As you watch, Goth Girl crams a tent pole into her bag and that absolutely should not fit.

Magic. It has to be. Squidward aliens, hell, and magic bags.

You can’t collapse into the mud. You know it’s a stupid thing you do, what you’ve been told is a “maladaptive coping mechanism” to stress. You scrub your face again—at least the rain washed off the eau de seaweed. Maybe your hair won’t frizz. You run your hand over your elbows and frown. Damn things are going to turn to cheese graters if you can’t find some kind of lotion or something.

There’s a better “response to stress.” Focus on little things you can actually do. This entire situation is so huge and monstrous, no one—not even someone without your own brand of bullshit—could possibly face it without fainting like a tiny goat. So you’re going to do what you’ve been trained: smash it into smaller pieces.

You need to warm up. You have no clothes and no source of heat, so you need to move. The clouds have dispersed and the sunlight shines down all warm and golden. If you can get everyone walking, you might be able to keep your internal temperature up enough to dry out.

Water and food.

Find help??

Three is still too big. You shove that aside.

Mumu is rubbing the gap between his eyebrows when you reach him. Goth Girl is saying something with a tone you recognize: voice soft, but with a set to her jaw that means, “I’m going to do what I want regardless of what you say.” Fancy Pants is cutting in now and then with what you can only assume is bitching. So these three are your survival buddies. Neat.

“Hey,” you say. It takes another attempt before Mumu sighs and glances to you.

God, you need to learn the language. Single words, at least.

You mime lifting something to your mouth and chewing (they aren’t toddlers, you shouldn’t go “Mmmm, nummy” with it, but damn if that image doesn’t pop into your head). You point to all of them, to you, and lift your eyebrows expectantly.

Goth Girl’s lips go thin. She looks to Mumu. She’d shared her crackers last night, so maybe she’s suggesting it’s his turn to donate?

He apparently agrees. Reaches into his bag and pulls out a few apples and a loaf of slightly stale bread. Only Fancy Pants declines, all breezy and unconcerned. Fancy man, probably used to fancy food. Not that you’d blame him. You would stab someone for some teriyaki right now.

Would Mumu have something like that in his magic bag?

Fucking magic. Unless it’s nano tech. You know, like people with armor and maces and primitive ass tents usually use.

What the fuck.

But that’s all problem number three. You will deal with that later.

***

Except Mumu looks entirely human. You’re trying hard not to stare at the back of his head as you walk along a dirt path. Round, human ears. Wrinkles beginning to form around his eyes. Stubble. His hair is starting to go gray, and what kind of alien species would decide on “mullet” as a fashion statement? Though it’s not so much a mullet, as the way he combs the top part back. If you combine that with the earring, he’s rocking a kind of “metro, wacky uncle” vibe.

The path climbs up. You’re heading away from the wreckage through a forest. The ground is getting steeper, the rocks bigger. You turned back, once, to get a glimpse of the carnage. You’d never imagined a UFO would be a big snail shell with squid arms smashed all over a coastline. But while you were in hell—!!!—you threw a broken piece of that shell at a demon, and it looked and felt like actual shell.

Aaand you’re filing that under Problem Three.

Goth Girl looks human, too, until you catch the points of her ears. Not as prominent as Fancy Pants—walking along at the back of the group, face turned up to the sun—but those aren’t human.

Aside from the ears, and Fancy Pants’ complexion, they all look remarkably human. Bipedal, with mammalian, primate features and hair and eyebrows and Goth Girl has boobs.

Is this even an alien planet? Or is there something weirder going on—you’re not saying supernatural. You’ve had more than enough of that already. What are the odds of green grass on another planet? Pine trees? They even smell like pine. The air is breathable. The gravity feels the same.

…is this Narnia?

No. Absolutely not. You haven’t seen any religious allegories prancing around disguised as talking animals. It’s not. It can’t be. You’re thirty-fucking-five, not a child.

Think of the pounding in your head. It hasn’t faded, though it has retreated into the back of your skull rather than lurking right behind your eyes, so there’s that.

And your clothes are starting to dry. Things are manageable. You’re going to deal with all of this.

The murder hobbit sours everything.

Chapter 5: First Blood coming on Saturday!

#baldur's gate 3 #fanfic #astarion #it's a goddamn isekai #i'm not sorry #no betas we die like men #astarion x tav #tav has backstory #feeding alligators

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youllallriseintheink · 1 year

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The Infiltrator, chapter 4: A Legendary Rivalry

N woke up in the orb pool and sat up. It occurred to him that he wasn’t sure what to ask it for. If nothing else, now could be a good time to see if he could give it more complicated demands.

“I want to see what he thinks the plan is. And if you can show me anything about the other admins, that would be great, too.”

Several orbs lifted from the pool and arranged themselves in a line. The line of orbs slithered towards N’s forehead like a snake, and the first one made contact with his forehead, transporting him into the memories.

---

Maxie seethed anger. To be rescued from his dried-out husk of a universe, only to be wrapped up in an evil scheme he wasn’t even allowed to know about, planted in an room to slow down challengers like a mere grunt, and then whipped by random child had not put him in a good mood. He was just on his way down the Aether Foundation’s halls to fetch some revives and hyper potions when he saw someone emerged from one of the doors to make his day even worse.

“Archie?!”

The pirate caught notice of him. “Maxie?!”

“What are you doing here? How are you even here? Are you here to ruin my plans again, you imbecile!?”

“Yer plans? Giovanni made a deal with me! He said that I’m the most successful Archie in the multiverse! And that every version of me was more successful than you’ve ever been!

Maxie crossed his arms and smiled condescendingly in the way that he knew infuriated Archie so much. “Hmph! Well, he was lying to you. You see, he said the exact same thing to me, and I happen to be able to tell when people are being dishonest.”

Archie ground his teeth. “Arg, you pretentious little dolt! Come here and I’ll show ye who the better man is!”

Maxie wasn’t about to take that sitting down. He came towards Archie with fists raised. Predictably, Archie had him pinned down quick with his caveman strength, but Maxie managed to get his teeth around Archie’s wrist and bit until he drew blood. Bellowing in pain, Archie tore his arms away for long enough for Maxie to get to his feet. They exchanged blows for a few seconds before a group of Rainbow Rocket grunts took notice of the brawl and held the two back from each other.

“This isn’t over, Archie!” Maxie spat, struggling against the grips of three grunts.

“Aye. Seems it ain’t ever over, Maxie,” Archie replied.

The scene changed. Maxie was sitting in Giovanni’s office, Archie in a chair beside him and Giovanni pacing before them.

“Alright. So, you had a physical fight. In front of the invading children. While you were headed to revive your Pokémon. You do realize that the time and manpower those grunts wasted splitting you up could have been used to stop them, right?”

Archie and Maxie stayed silent.

“So, truth be told, I was hoping to keep the two of you on separate sides of the Aether Paradise building long enough to raise the Ultra Beast army and move on into the next stage of the plan, at which point it wouldn’t matter if you two could be left in the same room or not. But the fact is, the takeover wasn’t a smash success or a complete failure. Everyone escaped to the back-up compound, and we at least stole the information to raise Ultra Beasts. But that means that I still have use for you two, and so you’re going to have to tolerate each other or I will be putting you both back into your respective universes. Capisce?”

“Yes, Giovanni,” the two said in unison. Maxie thought better of asking what would have been done with them had the plan been more successful.

“Good. Honestly, you two were such a good team back before you decided terrorism should be done to help your fellow beings. Just focus on the dollar bill and you won’t argue about your petty little differences in values anymore. Now scram. I’m late for my persian’s dance recital.”

Archie and Maxie got up and went back to the admins’ common area, which was surprisingly empty for it being around break time. The two gravitated to separate sides of the room, taking the occasional glance at each other.

Don’t do it, Maxie. Just play on your phone for a few minutes and then someone else will come in and it’ll be easier to resist the urge to strangle him.

“So, you won in your universe, too.” Damn it, Maxie. Self-control!

“Aye.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Without a single doubt. Pokémon can thrive now that people aren’t ruinin’ things for em’.”

“I’m sure all the children you drowned will be thrilled to hear that. How many people are left in your world? How are they living now that you ruined the planet?”

“A few hundred people escaped the flood on boats before the waters receded, and now they’re doin’ just fine. Adapting as humans do. And how goes the mass extinction over in your universe? How are you all doin’ without water?”

“I’m not an idiot, Archie. I know we need water. We still have lakes and rivers. The ecosystem is adapting, as ecosystems do. Humanity will never want for space or resources again now that the oceans are drained. And don’t lecture me on mass extinctions. You must have wiped out just about every land-dwelling species on the planet.”

Archie rolled his eyes and started going through a stack of magazines left on the coffee table. Maxie turned his attention to his phone for a few minutes before looking back to Archie.

“Look. This sucks for both of us, and we might as well not make it suck worse. I’m sorry for starting an argument. Let’s agree to not do that again, and to not engage the other if either of us does. We don’t have to be friends. We just have to stay out of each other’s way. Okay?”

Archie nodded. “Okay.” Was there something sad in his voice, or was Maxie just imagining it?

The scene changed. The Maxie was sitting in a line with the five other admins, Giovanni standing before a white board with a roughly-drawn map of Melemele island with three photos, one of each of the Alola starters on it. He and Archie kept giving each other sharp glances despite there being two people in between them.

“Alright, gentlemen,” Giovanni started, standing in front of the map, “one month from now, school will let off for the summer, meaning that a number of young people will be starting their Pokémon journeys. And we all know that the greatest threat to any criminal empire is that posed by children on Pokémon journeys. So, here’s what we’re going to do about it: We’ll intercept the shipments of starter Pokémon so that the children of Alola will have to wait until next year to have their journeys. Lysandre and I will be taking the shipment of rowlets being bred near Verdant Cavern. Archie, the littens are already en-route, so you’re going to have to steal their ship. Can you handle that?”

“Of course,” Archie answered, passing a smug side glance at Maxie.

He’ll have something for me. He’ll have something better for me, Maxie assured himself.

“Alright. And someone needs to go after the popplio being bred at the seashore, so... Archie, choose a partner, and whoever’s left, go get the popplio.”

Archie immediately grabbed Ghetsis’ hand. Of course he chose the one with military experience- he wanted to make himself look like some big hero with this stupid mission. Well, Maxie would show him!

Cyrus was the only one left for Maxie to pair with. He could work with that. Maxie took him into the hallway.

“So... Cyrus. You must have explosives in your lab, right?”

Cyrus looked at Maxie with dead eyes, as though Maxie were the stupidest and most annoying person alive. “How is that relevant?”

“I wanted to put some flair into this mission, and I was thinking...”

“We’re stealing Pokémon. What good is ‘flair’ when, in the best case scenario, we won’t even be seen?”

“Well, I- Archie gets to do something incredible, so-”

“I have no interest in the meaningless strife between you and Archie. But, if that’s what this about, it would be easier to give in than to risk you trying to come up with some heroics on the fly.”

Maxie smiled. “I knew you’d be on on board with this.” Maybe, Maxie thought, while Archie was stuck with Ghetsis, Maxie could get a second victory on Archie by befriending one of the most unpersonable admins.

A few hours later, the two men were watching as dozens of popplio and brionne clumsily rolled and flopped over each other as they exited their crates and made their way down the steep rock cliff and into the waters of a secluded, rocky beach. The adorable seals looked none too bothered. The distant crackling of a fire and wail of a fire siren pierced the air as the two got into their getaway vehicle.

“Well, that was a near-perfect success, now wasn’t it?” Maxie said.

“It was,” Cyrus replied, starting the car’s engine and pulling onto the road.

“Not only will the kids not be getting their popplio this year, we burnt down their breeding facility and released their breeding brionne. They’ll be lucky if there’s popplio next year, either.”

“Yes.”

“It’s so good to have another academic to talk to. So, how are you adjusting to Team Rainbow Rocket, Cyrus?”

“I’m not interested in your friendship. I don’t intend on spending more time in Rainbow Rocket than necessary. This is a waste of your time.”

“No, it isn’t. We’re in a vehicle. It’ll go just as fast whether I fill the awkward silence or not.”

Cyrus sighed. “I suppose. What do you want to talk about?”

“Well... where do you come from? Do you miss home?”

“Sinnoh. And no.”

“Oh. Because you like this place better?”

“I care nothing for the old world. That’s why I was willing to destroy it to create something better.”

Maxie nodded. “We both have reasons for regret.”

“My only regret is that I wasn’t able to finish my work.”

“Oh. Well, I’d ask for elaboration on why you don’t regret destroying the world and everyone in it, but I want to be able to sleep tonight, so, um.” Maxie cleared his throat. “You’re into space, right? Hoenn was a real nice place for meteor showers and I even got to do some geology work on some asteroids. Interesting stuff, right?”

Hey, this had to be better than Archie was doing with Ghetsis, so he was still winning, right?

The scene changed. Maxie was lying in his bed, wide awake. He turned over to look at his digital clock, which read 4:46. A few hours ago, he’d woken up from a dream about Hoenn. Nothing special had happened in it, just regular nonsensical dream things, but anything that made him think of the home he might never return to was bound to keep him up at night.

It was useless to lay in bed. Maxie got up, put on his daytime clothes, and left his room. He approached Archie’s door and raised a fist to knock on it, but he just couldn’t. Archie was adapting so well to this place, and to show weakness like this... Archie would never let him forget it. Maxie turned and took to his office instead.

Maxie focused himself on balancing Rainbow Rocket’s books. It was fairly easy work considering their generous budget, but also a reminder that the other admins were as intractable as cats. He scanned over a list of bills and invoices.

An invoice from Stage 3- a pure gold necklace, gifted to the princess of Paldea. Of course Lysandre had found another person he wanted to bribe into joining his little task force. It was more surprising that this was the first one this month.

The monthly energy bill- surely enough to power a small village thanks to Cyrus’ lab.

An invoice from Stage 2- a Judas Cradle. Inexpensive, and Maxie knew better than to question what that was. He’d made that mistake before by searching up “breaking wheels” on his pokétch and was forced to conclude that either Ghetsis’ invasion plans involved a lot of psychological warfare or... well, it was better not to wonder.

About an hour into his work, Maxie heard a knock at the door.

Maxie groaned. Who could it possibly be at this hour?

To Maxie’s surprise, it was Archie. “Maxie, could ya come with me a second?” he asked, a sheepish look on his face.

Maxie looked up at Archie. “Sure.”

Archie led Maxie down to a beach. The sunrise was turning both the water and the sand a brilliant orange, and the air was beginning to warm up. Archie looked out at the water, a solemn look on his face.

“If yer world is so great, then why do ya follow Giovanni? The threat he be usin’ on us is to put us back in our universes, after all.”

Maxie sighed. “I was hoping you’d ask that, actually. My universe didn’t turn out. Groudon was uncontrollable. He dried out all the surface water in the world. Pockets of humanity are surviving by using ground water for crops and personal use, but I’m not sure they’ll be able to last long enough for the water to return.” Maxie brushed tears from his eyes. “You tried to stop me. I know you’re not the version of him who did, but I’m sorry that I didn’t listen. I’m so, so sorry.”

Archie turned to look at him, bewildered. “There’s a universe where I was the rational one?”

“Yes!”

“In my universe, you tried to stop me.”

“I’m sorry-”

“No! I should’ve listened. Kyogre flooded the world. He capsized every one of our ships and I couldn’t stop it! I’m not sure humanity’s going to make it.”

There was a moment of silence between them.

“I’m glad there’s someone who knows how I feel. Do you miss Hoenn, Archie?”

“Aye. Every day. I miss Slateport City. And I miss knowin’ what the hell I was workin’ towards.”

Maxie nodded. “Remember back when we were just Team Rocket grunts and you took me to the hot springs in Lavaridge? Or did that happen in your universe?”

Archie smiled. “It did. Yer numel ran off with yer glasses-”

“-And I had to run after him with just a towel on. I remember. In that universe, were we... you know...”

“Datin’? No. I never had the courage to ask.”

“Well, actually, I asked you.”

Archie’s face scrunched up in offence. “You got the courage up before me?!”

“Yes,” Maxie said, his voice slipping back into that condescending tone, but he stopped himself. “If it makes you feel better, you could do the honours now.”

“Well, alright. Maxie, this position we’re in is shitty and the other admins are monsters, but let’s give this place a silver lining. Come here.” Archie spread his arms out, and Maxie came in to kiss him. It had been years since he’d felt the stubble on Archie’s face and tasted his sea salt-flavoured lips, and he loved it.

The two separated. “You know, I’ve been wondering: what did Giovanni tell you about the plan? Maybe we can figure out a little more of what he’s planning.”

“He told me that there would be more wild areas for Pokémon. I didn’t ask him to elaborate because I didn’t believe him to begin with.

“Hm. He promised me more space for people. Assuming he isn’t just lying entirely, maybe he’s going to create a new country for himself. It would make sense, as that would give him a good place to start the invasion he’s planning. But again, he could have just been lying to both of us.”

“Well, regardless, let’s keep our eyes peeled for a way out of here, or more information on what the bloody hell he’s doing.”

“Yes. Once there’s a chance, we’ll leave here together. Let’s make that a promise.”

Archie put a hand on Maxie’s shoulder as they looked out at the sunrise. “I promise.”

#pokemon #archie x maxie #pokemon n #magma boss maxie #aqua boss archie #rocket boss giovanni #galactic boss cyrus #my fanfiction

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redwinterroses · 2 years

Note

I had the world's biggest spaghetti mess of getting into Hermitcraft. I came in from somewhere like 5 different angles. I was watching dsmp and heard that Grain was one of Wil's favourite YouTubers. Then I watch MCC and I'm like "oh ok so some of those hermit fellows are in here too, that's cool." Then Origins started and I started watching Smajor and Empires. I'm over here like "ok Scott is cool but Pix tho" and start becoming a Pix main. I heard about 3rd life and binged Scott in one sitting like woah and wanted to know who won, so I watched the winner pov, Grian. I learn that Pix does HC recap. Season 8 starts. At this point, all signs point to "Watch Hermitcraft you dolt" and I, of course, start with Grian and Pearl and pick up hermits as I go along.

I honestly don't have a lot of shame in saying I found my favourite hermits through Grian. Like, hey. We can't all be there from day one. We gotta get into it somehow. Who cares if I started watching Grian's season 8? All that matters to me is that while binging season 7, I found Zedaph and now he owns 90% of my thought processes. Being mad at people for finding the same thing out like through more popular means just means that you're convincing people to not like the thing you like! How are we supposed to get that if we get mad at people for showing interest?

That's like saying "Oh, you discovered expensive chocolate/fine seafood/craft brew/fancy food because you learned to like eating when you were given Cheerios and smashed peas for the first time? Gosh, how mainstream." XD The beauty of "mainstream" is that it carries us all to find our favorite little brooks and hidden ponds.

Also "At this point, all signs point to "Watch Hermitcraft you dolt"" is a delightful phrase and I love it.

#redwinteranswers #grian effect

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maguro13-2 · 5 months

Text

"Hey Usagi! I gotta ask you favor. Since you're kinda belated on Valentine's day, what's your opinion of two of these ships from the inner scouts?"

Usagi : [Thinking] Well...about Makoami and Reinako, I'm thinking that these two are somehow gay at this kind of moment and as a superhero. I wonder how these two lovebirds are doing at their free time?

[Save Hut/Rest Area plays]

Makoto : Isn't this wonderful, Ami.

Ami : It sure is. This is wonderful day were having isn't it?

Makoto : Well, I'm glad that youbliked

Usagi : Huh? Strangely perfect and nice, eh? Seems kinda perfect about Makoto and Ami being closes together. These two gay? Hmm. I wonder how Rei and Minako doing their time? I bet Rei is doing absolutely fine with Minako.

Rei : Oh no, my kite got stock in a tree.

Minako : Here let me get it for you! (Climbs up into the tree) I think I almost got it! I finally got it! Here, Rei! I got the kite for ya! Let me come down and I'll give it to ya!

Rei : Thank you, sweetie. I knew that I could even trust--*CRACK!* [music stops] Did you just knocked down a horde of bees or did you knock something down?

Minako: Well, I forgot to tell you that the kite got stuck in a tree doesn't have a horde of bees, because that was no beehive, and I finally manage to pick it up from the branches, which I accidentally knocked down a nest of dangerous hornets.

Rei : Wait, what?

(a swarm of Hornets appears over them)

Minako : Do you think that I am good enough for you, love?

Rei : (looks at her nervously) Minako...You are such an idiot!

(Rei and Minako starts running away as the horners starts chasing after them)

Rei : I told you that you dolt! There's dangerous hornets that are going to sting butts off! There's not gonna be an explanation that you should've...

Usagi: Wow. Guess Makoami score better then Reimina. I think I'm gonna smash that. (A butterfly appears in front of her) Oh look it's a pretty butterfly.

Makoto : Well, Usagi. I wouldn't look at it's face if I were you and last time the grim reaper checked, butterflies were scarier then anyone.

Usagi : Butterflies scarier than anyone? Oh come on, that's just grim crazy talking. Who says that a cute little butterfly is scarier than--[cuts to a close up of a horsefly instead of a butterfly]

*HORSEFLY BUZZING LOUDLY*

[cuts back to Usagi in horror]

Usagi : [does the Sonic EXE scream] *ZOOM!*

Makoto : I told that you that episode from SpongeBob was traumatizing.

Ami : You're right about that one.

[Iris out]

"MAKOAMI : Smash! REINAKO : Pass!"

#bishoujo senshi sailor moon #sailor moon #spongebob squarepants #usagi tsukino #makoto kino #ami mizuno #rei hino #minako aino #funny #toei animation #comedy #nickelodeon #viz media #dic entertainment #humor

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anthonybialy · 6 months

Text

Memories Not Erased

It’s not to be unforgiving, which is something to announce right before doing so. These particular subjects of vengeance cherish the irony deep down. Reminding the inherently vindictive of all the terrifically kind things they professed should even out things. A factual review can’t hurt anyone’s sensibilities. Progressive goons who ruined everything for everyone else should be proud of what they inflicted.

Quietly erasing history is befitting of goons who sought to smash biology labs. Pronoun silliness has finally peaked so we can catch up to existing in this advanced year. There’s a rather easy way to scientifically verify what gender one definitely is, which should please fans of announcing their commitment to the process of understanding.

Being assigned a gender by indifferent fate in this uncaring universe is super mean. Life is cruel in that you don’t get to select equipment upon reaching voting age. But we learn to cope with such stifling limitations as being in certain bodies.

Calling the country racist was a popular hobby until guilt wore off. This place might not be the bigoted Fourth Reich hurtful cesspool portrayed. People keep emigrating and not illegally immigrating, right?

Stand still for progress. This particular party has always dedicated to idling people. Either by scheme or an inability to anticipate consequences, Democratic doctrine always demotivates people from creating more.

The mandatory seclusion merely made it official. It’s not worth the effort to work in these very productive times. If you sense being restrained by government bribing you to not work, you should value when you didn’t even get the option. Ungrateful subjects never even thank Washington for granting rights.

You can tell who believes in science by how they adulate the shoddiest cult leaders. One would think practitioners of rationality would eschew religious behavior entirely and definitely. Instead, congregants genuflect to messianic dolts who disprove their faith by implementing it. Smugness should be a sin.

Professing such a belief negates it. Now, that’s scientific. The process disproves the mouthiest worshipers are praying in the proper direction. The only thing worse than trusting people over a process is when it’s these people. Treating an arrogantly doltish bureaucrat like Anthony Fauci as their savior and autocratic serial killer Andrew Cuomo as their prophet sums up the faith neatly. Inadvertent exposure as buffoons works in a way their system doesn’t.

Contempt for daily living is what really made it bearable. The lockdown hasn’t ended. We endure a slightly diluted version that only seems bearable compared to mandated pod living a few years ago. Like Idiocracy, the joke is it’s happening right now. Heck: it’s now set in the past.

Retracting scoffing doesn’t work for those equipped with feelings and memories. Pretending your betters didn’t mock anyone who believed in trifling niceties like rights is just the latest way they lamely attempt to revise history. Casually keeping you from doing as you wish is still a habit despite promising to return authority back after the crisis was over. Self-appointed royals went on with their lives despite what they inflicted upon ours.

We’ve returned to Democrats ruining commerce at a relatively calm pace. Setting a quick rate for autocracy so usual harassment doesn’t seem so bad is their most effective plan. Economic strangulation is almost as thorough a rate of devastation as shutdowns that couldn’t have been engineered more precisely to destroy small businesses. The strongest evidence against a conspiracy is that such a successfully devious plot would mean government knew what it was doing.

Violators will try to make their heedless indulgence of shady fads disappear. If your solution is to alter history, you may have spurred bad days. Endless revisionism is a goal to redefine truth by the same very aware types who keep hitting the alarm about their foes warping facts. Claiming Ron DeSantis wants to call slavery awesome as they hide their trail of inept statism is a nice touch.

Wholesale authority is no bargain. It’s totally in our best interest to have a disinterested government work on our behalf without profit. Now, obey politicians who got rich off bossing you around. Use dominion to modify perception. Can’t you sense the economy bursting? Orwell was an optimist.

There’s surely no effort to distract by blaming everyone else. Liberals claim everyone who disagrees with them craves controlling the narrative. They can’t change the definition of projection. Thinking everyone else is an autocrat resembles how they think every conglomerate proprietor is a greedy ripoff artist who can’t wait to exploit employed proles in what’s totally not a description of their legacy.

People aren’t buying silly alterations. Consumers fed up with woke lunacy are shopping elsewhere. Retailers peddling it are on the defensive. And grateful Americans don’t stand for anthem-kneeling. Claiming facts are counter to understanding is as warped as living in a country that’s allegedly oppressive despite unlocked exits.

Sober citizens still feel hung over from the least intoxicating experience. Oversight peaked around 2020 in what should have made everyone safe while wallowing in limitless assistance. The apex of micromanaging human activity while imposing social justice should have made everyone grateful. But it was tough to see the sunrise from the nadir. We don’t treasure vaults crammed with free money, either.

Struggle session fans should appreciate the taste for vindictiveness. Inherently pushy beliefs were always silly and got even more so the deeper implementation went. The great thing about objective standards is how they don’t change during bouts of pious lunacy. Facts win out, which is another aspect this White House wishes to change.

#big government #lockdown #racism #free market

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worksinprogress1 · 1 year

Text

N woke up in the orb pool and sat up. It occurred to him that he wasn’t sure what to ask it for. If nothing else, now could be a good time to see if he could give it more complicated demands.

“I want to see what he thinks the plan is. And if you can show me anything about the other admins, that would be great, too.”

Several orbs lifted from the pool and arranged themselves in a line. The line of orbs slithered towards N’s forehead like a snake, and the first one made contact with his forehead.

---

“Archie?!”

The pirate caught notice of him. “Maxie?!”

“What are you doing here? How are you even here? Are you here to ruin my plans again, you imbecile!?”

“Yer plans? Giovanni made a deal with me! He said that I’m the most successful Archie in the multiverse! And that every version of me was more successful than you’ve ever been!

Archie ground his teeth. “Arg, you pretentious little dolt! Come here and I’ll show ye who the better man is!”

“This isn’t over, Archie!” Maxie spat, struggling against the grips of three grunts.

“Aye. Seems it ain’t ever over, Maxie,” Archie replied.

The scene changed. Maxie was sitting in Giovanni’s office, Archie in a chair beside him and Giovanni pacing before them.

Archie and Maxie stayed silent.

“Yes, Giovanni,” the two said in unison. Maxie thought better of asking what would have been done with them had the plan been more successful.

Don’t do it, Maxie. Just play on your phone for a few minutes and then someone else will come in and it’ll be easier to resist the urge to strangle him.

“So, you won in your universe, too.” Damn it, Maxie. Self-control!

“Aye.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Without a single doubt. Pokémon can thrive now that people aren’t ruinin’ things for em’.”

“I’m sure all the children you drowned will be thrilled to hear that. How many people are left in your world? How are they living now that you ruined the planet?”

Archie rolled his eyes and started going through a stack of magazines left on the coffee table. Maxie turned his attention to his phone for a few minutes before looking back to Archie.

Archie nodded. “Okay.” Was there something sad in his voice, or was Maxie just imagining it?”

“Of course,” Archie answered, passing a smug side glance at Maxie.

He’ll have something for me. He’ll have something better for me, Maxie assured himself.

“Alright. And someone needs to go after the popplios being bred at the seashore, so... Archie, choose a partner, and whoever’s left, go get the popplio.”

Cyrus was the only one left for Maxie to pair with. He could work with that. Maxie took him into the hallway.

“So... Cyrus. You must have explosives in your lab, right?”

Cyrus looked at Maxie dead eyes, as though Maxie were the stupidest and most annoying person alive. “How is that relevant?”

“I wanted to put some flair into this mission, and I was thinking...”

“We’re stealing Pokémon. What good is ‘flair’ when, in the best case scenario, we won’t even be seen?”

“Well, I- Archie gets to do something incredible, so-”

“I have no interest in the meaningless strife between you and Archie. But, if that’s what this about, it would be easier to give in than risk you trying to come up with some heroics on the fly.”

A few hours later, the two men were watching as dozens of popplio and brionne clumsily rolled and flopped over each other as they exited their crates and made their way down the steep rock cliff and into the waters of a secluded, rocky beach. The adorable seals looked none too bothered. The distant crackling of a fire and wail of a fire siren were pierced the air as the two got into their getaway vehicle.

“Well, that was a near-perfect success, now wasn’t it?” Maxie said.

“It was,” Cyrus replied, starting the car’s engine and pulling onto the road.

“Yes.”

“It’s so good to have another academic to talk to. So, how are you adjusting to Team Rainbow Rocket, Cyrus?”

“I’m not interested in your friendship. I don’t intend on spending more time in Rainbow Rocket than necessary. This is a waste of your time.”

“No it isn’t. We’re in a vehicle. It’ll go just as fast whether I fill the awkward silence or not.”

Cyrus sighed. “I suppose. What do you want to talk about?”

“Well... where do you come from? Do you miss home?”

“Sinnoh. And no.”

“Oh. Because you like this place better?”

“I care nothing for the old world. That’s why I was willing to destroy it to create something better.”

Maxie nodded. “We both have reasons for regret.”

“My only regret is that I wasn’t able to finish my work.”

“Oh. Um. Well, I’d ask for elaboration on why you don’t regret destroying the world and everyone in it, but I want to be able to sleep tonight, so, um.” Maxie cleared his throat. “You’re into space, right? Hoenn was a real nice place for meteor showers and I even got to do some geology work on some asteroids. Interesting stuff, right?”

Hey, this had to be better than Archie was doing with Ghetsis, so he was still winning, right?

The monthly energy bill- surely enough to power a small village thanks to Cyrus’ lab.

About an hour into his work, Maxie heard a knock at the door.

Maxie groaned. Who could it possibly be at this hour?

To Maxie’s surprise, it was Archie. “Maxie, could ya come with me a second?” he asked, a sheepish look on his face.

Maxie looked up at Archie. “Sure.”

“If yer world is so great, then why do ya follow Giovanni? The threat he be usin’ on us is to put us back in our universes, after all.”

Archie turned to look at him, bewildered. “There’s a universe where I was the rational one?”

“Yes!”

“In my universe, you tried to stop me.”

“I’m sorry-”

“No! I should’ve listened. Kyogre flooded the world. He capsized every one of our ships and I couldn’t stop it! I’m not sure humanity’s going to make it.”

There was a moment of silence between them.

“I’m glad there’s someone who knows how I feel. Do you miss Hoenn, Archie?”

“Aye. Every day. I miss Slateport City. And I miss knowin’ what the hell I was workin’ towards.”

Maxie nodded. “Remember back when we were just Team Rocket grunts and you took me to the hot springs in Lavaridge? Or did that happen in your universe?”

Archie smiled. “It did. Yer numel ran off with yer glasses-”

“-And I had to run after him with just a towel on. I remember. In that universe, were we... you know...”

“Datin’? No. I never had the courage to ask.”

“Well, actually, I asked you.”

Archie’s face scrunched up in offence. “You got the courage up before me?!”

“Yes,” Maxie said, his voice slipping back into that condescending tone, but he stopped himself. “If it makes you feel better, you could do the honours now.”

“Well, alright. Maxie, this position we’re in is shitty and the other admins are beyond crazy, but let’s give this place a silver lining. Come here.” Archie spread his arms out, and Maxie came in to kiss him. It had been years since he’d felt the stubble on Archie’s face and tasted his sea salt-flavoured lips, and he loved it.

The two separated. “You know, I’ve been wondering: what did Giovanni tell you about the plan? Maybe we can figure out a little more of what he’s planning.”

“He told me that there would be more wild areas for Pokémon. I didn’t ask him to elaborate because I didn’t believe him to begin with.

“Hm. He promised me more space for people. Assuming he isn’t just lying entirely, maybe he’s going to create a new country for himself. It would make sense, as that would be a good place to start the invasion he’s planning. But again, he could have just been lying to both of us.”

“Well, regardless, let’s keep our eyes peeled for a way out of here, or more information on what the bloody hell he’s doing.”

“Yes. Once there’s a chance, we’ll leave here together. Let’s make that a promise.”

Archie put a hand on Maxie’s shoulder as they looked out at the sunrise. “Aye. I promise.”

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martialartscompendium · 4 years

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Smash or Pass - Chun-Li (to Mai)

"She's my rival and i will give her a smash using my fan once we meet!"

#that's not how smash you dolt #answered #sorry mai seemed having intense rivalry with her #streetfightingfemmes

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the-al-chemist · 2 years

Text

Artemis Hexley and the Circle of Khanna

Chapter 6: The Seeker and the Statue

A/N: The first Quidditch match of the season arrives, and there is a last minute change to the Hufflepuff team roster. Skye finally lets down her walls and Artemis makes a startling discovery. Hufflepuff players belong to @lifeofkaze @thatravenpuffwitch and @that-scouse-wizard. Warnings: sports-related injury.

Charlie and Artemis couldn’t have reinstated their friendship at a better time. The Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff Quidditch match was taking place the following weekend, and Artemis would have hated having to play against Charlie while they still weren’t talking. As it was, she was excited again to be able to go head to head against her friend, even if it was going to be the first and last match they would ever play against each other - a thought she kept pushing to the back of her mind.

The door to the changing tents was still broken when the Hufflepuff team arrived ready for their final practice session before the game.

“What happened there?” asked David Willows, looking up at the ripped canvas.

“Tonks.”

That was clearly all the answer Artemis needed to give, because David nodded and went inside to change without saying another word. Lizzie Jameson, on the other hand, frowned as they went inside.

“Why was Tonks in here?” she asked, looking around the room sceptically, as if expecting something to jump out from somewhere. “I’m guessing she’s set up some kind of prank again.”

“Not this time,” replied Artemis. “We just came down to chat with Charlie when he was getting changed before the Gryffindors had practice, that’s all.”

She neglected to say the reason why they had decided to visit Charlie, and before Lizzie could ask, Skye butted in.

“Did ye stick around tae watch?”

“No, we’re not that kind of friends.”

“I meant the practice, ye wee dolt!” Skye shook her head. “Did ye find out what Weasley has up his sleeve tae get the better of us?”

“Oh, right. No, sorry. We just came here to hang out, really.”

“But you were meant tae find out!”

“Well, I didn’t,” Artemis said, rapidly growing annoyed with her team captain. “I never said I would. Charlie’s my friend, I’m not going to go around spying on him, am I?”

“Why no?”

“Because I’m not going behind my friend’s back just for the sake of a Quidditch match, that’s why.”

“It’s okay, Skye,” said Lizzie, clearly having sensed an argument brewing. “We don’t need to know Gryffindor’s strategy. We can come up with our own strategy to beat them.”

“Naw, that won’t work,” Skye glared at each member of the Quidditch team in turn. “We cannae win if we dinnae ken what we are up against.”

“Then we obviously aren’t a good Quidditch team and we deserve to lose, don’t we?” Artemis snapped, and everyone stared at her. “What? I don’t think actual Quidditch players try and find out what their rivals’ strategies are. They find what works for their own team, which is your job, Skye. You’re the Captain, after all.”

Skye’s green eyes narrowed at Artemis, a fierce and angry look in them.

“Aye, hen. I am the Captain, and I get to decide how we play the match,” she said in a scathing voice. “I dinnae think that ye should play this game.”

“You what?”

“Ye heard me, Hexley. Yer nae playing this weekend,” Skye told her, before turning to Ellie Hopper, their reserve player. “Hopper, how dae ye fancy playing Chaser if I take Hexley’s place as Seeker?”

Ellie looked apprehensively at Skye and then Artemis.

“I don’t know if-”

“Aye, you’ll be smashing, hen. Dinnae fash yerself.”

“Skye, Ellie has a point,” said Lizzie. “You, me, and Cordelia have been practising together all term. We have a rhythm now, and Ellie’s only got one practice session to get into that.”

“And I haven’t done anything wrong!” Artemis almost shouted, but Skye ignored her completely, continuing to rearrange the team without Artemis’ input.

After Skye had stomped out to the pitch, Lizzie and Ellie hung back to talk to Artemis.

“I’m so sorry,” said Ellie. “I didn’t mean to take your place.”

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault,” muttered Artemis, glowering at the ripped canvas door.

“I still feel guilty.”

“Really, don’t.”

“Look, I will talk to Skye,” Lizzie told them both, her ponytail swishing as she shook her head from side to side. “It really makes no sense to change the team dynamic now. No offence, Ellie.”

“None taken.”

“Besides, Skye is just in a mood. She will probably have changed her mind by Saturday morning. You’ll get to play, just you wait and see.”

But by the time Artemis went down to breakfast on Saturday morning, Skye had yet to change her mind. Artemis wished good luck to her team mates, returning Ellie and Lizzie’s apologetic smiles, before waving goodbye to Charlie over at the Gryffindor table. Frowning, Charlie waved the Gryffindor team on and made his way over to her.

“You’re joking,” he said, grimacing when Artemis shook her head. “I’m sorry, that’s rubbish.”

“Not for you, you stand a better chance of beating us now.”

“Yeah, but I was looking forward to playing against you.”

“I was looking forward to beating you,” Artemis said wryly, and Charlie made a doubtful noise.

“We’d still have won, but I’d have liked a bit of a challenge, first.”

Artemis would have known he was joking even if it weren’t for the smirk on his face, but she still picked up a fork and prodded him with the pronged end.

“It’s a stupid move on Skye’s part, changing the team around just before the match,” Charlie continued, having pushed Artemis’ hand and fork away from his arm. “Did she really not have a match plan other than following what we were doing?”

“I can’t tell you our top secret match plans, Charlie,” Artemis said, mock-seriously.

“That’s a no, then.”

As Charlie stood up and made to leave, Artemis called after him, “What was your plan for the match, anyway?”

“Fly faster than you. Other than that, I didn’t really have one,” Charlie shrugged. “What was the point? I knew you’d just be winging it.”

Just before eleven, Artemis and her friends made their way down to the stands ready to watch the game. No longer sure which team she ought to support, Artemis borrowed a multicoloured scarf with pom-pom tasseling from Rowan instead of her usual yellow-and-black school scarf. She knew that it would annoy Skye, and a small part of her was hoping that her team Captain would be able to see it.

“And the Hufflepuff team,” Murphy McNully’s voice echoed across the pitch as Skye led out the yellow-clad players to meet the Gryffindors. “Hopper, Costa, Jameson, Booth, Bean, Willows, and Parkin!”

Artemis joined in with the applause that echoed around the stands surrounding her. With both teams standing in the middle of the pitch, the two Captains - and now Seekers - shook hands. Charlie offered Skye a good-natured smile, to which she scowled in return.

“Madam Hooch releases the Quaffle… and they’re off! Hufflepuff’s Eleanor Hopper takes possession almost immediately,” Murphy announced. “Passes to Jameson, to Costa, back to Jameson, Jameson to Hopper, Hopper to Costa, Costa to Jameson, and… GOAL! Ten points to Hufflepuff!”

Penny’s delighted scream nearly deafened Artemis, but she cheered for the Hufflepuff Chasers regardless. On the pitch, Skye was calling out something to Lizzie, while Charlie had gathered the three Gryffindor Chasers together and was talking to them quietly, intermittently looking out over his shoulder to scan the pitch - presumably keeping an eye out for the Golden Snitch.

Hufflepuff’s early lead did not increase; their next three attempts at scoring were saved by Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Keeper, and each time, he passed the Quaffle back out to the Gryffindor team, who carried the ball back up the pitch towards the Hufflepuff goalposts.

The first time, a pass was intercepted by Cordelia Costa, allowing Hufflepuff to take possession once more, but after that, the Gryffindors were able to hold onto the Quaffle, taking it all the way up to the scoring zone. Amelia Booth managed to save one goal, but the second slipped past her outstretched hand, and the score was equalised.

Charlie flew down from the vantage point where he had been hovering above the action, and spoke to each of the Gryffindor Chasers in turn. When the play recommenced, the three players flew straight at each of the Hufflepuff Chasers, tailing them so closely that they struggled to pass the Quaffle between themselves. While Ellie Hopper was so busy trying to dodge one of the Gryffindor players that she only narrowly missed being hit by a Bludger, the player marking her used the opportunity to steal the Quaffle from her hands.

After the Chaser that stole the Quaffle aimed it at the Hufflepuff goalposts, allowing Gryffindor to overtake Hufflepuff, Skye became enraged. She called a time out, and flew down to Madam Hooch.

“It looks like the Hufflepuff Captain wants to call that manoeuvre a foul,” Murphy announced, as Ellie was called down to talk with Madam Hooch. “If no contact was made between the players, the goal stands.”

Ellie’s blonde curls fell over her shoulders as she shook her head, and Madam Hooch blew her whistle.

“No contact, no foul!” she shouted, and the players took to the sky once more.

Skye shouted to the Hufflepuff Beaters, who set about targeting the Gryffindor Chasers. Once one was taken out of the game by a Bludger from David Willows, the Hufflepuff Chasers were able to take back some control.

“Another goal from Jameson takes the score to thirty all,” Murphy announced, and the Hufflepuff stands erupted into applause once more. “With such evenly matched teams, it looks like whoever catches the Snitch will win the game!”

Skye was giving instructions to the team again, rather than looking out for the Snitch. Meanwhile, Charlie was levitating higher, moving across the pitch towards the Hufflepuff goalposts. Once the Quaffle was in play again, he suddenly surged into action, accelerating across the entire length of the pitch.

“And it looks like Weasley has seen the Golden Snitch!”

As Murphy called out, Skye snapped her head upwards and set off after Charlie.

“Parkin in hot pursuit of Weasley,” Murphy narrated the chase. “Weasley turns a corner, allowing Parkin to catch up, Parkin now almost level with Weasley, and-”

The moment Skye had caught up with Charlie, he entered a dive, plummeting towards the ground at such a steep trajectory he was almost vertical.

“He’s showing off a bit, isn’t he?” Tonks laughed, and Artemis frowned deeply.

That was odd, she thought. Charlie never usually made it so obvious that he was going after the Snitch unless he knew he had a decent lead over the opposing Seeker. He was good at going unnoticed when he wanted to; he was the subtle one. For him to accelerate past the Snitch and then fly back towards his opponent only to chance a risky manoeuvre when they were almost neck and neck with him…

“SKYE, NO!” Artemis shouted. “HE’S FEINTING!”

But, of course, Skye couldn’t hear her. As Charlie pulled away from her, Skye deepened her own dive and accelerated even faster to catch him back up. By the time Charlie stopped and pulled up without warning only feet from the ground, it was too late. Skye seemed to realise what was happening at last, but she couldn’t brake fast enough to stop herself from ploughing into the grass.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Madam Pomfrey made her way onto the pitch. Both Lizzie and Charlie flew down to Skye’s side and crouched next to her on the floor.

“Weasley successfully attempts a Wronksi Feint, and Parkin crashes into the pitch,” Murphy told the crowd. “This dangerous but perfectly permissible manoeuvre was invented by Polish Seeker Josef Wronski in… Oh, and it looks like Parkin is out of the match.”

Down below, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout were frogmarching a limping and obviously livid Skye off the pitch. Meanwhile, Lizzie had gathered the rest of the team into a circle and was giving them instructions.

“Does this mean you’re back in the game?” Rowan asked Artemis, who shook her head.

“No, once the game starts, you can’t put a reserve player in. It looks like we’ll just have to keep playing until Charlie catches the Snitch.”

With no reason to target the rival Seeker, the Hufflepuff Beaters focused all their attention on the remaining Gryffindor Chasers, allowing Lizzie, Cordelia, and Ellie to try and gain a more substantial lead in the time it took Charlie to find the Snitch. But by the time the Hufflepuff Chasers had doubled their points, it was all over.

“Weasley catches the Snitch!” Murphy shouted, and there was a roar like thunder from the red and gold Gryffindor stands. “The final score is sixty to Hufflepuff, one hundred and eighty to Gryffindor!”

“Do you think there will be an after party?” asked Penny, applauding Gryffindor’s win less half-heartedly than either Rowan or Tonks.

“Probably,” said Artemis, her eyes drawn to Skye being taken off the pitch in a wheelchair that looked far flimsier and much less comfortable than that of Murphy McNully. “But I think I ought to go and talk to Skye first. If she’ll speak to me, that is.”

The less than dulcet tones of Skye Parkin were audible from outside the Hospital Wing. Inside, though the curtains were drawn around several beds, Artemis knew without needing to ask which bed was Skye’s. She walked straight across the Hospital Wing, past the second year girl whose overgrown teeth Madam Pomfrey was shrinking back to size with the aid of a mirror, and slipped past the drawn curtains to see Skye’s scowling face.

“Fir why are you here, Hexley?” she asked. Artemis sighed, and sat on the chair next to her bed.

“I came to see how you were.”

“Oh, aye, I’m bonnie. Apart from ma broken ribs, of course.”

“Right,” Artemis nodded. “Look, Skye, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for saying that our team wasn’t good enough and that you weren’t doing your job properly. And I’m sorry that Charlie got you out of the game with the Wronski Feint.”

“Did ye ken?”

“Did I what?”

“Did ye ken that he was feinting?” Skye repeated her question, and Artemis nodded in response.

“I mean, I didn’t know that he was going to do it before he did it,” she told her. “I don’t think Charlie even knew that he was going to do it until he decided to do it. But, yeah, I realised that he hadn’t seen the Snitch.”

“How? Dinnae tell me yer a mind-reader.”

“Something like that,” Artemis half-laughed. Somehow, she didn’t think that it was her Legilimency that gave Charlie away. “It just wasn’t his style, that’s all.”

“Well, ye would ken that better than me,” muttered Skye. “It was a daft idea, taking ye out of the game. I should nae have done that.”

“Why did you?”

“Because I was raging,” Skye said. “Because of what ye said, that I was nae doing ma job as Captain.”

“Like I said, I’m sorry.”

“Aye, hen. Dinnae fash yerself. I should nae have been so upset about it, it’s just… Dae ye follow League Quidditch, Hexley?”

“Um, not really,” Artemis frowned, not really sure what had prompted this sudden change in subject. “We listened to some of the matches on the Wireless at the Weasleys in the summer.”

“So, have ye heard of the Wigtown Wanderers?”

“Yeah, that’s the team Penny supports.”

“Aye. It’s ma family’s team.”

“Your family all support the same team?”

“Naw, Hexley. Ma family aw play fir the same team,” said Skye, emphatically. “Ma Pa, ma Grandda, ma uncle. Both ma brothers play fir them now that they’ve left school. And aw of them were House Captains at school. Last year, when I dinnae get tae be Captain, they aw wanted tae ken for why. Ma Pa, he was the worst of aw of them. He was nae best pleased when we won the Cup.”

“Why not? We won, for Godric’s sake.”

“Aye, but Harris and Lewis didnae win when they were Captains. Amari comes along, an’ we win.”

“I guess that means that there’s a lot of pressure on you to win the Cup again this year,” Artemis sighed, and Skye nodded.

“Aye, hen. An’ it doesnae look very likely now, does it?”

“I dunno. It’s just one game, after all. And we were playing with a completely different team than what we’re used to.”

“Yer right. Mibbe I should stick to Chaser next time, eh?” Skye grinned. “An’ next match, ye can play Seeker again.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive, Hexley. If ye want tae make a wee roaster of yerself diving like that, crack oan.”

“Thanks, Skye. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a bad Captain at all.”

“Oh, aye?”

“Aye. Yes. I mean, look at last summer. In the last match of the year, you were the one who…”

Artemis’ voice tailed off as the sound of several sets of footsteps and concerned voices echoed through the Hospital Wing.

“Is it the rest of the team?” Skye asked, but Artemis shook her head. The hushed tones didn’t sound anything like her teammates.

Quietly, she stood up, and peered through a small gap in the curtains around Skye’s bed. Outside, Madam Pomfrey was deep in conversation with all four of the Heads of Houses.

“Mr Filch found him near the library,” Professor Flitwick was saying. “Madam Pince said that the boy had been in with her, reading, and then he left.”

“I will have to ask any of my students if they saw him at any point after that,” said Professor McGonagall. “But with the Quidditch match, I doubt it.”

“Do we think that this might be anything to do with…” Professor Sprout looked around, and Artemis ducked back behind the curtain. “The Vaults? Could this be another curse?”

“It does seem likely. I shall inform Dumbledore, and Professor Hamm should be notified as well, being the Defence Against the Dark Arts specialist.”

“I think that is a rather generous term for Hamm,” a voice said from the other side of the curtain, one Artemis recognised immediately as the unmistakable drawl of Professor Snape. “I do not think he will be able to offer any practical solution that we could not provide ourselves.”

“He does have access to Patricia Rakepick’s research, though.”

“I was under the impression that her research was protected by curses,” Professor McGonagall said. “Or has he been able to access the office now?”

“He has. There’s still a trunk full of research that even I have yet to be able to unlock,” said the squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick. “But some of her notes were readily available.”

“And what did these notes pertain to?”

“Mermaids and Grindylows, of all things. Nothing to do with… well…”

The teachers fell silent again, and Artemis peeked out between the curtains to see that all of them had turned to look at the hospital bed opposite, their figures obscuring her view of the bed itself.

“I am more than happy for the student to remain here for treatment,” said Madam Pomfrey. “But until I know what has caused this… affliction, my ability to treat it effectively will be heavily compromised.”

“I will talk to Albus,” McGonagall sighed. “Filius, perhaps you could keep trying with that trunk.”

“Certainly.”

“And what do we tell the students?”

“We shall let Dumbledore decide. We don’t want to cause mass hysteria, after all.”

“Naturally.”

Artemis hid behind Skye’s curtain once more, and once she was sure that she had heard the teachers leave, poked her head out to check that there was no one else in the Hospital Wing. It was empty, Madam Pomfrey’s shadow visible in the window of her office, and the beaver-toothed girl nowhere to be seen. Opposite Skye’s bed, the curtains were drawn completely. Artemis walked across the room, and gently lifted one of the curtains to see who - or what - was hidden behind.

As soon as she did, her mouth dropped open.

Though she didn’t exactly recognise the boy, she couldn’t help but feel like he looked vaguely familiar - possibly from her classes - though it was difficult to know for sure, because he no longer looked quite like a student. Or at least, he did, but he looked more like a model of a student, or - more accurately - a statue of a student.

The boy had been turned into stone.

#artemis hexley #hogwarts mystery #hphm fic #hphm #skye parkin #lizzie jameson #ellie hopper #david willows #amelia booth #murphy mcnully #charlie weasley

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elizabeethan · 3 years

Text

Watch the Sunlight Fade: 13 / 17

Emma Swan finds out that her boyfriend has been hiding something from her: he’s in a gang and trying to get out. Reluctantly, she decides to support him, sticking it out with him until they have enough money to flee to Florida. All she has to do is wait and ignore that feeling in her gut that something is seriously wrong. With the help of a kind and handsome stranger, she just might make it out alive.

Or, alternate summary: I’m horrible at summaries, please just read it.

Something of a cross between a What Still Remains AU and a Sons of Anarchy AU.

A/N: Heyooo time for more smut! And more answers. And more cliffhangers.

Rated M

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Read on Ao3

~~~~

The destruction in the apartment is clear the moment she walks in, feeling Killian’s watchful eye leave her as she shuts the door. There’s broken glasses and plates on the floor, Neal having cleared off the counter in what she assumes is his anger. She can’t think of another reason for him to be so destructive, picture frames smashed in the living room and fluffy pillow feathers flying through the air, but she certainly allows her mind to wander.

What if he knows? They’ve been careful, but what if someone besides Rufio had seen them?

“Neal?” She asks tentatively, clutching the strap of her purse tightly.

She hears another crash from his bedroom in response to her voice and cringes. The door opens forcefully, slamming shut behind him as he storms into the living room to meet her.

“Where the fuck were you?” he asks threateningly.

“I was at the store,” she answers, her voice small and weak, although she thinks it unwise to make a show of strength. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” he spits. He fumes in anger again and picks up a vase that she had filled with flowers she bought herself, hurling it at the wall to her right and sending water and glass towards her. “Rufio is fucking dead , that’s what’s wrong!”

She pales immediately, realizing that he must know of their involvement in his death. There’s not much for her to say, unable to defend herself as she and Killian both know that their actions were wrong. She only wonders now if he also knows of the affair they’ve started. “Neal…” she croaks out in terror, unsure how to continue.

But to her surprise, he falls to his knees, his hands catching his head as he lets out a sob. “Who would do this?” he cries, sending her mind racing. “Who would kill my friend?”

She shifts, the sudden realization striking that he isn’t angry at her, he simply finds it appropriate to take his anger out on her. She has to adjust now, unable to hold onto the fear of him discovering her dangerous secret and required to shift into her role as doting girlfriend. She has to keep up appearances, as much as it pains her to do so.

“Babe,” she says softly, “I’m so sorry.”

Once she’s close enough to him, he grabs at her hand, pulling her roughly into his arms and squeezing her too tight. His actions are forceful, but not at all surprising. He holds onto her, sobbing into her hair and making her cringe as he cries for his loss. He says things like, how could someone do this to me, and it makes her realize that he isn’t sad about his friend’s death. He’s sad that someone has hurt him. He thinks this is personal.

While he cries, she looks around the apartment and wants to cry herself. He’s broken so many things, and even though almost none of it was hers, she still feels sadness in the wake of the destruction she sits in. When she looks to the bookshelf frightfully, she realizes she doesn’t see the one and only object that she covets as hers and lets a tear escape.

He’s angry. But he didn’t have to take his anger out on the one thing that he knows means something to her.

~~~~

“The Kings of Elsinore will pay for what they’ve done to us,” Peter says commandingly, his fist slamming against the table before him and making Emma startle. Many of the men around the table nod, grunting in agreement, including Killian.

He’s careful not to stare at her too much, although it’s difficult. Aside from his love for her and his disbelief at her beauty, it’s hard not to stare in an attempt to ensure that she’s alright. They haven’t been able to talk since she left this morning, but he doesn’t see any evidence that she’s been harmed. He knows that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been, though.

“The murder of Rufio was a heartless and psychotic act with the intention of hitting us where it hurts. Rufio was heir to one of our club’s founding members, and his death will not go unpunished.”

Killian shudders in his seat, the action making Rob turn to look at him and cock his head. He’s sure Peter means it, and he’s sure Killian’s punishment will be worse than anything he doles out to the Kings if he finds out.

He can’t find out, though. Because if he does, he could find out why it happened, and he can’t risk Emma’s safety like that.

“We’re going to hit back, which is why Miss Swan is here today,” he continues. His words draw Emma’s attention up from her hands as her big eyes stare at Peter. “It has become imperative that you identify something we can use against the Kings. Any help you need, you’ll have. Hook,” he calls, shifting his focus.

“Aye?”

“Continue to assist Miss Swan in her search. Remove the security features if you have to.”

“If it’s alright,” Robin starts, causing Killian’s eyes to grow twice their size, “I’d like to help as well. I believe my tracking skills may be useful in helping Miss Swan decide where to look.”

“Fine,” Peter agrees, waving him off. “As for the rest of you, prepare for a battle. If it’s a fight they want, then a fight they shall have.”

~~~~

She drops into the too-firm chair and it squeaks under her weight, a groan escaping her lips as she jimmies the mouse of her computer. He can’t help the small smile that pulls at one corner of his mouth, her dramatic entrance bringing him joy despite the stress they're all under.

No one says anything at first; it’s awkward with Rob being here despite him being one of Killian’s closest friends. Even though he trusts him with his life, he isn’t sure he’s ready to hear the truth of their relationship after how many times he insisted that Killian avoid this.

Once her computer boots up, she straightens and he takes a seat in his usual spot, gesturing to another folding chair across the room in an invitation for Rob to sit. “Want me to remove the securities, love?”

“No, I don’t want you to remove the securities ,” she responds in a mocking tone, mimicking his accent as she rolls her eyes. “I’m not a damn child; I know how to take off parental controls.”

Killian raises his brows, looking at her in surprise, and asks, “then why haven’t you?”

“Because I’m also not an idiot,” she responds, glaring at him before turning back to the aged screen. “I’m not stupid enough to try and go against Peter’s rules.”

He gives her a small smile, one that he can’t seem to give to anyone else, and can't seem to help giving her, and nods. “That’s right,” he agrees softly, his voice just barely above a whisper. He almost forgets his place, wanting nothing more than to lean forward and plant a kiss on her beautiful-- if not thoroughly chewed up-- lips. It’s obvious enough that something’s irritated her, and he wants to get to the bottom of it and console her so that the light comes back into her eyes. He’s greedy like that, he supposes.

“I bloody knew it,” he hears, Rob’s grumbling voice yanking him violently from his thoughts and his desires.

Killian turns quickly, as does Emma, both of them staring at Robin in surprise, as if they forgot about their audience.

“You’re fucking her,” he accuses, nodding and tightening his jaw. “Killian, mate, how many times have we talked about this--”

“Rob,” he starts hurriedly as he stands, his hands held out in a plea. Without words, only his eyes communicating to his friend, he begs for forgiveness and discretion and kindness. “Mate…”

He can’t even look at Emma yet because he knows that the look on her face will break him. He knows that she must be gnawing at her lip, her brows high on her forehead and her eyes desperate and terrified. “I’m not going to say anything,” Rob finally says, his eyes meeting Emma’s rather than Killians, confirming his hunch. “You two have royally fucked up, but your secret’s safe with me.”

He hears her sigh and worries that she could be crying, so he turns to her. He’s met with her dropping her head into her hands in relief, and he hurries to squat in front of her, taking her hands in his. “It’s alright,” he whispers, running his thumbs over her knuckles. Her dim, glassy eyes meet his and she shakes her head.

“We can’t-- he knew after two minutes. We have to go,” she murmurs softly, but he sees something shift in her. She sits up slightly straighter and gazes into his eyes seriously. “Can we trust him?”

“Yes,” he confirms while he squeezes her hands. He knows they can, but he turns back to look at Rob anyway.

“You can trust me, lass,” he vows, understanding as Killian begs him to. “I swear I won’t say a thing, but you’re playing a dangerous game. What’s the plan here?”

“We’re leaving,” Killian answers simply. “As soon as possible. We would have tonight, but Neal came back early.”

“He didn’t come back early, you dolt. They never left.”

He pales, his face falling, and he feels Emma's squeezing his hand. She must be thinking exactly what he is. They had both assumed that Peter and Neal somehow heard about Rufio and had returned, but the fact that they hadn’t even left is somehow more concerning.

“How… how did they find out?”

Rob snorts, shaking his head. “Right, you were too busy to-- hang on. Killian… tell me you didn’t--”

“Rob--”

“You didn’t. ” His face falls pale as well, the look he gives his friend chilling. Killian can feel the disappointment and terror radiating off of his oldest friend easily, and it does nothing to quell his nerves. “Killian, tell me right now that you didn’t kill him.”

“I had to,” he whispers, shaking his head in self hatred. “He attacked her. Said he would-- he said--”

“ Fuck, he caught you, didn’t he?”

“Robin,” Emma interrupts, trying to stop the two of them from going at it and speaking too loudly. They’re bound to tip someone off if they keep this up. “What Killian did… He knows it was wrong, but there wasn’t much of a choice. Rufio attacked me. He was protecting me, and now… I have to protect him. We have to get out of here, because if they find out that Killian shot Rufio, he’ll be worse off than your friend, Liam.”

Rob is quiet for a moment, allowing Killian to absorb her words. She’s right, of course. They’ll deliver him a fate much worse than that of his brother if they find out.

“Too right, love,” Rob agrees finally, nodding and running his hands over his face. “I’ll help you however I can, so long as the two of you take me as well.”

“Of course, brother. I’d hoped to grab Tink and Elsa as well.”

He and Emma hadn’t spoken of his previous dalliances, and he only hopes that his intention to bring Tink along with them doesn’t offend her. It’s not as if he plans on staying with her long, but she deserves to get out just as much as they do.

“Only because of Liam, and Tink is--”

“It’s okay,” she cuts him off with a smile, her hand squeezing his. “Of course we’ll bring them.”

He can hardly take the amount of love he has for her, her unequivocal understanding of every piece of him hard to wrap his mind around. He gives her a genuine smile, and her gaze meets his, giving him the beaming sunlight in her eyes of which he’ll never tire.

~~~~

The service they hold at the Rabbit Hole is only slightly deranged. The message is clear enough: Rufio’s loss of life is seen as a personal attack against the club. His death is not sad because his life ended, it’s sad because the club is suffering.

It’s nauseating.

The only thing that keeps her head on straight is Killian, the gentle looks he shoots her from across the bar where he sits with Rob shooting warmth through her heart and to the pit of her stomach. His presence is so soothing, so grounding. It makes her feel steady and strong to be with him, to even be near him.

Each time she catches him glancing at her out of the corner of her eye, she feels her heart rate picking up. He drives her mad, she’s discovered. They’ve only just begun their relationship with one another, but it feels stronger than any she’s ever been in if only based on the physical connection they have with one another. She’s never felt this way about anyone before. She’s been with men before, men before Neal, but it was always transactional and cold. It was fine, but it wasn’t great. With Killian, it’s mind numbing.

He reads her effortlessly and flawlessly. He knows exactly what she needs when she needs it. He’s known exactly how to bring her over the edge each time, and she can only foresee their sex life getting better as they grow closer and closer. She can’t wait to grow closer to him.

The overwhelming feelings of disgust and discomfort are washed away easily each time he stares at her and are replaced by a feeling of undeniable need. The pressure builds where she needs him the most, arousal washing over her and through her until she can barely stand it, and the feeling of Neal’s hand landing on her shoulder makes her jump. “Want a drink, babe?” he asks, as if completely forgetting the conversation they had last night. He hasn’t even bothered to ask her of the results of her tests yet.

“I’m actually gonna just run to the bathroom,” she says with a smile. “Not feeling great, I’ll be back.”

She doesn’t give him a chance to respond before she stands and heads towards the bathroom, relying on the dank darkness and the slowly dripping faucet to distract from the overwhelming moodiness of the bar and her overwhelming arousal at the thought of Killian’s hands on her.

She focuses on her breathing for a moment, hoping to slow things down around her and calm her racing pulse. The sense of peace is short lived; the door opens slowly, making her heart rate pick up. But when she sees him, she relaxes easily, a smile creeping onto her face. “You need to be careful,” she insists quietly, although she can’t help but giggle as he locks the door and pounces on her.

He lifts her onto the counter and his lips are on hers instantly, his hands gripping her ass and pulling her towards him. Her legs wrap around his and her arms grab for his shoulders, her nails digging into the rough fabric of his button down shirt.

With his mouth trailing hot kisses along her flesh, his teeth scraping against her neck, he finds his way to her collarbone and murmurs, “I couldn’t stand being away from you a moment longer.”

She gasps in surprise at his words, a wave of arousal rushing through her and landing in her core, twisting her and encouraging her to tighten her legs around him in search of friction and pressure. “Fuck,” she whispers as his hands and lips move the cup of her bra to the side.

“Do you want this?” he asks, seeking consent before latching his lips to her hardened nipple. She nods fiercely. “ Gods , how I crave you.”

“Killian,” she breathes, “touch me.”

His mouth devours hers again, his hand sliding down the front of her and finding the waist of her jeans. He tugs, drawing her closer to him and, without breaking their lips apart, snaps her button undone and slides her zipper down quickly.

“Are you wet already, Emma?” he asks roughly, his fingers sliding over the cotton that’s already nearly soaked through. He growls. “You are; that’s a good girl.”

“Yours,” she mumbles, her arousal taking over and her mind barely able to keep up with what her mouth says.

“Aye, mine,” he agrees, nipping at her bottom lip. He pushes her garment aside and slips his fingers through her folds, groaning when he finds her sodden for him. “So responsive,” he praises. “So perfect for me.”

With a moan as his mouth presses to the sensitive skin under her earlobe, she nods again, wanting to reinforce to him that she’s his . Only his. Simply, she tells him, “I love you.”

His fingers glide over her clit, pinching quickly and dragging a whimper from her throat. “I love you so much I can scarcely breathe,” he whispers. “I can’t stand to be away from you.”

“Then don’t make me wait,” she begs in a whisper herself.

He moves his hand away from where she craves him and quickly moves his own jeans, and Emma wriggles until her pants are falling around her knees. “We’ll leave tomorrow,” he vows, smoothing his weeping cock along her clit as she wrestles with the condom wrapper. When she finally has it open, she places it over his tip and slides her fist down to the base.

“Where will we go?”

She gasps when one finger slips into her followed closely by a second, curling against her expertly and sending her searching for his mouth with hers. He swallows her cries when his thumb gently presses against her clit.

“Your heart’s desire, Swan,” he says, lining his cock up to her waiting entrance. “I promise, that’s all I want you to have.”

Their foreheads press together, their noses too, and she bites her lip as he pushes inside. She clings to him, her fingers gripping the back of his shoulders, her heels digging into his backside, her core squeezing around his cock. After a few perfectly timed, perfectly angled thrusts, she whispers, “I just want you.”

He holds her so close to him as one hand grabs onto her ass and the other holds her jaw and neck. His thrusts are quick, but deep and effective, striking her exactly where she needs him. He groans when she clenches around his cock again.

His hand slips around from her back so that his fingers can dance over her clit with each thrust. Emma moves her hands up to the back of his neck, gripping his hair and begging him for more in each moan against his mouth. It’s not long before he has her a writhing mess in his arms, pleading for release.

“Come on, angel,” he encourages gently but firmly as he gives her another flawless thrust. “Nice and tight for me, aren’t you? I know you’re ready, love. Come for me.”

His voice is tenacious, but still so tender, so caring in the way that he loves her. She’s never felt so loved and safe while being spoken to in such a dominating tone, and she loves it. She loves the freedom that comes with being commanded and feeling safe at the same time. She never knew the two could coexist.

At his behest, she clenches once more and cries out his name, his mouth muffling the sound as he spills into her. They hold each other firmly, panting as they ride out their highs together, although they’ll never be sated. They’ll never have enough of each other, always craving more.

“Bloody hell, I love you,” he says when they catch their breath.

She hums happily, if only because she’s still panting too hard to speak. She kisses his neck, her lips lingering on his soft, sweat coated skin. “I love you,” she whispers. Then, because telling him once will never be enough, she moves so that her tongue traces his earlobe and repeats, “I love you.”

He moves her hair out of her face when she pulls away slightly, then presses a kiss to her cheek. “I’m sorry to come in here so… rudely,” he laughs. “But I--”

“I’m glad you did,” she smiles. She winces slightly as he pulls out, stepping away to dispose of the condom and exposing his bare ass to her, tempting her to pull him back to her. “Are we really gonna be able to go tomorrow?”

“Aye,” he smiles and returns to her to kiss her once more. “I just need to tell Tink and Elsa. We’re to meet by the docks; Robin knows already.”

“You have a plan?”

“Somewhere quiet,” he answers, “hidden away, unsuspecting… but it must be by the beach, aye?”

“Aye,” she giggles and he straightens her shirt with a smile. “And?��

“Nantucket.”

“Nantucket?”

“Mmm,” he hums as he helps her off of the counter so that she can fix her pants. “Quiet, secluded island, enough tourists to help us blend in. Plus, infamously beautiful beaches for an infamously beautiful woman.”

She wraps her arms around his neck, pushing onto her toes and kissing him. “Sounds perfect.”

“Emma…” he starts, and she can sense the shift between them. He’s thinking, his self-anger and self-hatred sneaking through the joy he felt moments ago. “If it weren’t for what I did--”

“Please,” she whispers. “You know that I love you. The fact that you killed Rufio doesn’t change that. I know you regret it, but if you need forgiveness, you have it.”

He leans against her heavily, forehead to hers again, and nods. “I do regret it. But I know it had to be done.”

“Exactly. And where will I meet you?”

“I’ll find you, my love. The less you know, the safer you’ll be with Neal. Robin knows the plan, though.” She nods against him now. “You’ll be alright,” he whispers, and she almost wonders who he’s promising.

“I know; I trust you.”

~~~~

A knock sounds against a heavy door. It’s pushed open slowly, and behind it stands a young and conflicted soul, trying to make the best decision for her family. The things she overheard as she stood outside of the women’s restroom serve to threaten the family she has found, and she cannot let that stand.

“Enter,” commands a strong and powerful voice, the man looking up from his ledgers and giving the woman a pensive look. “Elsa, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Peter,” she answers, moving towards the chair across from him. “I’m afraid I have some… troubling news.”

The man hums, leaning forward and pressing his arms to the desk. “And what is that, my dear?”

The woman takes a deep breath, sadly shaking her head at the truth she’s uncovered. She didn’t think her friend Killian capable of such a thing, but discovering that he’s murdered a member of the club has stunned her. “It’s Rufio,” she says wistfully. “I found out who killed him.”

“That’s very interesting indeed,” the man agrees. “Are you implying that it wasn’t a member of the Kings of Elsinore who murdered a member of our family?”

“Yes,” she nods with a deep sigh. “But it pains me to put the truth to words.”

“Elsa,” he starts again, leaning back in his chair authoritatively. “If you know something, you must tell me. How can we protect you if you don’t protect us in return?”

“Of course. After what happened to Liam, of course I want to protect the club.”

The man nods in sad agreement. “Yes, his death was a tragedy, but the club has been keeping you safe ever since.”

“Exactly.”

“Go on, then,” he gestures towards her. “Whatever you’ve discovered, you must remember that the club’s interests as a whole must come above those of one.”

The woman nods once more and takes a deep breath in, feeling the cool air hit her lungs. “It was Killian,” she whispers. “Killian killed Rufio.”

~~~~

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#Watch the Sunlight Fade #captain swan fanfic #cs ff #sunlight ff #captain swan au #modern au #captain swan smut #cs smut #captain swan angst #cs angst #captain swan fluff #cs fluff #ouat fanfic #ouat ff #once upon a time #once upon a time fanfic #captain swan

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splendidly-secret-sick-fics · 3 years

Note

Ooo! What about Kuroo feeling really unwell during training camp while training with Bokuto, Akaashi, Tsukki, Hinata and Lev? He's probably felt bad for a while, but just suffered through. So when everything becomes too much, a panicking Hinata runs to get Kenma... and you can decide the rest.

Only if you're comfortable with writing it though! Have a nice day!

Leaders Don’t Cry: a Kuroo sickfic

Pairing: sick Kuroo, caretakers Kenma, Tsukki, Bokuto, Akaashi, kinda Hinata & Lev

Word Count: 4,266

Warnings: vomit, swearing, slight emetophobia, and sad Kuroo :(

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Thanks for the request friend :) I’ve only ever written Kuroo & Kenma as side characters, so this was kinda fun!!

I’m not super super happy with the overall product, but that’s alright. I do feel like maybe it’s not super cohesive? Idk. Let me know!! I look forward to improving my characterization of Kuroo and Kenma.

———————————————————-

Kuroo was a Leader. He was someone that others looked up to. Someone you could depend on.

Leaders were extroverts though, and Kuroo had to admit he did his best Recharging alone in his room or the quiet company of the Kenma. That’s an Introvert Thing, apparently. Even when he was young, too many people or too much social interaction drained him. Another Introvert Thing.

When he met Kenma and started playing volleyball, it seemed he naturally outgrew his Introvert Model, shedding his shy, intimidated outer-self. It was easily replaced with the Extrovert Model.

Now, Kuroo liked being surrounded by his team and his friends and he liked meeting new people. That’s an Extrovert Thing. So Kuroo was an Extrovert.

(“That makes you an Introverted Extrovert, Kuro,” Kenma told him one day. Kuroo didn’t understand how that could possibly be a thing.)

As an Extrovert, it was only natural that he became the captain of his volleyball team his third year. It was only natural that he was the Bridge between Karasuno and the Tokyo powerhouse schools.

(Kenma claimed, when the two of them were alone at least, that it was really his friendship with Chibi-Chan and their coaches that did that. Kuroo refused to concede this point.)

As the Leader and Bridge, it was again only natural that not only his team, but also other teams’ players were drawn to his wisdom and sparkling personality.

(“You forced yourself on them,” Kenma sighed.)

And that’s how he, Kuroo Tetsuro, Certified Extroverted Leader, came to be in Gym Three, long after their main practice ended with two of Karasuno’s first years, Bokuto, Akaashi, and Lev.

And that’s also how he ended up in the Worst Possible Situation.

It went down like this.

They were at another training camp with the Fukurodani Group and Regular Guests, Karasuno High. It was a short one, thrown together quickly because of the long weekend.

After much convincing (read: coercion) from him and Bokuto, Tsukishima Kei agreed to join them again for blocking practice. They pushed because Kuroo couldn’t stand to watch this kid’s talent waste away and Bokuto was personally offended that Tsukki still didn’t seem to enjoy volleyball.

It should have come as no surprise that Karasuno’s Hinata Shoyo joined in again, determined to redeem himself from his previous loss at the last camp.

And then because Haiba Lev decided that Chibi-chan and him were rivals, he joined in too.

(Akaashi claimed he had no choice but to join. It was either endless practice or endless Dejected Bokuto. Kuroo thinks he’s just masochistic.)

Their first night was awesome. He saw a fire ignited in Tsukki and got to smash Bokuto’s spikes back in his face. Plus, his ego was boosted because the three first years were all wowed by his skill.

Tonight, however, was not great. If he was honest with himself, things were bad from the second he woke up, and promptly wanted to curl back into his futon.

His head hurt and his body ached. The sounds of his team waking up and getting ready for the day set his nerves on edge the second he heard them. He felt overcrowded and overstimulated and he wasn’t even out of bed yet.

It had all the signs of a Recharge Alone Day, but it was the last full day of a training camp in which he was supposed to be a Leader. So, he pushed that all aside and got up to go lead.

As the day progressed, Kuroo gave more and more thought to Kenma’s “Introverted Extrovert” theory. He still loved his team and wanted to be around them. He did want to participate in the games and hang out with the other teams.

He also so so very badly wanted to sit in the dark for the next several hours.

Kuroo’s headache only grew more insistent as the day went on, likely due to the sounds of squeaking shoes, bouncing volleyballs, and the too warm summer heat. He got increasingly more fidgety and nervous all day and it made him uncomfortable in his own skin. That, added to the already ever-present soreness of his limbs only served to make him more miserable.

But he was the Captain, so he shoved those feelings down, ignored his headache, and tried to act as normal as possible. For the most part, his plan worked and no one bothered him about what might be wrong. Kenma was the only one that eyed him suspiciously every time his Extrovert facade slipped a little. At the end of the regular practice, his best friend approached him slowly.

“Hey,” he said, his voice quiet as usual.

“Kenma! What’s up, dude?” Kuroo forced, trying to maintain his usual Extrovert Mode.

“Cut the crap, Kuro,” Kenma sighed, blunt and exhausted as usual.

“Kenma, what are you—“

“Are you sick?”

The question caught Kuroo off guard. Was he sick? He thought it was just an Introvert Day that he had to push through. Maybe Kenma had a point though? It wasn’t like he normally felt this drained during a training camp. That usually came after the camp ended.

“No,” he eventually replied and waved his hand, “nah. Just tired. I think practicing with the guys at night took more of my energy than usual.” That must be it. He didn’t usually have to put out that much energy after practice. Lev, Hinata, and Bokuto were all True Extroverts, after all. Unlike Kuroo, who just molded himself into one. It made sense.

Kenma studied him with wide eyes before relenting and saying “Don’t push yourself, Kuro.”

“I won’t, don’t worry. I am a little tired though so maybe I’ll forgo evening prac—“

“Kuroo-san!” Hinata ran up to them, “are we practicing again today?? I want you to show me that cool wha-BAM block again!!” He jumped up and slammed his hands down, most likely trying to imitate exactly what he was trying to convey. All the loud explanation did was call attention back to his headache.

“Shoyo, Kuro was actually just saying that he was—“

“On my way to look for you Chib-chan!” Kuroo interrupted. Kenma narrowed his eyes at him, but Kuroo couldn’t deny the little red headed twerp.

“Let’s go grab something to eat and then we’ll round up the others.”

Hinata looked at him with those stupid starry eyes and nodded before running off to pester Tsukishima. Kuroo deflated some.

“Kuro. It’s okay to take breaks. I know you think that this is what you should be doing as Captain, but it’s alright to say no sometimes,” Kenma said.

“I know, Kenma,” Kuroo smiled gently, ignoring the uneasy feeling in his gut, “Thank you for looking out, but I’m fine! It’s only one more day. Tomorrow afternoon once everyone’s gone, I’ll just hang out in my room. You can come over if you want and play that new game I bought.”

Kenma studied him again before letting out a long-suffering exhale.

“Sure. Sounds good.”

After they ate, the six of them met up in Gym Three for another three on three. On the outside, things were going well. On the inside, Kuroo’s head was quickly descending into chaos.

He pretended that Bokuto, Lev and Hinata weren’t too loud. He pretended that he had enough energy to show them the same move seven times. He pretended he was enjoying this.

All the while, his headache slowly transitioned into a migraine, his limbs got heavier, and his dinner swirled in his stomach nauseatingly. It took maximum effort to stay awake, let alone play a three on three with three of the most energetic people he’d ever met before.

It all came to a head when his feet slammed down after blocking one of Bokuto’s cross shots. The power behind those normally made him stumble upon landing, but this time it sent a sharp pain shooting through his head and stars dance in his vision. He couldn’t regain his footing, and he stumbled onto his ass.

“Kuroo-san?” Akaashi asked when he didn’t get back up. He couldn’t get back up. The stars were still there and he couldn’t really find his feet.

“Y-yeah?” he stuttered.

“Hey, hey, hey, Kuroo, you alright my man?” Bokuto’s voice boomed and he winced before he could stop himself.

“Kuroo-san? What’s wrong?” Akaashi was kneeling beside him now. He could tell by the proximity of his voice.

“Just a a little...dizzy,” he forced a laugh, trying to play it off. He squeezed his eyes shut and brought a hand up to squeeze at his temples. What the hell was happening?

“Kuroo-san! Do you want some water?” Hinata’s voice rang and clanged in his head. He groaned.

“Kuroo-san, don’t die!!” Lev’s voice pounded. He grimaced.

“Would you idiots keep it down?” Tsukishima, beautiful, quiet Tsukishima commanded.

“Hey, Stupid we’re just trying to help!” Hinata screeched.

“And clearly he’s got a headache, you massive dolt. Keep your volume down,” Tsukki snapped back. Kuroo would thank him if the room would stop spinning.

Suddenly, a hand was on his forehead.

“You’ve got a fever,” Akaashi stated.

Oh. Well, Kenma was right after all. He was sick. The confirmation snapped something into place and all of his emotions, his control, whooshed out of him in one fell swoop. All the symptoms he ignored all day came to the very front of his mind and all he could think about was how miserable he felt.

“Oh,” he choked around the abrupt knot in his throat. He blinked his eyes open and turned to look at Akaashi. The setter was serious as ever, but there was a small frown on his lips and tiny furrow to his brows.

“Bokuto-san, can you bring me your warm up jacket?”

Bokuto nodded and quickly, but thankfully quietly, brought their jackets over and Akaashi draped it around Kuroo’s shoulders.

“Kuroo-san, do you want to lie down?” he soothed.

“Akaashi, I don’t feel good,” he muttered. There was a burning in his eyes and a quiver to his lips that he really wished would go away.

“I know. We’ll get you to your room, but first, I need you to get yourself together some.”

“I don’t...I don’t feel good,” he said, an all too evident shake in his voice. This is not what Leaders do. But he felt so terrible, there was nothing he could do to prevent this sudden onslaught of emotions. Before he knew it, warm tears rolled down his flushed cheeks.

“Kuroo-san!” Hinata screeched. Tsukishima smacked him upside the head. He glared and rubbed the back of his head.

“Kuroo-san,” he tried again, quieter this time, “don’t cry, please. It’s okay!”

Kuroo couldn’t help it. He appreciated Hinata’s attempts at comfort, but he was so drained and he was so sick and he couldn’t help it.

“Kuroo, what can we do to help, man?” Bokuto asked gently, much to his and Akaashi’s (flustered and very evident) surprise. He sat down by Kuroo and rubbed a hand soothingly up and down his back. It helped for a second, but then it just made his skin crawl and his stomach turn.

“I I don’t...I don’t know,” he whimpered pitifully, “I don’t feel good.” He exhaled and dropped his chin to his chest. The downward spiral of both his physical and mental condition brought him further and further into his own self-incurred misery. He needed someone else to be the leader. Anyone.

“Ahhhh, Kuroo-san.” Hinata flailed.

“What about Kenma?” Lev whisper-yelled. Hinata’s spine straightened sharply.

“Good idea, Lev! I know where he is. I’ll go get him!” Hinata proclaimed and ran out.

“Kuroo, what doesn’t feel good?” Bokuto asked.

Kuroo inhaled shakily.

“Head.. my head hurts. And I’m sore and uh and my st-stomach,” he responded through panting breaths.

“There’s a stomach bug that just hit a couple of the player’s on Shinzen’s team,” Tsukishima supplied helpfully.

“Sounds like you might’ve picked that up, Kuroo-san.” Akaashi clicked his tongue.

This was news to him. It must’ve just happened because usually the captains kept each other up to date on those kinds of things as soon as they could. If that was true, that would explain why it came on so quickly. He was fine yesterday. Even just a few hours ago, he was nothing but a little groggy. Now it felt like he got hit by a bus.

If it was a stomach bug, that meant….

“No, no,” he panicked, “no I don’t want that.” He wrapped his hands around his swirling stomach.

“Kuroo, calm down. It’s alright. You’re gonna make it worse,” Bokuto said. Kuroo shook his aching head.

“No I hate throwing up, Bo,” he whimpered and dropped his head to look at his shaking hands.

“Oh…” Akaashi breathed, “do you feel like you might?”

“I don’t know,” he said again. Because he didn’t want to. He absolutely did not want to puke. Not in front of these first years. That might ruin all of his credibility as an upperclassmen, let alone the Captain of a powerhouse school.

Geez, what a pitiful and pathetic display he was putting on. He was supposed to be someone these kids looked up to, and now they were helping him.

“Here,” Tsukishima said, handing Akaashi and Bokuto a bucket from the supply room. Kuroo eyed it distastefully.

“It’s just in case, Kuroo-san!” Lev tried. But the more Kuroo got worked up in spite of himself, the more he realized that wasn’t true. His current emotional state wreaked havoc on his head, which in turn twisted his gut.

Several minutes passed and Kuroo took the time to collect himself so that he could get it together enough to go to his room. At least there he could be miserable and pathetic alone.

While he was able to get himself to stop crying, the come down from the sudden rush of emotions only made his other symptoms that much more prevalent.

Kuroo groaned miserably, “where’s Kenma?”

“Hinata-kun has gone to get him. He’ll be back soon hopefully.”

“Akaashi, I don’t feel good,” he whined and curled tighter in on himself.

“I know,” Akaashi said.

“Feels… bad…” he swallowed thickly.

“Kuroo…” Tsukishima warned. He shook his head.

“‘M sorry,” he mumbled. Something heaved in his stomach and he pulled his shoulders up to his ears and brought the back of his hand to his mouth.

“Y’guys should go,” he said around the pool of saliva in his mouth and the heaviness of his jaw. Who he was talking to at this point, he wasn’t sure. He just knew that being around him right now was only asking to catch this. He also knew he was about to puke and he really wanted to try and maintain some of his dignity.

“Too late for that, numbskull. We’ve been around you for days. If we’re gonna catch it, we’re gonna catch it. Might as well make sure you don’t die,” Tsukishima said. Kuroo, behind his mounting nausea and hazy brain, was touched by his salty kouhai’s attempt at comfort.

“I think he meant he doesn’t want you to see him spew, Tsukkidude,” Bokuto murmured. His hand was still on Kuroo’s back and while it was more comforting than bothersome now, it also served to swirl things around in his stomach and brain. He nodded lethargically.

“Kuroo-san, if you could, uh— please, just, um...wait...for Kenma-san, I think it would make you feel, uh, better. To have him here, that is. Instead of...uh...me,” Akaashi stammered. Kuroo heard the nervousness in his voice and felt bad. There wasn’t much he could do to stave off the inevitable though.

“You squeamish, ‘Kaashi?” Bokuto asked.

“Uhhhh,” Akaashi hesitated, high pitched, “maybe a little.”

“Bo,” Kuroo panted, punctuated by a sick hiccup.

“I gotcha, buddy. Bucket’s right here,” Bokuto reassured and placed the bucket in his lap. “You can leave guys, I got this.” He said to the other three.

“Yeah...I’m gonna take you up on that,” Lev said uneasily. “Sorry Kuroo-san.” He bowed and then sprinted out of the gym. Tsukishima looked more hesitant, but ultimately bowed and left as well.

“Akaashi?” Bokuto said right as Kuroo spit into the bucket. The sounds of their conversation faded in and out with the rest of Kuroo’s surroundings. All he could fully register was the lump of something nasty moving up his chest. All he could see was the blinding red color of the bucket.

A few airy burps that grated his throat passed through his parted lips. He whimpered.

“It’s alright, Kuroo,” Bokuto’s voice filtered through the haze. He gagged.

It hurt. It hurt so badly. Each heave, gag and hiccup that plagued him for the next several moments.

Where was Kenma?

Kuroo coughed, hiccupped, and a small stream of vomit trailed out of his mouth. It wasn’t enough. It still hurt. He wheezed.

“Hey, Kuroo-san, try to take deep breaths,” Akaashi’s shaky voice commanded.

“Can’t,” he gasped, coughing up more bile.

Fuck he wanted this to be over.

Cough, gasp, puke. The painful, horrific cycle repeated for several tense minutes. It didn’t relieve any of his discomfort.

Bokuto patted his back and tried to offer comforting words. Akaashi wouldn’t look at Kuroo, but he was there, another steady presence to offer some grounding to Kuroo.

“Kuroo- san! I found Kenma!” Hinata’s voice cut through his misery. “He was in the shower. I’m sorry it took so long!”

“Kuro,” Kenma said, voice calm, blunt, comforting. He took Akaashi’s place at his side, his Snorlax slippers and ratty sweatpants taking up Kuroo’s peripheral.

“I don’ feel good,” Kuroo told him around the bile coating his mouth. Kenma put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

“I gathered that,” he said with amusement, “it’s okay. Just relax.”

Kuroo shook his head. Relaxing meant letting this happen. He did not want it to happen.

“Tetsu, don’t be an ass,” Kenma sighed, exasperated.

“Kenma,” he whimpered. The hand on his shoulder squeezed again.

“How long has he been like this?” Kenma directed at someone else in the room.

“About 15 minutes,” Akaashi’s shaky voice answered.

“Shit, Tetsuro, why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Kenma asked. Kuroo shook his head slowly.

“Didn’ re’lize,” he slurred. His stomach cramped and his inhaled sharply through his teeth and gripped tightly at his shirt. As soon as the cramp passed, he gagged, his body jolting forward.

“Uh, I’m gonna—I’m gonna go,” Hinata stuttered out and then Kuroo heard his tiny feet run from the gym.

“Can you two go get Nobuyuki and Yaku from the Nekoma quarters? I’m sure Lev is looking for them, but he’s an idiot,” Kenma demanded of Akaashi and Bokuto, the inflection behind his voice commanding and unwavering. It comforted Kuroo in ways he didn’t understand.

Despite how it appeared to onlookers, Kenma was alway the one taking care of Kuroo. More than Kuroo took care of him, anyway. The setter always knew exactly what Kuroo needed before he even said anything. He was passive most of the time, content to let things be, but stubborn and steadfast when he needed to be. Which was something that Kuroo was grateful for, too prone to letting his emotions take over. Kenma was a sturdy support for Kuroo when he was at his weakest.

“They’re gone, Testsu. Relax and let it happen. It’s just you and me,” Kenma told him. He put his forehead on the top of Kuroo’s matted, sweaty hair. The parts of Kenma’s hair that touched Kuroo were wet and cold. It felt nice.

The uncharacteristic gentle action from Kenma made something in Kuroo’s chest twinge and he whimpered, fresh tears dropping into the bucket.

Kuroo could be himself with Kenma. He didn’t need to be the Captain or a Leader or an Extrovert or even an Introverted Extrovert. He could just be Kuroo.

“Just us, Tetsu,” Kenma said and pulled his head back.

Kuroo inhaled slowly, deeply and exhaled, trying to relax his shoulders and back. It didn’t take much more for his stomach to finally find relief.

A gurgling hiccup brought up a small stream of bile and he coughed. Another hiccup brought a little more. Then finally, he belched, wet and heady, and heaved, a much stronger torrent of disgusting vomit moving up his chest and out of his mouth.

“There ya go,” Kenma sighed. He moved Kuroo’s unruly hair, made more disgusting by the sheen of sweat covering his forehead, back and away from his face. Kuroo lurched forward with a gag, bringing up more of his dinner.

“Holy shit, Kuro, that’s some fever. I’m sorry you’ve felt so bad all day,” Kenma whispered. Kuroo shook his head, spitting out the nasty taste in his mouth, trying to find his breath before the next round.

He didn’t get much of a chance before he heaved again.

“God,” he slurred between wretches.

“It’s alright. Calm down,” Kenma instructed.

He puked twice more before his stomach settled for the time being.

“Kenma...please…” he whispered, gesturing for him to move the bucket away.

“Here,” Kenma handed him a water, “drink this first. Rinse out your mouth.” Kuroo did as he was told and spit into the bucket. Kenma took it away after that and Kuroo thanked him quietly. He inhaled, bringing his head up and looking at Kenma for the first time since the setter got there.

Kenma’s eyebrows were furrowed ever so slightly, a subtle pout on his lips. He brushed Kuroo’s bangs back again.

“Thanks, Kenma,” he smiled weakly. Kenma clicked his tongue.

“You’re an idiot,” he sighed. It lacked any of its usual blunt edge.

“Kuroo!!” Kai called out, running into the gym. They were both wearing medical masks, a couple more in their hands.

“Hey,” he said sheepishly, a hand on the back of his neck.

“I knew something was wrong. You really are such a dumbass,” Yaku said, a hand on his hip and an eyebrow raised. He was as blunt as usual.

“Thanks, Yaku. You’re as gentle as ever.”

“Yeah, well. Can’t help it when you decide to push yourself to this point,” he said, turning his face away. “Idiot,” he added as an afterthought. Kuroo couldn’t see his cheeks behind his mask, but his ears were red.

“You alright Kenma? Here,” Kai asked and handed Kenma a mask. Kenma shook his head.

“Too late for that,” he sighed.

“Yeah, but several of Shinzen and Fukurodani’s players have gone down with the same thing as our fearless leader here. We’re trying to contain it so it doesn’t spread more,” Kai explained.

“Yeah. Exactly. You wear one too, Kuroo,” Yaku insisted. Kuroo didn’t like the idea of having his mouth covered, but he also didn’t like the idea of spreading this wretched fate to others.

Kenma and Kuroo took the masks and then Yaku pulled some meds out of the bag on his shoulder and handed them to him. Kuroo’s lip curled, but Kenma pinched his elbow and he relented. They hit his stomach with a hollow thud.

Kai held a hand out to help Kuroo up. As soon as he stood, his knees buckled and black spots danced in his vision. Kai quickly caught him around his waist and threw Kuroo’s arm around his shoulder.

“Try not to pass out until we get back to the quarantine room. It’d make things difficult,” Yaku said. Kuroo would’ve rolled his eyes if he had the energy.

Together, they made it back to the classrooms (repurposed as sleeping quarters for the camp). There was a room for people who already puked and one for anyone experiencing symptoms. Kuroo was shocked to find Akaashi there, leaning over a trash can, Bokuto rubbing his back, as well as several Shinzen players, a couple Ubugawa players, and the setter from Karasuno.

Hinata was there as well, sitting beside Kageyama with his arms crossed and a disgruntled look on his face.

Yaku set up a new futon for Kuroo and Kai helped him settle into it. He immediately curled up on his side, exhaling in relief.

They asked if he needed anything, promised to bring him a change of clothes, and left. Kenma saw them out but then came back and plopped himself down beside Kuroo.

“You can go, Kenma,” he said, looking up at him with one eye open. Kenma shrugged.

“I wouldn’t leave you,” he said plainly. Like it wasn’t embarrassing at all. Kuroo smiled to himself.

“What’s with Chibi-Chan?” He asked in lieu of a response. Kenma snickered.

“His team sent him here when Kageyama came down with the bug. Apparently their “secret relationship” isn’t so secret.”

Kuroo chuckled. That was probably why Akaashi and Bokuto were both here as well.

“You know,” Kenma said.

“Hmm,” Kuroo replied sleepily.

“No one thinks you’re less of a Leader just because you’re sick. It happens to everyone. Doesn’t mean you’re not still someone other people look up to,” Kenma said quietly, matter-of-fact.

“Mmm.. you’re right,” he muttered back. He was. Kuroo knew that. He appreciated the reminder though.

“Go to sleep, Tetsu,” Kenma said and stretched his legs out beside Kuroo. He ran his fingers through Kuroo’s hair. Sleep called to him and his eyes slowly closed.

He woke up several times before the next morning, because of other people puking, because he needed to puke and once when Kenma puked, swearing Kuroo out for getting him sick.

He apologized profusely and pulled Kenma’s hair back with the hair tie he kept on his wrist.

Kuroo was a Leader. Someone other people liked and looked up to.

Sometimes Leaders needed someone to lean on too, he supposed. Thank goodness he had Kenma.

#haikyuu sickfic #my fics #sick kuroo #caretaker kenma #caretaker Akaashi #caretaker Bokuto #caretaker Tsukishima #caretaker Hinata #caretaker Lev #kinda sorta #they tried okay?#tw vomit #haikyuu #kuroo tetsurō #kenma kozume #emeto warning #emeto #fever

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leaderoffestivals · 3 years

Text

Secret Service: GLOBALISM Chapter 11

Kohaku: —For now, your kidneys… let’s have you leave one of them behind…

Season: Winter Author: Akira Characters: Madara, Kohaku, Hiyori, Jun, Gatekeeper

Kohaku: —You’re full of openings, old man.

Gatekeeper: (…!? This—this is Oukawa Kohaku!

This guy—what is he doing here!? No, now ain’t the time to be worrying about that—it's going to cause serious problems if a member of the Oukawa clan enters the equation right now!

I was too careless! I let my guard down for a second because of those idiots who appeared on the temple roof—No… was that their intention from the start!? That they were decoys all along!?)

Kohaku: Well, this seems to be as far as you go.

Now that we’re this close, it’s checkmate (1i) for ya~

—For now, your kidneys… let’s have you leave one of them behind… (2)

Gatekeeper: (Gwah! That’s bad—the kidneys are vital organs that ain’t protected by any skeletal structure! That's why most martial arts prohibit attacks on them—)

Kohaku: I won’t take your life. You ain’t a job I was commissioned to take on.

However, you’ll probably live just long enough to see the end of SS, I guess?

Gatekeeper: … …?!

Madara: Rider Kick! (3)

Gatekeeper: Gw—aah!?

Kohaku: Ohh? Don’t get in the way, ya dolt, I was just about to deal a finishing blow (1ii)!

Madara: Take a good look, Kohaku-san.

Gatekeeper: … …

Kohaku: (… … A gun? Did he just pull it out in that instant just now? If I had gone for his kidney, I might have dealt him a severe wound, but he would have taken my life.

It was only because Madara-han gave this guy who calls himself the Gatekeeper a flying kick that caused him to lose his balance—

Otherwise I would’ve been the one knocked out of the game; I was completely caught by surprise and off-guard.）

Gatekeeper: Mikejima, you punk—My face!

Madara: Quick! Get out of here, Gatekeeper!

Gatekeeper: … …?

Madara: You need to escape, your survival is key for me to climb to the top of the idol world. I’d seriously be in a bind if it all ended here—

That’s why, leave everything here to me and get yourself to a safe place quickly.

Kohaku: Madara-han, you little—!

Madara: Fufun. In any case, I’m reeeally sorry that it has all come down to this... However, for the sake of making my dream come true, I’m taking sides with the Gatekeeper now.

In other words, I’m gonna have to fight you and anyone else who intends to do him harm.

Kohaku: You seriously mean to do it this way, do you?!

Madara: Yup! A samurai’s word is his bond!

Kohaku: Since when did you become a samurai? And do you really think you—some amateur—could beat me?

Madara: Even if I can’t win, I can definitely stall for time. You’re a good and kind kid, Kohaku-san, so there’ll definitely be some psychological resistance to killing me, right?

Even if it was only for a moment, even if our paths were only brought together by chance, we’re comrades who have been fighting together.

Kohaku: … …

Madara: That’s why you won’t be able to find it in your heart to kill me. No matter what you do, you’re going to hesitate when you strike—and that's when I’ll have a chance for victory.

Kohaku: Are you serious? It’s our business—We're trained to take out our parents and siblings without battin’ an eyelash.

What’s more, you're neither my family nor my friend. You're just a mere passin’ acquaintance, an utter stranger who happens to be with me.

You think I'd hesitate to smash down and crush somethin’ like that?

Madara: You’re hesitating now.

Kohaku: Stop talkin’ about me like you know me.

Madara: Yes, I was not able to become part of your family after all. However, as we stood on stage together, I was the one who got closest to touching your soul.

That’s how I know you better than you know yourself.

You’re a good boy, Kohaku-san. You’re a good boy… who just happened to be born into a bad house.

Kohaku: You… That goes for you too—!

Hiyori: Kohaku-kun! Don't just stand there staring at him, we have to go after that guy who calls himself the Gatekeeper!

Kohaku: He’s long gone from here; He scrambled away while Madara-han was standing there, blockin’ the way with that gargantuan body of his.

In the meantime, Vice-Prez-han and his private army are already lurking around the mountain, searchin’ for the Gatekeeper.

The way he carries himself is uncanny though; it’s probably gonna be impossible to catch him.

Who is that guy, seriously?

I've heard that he's a big player in the underworld who was based overseas—and it turns out that he can move surprisingly well too. He’s a battle-hardened veteran, a rare thing in this day and age.

Jun: As for me, I’m more taken aback by how Sakura-kun moved so quickly to confront a dangerous opponent like that...

I know it was probably cos’ it was so dark in here, but I couldn’t see any of your movements at all!

Hiyori: Yes, yes! Madara-kun’s dropkick was amazing too! Humans can move like that too, huh?

Kohaku: Spare me from both yer spectator comments, won’t ya? The two of you had better hurry back to a hotel where you'll be safe. Why did y’all follow me here in the first place? I said that it would be dangerous, didn't I?

Hiyori: “Why,” you ask? That’s a boring question, Kohaku-kun!

It’s a lot stranger to be leisurely sipping tea in a hotel—all without a care in the world!—after hearing that your precious family is in trouble!

Jun: That’s right. I know we're probably more of a hindrance than help, but I wanted to help rescue Nagi-senpai who's being held captive out here.

Kohaku: Well, to be honest, I was grateful for the flashy diversion from the both of ya. However, it’s ain’t over yet, so don’t let yer guard down.

—I won’t be able to relax, not until I beat this idiot up black and blue, and rescue Nagisa-han.

Madara: … …

(To be continued)

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Translator’s Note:

Kohaku is using shogi/chess terms. (1i) checkmate 詰み tsumi and (1ii) a direct attack on the opponent’s king piece 王手 oute

So, it’s not officially stated as such, but it seems like Kohaku can remove organs with his bare hands much like Killua Zoldyck, the child assassin from HunterxHunter.

Rider Kick: From the actual hero show, Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider’s signature move, a flying side kick used to finish off the Monster of the Week. https://kamenrider.fandom.com/wiki/Rider_Kick (Please think about Madara and his sister as children, watching hero shows together on weekends… yeah.)

https://twitter.com/huyucotton/status/1412403223063896068?s=21 This is just funny.

This chapter is unproofed, so if you spot any mistakes, please PM me!

#Ensemble Stars #enstars tl #Madara Mikejima #Kohaku Oukawa #Hiyori Tomoe #Jun Sazanami #Double Face #MaM #Eden #Eve #Adam #Crazy:B #Secret Service #pop culture reference #kamen rider #Hunterxhunter

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