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lord-explosion-baku · 3 years ago

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Trident Tale

Merman!Shinsou x reader, Kirishima x Reader

Warnings: adult themes (Minors DNI)

A/N: read the prologue on AO3

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

(Original image by @maewoahoah)

Synopsis: Moving to an island where everyone is big on the surf scene and other oceanic happenings might not have been the brightest idea for someone so afraid of anything that has to do with water, but you make do by spending your days looking after the Bed & Breakfast, trying not to burn the house down when you fry a few eggs, and obsessively scrolling through Eijirou Kirishima’s social media page. He’ll never notice you, and you think you’re fine with that, until a mysterious force washes into Ms. Shuzenji’s pool after a particularly nasty storm.

Hitoshi Shinsou is a pain in the ass from the get-go, but you put up with him, fins and all, when he promises he can help unite you with your soulmate. The catch? The fish is hellbent on taking back what was stolen from him, and he won’t lift a gracious finger until he gets what he came for.

You’re helpless to lend him a hand, so long as you stay dry. Unless, of course, he has other plans.

You know how the saying goes: you rub his fins, he’ll rub yours.

Storms have never really been your cup of tea. Though you keep yourself locked inside a good percent of the time, there’s nothing quite as suffocating as the compress of clouds overhead. It’s not like you always have to see them to be uncomfortable, but you definitely feel them pressing down, closing in, and caging you, even when you’ve got yourself tucked under a blanket on Ms. Shuzenji’s couch.

It’s been a little over a year since you first moved to the island. All you needed was a new beginning, and you got that, but you got that, and the tropical weather that you’re still getting used to. It’s currently typhoon season, and holy seaweed-on-your-doorstep, is it storming.

There’s little you can do to distract yourself while staying and working at Shuzenji’s bed and breakfast. There are currently no guests, aside from you, so all the rooms are made, and the old lady is on another one of her long vacations, so you’re basically being paid to lounge. You’re grateful for that, at least. But the only thing that’s keeping you physically separated from the terrifying weather is a thick glass pane that water sloshes on every time a wave laps over the backyard walls.

The things that separate you mentally are the old-timey recordings of Shuzenji singing alongside an ensemble cast, and the little device in your hand. If you didn’t have your boss’s haunting melodies echoing throughout the house, and some big, beefy, tatted eye-candy to gawk at during the storm, you’d surely go insane.

Eijirou Kirishima, one of the island’s best surfers, is out on his board, live-streaming his current fight against the waves. His whoops and hollers can be heard over the crashing tides, getting even you excited for what’s about to come. That’s the thing about Kirishima; he’s wild, you’re not, and it’s hot as hell. Oftentimes, you catch yourself daydreaming about joining him out in the surf—he guides you through the waves, maybe yoou impress him a bit with your sudden affinity for wave-riding, and the two of you wash up on shore where you’ll both share your first kiss. It would be feasible if you could swim. It would be feasible if you bothered to learn how to swim, but for now, you’re content with your imagination. At least he can make you hate the terrible weather a little less.

The conspiratorial smirk he shows the camera is borderline swoon-worthy when the swell begins to pull him further out. It’s impossible not to bite your lip every time you catch a glimpse of his arms forcing themselves through the sea. He makes this look easy—like the storm is child’s play, and as the winds blow Shuzenji’s trash bin into the sliding glass door, you welcome the delicious distraction.

As Kirishima stands up on his signature trident board and rides one of the biggest waves he’s seen all day, you’re once again struck with how much of a coward you are. He can fight the elements, while you can hardly bring yourself the courage to talk to him. Mind you, he’s constantly surrounded by a close group of friends—a close group of friends you find intimidating—and when he’s not with them, he’s out in the water. Where there’s water involved, you’re spoken for. Unless, of course, you’d like for the first time you guys actually speak, to be when he’s giving you CPR.

Not the most ideal “meet cute”, but if it works, it works.

A loud crash snaps you out of your admittedly salty daydream. Mango, Shuzenji’s orange tabby, yowls at the blanket of water cascading down the windows, and your stomach sinks. There’s only so many minutes you can pretend that the storm Kirishima is facing isn’t the one that’s destroying Shuzenji’s yard.

With a sigh, you roll off the velvet couch, and grimace when crumbs that were nesting in your shirt fall to the carpet: a mess to clean up later. Without any guests to mind, you don’t have to worry too much over keeping the place spick-and-span, so long as things are nice and tighty by the time the old lady gets back, which will be awhile.

You have an easy enough job—at least, when there aren’t bunches of thick seaweeds crashing over the yard’s wall, flooding the pool.

“Shit.”

Water sprays in every direction. The already trash-infested pool overflows as more kelp rolls in with the maniacal waves, and angry, white foam bangs on the back door. It's a disaster outside, and you’re not sure what to do about it.

Fingers wrapped around the back door handle, you struggle to think of a way to prevent a bigger mess, but even if you could manage to clean anything, nothing is stopping the tempest from wreaking anymore havoc. Best case scenario, you stop a plastic soda-chain from washing out to see and becoming a deadly necklace for an unlucky seagull. Worst case scenario, you slip, crack your head open on the pavement, and drown before you can ever utter the words “mahalo” to Kirishima.

Needless to say, you’ll take your life over a gull’s any day.

Another sigh.

A greater wave collides against the wall, bringing more of the Great Unknown into the pool. This is going to be a fun job to clean. Good thing you’ve got Shuzenji’s service boy, Denki Kaminari, on speed dial. You think if you sound particularly distressed in the morning, he’ll show up to help you out with just about anything in the matter of minutes. God bless desperate fuckboys.

So, for now, you cuddle back up on the couch, watch Kirishima shake saltwater out of his thick, red hair, and pretend that his storm is not the same thing as your storm.

It’s early morning when you finally rise out of bed. You hadn’t gotten a whole lot of rest—something to do with the wailing winds shaking your bedroom window nonstop, but after you finally drifted into dreams about snakes and dragons, you woke to clear skies, and light seagull calls.

From the second story, you can see early birds have already gotten the jump on cleaning up the beach. The sun is shining, the ocean blue and vast. The only trace there was ever a storm is already being taken care of. There are lifeguards riding around on ATVs and younger civilians with trash bags and grapplers picking up seaweed and absconded debris. The respect everyone has for the island is something to be admired, and you half-consider going out there yourself, after you’ve dealt with your yard, which is sure to be a wreck.

There’s no interest in picking out a cute outfit for the morning you’re going to have, even if Denki might see you, so you throw on a already-worn-this-week crop top, some pink shirts, and you’re good to go.

The first thing you do after Mango’s fed is check your socials. Kirishima posted a picture of his breakfast: a hefty plate with three eggs, sausage links, bacon, cut avocado, and what seems to be low-carb toast. The post reads, gotta eat ur gainz 2 gain ur gainz, and it’s so ridiculous that you’re infatuated with this reckless himbo. You wonder if you’d ever be able to hold an intellectual conversation with him, if you could ever manage to speak to him in the first place, but conversation wouldn’t matter if his mouth was between your thighs.

Following his example, you crack two eggs over a frying pan, sigh at the mostly empty fridge, then agonize over the state of Shuzenji’s yard. It’s worse than you thought it’d be. The pool is a sickly green color, and from where you’re standing inside, its murky depths seem to be almost opaque from the seaweed and garbage stewing together. Kelp litters the beige pavement, and there’s trash hiding in the shrubs. There’s a chocolate donut floaty bobbing around in there, too, and Shuzenji doesn’t own any floaties.

What a drag.

Before you get too far in your head about everything you’ll need to do to clean up, you quickly dial Denki’s number. He picks up after a ring and a half.

“I know what you’re about to ask,” says the boy on the line, and from his cocky tone, you can assume it’s not going to be about the cleanup. “I am absolutely free tonight. If you wanted to grab drinks at the Salty Barrel, maybe go on a romantic rendezvous out on the beach, watch the sunset on or in a couple blankets, I wouldn’t complain.”

“I’m not calling to ask you on a date, Kaminari,” you say as you step outside. The pavement is cold underneath your bare feet, and you have to tip-toe around to be sure not to let any kelp touch your skin. Yuck.

“But you’re not, not calling about a date, either,” he counters. By the volume of his voice, you can tell that he’s in his van, talking to you over the speaker. Good. So he’s already out and about.

“I need you to tell me how to drain Shuzenji’s pool.” Call you cold, but you’re used to Denki’s flirty nature by now, and you’ve learned that the best way to deal with it, is to not acknowledge it. Of course, you can’t be too callous when it comes to him, especially when you actually need his help. You eye the dangerously complex-looking valves off to the side of the house, and grimace. “There’s too many twisty thingies! I’m not sure what to do!”

“Now, hold your horses, little lady! Don’t go twisting any thingies just yet. Draining a pool is a process.” There’s a long pause, the loud growl of an engine, then silence. He’d pulled over to talk to you. “How’s your TDL? And what kinda PVC pipes you got?”

“The huh and what?” You don’t need to pretend to be in distress—you have no idea what he’s talking about.

“Listen, don’t touch anything. You’re calling because the pool’s a mess right now, right? You don’t need to drain it; at least, not yet. I can swing by in an hour or so to clean it, but I’ve gotta make some stops first. You’re not the only single woman who wants to watch me do my thang, especially not after yesterday.”

“It’s so bad, Kaminari.” The water in the pool sloshes around, like there’s actually something in it causing the water to ungulate and burble. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Don’t worry your pretty, little head over it. You've got me, okay? It’s my job to protect and serve.”

“You’re not a cop.”

“Nope, I’m better than a cop. I’m a pool guy.”

He goes on to ask you to check out what kind of drain the pool has, if you can find the drain, then loses you when he starts talking numbers and gallons. While still on the phone, you send a few texts to Shuzenji, explaining the predicament, then Denki mentions rates. You’re getting the cutie pie discount, doubled because he counts Shuzenji as a “cutie pie” too—something you mention to her because she’ll get a kick out of it—then he drops all business to ask about food.

“I’m cooking my breakfast,” you say with a wary glance back at the house.

“But is your breakfast fries and a shake from Tiki Burger?”

You bite your lip as your stomach growls its empty sorrow. “No.”

“Would you like it to be?” His knowing grin is heard through the line.

“…I’m not gonna go out with you.”

He chuckles and you’re grateful that he can’t see your answering smile. “We’ll see how you feel after you see me work my magic. And hey, if you’d like me to wear a Speedo while I work—“

“You’ll be here in an hour?” You cut him off, because Denki in a Speedo is the last thing you need on your mind. The thought of Kirishima in a Speedo, however, gets you a little hot, which is saying a lot, since you’re a part of the Speedos and Dolphin-shorts Are Abominations To Swimwear belief system.

“Maybe sooner. I think my next client just needs me to check out their chemical levels. Inside pool and all. Everyone else knew to put a tarp out.”

The tarp you had blew away, but you don’t bother explaining that to Denki. Let him believe you’re the dim-witted “little lady” he wants you to be. If it means Shuzenji gets a discount, not that she can’t afford any bill Denki’s company throws at her, then let him believe you can’t open a pickle jar without a man’s help for all you care.

“See you then,” you say, and end the call. There will be time to work on your charm once Denki gets here. Until then, you figure you could do some investigating so you’re not completely helpless.

Leaving your phone on the pavement so you don’t accidentally drop it in the water, you make your way around the pool to where you think you remember the drain being. You can’t say you’ll know what kind of drain it is, but if you remember correctly, it’s circular, and like, kinda meshy? That description simply won’t do.

Dropping down to your knees, you peer down into the pool, squinting, as if that can help you see through all the muck. There’s definitely a lot of kelp and algae, sand drifting through the water, someone’s wayward brazier, and oh. A school of fish—little babies circling about. It’s wild, but you suppose it could be possible if all the chlorine washed out and there was enough salt water to sustain marine life.

The fish move together, bopping into each other, mouths gaping open to eat whatever they find in their temporary home. You don’t know enough about marine life to know what kind of fish they are. Silvery little things. Maybe Denki has something that can help transport them from the pool to the ocean. It’s not far—Shuzenji’s house is on the beach. It would be a shame if all the little fish had to die. You don’t particularly care about touching or feeding fish, but a life is a life, and if they can be saved, you’d at least like to try.

But all your thoughts of saving fish life stop when you catch something moving in the water. It’s not the fish—they’re not that big, but it’s definitely fishlike. Fish plus. It moves like a shadow, serpentine and fluid. You catch a glimpse of scales, so it’s definitely not a dolphin—even then, it’s bigger than a dolphin, and more graceful than a shark. You begin thinking of leviathan, and other mythical creatures, as ridiculous as that is, when you see a long flowing fluke.

Okay. This thing is not just big. It’s gargantuan, and to see this much of the creature without seeing its head makes your skin crawl. You imagine falling in and being swallowed whole, suffocating in the dark, drowning in a monster’s belly.

The thought spooks you static, just in time to meet a pair of eyes in the water. This is your overactive imagination—you’re scaring yourself insane, but you don’t look away, and those eyes, almost human and curious, don’t disappear.

You’ve consumed enough media to know how these impossible interactions go. The creature is inquisitive, but keeps its distance. It often has to be coaxed out of hiding, and even then, the thing is skittish and untrusting. You’re certainly not one to go “pspsps, hey little guy, I’m not gonna hurt you,” but even if you were, you don’t get the chance, because this thing you’re looking at isn’t the least bit skittish, and in one second, you’re making eyes at at it, and in the next, the thing is exploding out of the water.

A large, broad chest towers over you. The thing pushes itself up with arms, human arms, but it’s anything but human. Sure, it has hair, although an odd purple color, framing its angular face and jaw, which are both human enough. Also framing its face are a pair of long, pointed fins sticking out from where human ears should be. Water dribbles down its chest, down to its navel—its navel. Your brain screams mammal, but underneath its navel are scales, rippling down to where its legs should be. Not human. Not fish.

Fish plus.

Man.

Fish plus man.

Fish-man.

Its eyes are almost the same color as its hair, only a shade lighter, and much sharper, narrowed in on you. It’s glaring. You realize this at the same time you realize that you're staring at it with your mouth agape. This would be so rude in any other setting. It’s also rude to pop out of a pool that isn’t yours without any other warning, but you’re not about to chastise the thing. You’re far too scared.

Then the thing reaches out to you, sprinkling water on your thighs and your shirt. Its hands look like a man’s hand, but its long fingers are connected by thin, indigo webbing that matches its tail. Its tail. You lose focus trying to find the word for this creature that’s barely on the tip of your tongue, when you realize the palm of its hand, its fishy, webby hand, is hovering over your cheek, the other carefully placed next to your knee to keep it upright.

You open your mouth to speak, but only a hiss comes out. The creature, wary, brings its hand back, but only slightly. Not enough to put you at ease, but enough to allow you to gain your composure, and scream.

“H-help!!!” You screech. “Help! Somebody! Help me!”

It claps its hand over your mouth, knocking you back. Water drips down on your shirt as it leans in, mouth curling up with distaste. Then, it does something impossible.

It speaks.

“So loud,” it growls in a low, masculine timbre.

It speaks, you think, it speaks and it has no manners!

You try to yell back, probably something with little thought, but you have a mouth full of fish-man hand, and the more you warble in its palm, the more apathetic it appears.

“Be quiet and still,” it commands, as if obeying it is supposed to be the most natural thing—something it expects from you. It catches you so off-guard that you actually listen, only trembling a little bit as those indigo eyes scan over your form. It’s uncomfortable having an unknown but cognizant creature observe you so closely. You shiver when its gaze roams over your belly, down your legs. You want to curl your legs up, move away, but you’re afraid if you even twitch more than it’s comfortable with, it’ll grab you and drag you into the pool. Your nightmare.

Instead, it does something slightly less worse. It moves its hand from your mouth to your cheek. The palm of its hand warms your skin in an unnatural way, like you’ve been laying in the sun for half an hour and it’s only your cheek that heats up. The creature's eyes widen as light begins to emanate, either from you, or from it, you’re not sure, but definitely from where it touches you. Tingles run from your neck down to your spine, and you wish you’d put a bra on before going outside, because this thing’s touch is making your body react in a way that it shouldn’t.

“So easy,” it purrs appraisingly, somewhat less insolent, but you’re still taken aback, ears hot with embarrassment.

Un-fucking-likely.

“Easy?!” You squawk out. “What do you mean by easy?”

It doesn’t answer you, and instead, moves its fingers from your cheek, down your jaw, to your chin. It begins leaning closer, heavy lids closing. You notice its lips for the first time: a defined line and a pretty bow. If you were in a less dire situation, you’d be able to admit that they’re very nice lips, but they’re getting closer to you, closer still, and you realize with a jolt what it’s trying to do.

Your foot meets its chest in a heartbeat.

“Nope!” You belt out, extending your leg so there’s more distance between you and the impolite beast. “Not today, fish-breath!”

Unperturbed, it lifts a lazy brow. Then, to your absolute horror, it presses both of its hands into your bare leg, and again you’re lit up, warm, and tingly, only far worse than before. Stomach tightening, you make a choked noise, trying to hold in the sigh that claws at your throat.

“Fish-breath.” It repeats your insult like it’s a balled-up piece of paper to be thrown in the trash. “I’ve been told that my aroma is quite appealing.”

“By whom? Other fish-breaths?!” You wriggle your leg out of his embrace, or whatever you could call that invasion, only to have it slip down so your foot rests in the fish-man’s hands, bright as the stars in the sky. “Eww ew! Don’t touch me! Get away!”

The creature scoffs, but let’s you go, and you both watch as the light disappears from the arch of your foot where he’d been touching. Fish-man slinks back into the murky water, hiding under a blanket of algae.

You have enough time to gather your composure, wipe the water droplets off your face, and rub your eyes. For a moment, you try to convince yourself that this has all been a sleep-deprived hallucination, but you’ve never really been one to delude yourself, unless your Kirishima fantasies were involved, and you know that you’ll have to try another tactic to accept the reality of your situation. Perhaps you can try to be civil with this creature, ask it if it’s…hurt, or if it needs a late night escort to get it back to the sea. But then, the thing resurfaces on the opposite end of the pool. It faces you, and leans back against the wall, arms spread out against the pavement, basking.

“You know,” he says, “your decorum is severely lacking. Don’t humans have classes that teach them proper etiquette—how to be more polite towards their guests and such?”

What’s lacking is your patience for marine life.

Standing up, you take in the thing, which you’re now pretty sure is in fact a man of sorts, in its entirety. His tail is long, longer than human legs, extending past the halfway mark of the pool, if your measurement counts his fluke. There’s a golden cuff on his right arm that spirals around, accentuating his large biceps. You stubbornly admit that it’s attractive—he’s attractive, at least, he would be for people who were into fish and not surfers. You brush whatever you’re feeling in the pit of your stomach off by telling yourself that you’re simply awestruck, and move on.

“Where I’m from-“ you begin, straightening your sodden crop top- “we offer our guests various beverages and snacks, depending on the time of day.”

Annoyingly, he looks interested.

“Since it’s the morning, I’d offer a guest tea, or coffee, and if I’m looking to impress, I’d maybe cook them a hot meal.”

The creature offers you a sardonic smile. “I happen to be famished.”

“However, with home-invaders, we’re more likely to pull a gun on them before heating up the earl grey.”

He loses the smile, and you’re glad that he might have an inkling of what a gun is. You’ve never owned one, and they don’t allow firearms on the island, but the threat stands. But if he was intimidated, even for a moment, he doesn’t show it anymore, and proves just that by turning his back on you, and resting his head in his arms. He has a dorsal fin with what looks to be a deep, x-shaped scar near his tailbone. You try not to wonder what that could’ve been from.

“Then how do you propose I go from a home-invader, to a house guest?” Asks the creature with little interest.

Cautiously walking around the pool with your arms crossed, you begin to list things off for the far-too-comfortable fish-man.

“You can start by telling me who you are, what you are, why you’re here, what you want, and why you think you can lay your webbed hands on me.”

“Oh, is that all?” He hums noncommittally. Content. Aggravating. “Why don’t you start then? Who are you, and why are you here?”

The back of your neck grows hot and uncomfortable. “How entitled do you have to be to—!” You start, but you’re swiftly cut off by the shrieking of the fire alarm. Smoke plumes from outside the house’s windows, and you curse under your breath before darting towards the door. You’d completely forgotten about your eggs.

In your haste to move the pan off the stove, you burn your fingers and drop the pan to the kitchen floor, two blackened egg crisps flaking off and diving in different directions. Mango yowls at the commotion and investigates one of the fallen egg crisps. Before you can tell him to buzz off, he loses interest in your mess, not bothering to give it a taste. You don’t blame him, but the eggs didn’t appear to be cat-bad. Ah, you can’t kid yourself. They are cat-bad. They’re completely inedible. Now you’re going to have to head to the market, while worrying about a man trapped in Shuzenji’s pool.

Your stomach roars at you.

After cleaning the mess as best as you could while desperately and ruefully wanting to return to your guest—no, not guest—invader, you get the alarm, half-heartedly fan the smoke out of the house, and return. Angry. This guy better start talking soon, or things are going to get ugly.

To your utter displeasure, he looks all the more amused at your newer, messier state.

“Was that supposed to be the hot meal,” he asks, cocky. “Because if so, I’ll pass.”

Instead of biting his head off like you’d like to, you present him with the still-dirty frying pan, pointing it at his head like you intend to use it.

“Start talking, fish-for-brains.”

The beast snickers, raising his hands in the air in mock-surrender. “Easy there, tiger shark. You know how to use that thing?”

You refuse to humor him. Instead, you keep your scowl tight, your arms steady. If he’s not threatened, he’ll lose interest in this game, then he’ll have to talk.

Lo and behold, you’re right. The fish-man rolls his eyes, and looks at you, again, with apathy.

“My name is Hitoshi Shinsou,” he says, lackadaisical, like he’s already bored of himself. “I’m one of Ryūjin. What humans have learned to call merpeople are actually descendants of the sea gods who lived centuries ago. I’m here, simply because the storm washed me here. What I want is to retrieve what’s mine. I thought I could lay my webbed hands on you—well-“ the corner of his mouth tilts up-“darlin’, it was because your body reacted to me.”

Mouth forming the beginning of a question that never comes, you stare in disbelief at this myth. Then the last thing he said dawns at you.

“I did not react to you!” You rebuke, steady hands now shaking.

“Oh no?” He says, but it’s not a question. It’s a challenge.

Hitoshi grabs the flat end of the frying pan and yanks it, and you, closer to him, closer to the water. You cringe and whine when a wet, webby hand closes around your wrist. Inadvertently, you drop the pan, but he pays it no mind as it sinks past his tail. Your skin begins to glow underneath his palms, and the tingles come back, shooting up your arm, causing tiny goosebumps to appear.

“Would you look at that,” Hitoshi croons, slow and almost sensuously. His indigo eyes narrow on your index finger where you’d burned yourself. To add to this nightmare, he closes his lips around it, and begins to suck. Your stomach flips, and you’re not sure if it’s because you’re disgusted, or scared, or…enjoying the feeling of his warm mouth, his tongue, touching your skin.

“Stop.” It’s a whisper. It means nothing. You think you want it to mean something, but your thoughts are buzzing into a blur. Knees growing weak, you descend, leaning closer to him, not caring about the water or the seaweed or the fish, and instead, entirely focused on his mouth. It’s glowing, his mouth. Faintly. Like a single candle lit in an otherwise empty room.

When he eases off of you, he runs his thumb over your now-healed finger, and let’s your arm fall limply at your side.

“All better,” he whispers back at you.

There are prickles all over your skin once you regain an ounce of dignity.

“What the hell was that?” You ask, breathless for no other reason than shock.

“The glowing?” He asks. “The healing?”

“Both.”

“Your reaction to me.” He’s cocky again. This is something sick. Mythical creature or not, this has got to be a game he plays, washing into people’s pools, causing problems, sucking on lonely girls’ fingers. He probably gets his kicks this way, and uses whatever other kind of magic he has to erase whoever he’s tormenting’s memories, if he doesn’t end up eating them when he’s done. Bogus.

You won’t let him get to you.

“Alright, Hitoshi Shinsou, how would you like me to get you back into the ocean? You healed my finger-“ although it’s essentially his fault you were burned to begin with, if you take into account the sequence of events-“so helping you out is the least that I can do.”

“I could use your help,” he muses lightly, turning his body back around to his chest and abdomen are turned towards the sun. You tell yourself not to stare like you know he probably wants you to. Though his eyes are closed, he peeps at you, sneaking a glance. “I don’t want to go back into the ocean, though. Not until I get what’s mine.”

With the might of a girl who just wants to go back inside and scroll through her phone, you swallow your bite, and ask, “what would that be?”

“Oh, this and that-“ he waves his hand around dismissively-“other things.”

With the might of a girl who just wants to go back inside and find another frying pan, you say, “alright, listen. Someone is on their way to the house to clean the pool. I don’t know what one of Ryūjin means, but I’m guessing people like you don’t always want to be discovered by people like us. So you either tell me what it is you need, or see how my pool guy reacts to a mermaid lounging around in my backyard! I wouldn’t put it against him to call the local news station. Get this place flooding with cameras. Does that sound like a pretty picture to you?”

Absolutely none of your threats penetrate Hitoshi’s cool nature. In fact, he laughs.

“When he gets here,” the merman drawls, knowing he’s got you hanging on every word, “invite him to swim.”

#bnha mermay #mermaid au #siren!shinsou #mermaid!hitoshi shinsou #hitoshi shinsou x reader #shinsou x reader #bnha x reader #bnha x you #bnha imagines #bnha reader insert #reader insert #trident tale

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finalfilms · 2 years ago

Text

kimclear - seeing stars

warnings - none ! other than this is my first fic EVER

pairing - kimberly corman x clear rivers (final destination 2, 2003)

summary - after a double date night with their friends, kim + clear are exhausted and need each other to help wind down

as the pair stepped back into they apartment, they turned to each other and sighed.

clear began moving toward the kitchen island, placing her overstuffed leather bag on it and unloading the treasures from their date. kimberly had bought her a new pair of earrings, something she never really wore until she met the girl. the pretty earrings were blue, like her lovers eyes.

kimberly gave her girlfriend a small smile, moving to the opposite end of the counter. “that was fun, huh?”

clear made a face, which caused the other to laugh. a smile creeped its way onto the blondes face, something that she never really did until kimberly came into her life. it was something that she couldn’t help doing in her presence.

“it was nice, seeing tod and alex.” clear answered earnestly, zipping up her bag and moving to place near their coatrack. “tod probably had enough to drink, what do you think?”

kimberly rolled her eyes, plugging in the coffee machine. “oh come on, clear, his stories were funny.”

they had spent the majority of their night walking around a late festival. there were plenty of drinks to be shared among the couples, but tod seemed more vibrant than normal telling stories about alex’s childhood, mostly embarrassing.

clear had loved the festival. it was a cool summer night, cool enough so she could hold her girlfriends hand and feel a good amount of warmth from it. she and kimberly spent a good time together, walking underneath garden lights and buying each other unprompted gifts.

kimberly was now spinning on one of their counter stools, her dark hair fanning around her as she grinned.

clear turned back to kimberly, laughing as she did so. “no wonder you like tod’s stories, you act the same.”

she abruptly stopped spinning, she elected to sticking her tongue out. clear grinned.

“i’m starting some coffee.” kim said, hopping off of the stool and choosing to sit on the counter cross legged.

clear faced her girlfriend, leaning against the island. “did you really have fun today?”

kimberly nodded, smiling. “yeah, it was great! we should go back when it’s just us two, though.”

“really?” clear fought a grin. “tod and alex didn’t meet your standards?”

“no.” kimberly dragged it out, placing the heel of her palms on the counter. “they were fun! i just…i don’t know, would rather hang out with you.”

clears heart swelled at that sentence. no one had ever really told her that before, and then she met kimberly. because of this small moment of weakness, she retaliated with a: “dork.”

“says you.”

clear wore a smile as she turned around and grabbed her phone. she decided to put on some music while they waited for their coffee.

“something silly or something nice?” clear looked over her shoulder.

kimberly scrunched her nose, looking deep in thought. she held up two fingers.

clear nodded, getting the appropriate playlist. “something nice it is.” and annies song by john denver began to play.

“oh, i love this song.” kimberly mumbled, a pleasant look on her face. clear turned back to the brunette.

the coffee machine beeped loudly, causing clear to give a startled jump. kimberly giggled.

clear opened their fridge, rooting through it. “babe, we need to get the store soon.”

kimberly sighed dramatically. “it’s on my list, babe.”

pushing away a carton of eggs, clears fingers wrapped around the handle of a half-full lactaid milk jug. she might’ve referred to it as half-empty a year or two ago, but something changed. she also fished out their vanilla flavored creamer.

“two mugs, please?”

kimberly nodded and leaned forward a bit, still on the counter. she opened up the cabinet underneath her with some struggle before pulling out two different mugs, one with some mushroom patterns and the other with the moon phases.

clear mouthed a thank you as she took the mugs. she poured in the coffee about halfway, the only other sounds in the apartment being john denver and the air conditioning running.

after filling the moon-patterned one with some milk and creamer, clear handed it to her girlfriend, who had hopped off of the counter.

she took the one with just creamer, and the pair made sure to take the music with them as they exited to the fire escape.

“wait.” kimberly muttered, handing clear her coffee as she ducked back through the window.

clear furrowed her eyebrows. “what are you doing?”

the other girl remerged, holding a fuzzy black blanket in her hand.

clear smiled. “get out here.”

kimberly gave her girlfriend a lopsided grin as she tumbled out onto the fire escape. together, they sat on the steps, hand in hand.

kimberly rested her head on clears shoulder, taking a deep breath. “i did have fun today. thank you for taking me.”

“are you kidding?” clear wrapped an arm over kimberly’s shoulder. “i’d take you anywhere.”

kimberly turned her head to clear, smiling. her eyes wide. “i love you.”

“i love you too.” clear pressed a kiss to her girlfriends forehead, squeezing her underneath the blanket.

the pair spent their night sipping their coffee, talking in low voices, and pointing out the stars in the night sky.

clear never really cared for stars. they were just…things to her. but then she met kimberly, and it was like her own personal sun had fallen into her lap.

the stars were beautiful, sure. but nowhere near as beautiful as kimberly corman.

AAAA MY FIRST FANFIC ON THIS WEBSITE !! lmk what y’all think i wrote this half-asleep and half-at a social gathering. i just love kimclear so much and i miss them so. also annie’s song is so amazing and i need to add it to my kimclear playlist. much love <3

#final destination #final destination franchise #kimclear #kimberly corman #clear rivers #gay people #val writes <3 #domestic kimclear my beloved #fd #final destination 2 #ali larter #aj cook #final destigaytion #my babies

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mochegato · 3 years ago

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Even the Losers

Chapter 4

Chapter 1 Chapter 3

“We have a problem,” Tim grumbled as he stumbled into the dining room. He threw the morning newspaper down on the table, letting it slide the last few feet until it stopped millimeters short of Bruce’s coffee.

Bruce sputtered his eggs and grabbed the paper, staring at the picture of him speaking with Marinette and Adrien that took up the entire front page above the fold. He threw the paper back on the table. “Son of a b…”

“We’ve been getting calls from PR all morning,” Tim interrupted him before Alfred got upset with Bruce for his language. “Because they’ve been getting calls from every newspaper, news station, blog, and interested citizen in the world, calling to ask them about it.”

Tim poured himself a large cup of coffee, larger than usual. He’d had patrol last night and gotten woken up at the crack of dawn this morning with calls about the story. So he was running on all of three hours of sleep and just wanted to crawl back into bed, but with this story, there was no chance of him getting to bed until after tonight’s patrol had already left.

It didn’t help that he was beating himself up for not picking up on the cues she was giving that night. He’d run into her. He and Stephanie had talked to her. He saw her freeze up when she realized who he was. He knew she was acting off, he just hadn’t thought it was nefarious. If anything, it seemed hurt, not scared. He should have caught onto her body language. He should have noticed how she seemed to freeze when he mentioned the family. She must have thought he was fishing, letting her know he was onto her and her plan to do this.

“You’d think after all the false alarms they’ve reported in the past that they’d know better by now. Not every black haired, blue eyed child is a Wayne. I’ve had PR draft up a statement that while we appreciate her support for the orphans, she is not, in fact, a Wayne,” he finished, taking a bite of his muffin, missing Bruce’s grimace.

Damian grabbed the paper, wrinkling it in his clenched fists as he scanned the text. “She must have orchestrated the whole thing to put this out. How else would they know these details?”

“No,” Dick commented thoughtfully, prying the paper away from Damian to take a look at the picture. “If she was in on it she would have put on a better act. Look at the image. She isn’t playing into it. She looks scared, not excited to ‘introduce her fiancé to her family’.” Dick quoted. He briefly scanned the paper for more information.

All the evidence appeared to be the picture, her physical features, and some call logs to her parent’s business. Dick scrunched up his face with concern. While not damning, it was interesting. He didn’t know any reason Bruce would have to contact a bakery in Paris. “Not to mention the story would have gone out yesterday for a bigger circulation boost. Sundays are the big press days. They wouldn’t have waited until Monday. That suggests they researched, or rather stole the information. And no quotes from her in here.”

“Fine,” Damian growled, acquiescing to his logic. “Maybe she did it after the fact. She saw the opportunity and took it.”

“No,” Bruce admitted quietly. “She wouldn’t have had to do that.” The room seemed to become still as everyone turned to face him. “If she wanted this story to go out she could have put it out at any time. And she would have played up the dance, would have sought me out at the gala. But she didn’t.”

“What dance?” Duke asked cautiously, his focus entirely on Bruce now.

“I asked her to dance. She said no. Ran away as quickly as she could actually,” Bruce chuckled self-deprecatingly as he stared at the paper in Dick’s hands.

Damian blinked at him as though the longer he stared the clearer what was happening would become. But no matter how hard he stared, the image didn’t become clearer. If anything, things became hazier. “This could all be a clever ruse. She wants to appear innocent so when you confront her she can point out that she didn’t do those things. It says she’s an aspiring designer. This could all be for publicity.”

“She wouldn’t have to go through all that,” Bruce stated again, more finality in his voice. He finally looked up, but still didn’t make eye contact with any of them.

Dick stared at Bruce, taking in his response, letting the words and their broader meaning sink in. The words he wasn’t saying hung in the room like thick smoke, winding their way into everything they touched, stealing the air out of the room. “What are you saying Bruce?” Dick asked cautiously

“The story’s true, isn’t it,” Tim observed. It was a statement more than a question.

Bruce nodded with a sigh. “Except for the meeting her fiancé part.”

Tim knew it was true even before Bruce’s verbal acknowledgement. The pieces suddenly fit together. It was the only thing that made sense. That’s why her reactions were off. That matched. He saw her face when they told her the gala was to celebrate family. He saw her body language change sharply when Stephanie joked about Bruce taking in everyone he saw. He wasn’t sure what to make of it at the time and didn’t really even try because it didn’t seem relevant and they had more important issues to think about, namely celebrating Duke. After the story, he thought the reactions were a tell. But now… now that he knew, they were a tell, but for something else entirely.

She was trying to be polite about it, not letting on how hard it was hitting. And oh God, didn’t that make it worse. Everything they said had been cordial, joking at Bruce’s expense, at their own expense. But with the new knowledge… it was at hers. They weren’t jokes, they were digs. They were attacks. They were him putting her ‘in her place’; out of the family. Tim took in a shuttering breath and collapsed on the couch, his head in his hands.

He would have so much to apologize for. He would have to find her and make sure she knew he didn’t mean his words the way they must have come across. He knew how it felt to not be accepted. He knew how it felt to not feel loved by your parents. He knew how it felt to have your place in the family questioned constantly, to be attacked, to be unwelcome. He wouldn’t wish that on enemies, let alone family.

“Who is she, Father?” Damian demanded.

Bruce met his eyes, guilt swimming in his own. “She’s your half-sister. Her mother and step-father have been raising her in Paris,” Bruce answered calmly.

Damian fought the gasp his lungs demanded against his will. His father was confirming it. He was acknowledging her. But never trusted them with the information. “Were you ever going to tell us?” Damian finally asked with forced coolness

“I was letting the dust settle on introducing Duke before I broached it,” Bruce hedged.

“So you just found out,” Damian asked angrily. That would make sense. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, him. It was that he didn’t know until recently. Of course that was what happened.

“No.”

Damian gaped at him, his hastily built protective construct shattering with one word. “How long have you known?”

“Since she was born.” Damian gaped at him. He’d known. He’d known since before Damian came to live with them and still never told them. He didn’t trust him. Even after all he’d done, he still didn’t trust him. And now he was letting this unknown, this daughter, even just thinking the word made him wrinkle his nose in disgust, do whatever she wanted. He trusted her but not him.

“You have a daughter, a biological daughter you’ve known about for decades and that you never told us about,” Dick asked again in a daze. He fell into a chair staring at Bruce incredulously. There was no way. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. He loved kids. He loved his kids. Why would he send one away? He hadn’t even wanted to do that to Jason.

“So I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know?” Duke asked. He looked around, taking in the stunned, disbelieving, hurt expressions.

“Not just you,” Damian gritted out.

Duke sucked in a breath and pulled out his phone, texting Jason and Cass to let them know what was happening. They were going to want to know as soon as possible too. All of them were going to have questions and issues with this information. And if the conversation went on much longer, they may want to be involved.

“Why was she there last night? What did she want? Surely she wouldn’t have come without a plan,” Damian pressed. Nobody had access to the kind of power and money they had and just walked away. If she was presenting herself and not to them, to the press, there must be a reason, a plot. They needed to find out more about her to figure it out. “How did she get a ticket in the first place?” That might be a place to start. It would give an insight into her accomplices and they could be pressed later for more information.

Bruce sighed and looked back down at his food, pushing the plate away, no longer hungry in the slightest. “I can’t answer how she got her ticket. As to why she was there, she was there to talk about a position for a friend of hers… with Lucius apparently, not me.”

“She was using her name to get her subpar friend a job,” Damian spat in disgust. There had to be more though. With their name, she could get much, much more. This had to be an opening gambit. The job must be placing an operative, loyal to her, within their institution. Next was the stunt with the press. They needed to figure out her next steps.

“No,” Bruce insisted. “She didn’t mention her association. He doesn’t know… well, he does now. He spoke to me after the gala, said he discovered one of our managers is stealing ideas and there was someone he was going to spend the weekend researching but he was excited about hiring him. Luthor is trying to hire him, so if we don’t act fast we’ll lose him. I’m betting that was her friend.”

“You don’t know that,” Damian growled out. “That could be a coincidence.”

“I’ll confirm with Lucius today, but it fits with what I know,” Bruce insisted calmly. “From what her mother has told me over the years, it’s the kind of thing she would do; go well out of her way to help a friend. And her mother let me know she was planning on attending the gala to talk about hiring her friend. I just thought she was going to talk to me.”

“Why didn’t you tell us,” Dick asked breathlessly. He was staring at Bruce with hurt saturating his eyes. He heard nothing after Bruce admitting he’d known about her and never told them. He was aware Bruce had been saying things for the last few minutes but none of it had registered. None of it was what he needed to know.

Bruce sighed and ran his hand over his face. “Nobody knew. Nobody but me and her mother and step-father. It was easier that way.” Easier to pretend was left unsaid. Easier for Bruce to pretend like he hadn’t cut her out of his life, like he didn’t regret it every day. Easier for Bruce to try to forget.

“Not even her?” Duke asked.

“Not even her,” Bruce confirmed with a sigh. He ran his hand over his face.

“Why?” Dick was staring at him in wide eyed confusion. It didn’t make sense. None of it made sense. He’d been with Bruce for twenty years and never heard a whisper of a biological daughter. But she existed. And he knew. Bruce took a deep breath and Dick scowled. “I swear to God, B, if you say some dumbass excuse like to protect her…”

“She has a happy life. Her mother and step-father love her beyond words. They support her, love her, encourage her. They’re there for her whenever she needs it. They never miss an event. Family dinners every night. She has friends… a good life. She’s safe. She never had to worry about defending herself. She never had to be taught what to do when she got kidnapped. Never had to… doesn’t remember seeing the people around her dead from the latest rogue attack. Not like what she would have here…” he again left the last part of the sentence off. The “with me” was left for everyone to fill in on their own.

“You’re a good father,” Tim assured him weakly, because at this point, with this information…

“I hope so.” Bruce gave him a weak smile. “But when she was born… I had an obligation. I had a responsibility.”

“She was your responsibility!” Dick yelled, his face suddenly contorting in anger and frustration with Bruce.

Bruce looked away stoically, face suddenly a mask devoid of emotion. “She had a better option and I made sure she got it.”

The room was silent for a few moments while his words settled in. The only sound was Dick seething in his seat. “But she doesn’t know you? You never visited. You never interacted with her. Even not telling her who you were to her,” Tim clarified.

Bruce shook his head. “I visited her final project for her degree a few weeks ago under the guise of research for the fabric project. She’s a designer. I was hoping to get her in on the fabric project. I thought it would be a good cover to get her comfortable with the family. But I didn’t talk with her while I was there.” He chuckled slightly at the memory. “I couldn’t even get close. There were too many people talking to her, congratulating her, offering her internships. Her work was beautiful.”

“But you’ve talked with her parents,” Tim checked.

He sighed and waved his hand helplessly. “I spoke with Sabine every so often to check on Marinette, make sure she was okay. I helped pay for her schooling, but even that was disguised as an investment into her parents’ company.”

“So her parents were having you pay for their company, holding the secret over your head,” Damian spat out.

“No!” Bruce growled. He knew Damian was having a hard time with this. Hell, that’s one of the main reasons he waited so long, because he knew Damian wouldn’t react well. Damian would have taken it as an attack on his position in the family. And after the way he treated Tim and Dick when he first found out about them… They could protect themselves against his attacks. She wouldn’t have been able to. He didn’t know how far Damian would actually go and he didn’t want Damian to have to find out either. He had been waiting until Damian was more settled, more secure in the family and their unconditional love for him before he reached out to her. But he wasn’t going to let him disparage Sabine and Tom. They’d been nothing but understanding.

“They only let me put in the amount for tuition. They wouldn’t allow me to give any more than that and Marinette got a scholarship for her university so she didn’t need any assistance. I tried to keep giving them money for her to at least have spending money but they refused. They stopped accepting the transfers. They only relented when I said it would look suspicious. So they’ve been creating a trust for her with it.”

Damian grumbled and looked away. Whatever their game was, they were certainly good at it.

Bruce dropped his head into his hands. “Nobody was supposed to know about her until I was sure it was safe,” Bruce grumbled into his hands. “Until I’d had a chance to talk to everyone about it.”

“Well now everyone knows, so maybe now is a good time to start trying to make that connection,” Dick growled.

“If she’ll let us,” Tim added. He remembered the look in her eyes when he talked about his… their family.

“It’s never too late to start trying to bond,” Dick insisted. His eyes were bordering on wild. They could bring this back, right? The family had come back from worse. They’d faced steeper hills. Hell, Damian tried to kill them when he first came. Jason had also tried to kill them all more than once when he came back. She couldn’t be that bad. They just had to make the first move. “We just have to let her know we want to.”

Tim shook his head and looked down, not at all convinced it really was as easy as that. Tim was awkward on a good day. He could make friends but usually they made the first move. He was pretty certain she wouldn’t make the first move in this instance. Damian wouldn’t accept her, period. Dick would crowd her. Jason would… whatever Jason did, probably disappear. She wasn’t a Robin so he probably wouldn’t try to kill her. Cass would try, but her success depended on Marinette understanding what Cass wasn’t saying. And Bruce… Bruce was never good at understanding emotions or sympathizing. Honestly, their best hope was Duke.

Duke breathed out a deep sigh and looked away. This family was not easy to get along with or find your place with. And bonding with each other? He managed because he fought next to them. They bonded in the field, in their suits. He wasn’t sure if they realized that about themselves. If they interacted outside the suits it was because of the bond they formed inside them. She wouldn’t have that opportunity and without it… The prognosis was not good.

“What are you going to do, B?” Tim asked tentatively. “Because whatever your plans were, now she knows and she’s dealing with it on her own. She… You need to talk to her.”

Bruce sucked in a breath and massaged his temples. “I know.”

“And you need to apologize,” Dick added firmly.

Bruce nodded. “I know.”

“No, you don’t,” Dick growled. “You have no idea what has to be going through her head right now.” He grabbed his bag and stalked out of the manor, slamming the door as he left.

“And you need to decide what we’re going to tell the public,” Tim added. “We need to put a statement out soon.”

“I know,” Bruce agreed. His voice this time was more detached. That was something he would have to decide, but that wasn’t the priority right now and not something he wanted to do without her input.

He needed to come up with a new plan and quickly. This was nothing like the one he had come up with. He was supposed to have more time. He was supposed to be able to ease into this. He was supposed to be able to feel things out before deciding a path. He was supposed to control the environment and how his family found out.

But now he was thrown into it, they all were, and he had no idea how to proceed. He didn’t know her well enough to anticipate how she would react to the situation or to him. He didn’t know her well enough yet to know the best way to approach her. He needed to come up with a game plan. He sighed heavily. He had to get into the office, not show anything out of the ordinary. And once he was behind his office door, he could talk to Sabine. She would know what to do.

Chapter 5

Tags:

@maribat-bdbwm @jayjayspixiepop @redscarlet95 @alice-hazelwood @deathssilentapproach-blog @unoriginalmess @alyssadeliv @emotionalsupportginger @frieddonutsweets @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks @toodaloo-kangaroo @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @iloontjeboontje @wolf-for-life @maribatserver

#maribat #bio!dad bruce #bio dad bruce wayne #roynette #Even the Losers #mbdbwm2021 #prompt - bonding

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pedalnorthvatome · 3 years ago

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Day 6

For a campground, there was a lot of pickup truck traffic throughout the night. At 4:16am, someone started their diesel trunk and rattled the camp as they drove out. To compensate for all the noise in the middle of the night, I slept in.

It was a little foggy and chilly when we rolled out of our tents this morning. We lacked motivation to get going and we both agreed that today was going to be more like work than like fun. Since our Warmshowers hosts asked us to arrive after 5pm, we decided to stop often and make the best of the day.

Over the first ten to fifteen miles the roads had fewer vehicles and ran through farmland. As the day progresses we saw more trucks and the roads became much busier.

Our first stop was at mile 15 in the town of Galena, MD. We went to a little breakfast place where the staff was nice but not particularly friendly. However, our sausage, egg, and cheese on English muffins were good. We talked to a highway patrolman who mentioned the high, narrow bridge we had to cross 15 miles ahead in Chesapeake City. This gave me something to worry about for an hour and a half.

The bridge was worth the worry. It crosses the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal which carries ocean going cargo ships, so it had to be tall. Probably built in the 1950s, it had one narrow lane in each direction and a 3 foot wide sidewalk raised a foot above the road surface. For safety we decided to walk the mile from end to end. Every time a truck went by, we stopped and pressed against the railing. The reward after was 15 miles of canal trail.

We made it across!

Once we were up and over the bridge, we met a few retirees who were wrapping up their morning ride. They recommended the restaurant under the bridge. Since it was noon and we had 5 hours to go 30 miles we decided what the heck,

Schaffers is your typical waterside restaurant with lots of seating with water views. After having a second breakfast at 10am, Philip and I decided to go light on the food. I had the tomato based crab soup and a Caesar salad. Philip had the cream based crab soup and chicken wings. All was quite delicious.

Two versions of Maryland Crab Soup.

Outside the restaurant, we were stopped by two older gents from NJ who had come down to try the food. Their routine was to drive someplace new for lunch every few weeks. As a result, they had several restaurant recommendations for us. One of the guys got into the subject of high school sports and it just so happened that his school played my high school, Essex Catholic, back in the early 1960s. We both went on to rattle off a list of rival Catholic schools we knew.

Back on the road, 15 miles of wind in our faces canal trail. We passed relatively few people along the way. We generally focused on forward motion. We found a shortcut, that took us off the canal but onto some industrial roads. Ultimately, we found another bike trail that took us behind a few neighborhoods, under major highways, past a prison, and finally opened up onto a boardwalk over a marsh. That turned into a commercial riverwalk area with bars and restaurants.

15 miles into the wind.

Notice the barge on the canal.

When I say industrial roads I mean it.

Since we had time to kill, we stopped at a place called Big Fish Grill and enjoyed happy hour mussels diablo and buffalo shrimp with a couple beers. We sat and watched the dog walkers and the rowers on the Christina River as they went by.

View from the river walk.

Our Warmshowers was within a few miles. A very nice couple hosted us. They gave us our space. Generally, our evening was uneventful. We did laundry, I finished the book I was reading, and we were ready for sleep by 9am.

All in a days work.

Cheers!

Addition to beer list:

Big Oyster Hammerhead IPA Lewes, DE

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xbaepsae · 4 years ago

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the ebb and flow | part seven

“The son of Poseidon stares at you with an intensity you’ve never seen before. It seems to burn hotter across your skin than the fire is right now.”

[demigod!jeongguk x demigod!reader]

genre: percy jackson!au, mythology!au, demigod!au, enemies to lovers!au

word count: 1.7k

rating: pg-13

warnings: language, the usual character tension

a/n: merry belated christmas (to those who celebrate)! and happy (almost) new years! stay safe and healthy everyone. hope 2021 is a better one for all of us. xoxo

→ series masterlist!

the fifth summer – in which you fall (quite literally)

At the end of your first week of cleaning the stables with Jeongguk, you manage another capture the flag win. Nothing brought you more joy than seeing the look of absolute anguish on Park Jimin’s face when you ripped his red flag from right between his hands.

“Better luck next week, Park,” you teased as your cabin raised you up on their shoulders. “Guess we all can’t be winners.”

Your cabin celebrated with its allies at the campfire that night—singing and dancing to your heart's delight. Normally, you’re not one to dance much; the act is entirely too embarrassing to do in front of so many people. However, maybe it’s the stress from the week or the high from the win, but you feel the need to shake all your worries away.

And dancing proves to be a great stress reliever.

To the beat of drums and lyre playing, you sway your body beside your friends. Haru takes your hands in her own and spins you around, to which you can’t help but laugh. The two of you must look ridiculous right now. She spins you around in another 360 and you close your eyes, taking in the heat from the fire. When you open your eyes, you meet the cool gaze of someone you didn’t expect to still be here.

Across the campfire, Jeon Jeongguk stands by himself. You didn’t expect him to be here because his cabin was on the losing team. You thought that maybe he would be sulking in his cabin like Jimin probably is right now. Instead, his eyes seem glued to you. The son of Poseidon stares at you with an intensity you’ve never seen before. It seems to burn hotter across your skin than the fire is right now.

Even though he is yards away, you feel incredibly exposed at this moment. His round eyes are illuminated by the fire, and they seem to pierce you like he can see right into your soul or something. After another second, you force yourself to look away—the tension is just too much to take right now.

“Are you okay?” Haru’s voice breaks your thoughts.

Looking up, you notice concern clouding her eyes; however, there is also a gleam of interest there—probably wondering what made you stop dancing.

“I’m fine,” you tell her. “Just dizzy, I guess.”

Haru doesn’t seem to buy it, but she doesn’t pester you about it again. “Well, too bad—I want to keep dancing with my best friend!”

The next morning, you make your way towards the stables feeling more exhausted than usual; body still slightly aching from last night’s festivities. When you arrive, Jeongguk is already there leaning against the gated entrance. Probably hearing your footsteps draw closer, he looks up; however, you don’t meet his gaze. Instead, you pretend the rising sun has captured your attention.

Fishing the key out of your back pocket, you unlock the gates and greet the Pegasi already vying for your attention. And much like the other days, you both work in silence again; you even go out of your way to avoid passing by him or having to make small talk. During your other hours here, the silence was at least kind of bearable. However, today, for some reason, something feels different and you don’t like it one bit.

As the hours pass by, the silence seems to eat you alive. It’s all that you can hear. Or maybe it’s just your heart racing and blood rushing past your ears. Whatever it is, you’re about to reach your breaking point.

“Are you joining your cabin later?”

You nearly drop your broom at the sound of Jeongguk’s voice echoing through the thick silence. Styx, he scared you. “What’s happening later?”

Even though he’s on the other side of the stables, you can feel him take a step closer. “You know, the canoe races. The one that’s always held during the summer around this time.”

In all honesty, you’d forgotten all about the canoe races. And this isn’t like the recreational, free time canoeing you can do. No—this race is one that all the cabins participate in. It’s just as intense and competitive as it sounds. You’ve never participated before, so it must’ve slipped your mind. But unlike you, Jeongguk has always participated—you know, being the son of the sea god and everything.

“I usually don’t, so probably not,” you say.

“It’s your last summer, right?” he suddenly asks.

You turn around at the question. “Why, yes. As a matter of fact, it is. I’m planning to attend college in New Rome.”

Which means, you don’t know when you’ll ever be back at Camp Half-Blood since New Rome is equally as safe for demigods. The thought makes you feel bittersweet since Long Island is your home. You’d always thought you’d be here, probably continuing to offer your services to the camp. However, there’s an opportunity to expand your life on the other side of the country; you’d be foolish not to go.

“So, you should participate then,” Jeongguk breaks your thoughts.

“I think we already settled on who would participate. Besides, there’s always more cabin canoe races throughout summer,” you add as a rebuttal. “Maybe then.”

“What a shame,” he hums. “I really wanted to beat you this time around.”

Jeongguk’s mention of obtaining a win begins to turn the gears of your rivalry in your head. You should’ve known he would do something like this; the son of Poseidon just loves to egg you on. And sadly, you always seem to give in.

“We’ll see about that.”

***

“I’m going to participate in the canoe race.”

Namjoon looks at you like you’ve lost your mind. “What? I thought we already decided on who would participate.”

“I know, but I want to do it. You know, I’ve never participated before,” you tell him. “I should try this year.”

“You’ve never participated because you—”

You cut him off. “I have to beat Jeon Jeongguk at his own game. I will not settle for anything less.”

Namjoon rolls his eyes. “You and that damn rivalry. I know you hate the guy, but I don’t think this is worth it.”

“Jeon is a thorn at my side; beating him during the canoe race is my chance to gain some leverage on him,” you say, ignoring what your half-brother just said.

“Whatever,” he sighs. “Just don’t say I didn’t try to talk you out of it.”

***

The breeze from the Long Island Sound whips your hair. You put it in a braid earlier to keep it at bay, but your baby hairs don’t seem like they want to cooperate today.

“I’m so excited, y/n,” Harrison, a second-year in your cabin, practically vibrates with serotonin beside you. “Thanks for allowing me to join.”

“Of course,” you offer him a smile. At least, you hope it’s a smile.

A part of you wishes that you listened to what Namjoon said earlier. Because at the end of the day, he’s one of the few people that know you well and maybe he’s right; maybe trying to beat Jeongguk today isn’t worth it.

“Are you okay?” Haru is suddenly in front of you. “Namjoon told me to come and talk to you, and try to talk you out of this because—”

“I’m fine, Haru,” you lie through your teeth, forcing a smile. “I’ll be okay.”

Your best friend raises a brow at you. “You know, I’ve gotten pretty good and figuring when you’re lying to me. I know you always feel this intense need to beat Jeongguk at everything…though, I do wonder now if you’re starting to feel something else towards him…”

“Haru,” you warn.

She laughs a little. “Only joking.”

“I promise, I’m okay; don’t worry about me. This race will be quick anyway.”

“Whatever you say, y/n.”

Once everyone else arrives and the canoes are pushed into the water, you settle behind four others from your cabin. Harrison is seated in front of you, that beaming smile still stretched across his lips. “This is so exciting.”

The gentle rocking of the canoe does nothing to ease your nerves. If anything, it actually makes you feel sicker than you already are. “Let’s win this, for Athena!”

For Athena, your half-siblings mimic as they reach for their oars. Next to your canoe is none other than Poseidon’s cabin—whoever’s idea that was is definitely going to get a mouthful from you later—which means you-know-who is already staring at you.

“See you from the other side of the finish line,” Jeongguk taunts with a smirk. You try to return the same attitude tenfold.

“Don’t even think about any of your dirty tricks, Jeon.”

He scoffs. “Poseidon always plays fair.”

“Sure,” you roll your eyes. “We’re in a huge body of water—nothing could possibly go in your favor.”

You don’t know if he catches your sarcasm, and you don’t have time to. Because before you can even think about it, the race begins at the blow of a whistle.

Sure enough, like you already predicted, Poseidon’s cabin gets the immediate lead. But you don’t let it faze you; this actually motivates you to work harder—commanding your cabin to row faster.

However, what you fail to realize is that what originally seemed like a beautiful day on the lake is suddenly shifting in the blink of an eye. Because you’re all concentrated on reaching the finish line, you don’t see the sudden storm clouds looming in on the horizon. The wind picks up and water begins to rise, rocking the canoes dangerously.

You grab onto the sides of the canoe for support, but it’s no match against the current. The gods must be angry. And when a wave crashes against the canoe, you lose your balance and plummet headfirst into the water.

Through the muffled sound of water rippling past your ears, you can hear echoed screams. But they seem terribly far away as you struggle to break the surface. Your hands grasp for air, but the tows of the current feel like a weight on your ankles as you begin to sink deeper into the water.

Worst of all, you can’t swim.

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silveanna · 4 years ago

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Hello World

Na jaemin x fem!reader, Feat. 00 liners

Summary: Wait, humans suddenly disappeared? well isn’t it fun? you get to do whatever you want now but no one will be there for you anymore. You’re completely alone in a world that seems to be dead but is that Really it?

It’s been hours since you woke up, you’ve been wandering around the city but you haven’t met a single person yet. You also checked your phone but all your contacts, photos and all the files in it are gone, there is also no signal. It was quiet, too quiet it was hurting your ears. There’s no wind or any birds chirping and especially, the people are gone, it feels like the world isn’t alive at all. “i swear if i’m in Alice in borderland, im going to kill myself” you said.

You went to the mall market but the food seems to be expired already, seriously for how long did they disappeared? but at the fruit aisle there were still a few fresh fruits, you weren’t a big fan of fruits, you hate it but you have no other choice, all the foods are expired even if it isn’t you don’t know how to cook at all. Well, you can cook instant noodles and eggs but that’s all.

And of course because you’re alone, you jump on the beds at the furniture aisle while singing “five little monkeys jumping on the beds” not until you heard a loud thud nearby, you quickly hide under the blanket. Minutes passed nothing happened, maybe something just accidentally fell. Yeah ACCIDENTALLY

Months have passed, everyday feels the same, like you’re on a loop it’s sickening, are you really alone? or maybe your just dreaming. You tried pinching your arm, it hurts but nothing changed the world is still empty... dead. You’re running out of food, Your gonna die alone, no one is going to mourn your death. “Oh god oh god..” you pulled your hair and cried.

“I don’t want this, i didn’t ask for this.. I miss everyone” you said and hugged your knees.

“Here”

“Huh?” you immediately looked up, a guy with jet black hair beside you is offering you a handkerchief, you ignored it and wiped your tears with your hands, he looks away and puts the handkerchief back in his pocket. There’s a lot of stuff running in your mind right now, you feel happiness, sadness, and anger at the same time. You snapped out of your thoughts when he waved his hand in-front of your face. “I think they forgot us and went to mars” he joked but it didn’t move you.

You were too busy scanning every inch of his face, why the fuck he looks so healthy compared to me.. maybe he’s a robot?

He was in the middle of talking when you suddenly poked his cheek, “oh wow you’re real” you said, he laughed and removes your finger away form his face. “Yes I am real”

You keep asking him about everything, he tries his best to answer your questions. “Before all of this, i like being alone, it relaxes me, you know just vibing with myself but not this alone” he explained.

“I know, waking up thinking it was another normal day and the next thing you knew the people are gone, I might have you now but you might suddenly disappear too or me. Back then I’m scared to die, cause when you die you can’t do anything you want anymore, it’s just like dreaming forever, but for me this is worse” You said.

He took your hands and looked at you in the eyes, it was beautiful but the person who have it is sad. He wanted to changed that “Let’s make the most of it while we still have each other, I’m Jaemin by the way you?” He smiled.

His smile was beautiful and calming, almost like a free therapy, it made your heart skipped a beat “I’m y/n” . And so you two did, you shared each other’s favorite stuffs, read books together, danced in an empty street while raining, watched the sunset, played board games, and put on some expensive clothes and pretended like you guys are in a fashion runaway.

“You see that three stars together? My mom said those are the three Kings, oh there’s the orion!” You said pointing in the starry sky, you and jaemin are stargazing on top of a hill. He stares at you lovingly while you keep telling him about the meanings of each constellation you point out in the night sky. “I love you” he said out of nowhere causing you to stop.

You looked at him, his eyes sparkling “I love you too you know that” you said.

“No like LOVE love” he clear up.

Jaemin looked away, “It’s fine I can wait, I have all the time in the world”

Silence..

“It’s not like there’s someone who’s going to stole yo-“ when he looks back at your spot you were gone, it was as if you had suddenly disappeared like a bubble. “Y/n?” He stands up and starts looking around for you, his breath getting heavy, his vision starts to get blurry as tears formed on his eyes. Jaemin dropped on his knees and looked down. Just when things started to be fun, one had to disappear. Now he’s all alone again.

•••

You slowly opened your eyes, your vision cleared up and a white ceiling is the first one that greeted you. You felt a dextrose which is injected into your right hand. Wait, what are you doing in a hospital? you were like fine seconds ago.. and where’s Jaemin?

A woman entered the room, she looked middle aged based on her hair which has a few white strands. You were surprised when she suddenly jumped in joy when she saw you were awake, she fishes her phone out of her pocket and dials someone’s number. “Honey come here! our daughter is finally awake!” after that she cuts the line and hugged you. “Mom?” you said. She cares your hair softly “Im glad you can still remember me, i’ll go get the doctor wait here okay?” you nodded.

Your mom leaves the room, you sat there in silence. Was is it all a dream or am i in another dream right now? what about Jaemin?

Soon the doctor arrived with your mom, no, with your whole family. The doctor asked you a few question and you answered them effortlessly, “Your daughter is doing fine now, we can arrange her documents so she can leave in few days, and i recommend to let her rest for three days before going back to business.” the doctor explained.“Thanks doc” you heard your dad said, the doctor nodded and leaves the room along with their nurse.

“I don’t remember what happened, how did I ended up here?”you asked, they all sat beside your bed. Your mom held out your hand and rubs it with her thumb. “You got hit by Car, you were comatose for 8 months we thought we were going to lose you” Your dad explained. You forced a smile, you don’t know what to do in this kind of situation so you just looked down.

You looked up after you felt your stomach growl, “can i go to the cafeteria? im hungry”you requested.

Your mom accompanied you to the cafeteria while your dad and older brother decided to stay in your room, you were surrounded by a lot of people you felt different. You want to tell your family about what happened and especially Jaemin but they might think your silly. While your mom is ordering food, you are looking for an empty seat. You weren’t paying much attention infront of you and bump into someone, luckily they catches you before you kiss the floor.

“sorry i’m so sorry i wasn’t looking” you apologized.

“no no it’s fine i wasn’t either” the guy smiled, he felt familiar, it feels like you already met him but where? “oh wait y/n? it’s you, glad you already woke up!” he said and hugged you.

“i’m sorry you are?”

“i’m Jeno, we’re classmates remember?, i came here to visit you and visit my friend jaemin also-”

“Jaemin? did you just say Jaemin? where is he? is he okay? wait is he here? please tell me it’s just high fever or he works here?”you asked.

“Oh Y/n there you are, let’s eat?” Your mom interprets the conversation, “he’s in room 25, 10th floor meet me there” Jeno said and left.

“So Jeno’s here too?” Your mom asked.

“Yeah he’s supposed to visit me but we met here so he’s off to his friend now” you explained, you were happy to hear that Jaemin’s here but felt guilty after you remembered you suddenly left him at the hill.

After you finished eating with your mom, you told her you’re going to room 25, she still accompanied you there but she just waited outside the room. When you got inside you immediately saw Jaemin sleeping peacefully in his hospital bed with his life support. He’s sleeping, does that mean he’s still in that world? Alone?

There are tears trailing down from your cheeks as you approach his unconscious body, “h-how long has he been like this?” you asked Jeno, he stood beside you and pats your back even though he has no idea how you knew his bestfriend. “3 years, brain infection”

That night you prayed a thousand times, hoping that in your sleep you would return to that world to be with Jaemin again and tell him you love him too. Eventually you got there, to the place where you guys usually hang out but you didn’t met him, you looked around for him but you couldn’t even see his shadow. Or any trails he left behind. He just disappeared like you did before. Morning came, afternoon, evening, a day, and a week. You didn’t woke up. You were trapped in there again.

Kicking a can out of your way as you took a road to god knows where, you lost count on how long you’ve been trapped but it almost felt like a year or more “I wonder if Jaemin already woke up”

“He hasn’t” you turned around and saw a very tall figure of a man wearing black suit, “But he will, just not now. I believe your time is up miss” you took a few steps back away from the man. “Haha very funny, I know you’re just trapped here just like me” you said and started to walk again. “What you call ‘here’ is where lost souls go who still have a chance to live but you don’t, your brain is starting to shut down and the doctors back in the real world are trying to save you with a defibrillator” he explained. You stopped in your tracks. So now you’re dying? you haven’t pretty much done all your goals in life yet.

“I-I’ll go back! I will woke up!”

“Haha we’ll see miss, three days, I will give you three days, if i still spot you wandering around here you have no choice but to come with me” he smirked, he snapped his fingers and poof! he was nowhere to be seen.

•••

“You seriously don’t remember her?”

“No... why? Do I have to?” Jaemin sipped his black coffee.

“I don’t know, it’s just that after she woke up she went to see you, she was crying it’s kinda...unfair”Jeno explained, ever since Jaemin woke up Jeno’s been trying to tell everything about you but it doesn’t ring any bell to him. “Unfair? What? It’s my fault if i can’t remember her? I’ve been asleep for 5 years and so is she, how the hell— argh nevermind” Jaemin face palms himself.

“C’mon Jeno don’t force him to this, he can’t be stressed” Renjun said.

“Yeah yeah right sorry” Jeno apologized.

They all went back to their business, silence filled the room. Renjun and Haechan are focused on their phones, Jeno looking outside the window, and Jaemin drinking his favorite drink. Jaemin was dozing off until a certain memory from his dream played in his mind. He was in an empty grocery store with a girl, everything was clear except her face, her voice was also mute. “I like canned bread, it’s kinda good” Jaemin said out of nowhere.

His friends looked at each other in confusion and back at Jaemin, Haechan scoffs “since when have you eaten canned bread?”

Jaemin’s unable to answer, he swear he have. Jaemin shruggs “Nevermind”.

12:30 pm, Renjun and Haechan already left since they still had school tomorrow. Same as for Jeno, he’s just waiting for Jaemin’s mom to arrive so he could go home, he didn’t want to leave his dear friend alone. The Tv is on shopping channel, the air conditioner was off but it’s still cold. They couldn’t sleep. As Jaemin spaces out, he hears this familiar voice of that girl again, she was singing. It was annoying and relaxing him at the same time, he couldn’t understand why he feels such feeling towards a girl who only lives inside his head or is she really? Her face is still blurry but he can finally hear her voice loud and clear. “Hey little train we are all jumping on..the train that goes to the kingdom...” Jaemin sang quietly.

“Where did you heard that?” Jeno ask.

“Someone... I don’t know” Jaemin replied, Jeno shook his head and puts his attention back to his phone. It keeps happening, Jaemin saying things out of nowhere, facts about him that sounds fake but aren’t , its just that, it didn’t happened in reality. “I used to hear y/n sing that a lot when she still attends school, it’s kinda annoying to hear the same lines over and over again but, her voice is beautiful.” Jeno shared.

silence...

“I want to see her, that girl you keep blabbering about, I want to see her” jaemin said.

“But you’re still not allowed to leave your bed until the doctors said so?”

“Do you think I care? I’ve been in this bed for 5 years it’s time to get up” Jaemin hops down the bed and puts his slippers on, he goes at the door and peeks outside. “There’s no one around let’s go” he says. The hallway was empty and quiet, the nurse who was appointed at the receptionist desk was in deep sleep. It was so easy for the boys to wander around without staffs standing in their way.

There’s no one inside y/n’s room at the moment, she was still unconscious, a nasal cannula place around her nose as it gives her oxygen. “She got hit by car, woke up after 8 months and went to see you, she didn’t woke up again after that” Jeno explains.

Jaemin held your hand, it was cold as ice, i never met you but how come i feel like i already knew you like the back of my hand?

•••

“I can’t decide whether I should take her or not, I’m already late for my given deadline argh” the black suit guy whom you met earlier was watching you from afar kick a vending machine again and again, you weren’t hungry or anything, well you can’t feel any hunger anymore, you’re just an empty lost soul who’s not yet ready to go. “Something is holding her back, like a thin red string attached on her back that trails back to the real world” he rest his head on his palm.

He teleported right in front of you, “it’s only day one what are you doing here?” You ask him.

“Listen missy, I’m just doing my job okay? Just come with me and you’ll be at peac—“ he was cut off when he hears a heartbeat, your heart beat. It was purple and it’s glowing, “what’s happening? What’s happening?!” You shook him.

“Hold on hold on, I’ll get my handbook” he snapped his finger and an old big brown book appeared out of nowhere, he used his powers to flip the pages until it gets to the page he was looking for. He puts his glasses on and reads the text. “Well it seems like your not coming with me anymore, any moment now you’ll come back to the real word BUT you won’t remember everything” he explains.

“Is it temporary? Like after a long time I will regain my memories?”

“I’m afraid not, but at least you’re coming back” the grim reaper hears you sigh,he looks away and flicks your forehead. “ah! what was that for?” you glared at him while rubbing the spot he just flicked. “I did it so you won’t lose your memories, it’s against the rules but it’s my first time doing it so i guess i won’t get fired entirely. Maybe just a few punishments” he shruggs.

“why? why did you cross the line?”

“i want to see how it’s all going to end... don’t worry much kid, i have other back up jobs”

5 days later

“Finally! shit!” You cheered, you’ve lost count on how many tissues you used to remove the ink from your face. 3 minutes before you woke up someone’s kid got inside your ward and drew on your face. Your family was crying and laughing at you at the same time, you were confused at first until your brother handed you a mirror. You dump all the tissues at the trash and went out the bathroom, you were with your brother at the moment because your parents are still at work. 3 more days before you’ll finally be discharge and another 3 days for you to rest at home before going back in action.

You went to the couch where your brother was peacefully sleeping, he’s pretty much also knocked out because of work. You don’t want to disturb him anymore, so you went outside to look around, it’s boring if you just stayed in your room. You found a large garden at the ground floor and went in there, the sunlight is illuminating the whole garden, it just rained a while ago so it looks like there are crystals glued to every plant and flower. All of it shines beautifully. The place looks like those beautiful sceneries in anime’s. Back then at that world everything looks cold, lifeless, almost looks like grey.

You went to the main spot of the garden, the wishing fountain. “Hey little train wait for me.. i was held in chains but now im free” you sang, you stare at your reflection from the water and tucked a strand behind your ear. “I’m hanging in there don’t you see?” out of nowhere, you heard someone whispered the lyrics, you got startled because of it and fell towards the fountain. What if it’s a ghost? You’re in a hospital after all.

“Oh my god i’m so sorry! here let me help you up”

“Good thing i have-- Jaemin?! wait, is that really you?” your eyes widen, you feel your heart beat faster and got goosebumps. He wasn’t wearing a hospital gown anymore, that means he got discharged before you did.

He giggled “why don’t you poke my cheeks again like you did last time?”

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rotzaprachim · 4 years ago

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i realised i probably will never get here in in painter’s light so enjoy this my favorite fandom crossover/easter egg i’ve ever written:

(It’s from an au where declan stayed with his mother ergo canon + dialect differences)

6. Washington DC

Age twenty, he gets a business call from a woman who has a statue to sell. Normally he doesn’t take these kinds of calls anymore, the ones that are meant to go straight to his mother’s number, but this woman sounds desperate in the way that has him thinking it’s better if he handles it than one of his mother’s hands in the city, so he buys two Amtrack tickets, and north he goes. Matthew gets sick after eating a microwaveable, foil-wrapped train burger from the snack car.

He installs Matthew in the Met while he meets his contact. An old school deli, one of the kind that’s apparently disappearing fast, an endangered species, and she’s probably a local so it’ll be annoying or pretentious anyway, but she refused any of his options for fancier, more expensive wine-and-dine locations anyway so deli it is. He gets a lox bagel and a coffee and two black-and-whites in a bag to split with Matthew later while he sizes her up. She keeps looking at her hands but she’s calm with the person she called in from Boudicca, has something steely about her, like she’s dealt with bigger fish before and isn’t scared. There’s something about her that’s like him, he knows, thought they don’t say the magic word at all. He thinks she’s maybe thirty.

“In the interest of not beating around the bush further, as it’s clear that’s what neither of us is here to do, let’s move on to the real action item.”

“I have a statue to sell.”

She shows him photos. The camera resolution isn’t quite what he needs to appraise it seriously, but he can see how shockingly life-like it is already.

“How much d’you want for it?”

“Fifty thousand.”

He almost coughs up his coffee.

“You haven’t been playing this game for long.”

She doesn't’ say anything.

“Fifty thousand, take it or leave it.”

“What’s the material?”

“Marble.”

He considers. If it’s good up close he could probably resell it for four or five times that to some collector interested in neo-hellenic stuff. Not many people making original marble statuary these days compared to the market of the super-rich looking for shit to decorate their back gardens.

“Can you show me?”

Declan calls Matthew to tell him to go back to the hotel and get takeaway without him and follows the woman uptown on the bus. They get off in Spanish Harlem, a world away from the shiny robot skyscrapers downtown. She lives on the fourth floor of her building, in a narrow apartment somewhat rank with the smell of body odour and spilled beer, although she throws the windows open and has loads of potted plants about, like she’s trying very hard to get rid of the smell.

“There.”

The sculpture is unmissable. Life size and astonishingly, terribly ugly. Truly incredible in it’s attention to awful detail. A middle aged, balding, short man with a fan of cards in one hand and a beer swinging from the other, positioned exactly as if he’s just got up from sitting. Mouth opened, soundlessly screaming his head off. Declan sees it and flinches without even meaning too. His mother’s not had many men, but she had a few, when she was younger. But it’s just a statue. Just a statue.

Still one of the weirdest goddamn things he’s ever fucking seen, and that’s saying something.

Authentic marble though.

“Formal education? Apprenticed to someone?”

“Take it or leave it. Fifty thousand.”

No more information. He knows exactly why she called him. He’s the kind of man you call when you don’t have information about the life-sized sculpture of a man in your sitting room and no information to give about how you made it, in the same year you report your husband missing to the police. When to the untrained eye, the two look identical. He’s that kind of man.

He gets her three million USD for it.

It’s all through an official channel so it’s harder to launder, get it looking legal. A million upfront, the rest leaked in increments over the next ten years. All shiny, all legal, all IRS-signed off. He personally takes out fifty thousand and puts it in a manila envelope for when he meets her a few blocks off central station, an hour before his train’s scheduled to leave. He gives her the envelope. She gives him a white paper bag containing only blue sweets. It looks like a proper pick-n-mix haul, something he didn’t even think the States had. Whoppers, sour strings, taffy, gum, gummy sharks. He eats a sweet and sour wind-up before being able to stop himself, the sweet-sour crystals on his fingers like being a kid again.

“You’re so young,” she says finally, like this didn’t occur to her the entire time he was selling what was probably her husband’s dead body.

He shrugs, but he’s smiling. “But I got your done.” She can’t be more than ten years older than him, anyway, and most of her jobs have been harder. You don’t tell art world undergrounders your personal life, anyway, but he noticed all of the accoutrements of a maybe secondary-school aged kid lurking around her flat, Lucky Charms, mud scuffs on the floor in strange places, football jerseys in the hamper. She’d tried to hide the obvious things, no photos on the fridge or skateboard leaning against the door frame, but he had an eye for those kinds of details like other people had a head for figures, and he recognised the detritus of a teenager well, because he’d been one recently and he had one.

She appraises him for a second. Her eyes are large and very dark brown, and they don’t let anything go. “Zeus?” she finally says, like she’s been thinking it for a long time, testing the waters. “Hera?”

“Like the Greek gods?”

He went through his greek mythology phase, for sure. Half of decoding what posh people write seems to be about knowing the ins and outs of the soap operatic turns of events people told each other for fun two thousand years ago, which is then called Classics.

She looks at him longer, considers him.

“Lugh, then? Bridgid?”

“I don’t know what you mean by that.”

She nods. “Sorry if- nevermind. Thank you for selling my statue.”

“I hope you do well with it. With your… artistic career. Now, and I don’t fucking care if you blow throught he money in a year, never call me again. Never call this number again. Never call any number related to it. If your money never comes through do fine with a million and don’t go looking. Never.” They shake hands and part ways, and he never sees her again, but he does think about her a lot afterwards anyway, parsing their conversation out. No gods and no God either, as far as he knows. Strange fucking thing to ask.

He’s learned enough by how Matthew is on trains - and on ferries, it transpires, and in strange taxis, and he doesn’t want to fucking think about the transatlantic flight he’s planning at some point - not to let him eat much before the train back to DC, for which he feels bad. While they were in New York he let Matthew choose a show and dutifully got some last minute Dear Evan Hansen tickets off a third party seller, got the good seats and the playbill they got signed after by the cast, Declan knows who to talk to for these kinds of things.

#my writing #crossover time.#in painter's light #declan lynch #and i won't... say who else #but after i saw posts about this online i was like of course. of course

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persoaprilo · 4 years ago

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"Look at me"

Prompt: "Fact: if girl is in love - she can't look in the eyes of her crush" (don't ask me, I saw that as a meme in VK)

(Also sorry for some mistakes it's actually the first time I write fanfic in English awright)

(Btw omelette with eggs, sour cream, some cheese, fresh greens AND sausage is amazing, FIGHT ME or try to cook it. Trust my taste :p)

(Also also sorry if this is too short. I actually wanna translate one of my fanfics into English so you could check it out as well)

_______________________________________

Chloe can't look in Max's eyes.

Pretty dumb, right? She can look in her mom's eyes even when Joyce lectures her about another trouble she made, she can arrange an angry stare fight with David during the dinner, even if after this storm which Max managed to wipe out of the reality things had been pretty good between them. She usually wins these little fights by the way, but only because of Joyce who slightly pinch David on his hand every time.

But she can't look in Max's eyes.

She caught herself on that a couple of days ago when they stood next to her truck: Max did her photo voodoo stuff with golden hour thing while Chloe just watched the sunset and smoked. She still remember the moment when Max showed her the photo and asked her opinion. And Chloe answered, but she kept her eyes on the photo, she couldn't look up to meet Max's cobalt eyes.

And Chloe really fucking don't know the reason. At least until she couldn't keep this in secret anymore so she told about this the closest person she had...

"Hey mom," said Chloe, entering the kitchen.

Joyce stood next to the kitchen counter, cooking breakfast. The bluenette sniffed and felt an amazing smell of freshly-baked bacon and coffee. Chloe's sudden voice made Joyce startle, but she recovered quickly and turned to her daughter.

"Hey sweetie," said Joyce with a gentle smile.

Chloe pursed her lips in responce, her nervous glance is running around the kitchen room. Joyce noticed that and stopped mixing eggs and sour cream for omelette. Older woman walked to the bluenette and tilted her head.

"Is everything alright, Chloe?" asked Joyce with concern in her voice.

Chloe sighed and rubbed her eyes, still a bit sleepy after night of thinking.

"Actually no, not alright. I wanted to ask you something," Chloe sit right on the counter, not giving a fuck about the knife that layed a few inches from her thigh.

"I'm all ears, sweetie. What's wrong?" said blonde, bringing the bowl with mixed ingredients for future omelette, starting to mix it again.

"It's... pretty dumb actually, but I can't look into Max's eyes now and I don't know why. Like I didn't offended her or something, but last time we stood on a beach and watched the sunset together I just couldn't look up at her. And I don't know why," Chloe scratched her head and looked at her mother.

Joyce stood there minute or two, thinking about that. After a little bit of thinking her face cracked with gentle knowing smile.

"My baby girl is in love," muttered Joyce, looking at her daughter.

Chloe's eyes wide open now, not blinking. She couldn't say anything, just opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

"Whuh... What? I'm in love with Max? Mom, she's my best friend, it can't be!" bluenette started to protest.

"Chloe calm your butt will ya. You think I can't see how you usually look at her? You look like a damn tomato, your face is blushing hard, you smiling happily, you even tilt your head closer to her," Joyce poured omelette mix into the pan.

Chloe blinked once, twice. Silence...

"Am I really look like a fucking tomato..?", — asked younger woman, blushing bright red.

"That's a dollar for the swear jar! And yes you are. Look, Chloe, just watch her when you're together. You'll see some interesting things" — said Joyce with mischieve in her tone.

***

"Maxaroni," Chloe greeted her friend.

Max smiled brightly and waved to her, making her way towards Price's truck. She reached the bluenette and giggled when Chloe wrapped her hands around brunette's waist and pulled her a little bit up.

"Missed me?" said Max, hugging her in response.

"Yup. Why are you taking so long back there?"

"Miss Flynn, our new English teacher, wanted us to write some info about us."

"Spy teacher?" said Chloe, chuckling.

Max just shrugged and jumped onto the passenger seat. Chloe climbed inside her truck, suddenly remembering Joyce's words. While starting the engine, she sneakily glanced at Max, and to her surprise, Max turned her head away, blushing furiously and nervously chewing her lips. Chloe shaked her head with quiet chuckle and made her way to the road, still deep in thoughts.

***

"Look at all those stars," said Chloe, sitting on the hood of her truck.

They made it to the beach, parked in a place where no one could see them. Well, in fact only crazy citizens would hang out at the beach in the middle of the night, but Chloe considered herself crazy so that doesn't count.

"Yeah. I wish I had film to capture all of them" Max sighed and leaned her back against the cabin, lifting her chin up so she could see lots of star dots, blinking in the black blanket of the sky.

Chloe was lost in thoughts, biting her lip nervously. She replayed her mom's words again and again.

'What 'interesting things' should I see? All I can see is Max, watching away... wait. Wa-wa-wait, what?'

Max is looking away? Like Chloe back there with the photo?

Chloe decided not to throw everything to Max at once. So, after cleaning her throat, she nonchalantly started:

"Joyce told me one interesting fact by the way."

Max tilted her head so she could see Chloe, who gulped and tried her best to not look away. She's so not going to lose this staring fight

"About?"

Chloe inhaled and then responded, poking her index finger to her beanie:

"It's just that, usually girls can't look into the eyes of their crush."

Max blinked once, then twice. Silence. Only the sound of ocean waves from behind.

Chloe nervously played with her beanie, which she had in her hands. The light wind gently played with her neon blue curls.

"Oh" Max finally said, blushing bright red.

"Max, I literally saw you looking away everytime I look atchu during our way to the beach. So tell me: do you actually like me, or I offended you or-"

Max turned her head to face Chloe. Then she moved a bit closer, tilting her head to the side and giving punkette curious look. These doe-like cobalt eyes making her heart melt like a fucking marshmellow almost every time.

"But you looked away as well when I showed you a photo back there. Is there something you haven't told me?" said Max, watching her tensely.

Chloe scoffed and looked away, blushing like a fucking tomato or so, her cheeks burning from the flush like someone put the Sun next to her head. She practically can hear Joyce's laugh.

"Hey, I asked you first so don't avoid my question" said Chloe with a little annoyance in tone, also pouting.

Max smiled shyly, then she moved even closer to Chloe and bent so her lips were against Price's ear and whispered, Chloe felt her skin burning from her hot breath:

"How do you think, you flirty goopy dork?"

And then she kissed the bluenette.

#lis #life is strange #chloe price #max caulfield #max x chloe #pricefield #fanfic #fanfiction

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blueberrypossum · 4 years ago

Text

No One Does It Like You Do Dastardly Danny x oc

Hi everyone! This is another Shiki x Danny fanfic that I loved writing (I love writing fighting scenes and also winter atmospheres because it’s so cozy! So this is Shiki again (because I love writing her it’s so much fun) I hope you guys don’t mind and hopefully you can just place yourself into it! @greaser-wolf and I just love going back and forth with her oc and mine and it’s so much fun and she is just so wonderful! I hope you guys enjoy!!

WARNING: There is usage of inappropriate words and adult themes ( such as sexual content that is pass making out)

(Also I know that the Hidden city doesn’t have a sun or moon or even weather but I want them to have an atmosphere XD )

Word Bank:

Big Cheese: Big Boss

We’ve been had- Been tricked or deceived.

Yuck- A foolish or stupid person

Music:

You brought your overcoat closer to you as the chilly breeze started to become quicker and snow started to dart through your vision at an easy pace. You tried to start a match between your hooves as you awaited for Danny and the others to investigate the bar, but after each click there was nothing but empty silence of the mountain.

It has been a hot minute since you’ve done a job somewhere this cold, of course it snowed in the Hidden City, but not like this. With your genetics, the cold wouldn’t really bother you, but without harnessing the true potential of your power, you were left shivering under your several layers of clothes.

The mountain side was gorgeous though, the glistening of the snowbanks shined in the afternoon sun and the yokai’s that lived in the hidden village were enjoying warm beverages and gentle conversations. The white layer under your boots crunched as you continuously moved back and forth to keep warm as your boyfriend was taking a little too long to ask where this polar bear yokai was.

When you were given the opportunity to go after one of the most psychotic war lords by your boss, you just couldn’t say no. But you weren’t given a team in the progress, so one you told Danny about it, him and the rest of the Mud Dogz created a plan to help you, with a small price to pay as well.

You were honestly glad that Danny and the others wanted to join you, not only were they your friends, but you couldn’t really trust your teammates in the force. Too bad that Mickey had to do other business and had to sit this one out.

You finally spotted the usual purple wearing rat in the distance, his long brown coat flapping behind him as a gust of wind danced into town, two thin figures close behind him as they made their way over. Frost dusted over Danny’s whiskers as he came up to you, his hands rubbing each other under his gloves as Nova and Leonard joined as well. Leonard was the most bundled out of all four of you, his green body shivering under the black coat he wore.

Nova seemed to be the only one who enjoyed the weather, her nose twitching every time a flake landed on her.

“Are you actually enjoying this?” The ogre asked, an eyebrow raised as she gave him a sly smile.

“When you’re this hot the cold never affects you.”

“....”

“I’m kidding! I’m a Mountain Fishing Cat, this is my element.”

You rolled your eyes at Nova’s comment and looked up at Danny, who had curled himself up close to your side for any connection of warmth.

“Did you find anything out?” You asked him as Nova and Leonard continued to have their fake argument.

Dastardly Danny shook the excess snow off his shoulders and hat as you watched his breath roll out like a cloud.

“Apparently the Big Cheese is holding up somewhere not far from here, hidden within the mountain,” he said with a low huff, his voice going quiet as a family walked by, their children running around them as they played in the snow.

Till’ then we should rent out a nearby cabin, Len said that there is a renting inn nearby.”

You pulled your beanie tighter onto your head as you let out another quiver, the mountain’s thin air starting to get to you. The rat yokai took notice of your sudden chill and unraveled his large coat and then the smaller one he wore under it, his hands gently placing the toasty coat on you.

“Danny I’m fine-”

“Yes, yes, I know, sugar. But I’m sweating like a hog-”

The look you gave him as you settled the coat on you made him stop in his tracks and an embarrassed look crossed his face and for the first time you actually saw Dan flustered.

“Uh, I meant..What I meant to say-”

“Ha! Danny actually messed up on a slang. Maybe Leonard will be cheerful for once!” Nova purred as she joined the conversation, Leonard right at her heels as they joined in on the full group. It seemed that the comment struck a nerve in the ogre and he looked down at the feline, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

“Only in your dreams, kitten.”

Woahhhhhhh, where did that come from?

Both you and Danny were in amazement as a dash of red flared against Nova’s face, and it wasn’t from the cold. It was good to see your friend get bashful for once instead of you and you grinned at the sight, taking in the heat and smell from Danny’s jacket. His cologne was trailed with cigarettes and old spice, and the fur that was sewn into the inside rubbed comfortably against your fur.

Danny placed an apology kiss on your head as Nova and Leonard continued to banter back and forth and you took in the soft texture of his mouth as you sucked in an icy breath.

“Alright you two, we’re burning daylight. Let’s rent a cabin,” you ordered, and you couldn’t help but giggle at the relief that flashed in Nova’s multi-colored eyes as she headed towards one of the wooden signs that showed the option of renting out an isolated cabin, her tail curled against her back.

“This is gonna be a long weekend.”

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You four were able to rent a two bedroom cabin that was a few miles out and packed your bags into a waiting car that would drive you to the location. Leonard wasn’t the happiest to hear that they could only get two rooms, and commented that he would sleep on the couch, but Nova kept flinging comments that he didn’t want to cuddle with her.

“We better hope dat’ our room is on the other side of the house,” Danny whispered to you as Nova would turn from her seat from the front to fight back with Leonard.

“So we don’t hear them?”

Danny shot you a sinister smirk as the arm that was wrapped around you tightened itself.

“More like they don’t hear us.”

The surprise that surfaced over your face only fueled the rat more as you squirmed in the car seat, the warm air that was blasted throughout the car was no longer nice, but overly steaming.

The worker checked the cabin for food and cleaning supplies and left instructions if they needed anything.

The wooden cabin was decorated with lemon and wine, candles and lanterns lit up the shack anda fire crackled in the fireplace. The front door brought you to the living room on the left and the kitchen on the right and the stairs were a few feet away right as you walked in. The only thing upstairs was one of the bedrooms and a door in the kitchen led to the other spare bedroom. After searching you all found that the bathroom was under the stairs.

“I’m guessing the couple gets the upstairs room?” Nova asked as she took off her coat and placed it on the coat stand by the door. Danny sent the feline a cocky smile as his hand grazed over your lower hip.

“You betcha.”

Flustered words came out of your mouth as you moved your bags upstairs, almost tripping your way up to keep Danny’s wandering hands and him also trying to carry your bags.

The only thing upstairs was an open room and an extra bathroom, a large king bed laid up against the wall and furry rugs were enriched onto the wooden floor. Dressers and shelves were dotted around the room and all four of you started to unpack and get yourself settled. You undress yourself down from your layers until you only wear a black long-sleeve shirt with a maroon cardigan and elastic jeans to keep you warm.

“Ya sure you don’t need help taking off the rest?”

“You know that Nova and Leonard are downstairs, right?”

“They gotta sleep at one point, darling.”

“And so do we!”

You dodged Danny’s hug attack and skipped down the stairs to the sound of light music humming throughout the cabin. A delicious smell had drifted into the air as you made your way to the kitchen and found Nova sitting on the kitchen counter while Leonard was behind the stove, his fingers working on dinner. You barely heard Leonard telling the feline to not get any fur into the food as Danny came up beside you, his body wrapped in grey long-sleeve and work pants.

The tabby pulled her hair up into a ponytail and continued to read the book in her hands, the cream turtleneck she wore blazed against the fire’s shadow.

You looked over Leonard’s shoulder and saw the rice, herbs, and sauces that were stirring in the pan while he separated an egg yolk from its whites.

“So, can all members of the Mud Dogz cook?” You asked as you sat at the island of the kitchen.

“Mickey is not good at cooking, never ask him to cook for you.”

“Oh come on, it can’t be that bad.”

“Nah, toots, never eat what that eel cooks up. Not after the meatloaf.”

“Oh don’t even remind me of that day! My stomach still doesn’t sit right after that.”

A confused laugh escaped your mouth as the ogre continued to make dinner, Nova handing him ingredients that he needed while flipping through her book. The melody that came from the bluetooth speaker from the living room swayed into the kitchen, and the cozy and friendly atmosphere made you loosened up as the conversation continued on without you, your body heading to the fridge in search of milk.

The scent of dinner floated around as you dug through the cabinets, Nova moving over when you came around the area she sat. You finally found the hot chocolate packets as Leonard had just finished up the meal, the steam rising from the mixture of rice, vegetables, and potato chips made your stomach growl with hunger.

You set the ingredients you were gathering aside as you four enjoyed the dinner, the cooked egg and spice made your cheeks spill with warmth. There were a few comments thrown here and there, such as going over the plan and what they were gonna do with the money. Your main concern was just getting the guy, Shia Albright, and he was on the top list of criminals for a reason; you just hoped that you and your friends could handle the polar bear yokai.

Apparently your concern was noted because a hand under the table was placed over your thigh.

You looked down and watched as Danny gave your leg a squeeze of reinsurance, his nails digging into the fabric.

It had been several months dating Danny, and you were surprised that it was the most love and happiness you’ve had in a long while. Even with his open book personality, there was still a lot more to uncover from the rat yokai. It was pleasing to learn from Danny, to give him the chance he had been fighting for since the beginning. He was very open to you, with how he felt, what he wanted to do with you. And of course it made you squeal with exhilaration, but you both kept things slow. You were still a cop, and he was still a thief.

After dinner, Nova and Danny did the dishes while you started to make the hot chocolate. Your hooves worked carefully to boil the milk and then get out the whipping cream, happy to find that they also bought the chocolate syrup you had placed on the shopping list.

“You are so washing that pot afterwards,” Nova commented, her paws drying themselves on a cloth after placing the dishes in the drying rack.

“With how good it’ll taste, you’ll be licking the pan clean,” you joked back, pouring the creamy liquid into multiple cups before decorating them with the heavy cream and dark liquid. You found a platter to carry the drinks and you brought them over to the living room, Leonard was in one of the chairs, Danny on the couch, and Nova on the floor. Each of them gave you their own thank you as you let them grab a mug off the tray, leaving it on the floor as you got comfortable next to Danny, your legs curling up to you.

The soft guitar played in the background as snow drifted outside, Nova flipping her nails through her book, Leonard going over the plans notes in his hands, and Danny was holding you tight, one hand held the drink and the other held you. And within the guitar strings and the casual crackle of the fire, the dread that was growing on you was almost unnoticeable. Almost.

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The summit air was brutal against your fur as you and your group headed up to the hidden factory, your boots making deep imprints in the white ground.

The plan was simple, you had your laser and taser gun, and once you and Danny found the opportunity to get Shia, you would pounce while Leonard and Nova went after the gold they had been mining for in the factory, a lightness spell to carry it was placed on the bag the ogre carried.

It almost seemed that it didn’t matter how many coverings you wore, the winter hands reached around into your body and gripped every nerve ending.

Nova was the only one up ahead, her long legs carrying her easily through the snow as she led up to one of the broken areas of the factory; Leonard had scouted out in the blueprints, the metal and scrap of the building being torn away as if a large animal bit into it. The tabby hopped over one of the uprooted pieces of metal and plummeted into the darkness below and you followed, your feet landing harshly on the metal floor as the boys followed, the only light being seen was a glow stick, the orange glow outlining you and everyone else.

The feline handed Leonard the light stick as he pulled out the layout of the workshop, his footprints leaving weak imprints of snow on the black floor. You tried to flick a flame between your hooves, but all you got was the snapping echo of the aftermath. Ever since the run-in with your dad a month ago, your powers seemed to bury themselves into your body, where you couldn’t even feel the swirling ball of warmth that usually danced in your veins. It almost made you feel useless in situations like this, when the group needed fire, it just seemed like you weren’t the match for it to light.

But your feelings were gonna have to wait as you heard the slightest pitter patter against the metal and you pushed your friends up against the wall in a swift move. One of Shia’s guards walked slowly by, his body decked out in warm armor and a gun was strapped against his chest. The male yokai strolled down the hallway, the flicker of his flashlight slowly dying out and the staircase went silent.

Once the cost was clear, Leonard turned to Danny and handed him a copy of the map.

“Alright, once you have him, meet up at the F2 tower, he should be in his office,” Leonard ordered, even with being in an isolated area, his breath still collected in front of him.

Danny took the extra map and you eyed it at his side. Shia’s office was up several floors, and you both knew that there would be groups of henchmen on lookout. But, with stealth and silence, you and Danny could make it up there effortlessly.

“Stay safe you two,” Nova purred quietly and her and the ogre dashed into the shadows, the only sign of them ever being there was the leftover snow from their bodies drifting off.

You rolled your shoulders as your biceps tensed under the cotton shirt and Danny turned around and handed you the map.

“Lead the way, toots.”

A grin leveled on your face as you took the map and started the walk up the first flight of stairs, your boots eagerly carrying you up, Danny right at your heels. You ran into your first guard at the third floor, the husky yokai let out a yelp of surprise before your fist came into contact with his snout, and then your knee into stomach, and with one single swipe you had your taser in his chest, a loud thud vibrated against your feet as he made contact with the ground.

The next flight had you and Danny taking out multiple guys, both of you darting between crates and mining equipment and you took out yokai’s with your taser and Danny took his fair share out with a knocking out technique.

After minutes of fighting and sneaking around, you both finally made it the top and final floor, the staircase leading straight to Shia’s office.

The hallway that looped to the office was long and dark, the only sound the mirrored around was the old factory settling to its age. Dastardly was flanking you as your fingers grazed over the metal door, the bitterness of the cold traveled from the metal to the inside of your glove. The door was already unlocked from its handle and you pushed it open, the unholy light that dripped out of the room pooling over you like water.

You pointed your gun through the doorway and you took in the large office. The room was cold and white fur littered the ground as you continued further in, Danny’s tail curled in dread as you got closer to the large office chair, the end of the laser gun pushing the leather seat to the side.

No one was there, nothing was there except a half done cigar that sat in an ashtray. Your small brows furrowed in confusion as you placed the gun back in the holster on your thigh as your hands started to dart around his desk.

“He’s...he’s schedule said that he would be here, if he’s not here, then where is he?” You asked out loud. The office had large windows and Danny peaked his head out to watch the soldiers quickly dart around, his arms crossing in question.

You searched his drawers and file cabinets for any information, but even if you did find anything, you still wouldn’t have him in chains.

And then the door slammed shut and the sound of a blockade over it blasted through the cracks.

“Well dat ain’t good,” Danny grunted and the sound of hushed orders and then a slow, irritable ticking clicked throughout the room. Your ears snapped with the rhythm and then the sound of gunfire was heard in the distance.

The clicking was getting faster, and with all the yokai’s running away…

“We’ve been had!”

Danny grabbed your hand and raced over to the furthest window on the left, his hand taking hold of your laser pistol and shot through the clear material until the glass shattered into falling pieces, like icicles hanging off the side of a house. There was a torn edge that led over to a large scissor lift and your boots scrapped over the broken glass, the grey outer layer held your stance steady as the beating of the hidden bombs continued.

“Ladies first!” The rat exclaimed as you both looked at the jump ahead. You sent him a hot glare but got ready and pushed off, one of the blasts from the concealed bombs went off and the heat waved knocked you forward and you landed hard against the platform, the pop in your shoulder caused a grunt to escape your throat.

You got up and looked up at Danny, whose figure was still against the window frame, the blast of the bomb sooted the side of his body.

“Alright, your turn!” You screamed up at him and then let out a wail as the scissor lift groaned under you and the metal bars started to creak under the new weight.

The rat took a step back and with a graceful leap he landed right next to you, his hand instantly pulled the level on the side just as the rest of the bombs started to go off one by one. He blocked his body over you as flying debris exploded around you in a ray of black and orange. The impact of the blast knocked both of you over, sending Danny sliding next you and over the side.

“Danny!”

The hanging platform whined as the weight was shifted over to one side and you scooted over to the ledge, your hand gripping Danny’s wrist before his claws slipped from the ledge. His mass was nothing you were used to, but you were used to him being on your back, not over the side of a dangerous overhang that could collapse any minute. The metal shafting and room was groaning with pain as the pillars and other rooms started to fall apart due to the explosion.

You pulled your other hand around him and stood up, your boosts digging into the black outline of the scissor lift as you brought him back up and before he could thank you the ramp gave way and dropped towards the first level.

Curse words sprinted out of both of your mouths as you held onto the sides as the platform crashed into the floor, sending you both rolling to the opposite side as the destroyed roof rammed into the scissor lift once it hit the bottom.

A fit of coughs lashed out of your mouth as the dust swirled around you, the light creaking of broken metal and fire ringing in your ears as your name was called out.

“Shiki?! Shiki!”

You pushed yourself up and hissed at the small cuts and bruises that were scattered over your body, but you counted your blessings to find no major injuries. The rat’s voice continued to vibrate against the splintered mess.

“Danny?! Are you alright?!” You called to him and then took several steps back as more debris gave way, taking you further away from the wreck and Danny. His voice became muffled and you just had to tell yourself that he was fine, that you needed to meet him and the others at the tower.

Hateful tears sprang in the corner of your eyes as you made your way through the factory, your legs dodging small piles of flames as you started to recognize the area you were in. Of course this plan had failed, this mob boss knew everything about everyone, and he wanted to make sure that the death of you would be a prime example to not go after him. That only gave you more rage, more strength to go after him as you crawled through a small hole created by shattered mining equipment.

You reached for the door in front of you until two forms crashed through it, your body flattening itself against the wall as the two balls of fur ripped each other apart. A cat-like yowl came from one of the forms and you recognized the winter outfit that was torn from battle.

“Nova?!”

The cat then swiped her claws across the wolf yokai’s face that made him let go of her. She pushed herself against the wall and used the hard surface to kick the yokai into one of the multiple holes that lead into the mines, his terrifying howls haunting the rocky surface.

Nova turned to you with an astonished expression, a cut on her head bleeding a trail down her face.

“Are you okay? Where’s Leonard?”

“We got seperated, but he has the gold. What about Danny? And Shia?”

“This was a setup! They knew we were coming.”

Nova frowned as you both started to look for another way out, her tail whizzing back and forth like a strip of rope.

“This wasn’t a setup, another revival gang showed up. Apparently that dumb polar bear thought that he would make his hideout into a trap so he can get rid of them.”

It felt wrong but joy pulsed through your body as you found a torn apart wall that led outside, the light snowfall was now a blizzarding storm. If Shia was fighting against a rival group, then he didn’t know that an officer was here, and you could still get the jump on him.

The feline started to proceed over to the watchtower F2 but you grabbed her hand and tugged on it.

“We can still get Shia! He’ll be so distracted that he won’t see us coming!”

Nova’s eyes flashed down to you and then over to the tower, her left ear flicking with concentration along with her tongue licking off the excess blood from the corner of her mouth.

“Alright, if we can find him under ten minutes.”

You led in the opposite direction and towards one of the gaping holes of the mines, the echoes of gunfire and battle cries filled your ears like music.

The snowstorm was slowly getting worse, the petals now turned into sharp splinters as your vision started to get covered with white. The crunch under your combat boots was barely heard and you could barely feel the metal pathway that was under you, your covered hands holding onto the side as a large gust of wind tried to push you over. The bellow’s of the yokai’s started to get louder and with one flick of your thin ear, you were spinning around to push Nova out of the way from a hidden attacker.

“Look out!”

The female snow leopard leapt onto you, her claws shredding out of her gloves and into your coat and a low hiss growed out of her white throat. Your hooves wacked into her nose as you pressed yourself further into the railing and with the yokai’s extra burden of weight the rusted pipes gave way and folded over, taking you and the henchmen with you.

“Shiki!” Nova called for you but it was barely heard as you and the snow leopard rolled through the snow and down the slope, away from the factory and the watchtower. Even with the smooth snow to impact your tumble, the frozen floor underneath still stabbed itself into you as you both came to a sliding halt.

Your body was freezing now, the cold hands of winter grasping over your form and it took all your strength to raise yourself up. Far from the factory, you and the female snow leopard had landed over a frozen lake, ice holding your weight easily as the war around you continued. Not far from the lake were several military vans and henchmen shooting bullets and arrows at two hidden figures behind separate crates.

“Danny! Leonard!”

The two yokai turned at the sound of their names and spotted you. Leonard had a few cuts scrapped over his body and his shirt was torn while Danny was covered in more soot than before and his hat was gone, but both seemed relatively fine. When the rat caught sight of you, a gust of comfort filled his hollow lungs to see that you were still breathing. His hand planted against the crate he was behind to get up but he instantly lunged back down when more ammo was shot at him.

You made a step towards him but a blur of chalk pounced for you out from nothingness, her claws tearing up the ice surface like nails against a chalkboard. You dodged a swipe from her and then a kick with your hands, your hands going for the laser pistol from your thigh but the flexible feline broke it out of your grip, the weapon skating over the frozen water.

Jeez! Is every cat yokai like this?

She drove you further into the middle of the lake, your boots having trouble keeping friction over the slippery exterior while the snow leopard didn’t wear any form of shoe except for her pants connecting with the middle of her paws, but it kept her upright as she continued to chase you.

Nova, if you can hear me right now, know that you and I are having a fighting session once this all over!

The woman jumped for you and you swiftly moved to the side, and with one kick of your foot it sent the leopard back to the bank of the lake, her face going straight into a pile of snow near the battle Danny and Leonard were in. You couldn’t help but smirk at the small victory, but a pair of azure eyes poked from the heap of white, fury marking the snow leopard’s face as she looked around.

Near her was a minecart filled of pickaxes and safety hats and her paws swaddled one of the weapons, a wicked smile on her face as she neared the lake once again and with one hit she stabbed the axe into the frozen glass and millions of broken cracks surfaced and the watery hell took you down.

“SHIKI!”

Danny was on his feet as you disappeared into dark liquid, the clumps of ice drifted around the spot you had fallen into. Leonard was by his side now and as the rat started to race towards the lake, the ogre tackled him and rolled them both behind a tree as the polar bear’s henchmen started to make their way closer.

“Are you crazy?! You can’t survive that temperature! You’ll also die before you get there!”

“Get off of me you bloody yuck! She will drown!”

Before Danny was going to elbow his friend right in the jaw, a pair of legs jogged right past them and they glanced up to see Nova racing towards the half-ruined lake, her arms quickly working off her two layers of coats and her cream turtleneck until her grey thermal showed. She then hopped over the snow leopard yokai and took the pickaxe from her grey paws, her momentum slamming the ax into the shattered ice until a large enough hole was created and the Mountain Fishing cat jumped in without another thought.

“What is wrong with these girls?!” Leonard exclaimed as he let Danny go and knocked out a guy who came too close, his fingers taking control of the rifle the henchmen had in his talons.

Danny could hardly hear the leader as he searched over the lake, trying to find your figure drifting in the cold liquid.

He had never felt fear like this, as if he was the one drowning instead of you. He ignored the ongoing dogfight around him as every second that ticked by felt like lifetimes. With how shattered the pool of water was, the rat yokai saw how strong and recentless the current was underneath, the tide pushing up against anything it could get its grasp on. Including you.

And then him and Leonard saw it. It was barely visible but a white paw came crashing out of the ice on the other side of the lake, the enlarged nails broke into the ice like an anchor and created long marks as the creature heaved itself out.

Danny felt his friend next to him lose his breath as Nova broke the surface, water droplets falling down her hair and fur as she pulled herself out of the water, and in her arms was a waterlogged you, steam rolling off both of you as your friend dragged you out.

The men didn’t have to have sonic hearing to hear the feline’s grunts as she dragged you over to the shore, Nova’s paws working on your chest as she performed CPR.

Danny’s body hurdled into action as he stole the gun out of Leonard’s hands and shot at the criminals crowding them, his dead-eye like aim taking out over four before he started to haul ass over to you and Nova, not even giving Leonard a heads up as the black-haired stared dumbfounded at the rat before joining the retreat.

You couldn’t hear anything, you couldn’t taste or see anything, all you felt was the cold. It violated you and suffocated you as you felt the water slush around in your lungs. And then the pressure, something or someone was placing pressure on your filled lungs to the point your chest couldn’t take it anymore and you perked up, your head turning over to vomit up the lake water you had swallowed.

You could barely open your eyes as you tried to take in your surroundings, but it was so cold, why was it so cold?

“Shiki! Shiki are you alright?!”

A bubbly groan came out of your waterlogged throat and you thought to yourself that you would never drink water again and that you hated winter. Your head was exposed to the elements and you realize that your beanie was gone.

Your dark eyes were able to open to peer up, the flakes of snow coating your eyelashes. Nova was soaked leaning over you, her fur drooped with the soggy water and her whiskers started to become white. But another figure was coming into your vision and as you tried to warn your friend, all that came out was a backbreaking shiver.

The cat then let out a cry as she was grabbed and tossed to the only unbroken part of the lake and all you could do was watch in horror as the snow leopard started to attack your friend, nothing protecting Nova except her thin thermal shirt and her own wits.

Nov...Nova,” you shivered out and your hand reached up as the evil leopard took a hold of Nova’s neck and slammed her into the ice, the fragile solid breaking under her. Hands were wrapped around you now and your freezing hand went for your taser but the familiar and tender scent of Danny wafted your senses.

“Dann...Danny?”

“I’m here, sweetheart, I’m here.”

“No..Nova needs..”

“Leonard has it handled, we need to get ya outta here.”

The yokai lifted you up easily, the crisp drops of water that fell from your clothes barely made it to the ground as they froze. Even with your head making contact with the rat’s soft fur, it was almost nothing against your frozen skin and stiff fur.

As your boyfriend carried you deeper into the woods, you turned your head and spotted Leonard and Nova not far behind, the bitter color of crimson dripped from Nova’s claws and Leonard’s hands.

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You all four made it back to the cabin in one piece and Nova was quick on getting her boots off and looking over at you.

“Danny, I need you to go and take off her clothes.”

“I’m sorry? What?”

“Because if she sits in those wet clothes she’ll get hypothermia! And then she can die! So take her upstairs and get her undressed and in a new pair of clothes!”

You could tell Nova was panicking, when her voice rose over and past a joking manner you knew she was nervous and you could hear her dive into the kitchen and started to search. You wanted to argue that you were fine, but you found no power behind your muscles and all you could do was give a little cry of pain as your body was pounded with the cold.

When Danny made it up to your room he sat you on the bathroom floor and started to derope you. His fingers scrambled over the black coat, and then the green overcoat, the maroon cardigan and then your black sweater was all off. You were cold to the touch and your brown fur was dyed to a darker oak. Even with the cold layers off of you your body reacted violently against it and your arms wrapped around yourself. Danny felt his heart shatter like the lake that consumed you and placed a small kiss on the top of your head, as if he was afraid you would break with just one touch.

You had to help him take off the two layers of pants you wore until you laid almost nude in front of him and the harsh flush of warmth crossed your face, but it just made you feel a lot more sicker. The rat saw the temperature in your face change and he got up and to your dresser, not one flash of emotion came across his face as he headed a new outfit for you.

“You got this, call if ya need me,” he whispered silently to you and then left the bathroom and leaned against the wall next to you.

You couldn’t but try to roll your eyes as you tried to ease your bra off. Even in a life or death situation he was still going to be a gentleman towards you. It was hard though, the cold undergarment clinged into you like glue and it took you several minutes to even get both of them off. You threw the wet clothes aside and placed the ones Danny had handed you and the cotton grey long-sleeve and black leggings under sweatpants were on after drying yourself off.

You could still feel the sickness trying to settle on you and a sneeze blew out of your face.

“Gesundheit.”

“You..you speak german?”

“And french, if you’re catching my drift.”

A laugh curled out of your throat but it came out in a fit of coughs. From the restroom you heard Nova call for Danny and his light footsteps drifted away from the room and down the stairs.

Nova and Leonard were in new clothes and the only evidence of Nova falling into the lake was the dampness in her fur and the silent shiver that drove through her body every few minutes.

“Okay, keep her warm and under blankets. No placing her in hot water either.”

“Rag-a-muffin, why are ya telling me this?”

“Leonard is coming with me to find elderberries, it will help make a beverage that will make her feel better and push away any case of fever. But you need to bring her temperature up.”

“And how am I supposed to do dat’?”

“You’re her boyfriend, figure it out.” The feline joked and slammed the front door.

Danny, for the first time in his life, felt an awkward hotness in his stomach as he headed up the stairs to find you curled up in the bed, the vicious shakes that erupted under the sheets made your boyfriend worry, and then Nova’s words came in mind.

The snowfall had slowed down to a gentle delay and the cabin was sprinkled with the light sugar. Danny started the fireplace that was settled in your room, his calloused hands throwing the pieces of firewood into the hungry flame.

His frame floated over to your trembling form and joined you under the blankets, his hands wrapping around you and you instantly curled into his chest, your hooves digging into his back as you tried to absorb every ounce of warmth he had to offer. A rough chuckle vibrated against your head and you buried yourself into his exposed chest fur. Danny placed a soft kiss on your head, and then your cheeks, and then the tip of your snout, and he waved his hand under your chin to look up at him and he kissed you.

The contact from his lips sent a jolt of fire into your throat and you took in the kiss with every pint of strength you had left. But when his body jostled to where he was hovering over you, one hand holding himself up next to your head and the other holding your head up to meet his, you realized the eagerness behind each kiss and release.

His body was over you now, his legs tangled with yours as you sunk further into the mattress, his fingers playing with the tufts of fur behind your head as you felt your heart rate pick up rapid speed. Your hooves held onto his back as he continued to tease you with each feverish kiss, with each touch over your curves and muscle. And as he peppered kisses up your jawline and near your ear, a growl full of R’s rolled into your eardrum.

You instantly had to close your legs as your very core was rocked and you no longer felt cold as heat traced itself throughout your body. He had never growled to you before, especially rolling his R’s like that. This man always had something under his sleeve, but at this moment, you couldn’t think straight, as if every peck of his mouth and the hands that advanced over you made you braindead. The keenness in his movements as his snout started to make its way down your neck created a moan out of your mouth, your voice raspy and needy.

Another hust growl went against your throat and you shivered, and your heart bounced in your ribcage when you realized that it wasn’t from the cold, and that this male was going to heat you up like a oven. His hands were slowly riding up your shirt, his nails tenderly digging into your fur and his thumb doing slow and taunting circles under your chest.

He was teasing you and you squirmed under his hold, but a feather-like moan popped out of your mouth as his teeth grazed your throat and shoulder.

“Danny,” you breathed out and you felt the mammal over you tense up and he stopped, a savage-like look in his eyes as he took in the shameless sight of you. The redness was peaking out of your fur and your chest heaved with pressure and he took a large notice with how your legs were crossed.

“Say it, doll.”

You knew what he wanted you to say, you knew exactly what he wanted you to do.

“Please.”

He was on you like a cat on a mouse, his large build practically swallowing you whole as he took full control. The rat was a sucker for you, almost like a kid in a candy store, wanting to have every single bite. He effortlessly started to mark you as his, the small little squeals that started to rise into the house made his blood pump and you were pushing up against him now, chestnut fur flushed against oak fur as you both tried to get closer to each other. His hands were fully under your shirt now and your neck was covered in small little black spots, all perfectly lined up as the rim of his mouth went for the hollow of your throat and your spine bending to give him full access to your body.

You honestly didn’t care if Leonard and Nova came back early, the heat that rushed through you like water through a pipe was almost too much to bear and you felt himself bump up against you and a heartful gasp came out.

Oh gosh he was too much for you, the senses he spiked within your body was a remedy you never thought you needed.

His warm hands felt good against your chest and you groaned into his mouth, his own vocals sending a growl in return. You were sweating now as you escaped to get a breath of air and you could feel the hot pants from Danny as he left more love marks on you, much lower than your neck. You had to bite your lip to keep yourself quiet and your tail wiggled with ecstasy as his hands spread your legs apart so he could get closer, his large mitts now explored your back and your rump.

You both were burning under the blanket and the fire felt like nothing against your heated fur, you felt like you could be rubbing up against the sun for all you know.

Danny had you pressed against the headboard now, and every vibration from your thighs or your arms when he touched you made him want you more, he desired you more. The hunger and ache he had for you was beyond unbearable and having you to himself without work or anyone getting in the way was paradise.

The bruises under your skin ached but Danny’s hands were gentle over the purple areas and he was gentle with you and... The emotion that roared in your heart was stabbing you, pinching at your lungs as you continued to kiss Danny, his tongue sneaking its way into your mouth and you gladly accepted it. And between the kisses and the cries of pleasure that was spilling out both your mouths, you let out the holy words that he had wanted to hear from you since the day you started dating.

“I love you, Dan.”

The male rat stopped in his tracks and looked down at you, surprise spinning in his eyes as he looked down at you and you swore you saw his eyes flash with heartache. You were so out his league, he would always believe that you were better off without him. You wouldn’t have to worry about your job, you wouldn’t have to stress over the idea of being caught with him, but you stayed with him, you cared for him, and now you loved him.

His hand caressed your cheek and you were practically putty in his hands as he said against your mouth.

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

And he told you that over and over as he undressed you once again.

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The next morning was hard to wake up too. You woke up the burning glint of the sun over the snow and you went to roll over but you were held as if prisoner. Strong arms were around you and soft snoring was brushed up against your back. Flashes of last night danced through your head and the heat between your legs started to flicker again. You unraveled yourself from his hold and placed his forgotten long-sleeve shirt over yourself and your sweatpants and headed downstairs.

It was quiet in the lodge and there was no sign of Leonard on the couch, you walked over to Nova’s door and the shocked gasp couldn’t stop itself as you saw the ogre curled up with the feline, her body rolled up in a ball next to his sleeping figure.

You could only imagine the awkwardness once one of them woke up and you tiptoed back to the kitchen to find a wine-colored drink on the counter with a note.

“Dear Shiki, drink this once you wake up, but by how the cabin was shaking and how you were hollering like you were dying, I’m guessing you might not need this ;). Love, Nova”

Humiliation rolled in your stomach as you took a few sips of the drink, your fist pounding against your chest once you realized that it was an alcoholic beverage. You would give anything to just have a cup of coffee.

You headed back upstairs and for a split second, you remembered why you were truly here. Shia had gotten away, and even though it was a successful heist, it was a failure of a bounty hunt. You felt shame hit you as you failed your mission to get the polar bear. But once you made it up the stairs and saw Danny laying in the spot you had been sleeping in and his hand hanging off the side of the bed as if going after you, waiting for you.

It might’ve been a failure of a job, but you won something today, you won him.

And as you opened up the blankets and let his arms once again entrap you, you felt like the only thing you failed at was not telling him sooner.

#rottmnt #rottmnt mud dogs x reader #rottmnt mud dogz #rottmnt mud dogs #rottmnt dastardly danny #rottmnt dastardly danny x reader #rottmnt danny x reader #rottmnt loathsome leonard #tmnt #rottmnt reader x mud dogz

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humans4vampires · 4 years ago

Text

Mistletoe

Request: Anon - “Tell me more about human bella’s christmas with the cullens, I need the details asap”

Merry Christmas, anon - and a happy holidays to all of you xo

READ PART ONE HERE

“Bella!” Charlie’s voice was loud and his footsteps pounding down the hall were even louder. I sat up in my bed in a futile attempt to warn Edward. It was a silly and needless instinct. My eyes were still adjusting as Charlie swung open my door and came flying into my room. He didn’t bother looking at me as he continued to the window.

“Bella, look!” He said, an awe to his tone I’d never heard before. “There’s so much snow I can barely open the front door!”

It was oddly bright in my room, I thought. I stumbled over the bed to join Charlie at the window and looked out over the frosted scene. I had to squint to take it in, and not because I was still groggy; the mountains of white covering the yard were glistening in the rare morning sunlight. There was an even blanket on our street, on the neighbor’s houses and on their cars and fences. Their Christmas lights, still on since the morning was in its very early hours, were casting faint colors across the pristine snowfall. Charlie was muttering something to himself about not hearing about a snowstorm when I realized what he was really going on about. My eyes finally settled on our yard and I instantly caught the drastic difference.

My truck was completely hidden by a thick mountain of snow and only the red and blue lights atop Charlie’s cruiser were poking out of a matching pile. The pavement and grass were completely forgotten, covered with an immeasurable amount of snowfall. I was sure the entire house was coated. It was too much. Much too much. I grumbled Alice’s name under my breath and Charlie turned to me.

“What?” His eyes had a childlike intensity. It was an unfamiliar excitement I’d never seen on Charlie. For a moment, I felt like I was looking at the man my mother had known.

I shook my head, coloring my words with disbelief. “Amazing,” I answered.

He nodded and looked back out the window. “Sure is.”

A warm feeling washed over me as I watched Charlie look out over the snow, a smile crossing his face where a smile hadn’t been for some time. The guilt I felt for being the reason for his worries didn’t cloud me now.

“Merry Christmas, Dad,” I said.

“Merry Christmas, Bells.”

Charlie crossed his arms then and looked at me. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to drag you out of bed this early.”

I shook my head, “No, it’s okay. I’ll come down in a minute and get breakfast started.”

He nodded and started for the door. I waited for Charlie’s last steps at the bottom of the stairs before I shut my bedroom door and turned back.

Edward was sitting in my rocking chair, idly rocking as though he had been there the whole time. A coy smile spread on his lips as he opened his arms to me. I rushed across the room and sat in his lap quickly. He continued to rock as I clung to him tightly, his cold skin sending a shiver through me.

He chuckled lightly, “I wasn’t far.”

“Still,” I sighed. “I’d rather you were in my arms.”

He squeezed me tighter for a moment and hummed in agreement. We were both still recovering from the months apart and my heart ached whenever I was reminded of his absence. No matter how brief any moment of separation was brought between us, that pain began to creep back. His touch was the only relief for it now. I moved to face him and his golden eyes glistened with that same childlike glint I’d seen in Charlie’s. Edward’s skin wasn’t sparkling exactly, but the reflection of the white snow bounced off his skin in a gentle glow. His beauty stunned me —dazzled me— when he smiled my favorite crooked smile. My heart stuttered and he chuckled again, bending his head down to kiss me.

He brought one cool hand to cup my face as he brought our lips together. I was in a frenzy immediately. I locked my hands locked in his bronze hair. My body curved to his and Edward laughed on my lips, “Bella…”

I shook my head, refusing to move, soaking in the last seconds of pure pleasure before he removed me from himself. He continued to laugh lightly as I struggled to catch my breath. When I finally did, I let out a long sigh. He cradled me closer to him and I rested my head on his chest. We rocked for a bit as he stroked my hair.

“Merry Christmas,” he whispered gently.

I smiled. “Merry Christmas.”

I snapped my head up then to look at him, a serious expression crossing my face. “You know, if you’re trying to pull off this whole ‘we’re all regular humans, nothing to see here’ routine, you might want to stop Alice from decorating my house with unbelievable amounts of snow. One of these days, someone is going to catch on.”

Edward bit his lip, fighting a smile. “Bella, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I cocked my head to the side and rolled my eyes. “Please, Edward.”

He smiled, but didn’t reply, running a hand through his tousled hair. I wasn’t in the mood to coax the truth out of him, anyway. I was still enjoying the glimmer in his eye. I liked the way the holiday seemed to lighten his mood. I had never really felt that ‘Christmas morning’ feeling before. My mother did try for a few years to keep up the Santa charade, but her terrible planning skills and lack of outside childcare meant that I was often shopping with her for the gifts that would be under the tree – if we had gotten a tree at all. By the time I was older, we had a fake tree that plugged in and we usually managed to get it up by Christmas Eve. The desert climate of Arizona never helped build up my Christmas spirit, either.

“Charlie is waiting for you,” Edward said quietly, motioning his head toward the door.

I nodded, but didn’t make any moves to leave. “What time will you be back?”

He smiled, “Eleven.”

I counted the hours in my head. They were going to be difficult, but not impossible. I would be busy with Charlie. Edward stood me up and kissed me quickly before ducking out my window. I didn’t bother dressing since Charlie had gone down in his pajamas. I figured we were playing it by ear, making our own Christmas morning traditions as we went.

I put the biscuits in the oven that I had laid out the night before —Grandma Swan’s recipe— and made eggs and bacon. Charlie and I sat in the living room, eating at the coffee table to enjoy the fire he had made. Our small tree in the corner had a few small presents wrapped below it. Charlie put the radio on to a Christmas classics station and it murmured softly in the background as we carried on light conversation. I was surprised at how simple it was to spend time together like this.

When we had finished, I carried the dishes to the kitchen and Charlie followed me. I washed the dishes while he clamored around behind me. He finished making us hot chocolate by the time I had finished the dishes. I tried to keep myself composed when he asked me if I wanted little marshmallows in mine. I was still not used to being looked after; I knew he was traditionally supposed to be the one doing the nurturing, but all my years at home with my mother had my priorities mixed up.

“Alright,” Charlie said, handing me my mug. “Present time.”

I followed him into the living room again and sat on the floor by the hearth of the fireplace. We both grabbed a gift from under the tree and exchanged them.

“This one is from your mom,” he said, passing me a poorly wrapped square. “I think it got smashed in the mail.”

I chuckled, knowing it hadn’t. Mom had never been great with gift wrap.

Opening gifts didn’t take very long between the two of us. Charlie was excited about his new fly-fishing set that Edward helped me pick out —having a boyfriend with mind-reading capabilities came in handy around Christmas. And because I had gotten a decent employee discount on it from Newton’s, I was still able to afford the ridiculously expensive down jacket that Alice insisted he would love. From what I could tell from his reaction, he did.

My mom sent me a rather eclectic set of wind chimes constructed of sea glass and shells, and Phil sent along a couple of CDs he thought I’d like. Charlie gave me a knit scarf and pair of bean boots, which I knew were rather expensive. Had he noticed my rain boots were looking weathered? He also gave me some cash with the hope that I’d get myself a couple new books. Again, I fought to beat back the emotions I knew both Charlie and I were not comfortable sharing.

We sat in the living room for awhile, both admiring our new gifts, until the clock chimed at ten. I got up from the floor then and excused myself to get dressed. I took a quick shower and dried my hair, trying to put myself together for whatever was going to be happening at the Cullens. I was sure it was going to be completely different from my morning with Charlie.

I was dressed in a white turtleneck, jeans, and my new boots by the time Edward was at the door promptly at eleven. Charlie was already dressed and at the door before I could get down the stairs.

“Merry Christmas, Charlie,” Edward smiled brightly. He was dressed in a soft beige sweater, the kind with a small zipper at the neck, the collar standing up. The collar of a white button-up was peaking through and he had a hand tucked into the pocket of his dark jeans. I was beginning to believe in Christmas miracles.

“Merry Christmas, Edward,” Charlie grumbled back. Charlie was still entirely against the idea of Edward being around, and I was still very much grounded for running out on Charlie for the second time for an Edward related incident. But we were still following the rules of my curfew, even on Christmas. To be fair, Charlie was being very gracious about me spending part of the day with the Cullens – and allowing Edward to join Charlie and I for dinner. I also knew that Charlie would be going out to La Push to see Billy while I was gone, and that was a place I wasn’t entirely comfortable going at the present moment.

Edward and I faked our greetings as we followed Charlie into the living room. Edward took his usual seat in the armchair, forcing Charlie and I to sit together on the sofa. We all made small-talk for awhile until I broke it up. Edward gave Charlie a small package as we got up to leave.

“It’s a gift from my family and myself,” Edward said.

Charlie eyed the box in his hands suspiciously. Edward was trying to keep his expression composed. Charlie’s eyes were wide when he finally lifted the lid. “Uh,” Charlie scratched his head, “I don’t know, Edward. This is too much.”

“You’d really be doing Carlisle a favor by going,” Edward shrugged. “It was a raffle item Carlisle won at the hospital benefit this year. He won’t be able to use it since he’s covering for Dr. Snow during the holidays.”

I had no idea what they were talking about. “What is it?” I asked.

Charlie looked little annoyed. “A four-day cruise to Alaska.”

My eyes bulged, “Wow, uh – that’s really nice…”

Charlie shook his head, “Are you sure about this?”

Edward smiled earnestly, “Of course. My parents are hopeful that you and Bella will enjoy the vacation together.”

Four days? Four days alone on a ship with Charlie? Four days alone on a ship with Charlie without Edward? “What? No,” I said.

But it was too late, Edward had already sold Charlie. “Well, geez, Edward. Thank your parents for me, will you?”

“Dad, I can’t just go –“

Edward cut me off, “We won’t have classes the rest of the week, Bella. You’ll be home before New Years.”

“Before New Years?” I gawked. “What? We’re leaving tomorrow?”

Charlie laughed, “Yeah, this will be great!” The childlike enthusiasm from the morning had returned. “I’ll get to try out my new fishing gear – and the jacket, Bells.”

I gave Edward a dirty look from the corner of my eye and pushed again for us to leave. We said our goodbyes to Charlie and then Edward helped me through the avalanche of snow to his car. The heater was already melting the snow dust on my clothes when I spoke.

“You know, I really hate that,” I huffed.

Edward looked at me. “What?”

“Why did you set me up to go on a trip with Charlie?” I complained. “Four days?”

“Bella,” he chuckled, “You and Charlie are going to have a fine time together. And you’ve never seen Alaska.”

“Edward, I can’t leave you for four days.” It sounded as dramatic out loud as it had in my head. I hoped he didn’t think me as pathetic as I found myself to be.

He gave me an apathetic look. “I’ll be nearby,” he said softly.

I thought about that for a moment. “So you’ll be there?”

“It hurts me too, you know,” he said, even more gently. “I can’t be away from you either. I’ll be there if you need me, but I won’t get in the way.”

“Edward –“

“Bella, Charlie will have the memories of this trip to carry with him the rest of his life,” he said. “It’s the least I can do to share you with him now when I intend to keep you for an eternity.”

His words soaked in my mind and I surrendered. Of course, Edward was right. I supposed it wouldn’t be so bad spending some time with Charlie outside of the house and our regular routine. And if Edward was there, hidden out of sight, how terrible could it be? Four days? I mulled it over in my head as we turned up the long drive to the Cullens’.

The house looked as it had since December first; every eave, railing, and windowsill on the Cullens’ home was perfectly twinkling with crisp, white string lights. The bulbs were reminiscent of a more classic shape – the kind where the glass was more of a pointed, almond shaped-bulb. Every window and door had an elegant draping of evergreen garland with red ribbons and winterberry clusters, each with their own large wreath to match. The large tree in their living room was prominently glowing through the large windows at the front of the house. Even now, in the middle of the day, the house gleamed its bright light across the flat, even snow. The clouds had returned and there was a light sprinkling of snowfall dusting my shoulders as we walked to the door.

The house smelled even more delicious than it usually did, the scent of fresh gingerbread and pine in the air. A gentle thrumming of the grand piano filled the house with a Christmas song I hadn’t heard before. Rosalie was there, her delicate fingers moving across the keys, Emmett at her side on the bench. She didn’t turn her head as Emmett did to greet us.

“Hey, Bella!” He waved enthusiastically. “Merry Christmas!”

Edward lingered behind me as I moved toward the piano. “Merry Christmas, Emmett,” I smiled. “Rosalie.”

Rosalie nodded, but kept her eyes down, pretending to need the focus to play.

“That’s beautiful,” I complimented.

If I hadn’t been looking hard enough, I would have missed the small, smug smile that tugged on the edges of her lips. It was there and gone in an instant, almost too quickly for my human eyes. Emmett wrapped one arm around Rosalie’s waist as she continued to play, giving her a playful squeeze. She smiled fully then and began to transition to a new melody.

Edward took my hand and led me toward the kitchen. When we turned the corner, a gentle laugh escaped his lips.

“Ah, Bella!” Esme clapped her hands together, sending a small puff of flour dust into the air. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart!”

She and Carlisle turned to one another and laughed, pulling each other into a gentle hug. They were both lightly dusted in flour, patches of white on their faces; on Esme’s nose, Carlisle’s cheek, dusted across their foreheads and their hair. Their aprons were coated in white, too, matching the kitchen island that was covered with thick brown dough and piles of gingerbread cookies.

“Merry Christmas, Bella,” Carlisle laughed. “It seems our baking skills could use a bit more practice.”

There were burnt gingerbread men scattered about the others that were expertly decorated with intricate designs, as if crafted by expert bakers. There had to be over two-hundred cookies. “I think you’re doing a great job,” I laughed.

Edward pulled me closer to him, laughing over my head at his parents. Alice and Jasper appeared then from the staircase. Jasper had huge wrapped boxes piled in his arms as he moved into the living room, wishing me a ‘Merry Christmas’ as he passed. Alice expertly tugged me out of Edward’s arms and into hers, pulling me in for a hug.

“Merry Christmas, Bella,” she said excitedly, squeezing me tightly.

“Merry Christmas, Alice,” I chuckled.

She looked over to Carlisle and Esme, “Come on! It’s time for gifts!”

Carlisle and Esme were working to clean themselves up as Alice dragged me behind her to the living room. Rosalie was still playing at the piano and Emmett was helping Jasper arrange the surmounting pile around the towering Christmas tree. Each gift was wrapped elegantly in different hues of metallic paper. Alice plopped me down on the edge of the sofa closest to the roaring fireplace. Edward swooped me up faster than I could follow and suddenly he was under me and I was perched in his lap. He still had that excitement in his expression that made my heart stutter. He gave me a slight glance, an eyebrow raised, at the sound of it.

“Don’t worry,” Edward soothed. “I followed your rules.”

He had mistaken my heart wrenching happiness for fear. I nodded quickly, as he moved his hand delicately to tuck my hair behind my ear. He kissed my cheekbone gently as I blushed.

“Alright,” Alice complained. “Come, sit.” She ordered to the others.

Esme came to sit beside Edward and I on the long, white sofa. Carlisle sat down beside her. He was still dusting flour from her shoulders. Rosalie stopped her playing and moved to sit beside Emmett in one of the armchairs by the fire as Alice set a vinyl record on an antique player. Bing Crosby’s Christmas album started with White Christmas.

Jasper took a seat on the floor beside Carlisle’s feet and we all watched as Alice danced around the tree in a graceful blur. Her gaze was peering into the future as her hands floated over each box. She was picking the order in which the gifts would garner the best reactions. As she made her decisions, the boxes began disappearing from under the tree, reappearing in everyone’s hands. Alice begrudgingly went at a human pace to hand me mine. I sat contentedly in Edward’s lap, watching the others as they joyfully exchanged their gifts.

Jasper gifted Carlisle an antique revolver and the two were engrossed in conversation over the details; it sounded like they were interested in the history of it, rather than the use. Emmett gave Rosalie some kind of car, what kind I wasn’t sure, but it sounded fast. Rosalie was asking Emmett and Edward excitedly about the engine as she twirled the keys in her hands. Alice had given everyone clothes, of course, and she and Esme were fawning over the satin on a long skirt Alice had picked for her. Edward’s arms wrapped around me to open his gift from Carlisle and Esme; he graciously received a new leather-bound notebook, giving Esme a kiss on the cheek.

“Here,” Edward said, reaching down to pick up a gift of mine, “I’ll help you.”

There was a smirk on his lips as he exchanged a passing glance at Jasper. Emmett laughed, “Where’s the fun in that?”

I gave Emmett a dirty look as I blushed and Edward handed me something soft. I unfolded a deep blue sweater, definitely cashmere, with a plunging V neckline. My blush deepened and Edward smiled.

“It looks great on you, Bella,” Alice said reassuringly.

“Mmm,” Edward hummed, seeing whatever image Alice had in her head.

I nodded, still weary. “Thanks, Alice.”

She rolled her eyes in response. We continued like that for awhile; Edward opened all my gifts for me and handed them to me one-by-one. I was mostly engrossed with what everyone else was doing.

Rosalie and Esme sat on the couch beside us, combing through a photo album Rosalie had put together for Esme with photos of the family throughout the decades. Esme would share all of the photos of Edward with me as she came across them. Edward gave Alice her yellow Porsche, as promised, from our trip to Italy in the summer. I felt a fleeting pass of dread remembering the trip. The feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come and I gave Jasper an appreciative glance.

Carlisle gifted Esme some property in Northern Idaho with a promise to visit soon to plan her next building project. Emmett was gleefully going through his assortment of fireworks; Esme was exchanging looks with Edward, probably checking to make sure Emmett wasn’t going to get overly excited and start setting them off in the house. Alice had hand-drawn scenes of the London of Carlisle’s youth, and the two were sitting by the fire admiring the large framed sketches. Jasper was reading the backs of the piles of CDs Edward and I had given him, along with a large and expensive looking CD player. Edward was chatting with Rosalie about her gift to him; something about a new engine and some other car stuff that went over my head.

Alice looked over to me, “Bella, did you want to give Edward your gift?”

I had forgotten in all the chaos of paper, the gentle whisper of Bing Crosby, the fluttering of snow falling outside, the glow of the Christmas tree, the crackle of the fire, and the hum of everyone’s happy conversation, that I had a gift I was actually excited to give to Edward.

“Oh,” I said, moving to stand. Edward held me in my place. Alice was there then, my gift for Edward in her hands. I reached out to take it from her, placing it in Edward’s hands. I settled into his lap so that I could see his face.

“I’ve been careful not to think about it around him,” Alice promised, biting her lip in anticipation.

I felt everyone’s eyes on us both as Edward began to tear at the paper. I had been getting his gift ready long before I even realized it. Each time we had taken trips to our meadow, I had been pressing flowers in the pages of whatever book I had carried along. It had been a long time since we had visited in the warm summer months. I didn’t have a use for the flowers in mind when I began collecting them, but there was something about bringing a piece of our refuge home that always felt right. I had worried about what to give Edward for Christmas until I remembered my hoard.

Edward held the delicate frame in his hands, an expression on his face I didn’t recognize. Alice had helped me with the matting and framing, but I managed to arrange the dried flowers into a neat array myself. It did look a bit feminine, now that I was looking at it in his hands.

He suddenly stunned me, flashing his perfect teeth in a wide, exultant grin. Edward brought a hand to cup my cheek tenderly.

“I love you,” he said proudly.

I blushed. “I love you.”

Edward kissed me gently, bringing a brighter blush to my expression. I kept my eyes on my hands when he moved his lips from mine to continue examining his gift.

He turned to me again, “Am I allowed to give you my gift?”

A new dread washed over me. “That depends,” my tone was serious now.

The others in the room laughed lightly with him. Edward reached behind the couch then, handing me a small wrapped package. I weighed it in my hands for a moment. It had a weight to it that seemed solid. I looked at him with questioning eyes.

“I mentioned I’d followed your rules, didn’t I?” He said grinning.

I didn’t fully believe he’d followed the rules. Something about his tone, his expression made me question him. I had made it very clear that if I was to spend Christmas with the Cullens, that I would not be accepting any exorbitant gifts from anyone, especially Edward. We had set a limit on what was reasonable and what was not. Property, vacations, vehicles and anything with more than two zeroes tagged on to the end of the price tag were out of bounds. And I had to really negotiate down to the two zeroes.

I sighed, defeated by the bright expression in his golden eyes. “Okay.”

I heard a quick tear and the paper was removed from the box I held in my hands. Edward tried to control his coy grin as he shrugged. “Just in case.”

I rolled my eyes and lifted the lid on the small box. At first, I felt relieved to find a single book inside. It looked very old and the cover seemed to have a few light cracks. I looked at Edward for reassurance as I went to pick it up. He nodded in encouragement. I picked it up gently, turning it to its spine to read the title. It felt very old, too. Of course it was Wuthering Heights.

I gingerly opened the cover to find out just how old it was. My eyes caught the author, Ellis Bell, and my eyes bulged. I started to get angry; I saw Edward’s eyes flicker to Jasper and back.

“Edward,” I scolded. “You definitely did not follow the rules!”

Edward chuckled, “Of course I did, Bella. Truly, the box it’s in cost me more.”

I shook my head vigorously. “This is – this is – what is this?” I scanned the inside cover again for the publishing date. “1847?” I said too loudly.

Everyone was chuckling again, even Rosalie.

“Honestly, Bella,” Edward ran a hand through his hair, “I simply asked Carlisle if he would part with it.”

I flashed an accusatory look at Carlisle. He nodded in agreement.

“It’s something I’ve had in my collection,” Carlisle laughed lightly, “I promise you, Bella.”

I tenderly closed the book and placed it back in the box, holding my hands up. I shook my head, “This is too much – is this a first edition?”

Edward shrugged, “The American first edition.”

I didn’t know the history of the Brontë sisters perfectly or Emily in particular. I tried to figure out the math in my head. I was overwhelmed.

Edward looked at me inquisitively. “Do you like it?”

I was in shock. I just stared at it motionless. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“She likes it,” Jasper said, reading my emotions.

Edward held me tightly, planting a kiss on my neck below my ear, bringing me out of my momentary lapse of motor function. I thanked him breathlessly, later thanking Carlisle for releasing this priceless piece from his collection for me. I was only slightly suspicious that they were all in on a lie. I chose to go along with it. In truth, I did love it. And I made a deal with Edward that I would accept the gift under the condition that I left it at the Cullens for safe keeping.

We all sat in the living room for a long while, chatting about our gifts and admiring the thought behind each one. The gift exchange between the Cullens was a bit less extravagant than I’d imagined it to be – though only slightly less. Each gift seemed to have meaning behind it. After all, no one here needed anything.

I only moved from Edward’s lap when Esme asked him to play at the piano. Rosalie joined him at the bench and sang along softly. When Edward transitioned to a very flourished rendition of Jingle Bells Emmett chimed in voraciously and the angelic whisper of Rosalie’s voice was quickly lost. With pleasant laughter, everyone slowly dispersed throughout the room; Alice and Rosalie collected all the paper and ribbons, Carlisle tended the fire, and Jasper and Emmett joined Edward at the piano for more loud Christmas caroling. Esme joined me at the tree and shared the history of each ornament as I pointed them out to her. Eventually, Alice and Rosalie made their way out to the garage to view their shiny new gifts.

Suddenly the piano and singing stopped and Edward, Jasper, Carlisle, and Emmett were gone. Esme laughed loudly, taking my hand softly and guiding me towards the front window.

“I think it’s best that we stay inside,” she patted my back, smiling to herself as we looked into the front yard.

It was difficult for my eyes to catch any of it, but I could certainly hear the impact of snow and ice exploding against the tall cedars, making them quake. I could see one of them, every now and then, stopping abruptly to change course, launching another snowball. They were all dashing across the open field, laughing and calling loudly to one another. I could barely follow along. I thought back to the baseball game in the clearing as my heart swelled with joy. Esme and I watched from the window, delighted laughter spilling from our lips.

Esme turned to me, taking my hand in both of hers.

“Sweet, Bella,” she cooed. “You have given us the greatest gift. You may not see the changes we see in our Edward, but you have truly brought him to life.”

The look in her eyes burned with elation. I had to look away; her words filled me with an overwhelming urge to cry. Esme pulled me close to her side as we continued to look out the window. I saw Edward then, dashing through the snow with a triumphant smile. I had never seen anything so enchanting.

Esme had to break up the war eventually; she and Rosalie were going to deliver cookies and Christmas dinners to families in Seattle. Carlisle was filling in for Dr. Snow at the hospital as promised, and left after he’d changed into dry clothes. Jasper, Alice, and Emmett had made plans to hunt; apparently it was a good time to go since most people were home instead of on the trails on Christmas Day. I was disappointed when the house was empty and Edward was making invisible trips to the car to fill it with my Christmas gifts, but I had to be back at Charlie’s by four.

I was surprised that we had made it back to the house before him; Charlie must have been having a nice time in La Push. Edward unloaded the car after he carried me through the thick tundra Alice had left on my lawn. I was getting my small Christmas dinner ready for Charlie, myself, and Edward –who would politely pretend to eat with us– when Edward came into the kitchen.

I heard him behind me and turned to face him. He was closer than I thought he would be; his lips were only inches from mine. His sweet aroma brought me closer to him. I barely noticed he had his arm stretched above our heads.

“No Christmas is complete without mistletoe, I hear,” he said, his voice velvet.

I glanced up. He was holding a small bushel above us.

“Mmm,” I murmured, pulling myself to him, reaching my arms to wrap them around his neck.

Edward wrapped one strong arm around me, lifting my feet off the floor. I was pressed to his body; it felt like I was melting into snow. A shiver ran through me and I twisted my fingers in his hair. Our lips met, silk to stone, as we kissed under the mistletoe.

____

This story is from a set of shorts, which you can find here:

READ PART ONE HERE

READ PART TWO HERE

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fallen-gravity · 5 years ago

Text

Forever Together

Five years ago, he’d received a “not now”, and for days after the self-hating part of his brain had interpreted it as “no, never”.

It was a few weeks after his “corruption fiasco”, as he referred to it, that he shot up in bed in the middle of the night, finally processing the weight behind Connie's choice of phrasing. At the time of the proposal he’d been heartbroken, but that night his heart was beating so heavily in his chest that it made his ears ring. Not now wasn’t even necessarily a no. He knew, logically, that it didn’t make them engaged, but the realization that woke him up was that not now meant that if he asked again in the future then her answer could very likely be yes.

Five years after Steven Universe left Beach City, he comes to the peak of his journey of self-discovery when he realizes his life just wouldn't be the same without Connie in it.

AO3

Or under the cut:

Steven Universe is 22 years old.

Ever since he left Beach City at sixteen and a half, he’s felt peace he never knew was possible. It’s not like he hated living there, or that he never wanted to see anyone who still lived there ever again, oh no. It’s just that when he finally had time to really process what his dad had been trying to tell him, along with a few more listen-throughs of his dad’s Kerry Moonbeam CD, he came to the realization that yeah, maybe a change of scenery really would do him some wonders. It wasn’t running away from all his problems, like he’d originally thought when he was too angry to process what Greg had been trying to tell him, it was a journey of self-discovery.

And when he finally chalked it up to tell Greg he wanted to move on, he had been expecting shock, or wave upon wave of waterworks. And, okay, maybe there had been waterworks, and maybe most of it had been on his own side, but to his surprise, Greg was super supportive of his decisions and told him he was ready to help him start packing as soon as he was ready. It’s not that he wanted Steven to leave, or anything, he just wanted to be as supportive of his endeavors as possible, something he never received from his own parents.

“I had to crawl out my bedroom window, even with two suitcases that probably weighed about 25 pounds each!” he’d exclaimed, and even to this day Steven can’t tell if he had been joking or if he had been dead serious about it.

Either way, Steven was grateful. Grateful for the support not only from Greg, but from the Gems and all of the townsfolk of Beach City as well. If he hadn’t gotten their immense support, he’s not sure if he’d even gone through with it, and he never would’ve had the opportunity to discover so much about himself and the world around him. While he made ground-breaking progress discovering himself and his mental health through therapy and time alone with his friends and family, the time he had all to himself now that he was on the road finally gave him time to discover even the littlest of things about him, the things that made him human.

Like how he’d discovered, upon stumbling across a music store, that for someone who could masterfully play the ukulele and the piano when he was six, that he sucked at playing wind instruments.

Or that it isn’t just hometown bias, and Fish Stew Pizza really is the best in the state.

Or that he really, really missed eating fried eggs, and that one month where he’d only drank protein shakes for breakfast was the biggest mistake of his life.

Or even the fact that not only were some of the surrounding states still selling Cookie Cats, but some places were even selling flavors other than the classic vanilla-strawberry.

All these little things that really made him realize that maybe his dad had been speaking metaphorically when he’d mused about his first time trying a taco.

But despite all of these discoveries, and changes, and new experiences, there was always one consistency he could always count on when he was on the road. One consistency that made everything just that much more magical than any mission he’d ever been on with the gems. One consistency that reminded him that wherever he went in the world, wherever he’d end up, he’d always have-

Suddenly, his phone starts ringing. It’s just one five little note ringtone, but it’s enough for Steven to start grinning from ear to ear. He doesn’t even need to take his eyes off the road for half a second to check the caller ID to know who it is. He adjusts his phone’s place on the car clip Pearl had gifted him on his birthday a few years prior, and slides the screen to the right to answer the call.

“Connie!” he grins again, despite the fact he knows that she can’t see him. “Just on time, I just pulled into town. You done with classes?”

“Just finished about twenty minutes ago,” she replies, and even without being able to see her he can tell she’s grinning too. “I wanted to get a head start at packing so you wouldn’t try to carry all of my stuff out in one go to try and impress me”

Steven blushes. “That was one time!”

She giggles. “That was winter break, Steven. It wasn’t that long ago. Plus, I only have half the stuff to take home with me, since spring break only lasts the week”.

“Awww, only a week?” he replies in mock-disappointment, a stand-in for his lack of ability to pout at her right now.

She snorts. “I’ll be home for the summer a month from now, Steven”

“I know”, he replies, pulling into a parking lot across from her on-campus apartment. “I just can’t stand to be apart from you” he whines exasperatedly, to which Connie replies with hysterical laughter. It makes his heart skip in his chest.

Connie.

Connie Maheswaran, the love of his life, has been without exaggeration, the best piece of consistency in his life he could ask for. Every time she wants to visit her parents at home in Beach City, or every time she wants to go on a short weekend trip of her own, or even just when she wants to grab breakfast somewhere other than her campus dining halls, she calls him and he picks her up without a question about it. Truth be told, she got her license about six months after he got his, but even five years into their relationship she’s told him that she loves any excuse she can to be around him. And he’d be lying to everyone in the galaxy if he tried denying for even a second that he felt the same way about her.

Five years ago, he had asked Ruby and Sapphire for relationship advice. Five years ago, they had both eagerly suggested proposing marriage, and five years ago he went through with it out of desperation for any sense of consistency and assurance he’d have at least one person in his life that wouldn’t leave him behind.

Five years ago, he’d received a “not now”, and for days after the self-hating part of his brain had interpreted it as “no, never”.

It was a few weeks after his “corruption fiasco”, as he referred to it, that he shot up in bed in the middle of the night, finally processing the weight behind her choice of phrasing. At the time of the proposal he’d been heartbroken, but that night his heart was beating so heavily in his chest that it made his ears ring. Not now wasn’t even necessarily a no. He knew, logically, that it didn’t make them engaged, but the realization that woke him up was that not now meant that if he asked again in the future then her answer could very likely be yes. Had it not been 2:45 in the morning when the thought came to him, he would’ve called her right then and there to talk about it.

There’s a sudden light knock on his car window, startling him out of his thoughts so suddenly that he yelps. He turns to see who it could be, and he’s met with Connie’s grinning face as she silently waves hello to him.

“Connie!” he grins, and scrambles to unclick his seatbelt as he opens his car door to greet her. They exchange a tight, squeezing hug, followed by a soft, sweet kiss.

“What kept you?” she asks, once they pull away from the kiss. “I thought you said you wanted to help me pack, but you never came upstairs after we hung up”

“Huh?” Steven blinks, but a quick glance behind her and he notices that she already has both of her bags with her. He blushes, rubbing at the back of his head. “Oh, sorry, I, uh…” he coughs awkwardly, the blush on his cheeks only worsening. “I was just...thinking”.

She gives him a soft smile, but doesn’t question further. She drags her bags to Steven’s Dondai, opens the back door, and tosses her bags inside before closing the door again. On her way over to the passenger’s side door, she stops, places a gentle hand on Steven’s chest, and kisses him on the cheek. “Full of mystery as always,” she teases, gently patting his chest where her hand lay. His blush worsens even more, and it must practically be written all over his face at this point, because Connie snickers again. “You haven’t changed a bit”.

“Heh, well, you know me, Steven Universe” Steven’s voice cracks as he goes to open Connie’s door for her, and she giggles once more before he finally settles into his own seat on the driver’s side. Once they’re both strapped in, and finally sure that yes, they’re done kissing, they swear, Steven settles his back against his seat and sighs comfortably.

He taps rhythmically against the steering wheel. “So…” he says, turning his gaze towards Connie once again. “What are you thinking? Diner first, or are you itching to get home?”

“Pshh, like you even have to ask”, she smirks.

The first time that Steven had driven up to visit Connie on her campus, they had accidentally stumbled across a little diner called Rosa’s when they’d been looking for somewhere to eat. They’d shared awkward giggles over the pink roses scattered all over the sign advertising the place, and decided to check the place out “just for the joke”, but were soon to discover that Rosa’s sold the best pie slices either of them had ever had, and took it upon themselves to try a different slice of pie every time they went there. He’s yet to find one better than their cherry pie slices, but Connie always teases him with the increasingly likely fact that it’s just because it’s the first flavor he ever tried.

This is the kind of consistency Steven is talking about. He can visit the gems any time, he talks to his dad on the phone on an almost nightly basis, and his weekly escapades with Lars are still going strong. But nothing makes him feel more consistent, more human, than when he’s with Connie. Looking forward to things as mundane as pie slices, or silent car rides, or very not-so-silent car rides, or cloud gazing, or stargazing, or anything he gets to experience with her makes everything in his life feel that much more cheerful and exciting.

The morning after he woke up in the middle of the night with the words not now repeating over and over in his head, he called her as soon as he woke up and told her he wanted to talk about what happened after he returned home from the hospital. Good news this time, I promise, he had told her, and minutes later they were right back where they had been, walking hand and hand down the shoreline. They talked all morning about their relationship, and the future near and far, and after dozens of rejected apologies on the grounds that Connie insisted he didn’t need to make them, they shared their first real kiss.

And Steven had felt like he was on cloud nine.

And for every kiss after, every phone call, every date, that feeling of cloud nine never really went away. It felt unreal, being with Connie.

Five years ago, if he’d been asked, he would’ve said he couldn’t live without Connie. He’d say he needed her, like his life depended on it, like he wouldn’t have a future without her. If someone asked him now, he’d say sure, he could live without Connie, but he can’t possibly imagine why he would ever want to.

Not now.

That had been when Connie was a sophomore in high school. They were sixteen. She hadn’t even taken the SATs yet (whatever those were), let alone gotten accepted into any of her colleges of choice. They were still kids, stuck in their pining phases, too scared to make the first move, let alone call the other their partner to their face.

Connie’s a senior in college now. She’ll be graduating in a month and a half. She’s been working on job applications since the end of her junior year. Her birthday is coming up in a few weeks. Where they once giggled at the idea of holding hands, it’s now harder to catch them with their hands apart. They’re inseparable when they’re together. Ruby and Sapphire have Garnet. Steven and Connie have Stevonnie, but he realizes now he doesn’t need Stevonnie, just as Ruby and Sapphire don’t necessarily need Garnet.

He doesn’t need to be with Connie forever to be happy; he wants to be with Connie forever because she makes him so happy.

If he weren’t so focused on driving a car right now, the thought would’ve slammed into him a lot harder than it did. As a matter of fact, he’s almost surprised he didn’t accidentally slam the breaks of the car on, the way those thoughts seemed to crash into him. He takes a quick moment to glance over at her in the seat beside him, and she’s staring dreamily out the window, looking just as lost in thought as he just felt.

The idea crosses his mind that she could be thinking about the same things as him, and it brings a pink blush to his cheeks once again. He quickly turns his attention back to the road, and practically sighs in relief when he sees that they’re pulling up to the diner. Once parked, he takes a deep breath as quietly as he can manage, and turns to Connie.

“Hey,” he smiles in an attempt to assure her that there’s nothing wrong. “You think you can go in and get our table? I’m gonna give the gems a call and let them know we’re on our way”. He hates lying to her, but it’s the closest he can come to the truth without blatantly telling her he’s thinking of proposing again, so he brushes it off as “not counting as lying”.

As if she’s trying to read his thoughts, Connie glances at him for a few moments, before she leans over to kiss him on the cheek. “Sure,” she says, and unclips her seatbelt and steps out of the car. She leans on her door for a moment, smirking. “Don’t take too long,” she teases, and it’s with a grin and a silent wave from Steven that she closes the door and heads into the diner.

As soon as he’s sure she’s gone, he scrambles for his phone in his pocket, and shakily scrolls through his list of contacts until he reaches G. He takes a deep breath, to center himself, and hits call.

“Hello, Steven” Garnet answers after only two rings. “It’s so good to hear from you. I assume you and Connie are on your way home?”

“Yep!” Steven replies cheerily, but rubs awkwardly at the back of his head. “But, uh, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about”.

“Oh?”

He closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

“I’ve been thinking about proposing to Connie. For real this time”.

There’s a painfully long silence. Steven’s almost worried he accidentally hung up, or that there’s terrible service, until suddenly there’s the sound of “STEVEN!!! STEVEN STEVEN STEVEN!!!!” from Ruby’s voice screaming into the other end of the ear piece. “I KNOW I’M HORRIBLE AT ADVICE BUT DO IT!! DO IT! YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER!! DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!” she squeals, and Steven laughs, albeit a bit uncomfortably.

“Oh, hey Ruby…” he says. “It’s great to talk to you, but I was really hoping I could talk to-” he starts, but there’s the sound of the phone dropping to the floor on the other end followed by another short pause.

“Me,” Garnet finishes his sentence for him. “Sorry, those two just can’t contain themselves when they hear any talk of weddings. You were a terrible influence on them”, she teases, and Steven blushes again.

“I know….” he replies, but then he shakes his head to reorganize his thoughts. “Wait, no, I don’t have a lot of time, Connie’s waiting for me in the diner”.

On the other end, Garnet chuckles. “Wow, you’re really serious about this”.

“I wasn’t going to do it right now!” Steven squeaks, face burning hotter than it’s ever felt in his entire life. “I don’t even have a ring yet,” he mumbles, nervously playing with his hair. “I called you because I wanted to ask if you thought I should go through with it”.

“Hmmm….” Garnet hums, like she’s actually running the numbers in her head. “Well,” she finally says after a painfully long pause of what couldn’t have been longer than three seconds. “Do you love Connie?”

Garnet’s going to kill him, he swears. He’s going to melt into a puddle right here on the seat of his car.

“Yes, I love Connie more than anything else in the world!”

“Do you think she loves you?”

“I…” Steven freezes. “I’m pretty sure, I can’t exactly speak for-”

“Do you want to take care of her?” Garnet cuts him off.

The question suddenly makes him tear up. He wipes at his eyes. “I-I mean, she can take care of herself, but if she’d let me-”

“Then I think you should.” Garnet replies surprisingly nonchalantly. “Steven, I want you to listen to me very carefully. The reason your proposal didn’t work out the first time was because you and Connie were very young. You know that. The probability of Connie saying yes or no doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that you would be asking her the second time. Your proposal to her this time wouldn’t be any less valid because you thought you had wanted the same thing when you were sixteen. Connie’s answer can’t be swayed by me looking into your future. I can look all you want into hundreds and thousands of different futures, and it still won’t matter. If you want to propose to Connie, all you have to be sure of is whether or not it’s what you truly want. You have to be absolutely certain that you love her to the moon and back and you need to have the self-confidence to tell yourself that she loves you just the same. You need to want to take care of her just as much as she’s going to take care of you. You have to understand that Connie is your equal, not what makes you whole. You have to look inside yourself and ask if you believe your love for Connie is strong enough to withstand anything. You can ask me to look into whatever future you want, but the person you should really be asking these questions is yourself. So tell me, Steven Universe, do you believe it’s the right thing to do?”

His vision is blurry with tears again. “I do.” He wipes his tears with his wrist. “Thanks, Garnet”.

“Don’t thank me, thank yourself” she says, and then, after a short pause, “I love you, Steven”.

He giggles. “I love you too”.

Clicking his phone off and placing it back into his pocket, he exits the car to join Connie in the diner. And if he thought he felt euphoric the first time he came to this conclusion, when he was skipping around Beach City gathering flowers and a suit and his own wedding cake, that’s nothing compared to how he feels now, when he’s not even planning to propose until he can stop by the jewelry store just outside of Beach City, and he can’t even do that with Connie in the passenger seat of his car.

He stops at the door of the diner, fixes his hair in his barely-visible reflection in the window, and steps inside.

“Steven, over here!” Connie waves at him from a table towards the back, and his heart starts beating so hard in his chest he wouldn’t be surprised if she could hear it. “Everything okay back home?”

He grins. “Well, Garnet fell apart on me,” he shrugs, intentionally pausing long enough to raise concern, “but that’s just because Ruby really wanted to talk to me”.

She snickers. “Well, after all that proposal business, I’m not surprised”.

The color fades from Steven’s face. There’s no way she could’ve overheard his phone conversation from in here, could she? He wasn’t projecting his thoughts to her phone again, was he?

“What?”

She reaches across the table and takes his hands in his own, smiling softly. “Steven, I’m kidding. I just meant that I’m not surprised she falls apart so easily”.

“Oh, “Steven practically sighs in relief. “Well, you know them, falling apart to win a baseball game against Homeworld”. He says, trying desperately to cover up the slamming of his heart.

She laughs again, retrieving one of her hands back from him to cover her mouth, a habit she never quite broke from when they first started dating, and it’s this little meaningless gesture that Steven finds himself falling even more in love with Connie. He starts giggling too, and he’s not quite sure if it’s because of his own set of thoughts, or if it’s because Connie’s laughter is just that adorably contagious, or maybe it’s some kind of beautiful mixture of both.

Either way, he can barely finish his slice of pie when it comes to the table.

“I guess I’m just...really excited to get back home again”, he explains when she asks about it once they’re back in the car, which technically isn’t a lie either.

“Mmm, me too” she agrees sleepily, curling up against her seat in the car. “Kinda makes me wish I ate less so I’d be awake when we got there”.

He chuckles, sparing a glance over to her. Her hair is already falling over her face, and her cheek is squished up against the seat. God, he loves her so, so much. “Yeah, well, if you’re still asleep when we get to your parents’ house, I’ll carry you to your room myself”.

“Mmm,” she murmurs, like she wasn’t fully paying attention to what he actually said. “That sounds nice”.

He laughs again, quieter this time, and takes the rest of the car ride to let himself stew in his thoughts. There’s nothing he wants more, he realizes, then to be able to do this every day with her. Not just casual dates to local diners for dinner and slices of pie, but for moments like this, falling asleep in the car on the way home, trusting the other enough to safely guide them home.

She’s still asleep when they pull up to her parents’ house, and, a man of his word, Steven carries her all the way to her room (with assurance to her parents that she’s fine, she’s just tired from the ride, she’s okay with being carried).

Dr. and Mr. Maheswaran, who love their daughter more than anything, who’ve known Steven for less than a decade, simply nod their heads and let him handle everything.

That’s a silent blessing if he’s ever heard one.

On his way out the door, he wishes them a good night, and once in his car, makes a beeline for the jewelry store. He makes it to the store just before closing, and takes it as good a sign as any that it’s now or never.

And the moment he parks his car on the beach in front of the temple, Garnet’s there, and as soon as Steven steps out of the car and into her embrace, he’s laughing, and he’s crying, and it’s the hardest he’s cried in five years, and the best he’s felt in even longer.

Despite everything, despite the driving and the diner and all the catching up he’d been doing with the gems and his dad last night, Steven is running on the least amount of sleep he’s ever gotten in his life.

It’s not that he spent the whole night worrying that she’s going to say no, it’s that he’s not sure he’s ever been more excited in his entire life. Call him cheesy, call him cliché, but he’s been planning his own wedding for as long as he can remember, but now that it might happen in the near future? With Connie?

He’s not sure how he’s going to handle popping the question, let alone how Connie’s going to react to it.

His phone tells him it’s 8:30am, but he’s already been awake for so long that it feels much later than that. He’s lucky that Connie never broke her early bird habits in college, because if she had made him wait even another hour he’s sure that he would’ve exploded from anticipation. He’s standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, trying to fix up his hair to look nice, but not so nice that it’s obvious something’s up, and once he’s satisfied with how it looks he takes one more look at himself in the mirror.

“Take a good long look,” he says to his reflection, “because the next time you see me you may be looking at Steven Universe-Maheswaran”. Just hypothetically attaching her last name to his own makes him grin, so he repeats the name under his breath again, and again, like he’s six years old again telling himself in the mirror that he’s a Crystal Gem too.

His phone buzzes in his pocket, and there’s only two words on his phone screen, but right now they feel like the most important words in the world.

“I’m here.” Sent by Connie at 8:39am

He takes one more deep breath, exits the bathroom, and grabs the ring box from the kitchen counter before he steps outside.

“So...what’s so important that you just had to tell me so early in the morning?” Connie asks as they walk down the steps of his house. He tries to shrug and act as nonchalant as he can, but fails miserably. He takes her hand in his own, and squeezes it gently.

“Take a walk with me”.

“Oh,” Connie blinks, like it wasn’t what she was expecting him to say at all. “Okay,”

As they’re walking away from the house, down the beach and out of the view of the temple and even further out of view of the rest of Beach City, Steven looks around and thinks back, back to the hundreds of times they’d walked this very beach together, as innocent friends, as comrades in battle, as boyfriend and girlfriend, and now, if things go right….

He stops in his tracks, gently. “Connie?”

“Yes?”

He places his hand on top of hers, gazing into her beautiful, soft brown eyes. Keep it together, he tells himself, his breath already getting shaky. Slowly, to steady his balance and his rapidly pounding, he sinks to one knee, and Connie, quick as ever, takes a step backwards.

“S-Steven?”

“Connie….” He pulls his ring box out of his pocket and pops it open to reveal a beautiful, sparkling engagement ring. “Will you marry me?” He asks, his eyes sparkling brighter than they’ve ever sparkled. Before she can open her mouth to say anything, he places the ring box on the sand and takes Connie’s hand in his own again. “Connie, I love you so much. I love you more than every planet in the galaxy, more than every single gem on Homeworld combined. I want to be with you for the rest of my life because I can’t imagine life without you in it.” he shakes his head.

“I know I said the same thing when we were sixteen. But I don’t mean it the same way now that I did then. You’re strong, and you’re beautiful, and you’re smart, and it’s like Garnet once told me, your soulmate is your compliment, not your missing piece. I want to be your compliment, Connie. I want to be your cheerleader. I don’t care if I’m thousands of lightyears away on some escapade with Lars, or you’re working towards getting your PhD, I want to be there for you. I want to experience everything with you, the same way we used to when we were kids.” He picks his ring box back up. “I want to marry you, Connie” he grins, finally caving in on the tears rolling down his cheeks. “No Stevonnie required”.

There’s a pause, and for a moment, Steven can’t see anything through his own tears. He blinks to clear his vision, and she’s staring at him with her hands covering over her mouth, failing miserably not to cry herself. Her gaze keeps glancing from the ring box to Steven and back again.

They make direct eye contact for the briefest of moments, and she practically dives on him. “Yes, yes yes!” she sobs. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” She beams, and out of heat of the moment euphoria, Steven picks Connie up in his arms and starts spinning her around and around until there’s a bright flash of light surrounding them and, ironically, Stevonnie is standing alone on the beach with their arms wrapped around themself.

Upon realizing what’s happened, Stevonnie start laughing, and laughing, and they drop to the sand on their knees, and they don’t stop laughing until the force and sheer joy of it splits them apart into Steven and Connie, sprawled over on top of each other on the sand.

Connie rolls over from where she’d landed on top of Steven, but turns to face him so she can pepper his face with kisses. “Of course I want to marry you, Steven”, she reiterates, grinning from ear to ear. She takes his face in her hands like she’d done dozen of times before. “I love you so much. You didn’t need to prepare some big speech for me, Steven. It’s like I’ve always said”, she stands, and offers her hand out to Steven to help him stand to his feet.

“I want to be a part of your universe”.

#my writing #connverse #steven universe #su #suf

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heroprose · 5 years ago

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the regular;

a/n. well what do u know.... turns out i WILL be writing for jojo on this blog...... @jojosmilktea, that is!! hi jojo i was ur bnha spring event anon! and i’m SOOO sorry this is late RIP!!!

ship. shoto todoroki x reader

summary. bubble tea shop au. it’s true that he knows your order by heart, but he wishes he knew a little more.

to be quite honest, you didn’t know this bubble tea shop even existed in this part of the city.

it certainly didn’t look the part, all pristine with white stone walls and flower boxes hooked onto the closed glass windows. no, in fact it looked a little too bougie for this gray high rise district and you suspect that if it were not for the current downpour, wherein great big rivulets of water are endlessly streaming down the streets, hipsters would populate this cafe’s space in no time.

you cannot blame them, of course. it’s certainly a nice building and totally instagram-worthy. but what attracts you to it is not the vintage stone walls nor the massive poster plastered on the inside of the glass window, with vibrant letters that spell out NEW SEASONAL FLAVORS! but instead, it’s the generous pink awning in front that’s saving you from the insidious downpour.

you were supposed to do a little grocery shopping before heading home, damn it. technically, though, you could brave the rain for a while and shop for bread and eggs while sopping wet, but it’s a deeply unappealing idea. it doesn’t help that your go-to grocer with the terrific deals is three train stops away either and that your phone is dead, drained from too many rounds of crossy road on your commute long before the rain even began.

restless, you squint through the window of the shop inconspicuously and gape in horror as you realize it is just as cute inside as it is outside. from what you can tell, it’s set up like a little garden party, with metal outdoor chairs and circular tables and the tiles even have flower smiley face stickers on them. oh no.

it is something of a relief you’ve only discovered this bubble tea shop now because any earlier would have you blowing your bank account on extra boba and grass jelly. and in this economy? not ideal.

still, your eyes waver to the poster again. rose milk tea? peach iced tea? the prices aren’t listed anywhere so you presume they must be absolutely monstrous. completely insane, probably, and jacked up immensely to compensate for the expenses gone in the decor alone and--

“we’re open, you know. you can come in.”

you pull away from the window hastily, letting your back bump into the metal back of chair. biting back a cry of pain, you eye the speaker head-to-toe before letting your shoulders slack. the black apron tied at his waist screams barista. actually, everything about this dude screams barista, from the rolled up sleeves to the vaguely disheveled collar. even the watch on his wrist-- woah. is that a limited edition tag heuer watch? you blanch a little.

he grips the broom with both hands and gestures with the jerk of his chin to the door. “you can come in,” he repeats. his bangs flutter about his forehead thanks to the gusts of wind and it’s a bit mesmerizing to see the red and white flutter like that.

“oh,” you say, desperate to recompose yourself as you pretend you weren’t wringing out droplets of water from your clothing just minutes before. “it’s okay, thank you. i’m just waiting for the rain to pass.”

the barista opens his mouth but before he can speak, a loud clap of thunder zips through you and goosebumps erupt across the expanse of your skin. with ears ringing, you wince and the tag heuer-wearing fellow only watches. you purse your lips, glancing from him. to the onslaught of rain, to finally the door.

well. so much for staying outside. wordlessly, he pulls the door open for you and you oblige quietly, mumbling a small word of thanks as you pass him.

unsurprisingly, the shop is wholly vacant, save for him, the boy who follows you in, and another barista behind the counter, who leans against the table behind him with arms crossed. the radio is on but it’s turned down so low that it might as well be off.

it would be painful to loiter in this shop for an hour or so without buying anything, so begrudgingly, you pull out your wallet and pray to whatever higher deity up there that you won’t get hooked on their drinks and subsequently, their freakish prices. you’ve got a budget, for goodness sake.

when you step to the counter, the barista that met you outside sets his broom aside to meet you on the other side. “what would you like?” he asks automatically, with the tilt of his head. you glance over the menu above his head despite knowing your answer deep inside your heart.

“taro milk tea, please,” you say, bringing your gaze back to him. a trickle of rainwater slides down the curve of his cheek and you have to tear your gaze away. “medium, with boba. and extra sugar too.”

“will that be it?”

“yes,” you reply with your eyes downcast, carefully deciding on whether to use cash or credit. maybe you can use some of your spare coins this time.

his gold name tag says “shoto,” and it gleams even in your peripheral vision as he nods and turns to the other barista with the spiky hair who stands a few ways’ away and glowers a bit.

“katsuki,” says shoto. “one medium taro milk tea with--”

“yeah, yeah,” says the other barista snappishly. “i heard. i’m literally right here.” he pulls away from the table and exits to the back forcefully and you two watch him in relative silence. a guitar-heavy shawn mendes song plays in the background; played too softly for you to determine which one though.

shoto’s gaze swivels back to you, undisturbed by the attitude his coworker just presented and so you do your best to remain indifferent as well. it is similarly pure irony to have such a gentle cafe hosted by such personalities.

“name?” he simply asks and you tell him, not bothering to question why that was still necessary if you were the only customer in the entire shop.

and it is equally strange that after katsuki returns with your drink, about to hand it to you, shoto acts to intercepts with an extended hand to take the cup away.

“what are you doing?” says katsuki incredulously, drawing back.

shoto presents the sticker with the order printed on it in the air. “i need to put this on.”

“seriously? it’s not like you could hand it to the wrong person,” he mutters, but lets shoto tease it out of his hand before promptly returning to the kitchen again, letting the doors swing behind him. you refrain from smiling too wide as shoto carefully presses the sticker onto the cup behind the counter with an unexpectedly concentrated expression on his face.

when he utters your name to catch your attention, shoto slides your drink over to you, not letting go until your fingers accidentally brush over his. “here you go.”

“thank you,” you say brightly, shaking it for good measure. the ice clinks distract you momentarily from the noise of rain hitting concrete. the cream and purple taro swirl together brilliantly.

he nods, turning away to take a cleaning rag into his hands. shoto wipes at the counter meticulously, every once in a while swiping a smudge with his fingertips to evaluate his work. the quiet is only periodically punctured by the clap of thunder and when shawn mendes starts belting out the background adlibs via the radio.

“when do you think the rain will let up?” you muse absentmindedly, fingers drumming the raised counter as you push along your bubble tea and dig around the container for a straw of your favorite color. “not for long, i hope.”

shoto blinks, glancing up. “i heard it’ll last all through the night.”

steely dread pools at the bottom of your stomach. “no!” you gasp, confronting shoto. “really? i don’t have an umbrella or anything.” you didn’t hear anything of the sort, but then again, you haven’t checked the forecast since this morning. maybe you can wave down a cab or something. you let out a brief laugh of disbelief that rapidly devolves into a groan. “man. that stinks.”

he looks at you sympathetically, watching you deftly pierce the plastic seal top of your milk tea with more force than necessary.

you bring the straw to your mouth, sipping quietly as you think of your next line of action. the richness is disturbingly good and you’re saddened to know that you’ll be returning in the future, rain or no rain.

taking a seat in a metal chair, you finally give the shop a thorough glance over. with all the bright lights and pale wallpaper plastered with colorful stickers. above you, the ceiling vents buzz quietly. the whole shop is just--

“dazzling,” you murmur after several minutes, submitting to its glamour. “everything’s so pretty here.” the interior designer really went ham here and it shows. you fish your phone out of your slightly damp pocket and wipe at the screen with a sigh. you’d even take a photo if you could.

unbeknownst to you, shoto had left the counter upfront and is wiping down a table nearby as you speak. “thank you,” he says and you jolt, head snapping towards his direction. “we do our best to be presentable and comfortable.”

“full marks on both then,” you say breezily and a ghost of a smile teases at his lips before he walks away to the backroom.

he’s amused. did he think you were funny? your ears start to warm up a little and you drain your milk tea faster. in any case, it’s best that you brave the storm sooner than later.

there’s little doubt that the rain won’t be stopping any time soon and it would really be the icing on the cake if you not only got stuck in a thunderstorm but fell ill as well. you’ve realized, from all your years of life, that people don’t appreciate their functional nostrils until they get stuffed.

and you don’t know how much time passes in that cafe with the absence of clocks and your phone, but after catching yourself glancing over at shoto for the fifth time, wondering if you can make him smile like that again, you finally think that enough is enough. your chewing speeds up.

then you stand up, careful to not let the metal feet scrape the tiles. should you just book it, through the rain? or should you stand under the awning a little longer, hoping the rare cab will notice your helpless self and save you? as you mull these thoughts over, you toss the cup into the bin and wipe your hands with a spare napkin, getting rid of the condensation.

“wait.”

shoto’s calm voice makes you whirl around yet again.

as he walks closer, you notice that he’s gripping something in his hand and you can only bring yourself to stare as he presents it to you.

“take it,” he says. “this is my umbrella.”

your heart stutters for a second. “huh? no, i couldn’t,” you say hastily, dismissing him with a wave. “that’s really kind of you though, thank you.”

“but you said you didn’t have one.”

you give him a quizzical look. “but if i take yours, then you don’t have one.”

“katsuki-- um, the other person who works here-- lives near me. we commute together sometimes. so please,” he says, gesturing the closed umbrella. you wrap your fingers around the clear plastic gingerly to his coaxing. “take it.”

tears nearly prick your eyes as you lean over to pat him on the arm graciously. he’s more alarmed than anything else as you do, silently wide-eyed, and is it only then that you notice his eyes are different colors. “thanks, shoto. i’ll be back tomorrow to return it then. i promise!”

he gives you a quick nod. “i don’t work tomorrow. i’ll be here all weekend though.”

“alright, shoto. i’ll see you on the weekend.”

“stay safe.”

you’re already turning away and pushing open the door before you see the flicker of a smile pass over his visage again.

“you gave away your umbrella?” says katsuki after the cafe closes later that evening. his eyes narrow down at his fellow coworker sharply. “to a damn customer?”

“it’ll get returned,” assures shoto. his upper arm is warm where you had touched him, and his hand hovers over it for a second before he shrugs on his jacket.

“that’s not the point,” his coworker seethes, angrily hanging up his apron. “my car is two blocks over and i was relying on you to do your part in bringing the umbrella. idiot!”

ah.

you come back that sunny weekend, with shoto’s trusty transparent umbrella in hand... as well as the weekend after. and the weekend after that. sans the excuse of the umbrella, of course.

when it is katsuki that greets you at the counter, he does little to hide his disapproval of your order; grunting when you greet him with a cheerful “hi katsuki!” and grimacing each time when you smile and add, “with extra sugar!” to your order.

“you’re aware of how much sugar is already in this stuff, right?” he tells you.

“i’m here for a good time, not a long time,” you reply. “and are you really supposed to be asking me that? as someone who works here?”

katsuki scoffs and wordlessly punches your order in anyway. his brew, however, is immaculate without fail so you don’t question his tactics.

but when it is shoto... he greets you warmly, stretching the conversation by asking about how you are and about your day.

“the regular?” he eventually asks after several weeks of you making the same order as the last.

you smile. “the regular.”

sometimes, you loiter near the counter when it’s not busy. you learn, with some semblance of glee, that shoto is a student like yourself and he only works part-time-- the rainy afternoon you met him on had been a shift he was covering for someone else. other times all you can do is take your drink and wave him goodbye.

even on the extremely busy days where you cannot even find a vacant seat, there are brief seconds where you think of leaning against the wall and enjoying the atmosphere. it is a startling realization, how desperate you want to linger in his presence.

your affection is making you ill. ugh, and being bloated is not a good look on you either.

drinking taro milk tea at competitor bubble tea shops don’t even sate you. it’s always too watery, too thin; the flavors rounding off as bitter, over brewed tea. but you drink them to wean yourself off. you should probably stop drinking them altogether though.

some time passes before you can find it in yourself to return. the storefront is as pretty as it always is whenever you pass it by on your commute.

“hey, how are you? have you been alright?” asks shoto right off the bat, dropping his washrag haphazardly beside the sink when you find yourself at the counter again after the weeks of hearty self-restraint.

his concern is so vivid it unnerves you. it’s a funny and ill-placed nervous look on his face, eyebrows pulled tense. “i’m fine,” you say, “how have you been?”

“i’m well,” shoto says. “and... that’s good. it’s been a while. i thought you might have started getting your milk tea fix from somewhere else.” he pauses. “have you?”

his sincerity makes you throw your head back and laugh, but your stomach gurgles at the recollection of drinking so many subpar taro milk teas. “never,” you tell him finally. “i like this place too much. and the people here too.”

“i see.” shoto’s smile is bright this time, eyes so soft even as he speaks. “the regular then?”

you let out an exaggerated sigh, your own gaze crinkling up. “you know me so well, shoto.”

“quit freakin’ flirting at the counter,” snaps katsuki, mopping the floor vigorously. “do that shit when you’re not at work, icy-hot. it’s disgusting that i have to stand here and listen to you two.”

shoto frowns. “it’s not flirting. we have to be kind to customers.” he calls from the kitchen.

“kindness is you giving extra napkins, not asking if they’ve been going to other bubble tea shops. as if.”

“we’re... just friends then.”

“just friends, my ass. what, you think that extra sugar ass sweet tooth loser came in every week alone just to get tea? you know what...” katsuki’s peeved grumbles trail off until they’re no longer comprehensible.

shoto just ponders on this as he drains the sink.

“here,” says katsuki one saturday afternoon. “take it. and go.” he pushes the purple drink into your hand and wipes his own hand on his apron. “extra sugar. don’t blame me when your teeth fall out.”

“damn,” you say, although you are hardly taken aback by his crudeness anymore. “but i will. i’ve got a lot to do today, so i can’t stay and chat. bye guys!”

“take care,” says shoto just as katsuki says, “don’t care, didn’t ask.”

(when you wave goodbye, however, you are pleased to see that they both reciprocate kindly.)

by the time you eventually take a sip, you’re already on your way to the rail to get to your favorite grocery store. today, it’s buy one get one free bags of potatoes so you know you’ll be stocking up this time.

mindlessly, you pierce the top with your straw, careful to aim for the center. you give it a stir before taking a sip, the familiar creaminess filling your mouth.

although it’s... different, somehow.

sweeter, you think. did katsuki actually overload it with sugar this time? seemed like a weird prank to pull. perhaps he was teaching you a lesson but considering that he hasn’t been fired yet indicates that this was an infrequent occurrence. hopefully.

chewing the boba thoughtfully, you pull the cup away in order to squint at the dark text printed on the sticker. it’s the same as you always say it: a medium, iced, taro milk tea, with boba and 25% extra--

the word “sugar” is scrawled over with black ink, although not deliberately it seems. it’s just covered up with a slew of numbers and letters written unbelievably neat in spite of being on a cylindrical cup and you nearly hack up a black clump of sugary boba onto the concrete sidewalk.

but nevertheless, you force it down to look at the order again, more closely this time.

they’re numbers, and your heart stutters in your chest at the realization there’s just enough to be a phone number; followed by a name that you only ever saw emblazoned on a gold name tag.

you want to commit the numbers to memory, but it’s undeniably hard to concentrate. not when shoto’s gentle smile is on the forefront of your brain and when big, fat droplets of water are hitting your forehead with incredible force.

you glance up at the swirling, ashen clouds above you, bloated and expecting. an uncomfortable feeling crawls up your spine at the realization that you’ve forgotten your umbrella at home today too.

oh god. not again.

“i can’t believe you actually wrote your number on my cup today... very smooth, shoto.”

there’s a beat before shoto replies, his voice tinny and distant over the phone. “actually, i did that the first day you came in-- when it was raining. i figured you didn’t notice or you were rejecting me.”

“oh. so, wait-- you did it twice then? that day and today?”

“no,” says shoto. “just that day.”

“then who--” you stop yourself.

outside your window, a clap of thunder shakes the sky. and the epiphany that follows renders you both silent.

#shoto todoroki x reader #todoroki shoto x reader #todoroki x reader #shouto todoroki x reader #bnha spring time #bnha x reader #bnha imagines #ok jojo actually though i nearly wrote u a tiger king au and then i was like hold on....aint nobody but me gonna want this.....

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khoicesbyk · 4 years ago

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A/N: I'm officially obsessed with Wolf Bride and what does one do when she's obsessed with a certain book? She writes an AU about it! 😁 So, Talley Ho! *in my Sherlock Holmes voice*

Rated: Mature. | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual from me. 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: Roman (LI) and Naia Evans (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and certain original characters, created by me) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 3,680 words. (more or less. I stop counting after editing and re-editing. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

Missing a chapter or want to read a chapter again? I got you covered! Click ——> Here!

Song And Story Inspiration: In The Still Of The Nite-Boyz II Men | Give Me One Reason-Tracy Chapman | Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here-Deborah Cox

Tag List: @shewillreadyou @choiceslady @queenjilian @bebepac @txemrn @texaskitten30 @glaimtruelovealways @hopefulmoonobject @lucy-268 @pixie88 @otherworldlypresents @choicesficwriterscreations

TW: kidnapping. Read at your own discretion.

Chapter 5.) In The Still Of The Night.

In the still of the night.

I held you.

Held you tight.

'Cause I love.

Love you so.

Promise I'll never.

Let you go.

In the still of the night.

As she slept peacefully in her new bed, Naia dreamed that she was running through the forest. She felt strong. She felt invincible. She could feel the wind on her face as she ran. It was exhilarating. She felt free. When she came out of the woods, she was a wolf. And when she looked up, she saw him. It was the wolf she had seen in her dreams before. It was him. When he howled she did the same.

That’s when she woke up. She sat up in bed, panting with her heart thundering in her chest. She looked around her room in order to get her bearings. That’s when something compelled her to look out her bedroom window. And when she looked out the window she saw a wolf staring up at her. When she shook her head, the wolf was gone. The image of the wolf was still in her head when she went back to sleep.

After waking up later that morning and taking a good hot shower, Naia couldn’t get Roman out of her head. She wanted to feel his arms wrapped her again. He was seductive and mysterious and she wanted more. She could still feel his warm breath on her neck and the closeness of his body to hers. She thought it was insane but never actually questioned why she thought that way.

When she went to the kitchen for breakfast, she noticed a note on the counter. It was from her uncle.

“Good morning. Gone fishing. Be back later. Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge. Uncle Z.”

When she opened the fridge, she grimaced because there wasn’t much in there to begin with. When her stomach rumbled she knew she had to change that.

“Okay well since a home cooked breakfast is out of the question. I think I’ll try the breakfast place I saw when I drove into town. Also I’ll do some grocery shopping while I’m at it. Because this right here ain’t hitting on nothing.” She thought to herself.

With keys and wallet in hand Naia set off for town. After shopping at Banner’s Family Market, she was just about starved and stopped by Tucker’s diner.

After getting a table she sat down and looked over the menu. As she looked over the menu, someone was watching her. Or so it looked that way.

I remember.

That night in May.

The stars were bright above.

I'll hope and I'll pray.

To keep.

Your precious love.

At another table, Trent was eating breakfast with a few members of his team when Naia walked in. He felt a pull towards where she was sitting.

“Yo T! What is it?” Jenkins, one of his team members asked.

“I don’t know. Something weird just happened. Like she just walked in.” He replies shaking his head.

“Man! Please tell me that you’re not talking about that so-called dream girl again!” Sergei said to him.

“If you must know, yes I am.”

His crew collectively groaned.

“Dude it’s been almost a whole 2 months! Let it go already!” Hugo told him.

“As I’ve told you idiots before: I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t? Which one is it T?” Jenkins asked him.

Trent never answered. He just sipped his coffee. Even though he’s blind he could feel her presence. After going over the menu for a solid 20 minutes, Naia decided on the Lobster Eggs Benedict and a sweet tea. Just as she was about to put her order in, Layla walked in.

“Layla! Over here!” She called out to her new friend.

Trent nearly dropped his cup of coffee. Hearing her voice in real time both scared and excited him.

“You almost dropped your cup. You okay man?” Jenkins asked him.

“Huh? Yeah! I’m…I’m good.” Trent replied, while trying to hide the crack in his voice. With his hearing being better than most, he tuned into her conversation

“Hey! What are you doing here?” Layla asked Naia as she sat down across from her.

“Since my uncle has gone fishing, I decided to do some grocery shopping and I was starving so here I am. What are you and the little one up to?” Naia replies.

“The same thing as you. Have you ordered yet?” Layla asks.

“Just about to. What about you?” Naia replies.

“Oh girl! They already know what I want. A pitcher each of cranberry juice and ice water, their triple berry cheesecake parfait, double blueberry pancakes and a ham, spinach and swiss omelette.” Layla replied.

Naia’s eyes went wide.

“You’re actually gonna eat all of that?!” She asked.

“I mean…I am eating for two, ya know?” Layla replied, rubbing her belly. The two shared a laugh as they continued their conversation.

Trent turned his attention back to his team just as the twins came strolling in. His boss Bernard Sayre is a blowhard who only cares about 3 things. Making money, being powerfully unstoppable and his twins Dylan and Tyler. The twin terrors as they’re known around town, just love getting their way no matter what they do or say. And although it annoyed Trent, he was powerless to stop them.

“Heyyyyy boys!” Dylan called out to Trent and his team. Her voice sounded like banshee screech.

“And here comes daddy’s two brats…” Jenkins groaned as the twins approached.

“So what are you guys up to?” Tyler asked.

“We’re eating. Why?” Trent asks.

“Because we were hoping that you’d join us at Buck’s for the Friday night sing a long and pool.” Tyler replies.

“You’d have to ask Layla if we’re allowed back in. Especially after what happened the last time.”

The twins groaned.

“Well she’s sitting at a table with some girl. So I guess it’s worth a shot.” Dylan said with a sigh.

Naia watched in amusement and shock, as she watched Layla polish off everything she ordered with ease.

“I can not believe that you ate EVERYTHING!”

“Told you!” Layla replied as she swiped her finger on the inside of her parfait cup.

“Uhhhhh Layla…”

“Huh?” She asked.

“It’s all gone! Put the cup down!” Naia replies.

The two laughed as the twins approached.

“Hiiiiiiiiiii Layla!” They say in unison causing Layla to groan.

“Ohhh and hi Layla’s friend!”

“What do you two want?” She asked the twins.

“Weeeeeellllllllllll…we were hoping you’d let us have Friday sing a long and pool.” Tyler said in a cloyingly sweet voice.

“After the shit you pulled the last time? NO!” Layla hissed at them.

“Come on Layla! Our dad paid for the damage!” Tyler whined.

“Yeah he did…after I threatened to sue his sorry ass!”

“Please!” The twins begged.

Layla rolled her eyes then replied, “fine! You can come tonight.”

“Thank you!” The twins squealed.

“Whatever. Go away!”

“You don’t have to be rude!” Dylan said.

“Which would you rather: me be rude or me ban you two from ever stepping foot into MY bar?” She asked them.

The twins stood stuck.

“I thought so. Now again: go away!”

The twins turned on their heels and stomped away. When they were far enough away for her pleasure, Layla turned her attention back to Naia.

“Sorry about that.”

“Who are they?” Naia asks.

“Tyler and Dylan Sayre. Their dad Bernard owns Sayre Energy and Power. They’re a public nuisance.” Layla replies.

“They look harmless to me.”

“That’s because you haven’t been around them when they’re drunk.”

“Touché.”

“I guess since they’re having Friday sing a long and pool, you should come too.”

“Me?” Naia asks.

“Yes you! It’ll be fun as long as those two aren’t drinking.” Layla replies.

“I don’t know about all of that.”

“Also there’s normally a $1,000.00 cash prize for first place.”

“Why didn't you lead with that?!” Naia asks.

“Because Dylan normally wins because no one wants to challenge her.” Layla replies.

“Well as someone who’s still paying off student loans: Count me in!”

So before the light.

Hold me again.

With all of your might.

In the still of the night.

So before the light.

Hold me again.

With all of your might.

In the still…of the night.

That night at Buck’s the party was in full swing. People were dancing, drinking, playing pool and mingling amongst themselves. Naia stuck close to the bar and Layla as they watched the crowd. And like clockwork, Dylan was drunk and ready to sing her heart out.

“Alright you party animals! Let’s get this sing a long on the road! Now all of you know the rules. First place gets $1,000.00! And since that first place is always me I have nothing to worry about! So hit the music!”

“Ohhh God…” Layla groaned.

“What?!” Naia asks.

“Little Miss Banshee is about to assault our ears and sing Deborah Cox Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here.” Layla replies.

“It can’t be THAT bad, Layla.”

“Wanna bet?” She asks just as Dylan grabbed a mic.

After clearing her throat, Dylan began to sing. Sorta.

How did you get here?

Nobody's supposed to be here.

I tried that love thing for the last time.

My heart says "No, no." Nobody's supposed to be here.

But you came along and changed my mind.

I've spent all my life on a search to find. The love who'll stay for eternity. The heaven sent to fulfill my needs. But when I turn around, again, love has knocked me down. My heart got broken, oh it hurts so bad. I'm sad to say love wins again.

So I placed my heart under lock and key. To take some time to take care of me. But I turn around and you're standing here.

How did you get here? Nobody's supposed to be here.

I tried that love thing for the last time.

My heart says "No, no." Nobody's supposed to be here.

But you came along and changed my mind.

This time I swear I'm through. But, if only you knew how many times I've said those words. Then fall again, when will I ever learn? Knowing these tears I cry, this lovely black butterfly. Must take a chance, and spread my wings. Love can make you do some crazy things.

So I placed my heart under lock and key. To take some time to take care of me. But I turn around and you're standing here.

Standing here…

When Dylan got to the bridge, Naia thought her ears would bleed out.

No, nobody, no, no, no, no, no, no, ooh!

No, no, nooooooooo...

How did you get here? Nobody's supposed to be here I tried that love thing for the last time.

My heart says "No, no." Nobody's supposed to be here.

But you came along and changed my mind.

How did you get here? Nobody's supposed to be here.

I tried that love thing for the last time.

My heart says "No, no." Nobody's supposed to be here.

But you came along and changed my mind.

When she was done, Naia was ready to run out the door screaming.

“Ohhhhhh myyyyyyyyy God! That was fucking horrible!”

“Told you.” Layla deadpanned.

“She has to be stopped! What other songs are on that karaoke machine?” Naia asks.

“Hundreds! So if you’re gonna sing, pick one and make it good! That way ears will stop ringing.” Layla replies.

Naia left her seat at the bar and walked over to where the karaoke machine was and went through the list of songs. Doing so, caught the ire of a very drunk Dylan.

“Ummmmmm what do you think you’re doing?!” She asks.

“Picking a song obviously.” She replies over her shoulder.

Dylan huffed.

“You actually think you can beat my melodious voice?” She asks.

“A dead horse can beat your voice. And just like that I found my song.” Naia replies.

“Good luck beating me!” Dylan sneered.

“Watch and learn young grasshopper.”

Naia took the mic and began to sing Give Me One Reason by Tracy Chapman.

Give me one reason to stay here. And I'll turn right back around. Give me one reason to stay here. And I'll turn right back around. Said I don't want to leave you lonely. You got to make me change my mind.

Baby I got your number. Oh and I know that you got mine. You know that I called you. I called you many times. You can call me baby. You can call me anytime, you got to call me.

Give me one reason to stay here. And I'll turn right back around. (You can see me turnin') Give me one reason to stay here. And I'll turn right back around. (You can see me turnin') Said I don't want to leave you lonely. You got to make me change my mind.

I don't want no one to squeeze me. They might take away my life. I don't want no one to squeeze me. They might take away my life. I just want someone to hold me. Oh and rock me through the night.

People started to gather around Naia as she sang. When she looked towards the bar, she winked at Layla. Layla mouthed the words “next drink is on the house.”

This youthful heart can love you. Yes and give you what you need. I said this youthful heart can love you. Oh and give you what you need. But I'm too old to go chasin' you around. Wastin' my precious energy.

Give me one reason to stay here. Yes and I'll turn right back around. (You can see me turnin') Give me one reason to stay here. Oh I'll turn right back around. (You can see me turnin') Said I don't want to leave you lonely. You got to make me change my mind.

Baby just give me one reason. Oh give me just one reason why. Baby just give me one reason. Oh give me just one reason why I should stay. Said I told you that I loved you. And there ain't no more to say.

When she finished the applause was thunderous. She had everyone on their feet. When she looked out on the crowd, she saw a visibly angry Dylan. Naia smirked and winked at her, which further infuriated her.

When Naia walked back to the bar, she got the feeling someone was watching her but she didn’t know who that someone was.

“Soooooo…how was that?” Naia asked Layla as she reached the bar.

“AMAZING! Now if you can beat her brother at pool, the bar is on the house.” Layla replied.

“Sold!”

“Well get to it girlie! Because you’ve been eyeing that bottle of tequila over my shoulder since you got here.”

Naia snickered then took off towards the crowd gathered around Tyler. As she went to WB w the crowd was she got the same feeling that she was being watched. And she was indeed being watched. Trent was tuned into her movements even through his blindness.

“Well this looks like fun!” Naia says as she reaches the pool table.

“Go away! Nobody wants you here!” Dylan hissed.

“What’s the matter princess? Scared I’ll beat your brother like I beat you?” Naia teased.

“You can’t beat me!” Tyler huffed.

“Wanna bet?” She asked him.

“Sure. How much are you willing to lose?”

“Since I beat your sister: $1,000.00.” She replies. She didn’t think he’d take her seriously.

“You’re on! Best 2 out of 3?” He asks.

“Then you’ve got yourself a game.” She replies.

Once the balls were lined up and it was up to her to break. She got stripes while he got solid.

“Let’s go!” She tells him.

The two were evenly matched with the first game going to her and the second going to him. And it all came down to the last game. Naia had an impossible split. Or so that’s what Tyler and the crowd that was gathered around them thought.

“I’ll make you a deal new girl. If you bank this shot, I’ll up the bet from $1,000.00 to $3,000.00.” He said to her.

“Deal!” Naia replies.

Naia tucked a hair that out of place behind her ear, lined up her shot and sank both balls. Beating a very stunned Tyler.

“TAKE! THAT!” She squealed.

“But! But! I…we…” Tyler stammers as he goes pale.

“You lost just like your sister? Yeah I know. Now pay up!” She told him.

That’s when Dylan jumped into Naia’s face.

“You cheated!” She screeched.

“No, your brother ran his mouth and lost. And now he has to pay up. So give me my money!” Naia yelled back.

When Dylan reared back to slap Naia, Trent caught her hand.

“Hey! Let go T!” Dylan yelled.

“We’re not doing this again. Now Tyler pay the lady her money. You know you have it.” Trent said in a stern voice.

There was something about him that caught Naia’s eye.

“My dad will kill me if I pay her!” Tyler whined.

The twins looked at Trent with puppy dog eyes. But he didn’t budge.

“You’re no fun, T!” Tyler whined.

“Don’t care. Now pay her!”

Tyler groaned as he pulled money out of his pocket then handed it to Trent.

“Here!” Tyler pouted.

Trent took the money and handed it to Naia. When their hands touched, it set off a spark inside her. The same kind of spark she felt with Roman.

“Sorry about those two. They don’t know how to lose gracefully.” He said to her.

“Don’t worry about it. Thanks for getting my money.” She replied.

Trent turned to the twins then said, “beat it you two! We don’t need anymore trouble.”

The crowd dispersed after the twins huffed then walked out. And Naia found herself back at the bar gushing with Layla.

“Ohhhhhh myyyyyyyyy God! Look at this! I just won $3,000.00!”

“I can't believe you did that! No one has ever beaten the twins. Their dad will be so pissed that they lost that kind of money.”

“In the words of T.I. ‘it ain’t tricking if you got it!’”

They two laughed.

“Okay but in all seriousness, thank you! It’s about time that someone brought those two out of the clouds. So here’s your brand new shiny bottle of tequila!” Layla said as she gave Naia the bottle.

“Thank youuuuuu!” Naia squealed.

Just then Trent called out.

“Layla! Another round?”

Layla groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Who is that?” Naia asked.

“That’s Trent. He works for the twins dad.” Layla replied.

“Is he their bodyguard or something?” Naia asked.

“No but he’s always around when those two cause trouble. Let me go fill their orders.” Layla replies.

“Okay. I’ll be here with my brand new bottle.”

Layla shook her head and headed off towards Trent and his crew. Naia couldn’t help but look the same way. Her eyes instantly went to Trent. He was beautiful and there was something about him that stuck with her.

He enchanted her and what she didn’t know was she did the same for him. After the bar closed, Naia began walking back to her uncle’s house. She got halfway down the street when Trent caught up with her.

“Hey!” He said to her.

“Hi! How are you?” She replied.

“I’m good. You must be new in town. I’m Trent.”

“I know. Layla told me your name. I’m Naia.”

“It’s nice to meet you Naia.”

“Likewise. It’s nice to meet another friendly face outside of Layla and my uncle.“

“It’s dark out here. Mind if I walk you home?” He asked.

“Sure. Especially when I’m not sure which way to go.” She replied.

“Where does your uncle live?” He asked.

“Just outside of town. His house backs up to the woods.” She replied.

Even though it was nighttime, he flashed a smile at her that made her heart leap. As they walked they talked about what their lives were like growing up, what college life was like and past loves. She had just met him but she felt she knew him her whole life. When they got to her uncle’s front door, they weren’t ready to say goodbye.

“So this is me…”

“So it would seem. Thank you for letting me walk you home.”

“No thank you. Because I probably would’ve gotten lost and would’ve wandered around the woods for days.”

“I think you would’ve found your way home.”

There was a magnetic pull between them that neither could deny. Before either knew what they were doing, they kissed. It was a slow, sensual and deep kiss. And when it ended both were desperate for more.

“Wow!”

“What you said.”

“I better get inside.”

“Will I see you again?” He asked.

“Of course. I’ll be here for a while.” She replies.

“Good. Have a good night Naia.”

“Goodnight Trent.”

When she went inside her heart was racing. And she wanted more. She wanted him. This was the exact same way she felt when she kissed Roman.

The next morning after showering, she was in the kitchen fixing herself breakfast.

Her uncle still hadn’t returned from fishing. She had just sat down to eat her breakfast when the front door swung open. It was a man and a woman. They were two of the people she’d seen with Roman.

“Come! The ceremony awaits you!” He commanded.

“1.) no. 2.) WHAT THE HELL?!” Naia replies.

“We’re wasting time! Come now!” The woman demanded.

“What the hell? Get out!” Naia screamed.

When the woman went to grab Naia, she danced out the way. That’s when the man grabbed Naia and threw her over his shoulder. He dragged her out of the house, with her kicking and screaming.

“Let me go!” She screamed.

She struggled to get free but he was way too strong. She was thrown in the back of a van and a hood was placed over her head. Naia had no idea where they were taking her. And she was terrified of finding out.

#choices #pixelberry #choices stories you play #khoicesbyk #choices fanfiction #fanfic #wolf bride

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xmxisxforxmaybe · 4 years ago

Note

I love these summer time prompts! 37.Driving late at night with the music up and with no particular destination. Screams Finn to me, but lets combine it with 26. Accidentally letting slip a dirty fantasy from the other list.

If you’ve watched the movie, see if you can catch my easter egg 😉 Also, I made this GIF just for this fic!

* * * * *

For the third time that night, your eyes caught Finn’s.

The first look was through the smokey haze of an early evening bonfire, the piled-high wood that had been chopped still a little wet from an earlier rain.

The second look was after you both reached for the same cup at the keg. Finn insisted you take the cup, and with a sweet smile, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and watched as you got your beer. You thanked him again and he nodded, and without turning back, you knew he was watching you walk away.

While the first looks could have been brushed off as nothing more than an exchange of intrigue, the third look had purpose behind it. Again with his hands in his pockets, Finn was watching as you laughed at one of Benny’s stories; instead of turning away when you caught him, he grinned as his eyes slid over you, head to toe—and back again.

You slipped away from the conversation and approached the sexy, sort-of stranger.

“Hey,” you said, your lips still turned up in a smile.

“Wanna go for a drive? Only had a beer earlier so I’m not shitfaced or anything.”

“Sure,” you answered narrowing your eyes as you thought about exactly what you could be getting yourself into, but the smile never left your lips.

Tossing the last dregs of your beer in the trash, you looked up at the sky as you followed Finn to his car. Your body was caught in that delicious in-between of being buzzed but not quite, so your mind was hyper-attuned to everything around you—the warmth of the mid-summer night, the stars dotting the black sky as the moon outshone them all, and the cicadas thrumming in the trees and on the ground, singing for their mates.

“Your chariot awaits,” Finn smirked as he held open the door.

“Why thank you, kind sir,” you giggled as you slid down into his passenger seat, the leather cool under your exposed thighs. You looked around, surprised by how clean his car was because Finn always seemed like a bit of a scatterbrain. You had at least expected a few errant fast-food wrappers or maybe some extra clothes, but it was spotless.

As soon as Finn settled into the driver’s seat, the car filled with the smell of him—detergent and the earthy-pine scent of his cologne.

“Your car is clean and you smell nice,” you stated the obvious, pulling a toothy grin from Finn as he turned the key in the ignition.

“You sure you didn’t have more to drink?”

“It’s the—GAH!” you yelled, clutching your heart as the bass from the last song Finn was listening to vibrated through your skin and into your bones.

Laughing, Finn reached out and turned the music down.

“Sorry!”

Laughing too, you waved it off, Finn sneaking one more glance at your surprised, cheerful face before pulling out of the driveway and taking a left onto the highway.

“Windows or AC?” he asked over the lowered volume on the stereo.

“Give me a sec,” you replied as you fished through your bag for a hair-tie.

After assembling a messy bun, you reached over and rolled your window all the way. Finn followed suit and then turned the volume up again.

“Love this song,” he said, glancing over at you with a smile.

“Rap it then!”

Finn bobbed his head a couple of times to pick up on the beat then he started enthusiastically rapping:

Two AM, summer night, I don't care Hand on the wheel Driving drunk I'm doing my thang Rolling in the midwest side now Living my life, getting our dreams People told me slow my roll I'm screaming out fuck that I'm a do just what I want Looking ahead no turning back If I fall if I die Know I lived it to the fullest

You were laughing and when you joined in on the second verse Finn looked at you with amused surprise. You rapped together, giggling at the lyrics you messed up, and when the song was over you listened to the next one in comfortable silence as the wind mussed your bun and tousled Finn’s curls.

“Should I ask where we’re going?” you shouted.

Finn turned the music down so you could talk over it, and replied, “How’s ‘no where’ sound?”

“Perfect,” you grinned.

You looked out the window and watched the trees whipping by, nothing but black blurs in the late night. You could see the lights of town just ahead, but in this moment, you felt like telling Finn to drive . . . forever.

“Can I ask you something?” he questioned, interrupting your thoughts.

“Yeah,” you said turning to look at him.

“Why’d you say yes? To coming for a drive, I mean.”

“Starting with the obvious, you are pretty cute, Finn.”

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders, switching his driving hand so he could lean into the center console, his arm now almost brushing yours.

“That all it takes with you?”

“Uh, no!” you pushed your arm into his, warm skin against warm skin but only for the briefest moment. “I know you’re a good guy.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I . . . may have made some inquiries about you,” you teased.

“You—” Finn said, cutting himself off as he pointed at you, “Made inquiries about me?”

“Maybe.”

Finn pursed his lips and nodded, his eyes sparkling brighter and brighter as you drove into town and the streetlamps illuminated the inside of his car.

When you reached a stoplight, he relaxed his driving arm and turned his head toward you.

“So you maybe made some inquiries about me and you maybe liked what you heard enough to take a chance on going for a drive with me. About right so far?”

Without looking over, you smiled and bobbed your head in a slow nod.

“Light’s green.”

“So it is.”

“Go!” you shouted as you laughed, finally turning to look at him and seeing his—were they blue? green?—eyes looking over at you with a brightness that made your breath catch in your throat.

Finn finally broke and giggled, laying on the gas and speeding through the intersection. You laughed, too, shaking your head and when he asked if you wanted to stop at the next gas station for something to drink, you said yes.

He insisted on paying for your water and the handful of snacks you absolutely needed, and when you settled back into his car and tore into your skittles, you stopped and asked, “Am I allowed to eat in here?”

Finn chuckled and held out his hand. You poured a few skittles into his palm and he tossed them back, at least three of them pinging off the door because he missed half of his mouth.

“Now you have to sweep out my car tomorrow.”

“Fiiinn!” you whined. “You did that!”

“You brought forbidden food into my car.”

Your mouth popped open as you tried not to grin, but when Finn started laughing, you both lost it, still giggling as he pulled out of the gas station and left town.

Once more the car plunged into darkness, lit only by the bright blues and soft fluorescent accents on Finn’s dash. You let one arm drift to the window, holding your hand up and flat to fight against the rush of the wind, and your heart leapt into your throat when you felt Finn’s fingers crawl over your thigh, just above your knee.

That little touch sent a wave of warmth through your body and you turned to look at him, his face stoic until you snaked your arm across the console and rested your hand on the thigh of his khaki-colored shorts.

His lips turned up in a smile and you leaned forward to turn the radio up again.

As you sang along, Finn’s fingers would flex or softly stroke the bare skin of your leg, and in return, you would give his thigh a teasing squeeze.

“My turn to ask,” you said, interrupting your current song by leaning forward and turning it down a bit.

“Ask away, babe.”

“Why did you ask me out?”

“Did I . . . ask you out?” he said, his voice intoned with a teasing lilt.

“Don’t play. I really wanna know! Besides, I answered when you asked.”

“Mmmhmm—if you call ‘maybe’ an answer,” he said his voice lilting into a higher octave as he imitated the sound of your maybe.

You tsked and removed your hand from his thigh, shifting in your seat so his hand fell away from yours.

“Okay—okay! I asked you out because I think you’re fucking beautiful. And I was hoping you were cool, you know like fun to hang out with . . . which now I know you are.”

“You think I’m beautiful?”

“Fucking beautiful, I believe I said.”

“Yeah. You did.”

Finn glanced over and when he saw the way you were looking at him, his face lit up with another toothy grin.

“Have I fucked this all up yet?”

“Definitely not—have I?”

Finn laughed, “Can girls really ever fuck up during this part?”

“What part?”

“The getting to know you part.”

“Either you haven’t dated a lot or you’ve gotten really, really lucky because yes! Girls can absolutely fuck this part the hell up.”

“Truth is . . . I don’t always get to this part. I do the asking, then it’s a pretty short run right to the rejecting.”

“No, Finn. That’s not rejection. That’s a great example of a girl fucking something the hell up because she lost out on a chance to get to know you.”

Finn didn’t say anything, nor turn to look at you, but he found your hand with his and laced your fingers together.

You wished more than anything that he wasn’t driving because you wanted to kiss him—kiss him until the only thing he could remember was that a girl he thought was beautiful wanted to get to know him.

“I’ve never had sex in a car.”

Finn’s hand jerked on the wheel and you grabbed the door’s armrest to steady yourself, a bubble of laughter escaping, sounding more like a hic-cup as you turned to look at him, his lips opened in surprise and his eyes dead-focused on the road.

“It wasn’t an invitation!” you said, snorting with laughter. “Just a . . . possible fantasy for one day when the right guy with the right, clean car comes along—even if it has a few errant skittles on the floor.”

Finn had let go of your hand to steady the wheel and he kept his fists at 10 and 2 while you spoke.

“Fuck, Y/N. You can’t just blurt that out!”

“Clearly!”

“I mean . . . that’s like issuing a challenge.”

“Because you’ve had so much sex in a car?”

Finn gave you a pointed look that reaffirmed he had sex in cars probably more than in a bed.

“It’s . . . convenient. Awkward, sometimes, but convenient.”

“I’m more of a visual learner,” you stated, watching Finn’s hands grasp the wheel again just as he was starting to relax.

“I will, uh, keep that in mind.”

“Relax,” you soothed, leaning into the console and returning to your earlier position of resting your hand on his thigh. “I’m not that easy on a first date—if that’s what we’re calling this?”

“We can call it a date . . . if the night ends with a kiss?”

You bit your lip and scanned his face, watching as the corners of his mouth fought to behave.

“I’d like that.”

And with your words, Finn’s mouth lost its battle to remain neutral and for the hundredth time since he met you, he grinned.

#Finn #Finn x Reader #Female Reader #although no real body bits are mentioned #Finn FLUFF #Finn x Reader FLUFF #rami malek #rami malek character #rami malek fluff

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