#their comments are hit or miss but as time progresses it definitely seems to get better you know?

[bunnywearsboots]

Okay, I have some thoughts on Dorian and Iron Bull’s relationship but I will say they have the cutest ship name.

[meidiary]

( 📁 ) THEM ACTING OVERLY JEALOUS

synopsis: the monster trio and how they act when they're way too jealous for their own good...

characters: luffy, sanji & zoro!

warnings: a teeny tinyyy amount of swearing [:

a/n: first time writing for them so i'm pretty nervous!!! , hope you enjoy!! banner is made by me, inspired by the lovely @sixosix and the layout is inspired by the lovely @luckyscribbles <3

it was his fault! it really was.. he was the sole reason you were entertaining this way too confident guy- because he told you that he was out of your league! can you believe that?! and now ZORO is throwing daggers at the poor man just with his piercing gaze alone..

ignoring zoro's needy angry glares he's sending you two, you continue charming your ... acquauntance, growing his already far too stretched ego. "oh darling, how i could melt in those beautiful emerald colored eyes of yours~" and with that sanji cringe-worthy comment you got him babbling on about himself... again.

you're getting progressively more annoyed the longer you hear him try to flirt with you. nonetheless you don't move an inch, because you know he's watching your every move; waiting for you to come moping to him about the guy. he'd feel a sense pride because you came back to him. and that pride, the face he makes whenever he turns out to be right about something, albeit it's a very handsome one, is the last thing you want to witness right now.

so you keep yourself from throwing this guy's drink in his face and telling him his cologne is absolutely murdering your sense of smelling.

you look up as you suddenly stop hearing the random guy talk about some castle garden of his. he gulps hesistantly whilst zoro stands before you, hands in his pockets. "we're leaving." no you're not! "oh zoro~ i barely-" "now." you stand up and turn to leave, but quickly turn back around and give the stranger a kiss on his cheek before leaving with zoro, causing his cheeks to change to a red-shade.

"miss! will i ever see you again?!" he asks before backing up seeing zoro's death glare. "my love, if we are meant to be we will definitely meet again!" what's up with you and these shakespear lines?

zoro gives you a slight shove with his shoulder as he rolld his eyes for what seems like the millionth time this hour. "i think i found my soulmate zoro!" you sang while you interlocked you arm with his. you were met with yet another eye-roll.

"you were the one that said he's out of my league, remember?" zoro huffs annoyed. "shit- that was a joke damn it!" "if anything you're out of his fucking league, dumbass" you lean onto him as you two continue making your way back to the going merry.

"maybe i exaggerated a bit too.." you slowly admit before hearing his usual chuckle. "just don't go flirting with some stranger again, ever. shit could've gone wrong real fast y'know?" you smile sheepishly and nod. "good thing you were there huh?"

and you could've sworn you say his cheeks turn into a rose color before he swiftly turned his head to the side, greeting sanji and nami. was he blushing..?

SANJI was this close.. this close to absolutely losing it and slicing this daring man up with zoro's swords. who does he think he is? flirtingly, charmingly speaking with his lover?! well truth be told.. you two weren't official, far from it actually;

you two were so close to finally having the months-due talk about the classic, what are we-question. but of course sanji had to hit on the waitress that casually passed your table. that was your final straw. if he couldn't stop his antics for one night, you would resume yours for good.

and oh how it made him clench his fists so hard they became white, how it made him ignore all the beautiful ladies surrounding him, for what felt like the first time ever, how he saw you with your pretty dress on, that he bought for you because it reminded him of you, sat on some navy's lap, entertaining the bastard not worhty of a single enchanting smile of yours. yet there you were smiling, no laughing at something the navy said, all while you were supposed to be with sanji. laughing at something he said, playing with his hair, sat on his lap.

he was this close to exploding and increasing his bounty a good amount by punching this navy untill his fists fell off. "sanji, don't you fucking dare." nami warned him, glaring at him from the other side of the table, not in the mood to be on the run again after finally being able to relax for a day.

sanji heard nami, he did! but the minute he saw the disgusting navy's hand run up your thigh causing you to jump off of him, he finally lost it. "keep your fucking hands off her you sewer rat!" he jumped up sprinting at the navy, his snow-white fists ready to release all the pent up anger he held.

but before sanji got to the navy he was stopped by you. your soft, slightly cold hands holding back one of his clenched fists. causing him to slowly unclench it. you tried to push sanji back, knowing his uproar would bring about another navy chasing. "you alright, love?" it's as if all his previous anger vanished the moment he felt your soft touch, smelled you sweet perfume, the moment you felt like his again. "y-yeah i'm good.. but we should get goi-"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" the navy man roared causing the others to swiftly join the yelling. "hey aren't those those strawhat pirates with a bounty?!" from the other side of the room it felt like you could hear nami's long sigh. "see what you've done?! grab zoro, usopp and i will take luffy!" everyone complied and assumed their role.

sanji lifted his leg up ready to kick zoro awake right before you pushed him slightly making him stand on two feet again. "not doing that sanji!" he playfully rolls his eyes at your statement.

waking up zoro and running to the ship in a hurry, with a good 3 dozen navy soldiers running behind you calling you names, was the usual. but what surprised you was sanji holding your hand tightly the whole way, not letting go for a second.

once on the ship, back to sailing on the waters, while everyone was catching their breath, sanji took you aside, he interlocked your hands with his while he locked your gazes, still breathless he looks at you earnestly. his eyes illuminating the moon's glow. "i'll stop the flirting my darling, i promise. the only woman i'll charm will be you.. so you better not grow tired of it." he chuckled still a little breathless. you smiled, leaning your body onto his. "you better sanji.."

"i'm all yours sweetheart. all yours"

LUFFY felt weird. he had never met this man before, yet he suddenly has the urge to gum gum bazooka him for the rest of the day. why is he feeling this way right now? is it because he hadn't eaten yet? no that can't be it.. he just had a very good meal with you; you two had split up from the rest of the crew to have your lunch at some fancy looking restaurant on the beach.

luffy furrows his eyebrows once again because of this feeling. he figures, after a while to be completely honest, that the reason he wants to kick this man off the island is that he's taking way too long speaking with you. he's been occupying you for a good 10 minutes now.

how could he? how did he dare to take you from him so carelessly? you two were enjoying your meals, yes you were chatting about the dumbest subjects known to the world, but you were enjoying it. and then some buff man comes and dares to ask you for directions?! it would've been fine if he had left after receiving them, but no, he had to keep talking to you!

luffy was starting to see red at this point. he gets it he does, you're a beautiful woman, you're smart yet very funny, energetic and enjoyable! but you're his. even though you don't know that, even though he never told you that, you are his. and no buff, tall, slick back haired guy was going to change that one bit.

luffy dropped his food and started to walk towards the two of you, angrily eyeing the bold man who was about to get bazooka-d to some far-away island. luffy started stretching his arms, getting ready to send him off.

you notice right away and block luffy's path to the man. trying to laugh it off, you said your goodbyes to the fella and dragged luffy back to the restaurant. "what were you thinking, luff! that could've ended up horribly!" you whisper-yelled, not wanting to attract any more unwanted gazes.

"he took you from me for 10 minutes! how was I supposed to endure any longer!" luffy childishly pouts as he resumes eating. "you could've just said so! no need to bazooka anyone anywhere luf'!" his furrowed eyebrows soften as he hears his nickname.

the first time you called him that he truly hated it. "it sounds like a dog's name!" he complained. but over time, that nickname became apart of him, it was apart of his daily routine; he'd wake up to it, adventure the world with it, buy groceries with it, hear scolds with it. he became one with that silly nickname you gave him, and he wouldn't give that three-letter name up for the world. he wouldn't be able to go a day anymore without hearing you talking about how "the seashells here are so pretty luf'!", or how "i just love it when it's only you and i, luf'," and let's not forget you waking him up with the usual "luf'! sanji finished breakfast, get up already!".

"you can't go off with weird men. i won't let you.. you shouldn't leave my side for some guy that doesn't even know where he's headed!" you chuckle at his remarks. "i wouldn't leave you for anyone luf'! just.. don't bazooka someone next time.. just talk to me."

"you're mine y'know.." luffy tells you while he's munching on some of his cold meat. your eyes widen at his sudden words. "w-what?" "i said you're mine!" he says louder, a little annoyed thinking you hadn't heard him the first time. "you never said that before.."

"never needed to," he takes another bite. "but you are, so don't forget that!" he furrows his eyebrows again while saying that earning a chuckle from you. "i won't.. don't you worry"

NOTE: and that's for my first one piece ficcccc!!!

[clatoera]

Hi! I just saw your reply from the anon asking about your thg story! I'm not usually one to send asks or even post on tumblr (never was tbh), but this just hit so close I felt the need to say, me too! That's why I followed you initially, I just gasped at your bio and thought "there's more people like me on here!" and pressed follow!

I too was that insufferable 14 year old. I could not get away with wearing any form of braided hairstyle without being teased that I was trying to be Katniss (I probably was half the time haha). My friends, family, school teachers, everyone knew I was obsessed with the Hunger Games.

It fizzled out gradually for me too. I think it was just the natural progression with the films coming to an end etc etc. It never left though, obviously.

I re read the books before reading the prequel. I'm so with you on these books being a whole different experience now that we're closer to Finnick's age than Katniss and Peeta's. 16 seemed so so old to me, so imagine what i thought of characters like Finnick and Johanna. I can't even comprehend having gone through something like they did at my age now, let alone at 16.

I think back then, the main draw for me was definitely Katniss and Peeta's relationship. It still is one of my favourite things about the books, but after rereading them and the prequel, I agree that there is so much we missed, just by simply being too young to fully comprehend it. I find that I now have a larger interest in the political scope of everything and just the world in general (like...how tf did they rebuild the whole country after mockingay? need to discuss!!)

anyway, sorry for the long "ask". i'm so excited to see another tumblr returner on here! i've been coming back every so often to get content for other things i love, and have only recently taken the plunge and become a little more active.

I suppose there is a sense of shame a lot of us were made to feel about liking the things we like and coming on the internet to form passionate communities around it. I feel the same, it very much is a service to my teen self to come on here and find joy in rediscovering the things I love as well as using this site to explore my new interests. A reclamation, I suppose. I'm a bit more confident now. Back then, I would never, ever have sent asks or made my own posts. I think my 14 year old self is very happy for me, for this little

hope you're having a good day/night, whatever time, where ever you are in the world! :)

Hi hello! I read this as soon as it came in this morning, and wanted to respond, but wanted to be sure to give it the enthusiastic and lengthy response it deserved, that my brain could not formulate at 4 am when I read it.

I am so glad others feel the same. I remember in the early days, I was on Tumblr ( my main blog has existed since 2012 lol), but not active in fandom spaces. I was a fanfic writer. And on Facebook I was REALLY active in fandom and was literally participating in like..Hunger Games RP in Facebook comments. Wild. I was so into it.

Whats really settled with me, as a 25 year old woman, is like..the way mentors had to feel. My baby brother is 17 years old. He is a baby to me. He is just a child to me. I cannot imagine being Johanna or Finnick or Annie, mentoring at my age (or younger, actually), to kids my brothers age. Teenagers feel like Kids and I feel such an immense sisterly, guiding, mentor-ly role to them. Even college kids, I've been a mentor for pre-medicine students in my sorority for years, and those 18 year olds vs me, at 25? massive difference. I cannot imagine watching someone my little brother's age fight to the death. I cannot imagine someone my baby cousin's age, who is 12, fighting someone my brother's age. I cannot imagine watching someone my brother's age lead a war, lead a rebellion, and go through the things Katniss does. I can only imagine the horrors the past Victors learned to feel, and the emotions attached to their tributes every year.

more things that I am horrified by?

Katniss and Peeta. 16 years old. About to be MARRIED in the Capitol.

Gale, 18, working in the mines.

Again, Katniss and Peeta, with the (albeit fake) baby. 17 with a child? I remember being 16 years old, my best friend in the world had a baby. I was there. I remember watching her become a mother far too young, and I have watched ever since the way she has struggled and what it did to her mental health. Two 16/17 year old kids, having a baby, is a horror that should be addressed beyond what I at 16 thought it was. I was so team yes let there be a baby! as a child. But now? Now I see the horror of that. I Have delivered the babies of girls that age. I have held their hands as they are alone in the world. I'm going into a field specifically to help girls and women, in this position especially.

I think to that letter Plutarch wrote Katniss, where he literally says he would put her all through it again for the same outcome.

The youth of these tributes is haunting. If there were capitol doctors around they would be pediatricians. Let that sink in. The things these Victors would need is a pediatrician (also a psychiatrist and a surgeon probably).

Please message me (anyone can actually to talk about this) to talk about these things. The hidden horrors that are missed at 15, that stare you in the face as you reexamine as an adult. I'd love to talk about it in depth. I'd love to talk about how it has shaped me.

But seriously HMU because I want to talk about that most mockingjay rebuilding :)

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Imagine being Lin Beifong’s daughter and Korra having a crush on you

You entered President Raiko’s party late and hurried inside hoping to avoid your mother’s wrath by appearing as soon as possible. Being Lin Beifong’s daughter and employee meant she was twice as hard on you as anyone on the force, so she would not take your tardiness well. You were waved into the building by guards who recognised you on sight and rushed into the ballroom. You saw the party was already in full swing and braced yourself for all the fake smiling you’d have to endure when a young woman appeared across from you. “Avatar Korra” you nodded in recognition of the girl who grinned at you. “Miss Beifong” she smiled in greeting “you look as beautiful as ever...you legs alone seem to go on for years in those trousers” she commented glancing at them and you blushed. “Funny I just had a similar thought about your biceps”. Korra beamed “ow you can’t really see them in this thing but I’d be happy to give you a closer look”.

You couldn’t resist a smile and your blush grew to have such a beautiful woman flirt so blatantly with you. Korra was always like this around you and you enjoyed it greatly even if it wasn’t professional. Korra was a breath of fresh air in Republic City and you enjoyed her confidence and humour. You liked the avatar a lot but you had no intentions of pursuing anything beyond flirting with her. For one thing she was young, cocky, beautiful and THE avatar. You supposed she had hundreds of boys and girls queueing up for her and didn’t want to just be another name on her list. You’d heard about how the previous water tribe avatar had been a hit with women and apparently that was a trait Korra shared. She was the avatar, who wouldn’t be weak to her charm? Still you tried to behave so aimed to change the topic of conversation.

“I think we should join the party seeing as we’re both very late” you smiled slyly and Korra smirked “I didn’t think Beifongs were ever late. Are you really trying to tell me you’re not perfect?”. The girl was insatiable. “We all have our secrets” you replied and Korra’s grin only grew. “Mysterious, intelligent and beautiful...you have to let me lead you into the party. As the Avatar it’s my duty to serve the people”. “Well who I am to get in the way of that” you smirked rolling your eyes as you took her outstretched arm. Korra led you into the party proudly and you enjoyed being on her arm. Still you were in work mode, so you only stayed by Korra’s side for an appropriate amount of time before excusing yourself so nobody would get the wrong idea. Korra never failed to make you smile or blush but you wouldn’t let it progress no matter how much fun it would be. So you allowed the flirting and lingering glances but stopped it from going any further.

You saw Korra pretty regularly as she was always in trouble with the law in some way or another and not a month after the party President Raiko banned her from Republic City. It was something he’d likely take back pretty soon but still she had to leave so you and your mother went to help her however you could. The avatar didn’t seem too bothered by the President’s command and still had that cocky smile on her face. She let you into Tenzin’s home and explained how she was leaving tomorrow to go look for air benders anyway. She read out the names of some known airbenders in the earth kingdom and you paused as one was familiar.  “Wait did you say Opal? Is she from Zafou by any chance?” you asked and Korra nodded “yeah why?”. Your mother tried to silence you but you didn’t notice, too excited. “She’s my cousin!” you burst “This is so great, i’m so proud of her”. “Wait so Suyin is your sister?” Korra asked Lin and your mother nodded “yes. Which is something I wished to remain a secret but clearly that is not an option anymore” she said shooting you a look. “Well this is great news” Korra smiled “you have to come with me!”. “What!” your mother cried and Korra sighed “if she’s your niece then you can help us recruit her! We need all the help we can get”. “No way!” Lin cried “I am not seeing my sister ever again if I can help it, y/n can go if you want a Beifong so badly”. Korra looked at you and smiled “that does sound appealing, what do you say y/n? Want to come on a field trip with me?”. Korra held out her hand to you and you blushed, hoping your mother didn’t notice. You knew you probably shouldn’t go. Being in close quarters with Korra would certainly challenge your restraint but you hadn’t seen your extended family in so long and this was the perfect opportunity to go visit. Plus Korra looked so good when she smiled at you like that. “Sure” you said taking her hand “someone has to keep you out of trouble”.

You met Korra and her friends at Future Industries the next day and were soon flying to Zafou. Korra came to stand beside you on the deck and leant forwards flexing her arms right in front of you. “I’m glad you agreed to come” Korra smiled and you nodded “me too, it’s been forever since I’ve got out of Republic City”. Korra’s eye glinted “does this mean I’m going to witness holiday y/n? It’d be fun to see you let your hair down and go wild”. “If you’re lucky maybe you will” you smirked and Korra nodded “i’m looking forward to it” and winked before leaving you alone once more. You stared after her as she walked away and Korra must’ve felt your eye on her because before she disappeared back into the ship she turned and caught you red-handed watching her. She smiled widely a chuckle slipping from her lips and you turned around sharply, blushing vividly. Agreeing to this trip may not have been a smart decision at all.

When you touched down in Zafou Korra had you right beside her in pride of place. You recognised your aunt immediately and she addressed Korra first before she spotted you beside her and she did a double-take. “Y/n?” she asked and you grinned “Aunt Suyin!” and rushed forwards to hug her. Your aunt wrapped you in a hug and then quickly tugged you to go find your cousins, momentarily forgetting the avatar was here. She summoned all your cousins and they rushed to greet you...well some did. Bataar junior didn’t look impressed and Huan just glanced at you not particularly bothered but the twins and Opal were very welcoming. “It’s so good to see you again!” Opal cried and you nodded taking her hand “it is! It’s been far too long and I can’t believe you’re an airbender now!”. Opal nodded “trust me it was a shock to us all but i’m so excited to learn airbending”. “Well Korra can definitely help you with that” you said gesturing to the avatar who nodded confidently “of course, anything for y/n’s cousin” and you blushed slightly but managed to hide it.

You enjoyed your time with your family greatly and got along well with all your cousins. You participated in Wei and Wing’s power disk game and being a good metal bender yourself almost won the match. You noticed Korra watching you and briefly tried showing off before getting wiped out. The twins noticed Korra watching and invited her to join but she declined explaining she couldn’t metal bend. Your cousins rushed to assure her she could learn and volunteered to teach her. Korra seemed very excited at the idea and agreed before she turned to you “wait a minute y/n why did you never offer to teach me?”. You could tell she was only feigning annoyance so you shrugged “what can you blame me for wanting something over the almighty avatar?”. That stroked Korra’s ego and she smiled lazily “no but I’ll certainly get my own back in some way”. “Ow really? How”? you challenged her and the girl just shrugged. “I’m not sure yet, but be on your best behaviour Beifong” she smirked before rushing away.

Korra went off to train with your cousins and you were relieved hoping this would be a time for you to cool down and recover but no. Opal caught you and invited you to catch up with her in the gardens. You of course obliged your cousin but found yourself seated directly in view of Korra’s training with your cousins. You tried focusing on Opal but your eyes kept getting pulled to the avatar as she picked up metal bending remarkedly quickly. You noticed Korra had spotted you and she appeared to be putting on a show, trying valiantly to challenge your cousin entirely for your benefit. It was a clever strategy and soon Opal trailed off just letting you admire Korra. Your cousins were experiencing first-hand just how skilled the avatar could be and you saw them breaking out in a sweat with how hard Korra was pushing them.  

After a while they began trying to score past one another and Korra got an idea. She *accidentally* bent a disk near you and your cousin Wei teased her for being sloppy. She just shot them a lopsided grin and jogged over to you. “Ladies” she smiled looking straight at you “i’m sorry I didn’t see you there”. “Ow really?” you asked and Korra grinned “yeah I had no idea you were here whatsoever...which is odd considering how every eye is drawn to you whenever you’re nearby”. You blushed going red and Korra’s smile grew “I’ll leave you to your chat. Opal, Y/n” she nodded at you both in turn but winked when she met your gaze. You watched her run back to your cousins and found Opal staring at you. She immediately pushed you squealing “you didn’t tell me you were dating the avatar!”. “I’m not and keep your voice down please” you begged seeing the smug look on Korra’s face which told you she’d noticed Opal’s reaction. “But she was very openly flirting with you” Opal retorted and you nodded “I know we do that a lot but it’s just our friendship. I’d never let it go further because she’s the avatar! She’s not after a relationship she just wants a fun fling and I can’t give her that. Trust me the avatar will get bored of me and move on soon enough”. “Ow yeah?” Opal asked looking to where Korra was still putting on a show for you. Korra scored a point and shot you a smile. You blushed vividly and Opal laughed “I don’t think she’s not going cold on you any time soon”.

At the end of the week your Aunt Suyin threw a party to celebrate Opal’s progress and avatar’s arrival. It was magnificent and you hadn’t seen this much earth kingdom food in...well forever! You made sure Korra and the others were all okay and socialised with your cousins greatly enjoying being with your family. Bataar jnr told you about his machines, his girlfriend Kuvira traded military expertise with you, Wei and Wing quizzed you about all the pro-bending in Republic City, you teased Opal about her crush on Bolin and even Huan showed you some of his paintings. You were absolutely thrilled your family still felt like a family after all this time and hadn’t been this happy in a long time. However all that excitement can be draining. Towards the end of the night you began to grow tired so went outside for some fresh air and quiet. You were relaxing in the picturesque moonlight when you were disturbed. “Well your aunt certainly knows how to put on a spread” someone called and you jumped to find Avatar Korra making her way over to you on the abandoned balcony. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress and her eyes shone in the dark light. “She does” you smiled “never let it be said Beifong’s don’t know how to put on an event”. “That’s for sure” Korra agreed coming to sit right beside you. “The city is so beautiful” she commented before she turned “as are you”. “Thanks” you blushed “you look very beautiful too”. “There’s no way I can compete with you in that outfit” Korra smiled “Beifong’s apparently always look stunning as well as being great hostesses”. “Have you been checking out my aunt then?” you replied and Korra laughed “of course not, I only have eyes for you”. “Sureeee” you laughed but Korra nodded “I do I promise! You’re all I think about and why wouldn’t I? You’re the most interesting girl I’ve ever met. I’m crazy about you”. You blushed under Korra’s intense gaze but didn’t look away. “I....I don’t know what to say” you finally spoke up and Korra shrugged “well then how about we don’t bother talking anymore?”. Time seemed to freeze and you viewed the present in slow motion as Korra cupped your cheek gently and leant forwards. You liked the way her hands felt on you and instinctively leant into her before your brain caught up with the situation. “Wait! Korra I can’t” you said your heart hammering in your chest and the avatar frowned inches away from you. “You can’t? why? Do you not find me attractive?” Korra asked. “No of course I find you very attractive, i’ve never seen a human being I find more attractive than you” you admitted very flustered. “Then what’s the problem?” Korra asked and you sighed “the problem is I don’t just want to hook up with you a few times and be done with it. I know some people like that kind of thing and i’m sure as the avatar it is the perfect option but I’m not like that. Casual one night stands just aren’t my thing so I’m sorry I have to decline. Please don’t ask me again” and you rushed away. Korra called after you but you clearly wanted to be left alone so she didn’t follow you. She hung her head in her hands at how messed up things had gotten.

When Korra had allowed herself to wallow for a bit she came back inside to find the party over. She made her way to her shared room and found Asami waiting. “Korra where have you been we were all worried sick and...” Asami started when she caught sight of Korra’s expression and stopped abruptly.  “What’s wrong?” Asami asked and Korra sighed “you gave me terrible advice that’s what!”. Korra explained the situation more and Asami felt awful. Being more experienced with relationships Korra had come to Asami for advice on how to approach her feelings for you and it hadn’t worked well. Given Korra’s past approach of blurting out her love for people without a second thought, Asami advised Korra to try a different approach with you but she hadn’t meant it so literally. Instead of being serious or passionate Korra had been entirely flirty and forward with you. No substance just fun. So you’d wrongly gotten the idea all Korra wanted was a fun fling when she actually was madly infatuated with you and wanted far more long term things with you. Asami wasn’t sure what she could do but seeing Korra so distraught she knew she had to try and help her friend.

So Asami made her way to your room hoping you wouldn’t mind such a late-night visit. Asami knocked on your door and heard movement inside. There was a pause before she heard you call “who is it?” nervously. “It’s Asami” she called back “I need to speak to you”. The door opened slowly and Asami saw you looked upset. “Did Korra send you”? you asked quietly “because she didn’t do anything wrong I just need some space”. “No she didn’t send me but I am here because of her, I need to confess something”. Your eyes widened in confusion but you nodded and let Asami into your room. The minute you turned to face her Asami burst “It’s my fault! Korra came to me when she realised she liked you and asked me for advice. She was terrified of messing this up and doing what she did with Mako...with him she’d blurted out a lot of intense things right away and so I told her to do the opposite. I suggested she just toned down the seriousness and had fun with you. Flirt a little and try and gauge how you were feeling before she confessed her whole heart to you. But it seems she took my advice too much and now you don’t think her intentions are good at all which is not the case! Korra very much likes you for more than just your appearance and she has for a while”. You stared at Asami at an apparent loss for words “so Korra was...what acting?”. Asami shrugged “kind of, she was putting on this cocky flirty front when she’s actually a lot more emotional and sweet...she didn’t mean to come across so forward she was just following my advice which backfired horribly. I’m so sorry it upset you I promise that was not her intention at all. If you want to blame anyone blame me”. You assured Asami you weren’t upset with her and spent the next half hour understanding how the situation had gone so wrong. You were very excited by the end of it and couldn’t wait till morning to speak with Korra. Asami told you she was in their room and wouldn’t mind you disturbing her so late.

So you rushed to Korra’s shared room and knocked on the door lightly. Your stomach was bubbling with butterflies and you weren’t sure what you were going to say when you saw her. The door didn’t open so you knocked louder hoping Korra wasn’t asleep. Still there was no sound from inside so you frowned and decided she must be asleep. You didn’t want to wake her so started to retreat from the room when you heard a loud thud from inside. “Korra?” you called through the door “are you okay?”. You got no reply and were growing more and more concerned when you heard something smash inside followed by a grunt of pain. “Korra?” you yelled through the door and began bending the metal of the lock. The door swung open and you saw the room was an utter mess. Naga was unconscious on the floor and by the window...four people had a struggling Korra in their arms. She looked very weak and wasn’t putting up much of a fight so you figured she must’ve been drugged. “Korra!” you cried rushing into the room. You had no idea who these people were but you weren’t letting them take Korra. You launched into a flurry of attacks and managed to land a few hits on the earth and water bender. The air bender sent a gust which knocked you back but you were quick on your feet and pursued them leaping out of the window. You yelled as you chased them quickly attracting the attention of the guards who sounded the alarm. Suyin appeared as did her guard Kuvira and they helped cut the quartet off. “You have nowhere left to go, let her go” you glared and the leader just smiled “never”. You looked at Korra lying limp at their feet and felt rage take you. “Then i’ll drag her from you myself” and ran at him.

3 hours later

You were sat in the infirmary beside an unconscious Korra waiting for the effect of the drug to wear off. Everyone else had gradually retreated to bed but you couldn’t sleep. The adrenaline from the fight was still pulsing through your veins and was only overshadowed by your worry for Korra. You’d won the fight with the help of Suyin, her guards and Korra’s friends but still the drug they’d used hadn’t worn off. Your eyes fell to her for what felt like the hundredth time and you sighed “please wake up”. Finally Korra listened. With a loud gasp Korra jolted awake and you scrambled to your feet. “Korra breath! You’re okay, you’re safe just breathe!” you commanded and Korra slowly began to calm down. “Y/n? What happened?”. “The White Lotus, I didn’t realise it was them at first but i’ve been briefed on them. They tried to kidnap you when you were a kid and they tried again tonight”. You saw Korra shiver at that and frowned. “But never mind them” you sighed wrapping an extra blanket around her shoulders “how are you feeling?”. Korra frowned “okay...a bit groggy like i’ve come out of a really heavy sleep but it’s not too bad. It’s getting better. How are you?” she asked and you froze “me?”. “Yeah” Korra said offering you a small smile “you don’t look like you’ve slept a wink”. You chuckled softly “I haven’t. I wanted to see you wake up first and make sure you were okay. I haven’t been able to rest since it happened...I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them with you I was so angry but you’re okay now and that’s all that matters". Korra smiled at you "yeah I'm okay now...thanks to you". It wasn’t the usual cocky smirks she sent you. Instead it was a sweet tired smile but it made your heart hammer in your chest just as much. "Do you remember much?" you asked and she shook her head. "No I remember something hitting Naga. I went to look at it when one hit me too. I backed away from the window as the world began to spin and then everything went blurry...the next thing I remember was seeing you in my doorway. You attacked whoever had me and I fell. I remember being unable to move and seeing you send rocks flying through the air. You were terrifying" she laughed "a woman possessed". "Of course I was they were going to take you! I know I might have sent mixed messages last night but I like you Korra. I was coming to tell you that. Asami explained to me what happened and why you behave as you do around me". Korra blushed at that "what were you coming to say to me?". "Well I was coming to ask if it was true, did you really put on a mask around me, acting all confident and promiscuous?". Korra nodded "yeah...I meant everything I said to you I wasn’t lying about my attraction but I was doing the opposite of what I'd usually do because my last relationship didn’t work out well. I came on too intense too quick so I tried to take a more fun carefree approach but that didn’t work. I'm sorry I offended you or made you think I was only interested in you for one thing. I do think you’re gorgeous but that's just one of many things I like about you and by no means the most important". Korra blushed looking down and you found her adorable. How had she hidden this side of her so well? "So is this, you know, the real you?" you asked double-checking. Korra nodded "yep, this is me. I'm emotional, reckless and I always say the wrong thing. I have no tact and just say what I'm thinking. Now you can probably see why I was trying to act so put together and impressive before. They're much more attractive qualities". "Maybe" you shrugged "but I think this side of you is just as attractive, more so actually because it's real and it's beautiful. You're wonderful Korra exactly as you are". Korra stared at you in shock and you just smiled at her. "I...I..." she babbled and you smirked "how about I kiss you to save you having to speak?". "Yes please" the avatar breathed and you gently placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her. The kiss was sweet and Korra seemed uncharacteristically shy. She pulled back blushing vividly and you smiled at her reaction "how was it?". "Good...amazing" she replied and you smiled "great". Korra looked up at you but blushed as soon as she met your eye and you smiled taking her hand softly "I like you Korra and that kiss was good for me too, if you’d like to make it a more frequent thing we could go out on a date sometime?". "I'd love that!" Korra agreed before wincing "too eager?". "No it was adorable like you" you smiled kissing her forehead "now it really is late. You should try and get some rest, something tells me the next few days are going to be very long and strenuous". Korra nodded "I agree, goodnight y/n". "Goodnight Korra" you smiled and closed her door softly. The avatar wasn’t a womaniser but a shy bashful passionate woman. You were pleasantly surprised and couldn’t wait to see all the different layers of her left to discover.

____

Korra is 100% one of those people that’s all talk but is actually a huge softie romantically. Asami is one lucky lady (althought she’s also amazing so Korra is lucky too).

Also why is there so little Korra content out there? Her and Huan Beifong are very under-represented in the fanfiction game and I am personally offended by that 😂

[psithurista]

Dumping all my thoughts about the finale:

I loved the progression of Marc and Steven together having now achieved cooperative control after they’d broken down their memory barriers; Steven knowing how to fight and defend himself and others while Marc’s showing more temperance and faith in himself, esp. when Harrow was talking about his mother pulling out “the weed” to prevent what happened to Randall—it would’ve hit too close to home and I don’t think Marc would have been able to handle it at all prior to his journey of acceptance in the last ep but now that he has better access to Steven’s emotional intelligence, he seems more at peace with himself which was honestly lovely to see

Layla and Taweret working together makes me ridiculously emotional, and I really hope Taweret sticks around and stays friends/allies with her even if they no longer remain linked through the avatar business. And I hope Taweret is able to help her find some peace around her father’s death. I’m not a big MCU person generally speaking and I don’t always love massive CGI superhero fights so a lot of this ep felt like Avengers 5 or something which is personally not my favourite thing (though I’m relieved that the Hulk or whatever didn’t show up for a cameo fkdjdbsb), but I do think it’s extremely cool and exciting to see an Egyptian woman as a superhero (even if it was a bit much that Marvel was patting itself on the back about it mid-episode lol)

I’m v happy about the fact that they returned to Steven’s apartment in the end. I’ve seen a few people question this but I think it’s a nice full-circle moment. It was pretty obvious that that’s the life Marc wanted: to have Steven’s peace and safety and simplicity, and whether Steven is back working at the museum or not, I feel like they’ll be happy living there together like a pair of lil goldfish besties. Having said that, l do hope Layla’s going to work things out with them and, back to the emotional intelligence thing, I think Steven is going to be instrumental in repairing their relationship and having certain difficult convos that Marc couldn’t handle on his own (at least until they realise they’re still missing time and that Something’s Up and they figure out the deal with Jake)

There’s a pretty uncomfy undertone in the way they’ve painted Jake to be the “bad one” that’s super sus to me, and also plays into harmful stereotypes around DID patients having an “evil side” or being unpredictably violent. It’s clear that Jake’s supposed to be, if not an outright bad guy then at least morally questionable considering he seems weirdly elated about killing people (and yeah, Harrow definitely needed to die, but like the music choices and showing Jake grinning creepily as he chooses to continue working for Khonshu def has a certain Vibe). I’ve seen a few comments on the fact that he’s Spanish-speaking too, and while I’m sure that was Oscar Isaac’s idea because we know Steven’s British accent was his idea and it makes sense to differentiate the alters as clearly as possible through distinct voices/accents/languages, it kind of adds another layer that’s just a bit…hmm, and I wish we’d gotten to see a little more dimension to him because people who haven’t read the comics are likely just going to be like “Oh, there’s a bad one!” and why wouldn’t they? because the show gave us no nuance to suggest otherwise

This is maybe an unpopular opinion? but I’m a bit sad to see that it looks like we are probably getting a second season/film/whatever, just because I feel like wherever they decide to take it now, it’s going to stray farther from the core allegory around healing and mental illness and being a really emotional character-based story which tbh is the main thing I was really here for in the first place (and also just to Look at Oscar Isaac because come on now let’s be honest ldndn). But I really did fall v hard for this version of Marc and Steven and feel invested in their relationship with Layla and their future together so who knows! Regardless I will probably just stfu and greedily inhale whatever content they decide to produce for us to consume

Anyway if you made it this far what did you think of the series? Love it? Hate it? x

[hollandsmushroom]

Lost In My Brain

Hello everyone, so this concept came from the very very depths of my brain as I went into a deep dissociative episode and I wrote this to pull myself out by imagining semi mob tom comforting me. 

REBLOGS AND COMMENTS MUCHLY APPRECIATED 

Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: You aren’t replying to Tom’s texts so he is really worried, he finds you in a state of trauma and unable to really communicate. 

Warnings: Please read this at your own comfort, I wrote this to help me cope and I thought someone else might want to read it. I have written about extremely personal topics in this and I am not talking about stuff that I don’t know anything about, I suffer from dissociative PTSD. So warnings really include mentions of an unidentified trauma, Dissociation, Dissociative PTSD, Loss of recognition of faces, mentions of Mob Tom, missing person?, Trauma that happened at night, intrusive thoughts, thoughts that you are actually dead. 

Masterlist

Request Here

Word Count: 1577

Tom’s meetings had run late, he had messaged you throughout the discussions to keep you updated and so you wouldn’t worry but it was him who worried as his phone remained void of any response from you. He began to grow antsy as the conversations just dragged on. He gave his input whenever he had to but most of his time was spent trying his hardest to seem as if he was paying attention and then checking his phone to see if you had responded, and every time his phone screen was blank. His worry was beginning to overtake his body, he worked in a dangerous profession and people knew that the best way to get to him was through loved ones, you being the main one. The thought of something bad having happened to you made his heart break, the thought of someone hurting you added to that made his blood boil. It wasn’t like he was overreacting, you were always very attentive to responding to him when he was in meetings, you knew that under his hard mobster outside he worried about you a great deal and if you could do anything to ease that, you would, and that is why he was freaking out to this extent. As soon as the meeting came to a close he left immediately, ignoring the people who tried to catch his attention on his way out, focused only on getting home to you. 

  Tom walked into the house, calling out your name and receiving no response in turn his heart beginning to pound as the silence reverberated in his ears. With an urgency he began making his way through the rooms of your shared house. He started in your bedroom, eyes landing on the perfectly made bed, signalling to him that you never went to bed, he made his way through the guest rooms, your office, the living room, by the time he reached the kitchen he was on the verge of tears. Hands grabbing on to the counter as he faced the empty living room, retrieving his phone from his slacks pocket and quickly dialing up his mate Harrison. 

“Mate?” Tom asked as he heard the phone be answered on the other end of the line. 

“Yeah?” His friends tired voice answered, clearly having been woken up by Tom’s call

“I can’t find Y/n, I don’t know where she is” At this point Tom felt like he was on the verge of breaking down, the idea that something had happened to you and he wasn’t there to protect you made him see red.

“Wait? You can’t find her?” there was a rustle from the other line, Harrison having sat straight up in bed, shock over taking him. 

“Yeah, mate and I am kind of starting to freak-” Tom spun around, leaning his back against the cool marble countertop when his eyes caught on the open sliding glass door leading to your backyard, a dark figure sitting on the cement ground rocking slightly. 

“Mate, I'm gonna have to call you back” he ignored his friend's words of worry as he hung up, placing the glowing screen face down on the counter and making his way outside. As soon as he passed the threshold of the door sniffles reached his ears. The weather wasn’t freezing but it definitely wasn’t warm enough for you to be sitting there in nothing but one of Tom’s shirts, bare thighs on the cool ground. 

“Love?” Tom called as he made his way to your quivering figure, shoulders throwing themselves back and forth as you attempted to rock yourself in comfort. He reached a hand out to your shoulder, but you flinched away from his touch causing his heart to shatter. With the jerk of your movement his eyes caught your face, tears staining your cheeks. 

“Love it's me” Tom assured, once again reaching his hand out to you, and this time you let him, his hand soothing over your shoulder causing it to cease its shaking as you eased into his touch. He did this gradually, progressively enveloping you further into his hold, a protective embrace, your face tucked into his chest as his hand rubbed up and down your back, trying to warm your body as you began to shiver from the night air. 

“Let's get you inside, darling” Tom’s soothing touch helping you off the ground. He grabbed your hand, gently moving you into the house, and led you to the bathroom. His hands grabbed your hips, placing you onto the bathroom counter, you sat there, eyes trained on the wall ahead as Tom dampened a washcloth, moving back to you to wipe the snot and tears off of your cheeks, he stood in your view for the first time, his hands reaching towards you as you examined his face, causing you quickly push him away, hurt flashing across his unknown feature as you distanced yourself from him, scooting back on the counter curling further into your own body. 

“Y/n?” His voice sounded defeated, reaching out again only for you to have the same reaction. His voice, you knew his voice, and his face didn’t seem completely unknown, something about him was familiar. It was so close to the face you loved so much but your eyes were distorting his features.

“I...I don’t know who you are?” He could have sworn he broke when you said that. 

“Baby, it’s me, it’s Tom” he cooed, trying to understand what was happening, fear bruning through his chest and all the way down to his gut, feeling as if his world was slipping from under his feet. 

“No, I-I know it’s you but..but I look at your face I don’t recognize it, it’s off, it’s not quite right and I don’t know who you are, you look like I stared at you for too long and you lost all feature, Tommy, I don’t know who you are and I don’t know who I am” your tears began to flow again as you looked in the mirror, your face was just a little bit off till it wasn’t your face anymore. You closed your eyes and shook your head violently causing Tom to gasp, reaching out and grabbing your shoulders to halt your movements. 

“Stop, baby, please stop, it’s me, it’s Tommy, I’m right here” his voice soothed you, peeling your eyes back open, you saw his face, it was right, it was your Tommy. 

“Tom?” His name but a question on your tongue as he cupped your cheek. 

“Yes it’s me,” the pad of his thumb brushed away tear streaks. “What’s happening, sweets, talk to me please” he pleaded, eyes begging you to let him know what was happening. 

“I’m dead Tommy” you explained but it only made it worse, yes widening comically as fear shot through his body. 

“W-what do you mean you’re dead?” His mind was racing, had someone put a hit on you? Did you need to go into hiding? He felt like he was falling into every possible issue that you could be having but he was cut off by your voice again. 

“I was thinking earlier and what if I died that night? What if I didn’t get out of the way? This is the after life” you mumbled, fully convinced that you had lost your mind. 

“You are not dead” Tom demanded 

“How do you know that” you whispered 

“Because I’m here, dusting with you, I can touch you and trace every mark in your body, I have my own life, I would have that if you were dead, and if you were why would it just be a continuation of your day to day, why are you freaking out if this is heaven” he tried to explain and something must have worked because your body eased, eyes drawing from your hands to his face. 

“This is real?” your voice sounded weak, so lost in your mind as your eyes seemed to glaze over. 

“Yes,  love this is real” he hummed, finally being able to wipe the tears from your face, his touch drawing you back from the farthest depths of your brain that you kept spiraling into “Now let’s get you to bed” Reaching past you he grabbed your toothbrush and toothpaste, preparing it for you to brush your teeth. You took your toothbrush from his hand as he leaned in and kissed your forehead lovingly, a tear slipping from his eye as he took in your defeated state, brushing it away before you could see and brushing his teeth as well. 

Moments later you fell into your bed, Tom’s arms wrapped securely around you as your back curved into his chest, you shook your head as you closed your eyes seeing everything you wished you could forget. 

“Tommy, I feel so lost in my brain, its like its yelling and every new thought just adds to the noise, continuing to bounce around with everyone else” You whispered as you shuttered. 

“I know it's not okay, my love, but I am here and I will be here, I will help you come back” he kissed your temple and held you as you fell asleep. He vowed to himself that he would be there for you, he would never let you go, give you a life that distanced yourself from that pain that haunted you. He would remind you everyday that you are alive. 

[dessarious]

How the Sirens Adopted a Ladybug Pt5

AO3  Beginning   Previous   Next

They ate mostly in silence with Ladybug refusing to look at any of them. The Kwami were all cuddled up against her obviously trying to offer emotional support. Every time she managed to calm herself down Selina would look over at the girl and her rage would build up again. She was going to have to find an outlet for it in order to stay here.

“So why haven’t you asked for help from the European Justice League?” The full body flinch she got in response gave her a target for that rage. She mumbled something that Selina couldn’t hear. “What was that?”

“I don’t think they believed anything was happening. Eventually they just told me that if I couldn’t handle butterflies I shouldn’t consider myself a hero. They had real problems to deal with.” Oh she was definitely sicking Bruce on those idiots once she figured out what was going on. “In their defense once I cast my cure there’s no visible damage so unless one of them had been here during an attack it really doesn’t seem real.” Great, now she was making excuses for heroes who absolutely should know better.

“I don’t care what they thought, that’s unacceptable behavior. You mentioned something about others that were helping you?” She flinched and curled in on herself.

“You should tell them. Plagg’s right, I think they can help.” Most of the other Kwami looked surprised at Tikki’s words. Ladybug somehow just seemed to get smaller.

“Kiddo, the three of us are the last to judge, trust me. We just want to help.” Harley’s voice was gentle and the girl peeked at her before looking back at her hands. Plagg flew up to her shoulder and was whispering in her ear. Eventually she took a deep breath and pulled her knees into her chest.

“At first it was just Chat Noir and me. It was okay for a while. He was always goofing around and flirting but he was there. But things happened and he didn’t want there to be secrets even though it was for our own safety. The Guardian chose what information we got when and he trusted me more than he did Chat, especially the more he pushed. He let me choose temporary holders and that just pissed Chat off more. He started becoming unreliable. Not showing up to fights, spending patrols trying to convince me to reveal my identity. Then he revealed himself to the other holders and got them to do the same. I refused and he convinced the others that I wasn’t trustworthy. I had to take his Miraculous. Too many people knew who he was. After that I couldn’t use any of the others even if they had been willing and I didn’t know anyone else I could trust. Then the Guardian… he got sick and turned his responsibilities over to me. So now I use whichever Miraculous I need for any given battle.”

“And what about your living situation?” She shook her head but it seemed more like an automatic reaction than an answer.

“That could compromise my identity.” Plagg and Tikki both flew in front of her face with their arms crossed.

“You need to tell them. Keeping your identity from Chat and the others was necessary and as we’ve seen showed good instincts on your part, but this is different.” Tikki’s voice sounded encouraging but strained. Their worry was obvious.

“But-”

“No buts Kit.” Plagg pointed to Selina. “She’s one of mine and there’s no malice toward you in any of them. We’re done watching you suffer alone. Not to mention you haven’t had a chance to breathe in months let alone grieve properly.” Selina shared a confused look with the other two. Plagg referring to her as theirs was odd but she was more worried about the grieving comment. Tears welled in Ladybug’s eyes and she shook her head again.

“I can’t.” The words were choked and the rest of the Kwami cuddled further into the girl while Plagg and Tikki just looked at each other.

“Will you let us tell them?” She hunched in further on herself but before she could say anything Tikki let out a string of what sounded like curses. Selina had no idea what language it was in. “There’s an Akuma.” Ladybug let out a tired breath.

“What time is it?”

“School just started. Which one do you think it is this time?” Plagg’s snark just got annoyed noises from all the Kwami. Ladybug stood and started towards the window. “Kit you’re not transformed.”

“Oh right.” Tikki disappeared and there was another flash of light around the girl.

“Why don’t we go with you? I’d like to see exactly what’s going on.” She frowned in thought.

“If you want, but I need you to stay back and not interfere. It’s bad enough trying to keep the others out of harm's way and I really don’t have the energy to look after anyone else and still defeat the Akuma.” As soon as she said it she was out the window.

“What do you think she meant by others?” Harley sounded like she had a guess at the answer, but wanted someone to give her a different one.

“I have a bad feeling that her former help are still trying to pretend they’re heroes. That or they’re actively trying to sabotage her. Or possibly both.” Given what had been said about Chat Noir, she wouldn’t be surprised.

“We should head out and find a good vantage point.” Ivy was just staring out the window but it seemed like she was looking inward.

“I just need to grab my jacket. And for now we respect her wish for no interference, unless it’s a matter of life and death for her, agreed?” Harley and Ivy both gave a nod but neither looked happy about it. Ten minutes later, as they stood on a roof watching Ladybug taking hits for a bunch of idiots who wouldn’t leave the area, Selina wasn’t either. As soon as the fight was over they moved in closer to see what the morons had to say for themselves.

“Looking a bit ragged there M’Lady. Are you ready to admit you were wrong yet? All I want is an apology and a reveal and things can go back to the way they were.” Selina had to grab Harley to stop her from lunging at the boy who spoke but Ladybug shot him a flat look.

“Go back to what exactly? You refusing to respect my boundaries and throwing tantrums during a fight, or you just not showing up at all?” The boy sputtered indignantly and she turned to leave but a different one, the one who’d been possessed started yelling at her.

“Aren’t you even going to ask what upset me so much I got Akumatized? You used to actually care about people.” Ladybug just crossed her arms and waited. “Someone I thought was my friend just moved away without telling anyone! Can you believe that?” That just brought a confused look from the hero as she scanned the others assembled. For some reason that seemed to annoy the girl more. “Marinette! She just up and left without telling anyone!”

“I’m sorry, did you all just now notice she was gone?” Disbelief was the main thing in her tone, but there was hurt there as well.

“What do you mean just now? Don’t act like it’s our fault she decided to bail on her friends.” Ladybug was just staring at all of them like they’d lost their minds.

“Some friends considering it took you six months to notice she was missing in the first place.” There was a blonde girl leaning against a nearby building that Selina would swear wasn’t there a minute about.

“She’s not missing. Her parents sold their business and the family moved.” The blonde looked like she was going to fire back but Ladybug spoke first.

“Believe what you want, you always do. This is not something I’m going to stand here and argue about. I’m sorry you feel hurt but there’s nothing I can do to help the situation.” She tried to leave again.

“Wait!” The blond practically jogged up to her. “I need to speak with you, alone.” Ladybug hesitated. “Please, it’s important.” The hero searched the girls face for a moment before giving a small nod. The others immediately started shouting at her so she grabbed the other girl and headed to a nearby roof. They followed silently and Selina watched as they both stood awkwardly.

“So what do you need to talk to me about Chloe?” There was a wariness to Ladybug's tone and stance, almost like she expected to be yelled at or attacked. The other girl just seemed nervous.

“A couple things. You knew Marinette was missing, do you know where she is?” Ladybug’s entire body tensed up at the question and Chloe saw it. “I’m not asking you to tell me I just… I just want to know if she’s okay. The police are refusing to look for her, claiming she went to live with relatives out of the country even though her passport hasn’t been used, and she hasn’t touched her back accounts since the day after…” She trailed off, obviously not wanting to finish the thought.

“How do you know she hasn’t… you’ve been using your father’s accounts to check the police progress haven’t you?” She just gave a sheepish shrug. “Why? You hated Marinette.” Chloe flinched.

“No I didn’t. We were rivals sure, and I was overall a bitch yes, but I never hated her. We were just so different and… I mean you’ve met my parents. I was taught from a young age that I was above everyone else and that they should be grateful for my notice. Mari… I couldn’t understand for the longest time why she stood up to me. I know it sounds stupid and I can’t really explain it better.” She sounded frustrated but it actually seemed to calm Ladybug down for some reason. “Look, I understand why she wouldn’t want to come back to school. Those ungrateful peasants made her life a living hell, but it’s like she completely dropped off the face of the earth. I can’t even imagine what losing both her parents in an accident like that must have done to her.”

“She’s okay. She just didn’t want to be sent out of Paris, or put into the system.” It didn’t sound like a lie but Ladybug was refusing to look the other girl in the eye for some reason. Chloe was just frowning in thought.

“If you see her again… tell her I can help if she wants. I know I’m probably the last person she wants to deal with but if she needs a place to stay no questions asked, I’m offering. Daddy has a few judges that owe him favors as well so we can probably get her emancipated so she can at least get to her money without worrying about someone tracking her and putting her somewhere she doesn’t want to be.” Ladybug nodded but from her position Selina could see her fighting back tears. “The other thing I wanted to talk about…”

“Yes?” Chloe still hesitated. She looked worried.

“That comment Adrien made, about you looking ragged… he wasn’t wrong.” Ladybug curled in on herself and Chloe panicked. “I’m not say it as a criticism! Ever since those rejects abandoned you it’s obvious things have been getting worse. I don’t know what you home situation is like but it’s kind of obvious it’s less than great.”

“If you’re going to try and convince me to give you a Miraculous-”

“No! No, it’s nothing like that. I just… here.” She pushed something into the hero’s hand and Ladybug just looked at it in confusion.

“What…” Chloe cleared her throat nervously.

“I had part of my floor renovated into a sort of efficiency apartment. That key is to get in through the balcony. The door that leads to the rest of my suite has multiple locks, including bolts that go into the floor that can only be accessed from the inside.” Ladybug blinked at her, not seeming to process what the girl said. “It’s a safe place… if you need it.” There was a long pause then Ladybug lurched forward, pulling the other girl into a hug.

“Thank you.”  The words were soft, almost inaudible, but the emotion behind them was heartbreaking.

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[caesaryoulater]

crushcrushcrush

High school Bucky Barnes x F! Reader - Musician AU Part of For the Record Rating: 18+ because my blog is and because the main series is. Word count: 3K Summary: Bucky tries to work up the courage to go after what he wants; reader has a bad date Content: Insecure teenage Bucky. A potentially upsetting scene with a date attempting to take advantage and be manipulative. Some language A/N: NO ONE asked for this, but I’m indulging. This will probably read better if you’ve read the series. Readers should hopefully recognize this from a mention in Chapter 2. 

Masterlist | Library Blog

“Are you wearing cologne?” Steve commented as Bucky approached him in the cafeteria before classes started. Bucky just rolled his eyes, choosing not to respond. Steve wasn’t wrong. He took an extra step in his usual morning routine. “What’s the occasion?”  

He grabs for the wrapped-up breakfast burrito Steve handed to him. Courtesy of Mrs. Rogers. It started in junior high when he confessed he never had breakfast before school. There was always plenty in the house, that he’d have to make himself, and sleep was always deemed more important. But every morning, Steve appeared with an extra of whatever he was given for breakfast. Usually homemade.  

“Thought I might impress Miss Isaac, trick her into grading me a little better on my algebra test,” he flashed a charming smile; the one that appeared whenever he was up to something. It wasn’t the real reason for the extra effort, but he hadn’t been ready to tell Steve the real reason.

Steve chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah? Let me know how that goes.” His eyes lit up as Peggy walked toward them. She kissed his cheek before sitting down at the table. “Hey babe.”

Bucky couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. The past year or so, Peggy and Steve had become near inseparable. And not like some of the more obnoxious couples around them; it was obvious they were in for the long haul. They had this quiet comfortability around each other, it wasn’t pure passion spurred on by teenage hormones. While he had his share of dates, Bucky still had a longing for what his best friend had. Things never progressed past the date-then-hook-up stage. He had no idea how to even go about finding someone who would be interested in more. He wanted to try, though.  

“Are you wearing cologne, James?” Peggy looked over at him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“He apparently thinks it makes him seem more grown up and impressive to Miss Isaac.”

Peggy smirked and rolled her eyes. “You can’t get better grades by hitting on teachers.”

Bucky flashed the same smile from earlier. “Well, it’s worth a shot. Couldn’t give me a lower grade.”

“You could, you know, study.” Bucky wasn’t stupid. He didn’t fail classes, had a C average. Not great, but could definitely be better. If he actually applied himself more, he’d probably be top of the class. Or, at least, that’s what his parents would nag him about the times they’d actually talk to him and take even a minor interest in how he was doing. His nights after school were spent practicing guitar and writing. It was the one thing that made sense to him. He had notebooks filled with poems and lyrics; some shit, some halfway decent, maybe a handful that could actually be something. Holding that guitar was the only time he felt any semblance of confidence. Felt that he could get out of this town and do something he loved.

He shrugged, eating the last bite of his breakfast, and excused himself to go to his locker. He grabbed the books for his first couple classes; algebra and home ec; along with notebooks (filled with more doodles and song ideas than class notes) and a pencil. As he shut his locker, he spotted her two banks of lockers over.  

The first time he truly took notice of her was last year. Before that fateful dance that led to Peggy and Steve. He was in the library. Despite his lack of interest in high school education, he did love reading. He had overheard her talking to Nat Romanoff about Lord of the Rings. He watched as Nat did her duty as best friend and listened to her, despite not knowing what she was talking about; imagined himself in that conversation. He had read the books in junior high before the movies came out, wanting to prepare. Though, he did prefer The Hobbit. She was beautiful and seemed nice and clearly had some similar interest. Instead of introducing himself, like he might’ve done with any other girl he found attractive, he grabbed his book and checked out.

He’d been working up the courage for about a week. It seemed a bit silly to be so motivated by his best friend’s relationship, but it wasn’t as if he picked some random girl. The night before, he decided that this was the day. He was going to stop being a coward and go for it. A small part of him wanted to go over in that moment, say something, ask her out. Get everything over with and hope for the best. But he had lost his nerve in that moment when she looked up. Closing her locker, she gave him a small smile and said hi. All he could manage was a shaky “h-hey.” Determined to work up the courage throughout the day, he made his way to class.

English, his first class after lunch. That’s when everything changed.

“Did you hear who Tyler Campbell is taking out tonight?” one kid asked. “That chick that’s always in the library. Nat Romanoff’s friend.”

“Oh shit, is he doing charity work?” another kid laughed.  

“Come on, she’s weird but kinda cute. Plus, you know they’re not going to be discussing books.”

Waves of emotions had hit him in that moment. He was pissed off over how they were talking about her. Angry he had let himself get so excited and hopeful when they had barely spoken to each other before. Heartbroken for what wasn’t meant to be. Jealous. Bitter. He couldn’t focus through class. He felt sick to his stomach. Why the hell had he thought he might have a chance? Over a guy like Tyler Campbell. No way.  

After final class, he ran into Steve and Peggy outside on his way to the bus. “Hey, Buck. My mom’s gonna drop us off to get pizza, wanna join?”

“Nah, I think I’m just gonna head home. Give me a call later.” He couldn’t stand the thought of being around the two of them; it was awful, he knew. He’d be irritable watching them be couple-y. Steve would pick up on it and ask what was up. And he just didn’t want to answer that. So instead, he went home and wrote.  

The beginning of the night had been so full of promise. You got home from school and tore through your closet, picking out the right outfit. Something that made you feel cute, maybe a bit older. Something you hoped would impress him. You still couldn’t believe he had noticed you, let alone asked you out. Your parents had been unsure, of course, but ultimately trusted you to make good decisions. The plan was that he’d pick you up at 8. It seemed so weird that you were going out with someone that could drive. Not that you were far off yourself, you had your permit. It just made things seem so grown up. He didn’t say what he had planned after picking you up, but it just made it more exciting.

He was there a few minutes late. But it was ok. He honked from outside, not bothering to come to the door. Your parents weren’t happy, but you brushed them off and rushed outside, thinking nothing of it.  

“You look so sexy,” he said when you climbed into the passenger seat. You had bit your lip, avoided eye contact, thanked him awkwardly. No one ever thought that about you. He gave you his signature cool-guy smirk and sped off. You watched as the houses blurred by you. Turning into dark side streets near town. The drive was quiet, a bit awkward. You thought it’d get better throughout the night, after you started getting to know each other. He finally made it to an abandoned parking lot over by the river. Immediately you recognized it. Not from experience, but from stories. It was the spot. The one horny teenagers went to hookup. Nat had told you about it before. She was picky, but still confident around anyone she found attractive. You almost envied her for it.

You had been excited at first. Thinking that this was finally it. But as he put his arm around you, pulled you closer, dread started setting in. You hadn’t even gone on a real date yet. Barely knew him. Was he like this with every girl he took out? You knew he was popular, especially among the girls in your school. You had no delusions that he was as innocent as you. But surely, he must try a bit harder.  

A jolt went through you as you felt his lips on your neck. It didn’t feel as good as you had imagined it would. You almost froze. “I-I thought we might go get pizza or something.” The pizza place in town was always packed Friday nights. People would go on dates or hang out with friends. It was cheap, good, and had a jukebox.  

He snorted. “This will be so much more fun than some noisy pizza place.” His hand crept up your thigh, inching up under your skirt. You wanted to jerk away but couldn’t.

“I think pizza sounds good,” you were desperate to try and convince him.

He stopped and looked at you, the irritation on his face obvious. “Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your place right now.”

You swallowed hard. You did. You knew basically any girl in school would do anything to replace you in that moment. “I... I’m just not really... experienced.” You had felt embarrassed. You knew you shouldn’t be. But you wanted to seem cool. Wanted to feel like you belonged there. That you weren’t so far out of your league.  

He sighed and closed his eyes. “I don’t know if this is some religious bullshit or whatever,” it wasn’t. You just hadn’t been ready at that point. You wanted your first time to be special, not in the car of some dude who didn’t even know your middle name. “If you’re that worried, you can just suck me off. You’ll still be a virgin.” Without waiting, he unzipped his jeans. Quickly, you turned to look out the window. He wasn’t exposed, but it was still too much for you.

“I-I’d really rather get to know you first,” you were still desperate to try and bargain with him. Which was stupid considering he was the type of guy to get that angry that quickly. That his idea of a compromise was a blow job.

He muttered under his breath as he zipped. “Jesus fucking Christ. Just get the fuck out of my car, then.”

“But, we’re pretty far from my house. I don’t have a way home.”

“I don’t give a shit. I didn’t sign on to go out with some prude. I thought you were fucking cooler.” You couldn’t understand in that moment how he became the it guy in school. How many girls had he tricked with that type of manipulation? Even though you wanted to be seen as cool, to be desired, you couldn’t cross that line.

As soon as you closed the door, he sped off, leaving you alone in the dark parking lot. Alone, scared, embarrassed. You found a bench near the waterfront and sat, crying, scared to call your mom. Eventually, your hand had reached for your phone and hit the speed dial for her number. She had been confused but was right there to pick you up

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” You had done your best to stop crying before she got there and you got into the car, but she always knew when something was wrong. At first, you shook your head. Afraid to tell the truth. Worried she might be angry with you. She wasn’t stupid, surely, she knew why kids came here. She hadn’t pushed anymore, but eventually, you had to tell her.

“I didn’t know he was bringing me here.” You watched the town pass by out the window. Without asking, she was heading to pick up pizza. Knowing you could use a pick me up. “I kept asking to go do something else. He just got angry and kicked me out of the car.”

You could see her hands gripping the steering wheel. Her voice had been calm, though. That scary calm that meant something was bubbling under the surface, but she kept composure. “Did he do anything.”

“Not really. He kissed my neck.” You sighed and pulled your knees up to your chest on the seat. “I swear I didn’t know this is where he wanted to bring me.” You wanted to keep reassuring her that you weren’t that girl. That she didn’t have to worry about you or your decision making.  

She pulled up to the pizza place and parked. “Sweetheart, you’re not in trouble. I trust you. Did he do anything else.” More than anything, you remember the worry and fear in her eyes. You shook your head. “Let’s get some pizza, then. We’ll go home, have a girl’s night, watch a movie.”

“Are you going to tell dad?”  

“Not if you don’t want me to. Not tonight anyway. I’ll just tell him you aren’t feeling good. But he’ll have to know eventually. He’s not going to be upset with you.” You nodded and made your way into the building.

Over the weekend your mom did everything she could to cheer you up. You knew it was just as much for her as it was you. That she wanted to keep you close by to make sure you were okay. That more didn’t happen than what you said. The two of you did some shopping, went to lunch, went to visit some of her friends. And you did eventually tell your dad before the weekend was over. He didn’t say much, but you knew it was because he was holding back anger. Not at you. He was never very good with emotions, so you spent the weekend acting as if nothing had happened. Things went back to whatever normal was.

Monday morning, she dropped you off at school, checking for the fifth or sixth time that you were okay to go. Assuring you that you could stay home for a day if you needed. You didn’t want to. Eventually you’d have to go back, there was no avoiding it.  

You saw Tyler with his arm around another girl. One that appeared to be a freshman and your stomach churned. She looked comfortable, not like she wanted to get away, but you still felt uneasy. You found Nat and went to sit down. She already knew what had happened, of course. Her eyes were shooting daggers in his direction.

“What a piece of shit. If I didn’t know he had the principal in the palm of his hand and I’d no doubt get suspended, I’d be over there dragging him by the hair away from that girl.”

“He’s not worth it, Nat,” you responded quietly. Honestly, you just wanted to forget and move on.  

“Well, as long as you don’t keep beating yourself up over it. He’s a manipulative asshole, you didn’t do anything wrong.” She spent the time the two of you chatting or talking on the phone listening to you talk about how stupid you felt. That you fell for it. You should’ve known someone like him wouldn’t have a real interest.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna go grab a cookie before classes.” Why did the school sell cookies to students in the morning? No idea, but they did and you indulged probably a little too often.  

“That’s not a real breakfast.”

“If it didn’t count, they wouldn’t sell them. I’ll see you third period.”

The morning in the cafeteria before classes started, Bucky spent distracted. He noticed Tyler with his arm around another girl. Some freshman. He probably didn’t have much room to talk, but he was annoyed at the thought of him hurting her. She was sitting with Nat on the other side of the room and definitely didn’t seem happy.

Later on, before class, they were both at their lockers at the same time. She seemed distracted, opening and closing her locker a couple times, forgetting things. She closed it one final time and turned his direction to walk towards class, offering a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and a hi.

“H-hey. Uh. How was your weekend?” The question had even taken him by surprise.  

“Oh uh, well, I’ve had better.” She let out a small, sarcastic laugh to herself. “But I marathoned Lord of the Rings with my mom, so it could’ve been worse too.”

He tried not to seem too eager. “Great choice, I love those movies.”

She smiled. Not like before, an actual smile. “I wouldn’t have taken you for a nerd. Anyway, I have to get to class. I’ll see you around.”

His heart fluttered, a feeling he wasn’t used to. He grabbed the last of what he needed and closed his locker.

“Jaaames.” A pair of arms wrapped around his back. He turned to see Whitney Bailey. One of the more popular girls in their grade. Blonde, cheerleader, always got great grades. She was nice enough. Neither of them were really interested in each other outside of physically, though. She appeared usually whenever she broke up with another guy.  

“Hey, Whit.”  

“What are you doing later?”

“I don’t really have anything planned...”

“Great, I’ll be at your house tonight after 7.” The two of them had been doing this dance long enough she knew when she could stop by without his parents being home. They were always out weeknights, leaving at 7 like clockwork. Her timing was always on point. He could use the distraction, find a way to not think about how lonely he is without putting in actual work. It was easy, they’d both move on by the end of the week. And hopefully by then he’d be over whatever feelings of disappointment that still lingered. She kissed his cheek and turned to walk towards her first class.

[bombyxluna]

Hewo! I’m not sure if ur taking requests, but I have one fo ye. How would the brothers +the undateables react to mc (somehow) being turned into a toddler? I just thought of this, idk y, just did.

This one is so cute anon, and I was so happy to write it! Thank you for the adorable request, I think I’ll post a follow up to it: MC taking care of the brothers and the undatables if they become toddlers! 

PS: I don’t think Satan was ever actually a toddler or a child or something, but I felt like it works for this hc because it’s funny jahsjhjsha

Brothers + undatables react to: MC turning into a toddler

Lucifer

He just knows Diavolo is behind this. what did he even do this time? Pick up on some old magic again? Try to shake things up so everyone gets along? Ask Barbatos to go back in time and pick up you as an actual toddler, just for the lolz? He doesn’t know and he doesn’t have time to care because toddlers are a handful and you’ve tried eating his quill three times now and he is panicking. Hard. He puts the quill and the pen on top of a shelf and when he turns around, you’re gone. He sighs, looking for you on every corner of the office, just to find you hiding behind the curtain. When he finds you, you scream and start running.

Oh, how he doesn’t miss the days Satan was like this. At least you are way less fussy than he was. As he watches you hide behind the couch, however, he can’t contain his smile nor the silly monster voice he makes as he announces he’s coming to find you. He manages to catch you this time and pretends to eat your arm with his hands, making exaggerated chomping sounds. On the third time you hide, though, he has to be honest: he’d take Satan’s mini developed anger over your climbing skills any day. How did you even get on top of the shelf? He blinked. That’s all he did. He blinked. And now his quill is in danger again.

He is completely spent at the end of the day. He hasn’t felt so tired since Diavolo decided changing the color of every single lamppost in the Devildom would be good for “morale” and he had to do the paperwork. He ends up dozing off holding you. When he wakes up to find that little project of human being cuddling to his neck, he smiles to himself. Sure, he’s worried about what happened, but maybe he can enjoy this for a bit more. 

Mammon

No one knows who’s screaming anymore: if it’s you or him. It’s probably both - it’s definitely both. He thinks the witches got to you or something, and he is going nuts, not only because what the fuck why are you like so small now and how is he supposed to take care of you? 

He ends up staying home instead of going out as he planned. Mostly because you refuse to leave his room and keep hiding under his car and in every corner you can find when he tries to get you to leave with him. Once he starts pretending he can’t see you and you giggle and run away from him, he melts a little inside. You play peek-a-boo for a while, but he gets worried easily. His room isn’t exactly the most childproof place in the house, so he takes you to the living room instead - to his surprise, you have no complaints about that.

As the day progresses he somehow gets the hang of taking care of a toddler again. Satan had been a handful but he was much calmer than you were when it comes to playing or tantrums (though if he is honest, Satan’s tantrums were terrifying). He finds an old coloring book in one of the many bookshelves around the house and steals Asmo’s markers for you to play with. You make him sit down to color with you, and he does. The rest of the day is spent with him listening to your made-up stories about the characters in the book. By the time dinner is ready, you’re already tired, and he has to carry you downstairs in a piggyback ride - he complains about it but in reality, he’s having the time of his life. 

Levi 

Honestly what the fuck. He has read about this in manga before but what the fuck. Couldn’t you have turned into something easier to deal with? A cat? A lobster? Anything else? 

He doesn’t know what to do. Giving you an unplugged controller for his video game did not work as planned. You got tired of it easily and whenever he tried to ignore your whining, you’d cry. He thinks about taking you to someone more cut out for this - he remembers mammon being good with children and Beel too, but his envious side doesn’t want to lose to his brothers. 

so he’s stuck with you. somehow he manages to kee you away from his figurines, giving his Ruri-chan plushies to play with instead. He has to admit you’re cute but by the end of the day, he is grateful it is over. As it turns out, he finds out he’s not ready to have children just yet, but maybe in the future? 

Satan

He doesn’t seem fazed in the slightest. After all, this is a side effect of the book he lent you. He thought you had read all the rules before giving it back to him, but it seems that you didn’t - rookie mistake really. 

He feels somewhat guilty about it though, so he does his best to take care of you during the day. He’s a little awkward and unsure of how to engage in your plays, but he does his best. Ignoring his brother’s snarky comments over it being his turn to take care of a baby, he just takes you to his room so he can keep a closer eye on you. You end up asking him if he could read you a story and he breathes in relief - that he can do.

It turns out he can’t. He doesn’t have any books that would be appropriate for children, so he resorts to the internet instead - thank Diavolo for how useful DDDs are sometimes. He finds a small book about a little girl in a red hood, the parts with the big bad wolf seem to scare you, but he lets you cling to his arm and hide your face on his side. At the end of the day, he is okay. The day went by as peaceful as possible, and you both had enjoyed the story. For the entire following week, he finds himself wondering what it would be like to have a child of his own. 

Asmodeus 

He holds you in his lap as he dials the phone. “Solomon what the fuck did you do”. He didn’t do anything, no one really knows what happened, it’s a mess. Asmo doesn’t care much about it though, because you’re a little cuddle bug and he is happy to give you all the smooches and put a bunch of cute bows on your hair. 

He manages to keep you calm the whole day. You don’t even have time to think of throwing a tantrum, because he already has a next activity planned to entertain you. he lets you do his hair as well, lets you paint his nails, and takes so many pictures of you in thousands of different outfits you get a little dizzy about it. He is by far the most careful when handling you and you have a joyful day in the safest environment possible. He lets you take a bubble bath and even if he’s in constant fear of the water being too hot or too cold or you drowning, he powers through. 

He watches cartoons with you when you’re getting sleepy because it’s a more quiet activity. He even teaches you how to tidy up the room and you both go downstairs for dinner wearing matching outfits. When the magic (curse? who knows) wears off and you’re back to being a grown-up, he is pouty. He shows you all the pictures he takes and says you’re the cutest toddler he’s ever seen - satan is a little offended by that. 

Beelzebub

This is unusual. You are much smaller than you normally are. He doesn’t really know how to act when you climb on his lap and push your tiny hands on his cheeks, but he laughs. He ends up taking you to the kitchen with him since it’s his favorite room in the house. 

He keeps you away from the stove at all times, but is willing to let you participate in the cooking process - it’s his turn to make dinner after all. He starts by making cookies for a snack, then another batch of cookies for dessert. Then a final batch because he ate the ones supposed to go for dessert. He melts every time you giggle at his antics, and when you end up with chocolate smeared all over your cheeks, he can’t resist taking a picture and showing to his brothers. 

He is careful when handling you because you’re so tiny now he’s even more scared of accidentally hurting you. He ends up caging you in his arms whenever you get too close to the edge of the kitchen counter, and then just giving you a piggyback ride throughout the entire house while you wait for dinner to cook. When the day is over he isn’t sad because you’re back to normal, but he is happy that he got to enjoy a day with you - he likes children a lot. 

Belphegor 

Well, this is inconvenient, to say the least. you’re staring back at him with huge questioning eyes and to be honest, all he wanted was to sleep. He picks you up nonetheless and sets you down on top of his pillow. Though he tries, talking to you about the importance of naps has zero to none effect on your antics. Instead, you pick up another of his many pillows and hit him with it, screaming about a pillow fight. 

He chuckles, yawns, and picks up a pillow as well. Maybe this will tire you down enough for the nap conversation to make a comeback. It doesn’t work. You just got more excited and hyper. He played himself. 

He thinks about leaving you with Beel but he’s making dinner and lord knows how weirdly focused he gets. leaving you with Levi or Mammon isn’t an option either, and he’d prefer to avoid Lucifer whenever it’s possible. He has no idea where satan or asmo are, so truly, he is stuck. He whines about it to you, and to his surprise, you hug him, asking if his booboo is better. He chuckles again. maybe this won’t be so bad. 

Diavolo

“Barbatos look at this.”

“Barbatos, MC is tiny now isn’t it wonderful?” 

“Barbatos, look at how cute they are - cancel all my plans I’ll spend the day with tiny MC.”

You’re not sure what’s going on but Diavolo is fun to play with so who cares? He indulges in all of your makeshift stories and he doesn’t care if you climb his furniture and go wild. He laughs with you, picking you up and making airplane noises as you “fly” around the castle. He is ecstatic.

He encharges Barbatos with the mission of taking pictures of the two of you playing together and being silly. He never had many opportunities to be around children so he will cherish this to the last minute. You play house, play with legos Barbatos has no idea where Diavolo found, walk around the Devildom together to look at the flowers. The students of RAD are confused because ?? No one knew the prince had a child wtf??? He thinks it’s cute that you’ve been labeled his kid so he goes with it, introducing you as the future ruler of the Devildom. Barbatos warns him it might be a bad idea, but he is sure is nothing Lucifer can’t handle. 

Barbatos 

He is calm. This isn’t anywhere different from the situations you have to deal with when you can time travel, and nowhere near as stressful as babysitting being the butler for the demon prince is. He handles you with care, but he is not too attached and doesn’t participate much in your plays. 

He does answer all your questions and allows you to tag along wherever he goes. Patient as ever, he will explain what every single object you point to is. At some point, somehow he is roped into picking you up because you got tired of walking around the castle. Your hands go directly to his hair, playing with the skeleton wings coming out of his head. He doesn’t mind it, only explains to you what they are and let you try to make them expand and close. 

When you find out he has a tail, he doesn’t mind letting you hug it and touch it. Your curious eyes are adorable and at least it keeps you distracted. When you giggle as he picks you up with it, he thinks maybe he should have filmed that to show Diavolo later, he’s sure he’d appreciate it. He gives you a small plastic tray they have laying around in the kitchen because you want to be like him and carry your own tea - it’s actually juice. Overall, it’s a nice change of pace from his usual days.

Solomon

Whatever magic this is, it’s weirdly insistent in staying put. He tries making you turn back but ends up giving up because he doesn’t want to accidentally hurt you in any way. He is not the best with children but he does what he can, keeping you away from his room and all his potions as soon as he realizes you’re stuck like this for the time being. 

He ends up taking you to one of the gardens around RAD. He entertains you by making the flowers dance with his magic, and giving you butterfly wings - though making you come down from the tree once you flew over there proves that to be a dumb idea. He sends a bunch of pictures and videos of you to Asmo, who is now in urgent mode and willing his class to end as fast as possible so he can hang out with you as well. 

He gives you ice cream and chats with you about your favorite cartoons - being human has its perks, he knows them all by heart. He even sings some of the opening themes with you. When you start to get too tired, the games on his human phone solve all the issues. Sure, DDDs are great and all, but despite it not working on the Devildom, a human phone has its advantages. 

Simeon 

He is used to this. He is always near the younger angels in the Celestial realm so it’s really no surprise that he is so good at handling you. He doesn’t understand how you got turned into a toddler, but he will protect and take care of you until you return to normal. He has many ideas on how to keep you happy, and they all work. Collages? He will get you magazines. Drawing? He has multi-colored markers at your service. Hungry? He knows the recipe to the perfect pancakes - and you can decorate them yourself. 

You don’t cry or throw a tantrum once under his care. he is delicate when dealing with you, and always listens to all your stories and complaints, comments on them and offers easy solutions. He doesn’t understand some of the references - who is Hello Kitty and why on heaven does she have no mouth? But he does his best to engage with you. 

By the end of the day, he has issued Solomon’s help on finding out how to properly work his phone camera, if only to film a little bit of you and Luke playing together. he is glad you’re okay when you turn back to normal, but he confesses he enjoyed taking care of you all day. 

bonus:

Luke

“There can only be one”, he says before he charges at you with a foam sword. It makes no effect but Simeon has never been more confused. 

He ends up enjoying being able to boss you around and act like an older brother, telling you to color inside the lines and about the proper colors of the sky and the sea. He doesn’t understand what’s so cute about the two of you playing that Simeon just has to take a picture, but he lets him do it anyway. 

He complains when you’re back to normal because he was truly enjoying not being the only child anymore. 

Masterlist

[sneezefiction]

soft shiratorizawa sleepover

Shiratorizawa x Reader - Sleepover Headcanons

request: “Hi can I request having a sleepover with Shiratorizawa?”

a/n: classic Gracie move, here. ultra fluffed up, on a Friday evening. please enjoy some soft, sleepover moments with our faves, Ushijima, Tendou, Semi, Goshiki, Shirabu, Reon, and Yamagata. 

warnings: none!

wc: 930

soft sleepovers - karasuno edition

---

you’ve been unofficially managing/supervising the Shiratorizawa team over the past couple months

but with their strict schedule and the fact that you joined them a bit late into their volleyball season, it’s been hard to actually get to know them

luckily, you and Tendou hit it off instantly, his curiosity gravitating toward the novelty of having a team manager

after expressing your wish to get to know the team better, the idea for a sleepover popped up in a playful convo between you and Tendou

i mean, you were definitely joking about it, but apparently Tendou had already presented the idea to Ushijima

and Ushi was totally chill with it??

he felt like you would manage the team better if you could see how everyone functioned outside of a high-pressure game

also i’m almost entirely positive that half of this team has never had a real sleepover

like, sure, they’ve spent the night together while away for practices games and tournaments, but they’ve never had one for the purpose of “hanging out” with each other

the team is surprised to hear that you’ll be joining them, but they’re genuinely excited to learn about you

lmao they might even be sort of intimidated esp since most of them are fr socially awkward

so be ready to actually get to know these boys, bc they’re all weird af

ps everyone will be invading Goshiki’s home for this wild, overnight endeavor

you arrive slightly late, but you’re welcomed with sounds of howling laughter and vibrant discussions that seem to be spiraling into loud arguments

Semi has Shirabu in some kind of headlock, wrestling him to the floor for being too pretentious

Tendou is already in his sleeping bag, but he’s not actually lying down... he’s hopping around in it

and Ushijima looks like he’s supervising the entire team, while still holding a glint of humor behind his gaze, enjoying the goofiness of his teammates outside of a gym for once

when they spot you at the doorway, your pillows and items in hand, everyone goes silent

and then Tendou rushes toward you, crashing headfirst into your body after losing balance in his absurdly heavy sleeping bag

you’re pretty much stuck under him, so Reon and Ushi have to lift Tendou off of you before Semi can give you a hand up

you thank Semi and turn to Tendou with a playful scowl on your face, his own cat-like grin is spreading the width of his cheeks

before he can react, you’ve smashed a pillow right into his head, leaving him slightly dizzy as he throws his pillow toward you… but it misses

...landing straight into Ushijima’s gorgeously sculpted face

everyone is too shocked by this to realize that Ushi has already picked up a pillow and aimed it at poor Goshiki

the power in Ushi’s pillow throw literally knocks him off his feet

yikes

don’t get me wrong, Ushijima doesn’t really get the concept of a “pillow fight,” but he’s willing to try anything at least once to understand it

this starts a full-send pillow war:

It’s you, Semi, Goshiki, and Yamagata VS Tendou, Ushijima, Shirabu, and Reon

and lemme tell you, IT IS BRUTAL.

you learn quickly about their inner team rivalries and the team’s extensively colorful language

this ends with lots of sweat, several bruises, and countless bursts of excited laughter

but when the game and adrenaline highs wear off, you’re all left lying on the floor

they all recover pretty quickly, but most of the 3rd years realize just how worn out you are from the amount of effort you just exerted

Semi flicks you in the side of your head and asks you some personal questions, but really the whole group is listening in, 

“Y/n, why’d you choose to help our team out? I’m sure you have a lot going on outside of all of this.”

you’re taken aback, having to process your answer… because truthfully friends weren’t easy to come by these days

you’d been searching for an opportunity to find community and be apart of something… and this management position seemed to be an open door to it

“You’d be surprised by my social life, Semi.” you say through a laugh, but it doesn’t sound funny

you’re amazed by the understanding faces surrounding you, some nodding, other just staring without judgment

because they could all relate

LITERALLY this short convo turns into a really sweet discussion about fears and problems, with some venting mixed in

It’s mostly you, Goshiki, Tendou, and Semi speaking, but in the end, everyone shares a little piece of their life with the group

which is all so weird for everyone on the team, but somehow your presence was the perfect set up for a Group Therapy Sleepover Session™ 

by the end of the night, you’re the one advising and listening to them, which is such a cozy turn of events

like, your heart is full & they’re actively being invested in by your sweet self

several of them (Ushijima, Semi, and Goshiki) fall asleep to the soothing sound of your voice

you just make them so comfortable

and as much as they should be the ones protecting you, you’re the one making them feel safe and put together

honestly, while i’d like to think that Shiratorizawa is always so cool and calm, i think they need hugs and softness too

sure, they’re tough and they get all of that intensity and energy out on the court 

but now that the team knows they have an outlet to get things off their chest and out into the airspace, they don’t want to lose it

and that’s when the bi-monthly, non-volleyball related Shiratorizawa sleepovers become mandatory

it’s pretty much the ultimate mental health booster and it gets wilder every time

so, you indeed get to know the boys well <3

—-

soft team sleepover series

soft karasuno sleepover

soft seijoh sleepover

soft nekoma sleepover

soft fukurodani sleepover (in progress)

—-

tags: @yams046, @cherryonigiri

(comment or send an ask to be added to my general tag list) 

[yuta-nakamots]

perfect - z.cl

Pairing - Chenle x Fem!Reader

Genre - fluff, angst, university!au, friends to lovers!au

Warnings -  alcohol consumption, mention of drunkeness, lots of arguments, heavy making out, breakups, contains an aged up chenle (26-ish) towards the end

Summary - He’s definitely not your knight in shining armor, he may not be the one you bring home to mother, but he’ll be the one to give you flowers. Chenle is not the right one for you, but he is for right now.

Word Count - 5.2k

A/N - Bolded phrases are song lyrics taken from One Direction’s song ‘Perfect’ and inspired from the lyrics along with all the vlives where Chenle and the members have started yelling out the lyrics.This was supposed to come out back in January but school held it up and now Ana is gone hhhhh. I know she’s still on Tumblr but under a new url so if anyone wants to send this to her, to let her know that I did finish it, that would be nice. 

Taglist - @astroboy-lele​​​ @in-my-neofeelings​​​ || fill out this form if you’d like to join my general taglist ^^

Written for the Sometimes Letting Go… Collab originally hosted by @sunryu​ who unfortunately deactivated. 

When I first saw you from across the room, I could tell you were curious

The mutual attraction between you and Chenle was undeniable. Ever since the two of you first met as freshmen in an econ class, you knew he was your twin flame and he was yours. That initial meeting was almost comical, the way the professor said to pair up and talk to someone next to them for a bit and it seemed like everyone had turned away from you except for the boy sitting next to you.

It seems you both had the same realization as your heads turned and eyes met. “Well I guess you’re my friend for today,” he began, “hi, my name is Chenle. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Y/n,” you told him, “the pleasure is all mine.”

“So, why are you in this class?” He asked, tapping his pen on his leather-bound planner.

You hesitated for a second as you thought about how much to tell him. “I’m majoring in business and this was just one of the mandatory classes in my plan.”

“Hm, same here,” Chenle shared, seeming the slightest bit amused at your similarity, “would you also happen to be in calculus this semester?”

“Section 3 at 10:30?” You counter.

Chenle broke into a smile, “that’s the one.”

“How about freshman seminar?” You asked.

“1:15 in the world language building?” Chenle offered, copying your answer from before.

“Wow,” your eyebrows were raised in actual disbelief, “did you steal my schedule or something?”

“No, but I do believe in fate,” the boy next to you confessed, “would you like to get lunch sometime before freshmen seminar?”

You nodded, “I’d like that,” you stopped mid-sentence when you remembered that you told your friends you’d eat with them, “I am gonna be eating with my friends though so I could introduce you to them if you’d like.”

“Want to bet that we have the same friends too?”

“No way, that would be too coincidental.”

And coincidental it was. Somehow your friends knew some of Chenle’s friends whether it be from high school activities, childhood friends, or even having just met in their own classes. Your small group of five had immediately doubled in size.

Of course, with such a large group of friends, there was much fun to be had and many memories to be made. During midterms is when you were thankful you were majoring in business and not something like biology or chemistry. You could still go out and have fun on weekends with Chenle and the majority of your friends, meanwhile a few poor souls had to stay back to study their ‘reaction mechanisms’ or whatever the heck those things were called.

You quickly found that you weren’t one for parties though you loved to hang out with your friends and have small little parties of your own in the dorms. Every single time, as you all got progressively drunker and started to clock out for the night, it was always you and Chenle left being the two most sober with no other choice but to take care of your friends over hushed conversations.

“How much vodka did Hannah even drink?” Chenle asked while you both worked on cleaning up the mess of solo cups and napkins surrounding your friend who had, unfortunately, drank over half of the bottle. You picked it up, waving it at Chenle to show him. “She’s gonna have a nasty hangover…or at least wake up super dehydrated.”

As you worked on laying a blanket across her, passed out on the floor, Chenle had managed to stuff all the napkins inside the cups he had collected and was busy aiming at the trash can across the room. Right as he was about to shoot, “miss!” you called out. The little stack of cups hit the rim of the plastic trash bin and fell to the floor. Chenle turned to you, sticking out his tongue and imitating the way you caused him to mess up before going to properly dispose of the rubbish.

Instead of simply placing it in the waste, he once again returned to where he stood before, with one eye shut, aiming for the bin. You let out a scoff, ready to disturb him once more. He shot you a glance, knowing what you were planning from the way you just stood watching him. But regardless, he tried again. “Airball” you sang as he released the short stack of cups, sending them flying to the foot of the bin.

Chenle let out a growl, childishly stomping his way over to you while you tried to quietly escape from his grasps through the mess of food and other miscellaneous items on the floor. From the hushed giggles and name-calling from the two of you as you both stumbled around the room, to the whispered late-night thoughts and affirmations spoken from your positions on the floor with your heads resting on the edge of a bed, you barely even noticed how fast time was passing.

“Are you going home for the holidays?” You asked him.

He shook his head, “it’s my first time getting to live away from my parents and whenever I do go back, they’ll probably be expecting me to bring some girl with me.”

You turned to look at him, “why would they expect that?”

“They’re both getting old and want to retire soon,” Chenle started, “so the faster I get married and take over the company, the faster they’ll get to live out the rest of their lives,” he explained.

“Well that’s not very nice of them,” you commented, “what kind of parents would place such high responsibility on their child like that?”

“Mine I guess,” Chenle sighed.

After a moment of silence, you sat up, unsure what to make of the next words to come out of your mouth. “If you want, I could go with you.” Chenle looked at you with his eyebrows furrowed. “Like, I could be your fake girlfriend or something so that they don’t bother you so much about finding one.”

“That’s…an idea,” he started, biting on the corner of his lip as he played out possible scenarios in his head. “I think that would only make it worse though since we’d both have to make up stories and tell the same information.”

“True. But we could at least make it look believable, don’t you think?” You reached over to pet Chenle’s head the same way you’ve seen him do to his friends. “Oh, Chenle, you’re so cute,” you cooed, “I can’t wait to marry you and be with you for the rest of our lives.”

He grabbed your wrist and put it in your lap, not very keen on the show of affection. “Yeah, I think we’d look like a pretty convincing couple.”

“Do we look good together though?” You pondered. “If we were to show up to an event or something, would we make people stop and stare at us?”

“Anyone can do that if they wear something weird or do something out of the ordinary-“

“Okay but that’s not what I’m asking,” you interrupted, “I’m asking, would we look good together as a couple?”

Chenle shrugged apprehensively, “sure.” Your eyes bore into him as if forcing a more legit answer out of him. “Yes, I think we would look good as a couple.”

It was as if you and Chenle were made for each other. Whatever one did, the other was never too far behind. It was absolutely no surprise to your friends when you told them Chenle had asked you out and you became official. While your college careers continued and friends came and went, Chenle was always with you. He was your solid island in the middle of a tumultuous sea, your oasis in a dried desert. You didn’t need anyone else around to have fun, just him, just the two of you.

But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms and if you like having secret little rendezvous

Being with Chenle was as wild as things could get. It meant impulsive plans and bad decisions. Weekend nights normally consisted of one of you driving with no destination in mind until someone got hungry. Even at that point, the night didn’t end.

Sometimes the two of you would stay out past midnight, not wanting to leave each other’s company just yet. The feeling of the wind whipping past you as Chenle drove or the thrill of gassing it down the freeway was almost dreamlike. One would think that at this point, you’d return home, but for you, your home was wherever Chenle was. If it meant staying in a small hotel room for the night drinking cheap wine out of paper cups then so be it, that was home.

“Baby, you already drank almost half of the bottle, leave some for me,” Chenle teased, his eyes glimmering under the low lighting. The brightness of the small lamp on the desk failed to reach where he was sitting, the cozy armchair too far in the corner for it to be illuminated.

“Come here and get some then,” you suggested, lazily winking at him before downing another shot-sized gulp and enjoying the burn from the liquid running down your throat. The bed you were sitting on wasn’t all that soft but you had already warmed up a little spot of it and gotten too comfortable to move.

Chenle raised an eyebrow at you, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I don’t think you want me to do that.”

“Why not?” Your expression mirroring his.

“You wanna find out?

“Maybe I do.”

He let out a scoff and within a second he was on the bed, climbing up and settling over you. His warm breath fanned your neck, the scent of alcohol filling your senses. “Are you sure about that?”

“Fuck around and find out, handsome,” you taunted.

You had barely even finished your sentence before Chenle’s lips were on yours, his usual soft and pillowy lips became hot and heavy against yours under the guide of the fifteen-dollar wine. You were sure that you were definitely getting tipsy but Chenle’s love and passion were even more overwhelming. It was moments like this when you felt that you were drunk off of his love and it was absolutely intoxicating in the best way.

If you like to do the things you know that we shouldn’t do, then baby I’m perfect

It was drunk weekends like this that led to a rocky start of the following week. It’s not that you and Chenle were bad students, it’s just that when you become totally infatuated with the person you love, you start to devote yourself to them instead of what actually needs to get done.

As sophomores in college, one would think that you’d have a little more self-control but with Chenle, you just couldn’t help it. He was worse than any drug you could ever take, to the point where your friends would have to intervene and keep you in your rooms until a substantial amount of work was done.

You called them annoying but really you should’ve been thankful to them for caring so much about you back then, and you are thankful, looking back on it. They always told you ‘distance makes the heart grow fonder’ and you wish you had listened to them. Maybe if you did, you wouldn’t have lost a relationship that you thought was practically flawless.

Perfect for you

In junior year, that is when your beautiful illusion finally began crumbling down. Your workloads grew heavier and your hours of sleep decreased. Chenle would often leave you on read, having opened your message in the middle of studying then forgotten to reply to it. Even when you childishly got upset at him for that, he’d always give you the same apology or buy you something cute as if money could shut you up.

With little to no distance between the two of you, it was easy for boundaries to be crossed and for problems to go unaddressed. You can feel like you know someone so well, that they’ll always understand what you mean and they can read your words like a book, but it didn’t seem that way anymore with Chenle.

He’d make fun of the way you always made him say ‘I love you’ at least once a day or some of your other pet peeves, including the way you had a Hello Kitty mouse pad that was ‘too childish for a college student to be using.’ It may have been out of love but it sure didn’t seem that way.

I might never be the hands you put your heart in or the arms that hold you any time you want them

Soon, the little pricks in your relationship spread past closed doors and into your schoolwork. Sharing a major and classes with your significant other was not exactly ideal, especially when they had different values and beliefs from you and had to argue for their reasoning.

“That just isn’t sustainable in the long run though,” you commented as you read through Chenle’s senior research report while seated opposite of him inside a library study room.

He ran a hand through his hair, leaning back into his seat, about to repeat himself for the fourth time. “It’s not about sustainability, it’s about the profit margin that’s being made. What don’t you get?”

“It’s not good for the environment, it’s not good for the people working in the factories,” you point out, “I don’t get how you can subject these things onto people.”

“Y/n, we’re business majors,” he stated plainly, “we study money, the economy, sales, company relationships, we’re not here to be environmentalists. Things don’t have to last very long, so much as they make a profit.”

“But we should think about the impact of our future businesses and their longevity in the world-”

“You should think about passing this class and stop being so prissy and uptight about saving trees or whatever the fuck you’re going on about.”

You were absolutely shocked at the words that had just come out of his mouth. This wasn’t the first time he had seemingly degraded you in this manner, but when it came to school and your own work, you were deeply offended at what he had said, especially since both of you had spent many hours on your respective projects.

“Chenle,” you began softly, “tell me you didn’t mean that.”

He refused to meet your gaze, “If I told you that then I would be a liar.”

“Look, you can’t just spew whatever bullshit you want and just expect that people won’t get hurt,” you criticized, only to be cut off once more.

“Then maybe you should learn to not take everything so seriously,” he snapped back.

“I...I think we need a break.”

“Agreed.”

“No, from each other.” Chenle’s head whipped up to look at you, his eyes went wide when he realized what you were insinuating.

“Baby no, you know it’s not like that,” he started, but it was already too late. You blocked his voice out of your head as you packed your belongings, just wanting to get out of this room, wanting to get away from him.

This wasn’t the first time you had fought with him in this way but it felt like you had finally lost all your patience. You were tired of always being told you were wrong and having your thoughts and ideas invalidated. As you stormed away from the library, you realized that maybe you needed to let go of things that no longer brought you joy.

Sometimes letting go...is a new start

After that incident, you did indeed have a fresh start. You slowly removed Chenle from your life and just in time for graduation. Whenever he tried to approach you on campus, you always turned the other way even if it meant being late to class. Luckily, you didn’t have many shared classes with him anymore and you were all the more grateful for it right now.

You’d come back to your campus apartment with the occasional flower or sticky note left on your doorstep asking you to give him another chance but you simply didn’t have enough time or energy to care anymore. Commencement was approaching and you still had yet to hear back from any of the companies you had applied to for internships.

But that don’t mean that we can’t live here in the moment

One of your friends had mentioned that Chenle had already received news that he was accepted into his family’s business, a large company in China, and you wished you could’ve been there when he had read the email. You could practically hear his yell of delight, his laugh when he’d turn to hug you, even if it was practically guaranteed that he’d get in, you missed it all so much but there was no turning back now.

It wasn’t until after commencement did you receive your own letter of acceptance from one of the largest foreign trade companies in the area after you saw Chenle for the last time. “Zhong Chenle, Bachelor of Arts in business management.” You remembered the immense pride and pain you felt in your chest, watching him walk across the stage to claim his diploma as you sat clothed in the same cap and gown only a few rows away. You wished you could share your emotions with him, but you had to remind yourself that he was no longer yours, he was no longer the man you first fell in love with.

‘Cause I can be the one you love from time to time

Four years have passed since that moment at commencement. In those four years, you’ve climbed your way up in the company, taking a hold of a directing position in project development and management. With all your success though, there was always one failure that kept floating through your mind. The number of sleepless nights and wandering moments you’ve spent thinking about all the ‘what ifs’ and the changes you should’ve made in your relationship have all decreased with time, but sometimes it all comes crashing back. You miss the memories you made with him and you miss being so young and naive.

Sometimes you managed to hear a thing or two about the company he worked for but you never paid much attention to it, always falling back into a spiral of guilt and calling yourself the sole reason why your relationship fell apart. Chenle would even pop into your mind at the weirdest times when you’d be thinking of anything but him.

Like the other day as you were staring out the window of your office, watching people and cars pass by, your memory of Chenle speeding down the empty highway suddenly resurfaced. The adrenaline you felt from the buildings and signs whizzing by, the slight buzz of alcohol you felt in your system, the cool air coming in from Chenle’s window, the warmth of his hand in yours. You couldn’t help but smile at it fondly yet it turned sour when you thought of the last time he ever drove you somewhere. You had argued with him about something dumb, you couldn’t even remember it at this point, and you even slammed the door before storming off to who knows where.

Or some months ago, you were interviewing possible new hires for the company and met someone from Puerto Rico. Once you finished the interview with them, you sat at the wooden desk while remembering the way you teased Chenle because he didn’t know how to pronounce Puerto Rico. You thought it was cute and even told him that, but it ended up in another fight because you may have spent a little too long dwelling on the topic.

But oftentimes when you find yourself thinking about him, you’d wonder how he’s doing. Is he happy where he is right now? What kinds of things is he doing for his job? Has he found a new girlfriend? What if he dated many other people after me? What if he’s married? Would he have children by now? Or most importantly, ‘does he still love me?’

And if you like midnight driving with the windows down, and if you like going places we can’t even pronounce

Regardless, you’d shake off all these thoughts and continue about your day, completing the tasks assigned to you. The majority of your time was spent conducting interviews and deliberating with the directors about who to hire for what position. It was quite fun, really. You got to meet all of the new hires before they came into the company and you felt empowered by the fact that you would be indirectly responsible for the future of the company in this sort of way.

On one particular day, everything felt like it was going just a little too well. Your hair was done just the right way, traffic was light, your coworkers seemed to all be in a good mood, but most importantly, there were no fat folders sitting on your desk, waiting for you to go through. Just a single sheet of paper with the list of the new hires coming in for their briefings along with the notes you were required to go over.

You didn’t bother checking it, seeing as how you had exactly two minutes left before the scheduled meet time, which was exactly the amount of time you needed to head downstairs to the conference room. You really should have checked the list though. It would have prepared you for the shock of seeing a certain someone sitting at the table in a suit that looked all too good on him.

“Zhong Chenle?” You audibly gasped, pausing in your tracks the moment you entered the conference room.

His eyes were already on you as if he knew you’d be the person to walk through that doorway at that exact moment. “That would be me.”

The other new hires looked around at each other sharing all types of glances. Worried, suspicious, surprised, questioning, nothing really all that positive. “Sorry, he’s just an old friend that I was surprised to see,” you quickly explained, trying to pull yourself back together.

Throughout your whole presentation, it was like all the attention in the world was directed at you. Never had you felt this nervous before doing something that was supposed to be so familiar. Every time your eyes glanced over in Chenle’s direction, his gaze managed to catch yours as if he was trying to speak to you without any words.

By the time you adjourned the meeting and sent the new hires off to their respective departments, it felt like you had run a marathon. Your palms were clammy, your legs shaky, your mind racing, and your heart was pounding.

Chenle was the only one left in the conference hall while you pushed in all the chairs and turned off the lights. “Looks like these years have done you well.” He commented, finally able to take in the sight of you now that there was no one else around.

“I could say the same for you.” His shoulder had gotten broader and any childlike features had left his face. He truly looked like he had grown into a man. The dark gray suit he was wearing fit the lines of his body so well, it made you think he could’ve been a model instead of simply becoming an office worker. “So how have you been?”

He did a classic Chenle shrug, “nothing much really. I started off being just a marketing employee, did some work, and got myself to be chief marketing officer. It seems you’ve gotten much further than I have, though. Project development and management?”

“Oh, it’s not anything huge. I just help with planning things out and doing all the paperwork for its execution. I only do interviews and help with hiring when we’re in season, which would be why I’m here right now,” you explained, motioning for him to follow you out of the room. “Your new supervisor is probably wondering where you are. I sent the rest of the newbies a few minutes ago already. I’ll just tell him that you had a few questions about our operations.”

“Wow, cheating the system? That’s not the way I remember you,” Chenle said with mock disapproval. You led him to the elevators, pleasantly surprised to find one still on your floor after you hit the ‘up’ button. Your eyes met with his while you gestured for him to go in. “Ladies first,” he had a cat-like grin on his face as you rolled your eyes and stepped into the elevator.

“So why did you decide to leave your company? Weren’t you going to take it over someday?” You ask over the squeaking of the doors closing.

Chenle leaned against the cold metal wall of the elevator, “I still plan to but I felt like they were just kind of babying me or treating me differently because they knew of my background,” he explained. You could only nod to acknowledge the fact that you were listening. “I told my parents that I wanted to get experience outside of the company and they didn’t really understand at first until I showed them my point of view and how it’s a little worrisome to perhaps, learn how to cook when you always have chefs around you giving you instructions down to the tiniest things.”

The elevator came to a stop and the heavy doors opened onto the floor Chenle would be working on. “But why this company? We’re not even closely related to yours?” You led him down the hallway in the direction of his supervisor's office.

“My parents were the ones who recommended it, actually. It would be a little risky to go to a neighboring one in the case of it being viewed as a betrayal or like some kind of inside mission so they said I should just come back here since I’d probably have a high chance of acceptance-“ you put a hand up to stop him from talking, seeing how many of the other employees had started to look at him due to his volume.

“Chenle, must I remind you that this is an office?” You gritted out, embarrassed in front of your colleagues.

He shook his head before turning to the mass of them, bowing politely then continuing in the same direction as before. Once both of you reached the head office at the end of the hallway, Chenle spoke up once more. “By any chance, are you free tonight?”

“That depends,” you began, “what are you hinting at?”

“Just seeing if you’d like to go out to dinner so we can properly catch up, I guess,” he proposed bashfully.

You hummed in thought, “mmm, put in a good word for me with your supervisor and you’ve got a deal.”

“Deal,” he agreed.

“Meet me in the lobby at 5:30, don’t be late,” you told him before knocking on the wooden door in front of you and allowing Chenle in.

If you like to do whatever you’ve been dreaming about, then baby you’re perfect

You thought Chenle’s wine phase in college would be just that, a phase, but it really wasn’t. He had ordered an expensive bottle of merlot even with all your insistence that you wouldn’t be drinking and even made him promise that he’d be sober enough to drive himself back to wherever his accommodations were.

He made a face of fake dismissal before picking up your last conversation. “So anyway, as I was saying earlier, my parents suggested that I come back here, especially since I got my degree from the university so I’m bound to get in.”

You were about to open your mouth to say something like “getting in is not a guarantee” especially coming from your experience in doing interviews and having to decide which applicants to turn down, but you decided against it.

“Initially, I was a little against it since I didn’t want to come back to somewhere I’ve already stayed at for some time,” he confessed, “but after I did some research on the company and found out that you’re one of the associates, I was a little more open to the idea.”

There was a break of silence while you started to link your thoughts together. “So you came here because you found out that I work here?”

“Yes, but also no,” Chenle stated, blurting the second part out rather quickly when he saw the shift in your expression. “It is true that I wanted to see you and how you were doing but it’s not just that. I figured that if you worked here and had such a high position, it must be a good place to work.”

“But what I’m hearing is…you came here because of me,” you state bluntly though your heart couldn’t help but let out a cheer of delight.

Chenle redirected his gaze at the neighboring tables. “You could say that, sure.”

“Chenle, what do you want out of this? What do you want out of me specifically?” You contended. His eyes continued to flit around the lowly lit space, not daring to meet yours unlike earlier in the conference hall. “What? Did you come back just expecting me to run into your arms? Did you think we would just pick up where we left off?”

Now he looked down at the white tablecloth, as if in shame. “Would it be wrong of me to ask for a second chance?”

You too joined him in staring at the table, wishing that he had answered ‘no’ to your previous questions. “It wouldn’t exactly be wrong, but it’s not right either. I’d be willing to give you a second chance if we agree to not call it that, but rather a promise.”

He finally looked up at you again, his dark pupils catching the dim golden lights above him. “A promise?”

You nodded. “We’re older now, we’re fully grown adults with jobs to do and taxes to pay. We’re no longer the same carefree college students we used to be.”

“Well yeah, obviously-“

“No, listen,” you interject, cutting him off, “we can’t just recklessly play with each other’s minds and feelings like we used to. No more games and no more ‘next times.’ If we try again, I want this to be a promise that we’ll both do better because we can and we want to.”

“If it’s a promise that you want then,” Chenle held out his hand with his pinky finger extended, “it’s a promise I’m willing to make.”

You linked your pinky with his before bringing your thumbs together and sealing the promise. Matching smiles appeared across both of your faces as you stepped into a new chapter of life with Chenle by your side once more.

Sometimes letting go is…perfect. So let’s start right now

[mandoalorian]

Smile [Javier Peña x Reader]

Summary: making a desperate attempt to get your boyfriend, Javier Peña, to crack a smile, you’re hit with the spontaneous idea to dress up as him and put on a little show. Thank you @pascalpanic for putting the idea in my head!

Warnings: mention of alcohol, cigarettes, guns, typical Narcos themes (but only very brief) -- mostly just tooth-rotting fluff. 

Rating: 13+

Word count: 1700

Masterlist

You loved Javier -- you really did, but he had his down days just like everyone else. It seemed like, due to the nature of his job and the fact his department had made very little progress in pursuing Escobar, this week in particular had been a tough one for Javier. He’d gone through a whole extra pack of cigarettes and it was only Wednesday, and the bottle of scotch you’d been keeping for your next dinner party with the Murphy’s, had been completely drunk by one suspicious looking mustached man with a wet upper lip. You didn’t say anything to him. He didn’t need you to chastise him or make him feel bad. He needed your comfort, and you needed him to smile.

So that was your mission. To make Javier Peña smile. Of course you didn’t expect it to be easy, but you were determined, and that was enough.

The idea first came to you when you were tidying up after Javi. He wasn’t normally this messy, but you knew he’d been going through some shit at work and so picking up his laundry wasn’t a huge deal. You grabbed the crumpled up pink button down shirt from the edge of his bed and smiled, a gush of warmth flooding your heart. It was your favourite shirt -- hell, your favourite colour to see him wear. He could pull off pink better than any other man you’d ever met.

You went to fold up the shirt into a neat little square, like you’d done with the rest of his clothes, when you caught a glimpse of yourself in the full-length mirror, holding the shirt. You hummed, measuring it against your body and admiring the way the colour brought out a shine in your eyes. You didn’t normally wear pink but maybe it wouldn’t look that bad on you. So, with a quick hum, you pulled off your own tee and pulled Javier’s shirt over your shoulders. As you buttoned it up and adjusted the collar, your smile turned into a grin as you admired the way it looked on you. You just had to show Javier and ask him what he thought. After all, he always loved to see you in his shirts.

You tucked part of the shirt into your dark blue denim jeans, revelling in the way you had accidentally ended up looking like your boyfriend from just putting on his shirt. If this wasn’t going to make him crack a smile, you weren’t sure what would. 

You shuffled out of the bedroom and into the living room, finding Javier lounging on the couch with a cigarette dangling in between his lips. His eyes narrowed as he focused on whatever was on the television. You sighed upon seeing he was watching the news. You had told him to try and avoid the local news because it only seemed to make his mood worse -- seeing all the death and destruction that was happening around Bogotá in particular, by the hands of narcotics. You grabbed the remote control and zapped the TV off.

Javier furrowed his dark eyebrows and his head snapped to face you, but before he could complain or groan about why you’d shut the TV off, his mouth went dry as he took in your appearance. His jaw locked open and his dark eyes flicked up and down your body.

“Ta-da!” you giggled, doing a little spin for him.

Javier folded his arms over his chest, bemused, before stumping out his cigarette and discarding it in the ashtray.

“You look… good.” He mumbled, his eyes not leaving you once. You were just waiting for him to smile. You posed a little, desperate to try and get something out of him before throwing your head back in defeat and sighing. “What’s wrong?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

You looked down at your outfit and thought long and hard. “It’s missing something, isn’t it?” you questioned yourself, avoiding Javier’s comment completely.

“What?”

But before you could even respond, you had already whisked your way back into the bedroom, diving into yours and Javier’s closet looking for one particular thing. There it was. The khaki green bulletproof vest. You omitted a small ‘oof’ when you picked it up, underestimating just how heavy it was, before finding the velcro straps and shuffling into it. You looked in the mirror again, subconsciously raising your eyebrows as you saw just how broad the vest made you look. You tapped your fist into the padding a few times, experimenting just how hard it was. It definitely made you feel safe, that’s for sure, and it brought you comfort knowing that Javier donned this exact vest during his missions and stake-outs.

You padded back into the living room, and--

“Ta da!” you said again, poking your fingers into the bulletproof tac vest.

You didn’t think it was possible, but Javier’s frown only grew as he sunk back into the leather sofa. “Hermosa… what are you doing?” he sighed, putting his head in his hands.

“You don’t like it?” you quizzed, a little sad that he didn’t appreciate your efforts.

“I’m just confused.” he confessed, exasperated.

“Hm…” you hummed, looking around the living room. “Does it need more?”

“What?”

You walked into the kitchen and unlocked the safe. It was where Javier insisted on keeping a gun. You picked it up, immediately not liking the way it felt in your hands, and walked back into the living room. Upon seeing you hold the gun, Javier’s eyes became comically wide and he stood up.

“Is safety on?” Was the first thing he asked, terrified you’d injure yourself in some way or another. You took a second to check the weapon before nodding in affirmation, and Javier breathed a bubble of relief. “Okay. Put it down.” Javier grumbled, his frown framing his face as his clearly unamused gaze followed you across the room.

You tucked the gun into the back of your jeans, just like Javi would, and smirked in his direction. 

Your smile only grew when you grabbed his yellow tinted aviators from the coffee table and pushed them up the bridge of his nose. 

“Okay, I see what you’re doing,” Javier rolled his eyes. “You can stop now.”

You grabbed one of the many take-out menus from the side table and quickly glanced over it, familiarising yourself with the dishes. You cleared your throat and straightened your posture before holding up the menu and doing your very best Javier Peña impression.

With a low, smouldering grumble, you presented the menu in front of Javier and --

“This pizza is DEA. Mark my words, it will get justice.”

In that moment, Javier swore that his heart imploded into an abundance of glitter and colourful confetti. There was something so magical and pure about seeing you stand before him, dressed as him and doing your very best impression. It was a little dumb, a little dorky, but most importantly it was 100% authentically you -- always doing your absolute best to care for your boyfriend and comfort him in the most unique types of ways. You noticed the way his eyes lit up, and although he still wasn’t smiling, you became filled with warmth knowing you had gained some kind of reaction out of him (albeit small).

“I’m agent Peña,” you forced a frown and dramatically pulled off the yellow tinted Ray Bans, hooking them into the v of your pink shirt. “I’m DEA. Partners with agent Murphy,” you clicked your tongue before continuing. “Ese idiota. Hate that guy. Only… not really. Love him really. But… I love my girlfriend even more.” You smirked before walking towards him and sliding onto his lap and pressing your hands against his chest. “Javi…”

“Hm?” he hummed, and you could tell at this point he was deliberately trying to fight it back.

“Smile.” you whispered, nudging your nose against his.

And then, he let go. His perfect plush lips curled into a grin so wide the rare little dimple appeared in his left cheeks and the corners of his chocolate brown eyes crinkled in delight.

“I love you so much querida,” Javier beamed, smoothing out your hand and cupping your face in his large hands. “I’ll always love you.”

And with that, he captured your lips into a typical, heated, Javier Peña kiss. He wrapped his strong arms around your body as he skillfully navigated his fingers to the velcro straps of the tac vest, undoing them carefully to get you out of it. He carefully pulled the gun out from your jeans and placed it on the coffee table, along with his sunglasses. When you pulled off him to catch your breath, he was still smiling, and he pulled the bulletproof vest off your body before haphazardly discarding it on the floor.

“And you know how much I love seeing you in my shirts.” he mumbled, licking a stripe along your jaw and peppering kisses into the crook off your neck. You rolled your hips over his denim clad thigh and his fingers fumbled with the button and zipper of your own jeans, before he hooked his fingers under the hem of the material and dipped them into your panties. 

You moaned wantonly, letting your fingers tangle in his dark locks of hair. “I love you too, Javi.” you whispered before pressing your lips against his once more.

Permanent taglist: @steeevienicks​  @paintballkid711 @supernaturalgirl​ @phoenixhalliwell​ @ah-callie​ @stardust-galaxies​ @wickedfrsgrl​ @goth-topic​ @nerdypinupcrystal​ @wonderfulfluffer​ @kiwi-the-first​ @pedroepascal​ @castiel-barnes​ @honeymandos​ @rocketqueen​ @ladycumberbatchofcamelot​ @dybalalover10​ @girl-obsessed-with-things​ @elena-myth​ @moth-guillotine​ @pedro-pascal-love​ @hayley-the-comet​ @pinkninja190​ @maxiarapamaya​ @autumnleaves1991-blog​ @artsymaddie​ @harrys-stan​ @kennedywxlsh​ @cripplingmoon​ @cheekygeek05​ @mrschiltoncat​ @rye-flower​ @theamuz​ @persie33​ @sleepylunarwolf​ @martellthemandalor​ @pedro-pastel​

[imaginesforjohnnydepp]

Met Gala (Johnny Depp x fem reader)

for anon @kittenlittle24 @evelynrosestuff

for the vibe of this, listen to Could It Be? by Christy Carlson Romano here 

You looked absolutely stunning, but you were always stunning. This was Johnny’s exact thought as you ascended up the stairs into the Met Gala, and he just couldn’t tear his eyes away from you; the lights from the camera flashes and the tent seemed to bounce off your metallic/silver dress... and the large diamond on your right hand that seemed to mock him. Johnny hated the way your fiancé’s hand gripped your waist, hated the way you smiled up at him as he did so. As the night progressed, you found yourself in the bathroom trying to get in Kylie Jenner’s Met Gala selfie with your head on some pop star’s shoulder. After dinner and the musical guest, you roamed the exhibit alone after Alex had to leave early.

The entire thing was absolutely beautiful, you thought as you snapped pictures for your friends and family back home, and you made a mental note to visit during the rest of it’s duration. While you thought you were the only person on this side of the museum, you were proven wrong as you heard the scuffle of feet on the marble floor and the hushed voices bouncing off the walls. “Are you out of mind? Y/N’s engaged and definitely not into me.” It was Johnny’s voice and it sounded like was talking on the phone. Johnny was quiet for a while as the other person spoke.

“Tim, I promise it would not make a difference if I told or not. You should’ve seen the two of them. The way she was looking at him, it was disgusting, and the worst part is that she can’t see that he’s using her.” You almost choked on your breath. What did he mean by that? Johnny’s in love with you, and if so, for how long? You quickly turned back in the direction in which you came, trying not to trip in your heels.

There was no way Alex was using you, right? He loves you, and yeah, it was a bit too fast, but when you know, you know. Isn’t that what everyone says? This wouldn’t be the first time someone said something like this about Alex, your fans online thought so too, but they were wrong about him, they don’t know his heart the way you do. You quickly ducked into a restroom and into a stall to check your Twitter feed, and after reading a few messages, you felt a little sick.

oh god, the met gala is going downhill. how tf are so many “influencers” getting invited? one said. Another one: y/n looks so gorgeous but that rat ruins it. And the last one: funny how y/n and alex have been together for less than a year and he’s already signed to a modeling agency and going to the met gala. The other comments were pretty much the same and you wanted to throw up. You thought back to everything that had happened since you confirmed our relationship with Alex; his following on social media had grown exponentially, he did sign with a modeling agency and landed a L’uomo Vogue cover and campaign for Gucci and countless other brands.

Your friends in the modeling world told you it took them twice as long to get steady work and to get their foot in the door. And then the paparazzi to deal with, they were always popping up, even at the most secluded places... like at your favorite restaurant in your hometown. You’ve never had to deal with that while visiting your family, and while you would take pictures with fans, that was it. All of it was starting to click.

You needed to end things with Alex, like yesterday, and you thought back to Johnny’s conversation: “It wouldn’t make a difference if I told her how I feel about her.” How could you miss that? The first time you ever met him was at an audition for one of his movies; the movie was based off a book and it was between you and another girl, and even though you didn’t quite match the physical description of the book, he fought tooth and nail for you to be in the movie. You had a small crush on him while filming, but at the time, he was in a committed relationship with two kids. You were a law school drop out trying to prove to your family that this “acting thing” could work, so you never acted on it.

He had taken you under his wing and supported you in the early days of your career, and still does. All of that was a decade ago, and now you’re at the top of your game and still remain close friends (which Alex doesn’t like), even filming a movie with Lily-Rose and interviewing her for one of her first magazine covers. Your little crush on Johnny never really went away, and before you could tell someone, you met Alex and the rest was history. You never thought Johnny would ever be interested in you and that you could ever have a chance with him so you let it go.

But now Johnny is single, and you’re engaged and ten years older. It was completely unfair. It’s not like you could pretend everything was normal, but what could you do? Go up to him and admit that you overheard his very private conversation? Yeah, that’ll work.

As the night wore on, you danced to the music the dj was playing with your celebrity friends and took pictures and videos with them before heading to an after party that Rihanna was throwing. You turned on your phone to see the multiple calls and text messages from Alex wondering where you were so you typed back: going to the rihanna after party. see you when i get back to the hotel. This was one of the things you hated about Alex. He could be so clingy and could constantly blow up your phone asking where you were. You turned it back off and went on with your night.

“Hey you. I’ve been looking for you all night.” You finally found Johnny at the bar nursing a glass of water. “I’ve been... around.” He took a sip of water before asking the bartender for another refill. You took a deep breath and let it out slowly; it was now or never, and you know that if you don’t do it now you’ll never do it.

“Johnny, can we talk? Like really talk? Because I feel like I haven’t spoken to you since I got engaged. You got engaged two months ago, and you and Johnny check in with each other every week. “Johnny, I know. About everything.” His brown eyes widened in fear and it reminded you of a child who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar before dinner. “God, Y/N, I’m so sorry, you must think I’m disgusting---”

You cut him him off. “No Johnny, I don’t” You told him about the crush you had on him while you were filming together ten years ago and you could feel your face heat up in embarrassment, then it was over. You kept your eyes down on the bar top the entire time. “Johnny, what are we going to do?”

All of this felt so wrong, and it felt like you were cheating on Alex, which you weren’t but still. Alex is your fiancé, you’re supposed to be in love with him. Of course you love him, but lately you’ve been feeling annoyed, about everything. You’re tired about being asked about wedding plans, fighting about where to live, Alex speaking calmly to the paparazzi as they invade your privacy. Sick and tired of all of it.

“Y/N, you’re engaged, not married. There’s still time.” For a second you thought about what it would be like with Johnny, how easy it would be. The both off you are private people and you get along with his kids, so nothing bad on that front. You fiddled with the engagement ring before pulling it off; that felt much better and your hand felt a lot lighter. “I don’t think I can marry Alex. I think I made a mistake.”

You finally said it. Said the four words you’ve been trying to push down for the last two months; it felt good to say out loud. You slipped the ring in your clutch. You threw your arms around Johnny and quickly kissed his cheek. “I have to break it off with Alex.” If all went well, then you would make plans to leave L.A. before the media storm could hit. 

Maybe your place in the countryside just outside your hometown? You could only hope that this break up could go smoothly.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Reader x Wei and Wing Imagine Part Two - When Korra decided to stick around in Zafou for a while you were pleased for two reasons, their names were Wei and Wing.

Part one here

I’ve tagged some people who wanted a part two, sorry it took so long!! Tagged: @dangerouslysimping @tincdraws​

_____

Even since you’d caught their attention that first day the boys were smitten so you saw a LOT of them. You began training with them pretty regularly and team avatar picked up on the fact the twins seemed to occupy all your time.

You were enjoying a nice afternoon together with your friends when you spotted the time and realised your plans with the twins were starting soon. You waited until Bolin and Mako finished bickering with a fond smile before standing up and Bolin immediately frowned “noooo” he cried “we just got here you can’t go!”. “We’ve been here 40 minutes” you pointed out but he just crossed his arms “so?”. You laughed along with the others and Mako looked at you “so where are you heading off to?”. “Do you really need to ask?” Korra smirked and you rolled your eyes. “Ahhh the twins” Mako said with a smirk and you threw a rock at Korra. The gang liked to comment a lot on your situation with the twins and Korra was the worst for it. “Hey don’t attack me you’re the one dating them both”. “we’re not dating we’re just...having fun” you shrugged and Asami laughed “that what you’re calling it huh?”. Korra chuckled “I mean i get it they’re both attractive powerful benders like you....why wouldn’t you want to have fun with them?”. “Exactly” you nodded gathering your stuff and Korra smirked. “Plus I bet the metal bending comes in handy in lots of ways hey y/n?" Korra smirked and Asami laughed along with her. "What does that even mean?" you asked confused and Korra shrugged watching Asami with a smile "I don’t know but I bet the fact they’re both so physically fit being metal benders comes in handy". You frowned “I never thought about it that way just because they’re metal benders...Asami what’s your experience with metal benders being more physically capable?”. Asami paused “Why would I....”. “Well because Korra’s a metal bender I figured you’d know all about that” you grinned as both the girls went bright red and babbled while Mako laughed. “And on that note goodbye” you smirked and headed off.

“You’re late” Wing called as you reached the yard and you frowned “I know sorry I got lost, your home is huge”. “Yeah we’re pretty rich” Wei commented and you laughed shaking your head “yeah? Well maybe you should hire a bodyguard for these training sessions? I’ve been kicking you around so much it should be illegal”. Wing smirked as Wei’s swagger dropped and he stumbled over words trying to think of a comeback. “Don’t strain too hard” you smiled sweetly and patted his shoulder before walking out onto the yard. Wing followed you still smiling and you glanced at him “does that smile mean you forgive me for being late?”. “Totally” he grinned and you smiled, Wing had a really nice smile especially when the sun shone off his face like that....you were distracted from your staring as people called out Wing’s name. You looked up and saw there were some spectators today. You didn’t recognise any of them but you soon saw why, they were clearly here for Wing and Wei only. “Who is that?” you asked smirking and Wing looked at you awkwardly “some...friends”. “Just friends?” you asked smiling and Wei appeared “why are you jealous?”. “You wish” you grinned catching the helmet he tossed to you and throwing it to the side “no helmets, my trainer told me they’re crutches that dim your bending, she said earth bending is all about taking risks and showing brute strength”. “You know the more you talk about this swamp woman the less i think she’s real” Wing commented and you went to argue the crazy swamp lady was totally real when Wei waved to the girls above making them all cheer. You watched slightly annoyed at how much Wei seemed to enjoy the attention and he smirked “you done talking yet?”. “You done showing off to your girlfriends?”. “Just about” he smirked and you rolled your eyes.

You would all start off stood an equal distance from one another and attack one another fairly. But Wei and Wing had a habit of forming an alliance against you and it was their favourite thing to do when they were losing. They did it whenever you got into a good rhythm and as soon as you were getting into your stride they crept closer. It was always harder when they could help one another so you actively tried to keep them apart. You loosened Wing’s footing and launched an attack at Wei focusing all your attention on him. “You’ve got this Wei” a spectator called and you heard several other girls cheer him on. Given this advancement you began attacking Wei harder. He was hardly blocking your attacks and Wing just watched. “Aren’t you going to help?” Wei called but Wing just shrugged “nah i’m good”. The girls began chanting for Wei and it only made you smile because he was going to lose. You moved closer and closer, your attacks only marginally missing him and he was struggling big time. You felt the winning strike as you released it and could see Wei knew it was over too. You heard the crowd above gasp as your disk roughly crashed into Wei and smirked slightly. “I quite like your cheerleaders Wei” you called as he stood back up slowly “their gasps of concern really warm my heart”. Wei rolled his eye as Wing laughed. “Whatever you’re just jealous”. You snorted “maybe if you were a better metal bender but at the moment....”. You were suddenly interrupted by shouting. “What are you doing in here this is private property!” a voice called and the girls all began to argue. Bataar junior appeared in view and spotted you all “Wei how many times have i told you no sneaking your cheerleaders in here!”. Wei shrugged “ahhh come on Bataar, I can’t disappoint these lovely ladies”. You rolled your eyes at the same time as Wing and Bataar junior. “Well I can” Bataar junior replied coldly “out!” he yelled and all the girls began to disperse. “Bye Wei! bye Wing” they called and walked away. Wei watched them go before his eyes fell to his oldest brother “so were you just here to ruin my fun or did you need something?”. Bataar glared “I am here because I need your help, I need someone to metal bend the new machine me and dad are working on, mom’s busy with the avatar, Huan would never do it and I can’t think of anyone else, so one of you need to come help me”. Wei and Wing looked at one another. “Not it!” Wei cried suddenly and Wing swore “really we’re doing that? Are we four?”. “Yep, it’s the easiest way and you lost so run along and leave me and y/n alone” Wei smirked stepping closer to you. You saw Wing look down at that clearly unhappy with that scenario and stepped forwards “don’t worry you won’t miss much, I was only toying with Wei to keep the match going but now you’re gone I won’t have much motivation to...”. Wing smiled “ow really?” and you nodded “yeah why did you think I was going easy on you? Your eyes look really good in this sunlight”. Wing blushed and you smiled seeing the shyer twin react to compliments. “Okay well I’ll go help Bataar and see you guys later?”. You nodded “totally” and smiled. Wing smiled brightly at you before walking away still wearing a dazed look.

You turned back around to see Wei heading towards the other end of the field. “Wei?” you asked and when he didn’t reply you followed him. “Wei?” you called and he looked over his shoulder “ow well I was just thinking if you’re worried I might be too boring for you how about we make the stakes a bit higher?” he asked. He pulled a lever and parts of the ground fell away to reveal different terrains and objects. “Nice, why have you never shown me this?” you asked and Wei shrugged “my dad only just finished making it, he wanted to go a big show of it with a lot of people but as we’re alone I figured we could give it a test run?”. “Totally” you grinned excited to use the different terrains and surfaces to your advantage. “And one more thing to make sure i definitely can’t bore you....” Wei pulled out two pieces of cloth “why not do it blind?”.

You’d trained blind before, your earthbending teacher had made you do it all blind initially but that had been a while ago so you were a little out of practice. Combine that with an unfamiliar environment and terrain you hadn’t experienced before and you were way out of your depth. But you’d never admit that to Wei. You walked to your end of the field and tightly tied the bandage around your eyes. You took a strong stance and let Wei attack first. You deflected his shots without retaliation and just worked on getting your bearings. “What’s wrong?” Wei called “not so confident anymore”. You heard his voice come from your left so sent a disk that way. You heard a soft grunt and smiled “and that’s why you shouldn’t talk so much loudmouth”. “Good point” Wei called back and then went silent. So silent you couldn’t even hear him moving. That made you panic.

You moved away from your position as quietly as you could, trying to make sure Wei wouldn’t know where to find you. You were making good progress when you stepped onto a new terrain with a loud crunch. You winced as immediately attacks were sent flying at you. You managed to dodge some by instinct and began moving quicker trying to escape Wei’s range. You lightly ran over the terrain but Wei just followed you. He seemed to gain on you no matter where you ran and so you stopped and maintained your ground. You were on some loose rocky terrain so footing wasn’t good but at least now Wei had to block your attacks. You sent rock and metal flying at him but after a while you didn’t hear anything. “You know...you’re not as good at this as I thought you’d be” Wei said suddenly right next to you. You jumped and backed up but hit a wall. “Yeah...we’ll i’m not done yet”. You strook out at Wei but he sensed that. Wei retaliated by moving the earth beneath your feet making you slip and he took his opportunity. While you were trying to stay upright, he snapped metal around your waist and fixed it to the wall without any hesitation. He simultaneously secured your hands in rocks meaning you couldn’t move. You grunted in shock and breathed heavily, utterly surprised and a little bit annoyed that you’d lost. “I think I win” Wei said coming into view as he tugged your blindfold off your face. “Of course you’d say that” you huffed and Wei laughed “you’re pinned against the wall, i have your hands trapped and i’m holding a massive piece of metal”. You shrugged “I could still get out of this”. “Ow really?” Wei asked and you nodded confidently “easily” and Wei laughed. “God you’re stubborn” he grinned watching you. “I know” you said staring at him “you got a problem with that”. “Nope, I actually rather like it” he smiled tracing your jaw lightly “your confidence is...impressive, I’ve never met someone quite like you”. You smiled in reply and just looked up at him “I know”. Wei laughed shaking his head before his eyes fell to your lips. He dropped the restraints from your body but didn’t step away and neither did you. He closed the distance between you and just when his lips were about to touch yours a voice called out “Wei? Are you there?”. Wei paused centimetres away from you and you felt his body slump “sometimes I hate having so many siblings”. You smirked and Wei moved away from you slowly. Wei stepped out of the shadows and looked around “Opal? I’m down here, what’s wrong?” he called. “There you are!” Opal cried with relief “come quick Mum’s fighting with aunt Lin!”.

You and Wei ran to the gardens to see Lin and Su yin were indeed fighting. You gaped shocked at how good they both were. “Korra shouldn’t you....” you called but Bolin shook his head “this is how siblings fight, they’ll be fine”. You raised an eyebrow but were brought out of your thought by Wei and Wing. “Go mom!” Wei called and you saw Wing frown “what’s wrong with you they could get hurt!”. Wei shook his head “mom won’t get hurt she was trained by the greatest earth bender that ever lived!!”. “So? What is she hurts aunt Lin?”. Wei paused “we have really good medics?”. Wing groaned storming off and Wei sighed “someone’s in a bad mood”. “I mean he does have a point” you shrugged “they could both get hurt”. “Yeah” Wei nodded “but Wing’s just jealous that’s why he snapped”. You frowned feeling bad, “maybe one of us should go after him?”. Wei nodded “sure but I know you’ll make more progress than me”. “But he’s your twin, don’t you know him better than anyone?”. “Yes and that’s why I know without a doubt you running after him will definitely improve his mood”. You laughed shaking your head “fine, i’ll go comfort your brother”. Wei nodded “have fun, but not as much as we had of course...”. Wei grinned at you suggestively and you looked down blushing. “I’ll see you” you replied after a brief pause and rushed after Wing. 

You caught up to Wing quite quickly and spotted him not far away on the path. “Wing!” you called and he paused “y/n?”. “Are you okay?” you asked “Wei thought that was a bit unprovoked”. “I’m fine” Wing sighed “just....I have to finish doing this for Bataar”. You nodded your head “how about I help you? Two metal benders will get it done faster than one”. Wing smiled softly “sure, it’s this way”. He led you into a large laboratory and you whistled impressed. Your job was literally just straightening out some pieces of metal but there was a lot. You got to work but it was boring and slow. “You know you don’t have to help” Wing called after a few minutes and you smiled “was my face that obvious?”. He nodded “go find Wei, it’s okay I don’t mind”. You frowned at how Wing said that, as if you would obviously prefer Wei. You enjoyed your time with Wing just as much as your time with Wei, but Wing didn’t seem to expect that. “No I promised to do this and so I’m going to finish this if it kills me”. Wing laughed and then frowned in thought “well we could talk, that could make it go faster?”. You nodded your head “sure what do you want to talk about? Metal bending? The avatar? How rich you are?”. “I have a question actually” Wing replied and you nodded “shoot”. “What’s your family like?” Wing asked and you paused “mine?”. “Yeah...I just realised I never ever asked, I can’t believe how rude Wei and I have been that we didn’t even ask you about your family”. You laughed “it’s fine, my family is good! Small but good, it’s just me my mom and dad, we were kind of outsiders in our tribe. The water nation isn’t progressive and so many people were wary of my earth nation dad and then me too when I developed earth bending...but then I met Korra and that all changed! Being her friend literally overnight changed my life. My family was no longer shunned but respected and acknowledged and it was all because Korra ordered it” you said smiling fondly “Korra...she’s my best friend in the entire world”. You were cut off from your speech by said best friend. Korra, Asami, Mako and Bolin were walking by and they all of course spotted you. Korra grinned as she looked from you to Wing.  “Well what do we have here?” she asked strutting into the room “the sparring wasn’t enough to get rid of all that tension I see”. You sighed and looked at Wing “forget everything I just told you, Korra I will kill you if you don’t get out and leave us alone this second!”. “Okay I’m going...just keep it PG in here okay? Avatar’s orders!”. You earth bent her out of the door and groaned “Wing I’m so sorry....” but Wing just smiled a small blush on his face “it’s fine...it’s just what family do”. You nodded your head and Wing glanced at you “what she said was true though...I am glad I got to talk to you privately, sometimes it feels like a constant show between me and Wei when you’re around...so it’s nice to talk without feeling any tension or pressure”. “Yeah it is” you smiled “it’s also nice to just talk and not throw rocks at each other”. Wing smiled “yeah, did i miss much earlier when i went with Bataar?”. You blushed slightly remembering how close Wei had come to kissing you and struggled to look Wing in the eye “not much, he showed me the new special feature your dad worked on”. Wing frowned “we were saving that to show you next week...trust Wei to jump the gun”. “Ow sorry I didn’t know” you frowned but Wing shook his head “it’s not your fault it’s Wei, he loves getting the upper hand but you know what? This time I won’t let him”. Wing stood up suddenly and you jumped as he held out a hand to you “come with me”. “Where are we going?” you asked and Wing grinned “Wei isn’t the only one with secrets to show off”.

You followed Wing into the centre of Zafou to a guard tower. The guard recognised Wing and he managed to talk his way inside the building, telling them his mother wanted him to oversee the procedures tonight, whatever that meant. The guard looked at him and then at you sceptically before letting him inside. Wing led you to the top floor and onto an airship that was waiting to take off. You caught it just in time and watched as it soared into the sky. Wing led you to the front of the airship with huge windows and smiled. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me why we’ve stowed away on an airship?”. Wing shook his head “nope! So don’t bother asking”. You nodded your head “okay fine” and Wing paused “wait that’s it, seriously?”. You smiled “I’m not always unreasonable, if you want me to wait and see...then i’ll do that”. Wing nodded his head “i’m impressed, you deserve the best seats, come on!”. Wing led you to a ladder and grinned at you before climbing. When he reached the top he stepped out of a hole onto the top of the airship and moved so you could follow. “It’s a bit cold and it may be a bit too much if you don’t like heights...” Wing started but you cut him off. Your eyes were instantly captured by the view and he doubted you were listening. “Wow!” you yelled leaning over the railing “this is amazing!” and Wing smiled. He joined you by the railing and pulled you back a bit “these railings aren’t my father’s best piece of work so maybe don’t lean on them too much”. “Got it” you nodded “this is amazing Wing, it’s so beautiful, thank you for showing it to me!”. Wing smiled “this isn’t it yet”. “What else could you show me?” you asked and Wing smiled as the creaking sound started “this”. You watched amazed as the giant metal walls of Zafou began to move. They slowly began to bend down towards the ground and you watched amazed as they began fitting into one another. “The gates....they’re closing to form domes” you said amazed “your dad really is the best architect in the world!”. Wing nodded “he is” and you turned your gaze back to the ground. All over the cities domes were forming as the walls closed to form protected perimeters. The metal looked beautiful and shone in the setting sun sending out blinding reflections. Finally the last dome was sealed just as the sun set. “So did you like it?” Wing asked and you grinned “like it! That was amazing! Just when I think this city can’t get any cooler...thank you for showing me this” you smiled and Wing blushed “no problem”. You smirked as he looked away first and stared out at the sealed domes. “If you’re cold we can go back inside” Wing asked and you smiled “I know I’m an earth bender but i’m half water tribe too, this is nothing”. “Ow yeah” Wing asked and you smiled seeing him shiver “but we can back inside if you want?”. “No it’s fine” Wing said “if we go back inside then we’ll get back quicker”. “But you’re cold” you said pointedly “come on, I won’t think less of you just because you can’t handle the cold”. Wing blushed but nodded. Wing led you back inside and you smiled as he walked swiftly to the heater. The ship landed and you were transported back into the centre of Zafou. You stared up at the closed dome, now amazed by them having seen how they worked and Wing laughed grabbing your arm to stop you from falling over. “Stop staring at the sky” he smiled “it’s not a good gift if it makes you injure yourself”. “I can’t help it” you grinned “and either way it will be an amazing gift I’ll always remember!”. Wing smiled but went quiet in thought “better than Wei’s?” he asked suddenly. You paused wondering how to answer that and Wing sighed “sorry i shouldn’t have asked you that....whatever you and Wei do is between you two”. You nodded your head “it is...and honestly I just have a really good time with both of you, it’s not a competition” you added pointedly and Wing blushed “yeah I I know...but with siblings everything feels like one”. You were going to reply when you came around the corner to your home and found all your friends sat outside but there was a new edition. Wei was sat in the middle of your friends and was in the middle of a story. He stopped abruptly as soon as he saw you and smiled “y/n....and my brother”. “Hi” you smiled “what are you doing here?”. “Well he came to find you but you weren’t here” Korra answered before Wei could speak “you should really keep better track of your boys, one got lost” Korra finished and your eyes widened. “Korra i’m going to kill you” you glared but the others all just laughed. Wei blushed and stood up heading towards you. “I’m sorry I hope you weren’t waiting long?” you asked and Wei shot you a dazzling smile “it’s no problem, I was just nearby and thought i’d stop in that’s all...” before he looked at Wing “have you calmed down from earlier?”. Wing nodded “yeah, y/n helped with that”. You felt the heat rise to your cheeks as Wei tried to decipher the meaning of that. “We went for an airship ride” you clarified and Wei nodded “cute date but bet you didn’t show her the underground caverns? That’s the most beautiful place in Zafou, you have to let me take you to go see them!”. You nodded “yeah sure but can we do it tomorrow? I’m beat...you guys really know how to tire someone out”. The brothers both blushed and you smirked at how alike they were sometimes.  “Of course we’ll get out of your hair” Wing grinned “see you tomorrow y/n”. “Bye y/n” Wei echoed and you waved to them before joining your friends on the grass. “So how were your dates?” Mako asked and you rolled your eyes “ha ha very funny”. “I don’t know how you have the time for two boyfriends” Mako continued and you frowned “well didn’t have two girlfriends at one point? Surely you’d understand?”. Bolin hooted and even Asami and Korra laughed at Mako’s embarrassed expression. “Ouch, point taken I’ll shut up” Mako replied and you smiled. “As much fun as it to see you roasting Mako we have news” Korra said. You stared at her expectantly and Korra took a dramatic pause “we’re leaving tomorrow!”. “Tomorrow?” you asked “so soon?”. “Yep first thing in the morning!” Korra explained “Opal’s coming with us so there’s no reason to stay any longer”. Excitement filled you at the thought of seeing an air temple but it was bittersweet. You loved being in a metal bending city and felt like you fit in. Not to mention two men who had made your time here very enjoyable. You frowned “you couldn’t have told me earlier?”. Korra shrugged “you were gone all day!”. You sighed going inside and wrote a message to Wei and Wing. You explained the situation and asked them to meet you at the airship tomorrow morning. You had some farewells to give. 

The next morning

You paced anxiously on the launch pad as there was no sign of Wei or Wing. “I still can’t believe you told me so later Korra” you complained. “Again you were out all day, how was i meant to tell you?”. “I don’t know but you should have told me before Wei and Wing left, you knew I’d want to say goodbye to them”. Korra sighed "their sister is leaving, trust me they’ll show up”. 

The avatar had a way of being right far too often and today was no exception. Not 10 minutes after you scolded Korra Wei and Wing appeared and she shot you an *i told you so* look. You ignored her and rushed forwards “you got my note!” you cried happily and the twins nodded. “Yeah sorry we’re late we had to grab something” Wei explained waving a box he had in his hand. You nodded “well you’re here now” and the two brothers smiled. “I’ve got to admit it’s going to be weird not having you around” Wing frowned. You smiled and Wei nodded “yeah we’re going to miss you, a lot!”. You blushed and laughed “i’ll miss you both too but I mean, once the airbenders are all set up...there’s nothing to say I can’t visit? Or even you guys could come to the temple! Or the water tribe!” you said excitedly to Wing “I promise this won’t be the last you see of me”. “What a shame” Wei joked and you rolled your eyes pushing him. “You know i’m only kidding” he grinned “we will hold you to that promise y/n” he said turning very serious “if we don’t hear from you in 6-months we’re turning up at the air temple”. You laughed and smiled at them both “well I promise that won’t happen, you’ll be hard to forget”. “Well still don’t try too hard eh?” Wei asked and he leant forward to hug you. You wrapped your arms around him tightly and smiled “thanks for letting me kick your ass so much, it’s really boosted my ego”. Wei rolled his eyes but smiled “no problem” and moved away from you. Wing stepped forwards more awkwardly and hugged you more tenderly “take care and don’t let the water tribe get you down, your family sound amazing and they must be if they’re anything like you”. You smiled blushing “thanks, your family’s pretty good too” and stepped back. “Y/n you done yet?” Korra called and you waved her away. “I’m just saying everyone’s onboard apart from you...” before Lin yanked her inside. “Wow even our aunt approves?” Wei frowned and Wing nodded “wait is that a good thing?”. “I’m not sure but I really should go”. “Ow before you go we made you this” Wei said pushing the small box into your hands. You blushed and smiled at them “you did...how many times did you break out into an argument in the process?”. “I stopped counting after the thirtieth time” Wing replied and you laughed before opening the box. Inside was a necklace was an intricated metal pendant, it used various metals which were woven together using very precise bending. “Guys this is beautiful!” you cried “thank you so much, now I have something to remember this trip by”. “It’s no problem” Wei smirked and Wing nodded “we’re just glad you like it”. “I love it” you cried and hugged them both tightly. “But now I really should go...we’re creating a scene”. The brothers laughed and stepped away from you “of course, go...we’ll talk to you later”. You nodded and with a last smile walked up the runway.

The airship took off and after waving goodbye to everyone you collapsed onto a sofa beside Bolin. “Wow who would’ve thought I’d leave Zafou with a girlfriend?” Bolin asked and Korra smirked “yeah but y/n had you beaten, she got two boyfriends and they’re twins!”. You punched Korra’s arm and Bolin laughed. “You know the one good thing about leaving Zafou is you’ll stop teasing me about Wing and Wei now”. “Don’t be too sure about that” Korra grinned and you raised an eyebrow “stop or i’ll starting teasing you about your crush on Asami”. Korra’s eyes widened and flitted to Asami who was across the room talking to Mako”. “What, how do you know?” she cried far too loud for someone trying to keep a secret. “How? You all but announced it” you grinned “you’re crazy for her Korra, anyone can see that”. Bolin nodded backing up your claim and Korra blushed shrugging “I guess I am”. “So truce?” you asked and Korra nodded her head “fine!” and stormed away. You watched her go smiling before you looked out the window where Zafou was disappearing from the horizon. You took the metal necklace out from your pocket and turned it over in your palm You’d hidden it from the others to avoid their teasing but now admired it openly before fastening it around your neck. You touched the pendant as it dangled from your neck and smiled. You wouldn’t be forgetting the Beifong twins anytime soon and you were sure somehow, someway you’d see them again.

[tamakiamajikistentacles]

Bite to Break Skin {Katsuki Bakugo}

A/N: Please be sure to reblog, comment, review, and like if you enjoy! Feedback is what keeps me motivated! Welcome to my first time writing for A/B/O dynamics, one of my absolute favorite things in fanfic. There’s so much potential and I’m definitely interested in exploring it with other characters! Just a small heads up, this one is pretty dialogue heavy throughout.

“C’mon,” he said as his breathing finally slowed, “we gotta get up.”

The fingers combing through his damp hair paused. “Can I wear your shirt?”

“You’ve been wearin’ ‘em for years, ain’t gonna stop you now, idiot,” he huffed as he peeled himself away from her, their skin tacky with sweat. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t be shitty to me, Katsuki, I have your virginity!”

“And I have yours. Even exchange. No reason to stop teasing you,” he grunted. Pulling her to her feet he guided her towards his bathroom with a hand on her lower back.

They cleaned up in easy silence, each of them still feeling the content fuzziness in their minds that now seemed amplified and even better than usual. At different points they briefly wondered if that was normal after losing their virginities.

Probably, they decided. For them it was a natural progression in their over two-year relationship. Having gotten together just after the provisional license exam in their first year their hero course schedules only got busier and they got less time to spend together between classes and training and work studies and internships. But those moments were coveted and left plenty of time for them to take their relationship at the perfect pace for them.

Two years of wandering hands and mouths had culminated that afternoon while the majority of the class had gone to the shopping district and neither of them could regret a single thing about it.

“Katsuki?”

She felt warmth bloom in her chest as he looked over his shoulder, his eyes half-lidded and expression relaxed. “Yeah?”

“I love you,” she smiled, fingers absently twisting the hem of his shirt that she wore.

“’Course you do,” he smirked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and returned them to his bed, the grey sheets rumpled. He bunched them down to the end of the mattress and laid down, pulling her to lie next to him curled into his side.

He was always so warm and she loved it, now especially as the chill of January lingered in the dorm hallways and throughout their rooms. Being close to him as they laid together was one of her favorite things about their relationship. As much as he seemed like a loner in their first weeks at UA she never believed it was true and once they were together behind closed doors he was happy as long as they had some sort of contact with each other. She’d never been prouder of being right than that day.

His attentiveness was something she knew would likely contribute heavily to his secondary gender when he presented in the future. There was no doubt in her mind that he would be an alpha, and an amazing one at that. His protective streak and pride in his own abilities couldn’t be attributed to any other presentation. While she herself was unsure of what she would present as, he had always promised that it didn’t matter.

“Alphas want omegas but I want you, and that means I get you no matter what we are,” he’d grumbled one evening not that long ago when she revealed her fears of presenting as a beta and not being what his alpha would need. “Secondary gender can go fuck itself if it thinks I’d leave you over some random omega. Shit, you don’t even know if I’d be an alpha anyway, dumbass.”

If she hadn’t been sure about him before, that conversation had cemented it in her mind and in her heart. Katsuki Bakugo was the one for her and it sent her heart into a tailspin to know that he felt the same way.

She pressed herself closer to him, basking in the warmth of his body and of her thoughts.

“You’re warm,” he mumbled against her forehead.

“So’re you.”

“Nah, your skin’s pink like you took one of your showers from hell.”

She huffed out a laugh. “’M fine, Katsuki. It’s ‘cause you’re warm and I’m still kinda hot from before.”

“You’re always hot,” he said with a pinch to the seat of her underwear.

“Just cuddle me, you ass.”

His arms tightened around her and they laid together in comfortable silence. At one point she started to doze against the warmth of Katsuki’s chest, one hand on his hip at the waistband of his sweats. She’d never felt safer.

In the middle of her dreamless nap she awoke to a persistent poking to her nose. When she opened her eyes, her boyfriend’s furrowed brow came into focus as she blinked. He pressed the back of his hand against her forehead.

“You’ve got a fever.”

She wanted to protest but the trails of sweat she could feel having trickled down her back was unmistakable. She definitely felt warm but she wasn’t disoriented or feeling sick.

“It’s like a full body fever,” Katsuki muttered, dropping his hand from her forehead.

“I feel really hot, but I don’t feel sick,” she told him, sleep leaving her as confusion took over.

He fisted the collar of the shirt she wore at the base of her neck, squeezing for just a moment before pulling back a glistening hand.

“Shirt’s soaked with sweat, take it off and I’ll get you one of my tanks,” he said, rolling out of bed and walking over to his drawers.

She peeled the sticky fabric from her skin, the feeling more uncomfortable than the fact that she was sitting topless once it was off. Nothing Katsuki hadn’t seen plenty of times after all.

A black tank top hit her chest before falling to her lap and she picked it up immediately, pressing her nose into the bundle. It’d barely been a minute since he left her side but she needed the comfort. Which is why when all she smelled was the scent of detergent her nose wrinkled.

“It doesn’t smell like you,” she complained, and he laughed from where he was straightening the other tank tops in his drawer.

“It’s clean, dumbass, I haven’t worn it yet. I’ll be next to you again in like two seconds anyway.”

“Hurry up,” she whined, slipping the tank top over her head and surprising him with her needy tone. “I haven’t smelled roasting chestnuts in almost two minutes, this is cruel. I even miss the little bit of sugar.”

He turned to her with furrowed brows. “I smell like that right now?”

“You smell like that all the time, ever since I’ve known you. What, you don’t know what your own cologne smells like anymore? You gone nose blind?”

He shook his head slowly. “My cologne is sandalwood. Always has been. The sugar I’ll give you because of my quirk but your perfume has nothing on that with your sweet cherries’n shit.”

Now it was her turn to be confused. “That’s not my perfume, Katsuki. My perfume is the same floral one I’ve worn since middle school, it’s not fruity or sweet at all. Come here, do I smell like that now?”

He crossed back over to the bed and sat in front of her, gently tugging her forward to press his nose into her hair. Her face tucked under his chin and she breathed in the same familiar scent.

“Sugared cherries just like always,” he muttered. “Do I…?”

“Mhm, roasted chestnuts with a pinch of sugar,” she replied almost dreamily. It was stronger than usual, but maybe that’s because she was concentrating on it. It felt like it was surrounding her and through her and it made her skin burn hotter. It was good. So so good, and she wanted and she needed more.

She pressed herself closer to him, his confused grunt falling on deaf ears until he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her from himself to look at her. He’d felt her skin grow warmer against his bare chest, the heat startling. But when he looked at her panic shot through him as she doubled over with a whimper.

He called her name but she didn’t answer, just clutched her stomach harder while curling further into herself and whining low in her throat.

“Alright, hey, hey, listen, okay? I’m calling Aizawa, he’ll help us figure out what’s wrong,” he tried to soothe, pulling her back into his chest. Her skin burned against his but he needed her to know he was here, he wasn’t going anywhere when she wasn’t alright.

It was awkward trying to reach his phone on the bedside table with her curled against him but he was hellbent on making her feel better and if that meant practically popping his shoulder out of its socket with the stretch so fucking be it.

“What’s wrong, Bakugo?” was the greeting he got and he immediately started listing off what was happening as she continued to tremble in his lap.

“She’s burning up to the point I feel like I’m touching an oven and she—”

“Todoroki’s still in the dorms, call him up and have—”

“NO!” he snarled into the phone. “He doesn’t need to be near her, just tell me how I can help her! She’s in fucking pain and nearly incoherent right now! You’re not fucking helping me!”

Aizawa was silent for a long moment. “Bakugo, where are you two?”

“We’re in my dorm and I’d appreciate if you could save the damn lecture for when she’s actually conscious enough to fuckin’ hear it too.”

“How long has she been like this? What was she doing when she started feeling the fever? Is there anything that’s—”

“For fuck’s sake, I don’t know! An hour or so and we were just here, she was asleep while I scrolled through my phone.”

Aizawa’s tone went knowing as he prompted, “And before that?”

He weighed his options for answering. They were already in shit for her being on the boys’ side of the dorms, how much worse could it be? They were consenting adults and they were responsible about it and if it did help figure out why she was—

“That’s what I thought,” Aizawa sighed before he could decide how to answer. “I can’t be there to help but I’m sending Recovery Girl. Try and keep her comfortable until she arrives.”

When the line went dead, he could only mumble out curses as he dropped his phone and kept her pressed against him. Her little noises of pain had lessened and she didn’t feel as tightly coiled in his arms as she had, but he was still worried. At least the old lady might actually be able to do something.

“Well I must hand it to Aizawa,” Recovery Girl chuckled as she pulled the thermometer from her lips, “the man does know his students.”

“The hell are you laughing for?” Bakugo hissed. He had been pacing back and forth while she examined her, hovering close and getting more frustrated by the moment. Sure, his girlfriend didn’t seem to be in pain at the moment but he wanted whatever caused it to be taken care of now.

“Don’t take that tone with me, boy, you may be an alpha but I won’t be disrespected.”

He did a double take, sputtering, “An alpha? I’m eighteen, I haven’t presented!”

She smiled in amusement. “Not fully, no, but you’re both presenting as we speak. Fated mates can present at an earlier age when establish an intimate connection prior to turning twenty. It likely hit her first being an omega and that pulled you over too. I must say I’m a bit surprised as fated mates are quite rare at your age, though maybe even more so that this took so long. It’s admirable of you children to take things slow but when I was your age—”

“We’re fated mates?” she murmured, breaking the older woman’s rambling. “So we…?”

“Quite a spin on the high school sweetheart’s trope wouldn’t you say? Certainly a story for the pups.”

“Wait, so she’s burning up because…” he trailed off as his cheeks flushed pink. “This is…”

“Yes, yes, this is her heat beginning and your rut will follow, keep up boy. I’m sure I don’t need to go into detail on that—”

“NO!” they shouted together, mortified.

She laughed, high pitched and maniacal. “Oh alright, I’ve had my fun. You children are so easy to poke at these days. But I do suppose we need to get you prepared for the next week or so. Dear, make a list of things you’ll need from your room and Bakugo will go fetch them for you.”

“I can’t just go myself?”

“Look at that boy’s face and tell me he’s alright with you leaving his den.”

Of course when she looked to him Katsuki’s face was contorted into an angry grimace, his lips twitching back to bare his teeth.

“Just tell me what you need,” he ground out, and she quickly rattled off everything she could think of that she may possibly need. Without a word he disappeared through the door, a lingering touch to her hand a silent promise to return quickly so as to soothe any worries of abandonment or actions that could be interpreted as rejection by her inner omega.

Recovery Girl turned the chair towards her and grabbed her bag from the floor. “We have a few things to discuss now, dear.”

She went over the arrangements made by Aizawa for their classes and schoolwork as well as daily drop offs of prepared bento boxes for them since they wouldn’t be leaving Bakugo’s room. Their parents had been contacted which sent a fresh wave of nausea through her for reasons other than the heat, but she was assured that it wasn’t as a punishment since they were both eighteen. Still, she could only image the conversation she would hear at the end of her heat when she heard from home.

Expectations of what would happen during the shared heat and rut were next and she while she was sure her face couldn’t get any hotter, she was proven wrong. As awkward as it was though, at least she was talking it over with another woman; having the same conversation with Aizawa would have killed her.

Finally, it seemed that the verbal torture was finished as Recovery Girl reached into her medical bag with one hand and beckoned her closer with the other.

“Let me see your arm, I need to give you a preventative injection.”

“Ah, I uhm,” she stuttered, cheeks still reddened but not from the heat, “I’m already taking…”

Recovery Girl shook her head with a chuckle. “Presenting alters your existing biology by releasing additional hormones which awaken parts of your mind and body that contribute to the primal instincts of your secondary gender. Generic contraceptive methods would be fine for a newly presented beta but as an omega the hormones released at presentation boost your fertility to a point where the pill may as well be candy for all the prevention it does.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, ‘oh.’ Now unless you and that boy of yours have decided that you want pups within the year I need to give you this.” The syringe was brandished in front of her.

She held out her arm and she cleaned the area with a swab before feeling the familiar prick to her skin and the cold chill spread into her heated blood.

“Any last questions for me before he gets back?”

She went to shake her head but paused. “Just… what about our quirks?”

“Nothing to worry about, dear. Quirks take a backseat during these times unless a threat arises. Once bonded you will kill and die for the other and your pups, but for right now you two shouldn’t have an issue. I’d say ‘won’t’ but I think we both know your class has a habit of finding trouble, hm?”

“More like trouble finds us,” came a grunt from the doorway.

Katsuki reentered the room with her laundry basket on his hip and a tote bag over his shoulder. He visibly relaxed as he crossed the threshold and set her things on the floor at the foot of his bed.

She sat down on the plush area rug to go through what he’d brought, her legs tucked beneath her as Recovery Girl began speaking to him about the upcoming week like she’d done for her.

Rifling through the laundry basket she pulled out her pillows and blankets as well as her favorite hoodies, then she pulled everything out of the tote and put those sweaters and shirts onto Katsuki’s bed. Once everything was piled atop his sheets she began to sort through everything, enjoying the familiar smell of her own things mixing with the scent of Katsuki’s den. She hoped he would scent a few of his shirts and let her use his pillows and blankets for her nest.

“…and once you know the heat and rut have passed I’d like you to give me a call so I can come and assess you two.”

“Whatever,” Katsuki mumbled, his cheeks burning from the conversation as he took the offered slip of paper with her number. He’d never been more relieved to have a conversation end, and as soon as the door closed behind the terrible old bat he turned back to his girlfriend and his heart nearly stopped.

She was absently arranging his sheets with some of what he’d brought from her dorm to make the beginnings of her nest. Their combined scents filled his room to an almost dizzying potency but he had never felt more alive, more proud, and his inner alpha growled happily in his chest. Here was his mate, his omega, building a sweet-smelling nest in his den for the two of them and their pups.

The thought of pups broke through the haze of his instincts to allow nerves to set it. They were only eighteen and just about to finish their last few months at UA before becoming fully licensed heroes. Having pups wasn’t something they could do, at least… at least not now.

Recovery Girl had mentioned the preventative and rationally he knew that she wouldn’t give them something designed to fail and he was grateful for that but at the same time, he’d love to have pups with his mate. She was everything he could ever imagine wanting in a partner and he knew his mate would be the best mother to his pups. He’d thought so long before they presented and he was sure he’d think it until he took his last breath.

Her soft voice brought him out of his musings as she looked up at him through her lashes and shyly asked, “Could you… scent a few of your shirts and sweaters? For the nest?”

“’Course,” he replied, and seeing her eyes flicker towards his discarded pillows added, “You can use anything of mine. We’re mates.”

The heat-induced flush on her cheeks darkened slightly with embarrassment, but she nudged his pillow towards him anyway. He grabbed it and held it in his hands feeling both uncharacteristically anxious about scenting something for the first time and filled with pride at his mate seeking out his scent for her nest.

As he scented different things for her and she took them to construct their home for the next week or so he could see the flush fading little by little and he saw less sweat droplets running down her hairline. It was almost as if the larger and more structured the nest grew the tamer her inner omega became. That soothed him too, making him thankful for the calm before the storm of her first heat really began and pulled his rut to the forefront with it.

He leaned against the far wall as she worked in silence arranging their things into the what he assumed was a perfect nest—he didn’t know much about omega nesting instincts but it looked inviting enough to him that he had no qualms about spending the next week tangled with her in the textile haven. It was as if the movement she caused sent more of that sweet smell of hers wafting through the room and he could’ve sworn the sugary scent was getting stronger by the moment.

With a few last cursory pats to the sweatshirt walls she looked up at him.

"Do you think we'll lose ourselves in the heat and rut?" she asked quietly, shifting from foot to foot.

Katsuki sighed. "That's what happens with most people."

"You know, I… I knew you were it for me a long time ago, Katsuki. This morning is an amazing memory and I guess, even if this is how we get to spend the rest of our lives I'd like to remember this first too."

"Then maybe we can bond before it fully hits. I can… smell that it's going to hit hard again and that you're already feeling it creep up.”

The slick feeling between her thighs meant he was probably right. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I guess I'm just nervous."

"Hey, I know this whole thing became way bigger than either of us thought but I’m still me—the alpha part doesn’t change that. Shit I couldn’t even think of hurting you without wanting to die before, can you imagine what type of insufferably sweet asshole I’m gonna be now?” he asked with only mild disgust as he crossed his room to lay one hand on her hip and the other on her cheek.

The smile he received was worth the uncomfortable admission of his feelings; reassurance wasn’t his forte and sharing his feelings even less so but he’d always try for her.

“I know, and I’m happy you’re the one I get to be with.”

“C’mon, your nest looks good,” he said, easing her forward towards his bed. “We able to get in it yet?”

She kissed his cheek. “Yeah, let’s get in our nest, alpha.”

The shudder was hard for him to suppress, but he allowed her to pull him into the plush space where they laid together once more. They laid on their sides facing one another and Katsuki reached out to stroke his thumb over the back of her hand where it lay between them.

It was an unspoken agreement to take all the time they could before allowing themselves to indulge in the instincts of their new secondary genders, and they spoke quietly about what it all meant for them.

Mates were more permanent than marriage and fated mates even more so. The idea of claiming bites at only eighteen was daunting but at the same time it was always the plan anyway. Of course they knew they’d present but that seemed far off and more inconsequential the longer they were together prior to a few hours ago. They had their after-graduation plans and a claim had been a mutual desire, and even pups sometime in the far future. Secondary gender, as Katsuki had loved to point out, wouldn’t change that.

But with the presentations occurring and revealing them as an alpha/omega pair there were still some things that hadn’t been discussed or planned for, and they needed to be addressed.

“I’m getting warmer,” she murmured.

“We’ve got a long week ahead of us but it’s nothing we can’t handle,” he smirked.

She gave him a weak smile and pushed past her nerves to bring up what had been on her mind since her talk with Recovery Girl.

"Will… will you…?"

"If you want to, we can bond now while we're still mostly clear-headed. Some shit I’d like to remember too, you know?"

Her cheeks went pink. "No—well, yes that's probably a good idea but I… I'm… will you actually knot me?"

He choked on his tongue. "Fuck, shit, do you want me to? Do I need to? For your heat?"

"I don’t— Don't you need it to get through your rut?"

"It's… I don't want to make the decision for you, alright? If you want me to I will and if you don’t I won’t. ‘S always your choice.”

She rolled onto her side to face him, one hand rising up to trace his cheekbone and the slope of his nose, even the dip of his cupid’s bow until she came to a stop at his chin. She pressed lightly and he turned his head to look at her.

“I’m not afraid of you or anything like that. It’s all just very sudden and a lot to wrap my head around, you know? Six hours ago we were virgins and now we’re literally together for life. That’s not bad, just a lot.”

“I know,” he mumbled. “But it’s why I want you to make the call. I ain’t gonna force you to do something you don’t want. We got forever to figure our shit out.”

She laughed. “Yeah we do. For now though, I want you to. We’re gonna bond today and then heatshare, rutshare, and get tied together for the next week. This morning was amazing and now that we know we’re fated mates I think that’s gonna make it even better.”

“Once is all it took to get you addicted, huh?”

“Shut up!” she whined as she pushed against his shoulder and turned away with a blush. His loud laughter echoed throughout his room and she crossed her arms with a pout.

“Oi. Look at me.”

She rolled onto her side to face him again, lips still pouted cutely. His eyes were soft as he looked over her face and she felt proud of the small smile upturning his mouth as he did.

He reached out to smooth a hand over her hair and then gently nudged her shoulder. “Lie back.”

She moved onto her back and he settled himself over her, lying between her parted legs. It was familiar and made her smile; they’d laid together like this a hundred times over the course of their relationship and maybe it was the perfect way to cross into something more permanent.

“Katsuki,” she murmured, feeling his hands go below the tank top. He pushed it up and over her head, tossing it to the side and fixing her with an unwavering gaze.

His hands slid beneath her, pressed between her body and the sheets below, and he kissed her softly. Her hands slid up his back before settling over the solid muscle of his shoulders.

“’M gonna be the best alpha on the fuckin’ planet,” he said as they pulled apart. His lips ghosted over her cheek and down her jaw to settle at her neck. “Know I already got the best omega.”

“Will you say it?” she asked quietly, closing her eyes.

The huff of a laugh and curl of his lips on her skin made her shiver. He moved in closer to her and raised up to whisper exactly what she wanted.

“I love you.”

Her arms tightened around him and tried pulling him closer but she knew it would never feel like enough until they bonded.

Katsuki seemed to understand that too because he moved back to her neck and grazed his lips teasingly for just a second before sinking his teeth into the perfect spot as a claim.

She gasped as her head tipped back at the rush of sensations that seemed to flow from the bite. Her brain filled with static but her body felt a rush of coldness like ice water had been poured over her to combat the heat she’d been feeling for so long. Her heart sped up in her chest and she knew it was synched perfectly with Katsuki’s. The entirety of her being was aligned with his and the bond cemented as she let herself move forward and bite into her mate’s neck to stake her own claim.

Time seemed to speed up before slowing down again when she was tasting blood off of both her and Katsuki’s lips as his hands cradled her face and kissed her deeply. The coolness she had experienced during the claim had been almost completely swallowed by the heat she felt pulsing through her and becoming tangible as a needy whine against his mouth. He was so close and smelled so perfect and she wondered if she could feel him closer, her hands digging into the defined muscles of his shoulders as she held him against her.

“Look at my pretty mate,” he said lowly, his voice hushed. He nosed against the underside of her jaw just above the fresh bite as his hands roamed over her torso. “My omega, smellin’ so sweet just for me.”

The purr that bubbled from her lips surprised her but his warm hands on her and the quiet praise pushed it aside quickly when he kneaded her chest.

Her hands traced over his arms, fingers trailing down over dips of muscle. “The strongest alpha I know is all mine. I’m so lucky to have such a handsome mate.”

A please growl rumbled through his chest as her fingers hooked in his waistband and began sliding down the sweatpants until he was able to kick them off. He quickly returned the favor with her underwear to leave them both completely bare. With their scents completely unhindered for the first time with the bond formed, they could both smell the heavy, warm sweetness of roasted chestnuts and cherries that filled his dorm room. It was spicy but soft and made their heads spin knowing that this was them.

Katsuki’s hands roamed the familiar curves of her body as he leaned forward to kiss around the bite mark, feeling her lips against his neck as she did the same to him. Shivers ran up his spine at the contact and a groan escaped him as his fingers reached the apex of her thighs.

“Tell me what you need.”

She whined, hands splayed on his toned stomach.

“C’mon, tell your alpha what you need,” he coaxed.

“You,” she whispered. “Your knot. Your pups. Our pups.”

When we’re ready, was the silent understanding about the request.

Their hips met as Katsuki rolled his forward, breathy moans coming from both of them as they relished the still-new feeling of intimacy and clutched onto one another tighter.

Instincts took over, cutting the moment short, and filled with room with groans and whines and pleas between the two of them. There was no slow fumbling like there had been earlier but instead the primal need to be closer and chase the pleasure that came with the heat and rut.

She kissed him hard as the heat throughout her body pooled low in her stomach and she could tell the difference in the feeling of closeness but her hazy mind couldn’t dwell on it past knowing that this was what she needed, what would finally cool her down at least a bit.

“You’re mine,” she murmured as her back arched up from the bed and her nails dug into his shoulders.

“’M yours. You’re mine,” he grunted, mouthing at the bite once more.

Their scents were overwhelming the closer they came to their end.

“C’mon alpha, need your knot,” she whined, crying out as he still within her.

His teeth sank into the bond mark fully again, and she bit into his as she felt exactly what her inner omega needed, what she herself wanted, and allowed herself to succumb to the feeling of contentment and pleasure she would live in with her mate going forward. Warm and sated and full and safe with her alpha was where she wanted to stay.

“Bakugo. A word.”

He stalked over to his teacher, watching his mate step into the hallway from the corner of his eye. The new bond was sensitive and he was anxious when he couldn’t be with her. “What?”

“May I ask which of you proposed the idea of a non-traditional bite?”

“The hell are you talking about? We both have bites and they’re scarring the right way.”

Aizawa regarded him silently for a moment before waving him off. “It’s not important. Go.”

The blonde rolled his eyes and left the room, and he gathered his sleeping bag in his arms to set up in the corner for his midday nap.

It was annoying and awkward to have to deal with the paperwork and phone calls to guardians because two of his problem children couldn’t keep it in their pants while on campus—what he wouldn’t give to have seen Mitsuki Bakugo deal with this shit—and he certainly didn’t like the fact that he had to relay to the class what had happened either. He had prepared what would’ve been one of his best punishments to date for when the overwhelming scent of newly presented and bonded mates had lessened at least a bit, but it had all been abandoned the moment the two stepped up to speak with him.

Her embarrassment was obvious, the fact that her twice her age male teacher knew exactly what had been happening in that room for the past week probably enough to make her want to vomit, but furious blush aside she held herself well. Bakugo had (likely somewhat unintentionally) over scented the room alarmingly with equal parts calm for his mate and warning to his alpha teacher, his own blush prominent.

What stood out though, was the bond mark on her neck. It was already scarring which was to be expected and its placement was correct but it was backwards. Traditionally a bond mark was given to an omega by an alpha in the midst of a shared heat and rut, primal positioning meaning that the bite was given from behind. It was biology, instinct, the overwhelming need to lay claim—he understood that, had experienced it many times over even long after a bond mark was given. Fated mates were more susceptible to this too, especially when presenting early.

But this type of bonding mark made him think that it wasn’t fueled by that need or desire built deep into the rumbling chest of an alpha. At least, not completely. Looking into someone’s eyes was intimate, vulnerabilities laid bare before the person they’re going to spend their life with. That wasn’t easy, and a week prior he would’ve said that Bakugo would probably never be able to do it. To see that it was quite the opposite and seemingly unconscious on his part was fascinating.

He considered that instinct wasn’t the reason but the more he thought about it as he sat cocooned within the warmth of his sleeping bag, the more he realized it may actually be the opposite. Maybe it was instinct. Love was funny like that sometimes.

A/N: Please be sure to reblog, comment, review, and like if you enjoy! Feedback is what keeps me motivated! I have a few ideas about a possible sequel for this story that would take place in the future when they’re ready, though nothing concrete just yet!

[wisehq]

Mission Debrief: Chapter Forty-two

...It's all coming together.

I'm just going to come outright and say it; I had no idea what to write for this review- not because there wasn't anything to discuss, but rather this chapter gave us so much that I didn't know what to focus on first. Chapter forty-two has single-handedly thrown open the doors to a hundred different theories, and believe me when I say that after a whole night of redbull and theorizing I couldn't come up with any clear answers (the folks over at the Strix discord group can attest to that).

So here's what we're gonna do; I'm not going to focus on the chapter itself.

It was cute. Cardshark Anya is hilariously awesome. Damian is a little shit (whom I adore), and the chapters where the kids can just be kids are- in my opinion- the best.

That's all I'm going to say on the matter. For the rest of this review, I want to go over all the facts we know so far about the story and setting. All of the things Endo has been slowly building up in the background and the pieces that we can stitch together from them, starting with this chapter. Two key things stuck out to me.

In the entirety of the story up till this point, this is the first time we have heard mention of a royal anything- and not only that, but this chef is a former royal chef. This of course implies that a) said chef was fired (not likely given that Eden wouldn't likely associate with someone who was disgraced like that) or retired, or b) that there is no royalty anymore. Ostania is a totalitarian state and the main power of the government- from what we've seen- lies with the ruling political party, i.e the National Unity Party, a.k.a Desmond's party. Such a political structure would have no room for royalty in a governing capacity, and therein begs the question; is there still a royal/noble class- albeit in a non-governing sense- or was it abolished sometime in the recent past?

Classical language is not proper speaking and diction like I had originally thought. Classical language is a specific term typically used to describe a dead language or dialect (think Latin, or Hebrew before it was revived). I find this particularly interesting because under no circumstance would a child as young as Anya know anything about a dead language unless- as Loid points out- she was exposed to it as a toddler. It would have had to have been when she was very young, as she herself doesn't realize she knows this information. This would mean she likely learned it from her birth family; Anya was old enough to remember the lab and scientists, meaning she became Subject 007 later on in life- otherwise she would have remembered knowing classical language.

These two concepts are incredibly important to keep in mind, both now and later on as the story progresses. We now know that a royal class plays a factor in the political game that Twilight and everyone else is playing, and we know that Anya knows information that she shouldn't know otherwise (even with her mind-reading powers). So where does that leave us?

Honestly, for the first time...I'm kind of stumped?

Let's look back at the story and see what else we can piece together- maybe there's something in there we can extrapolate for our purposes. Another clue to point us in the direction that Endo is seemingly funneling us towards.

From chapter forty-one

Franklin Perkins was a man who believed in making his country a better place to live. In his eyes and from what he saw, Ostania wasn't going in the right direction- but why? He blames his lack of money for his mother's death, and we see him hold resentment towards the government over socialistic policies. Wealth is something to be shared with others, not hoarded for ones self. That seems to be where Ostania's moral compass is pointing towards, but is that really the case?

From chapter 39

Mr. Green mentions that people have been fleeing to Westalis; from the way he says this it sounds like this is happening currently- not in the past- and people are going so far as to travel through a third country just to get to Westalis. Such a journey isn't without its perils, so anyone attempting to crossover from Ostania would likely be taking a huge risk in doing so. Not only that, but most of what we've seen in the story is Ostanians loathing Westalins...so what would compel people to do this in the first place?

From chapter three As Anya reads the minds of people gathered at a politcal rally near the start of the manga, we see their disgruntled thoughts behind her. There's multiple mentions of losing jobs and not having enough money- some people are even hungry. Most of these people blame Westalis for their troubles, though not the leader of the rally, ironically.

Also from chapter 3

We find out (and often forget) early on that there are multiple political parties in Ostania. Donovan leads the National Unity Party, whereas the political rally we see here is hosted by the Nationalist Party. The latter preaches peace with the west, but many of the people gathered reject this outright. This is important; the N.U.P is the most successful political party in Ostania, which means a majority of the country's citizens approve of their platform. If we're to assume the Nationalist Party's platform is to advocate for peace with Westalis, then we must also assume that the N.U.P stands for the opposite; direct aggression with the west.

From chapter 31 The Zacharis Dossier, though ultimately a bust, hinted at rumors that have permeated East and West since the start of the cold war. We know for a fact that human experiments did indeed take place in Ostania, so it also stands to reason that there is at least a kernel of truth to the claims of P.O.W (prisoner of war) massacres conducted by the west. It's a heinous crime, and also one that leads to another question; why would any country go through with it in the first place? In addition, piggy-backing off the former point;

From chapter 19 While Loid details Project Apple, he uses the word 'regime' to describe the former Ostanian government. The literal definition of a regime is a government, especially an authoritarian one (Oxfrod Dictionary). I won't highlight all the specifics of what is and isn't authoritarianism, but essentially the point I'm trying to make here is that the current Ostanian administration is still very much a regime. Donovan acts as the authoritarian ruler (or would-be ruler; we don't know if he's actively in charge or is looking to usurp power for himself) and continues on the legacy of the former government. We know for a fact that this is the case because Anya is only at most 6 years old, likely even younger. That would mean the experiments being run on her had to have been recent, which fits with the time frame that we established at the beginning of this rabbit hole- it also aligns with what we know about what Donovan has been doing on the back end of things. Those who have kept up with my reviews know what I'm talking about; gloom pharmaceuticals, the truth serum, OSO-R, etc. All of that, which then leads us to...

...right back where we started. So...what then? What can we conclude from all this? At least a few things;

Anya is tied to Desmond- either directly or indirectly.

Anya's past is also Ostania's past; she's familiar with a dead language that's no longer spoken, and there's definitely a reason why no one speaks it anymore.

Ostania is in a period of political and economic turmoil. This also comes on the heels of a (possible) former monarchy, and the struggle of a country willing to embrace authoritarianism so long as it means staying alive.

WISE and Westalis are not innocent in this game of chess with Ostania and the SSS, and more than likely have committed atrocities that may or may not be directly tied to Ostania and- possibly- Anya's past.

And...this is as far as I can go. I've hit a wall, as have other people I've talked to. We're still missing pieces to the puzzle. Endo will of course provide us with more clues and theory fodder as the weeks and months progress, but for now this is as far as I can go on my own. On the one hand I feel defeated because I can't come up with a meaningful explanation for everything and present it in a neat little bundle for you all to read, but on the other hand I'm thoroughly enjoying this. I'm more engaged with this manga and story than any other I've read before; I'm at the edge of my seat every week, and I'm sure most of you are, too. For now, I'll leave the review here. I find it fitting to leave it open ended, just as Endo did with Loid's self-imposed question. Hopefully, like him, we can find answers in the near future.

Also, BONUS...

...No fun panel with a snappy comment this time. Instead, I’m going to humbly ask for your help.

If you have any ideas about where you think the story is going, theories as to how everything fits together, or just really want to discuss the manga with other fans- please check out our forum and share with us. We’d love to hear what you all think; not only that, but a lot more heads makes theorizing both more productive and a whole lot more fun. Check it out if you have the time, or- if you don’t feel like clicking on any links- you can always leave a comment either on this post or send us an ask or message. Anytime, any reason, we’d love to talk SxF.

Again, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you all next chapter!