#very lucky to say my dad's never slapped me or thrown water in my face tho so LMAO BUT FOR THE MOST PART Yeah...

[todayisafridaynight]

YEAH NO TONBI GOT HANDS.......... my timing on suggesting it may be Questionable but I AM very glad it holds up as a movie :] hopefully the interview and We Make Antiques are fun diversions! But also take it easy <3 can confirm Nakai is Pretty Moe in both though <3 And I WILL harass you about Masato's VA next week...

TBF YOU SUGGESTED IT A WEEK OR SO AGO twas on me for taking a while to get to it... nevertheless i did really enjoy it thank you..... AND YAYA IM SO STOKED TO WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW AND WMA2 THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆!!!!!

esp cant wait to hear about masato's VA in the future.. 👁️👁️

[unmaskedagain]

Agent Marinette

Okay I have struggled all week with a massive case of Writers block and today I beat it. This a crossover fic. Guess it by the end.

In retrospect, Marinette should’ve realized eventually other forces outside of Paris would take an interest in the masked heroine. At least they had been polite enough to wait until AFTER Hawkmoth was defeated.  

Marinette was eleven when she became the hero Ladybug. And her world shattered a bit.

Marinette was fourteen when Hawkmoth was finally defeated.

Marinette was fourteen when Ladybug retired. And her world shattered again, this time a bit more.

It had taken nearly every miraculous they had to take the villain down but eventually, Gabriel Agreste was taken down, his memories of the miraculous erased. (Nathalie with him) His son Adrien Agreste surrendered his own miraculous, his position as Chat Noir, and his own memories of being a hero and everything he’d ever learned of magic and Kwami. All to prevent his father from ever learning of them again.

However, erasing his memories of his life as Chat Noir, unavoidably included erasing his memories of his friendship Ladybug, with Marinette. A friendship that had grown stronger, in and outside the mask, over fighting the evil that haunted Paris back together. Keyword: together.

On the same day, Ladybug had lost her best friend, Marinette did too. Both lost the boy she thought she’d marry one day. They could never be together. She’d have to lie to him for the rest of their lives. Marinette would never be able to do that. And she wouldn’t let Adrien’s sacrifice be in vain.

So she distanced herself from him. She couldn’t look at him without seeing Chat Noir. She couldn’t look at him, knowing she knew just about everything about him but he knew nothing about her. To him, Marinette was just some girl in his class; a sort of friend he was never really that close to.

Strangers, really.

It was why Marinette transferred out of Bustier’s class. The best thing for her heart was to stay away.

Still, she thought in a way, it was a happy ending. The best happy ending she could get. Hawkmoth was gone. Paris was safe. Ladybug was retired. Fu had reclaimed all Kwami and had disappeared. The world was good.

Until it wasn’t. Until one rainy Thursday. Her parents had gone out for a date night. They never made it home. There had been an accident. The other driver had been drunk. The funeral was on a Tuesday.

Marinette’s world had shattered once again, more than ever before.

Marinette was an orphan.

Her grandmother Gina sold the bakery, put the money from the sale and the life insurance into an account for Marinette, and moved Marinette into a nearby apartment, and then was gone. Legally, the older woman was Marinette’s guardian. But otherwise, Marinette was on her own. It was fine. Her dad had always warned her that his mom was a free spirit who never liked to be tied down.

She would talk with her grandmother once every other month if she was lucky. They primarily only communicated through email. The reception was spotted in the parts of the world Gina like to frequent.

At only fourteen, Marinette got used to paying bills, buying groceries, and virtually being an adult. She got used to living alone. Just like she got used to not being a hero anymore. Just like she got used to not having any friends after Lila came knocking on the class’s door.

A year later, the young girl was thriving. Her grades were at the top of the school, right after Max. She was class treasurer and on the track team, having missed the feeling of running as fast she could. She started Kuoshu classes; her mother had always wanted her to learn Chinse martial arts for defense. And Marinette missed the adrenaline she used to get after a fight.

It was a good life. A simple life. Marinette had only normal life worries to be concerned about.

…Again, she really should’ve known the other shoe would drop eventually.

Still, no fifteen-year-old girl who was minding her own business, casually walking down the street, wanted to suddenly have a black bag over her and tossed into the back of a van. In fact, it was every girl, woman, and human being’s worst nightmare.

She was tied up. She was gagged. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t hear. Marinette had no idea how much time had passed. Or where they were taking her. Or who had taken her? She fought the tears that burned in her eyes as she struggled with the bonds around her hands. No matter how hard she tried, they wouldn’t break or budge. By the coldness of it, she knew she was either in handcuff or something similar made of metal.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Marinette felt herself be picked up and carried. She struggled against her assailant. She tried to kick her with her bound legs, hit with her tied fists. Nothing.

Marinette found herself being lower onto something. A chair she quickly realizes as she pressed her back to it.

Suddenly, the metal band around her hands released. Marinette quickly pulled the black bag off her head, undid the tap around her mouth, and took the plugs out of her ears.

She was in a mostly black room that only lights overhead, a vent the size of a phone, the table she sat at, and a large mirror across from her. Marinette figured it was a two-way mirror-like on cop shows, and that she was being watched. However, what concerned her most was that there was no sign of any door. Just walls and that mirror.

There was no escape.

Marinette glared at the mirror, at whoever was behind it.

She didn’t know how long she waited as she plotted her escape. Considering all variables for when they came back to her. Would they have guns? How many people would there be? Could she fight her way out? And just who her kidnappers could be? Child traffickers? Serial killer? Her past enemy, Hawkmoth, comes back for revenge? Who?

When a portion of the wall, next to the mirror opened, Marinette tried not to flinch back in surprise.

In walked a man at least twice her age. He wore a black suit and tie with a serious expression on his face. He was handsome with short dark hair and dark eyes and cheekbones that could cut glass.

The door closed behind him once he stepped through. He said nothing as he sat down in the chair across from her. They started at each other silently.

           Marinette cracked first, “Who are you? What do you want? Where am I?”

           A small smile appeared on the man’s face, “You’re a very hard girl to track down, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’d have thought it would’ve been easier considering all you’ve done.” He had an American accent.

“Track? What?” Why would he want to track her down? “I didn’t do anything. Nothing! Okay?!”

           He gave her a curious look, “Really? Well, I wouldn’t call saving all of Paris on a nearly everyday basis for what two years, nothing.” He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Don’t try to deny it. We have pictures, videos; evidence.”

           It was like someone had thrown ice water over her head. Marinette swallowed the lump that had built in her throat. “Who. Are. You.” She managed to get out.

“Me? I’m a friend,” He answered. “You can call me Black Heart.”

“Black Heart?” Marinette snorted. “You’re serious?”

“Oh because Ladybug is so much better,” He rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I have questions. You’re going to answer them.”

           He wanted to know about the miraculous, she guessed. Or how she got her powers. Marinette crossed her arms, “I have nothing to say.”

           Black Heart chuckled and stood up. He put his hands on the table, “Listen very carefully, Marinette. Because there are only two ways we can do this.”

           Marinette smirked, “Is one of them the easy way?”

           A look she couldn’t recognize briefly flashed over Black Heart’s face but gone just as quick. “No,” He answered.

“Oh.”

“Who are you?” He asked her.

           She paused before answering, “…My name is Marinette but you know that. I was the hero Ladybug but you know that as well.”

“What happened to HawkMoth?”

           She felt fine answering that. However, she gave the same answer she gave to the press, “Hawkmoth was defeated. He was stripped of his powers and destroyed.”

“You killed him?”

           It wasn’t the first time Ladybug had been asked that question. “…Yes.” She lied though it didn’t feel like much of one. Hawkmoth was dead after all.

           Blackheart nodded. “What happened to Chat Noir? And the other heroes? Dead too?”

           Marinette fought to keep her face blank, her fists clenched. “Yes,” She said. “They were causalities of the final fight with Hawkmoth.” Technically not a lie. Every Parisian hero had given up their miraculous once and for all after Hawkmoth was gone. There was no need for them anymore.

           The man raised an eyebrow, “Gabriel Agreste is still very much alive last I checked.” She reared back as if slapped. “So is Adrien is otherwise known as Chat Noir. Alya Cesaire aka Rena Rouge, her turtle boyfriend. The monkey guy. The tiger. The snake; Luka, I believe. All alive and kicking. So much for that lie…”

“They were retired,” Marinette growled. “Permanently.”

“Truth,” Blackheart nodded. “How did you erase their memories?”

           It had taken the combined power of Fu, Marinette, Tikki, Wayzz, and Plagg to do it. “I didn’t do anything.”

           Black Heart gave her a hard look, “Where do your powers come from?”

           Marinette smiled, “I don’t have any powers.”

“Fine! Where do Ladybug’s powers come from?”

“I am Ladybug,” She told him. “And Ladybug doesn’t have any powers.”

“You mean anymore?”

           Marinette nodded slowly.

           Black Heart sat back in his chair, “You’re telling me that you busted your ass saving Paris for two years, only to have your powers taken from you? You were tossed to the side just like that? Like you were nothing? I’m supposed to believe that.”

“I wasn’t needed anymore.” By anyone.

“You took down one of the biggest threats to this world,” The man said. “You fought. You bled. You sacrificed everything. From what our intelligence has gathered, you even gave up the love of your young life. Only to be cast aside; alone, forgotten, abandoned…”

“That’s not what happened,” Marinette shook her head.”

“You weren’t useful anymore,” Blackheart tutted. “So you were thrown away; left to fend for yourself in a cold, cruel world. No friends, no family,”

“Shut up,” Marinette whispered.

The man leaned forward, “How many internships did you turn down because you were too busy being a hero? Two? Three?”

“Shut up!” She said louder.

“Wait, it was five. That’s right.” He continued on as if she said nothing. “Five internships with some of the biggest names in fashion today. And you gave it up. Now what you have to show for it? Nothing!” He said. “You live this mundane life halfheartedly, struggling to find your place again, trying to get back even a fraction of the feeling you had when you fighting for this world!”

“SHUT UP!” Marinette roared.

           Black Heart shook his head, “I asked you who you are. But I already know who you are. I know who you were. You were a hero, a martyr, a leader, a little princess who believed in fairytales and the goodness of people. You were someone who believed this world could still be saved! So I just want to know three things. I have three questions to ask you and then you never have to see me again! You can go back to pretending to be whatever the hell you want. I don’t care.”

“What?” Marinette asked. “What could you possibly want to know?” Need to know that he didn’t already. “Huh? Just tell me!”

“Do you still believe this world can be saved?”

Silence.

“…What?”

“Answer the question.”

Marinette blinked, “Yes. I do.”

“Are you still willing to fight for it?” Black Heart asked.

“Always.”

           He smiled, and leaned back in his chair, “Last question… What do you know about Shield?”

           Well, that was a twist. Marinette’s eyes went wide. She knew a lot about shield. More than any normal teenage girl should. But a former Ladybug had been an Agent. And Tikki told her everything... It was founded by Peggy Carter and Howard Stark. Shield started the Avengers. They had been protecting the world for decades.

“A lot,” Marinette answered. “What do you want?

           The man gave her a small smile, “World peace.”

           The doors of the room opened again in walked a beautiful young woman with long hair a bright smile on her face, “You done traumatizing the poor girl yet.”

           The man groaned, “Dammit, Skye.”

           Marinette officially joined Shield the next day.

           Skye showed her the ropes and explained until she garnered some trust, most would give her their full name; maybe only even their code name.

           In another life, Skye hadn’t joined Shield until she was well into her twenties. In this life, she was recruited by a woman named Hill as soon as she graduated high school. It had been nearly ten years since. Skye had met Black Heart when she was about three years in, and they had disliked each other.

           Now they mostly tolerated the others’ existence. Only really dealing with each other on missions.

           Skye would be gone the next day. And Marinette would only see her once in a blue moon.

           Marinette would withdraw from school and finish her education taught by some of the greatest minds in the world. She would give up her apartment, and leave Paris. She would call her grandmother one last time for what would be months to let her know she was going to travel the world; her grandmother was pleased as she had done the same when she was not much older than Marinette. Gina disregarded the fact that she had been a legal adult at the time.

           It would be the last call she made from her phone. The line was disconnected and the phone tossed.

           Then she visited the place that had been her parents’ bakery, not their graves; because she would rather remember them alive, happy, and loving, then dead in the ground. And she told them goodbye.

           Before leaving Paris for good, she dropped off a perfectly wrapped green and black present off at the Agreste home. Adrien’s birthday was coming up. Inside the gift box was a black leather jacket with cat-shaped buttons. She handed the gift to Nathalie.

           This time, however, Marinette was quick to tell the older woman that MDC was sewn inside on the jacket; multiple times.

           Then she walked away; not looking back once.

It was the last thing Adrien would ever get from her. The last thing he would unknowingly have of Chat Noir. Ironically, the masked hero the blond had come to idolize in recent times.

The jacket was all she could give him of his as a hero, and not even a fraction of all she had wished to give him.

           One day he would forget her altogether. One day she would just be a random former classmate of his whose name he couldn’t quite remember.

           However, Marinette would never forget Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir. She would remember when Adrien was Chat Noir, one of the greatest heroes Paris would ever know. And she would remember Chat Noir was Adrien, and Adrien proved to be a greater hero than even he ever dared dream Chat Noir would be.

           Marinette would remember because she owed him that much at least.

           The night she left Paris would be the last time she dreamed of a life with Adrien. A life where they got to grow old together; one where wedding bells were heard. And he’d kiss her every time she left. And she’d kiss him every time she came back. A life where they got to see where their love would take them, and maybe one day hear the pitter-patter of little feet on their floor.

           A life where Marinette did actually become a fashion designer. A life where she married Adrien, Alya was still her best friend, her parents were alive, the world was good and kind, and two heroes got the finale they deserved.

           A life where love was enough, and they got their happy ending. The forever they never got would haunt her forever.

           Marinette was fifteen when she went she joined shield and went back to doing what she did best; helping people, saving the world.

Marinette was fifteen when she became an Agent of Shield.

           Marinette was fifteen when she learned how to shoot a gun.

           Marinette was fifteen when she joined Black Hear became her mentor. The training had been a killer. More than once, Marinette had nearly quit.

           Blackheart would just shake his head at her and say, “Life is tough, kid,” He’d give her an easy smile. “But so are you.”

           Marinette smiled.

“You and me?” Grant said. “We’re the same. We’re Kevlar. We do whatever it takes to complete the mission. We get the job done. Keep our feelings and emotions; personal wants and desires in check. For the greater good. Its who we are. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” Marinette repeated back. “But that doesn’t mean we have to shut people out; each other out.”

“Yes, it does,” Grant said firmly. “Yes, I do.” He stopped talking and look Marinette in the eyes, “There are things about me you don’t know. I’ve done things I… Thing you wouldn’t like if you knew.”

“We all have,” Marinette shrugged at her father figure. “It’s a part of the job. I get it.”

           Grant smiled at her, “I know you do. I know you would. We’re the same. We know this world isn’t all happiness and rainbows but we don’t stop trying to save it. We don’t stop believing it can be saved; that what we’re doing has a purpose. But there are things I can’t tell you. Things about me… that you wouldn’t like if you knew. One day, I hope you understand though. I know we will. We’re the same. But You’re good.”

“So are you,” Marinette said. “Grant, you’re like the best guy I know. You’re good.”

“Not always,” Grant looked away. “You need to know, Marinette, I’m not a good man.”

“I believe you are.” She stated, “You can’t convince me otherwise.”

           It would a year later after much trust was built, and they had gone of dozens and dozens of missions that she finally learned his real name.

           Grant.

Over the next few years, Grant became like a father to her. And to him, she was like a daughter. He taught her everything he knew. Marinette did everything she could to make him proud. He made her believe that they could really save the world, change the world for the better.

Where Grant went, she followed; most of the time. Sky would slowly start to show up more and more; until it was clear she wasn’t going anyway.

Whenever she was hurt, and the mission was over, Grant would tell a story about his past.

           Her favorites were the ones about a monster who loved the sky. It was clear that it was about him and Skye. “Do you want to hear a story, princess?” He smiled. “It’s about a man who struggled with his demons his entire life. Who asked for love throughout his entire life. But he never got it. Until she came. She made him feel important. She made him laugh. She made him better. She became his world.”

           Marinette couldn’t understand what was stopping the two from getting together.

           She met Nick Fury when she was seventeen and was sent on the first on her first solo mission.

When she was eighteen, Grant and Skye were approached by a man named Coulson. The same Coulson that had supposedly been killed by a god named Loki. The strangest part was Marinette was tapped to join too.

The team consisted of Coulson, May, Grant, Skye, Fitz, Simmons, and Marinette.

They were a team. They became a family.

However, then John Garrett was revealed to be Hydra; a man Marinette had thought she knew well. (Grant killed him. And she mourned with him the man they thought John was.)

           Then project insight happened. Nick Fury was killed. Captain America exposed all of Shield in an effort to reveal Hydra.

           Shield was labeled a terrorist organization.

           The team was on their own.

But, Marinette thought more than once over the next coming months, at least they had each other.

They ended up at a place called Providence. They were given lie detector tests by Agent Eric Koenig. “Fury designed this himself,” The portly man said. “He wanted a lie detector Romanoff couldn’t beat.”

“Did she?” Grant asked

“Like Fury would tell!”

                       Marinette sat in the machine and tried to relax.

“We’re going to start with some easy question,” Eric told her. “Can I have your full name?”

“Marinette Clarissa Dupain-Cheng.”

“Eye color?”

“Blue,” Marinette stated.

           The agent nodded, “Have you ever been married?”

           Marinette shook her head, “No.”

“Please list your immediate living family.”

“My grandmother Gina,” Marinette answered. “My grandfather. I considered my team my family though.”

“What’s the difference between an egg and a rock?”

           Marinette gave him an “Are you Serious” look, “One's food, ones a weapon.”

“Have you ever heard of project insight?”

“Never.”

“Have you ever had contact with Alexander Pierce.”

“I have,” She answered honestly. “Once. Just after the New York Invasion. Agent Hill introduced me.”

“You wash up on a desert island, alone. Sitting in the sand is a box. What’s in the box?”

“How big is the box?” Marinette asked curiously. “How did it get there? What island am I on? Am I near freshwater.”

“Just say the first thing that comes to your mind, Marinette,” He told her. “What’s in the box?”

“A pair of earrings.”

           Eric gives her a funny look but notes her age and shrugs it off. Spy teen girls were still teen girls, after all. “Shield no longer exists. The agency has been labeled a terrorist organization. So why are YOU here.”

           Marinette thought about the question. She had thought about it before. Shield had fallen. No one knew who was or wasn’t Hydra. She should’ve been gone in the wind. However, she had never even considered it. “Shield is all I have. Ward, Skye, Coulson, May, Simmons, Fitz, Trip; they’re all I have. They’re my family.” She told him. “And truthfully, I joined Shield because I believe this world is worth saving. I believe it can still be saved. I believe that it is good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”

“I love Lord of the Rings,” Agent Eric Koenig grinned. “Let’s get you a Lanyard, Agent Dupain-Cheng.

           While Skye, May, and Grant stayed at Providence, Marinette joined Coulson and the others.

           When Marinette returned to the base after saving the Cellist lady. The bus was gone. May was gone. Grant and Skye were gone.

           What was left of the team had debated long about what had happened; why the three had left.

           When Coulson said, “Worst case…  We've had a wolf in the herd the whole time.”

           Marinette didn’t believe that at first. Not until she heard the scream. Saw Agent Eric Koenig’s body. Saw the word written on the picture.

           Ward is Hydra.

“Not Ward,” Fitz said.

“Not Ward,” Marinette repeated. “Not Ward.” Skye was wrong. She had to be wrong. Ward couldn’t be Hydra. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.

           Then Simmons gave the analyze of Agent Eric Koenig’s murder.

“Ward did this,” Simmons said.

           In a fury, Fitz smashed a few things.

           Marinette could only stare in space as the words penetrated her mind.

           Ward is Hydra.

           The man she thought she knew the best.

           The man she had sworn her loyalty to, had given all her trust to, had loved like a father.

           The man who had gotten her to swear loyalty to Shield.

           Grant Ward had been her S.O. Her mentor. Her leader. Her captain.

           Grant Ward was Hydra.

           And just like that, Marinette’s world shattered again.

           And just like that, everything she ever thought she believed in was questioned.

           It would be months before she saw him again, and by then it had been confirmed without a doubt Grant Ward was Hydra. He was the enemy.

           He would try to kill the team multiple times.  Grant Ward would do everything he could to get her alone to speak with and or to Skye. Like he could change their minds. He had gone full psycho Hydra and didn’t seem to be stopping any time soon.

           Marinette was captured by Hydra not long before her twenty-first birthday.

           She was tied up and chained to a desk.

           Grant Ward walked in with an easy smile on his face, “Marinette. This brings back memories.”

“Old Blackheart himself,” The bluenette hissed back. “Good to see you again. Oh, Wait! As your lot puts; Hail Hydra, right?”

           He nodded and sat down across from her, “Ladybug.”

“Just kill me,” Marinette shrugged. “I won’t tell you anything. You know I won’t. I won’t Hydra. You and the rest of the freaking Nazi can go to hell.”

           Ward looked shocked, “Kill you? You really think I would… I would never hurt you, Marinette!” He told her. “You have to know that. I would never want to hurt you.”

“Maybe not want to,” Marinette looked him dead in the eye. “But you will. All apart of the job, right.”

“Do you think this was easy for me?” Grant asked. “You of all people understand how hard it was; the impossible decisions that had to be made. You know what it's like to make a choice that breaks you inside. But we make them anyway. I made them anyway. Because that’s what I do. What we do.”

Marinette shuddered. “A Double Agent. Do what needs to be done. Betray everyone who loves you, cares about you. Because we don’t matter, only the mission does. Right? That’s what you tried to train into me; anything for the mission.”

“No!” Ward shouted. “That’s who you were before I ever met you. You don’t get to put that on me. That’s why Shield wanted you. Because you did whatever it took to stop Hawkmoth for good. Whatever it took for the greater good. That’s how I knew we were the same.”

           Silence.

           Ward stood up, “You’re good. I get that. I’ve always known that. But you understand me. You’re a soldier. I’m a soldier.”

“You are a monster,” Marinette said. “You finally convinced. There is no good for you.”

           Coulson, May, Lincoln, and Skye rescued her not long after.

           Grant and Marinette would face off with each other multiple; fighting to the death; fighting for the cause.

           Then one day, Simmons would be gone, Coulson would go after her, and when they came back; Coulson would tell her Grant Ward was dead. He killed him.

           Marinette wouldn’t ever admit it but her world shattered just a bit.

           However, Marinette would see Grant again but he wasn’t Grant. He was hive. And Hive would nearly take Skye from the team. He would take Lincoln.

           After months of fighting the monster for months; doing whatever it took to bring him down; Lincoln, a pretty blond man with light-colored eyes who dared to be a hero, sacrificed himself.

           And for the first time in years, Marinette was reminded of Adrien Agreste. She had thought about him occasionally, sure. But seeing Skye cry over Lincoln had reminded her just deeply of her own loss. And remember that she was the one who erased his memories. He wanted the last thing he saw to be her before he never remembered her again.

           Marinette was twenty-two when she went to the funeral of Grant Ward. It was in Paris. Marinette was the only one who went. There was nobody to bury but still, Marinette had him laid to rest, not too far away from her parents.

           No matter how hard she had tried, Marinette couldn’t find it in her to hate Grant. She had loved him too much. He had been such a big part of who she was.

           And she owed it to him to finally see him laid to rest. It was her duty, she supposed.

           That was why she buried him in the once place she once thought she’d never return. The place where she once dreamed of another life.

           As she stared at his grave, once again she dreamed about another life.

           A life where Hydra had never returned. Shield had never fallen. The Avengers weren’t torn apart in a civil war. The world didn’t seem to always be on fire. Skye was still an Agent. Fitz and Simmons were married. Tripp was alive. Lincoln was alive. And Grant Ward was good.

           It was a nice dream but she’d leave it in Paris with all rest of her childhood’s hopes, wishes, and dreams.

“You were right,” She told Grant, speaking directly to his headstone as if he was there. “We are the same. I do understand. I’ve always understood. In the end, we always do our duty. Its what defines us. Rest in Peace, Ward.”

           Marinette walked out of the cemetery with her head held high. She would stop for ice cream, and cross paths with a tall, handsome, green-eyed, blond man. He’d look right through her.

           And it only bothered her a little.

           Months after she left Paris again, for good she swore, she would hear on the news about the untimely death of Gabriel Agreste.

           She would notify an hour later that Master Fu has surfaced in Paris again. The man had been watched by Shield for years.

           She would be told that Master Fu had been spotted around Agreste home.

           Marinette didn’t blink twice. It wouldn’t matter. Everyone had moved on. Adrien had moved. Marinette had moved on. And as far as the world was concerned Marinette Dupain-Cheng was dead. She had died years ago.

           Seven months later, Coulson would bring her in to help train a new recruit. She would walk into the training room of the bus and see a tall, a tall, handsome, green-eyed, blond man with hope clear on his face, standing next to Coulson, looking at her like he was seeing the sun for the first time in years.

“Kitty?” Marinette whispered.

“My lady.”

           Marinette was twenty-three when her world shattered yet again.

[snowdice]

Little Kestrel (Part 14)[Birds of Different Feathers Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan & Patton & Virgil (future Virgil/Patton but not in this story)

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton, Virgil

Appear: Thomas

Mentioned: Janus

Summary:

It was supposed to be a quick job either way. Either Virgil would assassinate King Thomas of Prijaznia or he’d be caught and get executed. Yet, when Virgil gets the wrong bedroom and gets caught by Prince Logan and his future royal advisor, Patton, the job ends up getting way more complicated for the 14-year-old. He also ends up sleeping in a (actually pretty comfortable) closet for a few weeks…

Notes: Implied/referenced child abuse, assassination attempt, knives, torture mentioned, captivity, teenagers being really dumb

This is a prequel to Kill Dear. I wrote it 100 words at a time on my blog, but this is the edited version. If you want to see how it was crafted, look at the tag proofread stories.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13

“So then,” Patton was saying. “We ran to the stables.”

“We went to gazebo first,” Logan cut in.

“Right, we tried to go to the gazebo first,” Patton corrected, “but Mr. Deknis was over there tending to the tomatoes, and we knew he’d tell Mama the second he saw us. So, then we turned around and went to the stables.”

Virgil tilted his head, listening to the story Patton was telling. Patton was not the best storyteller. He tended to get lost in the middle and embellish, though Logan always corrected him. It was still very entertaining to watch though because he got incredibly animated. He’d even toppled himself over in excitement a couple of times.

Virgil squeezed the small pillow he had in his lap. He… wasn’t 100% sure what was going on. Logan and Patton had settled him on the blanket covered ground near Logan’s bed and proceeded to feed him snacks and talk about a lot of different things. It had started with them talking about what they’d done that day, and when Patton had made reference to something Virgil hadn’t understood, the two of them ended up talking about things from their childhood.

Virgil found himself entranced by their stories about playing in and running around the castle. It was all so different from what Virgil had experienced.

“…but, right as we were about to get to the ladder to climb up into the hay loft, Logan tripped!” Patton said, arms whipping around him. “He fell into a container of grain for the horses and it spilled all over the place. He tried to get up but grabbed the edge of the water trough and apparently it wasn’t very secure because it fell over and soaked him. So, then he was wet and covered in grain. He looked hilarious.”

“I did not!” Logan protested, but it did not sound like all of the other times he’d corrected Patton’s stories that night.

Patton looked over at him. “You did! You woke up the cute stable hand and he laughed himself silly at you, and by the time we got you even partially cleaned up, your dad had already found us. That’s how we got caught.”

“I have no recollection of these events,” Logan clearly lied, his cheeks a bit flushed.

“Liar,” Patton claimed. “You complained about picking grain out of your sheets for weeks.”

“No,” Logan growled.

“Yes! It’s okay. It was a good laugh.”

Logan’s eyes narrowed on him, and he looked pissed, but a second later, his expression lightened up. “You know what else was a ‘good laugh’?” he asked.

There was a second of silence before…

“Don’t you dare Logan.”

Logan looked Patton directly in the eye. “Patton was thirteen,” Logan started, but was interrupted the next moment when Patton lobbed a pillow at his head. Logan grabbed the pillow and leaned forward to smack Patton back with it. “He was thirteen and had just ‘discovered boys’ as his mother and my father called it when they attempted to explain his behavior to me. The focus of said ‘discovering’ at the time was the son of an ambassador from Lamir” who was staying for the summer, a seventeen-year-old boy by the name Bernardo.”

Virgil flinched back as Patton suddenly threw himself across the semicircle they’d made with their bodies to tackle Logan to the ground. He watched as they ineffectually wrestled on the ground for a few seconds before Logan, voice strained, continued to speak, while battling Patton’s hands away from his mouth.

“Patton’s only knowledge about flirting… ow… at that point was laughing at everything someone said and touching their arms and shoulders.” Logan managed to flip himself onto his stomach which was a horrible move as far as Virgil was concerned. It put him at a disadvantage to get out of the pin. However, Patton just kept reaching for his mouth and didn’t bare down on his neck to try to cut off his oxygen like Virgil expected. So, perhaps it was a rational move. “Our parents were speaking leaving Patton, Bernardo, and I in the garden,” Logan mumbled into the ground. “Bernardo said something ‘funny’ and Patton went to slap his shoulder while laughing but shoved too hard… Patton did you just lick my face?!”

“And I’ll do it again if you don’t shut up!” Patton threatened. That was a… weird fighting strategy.

Logan paused to consider his options. “He shoved Bernardo into the fountain and when Bernardo asked him why he did that, he ran away and wouldn’t talk to him the rest of the summer!” Logan rushed out.

Patton reached over and grabbed the nearest pillow, proceeding to whack him viciously in the back of the head. Logan was lucky the nearest object was a pillow and not something any sturdier. “It’s not funny!” Patton yelled, smacking him even more, which was when Virgil realized Logan was laughing despite the pinning and pillow pummeling. “It’s not!” Patton said. “I really liked him!!”

“He was seventeen!” Logan said. “It was never going to happen!”

Patton groaned and rolled off of Logan to lay on his back and stare at the ceiling. “But he had so many muscles,” Patton said. “He probably could have thrown me 10 yards.”

“And that is… a benefit?” Logan asked, rolling over onto his side to face him.

“You don’t. Get me.” Patton tilted his head to look at Virgil. “Anyway,” he said. “That is the story of how I died at 13.”

Virgil stared at him, and Patton’s forehead crinkled looking at him.

“Is something wrong, honey?” he asked.

 “What was that?” Virgil asked.

“What was what?”

Virgil just blinked at him. Patton seemed to think for a moment.

“Oh, did you think we were fighting?” Patton asked. “Like, really fighting?”

“You weren’t fighting?” Virgil asked.

“No, sweetie,” Patton said. “We were just playing.” He popped up into a sitting position. “Well, play fighting, but emphasis on play!”

Virgil looked over at Logan for confirmation. “No one is harmed nor was there any intention to harm each other,” he assured.

Patton grabbed the pillow he’d been smacking Logan with. “Like this!” he said. “Bap.” Unlike how he’d smacked Logan ruthlessly, he basically just touched Virgil’s shoulder with it.

Virgil squinted at him.

“Bap!” Patton said again, smacking him once more, this time with a little bit more force and on the cheek. Virgil’s nose scrunched up. “Pillow fight!”

“Pillow fight?”

“You try,” he said, pointing to the pillow in Virgil’s lap.

Virgil glanced down at the bands around his wrist. “Um…” he said. “I don’t think I can?”

“Oh, right,” Patton said with a frown. He bit his lip and glanced over at Logan. “Maybe…”

“Ill-advised,” Logan said.

“But…” Patton said. “Pillow fight.”

“We would have to be very cautious and make sure there were no weapons in the area.”

“No weapons but pillows!”

“Fine,” Logan relented to whatever was going on. “Let’s clear the area.” Virgil watched them with mounting confusion as they removed everything within a few meters radius of him except for pillows and blankets.

“There!” Patton said after a minute. “All done!”

“What are you doing?” Virgil said.

“We’re going to have a pillow fight,” Patton said.

“But I…”

“We’ll temporarily allow your restraints to be in the third setting like when you’re in the closet.”

Were they serious? Were they stupid? Virgil could have killed them dozens of times with the second setting and now they were giving him even more range of motion?

“You have to promise not to try to hurt anyone though,” Patton said. Virgil stared at him dumbly, as Patton held out his pinky finger. “Pinky promise.”

“Pinky promise?”

Patton nodded solemnly. “We lock pinky fingers and make a promise. It’s the most binding promise in the universe.”

Virgil looked at his finger, confused. He’d never heard of that type of deal. “What kind of magic is it?”

“No magic,” Patton said. “Just friendship.” Virgil tilted his head but brought his hand up so Patton could twine their fingers together. “Now, promise you won’t hurt anyone.”

“I promise I won’t hurt anyone,” he said.

“It’s a deal!” said Patton, squeezing Virgil’s finger with his own briefly before drawing away. “I trust you.” Virgil felt a rush of something that was no type of magic he’d ever come into contact before but was definitely far more powerful.

Logan came over to them and waved his hand over the restraints on Virgil. They buzzed slightly and Virgil looked between them. “So, I just hit you with pillows?”

“Try not to hit too hard near the face, and Lo and I should probably take off our glasses before we start, but yeah,” Patton said, taking his glasses off as he said it. It was yet another foolish move on his part. “It’s fun, and it doesn’t hurt.”

“Okay…” Virgil said.

“I will demonstrate,” Logan said as he took a pillow and smacked Patton in the stomach.

“Hey! No fair!” Patton giggled. “We haven’t started yet!” This did not deter Logan however, as he continued to smack Patton with a pillow.

“On the contrary,” he said. “It has started, and we’re getting you first.”

“No,” Patton whined, but the way he crumpled to the ground under the onslaught seemed far too staged to make Virgil worry. He didn’t even try to curl up into a ball or protect his head, just taking the hits and giggling.

Logan looked up at Virgil and motioned with his head. Virgil inched over and looked down at Patton. Logan slowed for a few moments. “Go on,” he urged.

Virgil bit his lip and reached forward to smack Patton lightly with his pillow which seemed to do nothing to him but renew his peels of giggles. From there, it was easy to continue. Logan picked up the pace of his strikes and he and Virgil proceeded to ‘fight’ Patton until he couldn’t breathe through his laughter and pushed the pillows away, curling up on his side to recover. Virgil took the cue from Logan to cease their attack.

“Now what?” Virgil asked when Patton sat up.

“Now I get vengeance!” Patton said, popping to his feet and smacking Logan in the face. “Help me Virgil!” So, Virgil turned on Logan and he and Patton gave the prince the same treatment. Then, because it was only fair, it was Virgil’s turn, though they were a lot more careful with him then they’d been with each other, and really Patton spent more of the time checking in on Virgil then actually hitting him with the pillow. It was nice. Fun. And when Virgil pushed them away, they pulled back.

Then, it was Patton’s turn again and they went around teaming up on each other and sometimes just smacking at each other at random.

Eventually, they slowed, and all ended up laying near each other on the floor.

“Well, that made me hungry,” Patton said, sitting up and stretching. “I asked Mama to make us a bunch of mini sandwiches. I’ll go get them.”

He hopped to his feet to walk over to where they’d stored the food earlier in those little glowing magical balls Logan had for food preservation.

Logan and Virgil sat up too, and Virgil offered him his wrists.

“Right,” Logan said with a blink. He made a motion and Virgil could feel the magic weighing down his hands once again. He’d almost forgotten, Virgil thought with an internal sigh. They’d given an assassin free range of motion, had a pillow fight with him, and almost forgotten to restrain him again. What was Virgil going to do with these idiots?

Want to read more? Click below!

AO3 Part 15

[toomuchtv95]

Struggling Chapter 3

Characters: Jay Halstead, Hank Voight, Antonio Dawson

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader (Eventually)

Word Count: 3k+

Chapter Warnings: Kidnapping, drowning, badly written medical talk, fluff

A/N: So I am going back to work on Tuesday, which means updates will be slower. I will try to get update as much as I can but I can’t promise anything, but I promise I will try my hardest. 

Series MasterList

Slowly opening your eyes, the bright light coming from the light hanging over you, caused you to squint your eyes. As you tried to move, your hands were tied to a rusty old radiator along with your ankles tied together which you lead you to be immobile. A sharp pain cut through your head and it felt like your whole body was in pain. Every movement you made causes some bone or muscle to ache. You started to feel something trickled down your face and once it reached your mouth, you tasted blood. The kidnappers must have busted your head open when they hit you over the head and knocked you unconscious. 

You heard the kidnappers talking in the hallway, “why the hell would you kidnap a cop?” 

“She’s been threatening to file my arrest. I had to do something.” It was all coming back to you now. You were meeting up with your CI and when he didn’t want to do what you asked, you threaten to file his arrest, and he decided to knock you over the head. But who was the other guy he was talking to? “Look this can work in our favor. We can make demands. Get what we want.”

“I should have arrested you the moment I picked up at that drug bust.” You finally manage to find your voice which was hoarseness from the lack of water and dehydration. “It will never work. Making demands in hopes they will give you something. They won’t give you anything.”

“Well it’s worth a try and if they don’t give us what they want we can just kill you.” Sam, who was your CI, pulled out a phone from his back pocket

“Hey, have you heard from Y/N this morning? I tried calling her on my way, but she didn’t answer.” Jay walked up to the crime scene with coffee in hand and concerned in his voice.

“She called me letting me know she was meeting up with a CI about something.” Antonio turned around to see Jay walking towards him. “She said she would meet us back the district.” 

Just as Jay was about saying, his phone went off and to his surprise, your name popped up on the screen. “Y/N? Where are you?” 

“Y/N is a little busy right now.”

“Who is this? Where’s Y/N?” Jay stopped dead in his tracks which caused Antonio to stop also. Jay put the phone on the speaker so that Antonio could hear the other person.

“You don’t get to ask questions.” You wanted to call out to Jay, but Sam had tied a handkerchief around your mouth. “The only way your going to see Y/N again is if you give me what I want.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” Antonio ran off to go find Voight.

“Well, then I guess we have no business left to discuss.” 

Sam was about to hang up, “okay, wait. First off, I need proof that Y/N is okay, then we can make a deal.” With that said both Hank and Antonio approached Jay.

“Fine.” Sam removed the handkerchief from your mouth. “Talk.” 

“Jay! Whatever you don’t listen to him he’s a drug addict!” You screamed out which caused a slap to the face and a whimper escape your lips. Sam replaced the handkerchief and took a few steps back.

“Okay, I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t hurt her.” Hearing you cry out anger flooded through his body. Jay glanced up at the Voight who was, of course, worried for his daughter. “Tell me what you want, and I will see what I can do.”

“I want my drugs back. The ones that were taken from me that night of the drug bust. Y/N took them away from me and now I want them back. I’ll call back in 1 hour with a location and you better have my drugs and if you don’t Y/N is dead.” With that said the line went dead. 

Jay felt sick to his stomach when he heard you cry out and Jay will do whatever he has to get you back. “He was using her phone we can ping it. He wasn’t to smart on that part.” 

“Jay’s right. You two go back to the district ping her phone and get a location. Keep this between the three of us and we will bring the rest of the team if we need too.” Voight was, of course, worried that his daughter was taken but he knew that Jay and Antonio the situation could handle the situation. Hank didn’t want to worry the team considering that this lowlife drug-addicted was stupid enough to use your phone to make demands.

Sam had thrown you into a trunk of a car and drove for about a half-hour until you reached your destination. Sam’s partner in crime disappeared when he realized that Sam was insane for kidnapping a cop and making demands. Once Sam pulled you out of the trunk, you notice that you were at a much nicer house then the last one. Sam carried you through the house and into the backyard considering that both your ankles and wrist were bond by zip ties. Once outside, you saw that there was an inground pool and you had a bad feeling that if Jay didn’t show up something very bad could happen. Even though you told Jay not to do anything, you knew that he would do anything to save you.

“Well looks like your boyfriend isn’t going to make it.” Sam looked down at his watch realizing that the hour was almost up, and Jay was nowhere in sight. Sam removed the handkerchief from your mouth as he set you down on one of the patio chairs.

“Why are you doing this?” The zip ties dug into your wrist and they started to bleed from you struggling to get out. 

“Because I’m taking back what’s mine. I never wanted to be your CI, but I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t go back to Jail not again.” Sam waved a gun around as he paced the patio as you could see that he was clearly high on something. 

“If you kill me then that will definitely put you back in prison.” Sam looked down at his watch again before pulling you up from the chair and stood you at the edge of the pull. “Times up.” 

“Sam listen don’t do this.” You struggled against Sam’s hold, but he had the upper hand. 

“Let her go.” The two of you snapped your heads to the right to see Jay standing there with a duffle bag. “Look I brought you your drugs. That was the deal.”

“Your late.” Sam decided to make another stupid move by putting the barrel of the gun to your head.

“Well, you’re the one who changed locations last minute. I was on my way to the other location when you decided to call and change locations.” Jay dropped the bag to the floor as he took a cautious step towards the two of you. 

“We had a deal. I bring you your drugs and you let Y/N go.” Sam gripped his hand around your arm which you knew would leave a bruise. You tried to get out his grip, but it was no use, so you stopped trying.  

“Like I said it’s too late.” Next thing you knew it, Sam threw you into the pool and the moment your body hit the water, you tried to move, but you couldn’t because of being bond. The water whirls around you, trapping you from the oxygen you needed. Your entire body started to throb as your lungs start to feel like they are on fire. Slowly, blackness begins to surround your visions and you knew you couldn’t hold on much longer. As you lost consciousness, you still felt someone, or something grab you and pull you out of the water. 

Jay had jumped in the water shortly after attacking Sam and putting him in handcuffs. The moment Antonio stepped into the backyard to see Jay giving you chest compressions, he called into his radio for an ambulance and backup. “Come on Y/N.” After a few more compressions, you started to spit up water and you slowly opened your eyes. 

“Jay.” Jay sighed in relief when you spoke up. Once Jay sat you up, he cut the zip-ties with his pocketknife and instantly pulled you into his chest.

“What’s the verdict doc?” Will stood in front of you finishing up with stitches on your forehead as your father walked into the exam room. 

“She’ll live.” Will chuckled as he removed his gloves. “She’s got a couple of stitches, a few cuts and bruises, and a concussion.” Will grabbed the tablet from the tablet and started punching in things. “You’re lucky you didn’t suffer any permanent damage.” 

“Thanks, Will.” Will gave you a soft smile as he patted your dad on the shoulder while leaving the room. “Where’s Jay?” Even though you almost just died all you cared about was Jay and how he came to save you.

“He’s in the waiting room.” Your father stood in front of you with a soft smile on his face. Even though your father didn’t like in house relationships he would make an exception for the two of you if it ever came to that. All he ever wants is for you to be happy again and if that means bending the rules a little, he would do it. “You know it’s okay.” 

“What are you talking about?” You slowly got off the examining table and started to change into the pair of dry clothes that your father had brought you.

“You and Halstead.” You turned around as you pulled on your jeans followed by your sweatshirt. You looked up at your dad shocked considering that he wasn’t a fan of in-house relationships.

“There’s nothing going on between us.” That wasn’t a complete lie. You had no idea what you and Jay were. Since telling him about Ryan and then kissing him and him not kissing you back, the two of you haven’t talked about it. To be honest, you have been avoiding him because you weren’t ready to talk to him about it.

“All I’m saying that it’s okay to be happy again.” Your father had a small smile on his face, as he walked out of the room with you. 

“Okay, here’s a prescription for some anti-nausea medication” Will handed bottle with the prescription. “And here are your discharge papers.” Will then handed you the rest of the paperwork. “Now go home and get some rest and take a few days off.” 

“Oh, trust me, she’s taking a week off,” Hank spoke up from behind you which earned him an eye roll from you.

After thanking Will again, the two of you walked into the waiting room to see Jay slightly pacing. Once Jay saw you, he practically ran over to you and pulled you into a hug. “I’m so glad you're okay,” Jay whispered against your hair before pulling away just enough to see your face.

“According to Will, I’ll live.” You chuckled as you still hand your arms slightly wrapped around his waist.

“Jay take her home and take the rest of the day off.” As Voight appeared behind the two of you, you both took a step back. “And make sure she takes it easy. Will said she needs her rest.” Jay nodded his head as your dad hugged you. “Alright, I got to get back to the district. Take care of her.”

“Thank you.” You sat on the couch with an icepack pressed against your head as your headache started to rise again.

“I’m just following orders.” Jay around the couch and sat down next to you.

“That’s not what I meant.” You removed the icepack and tossed it into the coffee table. “I meant for saving me.”

“I wouldn’t think twice about saving you.” Jay reached over and squeezed your hand.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered.

“For what? Getting kidnapped and almost drowning?” Jay looked at you with a questionable expression.

“For kissing you the other night. I was just caught up in the moment.” You pulled away from his touch as you started to feel uncomfortable about bringing it up, but it had to be done. The room got quiet making things more awkward and uncomfortable. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll be fine.” 

“I didn’t kiss you back because you caught me off guard.” Jay completely skipped over the fact that you basically told him that he could leave. “Believe me when I saw that I regret not kissing you back, but I don’t want you to think that I did it out pity because it wouldn’t have been.” Jay reached over to cup the side of your face and lightly stroked your cheek with the pad of his thumb.

You laid your hand over his as you leaned into his touch. “You are the first guy I’ve kissed since Ryan died.” 

“Really?” Jay removed his hand from your cheek along with yours and rested them in your lap. 

“I’ve been struggling the last two you to regain my life back and then I realized that the only way I was going to move on with my life is by letting go of Ryan.” Without thinking you turned his hand over and begin to run your finger over the lines of his palm. “I will always love him, but I need to move on and be happy again.” You looked down at your conjoined hands and whispered, “you make me happy.” You looked up only to get caught by Jay’s lips. After a moment, you pulled away to catch your breath. “What was that for?” You whispered against his lips.

“Regret for not kissing you back the other night.” Jay moved a piece of hair behind your ear and smiled.

“So, what now?” Without realizing, you leaned forwarded and rested your hand on his chest which took Jay by surprise but didn’t show it. 

“I don’t know. But I do know that you should get some rest. That concussion won’t heal itself.” Jay rested his hand on the back of your head before leaning forward and place a soft kiss on the top of your head. 

You smiled even though you knew he couldn’t see it. “Will told me that shouldn’t be alone for the night.”

“If you wanted me to spend the night again all you had to do is ask.” Jay chuckled as you pull away from and playfully slapped his chest. “Well, I guess if it’s doctor's orders then I’ll stay.”

You woke up the next morning to the soft sunlight hitting your face through the curtains. Last night, was tougher than you thought it would be. You woke up twice last night feeling nauseous along with a piercing headache. The first time you got up you sprinted to the bathroom and threw up all the contents from the pizza you and Jay had ordered for dinner. After the second time you woke up, you asked Jay to lay in bed with you until you fall back asleep. As you rolled over in bed you came face to face with a sleeping Jay and you couldn’t help but smile. At this moment you realized that this was the first time in two years that you shared a bed with a man and there wasn’t a single ounce of regret or guilt.

“Your staring,” Jay mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes.

“Well, when a good-looking guy is lying next to me, I can’t help but stare.” You scooted closer to Jay only to be a few inches away from him.

“How are you feeling?” Jay rolled so that he was now on his side fully facing you.

“My head still hurts, but the nauseousness has subsided for now.” You reached over and lightly stroked his cheek with your thumb. “Thank you.” 

“For what?” Jay reached up and covered his hand with yours.

“For being you.” You whispered as you leaned forward landed a soft kiss on his lips. When you kissed him, your brain lit on fire, and warmth spread throughout the rest of your body. Your whole body craved more, and for the first time in a long time, you were happy. Since kissing him the other night all you could think about was kissing him again and now that you have it was intoxication and you never wanted to stop. 

“As soon as you’re feeling better, I am taking you out to dinner.” Jay breathed out as he pulled away. 

“Is Jay Halstead asking me out on a date?” You smirked at him as you popped yourself up on your elbow resting your head in your hand.

“Yes, I am.” Jay smiled at you as he sat up in bed going for his phone that was going off. Grabbing his phone off the nightstand, the smile on his face disappeared which meant one thing. “We caught a case.”

You sighed as you gently fell back on the bed. “Go save the city. At least one of get to go to so that.” Jay chuckled as he stood up from the bed.

“Well, I manage not to get myself kidnapped and then thrown into a pool.” Jay leaned down slightly hovering over you. “I’ll call you later.” Jay was inches away from your lips as if he were about to kiss you but ended up kissing your forehead instead. 

“Such a tease.” Jay chuckled as you tossed a pillow hitting him in the back as he left the room. As you laid on the bed staring at the ceiling you let the happiness soak into your bones. This was the moment you have been waiting for. Happiness. It’s been a long time since you felt this happy and you weren’t letting it go. As you heard the front door close, you slowly got up from the bed and headed into the bathroom.

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[lavendertwilight89]

InuxKag Week 2020--Day 6 Reunion

This is an idea me and @superpixie42 were talking through.  I blame @keichanz and @cstormsinukagblog for inspiring a ghost au idea.

So the premise is after Kagome’s dad passed, they moved into her grandfather's shrine.  She's sixteen and inherited her dad's ability to see ghosts and her job is to help them move on. But no one else knows about her abilities except her bff Miroku who shares her gift and his girlfriend Sango. (I will write the actual the Chapters but this is just to set up the reunion piece). So Inuyasha was up in her new room just sitting on the bay window staring at the Sacred Tree when she approached him saying he didn't belong there and needed to leave. 

Inuyasha, obviously, didn't take that well and basically told her to fuck off-- and so, they had to build up their relationship from annoyance and loathing to friendship and possibly more *wink wink* 

@inukag-week @superpixie42 @lemonlushff @dangerouspompadour @keichanz @cstormsinukagblog @willowandfog @inuyashaloverforever @xfangheartx @clearwillow  @umacaking @bluejay785 @smmahamazing @murdergiraffe @faulkner-blog @sapphirestarxx @swaggingtomboy @sarah-writes-stories @hnnwnchstr @wolverine1092

This excerpt would be a couple chapters in more than likely:

Rated Teen for language

It'd been a week since she had been home. She was drained, exhausted, and irritated.

Her and Miroku had done an overnight exorcism that had gone horribly wrong. She thanked the Gods Sango was outside and had been able to call the ambulance. Not that she voiced that at the time. Because you know, she was underneath the collapsed building.

She had forced Miroku to flee when she saw things going south with the young girl spirit that was hell bent on revenge against her best friend. Long story short, the spirit’s best friend stole her boyfriend, sent her into a depressive streak, finally had been comfortable enough to leave the house without humiliation only to be killed in a car accident. Teenage bullshit. You know, classic stuff. 

Miroku and her were able to trap the girl in an abandoned building by the ports. They figured they could use the water by purifying it and then zapping her if she didn't see reason. Which she didn't, no teenager ever does. To which they had to have used the water. Then that sparked the crazy train of events such as: the insane amount of anger and hatred inbedded in the soul that made her strong enough to bring down the building, the fact that she was able to withstand the purification as long as she did just so she could take them down with her, and that she was dead set on killing them.

But Kagome was stronger than Miroku. Much stronger and knew she could hold her; it wasn't like she had a boyfriend or anybody worrying about her. Yea, she had family but… no real future. 

Not that she meant for it to come off like she wanted to die a martyr or that she was unloved. But the guy she was insanely in love with to the point where she dreamt of him nightly.

Yes, she had just turned a measly seventeen but… she'd never felt that way before. Miroku and her had been friends for YEARS and never once had she imagined shoving her tongue down his throat.

Let alone any other guy that's asked her out-- Hojo, Akitoki, Bankotsu, and the new kid Koga. No one haunted her dreams the way the dead half demon did. Maybe it was because he haunted her bedroom too. 

She oddly hoped if she did end losing her life that she'd haunt the same bedroom with him. And that maybe, just maybe, he'd be more than okay with it.

He had started acting strangely. It took months for them to get to where they were… 'comfortable' with each other. She had given up on trying to exorcise him or convince him to move on.  Not to mention he gave up on avoiding her, fighting with her, or just all around pissing her off. It was useless hiding as she always found him and that’s what started half their fights.

They had grown to have a mutual respect for each other.  

And then she fucked it up. She came back after an emotional exorcism crying. He caught her due to ‘space brain’. She was upset about what she and Miroku ended up having to do; it was a young boy who passed away due to cancer and he was sucking the life from his mother. He refused to leave her alone and they were left with no choice; help the mother live, or let the dead boy kill her…

Anyway, she was caught. It made her even more embarrassed that he had found her. At that point, she had a schoolgirl crush on the ghost. He was handsome, well built, spoke his mind, didn’t falter his beliefs for anything, and overall wasn’t the biggest asshole as a roommate. He gave her space and privacy when she needed it. He didn’t crowd her, overbear on her. He definitely did his own thing and didn’t rely on her to keep him company. They enjoyed the companionable silences when they were together.

She was about to fix her face and replace the mask she wore when he stopped her. It was like he was shocked to see she had emotions. If anything it pissed her off enough to try and slap him away from her but he caught her hand.  Before she could retaliate to the intimate touch, he pulled her into his arms. And the dam burst. Everything she had ever held in, just came soaring out in sobs and hysterics. He held her all night, comforting her. He whispered endearments when she grew quiet, listened to when she spoke. That was all she needed to know she was actually in love.

Since that night though, he'd be… distant. Trying to give her extra space. Extra time to herself. He’d disappear for hours unend. She’d feel him reappear after she had fallen asleep to which she pretended to be dreamland. Obviously he was avoiding her. She had actually felt better having opened up to someone. Actually having been vulnerable for once. But she fucked up. Her mistake. She obviously misread things.  

But then as the building was suffocating her--the weight suddenly was thrown off her. She felt strong arms wrap around her; she thought she was dead. That Inuyasha finally came for her. Maybe he loved her after all. Everything was unclear. Muffled. She couldn't make fact from fiction. She swore she heard her name fall from his lips… and then briefly kiss her forehead...

When she awoke in the hospital a couple days later,  Miroku told her Inuyasha had gone in and got the heavy beams off of her and carried her out. Sango had called the ambulance already and Miroku ensured Inuyasha returned home and promised he would be in contact with him when he knew more.

They convinced her mom that she and Miroku had been jumped and brought to the warehouse by the thugs. They ran off when they felt the building begin to collapse and Miroku had been just out of way to only have some cuts and bruises.

Kagome unfortunately had a sprained wrist, a dislocated shoulder, a cracked hip, and a busted femur. She got 4 stitches to her temple but otherwise, she was okay. She was lucky to be alive, they said. 

“Miroku… Have you--Have you talked to Inuyasha?”

“Well, I did promise him, Kagome. He was very worried about you.”

“I don’t know why,” she scoffed in the passenger seat of the car. “He acts like he’d prefer if I didn’t exist.”

“From where I was standing last week, I think he feels far from that,” he teased turning to her smiling.

She blushed under the scrutiny, “Wh-What do you mean?”

“Ah, it is not for me to say; but I will tell you he does not wish to see you dead.”

“Yea,” she added, rolling her eyes pouting. “Doesn’t want to be stuck with me for eternity.”

“Oh Kagome,” he said disapprovingly as he stopped the car in front of the shrine getting out of the car to help her. Her mom was working at the hospital, Sota was at school, and her grandpa had been called away on business with another shrine. Miroku was the only one left to really care for her--a responsibility he lovingly took. “Just relax. It isn’t like that either.”

She stood shakely on one leg and took his arm but he smiled and turned to his left rather than paying her attention. Perplexed, her eyes followed to where he was looking and she saw him--Inuyasha. Standing at the steps to the shrine. Waiting for them.

“Inuyasha,” Kagome breathed.

“Monk, can you take her crutches inside? Maybe make her something to eat since I’m not used to that kind of technology still… I’ll grab her. I can’t see ya making it halfway up the stairs with her on your back,” he said never breaking eye contact with her.

“Of course,” Miroku winked to Kagome. “I’ll see you up there.” Before she could protest, Miroku shot up the stairs with the crutches in hand.

She cursed him under breath and gasped when she saw Inuyasha had closed the proximity between them.

“Inu--”

“Hold on,” he said as he lifted her in his arms gently. Her arms automatically swung around his neck, wincing at the starin from her wrist and shoulder. He grimaced but jumped up the stairs and used the window to her room to enter the house and then set her gently on her bed. 

To say she was baffled by his behavior was an understatement. It was like he was pulling a full one-eighty.

“Uhm--Inu--”

“Are you fucking crazy?!!? You could have been killed!!! You told the monk to leave so you could finish the spirit off!?!?! You’re lucky as all damn hell I followed you!!!”

“Wait--you--what??! You followed me?!?”

“Besides the point--answer the fucking question!!” he growled getting in her face.

“Look! I wasn’t about to let us both die! I knew I could have handled it!”

“Yea--you ‘handled’ it alright!! You almost got yourself killed!! Fuck Kagome!! What in God’s name were you even thinking!?!? Sota already lost a dad, your mother lost her husband and your grandfather lost a son!!! You trying to add to the family misfortune?!?! Goddamnit!!! You’re a fucking idiot!!! I can’t believe you were so willing to go down with the spirit for what?!?! So she wouldn’t harass her best friend and ex boyfriend-person??!”

“That’s my job, Inuyasha! I’ve been doing it for the last three years now and let me tell you, I have been doing just fine without you!”

“Without me, you would have fucking died there Kagome!!! I caught the shit just as it landed on you!! Without me you would have bled out and never seen the light of day again!! Was it worth it?!?!”

“Obviously Miroku is safe and Sango has her boyfriend. The other teens are fine so, yea, it would have been. I would have completed my job and been fine,” she lied.

“Dead--you would have been DEAD!!! You’re missing the fucking point!!” His hands slammed down to cage her between his arms, chest, and the headboard. He snarled angrily at her making her just as angry as him.

“What’s your fucking problem?! As of late, it didn’t really seem like you cared if I was here or not anyway!!” she yelled back.

“Of course I fucking care, stupid!!”

“Is that so?? Just don’t want my brother as your roommate? Scared when he turns thirteen he’ll put two and two together that he can see ghosts too??”

“No! The brat doesn’t scare me!!”

“Then why do you care if I’m here or not!!?”

“Because you can’t leave me!!!”

She froze and exhaled sharply. She must’ve forgotten how to breathe because her chest grew tight and knots formed in her belly.

“Wh--” she started.

“You’re… the only friend I’ve had in five-hundred years, Kagome. Why would you… Why were you willing to throw all that away?”

“Like I said Inuyasha…” she said carefully. “You didn’t seem very interested in being my friend for the past couple of weeks anyway. I wasn’t trying to sacrifice myself; I honestly thought I could handle it.”

“It’s not--It’s not that I wasn’t interested in being your friend,” he admitted sitting down beside her. “I was afraid I crossed a line with you.”

“What line did you think you crossed?”

“The night I found you crying… I couldn't let you be alone. I couldn’t leave you. I--I pushed myself on you,” he admitted. If he could blush, she knew he would be.

“It’s okay. I’m not upset by it… If anything, I’m grateful. I’ve never been able to open up to anyone about this before. It was… nice. I really appreciate it. I also, I uhm, I really appreciate your friendship. Aside from Miroku and Sango, I don’t have any friends. It’s not easy to make when you’re a freak, ya know?”

He stared into her eyes and leaned in; he brushed his lips against hers making her blush hard enough for the both of them. 

But she could lean in and return the pressure, her bedroom door swung open and Inuyasha was leaning against the bench of the bay window. Arms crossed. His head turned away. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt; I brought you some water and soup,” Miroku offered, placing it down on her bedside table. He quickly left the room and Kagome turned to try and find Inuyasha only to see he disappeared.

Some reunion. 

[darkdevasofdestruction]

My Strength - Risotto Nero

I was sitting cosily cuddled up in my blanket, enjoying a warm cup of hot chocolate and a good detective-lawyer book by Steve Cavanagh, while listening to Guns’n’Roses in the background, when a loud bang comes from downstairs, and next thing I know, I see my younger sister dressed in my clothes, which was rather unusual, with a huuuuuge grin on her face.

“Whatever it is, the answer is NO.” I say sternly, turning back to my book. “But KAAAAAAAAAAT! There’s this rock pub that just opened and it’s very close to home! Come on, I wanna party! I haven’t partied in SO long! And you know I only trust you to take me home when drunk!” she begged, making me roll my eyes. “No wonder you stole my clothes without even asking me. The answer is still no. You know very well I’m not a party person.” I answer, flipping the page. “But siiiiiiiisssssss!!! It’s rock music! You like that kind of stuff! I promise we won’t stay long! J-Just an hour! Please, just get me out of the house, I’m going insane! Pleaseeeee!!” she got on her knees at the foot of my bed, and I could only sigh in aggravation, hitting my head with my book, before carefully placing it on the nightstand and getting up. “You owe me big time...” I mutter, going to get ready, as I could hear her loud cheer.

I put on an AC/DC Tshirt, with black jeans, black combat boots, a jeans chain, a necklace and do basic make up with a cute eyeliner and purple lipstick, before exiting and raking my fingers through my long, red hair, fixing my fringe out of habit, then put on my black scarf and a black cardigan, get motion for her to lead the way to the place she mentioned.

As soon as we got in, we could hear Guns’n’Roses’ November Rain, and thankfully enough, we found a single table for two, the only one available anymore... But it was next to a big round table where 9 very intimidating looking people stood and chatted, while drinking.

“Uhm...Maybe we should go back home.” I mutter, putting my hand on Christine’s shoulder. “What?! No way! Besides, they look so cool! They’re so hot! Think I can get laid tonight?” she smirked, dragging me to the table. “They look dangerous. I’d rather go home.” I sigh, covering my face with my scarf, feeling anxious. “All the hot people have this refined and mysterious vibe around them, otherwise they’d just be super dull! Liven up a little! Ah, look the song changed! It’s Ozzy Osburne, isn’t it?” she smirked at me with much pride, but I only dragged my hand down my face in desperation. “IT’S MARILYN MANSON, DAMN IT!” I growled a bit louder than I wished for, earning a few glances from the scary table, which made me hide my face even more. “Ah, whatever, who cares, same guy. I’ll go get drink.” she got up, but I quickly grabbed her wrist. “Get me a Pepsi, but make sure he doesn’t take the cap off.” I ordered sternly, as she shrugged off my hand, rolling her eyes.

Thankfully enough, she came back with the bottle just as I told her, and using my key, I easily take the cap off, and use a straw to drink the soda, before I hear one of the guys kept asking for a lighter, just then, I could see Christine’s eyes light up with lust, as she jumped to her feet in excitement.

“You still have that lighter with you, right?! You always play with it don’t you? Come on, give him a fire for his cig!” she grabbed me roughly, until he shoved me to the shaved man who looked like a hobo, who smirked up at me. “Ehhhh? What’s this, a bella ragazza wanting to enjoy my company?” he spoke, eyeing me creepily. “Don’t flatter yourself...She forced me to give you a light.” I mumbled, as I turn on the lighter and light his cigarette. “Why, thank you, gorgeous. Wouldn’t you like to stay with us?” he spoke in a slurry voice, putting one of his hands on my waist. “Paws off, or I burn you.” I threatened lowly. “Awww, little kitty has claws, how cute!” he spoke, but before he could finish the conversation, I turn the fire volume to the highest for a few seconds, which burnt his face...Or his big nose, rather, before turning it off back again. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, BITCH?!” he shot up to his feet, towering and glaring over me. “I warned you not to be a jerk. You play with fire, you get burnt.” I say in a low voice, raising my scarf slightly. “WHAT THE HELL, KAT?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! APOLOGISE RIGHT NOW!” Christine shook me slightly, which made me slap her hands away. “No. I’m going home, bye. Have fun with your little group of hot shots.” I shrugged, turning to leave, before she grabbed me again. “No! You can’t leave! Mum doesn’t let me alone by myself at night! She’ll punish you!” she shrieked desperately. “I live alone. I don’t care what she does, but she can’t ground me anymore.” I rolled my eyes, turning around, before the purple haired man got up. “Hey, Risotto, these 2 are pretty fun. What do you say we let them stay with us? There’s plenty of space around, right?” he smirked, which only made me more uncomfortable. “Don’t bother, I’m out. Ciao.” I shrugged, making a few steps towards the exit, before my sister started shouting after me. “Mum and Dad are gonna disown you if you leave me here all alone, y’know? You don’t want that, do you?!” I could literally feel her smirk, which made me whip around, glaring at her. “You’re lucky I care about our mess of a so-called family, otherwise I’d have been out of here faster than the speed of light.” I sneered at her, as I sat down on the seat brought by one of them, between the purple haired and the silver haired men. “Di molto, this is fabulous! Such a bella donna with a fiery attitude and a heart of gold, my, you’re perfect!” the purple haired man started grinning and gushing about me, which made me hide my face in my scarf feeling very uncomfortable. “Melone, stop that, you’re making her feel uncomfortable.” the silver haired man spoke up. “But Risotto, she’s so pretty! You can’t deny that! And you know what they say about fire-kissed girls~!” Melone smirked, which made me blush and bite my lip. “I don’t know, Melone, she’s pretty, alright. Pretty rude!” the guy whose nose I burnt grumbled. “I’m not rude, I’m just shy.” I mumbled, leaning back on my chair, still holding my scarf to my face. “Awwww, she’s so cute! That’s it, I’m adopting you! Formaggio, if you say one more bad thing about her, I’m killing you!” Melone growled at the shaved man, while putting his arms around me and pulling me to his chest. “Whatevs, her sister’s much better. Como ti chiami, bella signorina?” he flirted with her, and she was already gleaming, head over heels with glee. “Oh, brother...” I facepalmed, completely done with life. “This is gonna be a long night...” I rolled my eyes, getting out of Melone’s grasp. “Yeah, for me and Christine over here, sure will.” Formaggio’s sleezy smirked pissed me off, so I used a little power of my Stand to deduce where to throw my lighter, so it would bounce off the table, into his forehead, and then back to the table and perfectly in my hand. “I don’t really care what you do, as long as you aren’t disgusting enough to talk out loud like that. Nobody cares.” I say, throwing the lighter and easily catching it back in my hand. “HOW DID YOU DO THAT, PUTTANA?! YOU’LL PAY FOR THIS!” he shouted, shooting up to his feet, but the man on his right easily stopped him, shoving him to his seat. “Stop being such a nuisance, you’re gonna get us thrown out of this place, and Capo’s gonna be very pissed.” the dark haired man with hair hair tied in multiple places glared at him. “Capo...Huh. What a surprise.” I let out an amused breath.  “Capo? Who is Capo? And what kind of name is that?” Christine asked dumbly. “Oddio santo...How are we related...” I sighed in exasperation. “Actually, never mind. Capo is a...Uhm...A nickname for one of this guys. Y’know, all groups of friends have that one person who’s more of a leader? Capo’s kinda like that. Nothing important, so don’t fret over it.” I shrugged, waving my hand dismissively. “Oh, woaw, that’s pretty lame. How come you’re not Capo, Formaggio? You’re so cool and strooong~!” she kept touching his biceps, as he flexed. “Kill me.” I facepalmed, utterly disgusted. “May I speak to you outside for a moment?” Risotto got up, extending me his hand. “Sure.” I mutter, getting up without taking his hand. “Huh...The music can still be heard from outside too. That’s pretty neat.” I said softly, leaning back on the wall. “You know.” he stepped in front of me, looking at me with stern eyes. “Of course I know, I’m not stupid. I’ve known since I first saw you. I just wasn’t sure what you were exactly.” I shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “Why aren’t you running away?” his voice was obviously an interrogation one. “If you’re the Mafia, I can guess you’re Passione...We used to live in a different city, where Buccellati’s gang was protecting the city, and trust me when I say this, but regular criminals wouldn’t teach a guy a lesson for beating up his elderly mother, nor would they try to keep themselves in peace with the whole city like that. I sort of...Owe a favour to Passione because of that...And honestly, you think I can just pick that idiot up and get her out of here that easily? Look at me and my noodle arms and realise that I sometimes struggle to open water bottle caps, okay?” I looked away in embarrassment, hearing a low, amused chuckle coming from him. “Melone was right, you’re pretty fun. What sort of favour do you owe Passione?” he asked simply. “Now, then, don’t you think you’re getting a bit too curious? What happened is between me and Capo Buccellati...Then again...You DO kill, don’t you?” I shifted my gaze to him, smirking slightly. “What makes you think that?” he answered my question with another question. “Buccellati’s gang had a much more protective and gentle aura surrounding them. You and your people are much more threatening and menacing. Especially you...Capo.” I spoke in a softer voice, not sure how to react. “You do realise I’d have to kill you now that you know our secret, correct?” he asked rhetorically, yet his actions betrayed no malice. “It’s your partner’s fault he let that slip, not mine. Besides, it’s not like I could do you any damage, correct? I’m just a frail little girl who is studying to become a Vet. A girl who’s half your height isn’t too threatening, is she?” I chuckled breathlessly, as the song changed to Metallica’s Unforgiven and I unconsciously started humming the chorus. “You’re spared, however, you will have to keep this secret all your life. In addition, to protect our secret, you will have to join our organisation. Medicine is still Medicine, humans are mammals, so if we need help, you won’t be a burden. On a side note, next month is a Metallica concert, if you want to go.” his words had a paralytic effect on my nervous system, so much that I could only stare at him with wide eyes, much like a fawn meeting her hunter. “Katrinaaaaaaaa! Let’s go home with these guys~!!!” all of a sudden, the pub’s door was slammed open, which made me jump and squeal in fright, only to realise it was my sister, dragging Formaggio away. “Wh-What...?!” I could only stare at them with my jaw agape, many question marks appearing above my head. “Come on, have some fun! You can fuck Risotto and Melone all you want too, don’t be so shy!” she giggled, obviously, but despite that, my face became redder than a rose and I had to hide my face in my scarf. “Katrina, huh? What a nice name. Let’s go.” he guided me to the car, and getting in, I glued myself to the door, not wanting to touch anyone by mistake.

---

It sure has been a while since we met, I thought to myself as I snuggled closer to Riz’s chest. I’m still very shocked how our relationship developed so easily and so fast, while my relationship with my sister only went down the hill, just as fast. Not that it was any surprise, to say the least. The only reason why I still answer calls and go to family gatherings is because I have a very conflicted moral and ethical compass, unfortunately, and I’m too afraid to sever the ties that keep be caged.

A year already passed since I was ultimately forced to join La Squadra Esecuzioni, and to be fair, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be, considering they are a bunch of killers. Being the only girl around, and being such a shy trainwreck, it sort of made them try to make me feel comfortable around them...And by that, I mean mostly Melone, Risotto and Prosciutto. The others were more passive...While Formaggio was still a jerk, most likely because I tarnished his pride twice with a simple lighter, and Ghiaccio was...Always in a weird mood. I was mostly allowed to stay at home, no problem, continue my Vet education, while in very rare occasions, I was called over to heal anyone that needed it, or told to go on a mission with someone, but nothing too bad, nor that put me in any danger.

Now, I should emphasise the word ‘ME’ since it wasn’t ME who got in grave danger, but Risotto, in a mission, about 6 months after I joined the Gang.

Pesci and Illusio put Risotto on the bed while I got by his side and to examine how grave his injuries are, and as soon as I realise the hemorrhage and I told everyone to get out as I ripped off his blouse and took out my Stand, and put her hands over his injury, using my healing water to stop the bleeding and stitch back the flesh.

---

It took quite a while, but after hours of tending to him, his injuries were completely healed, and yet, he was still unconscious.

After making sure that he’s comfortable in bed, I go to the kitchen, make something fast to eat, get a bottle of water and get back to Riz’s room, and thankfully enough, he was still asleep. I put the tray on the nightstand and sit on the side of the bed, holding his hand in both of mine, gently stroking it and kissing his knuckles, waiting for him to wake up.

“Kat...?” I hear a groggy voice call out my name, and snap my head up, only to see Risotto’s eyes fluttering open. “Yes, I’m here, Riz. You’re alright, you’re home. Don’t worry about a thing.” I lean towards him, brushing his fringe away. “The mission...” he mumbled, still exhausted. “It’s okay, the others took care of it. I healed all your injuries, but you should still rest for a while. Take it easy.” I smile softly at him, still stroking his hand. “You did well, Katrina. Thank you.” he said, slowly getting up into a sitting position. “Here, you should eat and drink to regain your strength.” I explain, putting the tray in his lap. “I’ll let you rest.” I was about to get up, but I was stopped by him grabbing my wrist gingerly. “Will you stay?” Risotto asked, which made me smile softly, sitting back down next to him. “If you want me to.” I said, looking down slightly. “Are you scared of me, Katrina?” he asks, making me snap my gaze to him. “What? Where did you get that idea from?” I asked, blinking in surprise. “You always avoid eye contact. You always look away. Why?” he asked in a serious tone. “...Uhm...I don’t know, I guess I’m just shy. I’ve never been able to hold eye contact with anyone.” I mutter, scratching at my neck, a habit I have to combat anxiety. “I remember, I know that. It’s a pity.” he took my hand in his, while I was still confused. “What do you mean? It’s no big deal...It’s not like I really have friends to annoy with that or anything.” I shrugged simply. “It’s a pity that someone as nice as you lets others take advantage of her.” he says, which made me bite my lip and frown. “Why does it matter so much? I’m just your subordinate, you call me when you need my help.” I raise my eyebrow in confusion. “You’re not just a subordinate, Kat. You were forced into this. You shouldn’t be involved with the Mafia, you’re a kind soul. You’re so kind that you let your sister make you miserable.” he pointed out, which made me get up, looking at him awkwardly. “I don’t get why you’re so interested in this all of a sudden. I’ll let you rest, good night.” I say, but the instant I turn around, I hear a commotion from behind me, and I see Risotto getting up. “Wait, no, don’t get up, you haven’t rested yet!” I instinctively rush to his side, putting my hands on his shoulders to put him back in bed. “A subordinate wouldn’t behave like this. You saved my life, so I owe you a favour. Ask anything of me, and I will give it to you.” he said, which made me tsk at him. “You let me and my sister live, when you could have killed me. Consider me saving your life a debt paid, so we’re even. Now please leave this be and stop pretending to care.” I looked away, ready to leave. “And if I do? Am I not allowed to?” he spoke with as much firmness as usual. “Why would you, anyway? It’s not like I’m anything special. Why do you insist so much on this?” I sighed, looking at him with a deadpan expression. “Because you are special, and if you had someone to support you properly, you would know that. Kat, let me be your strength and stand up to those that are being toxic to you, even if those people are your family.” he stepped in front of me, gently brushing the back of his hands against my cheeks, before he raised up my face slightly. “I...I can’t do that...I can’t...I...” I stuttered, feeling my eyes starting to water. “Why can’t you, Kat? What are you so afraid of?” he asked, stroking my hair. “I asked Buccellati to get revenge on my ex for what he did to me. My family’s no different...But family is family, I can’t do anything about that except listen and do what they say.” I explain with a sigh “Nothing like that will ever happen to you, I can vow for that. Just let me be your strength, the same way that you and your kindness are the reason why I don’t forget my humanity.” he confessed genuinely, which made my bottom lip quiver. “Is that really...Okay...?” I spoke, barely audible, to which he smiled softly. “I don’t see why not, dear.” Riz leaned in, brushing his lips against mine so softly and tenderly, almost as if afraid that I’d break, which wasn’t far from the truth.

---

That night was free for the both of us, so we thought it would be nice to go for a walk by the beach, look at the twilight as the Sun set and the sky was painted in all the most beautiful colours. We walked with our feet in the water, my arm loosely wrapped around his waist, while his was pulling me into his side by my shoulder. Everything was chill and calm, and yet, my nerves were on the edge, even now.

I guided him to the little pontoon bridge and let our feet dangle, touching the sheen of the water.

“Go on, cara mia, I know you want to tell me something.” Riz pulled me closer to him, kissing my head. “Risotto, darling...You know that I hate social interactions, right? Well, mostly because I’m very bad with them.” I ask, speaking in a soft voice. “You’re not rude, just shy, was it?” he chuckled lightly, looking up at the now starry sky. “Yeah, something like that, I guess. I forgot I even said that when we first met.” I shrugged with a smile. “Remember my sister?” I ask again. “Ah, yes, the one who tried to fuck the whole Squadra, but only managed to get Formaggio, right?” he let out an amused breath. “The one and only.” I smiled slightly, before it faltered. “My cousin is getting married and she invited both of us. I...I don’t know what to do. I really don’t wanna go...But...” I trailed off with a sigh. “Family is Family, huh? You’re still going on with that.” he asked rhetorically, looking at me as I could only nod. “Want me to come with you?” “You’re my only friend, Riz. Having you there would make things much easier to cope with...But...I also wouldn’t want to subject you to such torture.” I mutter with a sadness. “How bad could it be?” he smirked, which made me snap my head to him, frowning. “I wouldn’t wish it to anyone. Not even my worst enemies.” I speak in a clear, firm voice, to get my point across. “I’ve been through almost dying quite a few times because of our Boss. I’m sure I could survive it.” he ruffled my hair playfully. “Are you sure you’re willing to go through that kind of emotional torture just for someone like me?” I tilt my head up to look at him. “I’d go to the end of the world for you, pick up the stars and put them in your hair.” he declared, which made me hide my face in his chest, hugging him as tightly as I could, no longer able to hold back my tears. “I don’t deserve someone like you, Riz. I’m not even worthy of standing around you. You’re an angel. I want to be selfish, I want you to never leave me, but honestly, I don’t deserve you and your kindness.” my voice trembled, just like my body, and then, I could feel his embrace loosening slightly, as he put his hands on my face, lifting my face up to plant a kiss on my forehead. “I know you can’t see how special you are to me, but even so, I’m not going to let go of you. Ever.” he stroked my hair, letting me calm down.

---

Of course, Melone was sweet enough to come with me to help me choose the right dress, and then helped me with my make up and hair, saying that his cute little sister should have an amazing date and feel beautiful.

“Oh, I feel so, so awkward...Dresses aren’t my thing. Get me out of here.” I tugged at my wavy hair, curled for the first time, no longer as untamable as usual. “I don’t know about that, I think you’re beautiful.” he stepped closer to me, rolling up the sleeves of his blazer to show off his tattoos.  “Me? Beautiful? Look at you, Riz! You’re perfect!” I frowned, pouting as I poked his chest with my finger. “Let’s go inside, it’s getting chilly. Wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.” he chuckled, putting his arm around me, guiding me inside the restaurant. 

I gripped Risotto’s sleeve tightly, wrinkling it in the process. We were met by my cousin, who was with my sister and our mother, who looked at us with a fake smile and obvious disgust in their eyes.

“Oh, so you made it. With a hook up, nonetheless. Bailed him out of jail?” mother sneered at us. “Uhm...N-Nothing of the sort. Uhm...Congrats on getting married, Anne. I’m happy for you.” I smiled anxiously, not able to look up at them. “Well, at least one of us. You’ve no chance, anyway. Who’d want someone who can’t even speak, hold eye contact or touch someone?” the bride laughed, while the other 2 women joined in, even louder. “Yeah, I know. Where are our seats?” I asked, sighing. “Oh, right, they are at the family table. I’m so glad you’re here, everyone’s gonna have so much fun, just like at all family gatherings!” she smirked, pointing at the round table in the center of the room. “Thanks.” I muttered, dragging Riz to the table, taking a deep breath to calm myself. “I see what you meant now by torture. How are you related to them? You’re nothing like them.” Riz scoled in annoyance. “I wanna go home...” I bit my lip, not daring to look up at him. “God, give me patience, because if you give me strength, I’ll burn everyone alive.” I pouted, feeling done with life. “I can set Metallica on them all, if you want.” he touched my cheek with the back of his hand. “Let’s go home after one hour. I can’t do this too long. I’ve barely been able to get myself back together since I’ve met you...And now...” I intertwined my hand with his, dangling it down between our chairs, as everyone sat down.

Of course, seeing me there only made them exclaim in surprise as I usually never leave the house, go to social events or anything of the sort. There’s always that family member that everyone must mock, tease and taunt, and I was the one luck enough to draw the short end of the stick.

“Oh my, how come you found someone willing to touch you with all that fat?” “I wonder which of you is more desperate to stay with the other!” “I’m surprised someone could stay around a boring nerd like you who’s afraid of men.”

These, and many more, were the things I kept hearing from everyone, until the groom finally arrived at the table...A man older than even my father.

“Oh, great, she has a Sugar Daddy. No wonder everyone’s kissing her ass like that.” Riz grunted next to me. “It’s fine...Calm down, it’s okay. We can leave soon.” I squeeze his hand under the table. “Wow, Katrina, I didn��t think you were this bold! Giving your hook up a handjob under the table! My opinion on you changed, you’re actually a freaky nympho!” my sister laughed in a pitched voice, which made me squee in shock and go red like a strawberry. “That’s it, I’ve had enough of this fucked up and disfunctional family. Even Passione is saner than them, and that says a lot. Come on, Kat, we’re leaving before I kill them all.” Risotto glared at them with his piercing red eyes as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of there. “Hold up, I’m calling Melone to get us home.” he grumbled, talking on the phone. “I’m really, really, really sorry, Risotto. I shouldn’t have asked you to come in the first place. Now I made you feel bad and that’s not cool at all.” I pouted, looking down at my feet. “I don’t want to hear it.” he spoke in a stern voice, hanging up and looking straight into my eyes. “Don’t apologise. I come with you because I knew you’d need someone to support you. But I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad. Now I can understand you better...Katrina, will you let me be your family?” he asked, so suddenly, which made me gasp in shock and confusion. “Wh-What are you saying, Riz...? I don’t quite follow...” I stammered, not sure how to react. “I love you too much to watch such a gentle and kind person like you get eaten alive by her own family. I know you’re too soft to allow yourself to sever any ties with people, but if you let me, as your boyfriend, be your sword and shield, I promise to take care of you and make sure nothing bad ever happens to you ever again. The Squadra already sees you as a family and as disfunctional as they are, they’d be a much better family than your blood one.” he explained, as he opened the car door and helped me in. “I can be your sis, if you want. I’d love to do your hair, nails and make up more often!” Melone smirked in the driver’s seat, which made me blush slightly. “See? It’s all gonna be much better if you stay with us. As family, not as a subordinate or anything of the sort.” Riz gave me the ghost of a smile. “Is it really okay for someone like me to join you, guys? I’m pretty useless...I can’t even stand up for myself. I’ll only be a burden.” I bit my lip, looking away. “Mi Tesoro, you are the embodiment of sunshine. These guys need someone like you around, and with your healing ability that you Stand has, just like how you saved me that day, you can help the others as well. Strength doesn’t have to be only physical, it can be mental, emotional and supporting, and Kat, you can be that Strength for us.” Riz stroked my hair gently, kissing my forehead. “I’m sure Prosciutto will be grateful to have you around more often, since you’re one of the only normal people he can have a sane conversation with. Gelato and Sorbet will be super excited to have someone to gossip and go shopping or get dating and fashion advice. Hell, maybe you’ll be able to solve the others’ behavious problems too. Kat, listen to Capo, he knows how to use everyone’s strengths.” Melone explained. “Eyes on the road, Melone.” Riz smirked, pointing out his lack of focus, to which the purple haired man grinned sheepishly, snapping back to watch the road. “Okay...Okay, Riz, I trust you. So...Please, take care of me.” I smiled shyly at him, holding his hands. “That’s the smile that lights up my days and warms up my heart. Keep it on, you’re my reason to keep on going.” Risotto kissed my lips gently, putting his forehead to mise. “Okay, Riz, I’ll be your strength, and you’ll be mine. Ti amo, amore mio. Thank you for putting up with me.” I grinned widely, feeling my heart beating faster. “Ti amo anch’io, fiore mio. One day, when we’ll be able to live a more normal and peaceful life, I promise I’ll marry you. You’ll be the most beautiful bride in the world, you’ll shine even brighter than the Sun. I want to make you the happiest woman and make sure this gorgeous smile of your will remain forever this way.” he hummed, putting a strand of hair behind my ear, before kissing me even more tenderly than before. “Ahhh, young love, you guys are so adorable. Can I be the Maid of Honour?” Melone looked at us through mirror. “Well, I will need one, so definitely!” I giggled softly. “It sure as hell ain’t gonna be her sister. Actually, never mind, none of your family is invited, unless you let me use Metallica on them.” Riz grumbled slightly, which made me chuckle louder. “Honestly, I don’t even care, do what you want. Have fun.” I grinned carelessly, which made him smirk. “That’s what I like to hear, babe.” he kissed my nose softly.

Soon enough, we arrived at home, and we thanked Melone for going through all the trouble of driving back to my home, before we changed in our sleepingwear, which for him was a pair of long PJ pants, and for me, one of his old band Tshirts and short, and we got in bed, cuddling the whole night.

[fleursowl]

hey guys! some of you may not be able to acces the slytherin! remus fic on ao3 so here it is ♥︎

Remus

Remus Lupin was an unusual boy.

Well, no one bitten by a werewolf at a young age could really be considered ‘normal’ (not that there were a lot of werewolf children- they were usually quietly put down), but Remus’ parents, who were slightly more on the eccentric side, had rather helped contribute to this unusualness.

His father, an extremely academic and bright man, had always tried to squash his ambitions from a young age- Remus didn’t yet understand that he wouldn’t be able to achieve a lot of things others could. Positions in wizarding society were not exactly thrown at werewolves, whether they had excellent grades or not.

However, Remus, a young boy full of hope and wonder for the world despite his hardships, simply did not listen. In fact, this discouragement hardened his want, and he nursed a private longing to become Minister of Magic that no one knew about, except for his mother, of course. His exceptionally kind and caring main confidant, always privately disagreed with Remus’ father.

One day after Remus had run out of the room in tears when Lyall had told him he might not be able to go to Hogwarts, she slipped into his room and sat down next to him on his bed, slipping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him into her soft, warm body.

“Why campaign for change, when you can work to put yourself in the position that makes the changes, my little Moonshine? Don’t listen to your father- he’s just worried about you. He’ll see sense and come round soon enough.”

After all, Hope Lupin had high hopes for her son, so much that she decided to forgo sending him to primary and schooled him instead.

She taught him everything she knew, with extra help from Lyall on the wizardry side to help him get ahead on his Hogwarts studies. Hope spent many long nights reading any books around the house she could find, or that Lyall brought back for her on magic and its creatures, so she could teach Remus too.

All in all, Remus was extremely lucky. He had two parents who cared for him massively and would move heaven and high waters for him- which was rare even for normal boys, but add the fact that they had to deal with their only son transforming, against his will, into a werewolf every month and still loved him so much really added to their saintly status in Remus’ mind, especially his mother.

This all resulted in Remus stepping onto Platform 9 3/4 smarter than half of the rest of the first years put together, but without the ability to make friends and very, very sheltered against the outside world. He saw absolutely no shame in sobbing into his mother’s cotton shirt when it came time for him to leave, his father smoothing his hand over his hair soothingly. This resulted in a few sneers from older years, but Remus didn’t notice. And even if he had, he wouldn’t have cared- he was leaving behind his best and only friends.

However, Remus was strong- no one can go through excruciating pain once every month without having thick skin and a hardened heart. He was brimming with excitement at going to Hogwarts, meeting other people like him, and learning even more about this new and unfamiliar world he had just stepped into.

James

James Potter was a very sheltered and privileged boy. Growing up, he had never wanted for anything or had to work for it- it was just given to him. Regardless, Euphemia Potter had ensured that he was still polite, bright and extremely kind- if he was a bit of a prick, well, then he’d grow out of it eventually.

James swanned along the aisle of the train, practically trembling with excitement. His dad had told him countless stories about the amazing friends he’d made at Hogwarts, and James was extremely eager to follow in his footsteps. He spotted a fairly empty compartment with just a small, mousy haired boy sitting in it, and slipped inside, beaming at the boy and offering him his hand so enthusiastically he almost slapped him in the face.

“I’m James Potter, and I’m gunna be in Gryffindor? just like my dad.” he grinned, shaking the other boy’s hand heartily and practically ripping his arm from his socket.

The smaller boy squeaked, wide eyes looking at James in awe.

“I’m Peter- Peter Pettigrew. I… don’t know what house I’ll be in? Maybe, maybe Hufflepuff?” the boy stuttered, eyes widening even more when James scoffed, shaking his head.

“Nah mate, that’s a house for stoners and nancies.” he declared proudly, not knowing what either of these things were, but instead directly quoting his father teasing his mother over dinner. Peter let out a nervous laugh, nodding.

“Well, if you say so. So Gryffindor is the best house, then?” he asked, but before James could reply, another boy glided into the compartment.

“Hear, hear.” the boy drawled, a smirk tugging the corner of his lip. “Gryffindor for the win.”

Peter didn’t respond and had resorted to melting into his seat to get further away from the intimidating newcomer, but James turned to him with a brilliant grin.

“Finally, someone with sense. And you are?”

“Sirius… Sirius Black.” the boy said more shortly, and James felt his smile fall a little. Black. He recognised that name, and it seemed Peter did too, judging from his squeak of terror.

Sirius huffed, eyes darting between the two boys definitely, and he shook his head quickly. “I’m not like the rest of my family. I’m going to be in Gryffindor.” He said firmly, looking at the two other boys and daring them to disagree with him.

“Alright then, that’s good enough for me.” James said, his grin lighting his face up once again.

“James Potter. Soon-to-be Gryffindor. And this is Peter Pettigrew, he’s a bit shy.” James said, nodding at Peter in the corner. Sirius nodded, but before he could respond the boys were yet again disturbed by another. James looked at the newcomer curiously- he’d never seen anyone like him before. The boy was amber-eyed, with dozens of mysterious silver scars littering his exposed skin, a pink one running across the bridge of his nose.

Something about him just caught James’ eye, and as he sat down next to Sirius, James was struck with how similarly striking yet extremely different the boys looked next to each other.

“James?” Sirius prompted with a raised eyebrow, and James realised he had ignored Remus’ introduction while lost in his own thoughts.

“Oh, sorry mate, I’m James Potter.” he said, sticking his hand out. Remus’ hand felt oddly warm and calloused in his cool, soft one.

“What house do you think you’ll be in?” Peter squeaked out, but Sirius interrupted.

“Merlin, anything but Slytherin. I would rather die,” he said harshly, and James laughed.

“Agreed,” he said firmly, and Peter nodded along eagerly, but Remus stayed quiet.

“What’s wrong with Slytherin?” he asked, a frown on his face.

“Cause they’re all… the worst! My dad says every bad witch or wizard ever came from Slytherin.” James cried passionately. Sirius nodded gravely, a sardonic smile on his face.

“Can confirm that- my whole family has been in Slytherin. Patterns are reliable.”

“But- just because all the bad witches and wizards have been in Slytherin, doesn’t mean that every witch and wizard in Slytherin is going to be bad .” Remus reasoned wisely, though a little bewildered. “The house of Slytherin values being ambitious, which I think’s a good thing. I, for one, wanna become the Minister of Magic someday.” He declared proudly, his Welsh accent thick in his passionate speech.

The other boys sat and stared at him in shocked silence, their brains processing this new information. Luckily the trolley witch came knocking on their door before the silence could get awkward, and they spent the rest of the train journey trading stories about their first signs of magic and scoffing chocolate that James had insisted on buying for them all.

Remus

Hogwarts was better than anything Remus could’ve possibly hoped for.

It was better than the photos, the illustrations, the images he had conjured up in his imagination and dreamt about almost every night- it was the pure essence of magic, the very root of the word.

His breath was knocked from his lungs when the castle drew into sight, and he felt tears welling up in his eyes, overcome with emotion.

“Hey, you alright mate?” Peter asked, knocking him with his elbow. Remus wiped his eyes hurriedly with his cloak sleeve, nodding.

“Yeah. I’m fine, just got some wind in my eyes, is all.” Peter gave him a knowing look but said nothing more, which Remus greatly appreciated.

The sorting ceremony was nothing like any of them had ever seen. Remus had never seen so many people, and they were all confined into one glorious, magical place. His palms began to sweat slightly- he had never been a people person, and the thought of standing up in front of them all and taking the long walk to the stool made him want to throw up. He turned to the side and saw that Sirius was wearing a similar expression, and squeezed his hand slightly as his mother did to him to comfort him in public. Sirius jumped and turned to him in surprise, but before he could speak, his name was called by McGonagall, and he turned back to the front, swallowing nervously. Remus watched the pale boy walk shakily up to the stool, and held his breath along with the rest of the hall as he waited. And waited. Sirius’s face was screwed up in concentration as if he was having a conversation- or battle- with his conscience.

Eventually, the hat roared “Gryffindor!” and there was a moment of shocked silence, before James broke it by whooping loudly, clapping jovially, and the rest of the hall joined in. Remus watched Sirius’ expression as he glanced over to the Slytherin table on his way to the Gryffindors, and winced when he heard the jeers and hisses. Hopefully, his sorting wouldn’t be as dramatic.

After what seemed like an eternity, finally Remus’ name was called out. He walked up to the stool with trembling knees and clenched fists, sitting down on it heavily.

‘Oh, hello. It’s not every day I see one of you.’ A disembodied voice spoke, and Remus nearly fell off the chair.

‘Don’t worry, no one else can hear. Your secret is quite safe with me.’ The voice said again, which wasn’t exactly reassuring. Was Remus going mad?

‘Right then, let’s see. A very sharp mind, yes, full of wit and a keenness to learn. But also very kind, and loyal. And in addition to this, brave and daring! My my, you have a strong mind.’

‘Ummmm… thank you?’ Remus thought, a little bewildered.

‘But ah, what’s this? Minister of Magic, you say?’

Remus sat up a little straighter in excitement, nodding eagerly.

‘I’ll do anything to get there.’ he thought eagerly.

‘Well then, that settles it. Has to be…

“Slytherin!” the hat yelled, and Remus hopped off the stool. He wasn’t sure how long he had been on there, but it felt like ages. The Slytherin table eyed him speculatively, then burst into applause, accepting this scrawny, scared little boy into their midst. Remus hurried over gratefully, sitting down next to a girl he had seen on the train with a shy smile.

Eventually, James and Peter were both sorted into Gryffindor, which didn’t come as a surprise, but he was a little disappointed that the people he thought he’d be friends with had ended up in separate houses. Still, friendships could be formed in any circumstances, Remus thought firmly. He sat up a little straighter, craning over the crowd to try and spot them, and waved at James with a smile when he did.

James glanced at him and then looked back at his plate quickly, looking uncomfortable.

Sirius levelled him with a strong gaze, whispering something in James’ ear whilst still retaining eye contact with Remus, and the bespectacled boy snorted into his pumpkin juice, looking back over at Remus again.

Remus looked away with flushed cheeks, slouching in his seat and feeling humiliation and disappointment curdling in his stomach.

‘It doesn’t matter. You aren’t here to make friends, you’re here to learn, to gain knowledge, to gain power. To prove to everyone that you can achieve the impossible.’ Remus thought firmly, and pushed any thoughts of a brilliant friendship to the back of his mind.

It seemed Hogwarts would be a journey that he was going to have to take alone.

[otonymous]

Second Chances (Ikesen Masamune - NSFW)

Description: Let Modern AU Masamune be your biggest cheerleader Warnings: NSFW/18+:  Explicit/graphic language — reader discretion is advised.   Word Count: 2125 words (~11 mins of fluff & smut) AO3: read here Author’s Notes: This is a story commissioned by the very lovely and talented @midnightmagicx, who requested a scenario with a MC who is experiencing anxiety in the midst of training for a gruelling pole dancing competition.  I had a lot of fun writing this and hope you enjoy it, dear!  Thanks a million for entrusting me with crafting this story for you.  Happy reading! 💕💕💕

Tagging: @midnightmagicx

Ikemen Sengoku owned by Cybird.

“Kitten….kitten, wake up….”

Masamune is looking down at you, cerulean eye wide in concern as he gently wipes the sweat from your forehead with one large hand, the other working to relax your white-knuckled grip around the bedsheets.

Wrapped up in the security of his arms, your breathing gradually calms as you take in your surroundings: eggshell-white ceiling, the warm glow spilling from the bedside table lamp, windows that made up one wall of the bedroom you shared with your boyfriend, overlooking the dim lights of a city still deep in slumber.

Masamune passes you a glass of water, waiting for you to drink before he asks,

“Another nightmare, baby?”

You nod, fingers rubbing at your temples as you try to swallow back the anxiety that nipped at your heels whenever you thought of your upcoming pole dance competition. The stress of your relentless training schedule colluded with your fears about your last event to conjure up nightmares that hounded you even in your dreams.

“I’m sorry to have woken you up. You have an early day tomorrow as well. I…I’ll just go…and sleep in the living room.”

Masamune clasps your wrist as you make to grab for your pillow, and when you glance up you see that look on his face: brows furrowed and blue eye flashing in admonishment. And with one tug, you find yourself lying on top of him and held tightly within the embrace of his muscular arms.

“You’re not going anywhere, kitten. Didn’t I tell you? We’re in this together. I’m here for you — every step of the way. You promised you would rely on me more.”

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, you melt into the warmth of his body, the slow, steady beating of Masamune’s heart echoing in your ears as you allowed yourself to relax against the firm support of his bare chest.

“Do you remember the first time we met?”

His smooth, baritone voice resounded in the room, familiar like a lullaby, and you wondered at the contradiction of the man — the effortless way in which he was able to both calm and excite you with a single word, a light touch, a mere glance.

You nodded in response and Masamune continued, laying his hand lightly over yours as your fingers languidly traced the lines of his six-pack.

“You couldn’t stop staring at my eye patch,” he chuckles, the sound sweet, smoky and so alluring.

“And then that sad look that came over your face when you found out I lost my eye in a motorcycle racing accident. Gods, kitten, I could’ve taken you right then and there. But, you know, I could’ve hardly laid you out on the dinner table in the restaurant with all our friends watching. Well, I could’ve, but I’m sure you would’ve been unwilling to at the time.“

You slap his chest playfully as the insufferable man laughs, your mind’s eye transporting you back to that fateful night five years ago when mutual friends introduced you to the man they called the One-Eyed Dragon because of the way his company, Oshu Foods, dominated the industry, and…well, his having only one eye.

You smile to think of how irresistibly attracted you were to Masamune. He moved with the machismo of a matador, completely comfortable in his skin and dignified in a white tee, designer jeans and black leather jacket even as those around him were dressed to the nines.

And yet, all eyes in that Michelin-starred restaurant were irresistibly drawn to him, and you reflect on how Masamune always had that certain je ne sais quoi about him: men wanted to be him and women wanted to fuck him.

But you had made him laugh so hard he almost spat his water out, and he endeared himself to you with the way he blushed when teased about how poorly he handled his alcohol.

So when he insisted on seeing you home on the back of his motorcycle, extending an extra helmet to you as he leaned against its carbon fiber frame, you accepted, caring not about the incredulous looks of those around you as you let him kiss you breathless the way he had wanted to the entire evening. And the rest was history.

Masamune spoke again, pulling you back to the present.

“The doctors said I would never race again. And my dad…gods, he was furious when he found out I entered the Isle of Man TT race last year, saying I was throwing my life away after having it handed back to me on a silver platter, asking what would happen to the future of Oshu Foods if I weren’t so lucky this time around. But you know, when you find something that makes you feel so happy, so absolutely…alive, you just gotta do it, kitten.”

You listen, rapt, until the hand that had been slowly tracing the line of your jaw stopped at the chin to tilt your face up towards his.

“But I know you know this, kitten.  I’ve seen it.  You come alive when you dance on that pole. You’re so strong and graceful and sexy all at once. Hells, it’s beyond me how you make something so hard look so incredibly easy. It’s nothing short of magic.”

You could not helping smiling for you knew it was true, and looking deeply into Masamune’s eye revealed this was no lip service. His voice dropped even lower as he said,

“I was scared too, baby. As I sat at that starting line before the race, my thoughts began to close in on me: what if I had another accident, what if I came in dead last?  It was so bad, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“But then I thought about what it was that I loved about being on a motorcycle, that initial thrill when I discovered how it felt to ride faster than the wind, how all you can see when you get in the zone is the road straight ahead of you.

“And that’s what really matters in the end: that you’ve tried your best, put your all into training for the competition and, most importantly, that you’re having fun. Because life’s too short not to be enjoying yourself, kitten.

“So I let all thoughts of the event being a competition just slip away and focused solely on going as fast as I possibly could without losing control — all while trying to enjoy the process.”

Silence descends between the two of you, comforting like a warm blanket. And as you settle your cheek back onto his chest, the sweetness of his words floating in your head like wisps of cotton candy, the corner of your eye falls on the photo frame on the bedside table.

In the shot, your arms are thrown around Masamune’s neck, sunglasses slipping off the crown of your head as you jumped for joy amidst champagne spraying into the air like liquid confetti. The One-Eyed Dragon, still clad in his racing gear, had one arm tightly wrapped around your waist, the other lifting his first-place trophy high into the air.

Yes, you remembered the day Masamune defied all expectations and came out victorious in the Isle of Man TT race, one of the most difficult and dangerous races in the world. You had never once doubted that he could do it. And now, he was telling you the same.

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

“Did you see it, kitten?”

He whispers before licking the shell of your ear, large hands chasing the drops of water falling from the shower above to cascade down your chest.

“There was a standing ovation just for you! You absolutely murdered your routine. You did it baby, first place — just like I always knew you would.”

In the wet heat of the shower, with Masamune’s solid chest pressed up against your back, you felt the tension that had been steadily building in the months leading up to the competition seep away from your body, following the trail of soapy bubbles as they circled the drain before disappearing.

You thought of the bright spotlight that had awaited you beyond the curtain. Remembered how you had taken three deep breaths to ground yourself before stepping out — tall, proud and strong — to take centre stage, the place where you belonged.

For you knew Masamune was in the audience, watching you succeed with love and admiration in his eyes. You also knew that you loved pole dancing, that your body was addicted to the way the sport made you feel, and that this was something nothing and no one could ever take away from you.

With that affirmation, everything came together. Your limbs moved of their own accord to the memory of a routine you knew like the back of your hand, and you lost yourself in the music. And when the rest of the world fell away, only Masamune and his unconditional love remained.

“Masa?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you, really…for all that you’ve done.”

“Kitten, I didn’t do a thing you haven’t already done for me. Besides, you’re the one who put in the time and effort. You deserve all the credit for your victory.”

“Can’t you just graciously accept my thanks for once, you crazy man?”

You couldn’t help but laugh at how quick Masamune always was to downplay his contributions to the successes of others, yourself and otherwise.

“Well, if you insist…”

He fit himself even closer against you, lips finding the nape of your neck as his fingers brushed teasingly against your hardening nipples. And as he spoke between kisses pressed along your shoulder blades, you felt the unmistakeable nudge of his arousal against the cleft of your ass.

“…I’m always up for a reward. After all, it took everything in me to hold back from ravishing you on the spot whenever I saw you practicing your routine.”

Turning around, you wordlessly drop to your knees, warm water flowing down the smooth arch of your back as you look up at Masamune. Your tongue darts out to wet the corners of your lips and he sighs to feel the grip of your hands on the firm muscles of his backside. Steadying yourself on the tiled floor, you slowly took his formidable length into your mouth.

Masamune hisses through his teeth as you move, deliberately slow, and you know you’ve got him where you want him when he buries his hands into your wet hair, the furrow between his brows and tension in his fingers so telling of the monumental effort he is putting into restraining himself, when all he wanted to do was buck into your face with abandon.

Thick cock still in your mouth, you smile at him instead with your eyes as your hand draws away to move up the soft insides of your thighs, nestling in the heat between.

“Hells, kitten…now you’re really not playing fair.”

It excited you, putting on a show for him. For there was something deliciously primal about the way he looked at you now, much like the way he watched you when you pole danced. And as your fingers worked feverishly to stoke the fire of your arousal, the vibrations from the moans you couldn’t suppress almost drove the man mad.

So you really shouldn’t have been surprised when he pulled out and brought you to your feet, his command unmistakeable despite being whispered,

“Hands against the wall.”

Through the steam, you could make out your reflection in the bathroom mirror: palms pressed white against the glass of the shower stall as your body bent at the waist, wet strands of hair whipping the surface at intervals perfectly timed to the hard thrusts of Masamune’s groin against your ass.

And each time your lover slid in to the very hilt, making you gasp as he hit all the right places, you could only focus on the wet sound of flesh meeting flesh, the rhythm made more salacious for having been amplified by the acoustics of the room.

“Oh god, Masa-“

He kisses you from behind, swallowing your screams as you come undone, his fingers slowing on your pulsing clit as your pussy ceases to clench around the cock still buried deeply within you.

Then he finally pulls out to kneel before you, breathtakingly gorgeous as he admires the slow trickle of his release from between your legs. And when you feel his finger gathering the liquid to spread along the length of your folds, you melt from his words as much as the touch of his hand when he says,

“You know kitten, I know you won the competition, but I feel like the one who truly got the prize.”

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Thank you for reading!  Check out more of my work here! 📚

[aweirdkindofyellow]

The Royal Invitation, Pt. 9

Aerowyn Matilde George Rothchester might seem like a very long name, but it definitely is not for a royal in the Kingdom of Dalewin.

After her grandfather, the beloved king, passed away, Aerowyn (also known as Winny) is called back from her art school in New York. She’s thrown back into her royal duties, expected to know what to do.

But with the Royal advisor on tour with the new king, Winny is left to figure things out with his stepson. The only problem, he has no idea what he’s doing, after all he’s only the lead singer in a band.

Co-written story with @scream-tears.

Chapter 9

Winny’s POV:

I brushed out the wrinkles in my rose coloured dress as we walked down the hallway. My heels were really slowing me down, I could barely walk. I had been up on my feet since six in the morning and it was excruciatingly tiring. If this was a taste of what the life of a ruler was, I never wanted to be Queen. All my life, I thought I would be prepared when the time came, but I was seriously doubting myself.

“Come on, princess,” Alex rushed me, about ten steps ahead of me, “we’re going to be late for the meeting.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I literally cannot walk,” I seethed back, taking the smallest and most awkward of steps.

“Need me to carry you?” He raised his eyebrow at me teasingly.

“No,” I scoffed and tried taking a larger step.

Although I tried to do that, I couldn’t pick up my foot off the floor more. My heel managed to snag on the carpet. I immediately lost my balance. If I had had my normal walking capabilities, I would have easily stabilised myself. But I wasn’t that lucky. I barely managed to stop myself from falling over. If it hadn’t been for that small side table with flowers on it, I would have slapped on the cold marble.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you?” Alex gave me an amused look.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to fire you?” I mocked and kicked off my heels, making his face fall. I technically couldn’t be seen like this, but I didn’t care anymore. “That’s right. I call the shots here, I’m not one of your crew members.”

“Alright, I’m just doing my job,” he defended himself and checked his watch. “We will be late now.”

“Well, that’s too bad for them,” I grumbled and followed him down the hallway again.

We were meeting with all the other advisors. I got why Alex was so set on being on time. He had also taken over for Garry in those meetings. The others didn’t really take him seriously. He had no experience, no knowledge about anything that related to the kingdom, and was literally the lead singer of a band. Not exactly advisor material. But Alex was set on proving himself.

When we finally reached the heavy double wooden doors, he was eager to get in.

“Hang on!” I yelped, slapping his hand away from the door knob.

He sighed loudly and turned to me with a fed up look. “What?”

I glared at him and put back on my shoes, grimacing at the way they made my ankles and toes burn again. Honestly, I did not feel like I could even dare to show my face at that meeting in the state I was in. My hair felt frizzy, my eyes felt heavy, and my skin felt sticky. But there was no time to take a second and freshen up. There was no time for anything.

“Oh, umm, wait a second.” Alex fumbled around with his clipboard for a second.

I watched, confused why he was now holding us back. Eventually, he reached out and started fixing my hair a little. First it was just simply pushing a lock of hair behind my ear, but then he started doing more. He tucked a few more pieces back into my hairdo and pulled a few other whisps out. Apparently I now also had a new stylist.

“Okay, good to go.” He gave me a thumbs up and opened the door without another warning.

It reeked of old white male in there. All three of them were sitting at the large dark wood table, leaning back in their chairs. They gave Alex one horrible look of disapproval, and continued to watch us silently take our seats. I was at the head of the table in the chair my grandpa and now my dad usually occupied. Alex was to my right, like he literally was my right hand man. Each one of us had a pen, a glass of water, and a folder with documents.

They all stared at me expectantly, snapping me out of a small trance.

“Oh, right, yes, umm, let us inaugurate this meeting,” I stumbled over my words, urging the first person to start talking.

“Yes,” the old man next to Alex sat up straight and opened his folder, “I need to bring the emergency financial budget to light.”

“Emergency financial budget?” I opened my own folder, hoping to find another name or something that would give me more information. But, no. It was literally called the emergency financial budget. Weren’t all budgets financial?

“You should have been given a document for you to review before this meeting.” He gave me a stern look.

I nodded and tapped my pen on the table. There had indeed been such a document. “And would you be willing to give a quick recap for the ones who may not have read it?”

He started using a scolding tone. “Miss. Aerowyn–”

“Princess Aerowyn,” Alex corrected, earning himself a few more mean glares.

“– may I inform you that it is your duty to make sure you come prepared to perform your responsibilities.”

“Mr. Dudley,” I responded sternly, “I was given fifteen minutes to read twenty different reports, each with a length of fifty pages or more. I believe it was your responsibility to provide me with a synopsis.”

The man across from Mr. Dudley showed that they still weren’t having any of it. “Why has this meeting been called if our own princess cannot even perform her duties?”

I ran a hand through my hair, messing up the work Alex had done just minutes before. I didn’t know what to do anymore, unruly advisors was not exactly a lesson I got. “I may not be your king, but I am still your authority.”

“We are better off spending our time waiting for the king to return that even try to progress now,” the third advisor added.

“Excuse me,” Alex butted in, “I will remind you to have some respect. While the king is celebrating his coronation – which is well deserved, may I add – Aerowyn is holding everything together here. All these responsibilities have been dropped on her with no advanced guidance.”

Mr. Dudley scoffed. “Public appearances surely do need a whole lot of leadership and command. Traipsing around–”

“I am begging you to hold that thought. Aerowyn has been in five different meetings since this morning and has merely made one public appearance. She has had to prepare for each one of these, including memorising a speech. I believe you have no right to discuss whether or not she is worthy of her authoritative power.”

“I believe that is exactly our job.”

Alex crossed his legs, his ankle on the knee of the other leg, and he leaned back. I almost thought he had given up, but then he came with a new strategy. Changing the subject. “I have a new preposition to make for the good of the country.”

Mr. Dudley gave him a nod, believing he had won this.

“As you know, I will be returning to the United States for the duration of two weeks in a few days time,” Alex started, catching me off guard. I didn’t know he was leaving, which was strange. Wasn’t I the one person that should know? “I propose Aerowyn comes with me.”

I watched as all their faces turned red. Scrap me thinking they were angered by Alex before, they were absolutely infuriated now. So much angry emotion for a group of 60-year-olds who believed I wasn’t worth their time and questions earlier. Turned out they actually knew what I did but just didn’t want to accept it. Who would have guessed?

“Absolutely not!” Mr. Dudley sputtered out angrily.

“It will be best for both her and the entire family and it’s associates,” Alex defended.

“Are you mad?” The man across from him sneered.

“I might be, but not in this case.”

The third shook his head and mumbled under his breath, “what was Garry thinking?”

“How about we leave personal attacks out of this? It would–”

“We cannot permit Aerowyn to leave. With both the King and Queen on their tour, we need somebody here to take care of matters. If she leaves right now, the family will seem weak. We simply cannot warrant this.”

Alex breathed in deeply and leaned forward, standing behind his point of view. “I hear your concerns and recognise them. However, you need to look at the bigger picture here. Would you rather have your princess crumble in the public eye, weakening the public image and confidence right at the start of the new king’s reign or would you rather have your princess leave for two weeks to a place she already lives during the year and have her come back stronger than ever?”

“Excuse me?!” I finally interrupted after watching from a distance for so long. All heads snapped in my direction. “Do I get a say in this?”

Alex relaxed and sat back in his chair again. “It’s your choice.”

“Aerowyn,” Mr. Dudley immediately pushed, “you can clearly see that this would not be appropriate!”

I didn’t say a word, and surprisingly they all stayed silent as well. It was the first moment of peace I had gotten in a long time. I reached out and grabbed the report from the table, bringing it to my lap. The four men continued to stare at me as I scanned the pages. I had no idea what I was reading. All I could do was softly rub my temple with one hand, my elbow on the armrest, messing up my hair even more, while the other hand shakily went to flip the page. Usually I had a very steady hand, but my body obviously thought that wasn’t necessary anymore.

Alex was right. It was my choice. But at the same time it wasn’t. Not even close. I had the authority to suddenly call for a holiday. I could give a few of my duties to other people. But those things weren’t the responsible things to do. As princess and future Queen of the Kingdom of Dalewin, I couldn’t just simply decide to leave. It wasn’t how it worked.

I looked up briefly, all their eyes still on me. I gave a quick wave. “Please, continue.”

There was just more tension and silence. I kept on reading. It was the least I could do. They all had things they wanted to discuss which I knew nothing about. So, they were going to have to say something, or else this meeting was just going to continue on without any talking.

“Maybe a few weeks in the United States isn’t a bad idea,” Mr. Dudley suddenly changed opinions.

Did I really look that bad? Was my appearance really screaming that I needed a break?

“Mr. Dudley, are you certain about this?” The man to my right seemed as shocked as I was.

“Alex– Mr. Gaskarth is correct.” He gave a nod in Alex’s direction. “The worst thing we can have right now with a new king in power is have the crown princess seem incapable. We can take care of matters for two weeks.”

“What about public appearances?”

“King Edward still has siblings who are a part of this family. It might also be the perfect time for Augustus to be introduced if he is willing.”

Something in me was worried that Augustus was being offered as my replacement. I didn’t want him to be overwhelmed with everything as well. But it was only the public appearances, I had to remind myself of that. Gus-Gus had been wanting to help out there for a while, but he had always been considered too young. He would be over the moon if he was given the chance. There was no way he’d let himself mess up.

“So,” Alex smirked at me, “what do you say?”

“Very well.” I closed the folder and put it back on the table.

“I believe that sorts that. We’ll convene in the near future to work through the details,” Mr. Dudley said, no longer mad but also not overly glad. Afterall, he wasn’t the one that won this. He then glanced at me. “If I may?”

I gave him approval through a nod.

“Meeting adjourned,” he called.

The three advisors left through the side door, back to their offices, while Alex and I went back out through the main door. I walked out as composed as possible. My feet were still hurting like a bitch in my shoes.

As soon as the heavy door closed behind us, I jumped on Alex and hugged him tightly. “I could kiss you right now!”

He chuckled, “I won’t stop you.”

“But I won’t.” I let go of him again, continuing from my previous statement and excitedly kicking off my shoes.

“Well, that isn’t disappointing at all.”

“I’m sure it is.” I started skipping down the hallway. “When are we leaving?”

Alex started speed walking after me. “In five days.”

“Five days… two weeks…” I mumbled to myself before spinning around to face Alex. “What are you actually doing back in the US?”

“Blink-182 has an opening act cancelation, we’ve been called in to replace,” he shrugged.

“Blink-182?”

“Yeah, they’re a band–”

“I’m not oblivious, Alex, I know who they are.” I restarted skipping down the hallway quickly.

“You’re forgetting your shoes!” He snatched the pair off the floor, one against the left wall and the other further down the hall and more to the right.

“Fuck the shoes!”

[pjo-hoo-nextgen]

The Date

“For the last time-stand still.” Eli huffed trying to fix Andy’s wild hair. Gel and water were amazing gifts but poor Eli was having to use nearly a whole bottle just to keep Andy’s hair flat.

“Sorry.” Andy sighed. “Did Thia end up giving Sol the little note?”

“Yep.” Eli nodded, setting to work with his trusty comb.

“What if she doesn’t show up?”

“She’ll show up.” Eli promised.

“How do you know?” Andy worried.

“Just trust me.” The other boy’s encouraging smile happened to ease Andy’s nerves-if only a little bit.

“Suit delivery.” Jaxon knocked on he bathroom door before stepping inside with Andy’s designated date outfit. It wasn’t quite a suit but it was certainly nicer than his usual attire. “My man, looking fine.”

“Oh hush.” Andy frowned unable to keep from blushing a bit.

— — —

“It’s taking an awfully long time.” Thia sighed sitting on her couch waiting for Andy’s grand appearance. She wanted to make sure he boys didn’t make her cousin look like an idiot.

“It’s called preparation munchkin.” Thalia tossed one of the couch pillows at Thia but unlike normal Thia was unamused. “Awe are you jealous Andy got a dare before you?”

“No,” Thia protested, and she meant it. “It just seems stupid to have him dolled up.”

The teen took the opportunity to return the pillow to her mother with a half hearted throw.

“Okay! I’m good!” Andy’s voice carried out into he living room. “Jaxon I swear if you touch me with that comb again I am going to break your fingers!”

“Ah, sibling arguments. I sure miss those days.” Reyna snorted from her place beside Thia.

“Just show is already!” Thia yelled back. There was a bit of scuffling before Andy sulked out into view. He was handsome as always with his hair all neat and his clothes freshly pressed.

“Didn’t know it was possible for you to look nicer than you already do.” Thalia teased her nephew. “Must be some damn good genetics.”

“Yeah.” Andy looked flustered unlike normal. He was typically composed but this whole situation had thrown him off his game. What was he actually going to get himself into? “Um...mom and dad insisted on pictures so...”

“Blackmail material.” Jaxon cooed as he and Eli finally joined the others in the living room.

“Stop!” Andy grumbled. “It’s not black mail material you dingus.”

Jaxon went to sit beside his cousin on the couch but Thia immediately shifted closer to her mother in response. Jaxon sighed before selecting another seat.

“You’re going to have to forgive him at some point.” Reyna whispered to her daughter.

“Yeah, when this is all over and there’s not the chance of the world ending.” Reyna was well aware that Thia’s anxiety was much more severe than normal considering the circumstances of everything. Even with the help of medication it was still tough for the teen. “For now, I’m just happy Andy can enjoy himself.”

“And, as much as I love Andy, I am more concerned about you.” Reyna noted art finality. The conversation was over for the time being and Thia simply huffed before snuggling closer to her mother.

— — —

The pictures were taken and soon young Andy was off to where he’d set up the little date. He hoped it was the right idea, as much as he loved his sit Thalia she wasn’t one to be good at planning delicate dates. Therefore Andy had put all of his fish and trust into Hazel and Reyna.

The two had come up with a good idea but Andy just hoped it looked as nice as it had actually sounded.

— — —

“Looking good.” Percy beamed High fiving Maria. The two had styled Sol’s hair perfectly.

“I-I don’t know.” Sol felt naked without her hair kept back in is usual bandana. “It feels wierd.”

“But it looks amazing.” Maria assured. “Trust me.”

“I do.” Sol nodded. “Did anyone tell my dad I’m doing this? Or my mom? Cause I don’t know....”

“I’m your father’s words-“ Jason noted, “Way to go! That’s my baby girl crushing all the hearts! But if that son of yours lays a hand on her Jason I will literally imcicmerate you.”

Percy and Maria both attempted to stifle a laugh.

“As for your mom she was more gentle.” Jason smiled.

“Great.” Sol sighed. “Nice to know my father is planning a murdered.”

“My parents plan murders all the time.” Maria shrugged. “No biggie.”

“We do not!” Percy scoffed.

“The time you nearly slapped a kid for looking at me?” Maria arched an accusatory brow.

“That was one time!”

“Enough chatter, lets get our lovely lady to her date.” Jason stood and offered Sol his arm. “Shall we?”

— — —

Andy couldn’t help but smile once he saw the official set up. It was the back little grass lot of a café which had willingly closed early for the young demigod’s sake. Little fairy lights were strung about tangling into branches of nearby trees and what not.

The glow was almost ethereal and a nice little table sat in the center. It wasn’t overly fancy, which Andy was grateful for, but it was just fancy enough for his liking.

“Yo͏u͏r lady awaits.” Andy startled at the sound of his father’s voice. His attention immediately snapped away from the setup and focused on his dad.

Sol was standing next to him looking only a bit awkward but-woah. Andy stood still for a moment before bashfully scratching at his neck and approaching them.

“Uh, hey. Thanks dad. I think I can take it from here.” Andy tried to sound confident but his voice held a wave of uncertainty. Jason gave his son a reassuring smile and bid the two goodbye and wished they had a nice evening.

A solid minute of silence followed Jason’s departure. See, Andy didn’t really know what to say. Sol was stunning, as radiant as her name indicated.

He’s never really seen her in the color red but it was absolutely perfect on her. Not to mention the fact that she was wearing an adorable dress. It wasn’t overly accentuated which he was thankful for. He knew Sol would have despised it otherwise and the last thing he wanted was for her to be uncomfortable.

Andy knew the modern dress style consisted of plunging neck lines, tight bodices, or slits running across the thighs. He would have none of that, it was unreasonably scandalous.

“They combed your hair.” Sol noted, being the first to break the silence.

“Uh yeah.” Andy laughed touching it just to make sure. “It took a lot of gel.”

“Here, let me fix it.” Sol pursed her lips in contemplation before reaching up and unceremoniously toddling Andy’s hair.

“Eli’s gonna be mad.”

“It looks better this way. More like you.” Sol smiled.

“Where’s your bandana?” Andy inquired.

“They said it wasn’t fitting.” Sol shrugged.

“Well lucky you.” Andy beamed, “For as long as I’ve known you I’ve always kept an extra in my pocket in case you ever forgot.”

Sol watched as Andy pulled out a red piece of cloth plain in color. “I-i didn’t know you did that.”

“Well, I didn’t know you wore dresses.” Andy noted. “Here, turn around.”

Sol did as told and Andy very carefully tied the bandana in a way that didn’t ruin the look his father and the others most likely spent hours on.

“How’s it look?”

“Perfect.” Andy smiled. “Um...there’s a table-if you want to sit-if not I’m okay with standing.”

Andy nervously tucked his hands into his trouser pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment. Sol rolled her eyes but it was done with a look of amusement. “Sitting is boring. If we’re going to sit I want it to be like when we were kids ands we just plopped onto any suitable spot of grass.”

“No table then.” Andy nodded. “I can do that.”

The boy jogged over to the table and carefully moved it aside. The grass was now open and bare of any furniture pieces acting as sentinels.

The two sat down and crossed their legs but the silence settled again. It wasn’t a bad silence just one full of uncertainty. “Sol?”

“Yeah?” Her beautiful brown eyes with tiny clicks of gold scanned the sky with the precision only a mechanic of her caliber could have.

“If you don’t mind my asking, why do you like me?” It has been a question Andy was dying to know the answer to. For as long as he could remember girls had fallen head over heels for him but none in the way Sol had.

It almost disgusted him how easily some were willing to throw themselves at his feet. It was always bothersome, he didn’t like it, didn’t appreciate the demeaning identity those girls portrayed. He knew they were better than that-stronger than that-but still it happened.

Sol had made it clear when they were younger that she did not like him. She did not find him attractive. She did not like his presence in her work place. She did not find all of his jokes funny. She did not appreciate his sarcasm. She did not appreciate his attention seeking behavior. So what had changed?

Andy expected her to shrug it off as Sol usually did when it came to opening up about personal things, but she didn’t. “I always did.”

“What?” The answe surprised him. “But you were always so callous and-“

“Because the Andy you were trying to be when you were with me was the Andy all those other people wanted to throw themselves at.” Two perfectly shaped dark colored eyebrows made a small crease on Sol’s face. “You were so...false.”

“Ouch.” Andy winced.

“Andy, I didn’t mean that as an insult.” Sol’s words ran together as she rushed them out. She moved so that she was facing him and able to see him eye to eye. “I just wanted you to be different than that, someone better, someone I knew was there that just didn’t feel comfortable saying hello.”

“How did you know though? I mean, I’m spastic, and loud, and crazy, and-we’ll that is the real me.” Andy couldn’t help but tuck his knees up to his chest. She’d practically admitted hating everything about him.

“Because I remember the time you asked me how to tie your shoes.” Sol recalled Andy bashfully asking her because he was afraid to ask the older kids. Andy, the brilliant and stunning boy, couldn’t tie his shoes and know one should know lest they laugh.

“That was ages ago.”

“But it’s something I remember.”

“Why?”

“Because of all the people you could have asked it was me.” It was Sol’s turn to ask a question that had been bugging her for a long time. “Why?”

“Because you always seemed like someone who just....didn’t care. You didn’t care if I couldn’t tie my shoes. Jaxon would have teased and maybe I could have asked Thia but she didn’t know how either!”

The two laughed at the last statement for a moment. Sol could picture the two of them, Andy and Thia, trying desperately to help each other out.

“I guess, part of me assumed that even though you were a bit cold to other people and more reserved than everyone else you weren’t mean.” Andy picked at the blades of grass. “Some of the most open and smiling people are the worst.”

“Agreed.” Sol nodded. Another silence passed.

“But you still didn’t answer my question.” Andy treaded the water carefully. When Sol didn’t respond he thought he’d over stepped his boundaries.

“You were one of the first people to make a real effort to understand me. I hated you at first because I thought you were just trying to get another girl to like you. That maybe I was a bit of a challenge and you were bored with everyone else.” Sol sighed. She laid down on the grass feeling it tickle at her bare shoulders. Andy assumed the same position shortly after. “So I was rude and I was determined to keep my guard up. Yet, for some reason, whenever you were in the forge with me it was like that fake demeanor everyone wanted you to have just kind of left. Like it was the one place you could take a break from smiling all the time. Then, you started showing a genuine interest in what I was doing. You began to understand me, learned the tune of the music I liked, knew what tools I needed before I asked, and you even made sure I ate if I was hyper focused. And I know you didn’t say much and I didn’t either but, here I am, on a date with you, and somehow I feel closer to you than I have to anyone else.”

Andy heard the slight wave in her voice. He knew the admission was brave on her part, Sol liked to bottle things up, and he didn’t have to look to know there were tears in those beautiful eyes. Instead Andy moved his hand ever so slightly until he locked their pinkies together.

“I liked you because despite the demeanor you were still very open. I know you like to be closed off at times but you’re still very much yourself. You’re honest, brutally at times, but you let everyone know who you are and what you believe in. I guess some instinct of mine decided I could trust you. And you were right. It was nice to get a break from things. It was also nice to watch you grow into yourself. I mean you may not notice it but your skills have gotten insanely good. It’s cool to watch.”

“Thanks.” Sol laughed and a faint blush dotted her cheeks.

“Sorry for making this so somber.” Andy apologized.

“Don’t worry about it.” Sol laughed softly. “It was kind of nice.”

“It was wasn’t it?” Andy smiled. “You know, I think I was supposed to bring us something to eat.”

“And you forgot.”

“Yep.” Andy laughed. “The shop owner keeps a key under the mat. Wanna go grab something from inside?”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you Grace.” Sol quickly leapt to her feet and tugged Andy up to join her. “But this little mischievous side is getting a bit out of hand.”

“You think so?” Andy smirked arching a brow. Then, very suddenly, he pecked Sol on the cheek before sprinting off and laughing like a maniac. She was left to blink in surprise for a moment before following behind.

[multifandomtrash69]

Family don't end in blood

Deanxf!reader

You could feel the movement of the car underneath you as you slept, you weren’t sure where you were currently, just that you were on a highway somewhere. You couldn’t hear any voices so you assumed that Sam was asleep. You sat up slowly and opened your eyes to look around. It was dark outside, you could make out the shapes of road signs in the darkness but that was it. You looked down at your watch and it read 12:30, Have we really only been driving for an hour? It seemed longer.

You alright back there?, you jumped a bit and then answered. Jesus don’t scare me like that!, I’m fine, Good. What were you dreaming about y/n?, you blushed slightly hoping you hadn’t said or done anything embarrassing. Nothing, It didn’t sound like nothing. Even though you couldn’t see his face you knew he was smirking. You’re an asshole Dean.

He chuckled slightly, Yeah and you’re adorable. You leaned forward and lightly slapped his arm, what was that for?. Not in front of Sam. Fine, you turned and whispered in his ear, we’ll finish this later. You gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then sat back in your seat.

Eventually you fell back asleep and woke up a few hours later when the sun came up. By this time Sam had woken up. Morning y/n. Morning Sam, hope you slept well. Eh as well as to be expected, Any idea where we’re headed?. We were planning on stopping in Colorado for a day or two to unwind, sounds good.

A couple hours later you pulled into the parking lot of a seedy looking motel. The three of you got out of the car and you and Sam waited outside while Dean paid for the room. A few minutes later he came out with the keys and you headed for the room. Once you’d settled in Sam decided he wanted to go for a walk, once he was gone you sat awkwardly on one of the beds, messing with your fingers.

You got up and walked over to get a cup of water, once you’d finished drinking it and thrown away the cup you turned to walk back towards the bed when a hand grabbed your wrist and turned you around. Now that we’re alone.. I can do this. He pulled you into a hungry kiss, when you finally pulled apart to breathe you spoke. You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that again.

Before he could respond you pulled him into another kiss, the two of you stumbled backwards and you ended up on the bed. You pulled at his shirt and he quickly took it off and threw it aside, you were about to take yours off when the sound of the door knob turning made you stop everything, He jumped off you. Dean! Your shirt.

He was fumbling to get it on and just barely succeeded about a second before Sam came in. He looked at the two of you with a confused expression, Are you guys ok? Uh.. yeah, why?. You seemed panicked a second ago. Must be your imagination Sammy, you brushed past him and walked outside to clear your head. Once you were outside you finally let out the breath you’d been holding. That was way too close, Yeah tell me about it. You turned around startled to find Dean standing behind you. We have to be more careful if we want to continue to keep this from Sam. Agreed, but we should probably head back in before he gets too suspicious. He nodded and the two of you turned and headed back into the room.

Are you sure you’re ok y/n?, I’m fine Sam. If you say so, I was just about to go get some food. You guys want anything?, I guess I'll have a burger. You want anything Dean?, I'm good. He nodded and he turned and picked up the keys off the table and headed out. Should we pick up where we left off?, You smacked him on the arm and plopped down on one of the beds. What was that for?, For thinking i could just pick back up like that! He ruined the mood Dean.

Alright but we’ll pick this up eventually. You nodded and turned the tv on, you were flipping channels until you found a movie that interested you. After a few minutes Dean came and sat next to you. Eventually you rested your head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around you. You must have fallen asleep because the next thing you remember, you woke up to the sound of voices arguing. You opened your eyes and looked over and it finally donned on you what must have happened. Sam must have come back and seen the two of you cuddling.

How could you do this to me!?. What the hell are you talking about Sammy?. You knew I was into y/n and now I come back to find this. You sat up and looked over at them, That’s enough boys!, they both turned to you surprised. y/n, i thought you were asleep, i was until you asshats woke me up. Now what's this I hear about you being into me Sam?. Uh well.. Just forget it. Don’t be embarrassed, I think you’re sweet. You could practically hear Dean tense up. But i’m in love with Dean, I have been for quite some time.

You really feel that way about me?, you could hear the surprise in his voice. You turned around to face him. I do, I can’t describe how you make me feel exactly but it just feels right. Behind you Sam cleared his throat and you turned back to face him. I do love you Sam but like a brother.

Now come here, you gestured for him to give you a hug and he did. Once you pulled apart he smiled slightly. You know I’ll always protect you y/n, of course I do. What should we do now?, we could finish watching that movie. Sure, Sam you wanna join us?. I guess what’s the movie about? I don’t know I've been asleep for most of it. You looked over at Dean silently asking for help. I think it's some kind of cowboy movie. Sounds interesting, the three of you sat down to finish watching the movie.

A couple weeks later

Are you sure you want us to meet your parents y/n? Most of the time it doesn't end well for us. Of course i’m sure Dean, you guys are the two most important people in my life right now and i want them to get the chance to get to know you both. Alright, if you’re sure then im in. Good, we’re going to their house for dinner on friday. Sounds good, Will there be pie? Yes, I told my mom to make her famous apple pie. Awesome.

Friday night

You were nervously fidgeting with your hands as you pulled up in front of your parents house. You felt a hand on your shoulder, you looked to your left and noticed Dean was staring at you. What?, nothing you’re just beautiful. You smiled to yourself and grabbed your purse, we should head inside. The three of you got out of the car and you walked up to the door, your mom must have been watching for you because she opened the door before you could ring the bell.

y/n! I'm so glad you’re here!, she looked at the boys. You two must be Sam and Dean, y/n has told me a lot about you. That’s us, Well come on in dinner is almost ready. The three of you followed her into the house and ran into your dad in the living room. There’s my little girl! He pulled you into a hug. And who are these gentlemen?. Dad, these are my friends Sam and Dean. he shook both of their hands. it’s nice to meet you boys, i hope you two are taking care of my little girl. Oh trust me sir we are, you rolled your eyes when Dean winked at you. You decided to see if your mom needed help in the kitchen so you left the boys alone with your dad.

Mom, do you need any help in here?, Sure sweetie! Can you mash the potatoes for me?. Of course I can mom. You picked up the masher and the pot of potatoes and sat down at the table, you began mashing the potatoes and you worked in silence for a few minutes until your mom finally said something. You’re very lucky y/n. You looked up at her confused, why do you say that?, to have such a kind boyfriend and good friend. Kind boyf- oh no mom sam’s not my- you were cut off by the timer on the oven going off. Oh dinners ready! Go and tell everyone sweetie.

You nodded your head and walked out into the living room. Guys, dinner’s ready, Great, I'm starving. You turned and walked back into the kitchen with the three of them following. You tried to set between your father and Dean but your mom stopped you and practically forced you to sit next to Sam. After your father said a quick prayer your mom began serving plates. When she got to you she winked at you and handed you your plate. So mom what have you and dad been up to? It’s been a few months since i’ve seen you. Nothing much honey, why haven’t we seen you in awhile?. Dad, you know I'm constantly traveling for my work.

What type of work do you do again?, you were about to answer when Dean interjected. We’re hunters. You gave him a death stare and he quickly stopped talking. Hunters? That doesn’t make any sense you can only hunt in certain seasons. Well.. we don’t exactly hunt animals. What do you hunt then dear?. You stared down at your food trying to come up with a valid excuse but couldn’t, you knew they wouldn’t handle the truth well but it was all you had.

We uh, hunt monsters. Your parents burst out laughing but quickly stopped when they realized you were serious. I'm serious mom! I've almost been killed by several demons. Her face turned pale and they both went silent. Why are you messing with the forces of evil y/n!? You know you’ll go to hell for this right?. You don’t understand why-, she cut you off when she turned to the boys. How could you bring my daughter into this sick world!?, Mom! They didn’t bring me into anything, i found them myself and i fell in love and decided to stick with them.

That’s kind of sweet, y/f/n!. She slapped his arm, y/n you never told us which one of these questionable men you’re dating. It doesn't matter you’re not going to accept them anyway. You signaled to them that you wanted to leave so they stood up and you followed suit. That’s not entirely true honey, one of them seems to be a very nice and well educated man. You were going to respond but Dean did it for you, he angrily walked over to you and pulled you into a kiss. When you pulled apart he looked right at your parents who you could clearly see were disappointed and said, does that answer your question?.

They just looked at the two of you with stunned expressions on their faces. You gave them a quick smirk and turned on your heels and walked out of the house with the boys following behind you. y/n if you leave with these evil men i can’t guarantee you’ll still have a family. You turned around to face your mom, Well then i guess you don’t have a daughter anymore. And with that you turned and got in the car. Once you were a safe distance down the road the tears finally spilled out. Before you could register what was happening the car was no longer moving, you continued crying while Sam and Dean got out of the car and talked for a minute.

Once you couldn’t hear them talking anymore you looked up confused and noticed your door was open. What’s going on Dean?, c’mon. He held out his hand and you took it. You stood up and followed him to the back door. He opened it and you climbed in, he slid in next to you and shut the door. Why are we sitting back here?, it was Sam’s idea. He thought it might help you calm down a bit to have someone sitting close to you. Once Sam had shut the passenger door he got into the driver's seat and you started moving again.

You took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down but you just started crying again. You rested your head on Dean’s shoulder and tried to regulate your breathing, you must have fallen asleep because the next thing you knew you woke up on a bed in a hotel room. You looked down and noticed an arm wrapped around you, you looked over and smiled to yourself when you noticed a sleeping Dean next to you. You snuggled closer to him and fell back asleep. You didn’t know where you would end up next but you knew as long as you had Sam and Dean with you, you’d always have a family

[mschifknight]

Sasuhina Chibiventures : Kleptomaniac

Part 1

Part deux with a SH Month theme and a bit of Valentine’s Day slapped on cuz that’s how I roll.

Sasuke’s backpack thumped against his back as he tried to keep up with his mother. Itachi had left them behind and rushed to his classroom while the kindergartener and his mother ran to his. He would’ve complained but thought better of it; after all they were running late because Sasuke couldn’t find the action figure he wanted to show to Naruto. He had thrown a huge tantrum before Itachi found it under the couch.

Mikoto profusely apologized to Iruka as she pushed her son inside.

“It’s fine, Mrs. Uchiha. We just finished taking attendance,” his teacher said. “Sasuke, go put your stuff away and join the others.”

Eager to take his backpack off, Sasuke hurried to the empty area where all their cubbies were. He wasn’t expecting to see anyone there so he jumped back when he noticed Hinata. But she wasn’t facing him; she had her hands inside someone else’s backpack.

Sasuke’s eyes widened as he gasped. The sound caused her to turn his way with a nervous look on her face. Never in a million years would he have thought Hinata was a thief. This was disappointing to see.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing!” She cried out.

“Then why was your hand in someone else’s bag?” He asked accusingly. Sasuke might feel strange around the girl but as an Uchiha, he knew right and wrong. After all, his father was the police chief. “What did you take?”

Hinata waved her hands. “I didn’t steal anything, look!”

Crossing his arms in a very authoritative way, Sasuke frowned. “Hn. If I tell Iruka- sensei, you can get in big trouble, you know.”

Her pale eyes quickly watered and Sasuke felt bad. He looked away and huffed. “But I guess I won’t tell him this time. Just don’t do it again.”

She nodded and hurried out.

For the rest of the day Sasuke kept a close eye on her, well closer than usual. He didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

As they were getting ready to leave, he noticed Shikamaru grabbing the bag Hinata was looking through. He felt guilty for not saying anything. But then he saw Hinata tug on Shikamaru’s hand, lean close and whisper in his ears. Whatever she said had her in a fit of giggles and Shikamaru was sporting a slight blush. She waved to him as her mother, who was standing between two men in suits, motioned for her to hurry up.

Suddenly Sasuke didn’t feel bad for his classmate.

The next day he noticed Hinata was taking longer than usual to put her stuff away. He peered around the corner and once again he was disappointed in the girl. This time she had her hand in a different bag. He knew who it belonged to; he had learned to avoid its owner at all costs but that didn’t mean that Ino deserved to get her things stolen especially on her birthday!

Hinata felt his gaze but just as quickly as she turned, he leaned back and hid from view. Sasuke walked to his small chair, hands on his face.

Wasn’t he supposed to tell someone? But then Hinata would cry.

He avoided looking at her as she walked in with a smile on her face. He thought back to the things his father would say about the Hyuuga family and how they were all bad people.

But you’re nice at least I used to think so…

He was so troubled he forgot how to spell the vocabulary words he studied for so hard with his brother the night before.

After dinner, Sasuke asked his father for advice. Fugaku noticed the seriousness on his face and was concerned. “What’s on your mind, son?”

“Well… this is a secret, okay? You can’t tell Mommy or Itachi. Promise?”

Fugaku nodded and Sasuke exhaled nervously.

“What do you do if someone you care about…? What if they did something bad and I saw it happen? What do I do?”

His father narrowed his eyes. “Like what?”

Sasuke looked away and wrung his hands nervously.

“Did they hurt someone? Did they lie? Did they steal something?”

Sasuke tensed when he got to the last question.

“Oh,” Fugaku realized. “And do I know this person?”

He didn’t look at his father. Sasuke didn’t want to tell him it was Hinata. He might tell her dad and then she’d get in huge trouble. “No… but what if most of the time they are a good person? And what if you don’t want them to get in trouble?”

“If someone steals, they need to return whatever they took and apologize.” Fugaku carefully analyzed his fidgety son. “Sasuke, do you need me to talk to your teacher?”

Freaking out, Sasuke jumped off the chair. “No, it’s a secret remember! I just need to know what I should do. How do I stop my friend from doing it again?”

Fugaku knew plenty of ways to prevent theft but Sasuke’s situation seemed simple. “Just tell your teacher. He’ll fix it. It’s not up to you to solve everything, okay? And if your friend is angry at you for doing the right thing then they really weren’t your friend to begin with. Stealing is bad even if they are a good person.”

Sasuke shrugged sadly; he didn’t want Hinata to hate him.

With a heavy heart he planned to tell Iruka what he’d seen. However he didn’t see Hinata do it the following day. Or the next. Sasuke was glad she had realized she was doing something bad.

His dilemma was forgotten until almost three weeks later when he saw her opening Naruto’s backpack.

Furious, he balled his pudgy fists.

Why does she keep doing this? And on Naruto’s own birthday!

Suddenly she opened her backpack and pulled out a medium sized bag of cookies. Hinata rummaged through Naruto’s bright orange backpack and carefully put the bag inside. She closed and placed it back in Naruto’s assigned cubby.

Sasuke smiled as he realized Hinata wasn’t stealing from his obnoxious friend; she was giving him a present.

Feeling much better, he walked over to Hinata who froze. “Please, don’t tell anyone!” she cried out. “I wasn’t stealing, I swear!”

“I know. I saw what you gave him. Why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked.

Hinata pressed her fingers together. “I didn’t want everyone to ask me for cookies all the time because Daddy is very busy. He only wants me to give them to special people,” she explained.

He nodded, relieved that he had it all wrong.

However a new dilemma plagued his mind. Why hadn’t he gotten anything so far? Wasn’t he special? His mother certainly told him so.

After days went by, he grew frustrated. He even left his backpack slightly open to make it easier for her.

Where were his darn cookies?

Finally he had enough. If he wasn’t going to get cookies, no one was. He made it a habit to linger behind and see if anyone was lucky enough to get a gift. When Hinata left, he would sneak back and take the goodies. Sometimes he gobbled them immediately. Other times he placed them in his backpack and enjoyed them with Itachi as they watched cartoons, telling him his friend gave them to him.

One day he happened to see Kiba talking to Hinata. He grew worried they found out what he did the day before and listened in.

“I swear didn’t get them, Hinata,” Kiba said. “I checked my backpack twice!”

“B-but I put them in your backpack. I promise!” Her lips quivered. “W-we worked really hard on them...”

Frantic to stop any waterworks, Kiba laughed nervously. “It’s fine. ‘Sides it’s not like Akamaru was upset or anything. He’s a puppy! He doesn’t know anything. He really liked meeting you so ask your dad if you can come over again.”

Still, Hinata apologized to Kiba for probably mistaking his bag for another. She promised to ask her father to make another batch of doggie treats and he hugged her.

While usually he would feel upset that Kiba was getting too close to her, Sasuke’s mind was still processing the fact that he ate dog treats. He held his stomach and walked to Iruka who was concerned by his paleness.

“Sasuke?”

“I don’t feel so good, Sensei.”

Iruka was about to lean down but Sasuke emptied out his stomach contents on his shoes. Nearby children shrieked and ran away while Iruka tried to soothe the crying boy. Mikoto promptly picked him up and took him to the doctor but he wouldn’t reveal what made him sick; Sasuke knew criminals went to jail.

.

.

Sasuke decided that he should just stop. Hinata was a nice person and eventually she’d have to give him something soon. Like Itachi always says, he should just be patient.

Then Gaara Sabaku arrived. The shy red haired boy gravitated towards Naruto and, much to his chagrin, Hinata. The two kids were often inseparable during free time and Sasuke also started to hate the stuffed bear he brought along.

Despite Iruka telling him to put it away during lessons, Gaara was still allowed to take it out for recess or free time. Sometimes Gaara would play with Naruto while Hinata played with the bear; she was the only person he trusted with it.    

His worst fears were confirmed when Hinata was taking forever putting her stuff away. She returned with a shy smile and sat beside Gaara at their small table. Furious, he asked Iruka if he could use the restroom; they were near the cubbies.

Opening the tan backpack, he saw the bag and harshly pulled it out. He looked in again and saw two black beady eyes looking back. Smirking, Sasuke pulled the bear out and sat down.

“Can I have these cookies, Mr. Bear?” Sasuke asked. “Thank you!”

He started munching on them.

“Oh, you want one too? Here you go!”

He smashed a cookie against the hard snout. “You’re so messy. Doesn’t Gaara teach you manners? Maybe he’s a bad owner. He shouldn’t be friends with Hinata if he’s bad.”

Iruka, noticing Sasuke was taking a long time, went to look for him. What he stumbled upon was the small boy having a patronizing conversation with a stuffed animal as he stuffed his face with cookies.

“Sasuke?”

He froze and hid the bear behind him.

“What are you doing with Gaara’s things?”

“Nothing!” He mumbled, a mouthful of cookies stuffing his cheeks.

Iruka picked up the empty plastic bag and saw a note inside.

“They’re mine!” Sasuke claimed.

‘To: Gaara’ was written elegantly in cursive and he frowned. “Sasuke, this isn’t yours. Why did you take it?”

Slowly chewing, he tried to think of an excuse. He’s seen plenty of shows with his parents where a criminal sometimes used excuses to get out of jail. “Because… they forced me to do it?”

Now Iruka was concerned. “Who?”

Sasuke looked around. “The... Yakuza?”

Iruka stifled a laugh and cleared his throat. “I’ll have to tell your parents, Sasuke. And you need to apologize to Gaara. This isn’t acceptable behavior.”

Sasuke nodded as he stood up. “Should I apologize to Hinata too?”

“Why?”

“They’re her cookies. She makes them and gives them away.”

.

.

Hiashi looked at his watch as the last parent finally arrived to pick up their child. He received a call from his daughter’s teacher and was immediately worried something had happened to Hinata. When Iruka assured him she was fine, he was less enthusiastic about this impromptu meeting. Since Hiashi insisted that Hikaru go to her weekly prenatal yoga, he came alone. Well, aside from his two bodyguards.

His eyes narrowed at the ones glaring back at him; he never liked Fugaku Uchiha.

The dislike was mutual and Fugaku was glad he decided to accompany Mikoto on his day off. He didn’t trust any Hyuuga near his family.

Once inside the classroom, Iruka explained the situation much to Hiashi’s amusement.

It seems like the Uchiha is raising a little troublemaker.

“But I’m still confused. I mean, my son knows that if he really wants something, I’ll give it to him,” Mikoto explained. “And I make sweets all the time but he doesn’t really have much a sweet tooth. Are you sure he’s stealing cookies?”

“I’m afraid so,” Iruka nodded. “Sasuke has admitted to it and apparently has done it for quite some time. When I talked to Hinata separately, she said that some of her friends claimed they never received their gifts.”

“Oh no. Fugaku, what if this is a warning sign!? What if it starts small and before we know it he’s a full blown kleptomaniac?” She asked.

Her husband shook his head, “Calm down, Mikoto. Let’s talk to Sasuke and find out for ourselves. Maybe it’s just a phase.”

“Quite the disciplinarian, Chief,” Hiashi mocked as he picked up Hinata. “Instead of harassing me and my business, I suggest you keep a closer eye on your son.”

The air grew thick and the only ones who didn’t pick up on it were Hinata and Sasuke. Hinata was looking over her father’s shoulder at her classmate. Sasuke looked like he was on the brink of tears.

Maybe Daddy and I can make him something special.

“Um, Mr. Hyuuga?” Iruka gulped when his cold pale eyes turned to him. He could even feel the scrutinizing stares coming from the bodyguards through their sunglasses.

The Hyuuga earned their notoriety during a bloody era of unrest where Konoha’s crime families fought for their share of the city. Despite the almost four decades of peace, their reputation hadn’t wavered and Iruka had once thought he caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his arm when his long sleeve rode up a bit.

“We can’t have Hinata bringing food from home that isn’t pre- approved. Some children might have allergies you’re not aware of. Generally, we don’t allow home baked goods even for our holiday parties. It’s school policy-”

Fugaku sneered at Hiashi. “I wouldn't put it past him or his kind to poison children.”

“I respect your concern, Iruka- sensei,” Hiashi replied uninterestedly. “We’ll just stick to store bought sweets like donuts from Chief Uchiha’s favorite bakery. Oh, I almost forgot. How did little Uchiha enjoy the puppy treats? I can make some more if he learns to behave.”

He smirked and walked out, briskly followed by his bodyguards as Fugaku jumped from his seat and Mikoto tried to calm him down.

.

.

Hiashi had declined to bake something for the Uchiha; he didn’t want Fugaku to accuse him of trying to poison the brat. But he did promise to do something special for her class’ Valentine’s Day party.

On their way to school, they stopped by a bakery to pick up their special order and Hinata smiled at her father when all her classmates looked in awe at the cupcakes.

After showing Iruka that they weren’t homemade, Hiashi placed the box on the table where all the other food was displayed. He tried not to grimace at the other sugary sweets that other parents bought, and was glad he insisted that the bakery use a healthier frosting option on the treats.

Some parents are just careless.

He hugged Hinata goodbye and went about his day, wondering how long until Chief Uchiha made yet another unannounced visit to his office.

.

.

“How was school, kids?” Fugaku asked.

“Okay,” Itachi replied. He didn’t like being smothered by girls but he did enjoy the sweets that came with their affection especially on this celebrated day.

Sasuke grinned. “Yeah, it was fun! I got so many cards but I like Hinata’s best.” He pulled it out of his pocket and proudly showed them. “She even gave me two lollipops when everyone else’s card only had one! Even stupid Gaara didn’t get an extra one.”

Mikoto smiled at her son but gave her husband a stern look as to not ruin Sasuke’s good mood.

“I Ruff You, Valentine,” Itachi read out. “That’s cute. And what did you get your little girlfriend?”

“S-shut up,” Sasuke scowled at Itachi, a slight blush starting to cover his face. “Hinata’s not my girlfriend!”

As Itachi continued to tease his little brother, Fugaku brought his fist to his mouth and muttered, “It’s a fucking dog.”

“It’s from a children’s cartoon, sweetie,” Mikoto softly pointed out. She sometimes watched Paw Patrol with Sasuke when he was home sick.

“Yeah, and it’s just a coincidence that Hiashi’s wrote our son’s name on the card with a cartoon police dog? He’s such an asshole-”

“Watch your language,” Mikoto harshly whispered.

But their sons were still bickering about their special valentines.

.

.

Hiashi merely crumbled the cookie Hinata handed him. It seemed that during career day, Chief Uchiha had given cookies to all the children. Some were obviously decorated to look like cops while others were frosted with white and black stripes.

And Hinata happened to have received an extra cookie.

“Why did you do that, Daddy?” Hinata said sadly. “Mr. Uchiha said it was especially for you.”

He saw her pout and glared in Fugaku’s direction. The man, with his son at his side, was basking in the attention some of the kindergartners were giving him.

“I wasn’t hungry,” he replied. “Besides, we can make even better cookies right?”

Her face brightened and she nodded. “Daddy’s the best baker in the world,” she said proudly.

Hiashi smiled and, flanked by their security, walked hand in hand with his daughter. He could just get into a childish quarrel with Fugaku but sometimes it was just better to let things go. There were plenty of reasons to hate the Uchiha and his kin besides poorly made cookies.

I have a third part in mind to wrap this up but idk when. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!  

[totalfanfreak]

One of Three - Chapter 3

One of Three

Chapter Three – How the Braid Unraveled

 They gave her directions to the restaurant, she could tell when she pulled up on the graveled lot that it was cozy, like a diner, a place where people went where they could get home cooking when they couldn’t get it at their actual home. She kept in a smile. It screamed a place for single men. The place was very busy inside, boisterous noises around the island to the bar, several of the men screaming at the television as whatever sport played on it. She continued to look around as the boys went to talk to the hostess at the podium, she could tell this wasn’t their first time here as they leant over the table with ease, talking to the girl who shoved them playfully as she laughed at whatever they said. They didn’t seem to have a problem with talking to people, comfortable and in their element when it came to chatting with whoever came in their path.

I used to be like that.

She had, she had been very in tune with people. Now she could hardly look at someone without thinking they had a hidden agenda against her. She looked back up seeing them turn to her, and the girl beamed at her too, until she saw Shepherd. It was second nature to her to bring him everywhere, and since she had stuck to only a choice few places to go those people had gotten used to seeing the dog by her side. Pulling up her purse, she began searching for her wallet, skimming through for the little ID card. She could hear the boys saying something to her, but she thrust the card at the girl, her hand shaking with nerves and a bit of shame. The girl’s eyes drifted to the card, her eyes widening with realization.

“Oh, oh, okay ma’am, come this way to be seated.”

She hiked her purse strap back up on her shoulder, she followed the girl, keeping her head tilted to the floor so the boys couldn’t catch her eye. They were placed in a booth near the window, and she took a place near the edge seat, facing towards the outside. They were still focused on her, but she felt herself relax, their laid back demeanor calming her.

“Care if we smoke, lass? Know this one didn’t think ta ask beforehand, but don’t wanta ruin yer appetite.”

She smiled, shaking her head. “I don’t mind, appreciate you asking though.”

Gif by memoriesinatrunk

They pulled the ashtray between them, both lighting up simultaneously. She kind of felt the urge to clap at that. Casting a look at her, Connor waved his hand to disperse the smoke that was wandering towards her.

“I’m fine, really.”

He nodded. “Hope I don’t offend ye, but yer not blind are ya, lass?”

She grinned. “I hope the DMV isn’t giving the blind licenses now. No…I’m epileptic. It’s not a big deal or anything. But since I developed it I always had a service dog with me, and I’ve gotten used to it. I like having Shep with me.”

Murphy nodded, his eyes tender. “Can tell he’s a good one, we weren’t meaning anyting by it, we’re just curious. So how long you had ‘im?”

She petted Shep, his head sitting on the vinyl seat. “Ten years, give or take a few months. He’s been a good friend.”

“He protect ye well?”

She looked through the smoke at Connor. “He does. Though I’m pretty good at taking care of myself.”

The question had thrown her off, making her suspicious again. Why would someone need to know if the dog guarded her or not. But the chuckle that came with her answer released her tension.

“That’s good, all the shit happenin’ the last few months, a girl needs ta protect herself. Would it bother ye if we asked how you…err?”

The way he gestured and the shame in his eyes, she knew Connor was wondering about her ailment.

She shrugged. “It’s okay, I don’t mind talking about it. It’s just the looks you get with it, I don’t like people to feel nervous around me, definitely not sorry for me. But it happened when I was about five we were staying at my grandparents’ house for the summer. Their house was by a lake, and we stayed by the water a lot. One day, I’m not even sure what my parents were doing but my brother and sister and I decided to play on the dock since the tide had rose. We kept seeing who could get in the most without leaving the dock. Well, my luck I fell in face first, and sunk like a rock, I ended up tangled up in some rope, and when I didn’t rise up my sister got my parents while my brother jumped in after me. He got me loose, but the lack of oxygen for so long it rewired my brain you could say and I started having seizures. But like I said I manage.”

She inhaled looking back up at them, and was a bit startled that there was no pity in their eyes but something of nostalgia, affection.

“Good ya had yer brother and sister, saved ye. Been a sad day if we didn’t get ta meetcha.”

She snorted making their smiles expand to grins. And she noted that they were the same as well. Yes, their looks were different, but the mannerism of it. The way their lips slowly parted spreading until all their teeth showed like a kid on their birthday, eyes lighting up as they crinkled on the sides. Happiness taking over their whole face. It was wonderful, and faltering.

Murphy flicked his ashes before pinning his gaze back on her. “Connor says you’re a triplet, yer brother and sister named after angle hierarchy as well?”

“Told ye, they’re named fer jewels. Ye never damn listen.”

“I fuckin’ listen, ye didn’t say nothin’ bout it.”

“Did so.”

“Níl tú nach raibh fucking. Tá sé tú ag iarraidh a dhéanamh dom breathnú cosúil le asal.”

(No you fucking didn't. It's you trying to make me look like an ass.)

“I don’t think you’re an ass.”

Murphy looked startled a minute while Connor chuckled. “Already forgot ye can understand us.”

“So what gems were you named after then?”

She smiled. “My mom was a gemologist, so she studied the uses and everything for all the jewels…it was actually supposed to be me and my brother so she had to come up on the spot for my sister, but Selene and Seraphine for Selenite and Seraphinite. Both gems were said to be used to communicate with angels, our poor brother got the worst of it though. He was named Sapphire, which was supposed to symbolize heaven and devotion to God.”

Both boys had started cackling before she finished and she couldn’t help but join them.

“Feel sorry for yer brother, how the hell yer ma could do that to him?”

She shrugged. “She thought it was unique. But when we were old enough he quickly shortened it to Sapph, and anyone who called him otherwise was likely to get beaten up for it.”

“Except yer ma and you girls?”

“Meh, mom and Selene were fine, but Sapp and me fight all the time. In case you thought I was demented it’s why I smile when you two go at it, I know it’s not anything mean or personal just something you do. It’s like a hug but with open hand slaps.”

They laughed again, nodding in agreement.

She grinned, her eyes then catching the smoke rings coming from Murphy’s mouth. “Oh, that’s neat.”

Gif by Katieshox

She let her finger poke through, changing the ring’s shape.

“All in de tongue, love.”

“All I can do with mine is roll my rs’s and make one of those clover things.”

Their brows lifted at that. “Well show us lass, we could use some good luck.”

She chortled shaking her head, glad to see the waitress coming. Giving their orders Connor ducked under the table before looking back at her.

“Ain’tcha goin’ to order for the pooch?”

“Oh, no, he’ll get his dinner when we get home.”

“Aww, come now, love, yer the one that said he’s why ye fetched me. He deserves a reward don’tcha think?”

She looked to Murphy who shrugged. “Told ye lass, I would’ve let him drown out there, though it’d be wrong to make him watch us eat with nothin’ for him.”

Lucky for her the place had hard boiled eggs so she got two for Shep as they settled down with their drinks.

“So ye ma works with gems and such, so what’s yer da do?”

So they hadn’t caught the past tense in her sentence. And her dad…she didn’t really want to talk about him at the moment.

“Oh, no, that’s enough about me. You boys tell me something about you, besides being too manly for umbrellas and having a knack for languages.”

Snubbing out the cigarette, Connor leaned closer to her. “Aye, and what would ye like to know lass?”

She shrugged. “Anything I guess, have you always lived in Boston? Do you like what you do? What’s your favorite thing to do? Anything.”

Murphy answered then. “Connor and I moved here around seven years ago, left Ireland with what we could carry on our backs.”

“Why’d you come here? Was there something you wanted to do or…?”

They both shrugged. “Seemed like what was right fer us. The American dream and all that, wanted ta see what the fuss was about over here. Knew Boston was full of the Irish so best settled down here, right? Got offered the job at the plant, make enough money to get a good place ta live and some to send off to our ma. S’good enough.”

Her stare softened. “That’s sweet that you take care of your mom like that. So you do like it here? Does it feel like home?”

Connor rubbed his face in thought. “Well now, don’t know how ta exactly explain that, nothin’s quite like Ireland, but yeah, it’s home…I guess anywhere is, ya know?”

She did know. She knew exactly. “Because you have each other, that’s what makes it home.”

They turned to each other before back to her, astonished glee in their eyes.

They answered her at the same time. “Exactly.”

She took a sip of her water before nodding. “I get it. I wish I could be with my brother and sister right now.”

“Why aren’tcha lass?”

She gulped on that, various emotions setting in.

Because I can’t.

She fiddled with the napkin ring, Shep feeling her discontent whimper as she patted him.

“I –“

Their food was brought over then, and she was glad not to have answered. Making herself busy by cutting up the egg for Shep before twiddling potatoes around her own plate. They were still waiting on her, expectant, their faces clear of judgement encouraging her to answer.

She pursed her lips, voice low to keep the trembling out. “We lost her, Selene, about a year and a half ago. We couldn’t protect her, and after a while Sapph thought he couldn’t protect me so he went on his own. I still hear from him but not as much as I’d like. I miss him. I miss them both.”

Every minute of every day I miss them.

It was quiet, and she started to look up when she felt herself surrounded on both sides. Her breath hitched when two pairs of arms wove around her. She lurched, surprised by so much contact, and yet so comforted, the familiarity welcomed.

Her ear was warmed by Murphy’s voice. “Couldn’t imagine goin’ through anything like that lass, you’re a brave one, no doubt on that. I might get aggravated by the stupid shit but I don’t know how I’d cope without him. Ye shouldn’t be alone though. And if ye need somebody…”

Her heart hammered, the fullness being too much. She wasn’t sure what they were offering to her, wasn’t sure if she even wanted anything from two people she just met, but she didn’t want to let go yet to be undone for so long, now being woven again, it felt joyous and torturous at the same time. Before long they pulled away, the warmth diminishing and giving her the chance to breathe again.

Licking her lips she looked at her plate. “Thank you.”

She sighed, not knowing why her hands wandered to her bag, Selene’s bag. Her hand clutching around a gaudy keychain that held a picture of them in it, she handed it to the boys. It was an unflattering picture of her, her face scrunched up with uninhibited laughter lying on her back with Selene collapsed on top of her with her own giggles, Sapph was next to them knees drawn up wanting to be angry but laughing in exasperation. She couldn’t remember how they had gotten in the exact position but Sapph had been dumb, putting his new cell phone in his back pocket and unaware, had fallen back to sit somewhere cracking the screen to pieces. All that money wasted her and Selene poked fun at him, the result being this, a friend taking the photo when they weren’t paying attention. Always the best pictures, the ones when you’re too caught up in the moment to care about everything else.

“I know we don’t look too much alike.”

They didn’t, but they did. Of course they weren’t identical, triplets hardly were, but they had similar features. They all had auburn hair from their mom, though Sera’s was the darkest borderline chestnut, Selene’s near a strawberry blonde and Sapph’s somewhere in the middle. They all had hazel eyes, courtesy of their father, green overtaking with hints of a golden brown surrounding it. Her and Selene looked more alike, both having something akin to cherub cheeks while Sapph’s had diminished as he grew older the cheekbones more prominent.

“Now, that’s a lie love, all three of ye have the same secret smile going there. Like ye have something ta tell but you ain’t goin’ to.”

She felt bad when they left, like she had put them out and through the ringer. She was glad to not go into too much detail on things but it was still enough to be off putting. Dropping them off at what she thought was a warehouse though they had assured her they lived there, they had both given her a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek and she was sad and a little glad she wouldn’t be seeing them again.

[joseacordova]

A Day In May

(I decided to include the story written in the workshop on this blog , just to be able to have the product  made from  the progress recorded  in here)

Waking up the Ninth day of may without any rain ,Javier knew Carlos had already left .His sheets were neatly folded and set , Javier’s  were thrown , shifting around, making indescribable patterns let to be deciphered. Javier walked outside were the grass greeted the sun, taking a whisk of the wind , it meant time to work. He tended to the  house made of Boards  and zinc as exchange for staying there , a treaty sealed with a friendly kiss. Javier didn’t mind this transaction, he was glad that it had happen , he fixed damaged floors, feed all the cows, pigs, lizards, horses and dogs that while weren’t neither of them  were , freeloading  in the pen adjacent to their abode, he tended the meat out so the sun could  bless it  with a golden hue , He climbed 100 feet up  trees to reap the finest platanos to hold a feast for both of them . He walked upwards , downwards and leftwards, doing all manner of jobs but stopped  in the kitchen,  indicated by a hanging bed sheet, a  he noticed that their was no spices to prepare the food or preserve the meat. Javier  walked two mountains over to Aurelianos House, asking for salt , its advised to only buy salt from Aureliano ,unlike others , he blesses his, not only will meat last longer but its helpful in protecting households. He jumped the fence down to the plaza, were Tata , Javier’s Aunt ,offered strangers  items from  her collection of spices , honey to renew lost love, paprika to remember something forgotten   , pepper to erase a bad dream. Javier didn’t need to hear these explanations, growing up with his aunts explorations into distant towns  taught him as much as he needed , she slipped him a jar of her sofrito , shut tightly to contain the flavorful odors . She also gave him a bundle of hay ,Tata and everyone around stuffed their ears with it to protect their ears from the  sound of Juan and his band of out of tune men playing songs to hopefully produce the first lucky rain of may in this Ninth day of the month . He passed Dona Marias bakery , with those huge ovens and fogones all to make ends meet, Javier bought her famous majarete , a delicious mixture of 3 types of milk and the peel of a lemon . With sweet splendor in his mouth , hay on ears and more chores to be  done ,Javier reminisced in glee at a  tragedy past.

Many months ago Javier had just received the fortunate news that his till that moment unknown father the local town drunk , died electrocuted by divine intervention ,as many residents  of vega media confirmed . At the vigil Javier was confronted by his late fathers 7 wives ,all refusing speak directly at him , The fortunate news came from the fact that  the old man had amounted a fortune thanks to bank interest and it was to be divided between his children .“He doesn’t have his  eyes ” “He doesn’t have his smile “ “He doesn’t have his hair” the wives exclaimed as they compared Javier’s face to the pile of ashes that was his father. All refused to the legitimacy of the letter sent to Javier by the Department of Family Matters “You can never believe those, I got a letter saying that my mother died from scurvy , but we later found out it was from seeing the devil to many times in her sleep” The 5th wife exclaimed as she ripped the letter in bits and feed it to the wind. Javier wept big salty  tears  from rage ,damaging the dresses of all the women, men and pets present. Javier stormed out  , Carlos, the town reader, charged with anything minutely related to the reading or writing , witnessed Javier in his sea of tears. Javier felt a seed of shame grow  in his chest, “he must find this very funny ” instead Carlos offered Javier a meal at Dona Marias bakery ,her  sweet bread a cure for any ailment of the heart .

 Sitting at dona marias, Carlos asked the questions and Javier answered them. Small talk turned into secrets , and Javier was trapped as the 2nd round of coffee with milk appeared and the conversation dipped into a pool of bitter and sweetness . Why were you crying, do you care, do you mind , but why , could you , did you , can you , I would? . This arose more from curiosity than pity, pity was unknow to Carlos, or alteast hard to dig, thought Javier .They didn’t get a sight of each other compared to when they were younger , the day Javier left his home and moved with tata, he had bumped into carlos , who was reading, the only person who could read in vega media. This enthralled Javier, only somebody so curios would learn to read , he thought. Carlos looked at him back , he gave Javier a book but didn’t move and inch of his mouth. A moment of realization came over Javier, Carlos couldn’t speak, and from that moment on they thought each other their secret. Javier the art of the spoken charm , and carlos the art of the written word. When both had learned what they needed they set on their ways and never spoke again, and occasional glance perhaps, but nothing more, that’s it until Javiers dad died and he found himself here in front of Carlos with all the questions in the world and so much more. He knew this feeling, but  didn’t give it a name. That meeting continued ,ended and echoed  through the metal walls of Carlos’s house.

Javier thought of this as sweat trickled down his curls in this Ninth day of may without rain , aligning the zinc plates so they wouldn’t fall as easily as he cleaned the curtains that determined the boundaries in the home. Hearing Carlos footsteps outside, promptly sitting on a chair. Javier immediately made the coffee with milk and brought it outside, Carlos sat  looking away to the clouds. The cups being set as he silently looked outside. So many letters to send and read and write  is tiresome when you’re the only one who can . Javier felt that same feeling that was felt so many uncountable months ago when they talked so intimately after so long. It never happened after that, he stayed here hoping for that one more sentence , for that one more question, be it curiosity or pity , Javier didn’t care , he just wanted to listen to the voice only he had listened too. Javier went to relate to Carlos the details of the day the things he had prepared and the things he would do , a delicious mofongo with shrimp for dinner ,  of how he made sure to put oil around the house so it wouldn’t fall , how he made sure to buy the correct milk, how he saw the locket and kept it safe, about his friends Marinas booming tarot reading business thanks to  her immaculate accuracy, how they should visit sometime,  how they should learn to ride one of those horses , how they should cook those pigs for Christmas, and Javier noticed how all the I and mes turned into us and we, He  went quiet in shame. The clouds whispered to each other and broke the silence, roaring and shaking as all the animals screamed and ran. “IT’S THE FIRST RAIN OF MAY” Javier exclaimed, excitedly showering in the lucky water for this to be his year, Javier ran amok and extended his arms towards Carlos who stood there in shock, as if something had captured his chest and crushed it into a pulp. Carlos took the rain, felt the touch of its luck. In that moment Carlos spoke , but not only that he spoke , he said those words that had haunted Javier till his death, that had haunted him in the most enchanting and morbid way, that would haunt him as he took  Carlos hands in his , as he repeated those three words , to be only know by him and to be spoken to nobody else as they swore under the rain as it drowned out those three words. Both of them waiting for that last twist of the knife, a backhand slap to wake them up, for their unexpected tale to end in the way they expected, it didn’t , it just kept existing here in this ninth day of may with its first shower of lucky rain.