#we’ll shower and eat and go out in the sun and it’ll be okay

[floral-hex]

Can’t tell if I’m so anxious because of drug withdrawal or it’s just because I have a bad brain 😓

[starlit-hopes-and-dreams]

Chapter 30 ~ The shift

Hidden Depths

Previous ~ Masterlist ~ Next

Also on ao3

Genre: Fantasy whump

CW's: none

WC: 3749

Taglist: @dont-touch-my-soup, @kixngiggles

In which Resh makes plans for the future, and Carr is still dealing with some stuff

AN: Whelp. I thought this would be the end, but I did in fact end up needing to split the chapter, so instead, enjoy some more angst because I just can't stop, apparently, and there'll be one more chapter to follow, which I have written and can thus assure you that it will indeed be the last chapter this time. *takes a deep breath*

I was going to wait until next week to post since I missed my time yesterday, but y'know what? I don't feel like it, so enjoy!

Resh

Carr was right. His little admission had changed everything. 

In the best way. 

Well, eventually in the best way. 

Moving toward the best way. But he was optimistic. 

The first few weeks after their talk had been awkward as fuck. Resh had spent them terrified she’d change her mind, since she seemed to waffle between fighting some internal battle and being okay with the newly defined state of their… relationship? He was still hesitant to call it anything like that. Maybe he’d stick with very good friendship.  

As time passed, though, she seemed to have more moments where she was comfortable with what was between them than not. She still hadn’t moved out of the room he’d been given, even though the times he woke up confused were less and less. 

That, more than anything, gave him hope that her trust in him would override whatever past experiences were driving her fear. 

A knock sounded at the door to his room, interrupting his musings, and Resh rose from the chair he’d been sitting in to answer it. The ease with which he moved was still new enough to marvel at; turned out eating and sleeping well did wonders for the body. Sleeping in the same location and having Carr there when he woke did wonders for his mind. 

Salma gave him a sunny smile when he opened the door, bustling inside at his invitation. “Morning, Resh. Where’s Carr?” 

He considered what he’d been taught so far of the common hand signs, decided they weren’t sufficient to answer, and instead retrieved his notebook to scrawl out his reply. In the shower. Again. She loves that thing.

Salma laughed. “I’m happy to hear that. Are you ready?” 

He nodded, then held up a finger. One moment. After he told Carr he was going out, he grabbed his gloves before following Salma down the stairs and out of the manor. 

The square was quite busy today, he found. They had to dodge people left and right as they headed straight through, passing merchants with pop-up stalls hawking wares and baked goods. 

“Fall festival,” Salma said when he arched his eyebrows in question. “It’ll be busy all week. Speaking of,”–she paused to greet a child who stopped to show her a pretty bauble–“remind me later that there’s something I wanted to ask you.”  

He followed her past the ring of businesses outlining the town’s square into the residential area, wondering what she could possibly need from him, of all people. 

But he forgot all about it when they stopped outside a two-story house at the end of one of the cobbled streets. The exterior was a mix of wood and mica-flecked stone, and there was a porch with a swing, and a fenced, landscaped yard, and… oh, it was wonderful. 

The steps creaked a bit as he ascended, which he took mental note of. But the paneled door swung open smoothly, and when he bent down to check, he found it fit perfectly to its frame as he closed it behind Salma. 

“We’ll be here all day if you’re planning on inspecting every aspect of the house that thoroughly,” Salma said, teasing him lightly. 

Resh gave her a sheepish grin as he straightened up from his crouch. 

The sun streamed in from the house’s many glass-paned windows, illuminating the way quite well as they toured the rooms. Resh was pleased to find the wood paneling was consistent throughout. The only white was on the ceiling, and thick wooden beams crisscrossed that. He wouldn’t stay confused for long if he woke up from a nightmare in this place. 

There were four bedrooms, two on the ground floor and two upstairs, which was more than he strictly needed, but he’d like for Carr to have her own space. As for the other, well, they’d find something to do with it. 

The main level had multiple separate living spaces, so they wouldn’t be stepping all over each other but could still come together if they wanted. There was even an additional living space upstairs, which Resh thought might make a nice private escape for Orla as she got older. 

He was grinning from ear to ear when they finished their walkthrough. 

“I take it you like?” Salma asked. 

Resh nodded, then held up his notebook. I think the shower might sell it for Carr. 

Salma laughed. “Yes, the former owner contracted the Architect class mage we had brought in to update the manor. Many others followed in her footsteps, though not all. I think this is the only mage-updated house that’s vacant, currently. And I don’t expect it will stay that way for long.”

Resh nodded, then wrote out a reply. I don’t expect so either, since I want it. I’d like to show Carr and Orla before it’s official though, if that’s alright? 

“Of course,” Salma said. “You could always take them out to the festival later and swing by after. As a surprise,” she added with a sly smile. 

He returned her smile; it was a good idea. 

Moving back into the kitchen, he ran his fingers over the carvings on the table, admiring the craftsmanship. Memories from his woodworking apprenticeship rose, and he sighed. He wasn’t sure he could see himself returning to the trade, committing himself to the years of training he’d missed out on. 

He had more experience with being a merchant at this point, but there was no way he could sustain the travel a merchant typically did, not right now anyway. The crown’s money, returned to them through Adan and Salma’s generosity, would tide them over for a few years even after purchasing this house, but eventually, he’d need to decide on a trade. Maybe by then the memories of his treatment at the prince’s hands would be… less fresh. 

Wondering about his future reminded him that Salma had wanted to ask him something. He waved for her attention as she walked by the kitchen, then used the sign for question before pointing to himself. “Question for me?” 

It was a crude use of the little hand sign he knew, but it got his message across. 

“Oh, thanks for reminding me,” Salma said. She walked over to the table. “I wasn’t sure if you were ready to think about a trade yet,”–the ‘with what you’ve been through’ went unsaid, but Resh winced anyway–“but I was wondering if you might consider registering your mage ability with the town.”

He sucked in a breath, taking an involuntary step back before he remembered that this town used magic in their daily lives. His sign for question was still a little brittle, though. 

Her expression softened. “We use it for work requests. There are several people with minor abilities, but I’ve heard yours might be a little stronger than that. You’d probably be able to make a comfortable living selling your services if you wanted. And if you wanted or needed more work, we could let some of the other nearby towns or villages know you were open to requests.” 

Oh. Resh stared, more than a little shocked. He’d never once considered that people might actually be interested in paying him for his magic. 

Salma approached him, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “I know it’s a different approach to magic than what you’re used to. Take some time to consider. I just wanted you to know it was an option.” 

Resh nodded, his mind already whirling with the possibilities. He could probably work as much or as little as he wanted, depending on the demand for his particular ability. His gaze swept over the kitchen. The possibility of having an actual job enhanced his imagination, filling in some of the holes in his dreams.    

“Okay, good.” She smiled. “Well, I’ve probably been away too long. Adan will start to worry, and I think we have to make a speech or something at the festival later.” Salma squeezed his arm before stepping away. “Are you ready, or would you like to stay a little longer?”

Resh shook his head. He followed her out, turning to look at the house once more before leaving. Visions of what he hoped would be his future played out before him: Carr sitting with her feet pulled up on the swing; Orla planting a garden for spring; all of them coming together after a long day and entering their home, as a family. 

A family. 

The thought made his heart ache, but in a good way. He rubbed his eyes; he’d been shedding far too many tears over the last few weeks, and they were sore. But who could blame him? Things were coming together in a way he could never have dared to hope for. 

He followed Salma back out into the bustle of the square, hoping Carr would like the house as much as he did. 

~~~

Carr

It had been a long time since Carr had been forced to endure the madness that came with a seasonal festival. 

The variety of choice and people had been a novelty for all of five minutes before she’d been ready to be done, but Resh and Orla had seemed happy enough, so she’d endured. The tightness around her eyes must’ve become noticeable at some point though, because Resh had sent Orla off to play with some of the other children before heading for an empty bench on the periphery of all the nonsense.

She took his offered hand as they sat, grateful for the reprieve.  

In the city, she’d been on nights for longer than she cared to remember presently. While she was a damned good pickpocket, Nykim’d had other ideas on how to utilize her particular skills, and she hadn’t complained. 

Market days were about as crazy as she could handle. Seasonal festivals were on a whole other level and lasted for days, besides. 

Resh squeezed her hand, and she swiveled her head, wondering if she’d missed something. 

But no, Orla was still playing by the fountain with the other children. They were all smiles and giggles as they splashed at one another. It might be midway through autumn by now, but it was still warm enough for such activities. Carr wondered if it even snowed this far north. She wouldn’t be sad if it didn’t. 

Spying nothing out of sorts, she turned her attention back to Resh. 

You okay? he asked. 

She shrugged, her eyes darting back out over the crowds. The bench they’d settled on to keep watch over Orla was out of the main square but still close enough that all the noise and activity was still very much in her face.    

Happy noise and excited activity. Although, that lady’s tone had gained a sharp edge while she haggled with one of the visiting merchants. Carr kept an eye on her, her body tensing. It took her a moment to realize Resh was squeezing her hand again. 

You aren’t on duty, you know, he said, his lips twisting in a wry grin. 

Carr grimaced. “Maybe it’d be better if I was. I can’t seem t’ stop lookin’ for trouble.” She frowned at the thought. “Y’know, I don’t think I’ve seen one pickpocket yet. Isn’t that strange?” 

Resh shook his head, disturbing the fall of hair across his brow, which exposed his scar. That doctor might be a total ass, but the cream he’d given Resh to help fade the burn’s angry appearance was doing a great job. She reached out to fix his hair anyway, knowing he wouldn’t want it on display. 

The smile he gave her in return had her stomach doing flip-flops. Her cheeks flushed, and she sat back with a thump, staring straight ahead. She didn’t realize Resh had released her until her bones protested how hard she was squeezing her hands in her lap. 

Forcibly, she unclenched them, then rubbed her sweaty palms on her pants. Mother’s cunt, she needed to get ahold of herself. 

It was fine, she told herself. She was allowed to like him. He wasn’t going to leave her. He wasn’t going to hurt her. 

He wasn’t going to leave her. He wasn’t going to hurt her. 

He wasn’t going to leave her. He wasn’t going to–

Resh’s shoulder bumped into hers, and she started. 

You want to get out of here? he asked, the wrinkle between his eyebrows betraying his concern. 

Oh gods, did she ever. But– She glanced over at the fountain, watching as his sister coaxed a flower to bloom to the evident delight of a younger child. “Orla’s having fun. I’ll be fine.” 

He gestured toward a large, dark-skinned man in uniform who seemed to be watching over the children. I’ll ask Uvellin to keep an eye on her, if you’ll give me a minute?

Carr nodded, supposing if she couldn’t trust the captain of Hallin’s guard to watch out for one child, then she had no business enlisting in said guard to begin with. Although, she was starting to think she’d be more suited as a consultant or something. Maybe a weapon’s trainer. Not the sword, but their skills with a dagger could definitely use some help. 

She kept an eye on Resh while her mind wandered, watching as he used a combination of gestures, hand sign, and his notebook to communicate with the guard captain. It had surprised both of them to learn that there was a common language one could use to speak with their hands and not their voice, but they were still learning, which explained why he was writing now. 

Uvellin clapped Resh’s shoulder, the big man staggering him a bit as their business concluded. Carr tried to keep her amusement to herself while Resh made his way back but knew she’d failed when he narrowed his eyes at her. 

He rubbed his shoulder, his lips quirking as he said, That man’s too strong for his own good.

Carr choked on a laugh. “He can’t help it. ‘Sides, that’s a pretty good quality for a guard t’ have.” 

Damn, that wasn’t something she’d ever expected to say about an authority figure.  

Shaking it off, she moved to follow Resh when he tilted his chin, asking if she was ready. They skirted the square instead of going straight through; Resh likely sensed in whatever way it was he had to read her that she couldn’t handle the press of bodies right now. 

It was probably stupid, considering they’d have to go all the way around to get back to the manor, but she appreciated his consideration nonetheless. 

But they were only halfway around when he led her through an alley that spilled out into a public garden in the residential district. 

She raised her eyebrows, stopping in her tracks. “What’s this?” 

Resh turned to face her. I’d like to show you something, if you’re up for it. The whole town must be in the square right now, so it should be pretty quiet back here. 

What could he possibly want to show her in the residential district? Her eyes darted around, taking in the neighborhood beyond the garden. It seemed like a nice place, but she hadn’t been back there yet. 

“Okay,” she said, but she refused his hand when he offered. Her hand hovered over her dagger while she followed him deeper into the streets. 

Gods, these houses were huge. Who needed two levels on a personal dwelling? There was plenty of space between them, with trees and hedges and fences to protect privacy. Every home seemed like its own mini village. 

Resh led her to a property on the end of one of the streets. Farmland stretched out in seeming perpetuity behind it, and she could see the edge of the Seleni Wood in the distance on the side. 

The house loomed above her, all wood and stone and intimidation. A porch wrapped around it, and her eye caught on a swing swaying in the light breeze. 

“Who are we visiting, Resh?” Carr asked, stifling her sigh. She didn’t really feel like more people right now, but he must think it was important if he’d brought her here. 

He shook his head. No one. I want to show you the house. 

Why? She didn’t ask, though, because he seemed excited, and she didn’t want to spoil that. Instead, she nodded and followed him into the house. 

All she could think about was how big it was as she walked through room after room after room. The house was fully furnished, but it didn’t appear to have been lived in for some time. She ran her finger through a fine layer of dust on one of the window sills, wondering why, why, why. 

Why did one need a sitting room and a living area and a dining space and not one, not two, not three, but four closed-off rooms that she supposed were sleeping rooms, although one was furnished with what looked like a crafting bench. 

She finally stopped in the final sleeping room on the ground floor, which had a larger bed than the others, and turned to Resh, who’d been silent all this time. 

What do you think? he asked after a moment. His body language was guarded, like he could tell her mind was spinning like a top and wasn’t sure what would come out of it.  

“I think… I don’t understand what’s happening…” She spun in a circle before facing him again. “Why are you showing me this place?” 

He fidgeted with one of his gloves, which he’d taken to wearing again when he’d gotten strong enough to venture out of the manor. I… Salma’s been taking me to look at available properties. And then this one came up– He spread his arms out. She showed it to me this morning, and I thought… 

“You want to buy this house?” Carr squeaked. Her head swiveled around with renewed interest until Resh whistled for her attention. 

Only if you like it. Well, and Orla, but I don’t think she’ll mind. 

“It’s so big, Resh,” she said, walking over to the doorway to peer out into the hall. “We can’t possibly need this much space.” She cringed when she realized what she’d said. “I mean, you. You can’t possibly need this much space.” 

Resh’s approaching footsteps seemed excessively loud in the resultant silence. Her heart jumped into her throat when they stopped, and it took a minute to convince her body to turn and face him. 

We, he said. You do remember the whole ‘I want to build a life with you’ speech, right? 

She leaned against the door, her knees feeling a little weak. “I didn’t, uh, wanna assume?” She had to clear her throat when he arched a brow. “We?”

He nodded emphatically. Always. 

She swallowed. He wouldn’t leave her. He wouldn’t hurt her. 

He loved her, and that was allowed to be a good thing. 

It was allowed. 

She was allowed…

“I’m still not marrying you,” she said with absolutely no thought.  

Fuck. She squeezed her eyes closed. What the fuck was the matter with her? 

Before she had time to call herself too many kinds of stupid, she heard Resh step forward. Carr braced herself, but nothing could’ve prepared her for when his hands cupped her face. Her eyes flew open; he never initiated any kind of touch… 

It wasn’t until he swiped his soft, leather-covered thumbs under her eyes that she realized she was crying. 

Okay, he said solemnly. 

She sniffed, horrified at her lack of control. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.” 

I know this is a lot, he said, stepping back to give her some space. 

She didn’t want it, though. She threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, probably squeezing too hard, but he didn’t seem to mind. His arms enveloped her, and she soaked in his warmth while she listened to the soothing ka-thump of his heart. 

He stood there without complaint, holding her, holding her, holding her, until she felt ready to emerge from her Resh cocoon. 

And when she finally regained the courage to look at him again, all he said was, You okay?

It was enough to make her eyes well up again, and she swiped at them angrily. This was ridiculous. 

I can keep looking, he said, concern written all over his features. If this is too big, too overwhelming, I’ll find something smaller. It probably won’t have a shower, though–

“A shower?” Her voice rose, and she spun, looking for the door–

Resh pointed out into the hall, and she ran, embracing the distraction for all it was worth. 

And it was worth a lot. 

She threw open the door to the bathing room, which happened to be between the two downstairs sleeping chambers, and stared at all the blue-tiled glory that lay within. 

In a daze, she walked inside and tried the tap on the sink. As if by magic, warm water poured out. She ran her fingers through the stream, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth.

Well, it was by magic, wasn’t it. She almost giggled at herself. 

Turning, she eyed the glass-enclosed shower before her attention settled on a raised, rectangular wall on the opposite side. It hit about mid-thigh for her when she approached, and when she looked in, she found it was deeper than the floor of the bathing room. 

“Why is there room for a small lake in here?” she asked, wonder tinging her voice. 

She ripped her eyes away from it to look at Resh, who was leaning against the doorframe. He just shrugged, a small smile tipping up the corner of his mouth. 

For the second time that day, the tenderness in his expression slammed into her. And instead of feeling warm and happy about it, her stupid heart thudded in her chest, each beat flooding her with fear. 

Carr sucked in a breath and sat on the lip of the bath, needing the support. She had been doing so well lately. But today, she’d been thinking about how she was allowed… allowed… 

Resh’s face blanked. 

“No,” she said, shaking her head. Her throat tightened–that was twice now since they’d come in that he’d needed to guard what he felt. 

Hesitantly, he took a step into the room. What’s wrong?

Her vision swam at his palpable concern. “I think…” She was allowed. “I think I might... love you.” 

She burst into tears.

Next

[magicaldogtoto]

Parallel Worlds Record Chapter Sixteen: I'm Sorry I Didn't Tell You Sooner

Rating: Teen

Genre: Magical Girl, Fantasy, Angst, Drama, Crossover

Word Count: Approx. 6,700 words

Summary: Yachiyo, Uwasa Tsuruno, Mifuyu, Claudine, and Amare, go off to see Glinda the Good Witch. But the road to the Sorceress's palace is lined with all kinds of wonder... and terror.

Author's Note: Thanks again to @celesticnova and @evatriceakiyama for proofreading this for me, as always!

[Also posted on AO3.]

***

[YACHIYO]

As soon as morning arrived, Yachiyo got out of bed and showered. Jellia had helped her pack a suitcase of clothes for the journey to come, while Yachiyo decided to keep wearing the green halter top and dress pants she had been given the day before.

When she was ready, Yachiyo headed down to the dining hall to meet the others. To her surprise, Amare was with them. Everyone was wearing the same green outfits that they had been given.

“Good morning, everyone,” she said when she saw them. The others responded in kind. 

Yachiyo turned to Amare. “Amare, I’m surprised you came down to eat with us.”

Amare shrugged. “Yeah, apparently there was concern that I was being too antisocial.” She shot a glance at Mifuyu, who looked away, looking like she wanted to shrink into herself.

Yachiyo noticed this. “Is everything okay, Mifuyu?” she asked as she took her seat.

“Everything’s just fine,” the white-haired girl responded. “Just nervous about what lies ahead.”

“If you’re nervous,” Amare said quickly, “you can go back to Japan. I’ve grown up in the Quadling Country all my life, and can help Yachiyo around.”

Mifuyu shook her head. “No, it’s fine… I’ll get over it. I promised to help, after all.”

Yachiyo thought she could sense some tension between the two. No one really spoke while they began to partake of the food left for them (a hearty meal of eggs and bacon with some finely toasted bread, along with all kinds of ripe fruits). Before she could say anything, Claudine spoke up.

“Tell me, Amare,” the blonde said, “what’s the Quadling Country like? For that matter, what’s Glinda’s palace like?”

Amare swallowed a slice of apple and looked at Claudine. “It’s very different from the Emerald City, or even Kamihama or Tokyo. There aren’t really any big cities there. But almost everything there is red–the homes, the fences, the buildings… the clothing, you name it.” She thought a bit, before continuing. “The palace is pretty big, too. It’s older than the Emerald City.”

“The only castle I’ve ever been to is the one in Kamihama,” Tsuruno asked, nibbling on a strip of bacon. “Is it… really full of only girls?”

Amare nodded. “It is. And many of them are pretty… like my friend Aliss.”

“Aliss?” Yachiyo asked.

“We trained a lot together. She’s… very popular.” She blushed. “The other Yachiyo was very popular there, too. I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you too, Yachiyo.

“Sounds like we’ll have a lot of interesting adventures when we get there,” Yachiyo commented, using her butter knife to slice through her egg. “The journey there isn’t dangerous, is it?”

“It shouldn’t be. We just have to avoid the road that leads to the more dangerous parts of the Quadling Country, the one that has monsters and the like. It shouldn’t be too hard to pull off.” Amare frowned. “What we should be concerned about are the Witches.”

“What are Witches like in Oz?” Claudine asked.

“Just like the ones back home,” Amare replied. “We just need to be ready whenever we run into one. And without the Automatic Purification System, we have to make sure we have Grief Seeds to purify our Soul Gems.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Uwasa Tsuruno said, puffing her chest. “It’ll take a lot to make the Mightiest Uwasa turn into a Witch!”

Claudine made a face. “Must you be so loud this early in the morning?”

Tsuruno turned to her, her magenta eyes fired up. “The Mightiest people are always full of energy as soon as the sun rises!”

“Well, in any case,” Claudine said, patiently, “I’m pretty good at hunting Witches. Next to Maya Tendou, I’m probably the best Magical Girl in Tokyo!”

“Maybe in Tokyo,” Tsuruno said. “But we’re in a new country! One that few people outside of it knows exists!  Not to mention that Magical Girls are common knowledge here! It’s the perfect opportunity for the Mightiest Uwasa to prove herself to the people!”

Yachiyo cleared her throat. “In any case, it helps for all of us to be ready to fight. We are Magical Girls, after all.”

“Right,” Amare said.

They continued their meal, and were just about done, when Ozma entered the hall. She was already dressed for the day, wearing a silky gown and holding her staff in her right hand. Her circlet around her head was nicely polished for the new day.

“I trust you all found your breakfast a good one?” the dainty princess asked.

“We did, thank you,” Yachiyo said.

Amare looked around. “Where’s Dorothy?” she asked.

“Dorothy likes to go hunting for Witches in the morning,” Ozma explained. “A lot of Magical Girls offered to give her some Grief Seeds, but she wanted to do things the way others have to. To better understand what it means to be a Magical Girl.”

“I see…” Amare said. “You must worry about her, going out to fight Witches and all that…”

Ozma looked aside. “I do,” she said. “I worry about her a lot. Sometimes I go hunting with her, too.” She straightened herself up. “But if I know Dorothy, I know she’ll be fine. Even before she made her contract, she was already a very brave girl.”

“It must be nice,” Mifuyu said softly, “to have someone worry about you…” She stared idly at the glass of orange juice in her hand as she spoke.

Yachiyo glanced at her. Ozma for her part just smiled.

“It is,” she said. “I know Dorothy worries about me, too.”

While they had talked, there was a sound like someone wearing metal boots walking up to the door to the hall. Everyone turned as the sound finally got louder, and finally what looked like a round man in armor entered the room.

“There you are, Prin-cess,” the man said in a stilted, emotionless voice as he walked towards the table. “I was loo-king all o-ver for you.”

Ozma turned and smiled. “Oh, hello, Tik-Tok.”

“Whoa, is that a robot?!” Tsuruno asked, jaw dropping.

Up close, Yachiyo could see that the round man was indeed a mechanical man. He had a round body, made of burnished copper. His arms and legs were jointed and hinged, with metal caps over them.

Tik-Tok took off his metal cap and bowed to the girls. “I am a me-chan-i-cal man built by Smith and Tinker a cen-tu-ry a-go in the Land of Ev. I have been li-ving with Oz-ma and Doro-thy for a very long time.”

“You sure do look like you’re a century old,” Claudine said.

“Hey, that’s rude!” Tsuruno said. “He’s a person, too!”

“Oh don’t worry,” Ozma said. “Tik-Tok is meant to run perfectly for a millennia. He thinks, speaks, and does everything except live.”

“I am com-for-ta-ble in not be-ing a-live,” the mechanical man said without a beat.

“Oh… I see.” Tsuruno settled back into her seat, though Yachiyo thought she looked rather upset.

“I came to tell Your High-ness,” Tik-Tok went on, “that the Nome King has a-greed to speak to you. He will be free to-mor-row.”

“Thank you, Tik-Tok,” Ozma said. The mechanical man bowed once more and made his way out of the room.

“Is this about the shield?” Yachiyo asked.

Ozma nodded. “I’ll be able to speak to him from the safety of the palace,” she said. “I’ve learned a few magical arts to help me accomplish that. Of course I won’t tell him anything about the true nature of the shield, but hopefully we can at least talk things through without any threats of conflict.”

“Hopefully,” Yachiyo said. “Thank you… for everything.”

Ozma smiled. “It’s no problem. Now, if you’re all done eating, we can get you all on your way to Glinda’s palace.”

Yachiyo nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. Will we be traveling by horse?”

“Better than that,” Ozma said, grinning. “You’ll be traveling by Sawhorse!”

Yachiyo raised an eyebrow. “Sawhorse?”

***

The Sawhorse was waiting for them out by the Southern Gate when they had left the dining hall. It was a log that stood up on four sticks shod with gold at the ends. On one end of the log was a branch that gave off the impression of a tail, while the other end had a gash through it that looked like an open mouth. On top of the mouth were two knots that resembled eyes, and a pair of wooden horse ears.

“This is the Sawhorse?” Yachiyo asked, looking it over.

“Sure am,” came the voice from the log’s mouth, causing the girls to all jump in surprise.

“I-it talked!” Tsuruno said.

“Of course I talked,” the Sawhorse said. “I’m a magical horse, after all.” He trotted close to them, his shod feet clicking along the stone road. “And between you and me, I’m a lot stronger and faster than those other, flesh-and-blood horses!”

“Oh, well, that’s great!” Tsuruno said, smiling.

Ozma petted the Sawhorse on its wooden head. “The Sawhorse is one of my oldest companions,” she said. “He was the second creature to be animated by the Powder of Life.”

“The second?” Mifuyu asked. “Who was the first?”

“My son, Jack Pumpkinhead.”

“You’re a mom?!” Claudine exclaimed.

“I’ve had a very eventful life, Ms. Saijou.”

Soon the Sawhorse was attached to a green carriage which was then loaded with the girls’ belongings.

“I call the front!” Tsuruno exclaimed, scrambling towards the carriage.

Yachiyo grabbed her by the arm. “I think Amare should sit in the front, since she knows the South more than any of us.”

Tsuruno pouted. “Fine,” she said, getting into the left side of the back. Claudine and Mifuyu got in afterwards, with Claudine in the middle and Mifuyu to the right side of the carriage.

Yachiyo stepped in and took her seat to the left in the front. She glanced to the side, anticipating Amare. Outside, she saw Ozma and Amare hugging each other. It was as if they were saying goodbye, but there was something more to it. After hugging they held each other for a moment, and Ozma appeared to be saying something to Amare. Amare for her part wiped a couple tears from her eyes before nodding and getting in.

“Amare?” Yachiyo asked when Amare sat down.

“Huh?” Amare turned to her.

“... Never mind.”

Ozma walked up to Yachiyo from outside. “Hopefully you don’t run into any Witches on the way there,” she said. “You’ll be there by this afternoon; the Sawhorse is pretty fast. I’ve already told Glinda you were coming, too”

“Thank you, Ozma,” Yachiyo said. “For everything.”

Ozma smiled. “Tell Glinda I said hi when you get there. I’ll get your shield back in no time.”

Soon the Sawhorse began trotting along the road towards the gate, Yachiyo and the others waving and saying goodbye to her.

They traveled through the streets of the Emerald City. Since it was still morning, the sun was rising up from the East, which meant that there were still a few cool, shadowy places among the green buildings of glass and metal. People were already about, heading to work, school, or elsewhere. Nobody noticed the carriage, though, for it was green just like the others. Amare explained to Yachiyo that the Sawhorse was a common sight in Oz that people didn’t pay it much heed nowadays.

“A hundred years ago he was something,” she added. “But now people see him every day in the city.”

Soon they were out of the Southern Gate. They passed by a few suburban neighborhoods that lay just outside of the city walls. These, Amare explained, had been built more recently, since the city’s population was beginning to expand. They passed more green, dome-shaped homes, along with stores and schools. A few had highlights that seemed to indicate the region of origin for the people who lived or owned them–blue for Munchkins, Red for Quadlings, Purple for Gillikins, and Yellow for Winkies.

Eventually they passed the last group of houses, and were now in the wide country of Oz. All around them were fields of green with all sorts of bright flowers growing. There were hills now and then, but the whole area was a peaceful, quiet place. In the distance, Yachiyo saw what looked like a train traveling at a great speed in the distance.

“That’s the Oz Rapid Transit System,” Amare said. “It uses magnetic levitation to travel at high speeds around the country.”

“I want to get a better look at it!” Tsuruno said, eagerly trying to lean towards the right side, where the train had been spotted.

“Hey, stop squishing me!” Claudine protested.

Tsuruno immediately drew back, contenting herself with a far off look. Mifuyu for her part just kept staring out the window.

“Enjoying the scenery, Mifuyu?” Yachiyo asked.

Mifuyu nodded. “It’s so pretty…”

“It almost reminds me of the countryside in France,” Claudine said, looking around.

Since it was going to be a fairly long trip, Tsuruno had made sure to pack snacks for everyone. They dug in as the Sawhorse trotted along tirelessly further South. Amare did her best to explain various things to the visitors, and tell them about different locations and the stories they had, or the people who lived there. She pointed out the walled section that was the home to Miss Cuttenclip, a girl who had remained young, and lived as the sole human in a community of living paper-dolls that she cut individually. In another section they passed by another high wall of white marble, which Amare explained was the town of Bunnybury. Once Bunnybury had been under Glinda’s rule, but had since declared independence and was a happy community of albino bunnies.

“They should be celebrating their independence soon,” Amare added. “It’s a pretty big celebration… well, big for a bunny rabbit, that is.”

Unlike other horses, the Sawhorse never got tired; if it wished, it could have probably kept walking forever, until the very end of time. It never wanted food, nor drink, nor even to relieve itself. “And that,” the Sawhorse explained when the party had to go to a rest stop for a bathroom break, “is why I am superior to all flesh-and-blood horses!”

“It doesn’t bother you to be a copy of a horse?” Tsuruno asked.

The Sawhorse shook his head; which, being a single log, consisted of him moving his body left and right. “Not at all! I do not care what others think about me compared to flesh-and-blood horses!”

Tsuruno seemed deep in thought as Yachiyo walked by them to get into the carriage. When they had all reconvened, they began trotting along once more. By now it was past noon, and the sun was firmly up in the blue sky.

They kept going through fields and hills, until they suddenly arrived at a great forest. On and on the Sawhorse went, trees passing the carriage by as they continued further South. As they traveled on, a few of the trees seemed to wave their branches at them.

“Those trees guard the forest and the road leading to the South,” Amare explained. “They’re kind of like guards. But they won’t cause us any trouble.”

After that they came to a high wall that was pure white, and passed through a gate into a city that was not like anything that Yachiyo had ever seen before. The entire ground was smooth and white porcelain, and scattered around were small homes of porcelain, too. The people were porcelain dolls that were dressed as shepherds and shepherdesses, milk maids and jesters, and a few princes and princesses. All walked around with ease like any other humanoid creature.

“Whoa, everything’s alive here!” Tsuruno exclaimed.

“Like something out of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale,” Mifuyu commented softly.

“I wonder if we could take some home,” Claudine wondered out loud as she looked at a porcelain girl with blue eyes, short porcelain hair, and a blue dress.

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Amare said. “Anyone who gets taken out of Oz from here will immediately freeze up and be just like any other porcelain doll. It’s best we leave them be.”

That quelled any thoughts of taking them home. Soon they were out through the other side of the white wall and entering another forest. In here all kinds of animals watched them drive by, from small toads to enormous elephants with large tusks.

“We’re definitely not in Japan anymore,” Claudine said. By now, Tsuruno had fallen asleep, and was snoring loudly on the blonde girl’s shoulder, much to her apparent annoyance.

Once they passed that, they were back in open fields, with a steep hill to the left side.

By now Amare wasn’t pointing things out to them anymore. Instead, she seemed deep in thought, fidgeting in place.

Yachiyo noticed. “Is everything alright, Amare?”

Amare stopped fidgeting. “Everything’s just fine.” She looked out the carriage, about Southwest.

“My home is in that direction,” she said after a few seconds. “I grew up on a farm near the Great Waterfall. My parents are probably working right now.”

Yachiyo leaned closer, trying to get a look. “What was that like?”

Amare shrugged. “Boring. Nothing like living in Kamihama. When I finished high school I started working at Glinda’s palace. I was just a common guard, but my mom was happy. She’d worked there too, before she married my dad.”

“If we’re here in the Quadling Country, you should go and pay your parents a visit.”

Amare made a pained expression. “I’m not sure if I should.”

Yachiyo frowned. “Why not? Kyubey said they’d been having a hard time since you left. Don’t you want to tell them how you’re doing?”

Amare looked at her feet. “Trust me, Yachiyo,” she said. “They don’t want to see me. I know they don’t.”

“Really?” Yachiyo asked. “Did something happen?”

Amare glanced at the back, where Mifuyu was sitting. Out of the corner of her eye, Yachiyo saw Mifuyu turn a bit more towards the window.

“... It’s complicated.”

“Come on, it can’t be that bad,” Yachiyo said. “You helped save Oz, didn’t you?”

“Y-yeah…” Amare took a deep breath. The countryside went by for a few more seconds.

“Yachiyo,” she began, “there’s something else I should have told you earlier…”

Suddenly the carriage came to a halting stop, making everybody jump.

“Whoa!” Tsuruno cried out, waking up. “What happened?! Where are we?!”

“Too. Loud,” Claudine said groggily, for she herself had nodded off. Mifuyu herself looked up.

Yachiyo looked out the carriage at the Sawhorse. “Why did you stop?” she called out to him.

The Sawhorse remained steadfast. “Our path is blocked,” he said.

“Blocked?” Yachiyo asked. “Blocked by what?”

“A soldier from Glinda the Good Witch’s palace.”

Amare was suddenly alert. “What?” She looked outside, and Yachiyo followed her lead.

There, standing a short distance from them in the shadow of a tree, was a girl who looked around their age, with pale skin and dark hair tied into a low ponytail. She was wearing a uniform with a red coat and gold trim, and held a silver sword in her right hand.

Amare spoke up first. “Tara?”

Yachiyo turned to her. “You know her?”

Amare nodded. “We trained together. I was her… her senior.” She got off of the carriage and began working on the dirt road. Her footsteps kicked up dirt.

“Something’s not right,” Claudine said. “Why is she out here by herself?”

“Maybe she’s on patrol…?” Mifuyu offered.

“Or maybe she’s gone out to train on her own,” Tsuruno suggested.

Yachiyo got up from her seat and headed out of the carriage, following Amare. Something about this whole thing did feel strange to her.

By now Amare had walked right up to the girl named Tara. Tara herself remained motionless.

“Amare, what’s going…?” Before Yachiyo could finish her words, Amare spoke up.

“Tara?” Amare asked. “What are you doing out here?”

For a moment, nothing happened. Tara remained still, but her eyes didn’t seem to focus on Amare. They seemed to simply be taking in everything, and nothing. Her pale face seemed to have been tanned by the sunlight.

Amare reached her hand out towards her. “Tara…?”

Immediately the other girl took her sword and swung it at Amare. The dark-haired Magical Girl leaped back, the blade barely missing her. Amare landed some distance away.

Tara advanced on her, sword raised. In that instant, Yachiyo transformed and threw her halberd at the blade, knocking it out of the girl’s hands. Amare immediately got back up.

“Amare!” Yachiyo ran to her side. “What’s going on…?”

“S-she attacked me…” Amare said, her voice shaking.

Yachiyo kept her eyes on Tara. “Why would she attack you? Didn’t you work together before?”

She glanced at Amare. The dark-haired girl had what could only be described as a guilty look on her face. “Yachiyo…” she began, her eyes wandering towards Tara.

Amare took a step back. “There’s more of them?”

“What?” Yachiyo looked.

Four more girls in uniform appeared from behind a hill to the side. They stood on either side of Tara. All wore the same red uniform with gold braid, and wielded silver swords of their own.

“What’s going on here?” Yachiyo asked, gripping her halberd. “Is this an ambush?”

Immediately the other girls let out a cry and charged at them. Immediately, Amare transformed and summoned a length of chain, twirling it and then throwing it at the girls. Instantly the chain wrapped around the five of them, tying them up.

“That should hold them for now…” Amare said. There was a concerned look on her face.

As if on cue, Claudine, Mifuyu, and Tsuruno all leaped out of the carriage, transforming and pulling out their weapons as well.

“What’s going on here?!” Tsuruno asked when they caught up to them.

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Yachiyo said.

“Ozma said that Glinda knew we were coming,” Claudine said. “They should have known it was us.”

Yachiyo walked closer to the bound soldiers. They threw curses at her and struggled in their bindings. She glanced at Tara.

Her eyes landed on the strange marking on it.

“Her neck!” she cried out to the others. “It has a Witch’s Kiss!”

“What?” Amare walked next to her, as did the others.

“Hey, there’s a kiss on this one, too!” Claudine said. “On her cheek!”

“Then a Witch must be close by,” Mifuyu said, looking around.

Amare was looking around, too. “Let’s go find that Witch.”

Leaving the Sawhorse behind, and the soldier girls still struggling to free themselves, the group followed Amare as she used her Soul Gem to pick up the Witch’s magic. They walked off of the beaten path and found themselves walking amongst tall blades of grass, the sound of a brook flowing not too far away from them. In the distance one could make out buildings painted red, and a few bridges. It was a peaceful looking place, so peaceful Yachiyo almost couldn’t believe that there had been a war between Magical Girls here not so long ago.

Soon Amare picked something up. “It’s close by,” she said. “Follow me.”

It took them a few paces, before they found the entrance to the Labyrinth. It was a holographic image showing what looked like a box with eyes peeking out from the lid.

“Alright,” Claudine said, drawing her sword. “Don’t worry, I can handle this Witch easily”

“Who says it’s going to be you?” Tsuruno said. “When it comes to being mighty, I’m the best there is! I’ll handle this Witch, don’t worry, Master.”

“Maybe in Kamihama,” Claudine said. “But in Tokyo, I’m second to my girlfriend. There’s no one else above me!”

Tsuruno smiled smugly. “We’ll see about that.”

Yachiyo rolled her eyes and walked towards the entrance. She turned back and noticed that one member of their party hadn’t moved on, yet.

“Mifuyu,” Yachiyo said, “aren’t you coming?”

Mifuyu looked at the entrance. “Maybe it’s best if I stay behind,” she said quietly.

“Why?” Yachiyo turned so her whole body faced her. “If all of us go in and work as a team, we can defeat this Witch in no time.”

Mifuyu hesitated. “I’m not sure if I can contribute much,” she said. “You know me, I’m weak. When that Witch attacked us while you and Morita-san fought Oriko Mikuni and Kirika Kure, I barely pitched in.”

“She’s right,” Claudine said. “If it hadn’t been for me, she would have been Witch food.”

Yachiyo shot the blonde a brief glare, before turning back to Mifuyu, her eyes softening. “Look,” she said. “I think you’re underestimating what you can do. Your magic is valuable, and the Mifuyu in my world helped me out of a lot of scrapes. I’m sure you did the same for the Yachiyo of this one.”

Mifuyu shrugged. “I guess…”

“Come on,” Amare said curtly. “The sooner we get in, the sooner we can get back on the road. Let Mifuyu stay behind if she wants.”

That seemed to do it. “I’ll come,” Mifuyu said hastily.

Yachiyo wanted to ask if she really wanted to, but Amare soon stepped into the Labyrinth, and so she followed right behind her, the others doing the same.

The beautiful fields and hills of the Quadling Country disappeared, and in their place was a black void, and all around them were large, colorful blocks that formed all sorts of buildings and homes, as well as walls that limited their mobility. A few of the blocks had big symbols of Witch runes on them.

“The Witch has to be at the end of this pathway,” Yachiyo said.

“Does anybody hear that stomping noise…?” Amare asked, holding up her chain.

The noise in question sounded like a dozen or so feet marching in step, like an army regiment. It got louder and louder, until a dozen human-sized tin soldiers appeared. They were dressed in European military uniform from about a century or more ago, tin coats of red and tin pants of blue, with tall tin hats and metal swords by their sides.

“Leave this to me,” Claudine said, drawing her sword once more. Before anyone had time to protest, the blonde had lunged at the wave of soldiers, swinging her sword in all directions. She  was running as fast as she could, her coat dangling in the wind. She hacked and slashed at the first wave, cutting them down, before going after the second one. One she knocked down and placed her hand on; Yachiyo recognized it as the same thing she did to her before. She was taking some of the Familiar’s energy, before going back to fighting with the strength she stole.

“Well, we can’t just leave her alone to fight them all…!” Tsuruno said, leaping into the fray. Her fans crackled with electricity, and she started swatting soldiers left and right.

“Hey! Watch where you point that thing…” Claudine said. Meanwhile, Yachiyo summoned a few halberds to pierce the remaining ones, while Mifuyu threw her chakram and Amare knocked them aside with her flail. Soon they cleared the pathway and went on running.

“I told you,” Tsuruno said as they ran, “you don’t have to worry when you have the Mightiest Uwasa around!”

“Hey, I knocked that first row out with no problem,” Claudine said. “Tokyo Witches are no slouch, you know.”

“You two, this isn’t the time to argue,” Amare said. Mifuyu remained quiet, while Yachiyo looked ahead, determined to reach the center.

As they ran, more tin soldiers got in their way. The girls made short work of all of them, even if it seemed like Claudine and Tsuruno were doing their best to one-up each other, while forgetting the other three. The path twisted this way and that, and they took a while to turn every corner of colorful block walls.

“We should be at the end by now…” Yachiyo said, just as they turned and entered an open space.

Before them was a huge castle, though it looked to be made of cardboard. In front of it was a large mirror that simulated a lake, with miniature swans moving around. Trees lined around the lake, too. In the center of the castle, in the open drawbridge, stood a figure that looked like a ballerina doll, balanced on one leg. She twirled around slowly, before facing the group. Her eyes were without emotion, like a regular doll.

“That must be the Witch!” Tsuruno said. She ran across the lake, using her fans to swat the swans out of the way. With a surge of electricity, she sent a shock at the ballerina, causing her to spasm as she was instantly fried to a crisp, the only thing remaining being her spangle, which was charred.

Tsuruno exhaled proudly, a satisfied smile on her face. “There! One less Witch thanks to the Mightiest Uwasa!”

The group caught up to her, looking around.

“So, where’s the Grief Seed?” Claudine asked, looking around, sword still in hand.

“It has to be around here…” Tsuruno looked around, then paused. “Hey, wait a minute…”

“If there isn’t a Grief Seed, then that couldn’t have been the Witch,” Yachiyo said. “The Labyrinth should have faded by now, too.”

“Something’s wrong here…” Mifuyu said, holding her chakram close to her.

Yachiyo scanned the area, turning towards the castle. The drawbridge remained open, like a mouth yawning. She found herself staring at the inky darkness.

“Wait…”

“Yachiyo…?” Amare began to ask.

“The Witch! It’s in there…!”

Soon the whole ground shook, causing the group to lose balance. The castle walls fell, like they were made of cardboard. Up from the ground rose up a giant box, which then opened up, revealing a gargantuan monster. It was a puppet the size of a seven-story building, its body and arms covered in black fur, the top of its head all a tangle of hair. It grimaced at them, showing off its dozens of sharp teeth, and its two round eyes seem to bulge out of its monkey-like head. It opened its mouth and let out a wild screech that made Yachiyo think her ears would pop.

Yachiyo stood straight back up and pointed her halberd. “Now that looks more like a proper Witch.”

“I knew that ballerina couldn’t have been the Witch,” Claudine said, casting a disdainful look at Tsuruno.

Tsuruno pouted. “How was I supposed to know…?”

With a giant hand, the Witch swatted them to the side. They all went flying into the trees, Yachiyo crying out as she hit a trunk. She took a moment to compose herself.

“Come on, we need to defeat it,” she said.

“I’ll take the head!” Claudine cried out, running towards the Witch and leaping into the air, sword in hand.

“I got it!” Tsuruno cried out, running out before jumping up in front of Claudine. It seemed she calculated her jump wrong, for the two of them ended up colliding into each other, losing momentum and falling to the ground.

Yachiyo ran up to them. “Are you two okay?!”

Claudine groaned and got back up. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “No thanks to her.”

The Witch roared at them, and Yachiyo sent some halberds in its direction, trying to take it out.

The Witch made an annoyed sound as the weapons struck it, sinking back into its box. The lid shut firmly. No matter what Yachiyo did, the creature didn’t emerge. 

“Hold on,” she said after throwing her fifth halberd. “It has to come up sometime…”

She hadn’t finished the sentence when the Witch emerged once more, reaching out with its hand. Yachiyo braced herself for an attack, only to see the Witch pass over her, its hand grabbing onto Mifuyu instead.

Mifuyu let out a cry of shock, grunting as she tried to break free.

“Mifuyu!” Yachiyo ran at her, only to be assaulted by the miniature swans from before, trying to peck her with their beaks. More swans descended, covering Claudine, Tsuruno, and even Amare. They did their best to fight back, but it seemed it only made more come at them.

Mifuyu cried out as the Witch tightened its grip on her.

Yachiyo didn’t give up trying to break through the crowd of swans all around her. “Mifuyu! Use your weapon! You can break free and then attack the Witch!”

Mifuyu seemed to be struggling. “I… I can’t! It’s too strong; I’m sorry, Yacchan!”

“What?! You’re not just giving up, are you?!”

Mifuyu looked at her, tears forming in her eyes. “I’m not as strong as you are, Yacchan… you, or the Yacchan from this world. I can barely keep up with all of you now… I’m sorry…!”

She cried out once more, and Yachiyo burst through some of the Familiars, trying to reach her.

“Hold on, Mifuyu! I’m coming…!”

She was about to run towards her, when something unexpected happened. An arrow of light appeared and struck the Witch in the face, stunning it.

“What was that…?” Yachiyo asked. She looked in the direction the arrow came from.

A figure was flying in the air, straight at them. It was a girl, with wings like a dragonfly and wearing a green leotard with a short, silk skirt that showed off her pale legs and arms. In her arm was a bow whose string she pulled back, firing an arrow of light at the Witch and striking it square in the face. Screaming in pain, the Witch loosened its grip on Mifuyu, dropping her to the ground.

The girl landed beside Yachiyo and the group, her green shoes alighting on the mirror lake. Her platinum blonde hair was as long as Yachiyo’s.

“Guess it wasn’t expecting an attack from above,” the girl with wings said.

“W-who are you…?” Yachiyo asked.

The girl turned and smiled at her; her eyes were blue, but a brighter blue than Yachiyo’s. “I’m Kira; I’m a Magical Girl of Oz.”

Before Yachiyo could say more, the girl fired another volley of arrows at the Witch. The Witch groaned in agony, before retreating back into its hiding space.

“It went back inside,” Yachiyo said.

Kira smirked. “Don’t worry, I let this Witch get away once. I won’t let it get away again. I brought backup this time.”

By now Tsuruno and Claudine had fought back the other swans and rushed over to them.

“Hey,” Tsuruno said. “Is something on fire?”

Before their very eyes the castle began to be engulfed in flames. Mifuyu, who had fallen beside it, suddenly got up and scrambled away from the castle towards them. The entire Labyrinth became warm, and the smell of ash was evident as black smoke appeared.

As the Witch roared inside its box, another Magical Girl ran out from behind it.

“Neseel!” Kira called out. “Over here!”

The girl ran closer, and Yachiyo could see that she was a girl around Felicia’s age, with brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair. She was wearing a red coat with white trim and a knee-length skirt. On her chest was the stylized embroidering of a lion’s face, and behind her was a small lion’s tail with a red bow. She ran as fast as her red shoes could take her, and in her right hand was a sword aglow with red flame.

She must have run in while we were distracted by the one with wings, Yachiyo figured.

As soon as the girl named Neseel saw Yachiyo, she stopped in her tracks. “Yachiyo?” she asked. She glanced at the rest of the group. “Wait, Amare…?!”

“H-hey, Neseel…” Amare said. There was familiarity in her eyes. Any other conversation, however, was interrupted when the Witch burst from the box once more, writhing in agony despite being planted in place.

The winged girl turned to Neseel. “All yours,” she said.

Neseel nodded, before holding her sword before her. The red glow burned brighter, and soon a swirling shot of flame shot out of it, headed straight for the Witch. The behemoth was incinerated all at once, its body fading into nothing as it succumbed to the girl’s attack.

Soon the Witch had vanished, and along with it, the Labyrinth faded into the Quadling countryside once more. Yachiyo, Amare, and the others all breathed a sigh of relief that it was over, even de-transforming back into their civilian outfits.

The winged Magical Girl walked up and picked the Grief Seed from off of the ground. “Here,” she said, tossing it to Neseel. “You deserve it.”

Neseel caught it. “Thanks, Kira,” she said, smiling.

She turned her attention to Amare. “Amare,” Neseel began, “is that really you…?”

Amare looked aside. “It is…” she said.

Yachiyo looked on, watching as Neseel ran up and hugged Amare.

“Amare!” the younger girl cried out in joy. “It’s been so long… Aliss and my big sister have been wondering if you were ever coming back.”

“Y-yeah…” Amare said. “Well, I’m here now…”

Kira approached Amare. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” she said. “Neseel has told me all about you.”

“She has, has she?” Amare asked.

Kira turned to Yachiyo. “And you’re Yachiyo Nanami,” she said. “You helped save Princess Ozma and our home!”

Yachiyo nervously grabbed her arm. “About that,” she said, “it’s kind of a long story…”

Before she said more, Amare spoke up again. “What are you two doing out here?” she asked Neseel.

The younger girl’s face became more serious. “Glinda’s spies gave a report earlier,” she said. “They say that the survivors of Epithene’s army have been spotted, moving about. Glinda was concerned that they might try to sneak back into Oz.”

“No…” Amare’s face turned pale. “Have they been spotted?”

Neseel shook her head. “Not yet. They were last seen outside of Oz, in the Land of Ix.”

“Is…” Amare lowered her voice. “Is Marya among them?”

Neseel paused for a moment. “Someone said they spotted a Magical Girl who looks just like her.”

Amare’s face turned pale.

“Who’s Marya?” Yachiyo asked.

Amare turned to her. “Epithene’s right-hand Magical Girl. She’s a complete sadist, she’s the one who tortured me while I was their prisoner.”

Yachiyo winced. “Ouch. Speaking of soldiers, we should check on the ones we found earlier…”

Amare seemed to hesitate, before nodding. “... Sure.”

By now the soldiers had stopped struggling and were just sitting around. Amare and Yachiyo made it to them ahead of the others.

“Amare, let them go,” Yachiyo said.

Amare looked at the group before them. Tara looked up at her.

“Amare…?” she asked, confusion in her voice and on her face.

“Hey.” Amare waved her hand and the chains binding them disappeared in a flash of purple light.

The soldiers got up and stretched a bit. They turned to the Magical Girls who had found them.

“Are you all feeling better…?” Yachiyo began to ask, before one of the soldiers next to Tara suddenly tackled Amare to the ground.

Amare cried out as the girl pinned her face first to the ground, immediately making a grab for her Soul Gem ring. She held it up as soon as she had yanked it from Amare’s finger.

“I got it!” she cried out, tossing it to another girl. Tara seemed unsure of what to do, even as the other girls began tying Amare’s wrists behind her back.

“Wait a minute!” Yachiyo said, stepping forward. “Don’t you recognize Amare?”

The soldier on top of Amare glared at her. “Of course I do,” she said. The others all nodded.

Yachiyo didn’t avert her gaze. “Then why are you treating her like this?”

The girl frowned. “Glinda told us to be wary of any girls who helped Epithene take over Oz during the Magical Girl War.”

“But Amare helped save Oz! She told me so herself!”

The girls all looked at each other, confused. The one on top of Amare turned back to Yachiyo.

“Amare saved Oz alright…” she said.

“Wait,” Amare said weakly, “let me tell her…”

“But only after she helped Epithene conquer it in the first place!” the girl finished.

Amare had a pained expression on her face. Yachiyo felt like someone had dunked water on her. She turned to the dark-haired Magical Girl.

“Amare,” she said, “is this… is this true…?”

Amare couldn’t meet her eyes. “I'm sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

[kohanayaki]

.:Time and Time Again:. (Marauders Era x Reader) Ch 6

You continue the tale of how you, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter became known as The Marauders.

LINKS:   CH 1   CH 2    CH 3   CH 4   CH 5   CH 6   CH 7   CH 8

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Ch 6 .:The Making of the Marauders:.

~Previously~

“That was when they were first starting to put the map together,” you continued, “but that wasn't even the biggest secret they had. Of course, I wouldn't find out about that for another year. . .”

“So at this point I knew that they were hiding something else, but not what it was,” you told Harry, continuing on with your story, “But one night we had planned to meet up and use the invisibility cloak to map out the underground tunnels that ran through the storage cellars, and they never showed up. So I snuck into the Gryffindor common room through the secret passage and found their dorm completely empty. But what was there was our work in progress map. . .”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   1975  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This isn't going to work,” Peter said flatly, watching James and Sirius draw a large circle in chalk on the floor of the Shrieking Shack.

“Not with that attitude it's not,” James said, “if there's a way we can speed up this process I'm willing to give it a go. I don't know how long I can go on with this bloody leaf in my mouth.”

“Is this even real?” Peter sighed, “it looks like what muggles think magic is.”

“It's real all right,” Sirius said, “old, but real. I mean, Transfiguration was founded on the principles of magic circles! I'm not really sure what these runes on the side mean, but it's probably not important.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Peter retorted, “Remus, back me up here.”

He turned towards Lupin, but he had long since dozed off, arms crossed as he leaned against one of the nearly decaying walls in the corner. Peter sighed, taking a piece of paper from the ground and crumpling it into a ball before promptly throwing it in the sleeping boy's face. Lupin jolted awake, realizing what had happened and chucking the paper back at Peter in annoyance.

“Not a moment of peace,” he huffed under his breath.

“Sounds awfully boring,” James said over his shoulder.

“Blimey, what time is it?” Remus said, panicked as he noticed the light had completely gone from the sky, “It's long past sundown.”

“So?” Sirius shrugged.

“So, we told (Y/n) we'd meet them to work on the map at dusk,” Remus said, “They're probably looking for us right now!”

“Oh, they are,” you announced your presence, an unimpressed look on your face as they jumped, whipping around to look at you.

“(Y-Y/n)!” Sirius stuttered, “how did you—”

You held up the map, raising a brow at the four guilty looking boys.

“Right. . .”

“You snuck into our rooms?!” James said incredulously as he saw the map, which he was sure he had left on his bedside table, in your hands.

“You've snuck into my shower before, Potter,” you glared lightly at him.

“Point taken.”

“Okay, look, I'm sorry we didn't show tonight, and I know we've been acting weird,” Sirius sighed, “the truth is—”

“Lupin's a werewolf.” 

The color drained from Remus' face, slightly mortified that you already knew.

“Come on, guys,” you said, “the claw marks and you lot disappearing whenever there's a full moon kind of gave it away. You aren't exactly subtle about it.”

You could sense the intense nervousness in the room, especially from Remus. Ok, so maybe coming right out with it wasn't the best course of action.

“Look,” you said, “if you're worried about anyone else finding out, they won't. I mean, the only reason I even knew you were here is because I'm literally helping you make a magical map that details all the secret passages and shows where everyone is. I won't tell anyone, I swear.”

They still seemed a little unsure, and you bit the inside of your lip slightly.

“If it'll make us even, I'll let you know a secret of my own,” you said, “it can even be future blackmail me if you really don't trust me.”

“No, it's not that, (Y/n),” Remus said as he stepped forward, his throat feeling dry, “it's just, well, I've never really told anyone except the people in this room. Having someone else know. . . it's just a lot to process, but if had to be anyone I'm glad it's you.” He paused for a moment, feeling oddly self-conscious as he regarded you. “When I turn into a werewolf I can't recognize any human as someone I know. I have no control over myself in that state. In the worst case scenario, I could injure or even kill someone I didn't mean to. We originally started taking note of the secret passages and rooms to find a place where I could turn safely and not hurt anyone, and we settled on here. I don't remember much when I come out of it, but. . . I do feel this painful sense of separation each time. Werewolves are pack creatures by nature, so being isolated in that state is. . . agony, if I must be honest. They all figured, I can't recognize humans, but perhaps I could recognize other animals, so. . .”

“They're trying to become animagi,” you finished, “so you won't have to be alone. That's. . . that's actually really sweet,” you said, a breathy laugh escaping you.

Remus thanked Merlin the Shrieking Shack was as dimly lit as it was so his beet red face was at least somewhat less noticeable.

“I agree,” Remus said, turning to his friends and sharing a rare, genuine moment with them. “And, you don't have to tell us your secret,” he said, turning back to you, “it's okay.”

“Hey, I wanted to know,” Sirius said, Peter swiftly elbowing him in the ribs.

“I was actually planning on telling you anyways,” you said, “If you guys are trying to become animagi, I can help you.”

You took a few steps back, bracing yourself against the wall.

“Promise me you won't freak out.”

After receiving a few quick nods, you kicked off the wall. Your body seemed to morph in mid-air, shrinking and re-configuring so fast that by the time you landed on the floor you had been entirely replaced by a large, (e/c)-eyed wolf with fur reminiscent of your hair.

Peter yelped, instinctively putting Sirius in front of him who was gawking at the sight. Remus was in complete shock and you could have sworn you saw James' glasses slip down his face.

In your animal form your heightened senses could sense their fear, and you tried your best to assuage it. You padded around in a circle, sitting down and blinking up at them to try and show them you were in control of your actions. After you figured they'd seen enough, you crawled back into your robes, which had pooled on the floor when you'd transfigured, and willed your body to turn back.

James, Sirius, and Peter looked somewhere in the intersection of shocked and terrified, but Remus looked nothing less than impressed.

“That's amazing, (Y/n),” he said breathlessly, “your transformation was seamless, how long have you had this ability?”

“My aunt had me go through the process when I was nine,” you said, a bitter edge to your voice as you fastened your clothes back around you, “it's not fun, but obviously useful. And thank you, but trust me, it didn't come at all naturally to me. I spent a good part of my winter break stuck with a wolf's hind legs, which is just as inconvenient as it sounds.”

“But this proves that it's possible!” James said, a new rush of energy invigorating him, “we can actually pull this off.”

“If I can manage to keep this sodding leaf from choking me every ten minutes,” Peter grumbled.

“Here, this should help with that,” you said, drawing your wand and pointing it at Peter's mouth. With a simple sticking charm, he suddenly felt the odd sensation of the leaf in his mouth disappearing, only to find it had melded with the flesh on the underside of his tongue.

“It's a long process, but yes, it's possible,” you said to James. Your eyes drifted to the floor where the magic circle and pages of runes were still scattered about, “if you were thinking of taking shortcuts, you might have wanted to read the warning about this spell requiring a blood sacrifice.”

The quartet paled and you laughed at their dumbstruck expressions.

“Kidding,” you grinned, “but seriously, there's no shortcuts. Now look alive, boys. We have a lot of work to do.”

_________________________________________________________

From then on, you helped the four wizards along on their quest to become fully fledged shifters.

“In order to become an animagus, a wizard must keep a Mandrake leaf in their mouth for an entire month, even when eating and sleeping,” Peter read aloud from the book they'd snatched from the restricted section, “Next, under a full moon, the wizard must place the leaf in a vial full of dew that has neither been stepped on nor exposed to the sun. The resulting potion must be stored in a dark place, and the following incantation: Amato Animo Animato Animagus, must be recited every morning until an electrical storm arrives, at which point the potion can be taken.”

“Blimey, all that to turn into a bloody cat?” Sirius said, exasperated.

“Well we have the first part almost done,” James said, feeling the faintest outline of the leaf still under his tongue, “Next full moon we'll have to go dew-hunting, I suppose. Looks like you'll have to stick it out for a few more cycles, Moony,” he said to Remus.

“That's alright,” he said, “I've made it this far.”

“He won't be alone for those,” you said, “I'll spend the full moons with him until you guys are ready.”

“What?” James said, looking at you like you'd just told him you were off to join Voldemort, “not a chance, that's way too dangerous.”

“Aw, don't act like you're all concerned about me all of a sudden, Potter,” you smirked. When his expression didn't change it took you aback slightly. He was actually worried about you. “Look, I'm probably the best suited for it anyways,” you said, coughing a bit to coast through the awkward tension, “Remus and I are both wolves, or at least partly. If one of you end up turning into a sheep or something you might be dead meat, not to freak you out or anything.”

“That's reassuring,” Sirius said under his breath.

____________________________________________________________

“You really don't have to do this,” Lupin insisted as you sat on the floor together in the Shrieking Shack later that month.

“I want to,” you assured him, “take it as a thanks for helping me pass Arithmancy. Besides, it's a perfectly fine excuse for me to practice interacting with other animals in my animagus form.”

The boy beside you was quiet for a moment, shoulders tense and jaw set tight. It wasn't that he wasn't happy you were here, he was more grateful than you could know, but he was terrified that he was going to end up hurting you. On top of that was the fact that he didn't want you to see him as he transformed. It wasn't pretty, and it was visibly painful. He didn't want you to think any lower of him, though he knew that fear was irrational.

The calming jazz record that spun on the other side of the room was the only noise between you two for quite some time, but you understood that he needed time to gather his thoughts. This was something so deeply personal you were surprised and a bit honored he allowed you to be here at all. You noticed the photograph that he held in his hands; it was of Hogwarts, taken from the very edge of the forest. The sun was peeking over the horizon, spilling out between the complexly constructed towers that made up the castle's exterior, and casting a warm, golden hue over the landscape.

“It's beautiful,” you said, “the picture.”

“It is,” Remus smiled to himself and nodded, “James gave it to me, as a reminder. He said that matter what happens during the full moon, the sun will always rise on us again.”

“Huh,” you mused softly, “perhaps he isn't such an insufferable jerk after all.”

“Oh, no, he is,” Lupin chuckled, “but he is also a very good friend, and endlessly thoughtful even if he denies it.”

You let that sink in for a moment. You supposed he was.

“Well,” you said, laughing a bit as you shifted in your seat, “this isn't as deep and meaningful as the photo, but I brought something for you.” You reached into your bag, retrieving something that made Remus' eyes widen.

“Where did you get that?” he said, elated as you held out his favorite chocolate bar which had been out of stock at Hogsmeade for weeks now.

“You guys have a secret tunnel that goes right to the Honeydukes cellar and you've never taken advantage of their storage?” you grinned.

Lupin hesitated as he held the bar in his hands.

“So you stole it?”

“I left five dracma in the tip jar,” you rolled your eyes, “I'm not a death eater.”

His smiled returned at that, and he ripped open the familiar foil gratefully.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

“It's the least I could do,” you said.

“It's really not,” he said, turning to face you fully. You were left a bit breathless as the unexpected intensity of his eyes. “None of this is the least you could do, because the least you could do is nothing,” he continued, rambling, “we were so horrible to someone you consider a dear friend, and you were willing to look past that. You're risking your life by even being with me right now, (Y/n).”

“You don't—”

“I do know that,” Remus said sharply, “I've never been in contact with anyone as a werewolf. The one time I was, I. . .” he trailed off, and it hurt you to see his pained expression, “I just don't know how I'll react.”

“You're saying that as if something bad's already happened,” you said gently, “it'll be okay.”

“How can you be so sure?” he asked quietly, equally full of frustration and admiration.

“I'm willing to put my trust in you, Remus. I think it's time you put some trust in yourself.”

Lupin's heart pounded a little harder in his chest. Had you ever called him by his first name before? You looked at him so reassuringly, so confidently. He couldn't understand it, but your words reached him to his core.

“(Y/n). . .” he trailed off, blinking rapidly. A shaky breath escaped him, and your stomach dropped.

“Remus?”

Suddenly you saw something shift in him. His breathing became heavy and his pupils dilated, completely filling his irises in a matter of seconds. He braced himself against the wall as he stumbled to his feet, his skin slowly taking on a gray hue.

“It's happening,” he said, voice deeper and strained, his neck convulsing, “you have to transform, now!”

You didn't waste any time, taking the shape of your wolf form and padding away a cautionary distance. Your stomach churned as you watched Remus yell out, his expression full of pain as his body grew in size, his cries slowly becoming reminiscent of howls. His face contorted in agony as his head morphed into a more animalistic shape, ears growing from his scalp and fur appearing as if his werewolf was fully formed inside him, physically escaping through his skin. You've seen werewolves before, but seeing someone you know actually turn into one, it was completely different. Nothing could have prepared you for this. Seeing anyone in this much pain made your chest tighten harshly.

At last it seemed the transformation was complete. Remus Lupin was gone, and in front of you stood a creature of at least eight feet, perched on his hind legs and towering over you especially in your animal form. You could hear how ragged his breathing had become, his body convulsing with the motion; growing and retracting like a beating heart. You heard a whimper escape his throat, and you could tell he was still recovering from the pain.

You steeled yourself, making the decision to alert him to your presence subtly. You tilted your head upwards, releasing a similar sounding whimper to his. Immediately the werewolf across from you was on high alert, his head snapping towards you and his lips pulling back into a snarl as his ears lowered. You took an instinctive step back, lowering your head slowly. He seemed puzzled by your behavior, which made sense seeing as Lupin told you he never interacted with any other animals during the full moon. His head tilted inquisitively and he took a heavy step forward. You forced yourself to not back away, testing the waters. His eyes narrowed again as he saw you standing your ground, but you quickly sat down, your head tilting to expose your neck slightly. You made doubly sure not to show any signs of aggression; you knew you had no chance against a werewolf at full strength.

However, he seemed to take your queues well. His tail seemed to relax a bit, his eyes returning to their full, round shape as he looked at you with curiosity. You sniffed up at him and he hesitated, but eventually circled around you and did the same. You could almost see the turmoil in him, as a werewolf you doubted anyone he came across treated him with anything less than terror in their eyes, but you were completely relaxed.

He whimpered again, and you were shocked at the sign of submission. You rose to your feet, and he didn't back away. You let out a friendly yip, which he returned, and you felt the weight lift off your chest. You leaped to the side, and he followed you, running alongside you as you bounded across the room, practically leaping off the walls. You jumped at each other playfully, rolling across the floor in a mess of fur. You smiled inwardly as this continued throughout the night, no longer seeing fear or pain or aggression in his eyes when you looked into them. Even if he wouldn't remember most of this, you hoped he would at least feel better in the morning than all the times he had to go through it alone.

Exhausted from all the playing around, you padded softly back to your robes, crawling inside yours and and gesturing over to him with your head. He followed you, coming down to all fours before laying beside you. You weren't sure when sleep came over you, but it was like the world's most comfortable blanket had been thrown over your shoulders, and your eyes drifted closed of their own volition. . .

“Merlin's beard, just what were you two doing last night?!”

You and Remus both jolted awake at the sound of James Potter's aggravatingly loud voice but quickly came to your senses. Remus' arms were wrapped around you, your back facing him. You were just barely covered by your robes with nothing underneath as a result of your transformation. As you scrambled to get decent your face heated even more as you saw Remus was currently without a shirt, his pants ripped considerably. You scrambled away from each other, trying to make yourselves decent.

Peter was howling with laughter, James looking smug as ever. Sirius was oddly quiet, but you were too wrapped up in the embarrassment to notice his behavior.

“What was that about being 'endlessly thoughtful'?” you grumbled to Remus.

“Right, I completely take back what I said,” he scoffed, “ 'insufferable jerk' is much more accurate.”

“Close your eyes, you perverted git!” you yelled at James, who was blatantly staring at you, “toss me my clothes at least, would you?”

James bit back a smirk as he grabbed your bag that was sitting in the corner of the room— clothes you had brought with the intention of changing into after returning to your human form when Lupin fell asleep. He tossed it over to you and you began to change under your robes. As his back was turned to you his mind began to wander. You'd always been attractive, sure, but since you'd always been his rival he hadn't really given you a second thought, especially when he'd been trying to get Lily's attention for ages. But just now, thinking about how downright adorable you looked when you'd yelled at him, something in him shifted. He shook it off quickly, turning to Lupin with a grin he'd managed to put on concernedly fast.

“You cheeky bastard,” he said to Remus, who was furiously changing into a new shirt, “you just wanted her alone, didn't you? Do you really need us to become animagi after all?”

“You're the worst, Potter,” the werewolf glared at him.

“Don't listen to him, Remus,” you grumbled, straightening out your tie as you slipped it on over your shirt, “he's an even bigger idiot than he looks.”

“Are you implying I look stupid?”

“Implying may not be a strong enough word.”

__________________________________________________________

It had taken months of brewing the potion and getting all the necessary preparations in order, but they were finally ready. Remus sat with you in the grass, wand at the ready to undo any untoward transfiguration that happened on accident. Peter, Sirius, and James stood across from you, standing at the edge of a stone ledge about five feet off the ground. You'd said that a leap of faith is what would best trigger their first transformation. They looked nervous, but they were prepared as they'd ever be. Over the last year you had grown considerably closer to the four boys you had miraculously come to know as friends.

“Remember, focus on your emotions,” you said, “you need to pick a strong one, let it fill your body and flow through you. If you block the magic off from any part of your body, it's not going to be pretty.”

“Right, but how do I—”

“James, I swear, I'm really rooting for you to be a mute animal.”

“But how do you choose-”

“Just do it already!”

“Oh, sod it,” James squeezed his eyes shut, not giving himself time to second guess before jumping off the ledge. For a moment he was certain he was about to land face first in the dirt, but then it happened— a moment where time seemed to freeze and his body felt completely weightless. He felt this sensation where his arms and legs vibrated with an intense, foreign energy. Images flashed through his mind in that brief moment in the air; Sirius manically laughing as they ran away from Filch, Remus snapping off a piece of chocolate to offer him after he'd lost Gryffindor a Quidditch match, and, unexpectedly, you. A feeling of warmth spread through his chest, and he grasped onto it, letting it flow through his body like you said. In an instant he felt torso shift, his shoulders narrow, his neck elongate; and when he landed on the ground he still landed face-first as he predicted, but in a completely different form.

He could see you and Lupin in front of him, mouths agape. He was about to say something when he found his vocal chords only allowed him a gruff whine. Shocked, he lifted his head, which felt much heavier than he'd last recalled, and as he looked down at himself he was taken aback to be met with a pair of hooves right beneath him. He staggered to his feet on wobbly legs, of which he now had four. As he tilted his head he could see the shadow of a pair of antlers twisting into brilliant shadows on the grass.

“Potter, you did it!” you exclaimed, “you actually did it!”

“Well how about that,” Remus chuckled, “a stag.”

“It fits him, I think,” you grinned, looking over at Sirius and Peter who looked determined and terrified respectively. “Well go on, it's your turn now!”

Sirius braced himself for the jump, but somehow he found no fear in his system. After seeing James shift in the air right before his eyes, he knew he could do it. He looked over at Peter who was nearly shaking.

“Come on, Peter,” he said, “we'll go together.”

“I-I don't know about this, Sirius,” Peter said, “I'm not ready, I don't think I can do this.”

“It's just a little jump,” Sirius said encouragingly, “you can do this.”

After a few nerve wracking deep breaths Peter gave him the smallest nod one could manage.

“We'll go on three,” Sirius said, “Ready? One—”

“AaHH!”

Sirius shoved Peter off the ledge, knowing he wouldn't jump on his own, before taking the plunge himself. Peter's screams became higher and higher pitched as he shrank at an alarming speed, almost an undetectable size by the time he hit the grass. A small brown rat scurried across the field towards you and Lupin.

The stag in front of you made a sound, dragging his hooves across the grass in what you could imagine as James' unadulterated laughter at his friend.

Sirius began to morph almost as soon as he left the ground, something you were surprised by. He landed on his hind legs, landing gracefully as his front two followed, and a shaggy black dog looked back at you with mischief in its eyes.

You couldn't help but go over and pet him. You laughed as he nudged you with his nose, a resistance that was quickly halted as soon as you started scratching him behind the ears.

“I have to say, I didn't think you would actually manage that on your first try,” you said, secretly prouder than they could have known, “but if anyone could have done it, it's you three stubborn goons.”

James huffed as he saw you continue to pet Sirius, using his antlers to prod the dog out of the way. Sirius barked, lunging at him playfully. It was quite a scene to see the two interact.

“Honestly, this is a pretty solid group,” you said, “you've got James who blends perfectly with the surrounding wildlife so he wouldn't be suspicions, Sirius who could probably do a fair bit of damage as a dog if he needed, and Peter who can fit through small spaces and snoop around the castle virtually undetected.”

“Quite an odd pack,” Remus chuckled.

“Definitely,” you agreed, “but a pack nonetheless.”

And that very week, Remus Lupin was able to spend his first night as a werewolf with his four friends by his side.

__________________________________________________________

“So, how did we choose which animals we turn into?” James had asked you the next day at breakfast, “I specifically tried for a dragon.”

“You don't get to choose,” you rolled your eyes, “You're a stag, that's the end of it. It's pretty much up to chance.”

“I'm sorry, you're telling me I could have turned into a fish and died right there on the ground?!”

“If only,” you sighed dreamily, earning you a playful shove from James. “Alright, it's not completely random, but you're definitely in the unknown the first time you turn,” you went on to explain, “and once you turn for the first time, that's it. That's your animal. A wizard takes on the animagus form of whatever animal most closely resembles their personality. So, a horny bastard for James, a loyal little puppy for Sirius—”

“A bitch for you,” Sirius quipped.

“Never heard that one before,” you scoffed, purposefully messing up his hair.

“Hey, watch it!” he shoved you off him, twisting each of his curls back into form.

“Well, look who's a high maintenance pup,” you chuckled.

Around the same time that year, you finally completed the map. It came together beautifully, each different way of folding the paper revealing a different level of the castle for easy navigation. You'd included the surrounding forests as well as the parts of Hogsmeade that applied for the secret passageways, all of which were marked with symbols and the unique names you'd all come up with. Every student and staff member at Hogwarts had a tiny scroll with their name that appeared in their location. Remus had added the nice detail of including footprints at the last second, so you could see which way they were facing and walking as well. It was fireproof, rip proof, and prone to insulting anyone else who tried to read it. It was the pinnacle of your magical (and slightly illegal) achievement.

“We should write our names on it,” James said, looking down proudly at the finished map, “it belongs to us, after all. We don't want anyone else taking the credit.”

“Yeah, fantastic way to get caught,” Sirius rolled his eyes, “what if Filch comes across it? That's like leaving your signature at a murder scene.”

“You should use code names, then,” you suggested, “I know you guys call Remus 'Moony' as a joke, but I kind of like it.”

The scarred boy blushed lightly at the compliment, a brow raised to his other three friends.

“Alright then, I guess you should all say hi to Rudolph over here,” Sirius said, jutting his thumb in James' direction. The bespectacled boy narrowed his eyes before shooting back.

“Right! And this is my good friend, Snuffles.”

Sirius lunged at him and James swatted him away in laughter.

“Come on, you two,” Remus said, “or we won't put anything down for you at all.”

“I've got an idea for Peter,” you piped in, “When my mom used to garden she said she didn't mind having rats there because their tails resembled worms, which were an old a sign of healthy soil, I know it's odd, but I think Wormtail sounds pretty cool.”

Peter seemed to perk up at your acknowledgment and nodded. It suited him somehow.

“Should we pick animal features too, then?” James mused, “I guess Antlers doesn't really sound that cool. What's another word? Horns? Give me some analogies, guys. What else do they look like?”

“Yours honestly kind of look like a couple of bent forks,” you snickered.

“Prongs?” Sirius snorted, the laughter that followed nearly splitting his sides.

“Oh, go on, what have you got then?” James scoffed.

“I was thinking Padfoot,” Sirius said, “like a dog's paw prints.”

“You know, for someone who was just making fun of code names a second ago you sure have given a lot of thought to yours,” you teased.

“Shove it,” he smirked, “What about you? Can't very well have a second Moony.”

You stared at him in momentary disbelief.

“Me?”

“Well, yeah,” Sirius chuckled.

“We couldn't have done any of this without you,” Remus reminded you with a smile.

“I think you've more than earned an honorary title as one of us,” James said.

“That is, if you want to,” Peter said timidly.

You looked at the four of them, genuinely touched.

“I. . . I don't know what to say,” you smiled.

“You could say 'yes',” James piped up.

“Alright, you loons,” you laughed, “if you leave Severus alone for good, then yes.”

“Hey, I think we've been pretty good about that lately,” James pouted.

“Yes you have,” you admitted, “It's the only reason I bothered to give you the time of day, but this time it's a promise.”

James rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face was undeniable. He'd never admit it out loud, but being friends with you was more fun than messing with Snape ever was.

“Alright, fine. (Y/n) (L/n), I solemnly swear that I will leave tormenting our dear old friend Snivelus behind us forever,” he said dramatically, putting a hand up at his pledge.

“Oh, bother,” you laughed, “the only thing you'll 'solemnly swear' to is that you're up to no good.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.”

“Then that's settled,” Remus smiled, “you'll need a code name too.”

“Let's see,” Sirius hummed in thought, “What other defining features do wolves have besides. . . well, their. . . fangs?”

“They're canines, you numbnut,” you huffed.

“Close enough, I'm writing Fangs.”

“Oi, I didn't agree to that!”

“Too bad, I'm already writing it~”

“Okay, well if that's the stupid name I'm getting saddled with them I'm going to write it myself,” you said stubbornly. You actually didn't mind the name at all.

“Well that's it, then,” James said, “Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Fangs. We could join the bloody circus.”

“All we need is a group name,” you said, half joking.

“We've already got one,” James said proudly.

“Oh? Let's hear it, then.”

“The Marauders.”

“. . .”

You kept your face straight for exactly three seconds before you burst out laughing. The four boys flushed with embarrassment.

“The Marauders?” you chortled, “what are you, pirates?”

“It's what McGonnagall called us the first time we got ourselves into proper trouble,” James defended himself, his cheeks reddening, “You rowdy mob of marauders, she'd said.”

“Huh,” you chuckled, coming down from your laughing fit, “Well, then I suppose that would make this The Marauders Map. I'll admit, it actually kinda has a ring to it.”

And despite your group's joking quips and bickering, they couldn't agree more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wait,” Harry said, eyes wide at your story, “So, my dad was an animagus too?”

“Sure was,” you smiled warmly.

“This whole time I thought 'Prongs' was just because his patronus was a stag.”

“Your animagus form is usually the same animal as your patronus,” you explained, “In some very rare cases they can be different, but they work in the same emotionally driven vein of magical ability, so it would make sense that they'd be linked. Your father was extraordinary at both, because as much as he would deny it, he felt everything very deeply.”

Your eyes drifted to the wall opposite you in the living room, and a small but sad smile graced your features.

“Love is often the most powerful emotion a witch or wizard can draw from,” you said softly, “but you already know that.”

Harry followed your gaze over his shoulder. There, posted on the wall among a collage of photographs from the Order was a picture of his mother and father. It was one he'd seen a hundred times, and one he had his own copy of: them in each others' arms in a London park, autumn leaves swirling around them as they danced without any music. Even from this distance he could see the emotion in their eyes as they looked at one another— like they were the only two people in the world.

“Yeah,” Harry said, wiping a stray tear from his eyes, “I do.”

Read chapter 7 here!

Taglist:  @sleep-i-ness, @blackpinkdolan, @parker-natasha, @ornella0910 @undertaker1827 @thatwierdo-koemi @nxstalgicnxbxdy @calaryssia @aleksanderwh0r3 @juggysgirlfriend @beautifulsweetschaos @kattirin @mialupin1

[your-highnessmarvel]

From Bleak to Bright Part Six

All other parts on on my masterlist, link provided below.

AN: damn okay wow i REALLY loved writing this part ommggggg

Warnings: angst, language

Enjoyed this and want more? Send in your requests!

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MASTERLIST

PART SIX

You went to bed late, tossing and turning, replaying Loki’s words in your mind like a mantra. He couldn’t eat too. He suffered just as bad as you did. You fell asleep somewhere around two in the morning, clutching your sheets. The dreams took you back to him, momentarily dropping you in a reality you knew could never exist when you woke up. 

The sky was a deep purple - like a bruise - when you woke up. You lay there, staring at the ceiling. You knew sometime during the day Steve and Nat and probably Bruce would listen to the call from Loki last night. You groaned just at the thought, sighing under the covers. 

You got up and showered, mentally preparing yourself for the day. When you got out, there was a missed call from an unknown number. You entered the contact as Idiot, then opened up the messages to text him. You weren’t sure if Loki had bought a burner or a full phone, but you tried anyway.

Stop calling me.

You didn’t wait for an answer. You got dressed in a green hoodie and black jeans, pulling your hair into a ponytail. 

Your phone dinged.

Do you prefer we talk here?

Oh so Loki had an iPhone. Texting in blue texts and all. 

You debated answering, wondering if it would just spur his insanity. You left your phone in your room, deciding that it would only be a distraction. 

You went down to the kitchen, eating breakfast alone, enjoying some peace before the storm. 

And here it came.

Bruce came barreling through the dining room, eyes round, wide, fear written clear on his features. 

“Loki called you last night!?”he exclaimed, leaning over hands on the table.

That was quick. “The line’s tapped,” you answered, fighting a blush, gulping down the last of your cereal. “And he didn’t say anything about where he was or whatever.”

Bruce sighed, hanging his head. “Did you do what Nat and Steve trained you for?”

You shrugged. “He saw me coming.”

“That was to be expected.”

You struggled with the lump in your throat, fighting the want to go to Bruce and wrap your hands around his shoulders. Tell him everything would be fine. That Loki would never get you. 

But you weren’t so sure about that. 

Instead, you sighed, playing with the last Cheerio floating in the milk. “Bruce,” you began, biting the inside of your cheek. “How - how am I going to do this?”

He looked at you, all that older brother worry written clear on his face. “It’ll be fine,” he said, covering his hand with yours. “We’ll all be there to back you up. He won’t hurt you.”

It came out all in a rush. “But that’s not what I mean. What am I going to do about the fact that he’s my fucking soulmate?” You heaved, fighting tears brimming in your eyes. 

Bruce stood there silently, then took a seat, dusting off imaginary dust from his dark blue t-shirt. “Y/N,” he started, voice low, serious. “The soulmate bond is... the research proves that it’s mostly based off the animal instinct to provide better genes to your progeniture.”

You frowned. “Ew.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s what the science says,” he chuckled, trying to hide the reddening of his cheeks. “And I know that there are stories out there about people finding their mates and it all goes well, but sometimes, it doesn’t. Nature gave you the most perfect match for yourself, but evolutionarily based, it’s all about babies.” 

“Oh my God, Bruce, stop being so gross.” You played with your cereal, fighting your blush. You didn’t want to imagine yourself making babies with Loki because then, that’d be all you thought about. You didn’t want to go there. 

“My point is, little sis,” he continued, tone soft. “You don’t have to fall in love with him. You don’t have to do anything. Trust me. You can get over the bond.”

Nat had told you that you simply got used to the emptiness. Wouldn’t that make you... miserable?

There was a burning in your chest, spreading slowly like melting butter down your limbs. It was longing. 

Bruce got up without a word and left you to your one-Cheerio bowl and coffee. You stared out the window, at the greying sky, the rising sun, the freedom of the world beyond the trappings of the Avenger’s compound. 

Nothing kept you, really, from leaving. There was no law keeping you here. You could actually walk out and find Loki. You weren’t the criminal. 

He was. He was a war criminal. A psychopath. A mass murderer. You could leave here, go find him, tell him you’d stay by his side, but at what cost? Losing your family? Your friends? A normal life? It’s not like Loki would play the good boyfriend and bring you coffee at work. He’d burn the place down for a stupid reason like they didn’t give you enough vacation days. 

All this thinking had you boiling at barely nine in the morning. 

And the one person you wanted right now was Loki.

You cleaned up your dishes methodically, then rushed back upstairs to your room. The sun was now out and shining through your windows, and you used the light to gather a few items into a bag. There was no one in the hallway, which gave you all the peace you needed. Most of the Avengers were out dealing with whatever Loki had unleashed on the city, and the other half, like Nat and Bruce, were downstairs in the computer lab.

You grabbed a baseball cap and loosed out your ponytail. You grabbed your phone. Heart pounding, knowing you must have less than fifteen minutes before you were found, you sent a quick text.

Number. Now.

It took a few seconds until a reply came in. It was a phone number. You quickly scribbled it on the back of your hand, deleted the messages - even though you knew it was futile - and left the phone on the bed.

Something wild was stirring in your chest, something akin to adrenaline. Your blood roared as you leaped out of your room, quietly down the hall, down the stairs, hands trembling as you exited the front door. 

If only Nat and Bruce were here, it could give you a head start. 

You slid into the garage through the side door and took the keys to the Jeep. It was a thirty minute ride to the city, and you were not about to take the Maserati.

You slid into the Jeep, breathing erratic, and threw your bag into the passenger seat. The second the garage doors were open, you sped out. 

The Jeep wasn’t the most fast car, but it took you the edge of the property in a matter of seconds. You’d never driven like that before; wild and fast, but you had to get away as fast as possible. The country turned into the suburbs, blurring by you, but you only had eyes for the distant, gleaming horizon of New York city. 

You kept looking in the rearview mirror, but no one was tailing. A frantic tremble had begun in your fingers, urging you to press just a little more on the gas pedal. 

When the city began to manifest itself, molding out from the horizon, you ditched the Jeep by the side of the road. You left it visible enough and grabbed your bag, hitching it on your shoulders. Leaving off at a small jog, you left behind not only the Jeep but also the life you could have had if you’d never met Loki. 

There was a tenacious voice reminding you that Bruce would suffer from this. 

But the pull in your belly, deep within your chest, was calling you elsewhere.

You made it through the back streets of the city, slowing your pace to a walk. By now, Nat and Bruce would have noticed you gone. They would have seen the message you’d sent to Loki and his response. Maybe they’d try contacting that number, but you knew for a fact, Bruce would be in a car on his way here. The Jeep definitely had a tracker. 

You went into a Deli Meats, catching your breath in the doorway, your heart hammering vehemently in your chest. 

You asked to borrow the phone and they had a fucking honors system so you bought a sandwich and dumped it in your bag. No appetite. 

The phone only rang once before he answered.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in New York,” you answered, breathlessly.

“Have you been running?”

“Obviously.”

There was rustling on the other side of the phone. “They know you’ve left,” he said. “They’ve tried tracking this number.”

“And did they succeed?” you asked, heart in your throat. 

“No.” He inhaled sharply. “I want to trust you, y/n,” he mumbled. 

“Then come and get me,” you replied, your mouth dry, your heart hammering. “I’ll meet you wherever.”

He laughed, more like a hum than a chuckle. “Okay.”

He gave you an address on the other side of town, and told you not to call a taxi or an uber. He said if you made it there on foot, without any intervention by either the Avengers or your brother, he’d know they hadn’t found you. Or that you weren’t being followed. He had eyes everywhere. 

You thanked the clerk and left in a hurry, mentally replaying Loki’s instructions on the directions. Just the sound of his voice had been a relief, like taking a long, deep breath after being under water for so long. 

Something sharp had lifted from your ribs, where there’d been an imaginary knife twisting. 

The day had warmed, the city had awakened, and there was no way to identify you within the crowds moving steadily. You kept your eyes to the ground, the cap low on your brow, your hair around your face. 

The address Loki had given you was a subway’s sandwich, squeezed between a Moroccan restaurant and a hair salon. You frowned. Was this the right address? It was closed, the sign hanging in the door, the lights off in the store. 

You pulled on the door slightly, and it opened, your heart leaping as a wind of fresh air swept against your hot cheeks. 

Stepping inside, the eerie silence greeted you. No one was there. Only silence and the dark store. A fridge where they kept the cold drinks hummed, the blue light beckoning. You went to it, ripping it open wildly and grabbing a water bottle. As you chugged it, you pulled a rolled dollar from your pocket and put it on the register.

“No need for that.”

You jumped, spilling water all over your green hoodie. With a curse, you set the bottle on the counter and grabbed for the napkins. 

“I’ve got it.”

He was close now, and you could smell pinewood, your senses invaded by him. You looked up. He smiled, his lips pulling gently at the corners. Your heart was hammering wildly, but you swallowed, looking down at him as he looked down at you. He wore the same all-black ensemble as two weeks ago, his short raven locks pulled neatly behind his ears.

He was a specimen. 

His hands, which you swore were previously empty, came up with a green t-shirt. “More fit for the current weather,” he said with a quirk of his brow. 

You licked your lips, carefully reaching for the garment, fingers grazing his. A short shock slithered through your arm. 

“Thank you,” you mumbled, feeling heat crawl into your cheeks. 

You motioned for him to turn around, and with a roll of his eyes, he did. You quickly changed, discarding your hoodie in the trash. Once you were done, he turned and took one good look at you.

“Wow,” he said, making your heart sputter back to life. 

“So, what now?” you asked, both to dispel Loki’s current fixation and to actually know what was the plan. 

He straightened. “I have to get you out of the city.”

“Okay,” you breathed. “Where?”

But he didn’t have time to answer. Something came crashing through the front windows, loudly, sending a million little shards of glass flying. As quick as lightening, Loki came rushing to you, wrapping his arms around your shoulders, shielding you from the tiny little projectiles. 

You felt the heat of him, the pressure of his arms, his front against yours, your cheek against his chest. You smelled him everywhere. You sensed him on every inch of yourself. He invaded your senses, and for a brief instant, that nagging pull in your belly ceased. 

And as quickly as he came, he vanished. When you opened your eyes, fingers trembling, the smell of him clinging to you, he had changed his attire. The illusion previously placed on him, the one of the elegant man dressed in all black, had made way for the God. 

Long, golden horned-helmet on his head. The same green and gold breast plate, the black trousers. And in his hand, a golden staff, the tip gleaming menacingly, a blue light hovering within it’s extremity. 

Standing before you both, on the glittering pieces of the broken window, was Thor and Tony. The former stood in the light of day, his hammer raised, light gleaming off of it threateningly. Tony stood, arm erect, suit gleaming red in the mid-morning sun. 

“Nice work, kiddo,” he said, the helmet coming undone, revealing his face; stricken with fear and concentration.

Loki turned a glare on you, eyes dark, and your insides burned. Tony was making it look like you had a hand in this. That you’d betrayed Loki.

You opened your mouth to say something, but Loki took one step towards you and grabbed your wrist.

Thor roared something like, “Loki no!” But Loki was faster. Quicker than Tony’s blast you heard charging, quicker than Thor’s hammer. In a flash, the tip of Loki’s staff glowed a clear, crystal blue, and your entire world vanished to black.

SO, WHO’S EXCITED FOR PART SEVEN???

tags:  @subtlemalice @yallgotkik @buckyandlokirunmylife @kaz11283 @legolas-bromance @shylittlemountain @tofeartheunknown @feelmyfckngsoul @kind-of-crazy-butthatsokay @caffiend-queen @tomhollandsslilslut @lady-loki-ren @nathan-no @rosaline-black @abundanceofcarolines @my-own-oracle @it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream @marvelouslovely @drbaureid @bored-as-hell-666 @youhavemyfantasticbeasts @theinfinitenerd @toe-vind-ek-jou @ink-and-starlight @blank-bakabane @sunshineonloki @holaamishamigos @palegoopbearlight @heyarely16 @pleaseexecuteme 

[just-here-for-the-moment]

The Wedding Night

Word count: 4900+

Rating: explicit, 18+ only

Outline: Jack “Whiskey” Daniels x “You” (cis/het female reader; “blank canvas”/no physical description/no name/no use of “Y/N”)

Warnings: Jack running his filthy mouth; mentions of virginity and defloration; mentions of lack of experience; gorgeous lingerie; one light spanking; fingering/F receiving; oral sex/F receiving; oral sex/M receiving; unprotected P/V sex in the context of marriage; breeding kink; mentions of anal sex; mentions of blowjobs/gagging; mentions of sex toys/dildos; alcohol; marijuana

@quica-quica-quica - My love, this is what my brain did when we talked about me writing something for you that was "Xtra filthy Whiskey with a little fluff" ... You can drag me off to horny jail now, LOL. My work here is done! :D

A very special Thank You to @babypedrito for beta-reading and absolving me of all of my horny-jail sins.

---

"Are you nervous, honey?"

"No, I don't think so... well, maybe a little. Will it hurt?"

"Oh darlin' I hope not. I'll be real gentle with you."

---

The wedding had been elegant and fun and a little flashy, just like Jack.

The sheer number of guests had been stressful, but you had been blissed out all day, letting Jack spin you around the dance floor as many times as he could at the reception. You didn't want to start your wedding night exhausted, so you and Jack had opted for a mid-morning ceremony followed by a lunch reception. Statesman had splashed out for all of the liquor and an open bar, but you had been so busy greeting your guests and smiling for pictures that you hadn't had time to sip a full glass of champagne, let alone eat anything. The minute you and Jack arrived at your honeymoon suite, he had placed an order for room service and given you orders to eat, shower, and take a nap.

God, you loved that man. He was sassy and stubborn, but he did take excellent care of you.

When you woke, the last of the evening sun was streaming through your balcony doors. You stretched and yawned. The bed was empty, so you wandered out into the sitting room. Poor Jack was half-undressed and passed out on the sofa in front of a muted football game, the TV remote rising and falling on his chest as he snored softly. You shook his arm gently, "Baby?"

His dark eyes popped open and he smiled at you. "Hey, darlin'. Did you get some rest?"

"Yeah, Jack, I did. Thank you."

"Well I can't have you all tuckered out before we even get started. Wouldn't be gentlemanly of me." He winked at you.

You smiled at him and fluttered your eyelashes. "And are we going to get started soon? I'll need to change into my wedding night ensemble."

He sat up and grabbed your arm, pulling you down onto his lap as you squealed.

"Do you have to change? You look just fine as you are, honey."

You laughed. You had napped in an old undershirt of Jack's and nothing else except your wedding and engagement rings. You cooed softly at him as you rubbed your hand against his chest. "But Jack, baby, I bought it just for tonight. We only get to do this once, and I wanted to make it special for you."

He scowled as if he wanted to say no. You decided to pout your lower lip out just a little and sweeten your voice. "Please, baby? Please let me wear my special lingerie for you. It's my first request as your wife."

He pretended that he was giving in resentfully. "Alright, darlin'. If it'll make you happy."

You kissed him on the tip of his nose. "Oh, Jack. I think we'll both be very happy." You stood up off his lap and he swatted your bottom playfully.

"Now, now. None of that." You shook one finger at him playfully. "Just give me a few minutes and you can go lie down in the bedroom while I get ready. I'll meet you in there."

You bounced into the bedroom to grab what you needed, then locked yourself in the bathroom to freshen up. You heard Jack groan as he stretched and got up from the couch, soft footsteps moving to the bedroom. You caught your own eyes in the mirror and grinned. This was going to be so good.

It didn't take you long to get dressed, because your wedding night "ensemble" consisted of just three pieces. You had purchased an ivory-white babydoll nightgown with a big satin bow centered between the lace cups. The gown's skirt was billowy and entirely sheer, and the satin-ribbon hem hit you just at the top of your thighs. The back featured a slit from the band all the way down, forming a flyaway opening. There was a matching ivory lace thong with an open crotch, and you had found coordinating ivory marabou slippers with a kitten heel to tie things off. You were dressed in two minutes. All that was left was a quick touch-up of perfume and mascara, and a few deep breaths.

You opened the door a crack and called out to him. "You ready, baby? No peeking!"

"I'm not peeking."

You poked your head out to see Jack sitting against the pillows on the king-sized bed, hands dutifully placed over both eyes. You slunk out the door and stood at the foot of the bed, tucking and tugging the last tiny adjustments to your outfit. You put your fists on your hips and smiled at him. "Okay, you can look now."

Jack pulled his hands away and you saw his eyes take a half-second to refocus on you. When they did, his jaw dropped. He gave you one long look up and down, and you giggled and spun once to give him the full picture.

"Baby doll," he bit his lip and looked hungry. "You look good enough to eat. You did all that for me?"

You laughed. "All what, Jack? There's hardly any material here."

"Don't I know it." He whistled, long and low. "You want me to leave it all on or rip it off of you?"

You gasped and giggled. "You know I don't know what I'm doing. I guess I'll have to let you decide."

“Oh, baby girl... ” he shook his head and got up off the bed. “I don’t know if I can be in charge of such an important decision.”

“Well then, let’s just play it by ear and we can decide later.” You cocked an eyebrow at him as he wrapped his arms around your waist. “Because I am eager to get started.”

He smirked at you and tilted his head. “Is that so?”

“Yes, it’s one of the benefits of being Mrs. Jack Daniels. Now that you’ve made me an honest woman, I finally get to see what all the fuss is about.” You smiled shyly. “Unless, you don’t want to?”

“Now hold on a minute darlin’. You know I’ve been looking forward to tonight.” He kissed you. “I just want to do it right, that’s all. I wanna do right by my wife her first time.”

You bit your lip and looked up at him through your eyelashes. “I know you do, baby. I trust you.”

"Are you nervous, honey?"

"No, I don't think so... well, maybe a little. Will it hurt?"

"Oh darlin' I hope not. I'll be real gentle with you."

You smiled and leaned in for a kiss. Jack held you tenderly, taking his time and working your mouth slowly open before plunging in with an eager tongue. The kiss was nothing new to you. You and Jack had kissed like this hundreds of times… but now you were husband and wife, and it was your wedding night.

You let yourself melt into Jack’s embrace, and when the kissing got so good that you moaned, he smiled against your mouth. He moved his lips to plant kisses on your cheek and jaw and neck, murmuring to you in his low, gravelly drawl. “Are you ready?”

You nodded, and then released a breathy, “Yes, Jack. Yes, I’m so ready. Can we please go to bed?”

He pulled back. “Well, I need to know you’re really ready. We only get to do this once.”

You considered for a moment, biting your lip. “I do, I want to. But I’m a little nervous. Can I have some champagne? Just to relax.”

He nodded. “Okay, just one glass though.”

“Thank you, baby. I just want to relax a little bit, not get drunk or anything. I want to remember tonight for the rest of my life.”

He kissed your forehead. “Me, too darlin’.”

You sat on the bed as Jack went out to the living room to retrieve one of the “his and hers” champagne bottles that Champ had sent over, and two champagne flutes. He popped the bottle open and poured two glasses, then sat next to you on the bed.

“Cheers,” you said as you clinked your glass against his. “To us.”

“To us.” Jack sipped his champagne and wrapped his other arm around you, rubbing lazy circles into your back with his thumb. You loved his thick fingers and strong hands. You had seen what they could do with a dangerous whip and lasso, and you trusted him utterly with every part of your body.

When your glasses were empty, you felt a little looser, the edges of your nerves just barely blurred. You smiled at him and handed him your glass to set down on the bedside table. “I’m ready.”

He tucked his head down toward you, slotting his mouth over yours for a deep kiss. “Okay, we’ll get started. Lie down on the bed for me. Scoot back a little.” Jack stood up and faced you.

You lay back and scooted up so that your feet were flat on the bed. The hem of your nightgown slid up and pooled across your hips. Jack kneeled down on the plush carpet and stroked your leg with one strong hand. He lifted one foot and kissed the inside of your ankle softly. You shivered, and he repeated the action with your other ankle.

“Can I take these off?” He tapped the top of one slipper.

You lifted your head to look down at him. “Oh, yeah, sorry. I guess you should take them off.”

“Ain’t nothing to be sorry about, honey. You look amazing.” He slipped them off gently and tossed them theatrically over his shoulders, making you laugh.

“What should I do with my hands?” You wanted to know if you should be doing something other than leaving them palm-side down on the bedspread next to your hips. It felt stiff and awkward.

“Just relax,” said Jack. “You’re doin’ fine.”

You nodded, laying your head back down as he resumed stroking your shin.

“Can I touch you?” He slid his fingers a little higher, grazing the inside of your knee.

“Yes, please.”

He ran his fingers up to the inside of your thigh, sweeping your skin with a soft touch. Each graze of his fingers set your skin on fire, and you felt your anticipation build. You were getting wet; you could feel it, and you knew that it would help with what was coming next.

Jack paused his touch at the outer band of your thong, just at your pelvic bone. “Do you want to leave this on or take it off?

“I don’t know. Um, it’s crotchless, does that make a difference?”

“Not right now, but if it gets uncomfortable we can take it off.”

“Okay, just leave it on then... and thank you.”

“For what?” Jack stroked your lace-covered mound slowly. Little sparks of electricity flew everywhere, buzzing outward from wherever his fingers touched.

“For taking such good care of me. Especially on our wedding night.”

“Oh darlin’, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he drawled. “I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life. I love you.”

“Oh Jack,” you sighed. “I love you, too.”

“I’m going to touch you between your legs now. Just breathe and relax, okay?”

“Okay.”

You felt Jack’s fingers stroke down over your clit and pet you softly there through the lace before moving down. He hooked a strap of the open crotch with his finger and pulled it to the side. The pad of one thick finger paused at your outer labia and you bit the inside of your mouth nervously.

“You ready?” Jack sounded calm.

“Yes, please, baby. Please touch me.”

He answered by spreading your outer lips open and rubbing a line gently up and down over the inner labia, spreading moisture as he went. You were practically dripping for him. He pressed one finger against your opening and applied gentle pressure, letting your slick do the work of guiding his fingertip inside. You felt his thick finger enter slowly, and when it was finally all the way in you exhaled.

“Is that okay, darlin’?”

“Yes,” you breathed out. “Yes, you feel so good.”

“Okay, I’m going to put another one in. You tell me if it’s too much for you, honey.”

“Yes, Jack.”

He pulled his finger out to the tip and you felt its neighbor join it. The pair pressed into you again, slower than ever. You felt so good, all of your nerve endings sparkling, the wetness growing and growing as Jack worked you open. You could do this forever.

“How are you doing, honey?”

Your voice came out half-whisper, half-gasp. “Ohhhh, Jackie. I feel so good.”

“You sure feel good down here, darlin’. Makes me want to taste you.”

“You can do that?”

“Yes, ma’am. If you give me the go-ahead, I’ll eat you out like a Sunday dinner.”

You laughed, and more tension left your body. “Okay. Yes, please eat me… Wait, can I call it that?”

“If you let me do it, you can call it whatever you want.” He chuckled. “You ready?”

“Oh yes.” You flung your arms up over your head and stretched. “I’m ready, baby.”

Jack left both fingers inserted and used his free hand to open the straps of your thong wider. You felt cool air hit your clitoris and you shuddered. Then Jack’s warm lips met your intimate center and you moaned.

“Oh, Jackie. You feel so good. I can’t believe we’ve never done this before.”

He pulled back, sounding almost plaintive. “You said you wanted to wait until the wedding night, darlin’. I was just followin’ orders.”

“Well I’m glad we’re doing it now.”

“Me, too.” He kissed your clitoris again and you gasped. The contact sent sparks racing up your spine. Your legs shook and threatened to close around his head.

“Keep ‘em open for me, darlin’. I want to see this pretty pussy as I taste it.”

You shifted your feet a little further apart. “Is this good?”

“Oh, it’s good, honey. You should see yourself, all spread out for me on our weddin’ night. If I’d known you were going to look like this, I would’ve married you the day we met.”

You lifted your head to look down at him again. “Are you going to keep talking, or are you gonna eat me?”

He didn’t answer, but plunged his tongue out to flick your clit . Your hips bucked and he pulled his fingers out gently. He reached up and tugged at the front of your thong. “Can I take this off? It’ll be easier access.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

He hooked the side straps away from your hips and you lifted your butt to help him slide it off. He threw it to the side and wrapped his strong grip around your thighs as he lowered his mouth to you again.

His kisses and licks were urgent, an open-mouthed assault on your tender and swollen pussy as you writhed and squeaked. His iron grip on your upper legs kept you anchored to him, even as you shifted across the bedspread. You had no sense of time passing; it could have been seconds or minutes later when you felt your orgasm build until you thought you were going to snap.

“Jack! Oh fuck... Jack, I’m gonna come. I’m coming for you now!” Your moans and shouts didn’t phase him, he just kept licking and slurping at you as your pussy throbbed and clenched around his tongue. He slowed his pace just a little as you climaxed, and kept holding you tight as he kissed you more gently, bringing you down with him as you finally relaxed.

You came back to yourself after a few moments, your breathing slowing into something more normal. Jack lifted his head and relaxed his grip on you. “How was that, honey?”

“Oh, Jesus, Jack,” you gasped. “For chrissakes. I think I saw stars.”

He chuckled and stood up. His face was wet from nose to chin, mustache slick, hair mussed and eyes twinkling. He was absolutely wicked. You couldn’t believe he was finally yours.

You sat up and hugged him around his waist, resting one ear against his tummy. “Ohhh, thank you, Jack. That was absolutely wonderful.”

He petted your hair as you squeezed him. “You’re welcome, baby girl. Do you feel good?”

“Yes, Jack. Oh, I feel amazing.”

“Do you want to try now?”

You pulled away and looked up at him, eager to try anything he wanted. “Try what?”

Jack took a half step back and shed his suit pants, then his undershirt and briefs and socks. You watched as he undressed, taking in the sight of his strong arms and hands. Your eyes widened at the sight of his cock, growing bigger by the second. When he was naked he gave himself a few lazy pumps and then cupped your chin with his free hand. He looked deep into your eyes with that calm, authoritative manner of his.

“You just kiss it around the tip a little and then open your mouth, darlin’. I’ll show you what to do after that.”

You grinned and nodded up at him. “Okay.”

You looked back down at him, at his fist wrapped around the base of his hard, dark cock. Every pump of his heart was sending more blood to his erection. The head of his penis was nearly maroon, and you wanted more than anything to give him the release he had given you so freely.

You leaned forward hesitantly and placed a few soft kisses to the sides of the head, next to the slit of him that was growing damp. Tiny pecks turned into softer smooches, and Jack waited patiently while you got your fill of the experience. The sensation of his velvety skin on your lips was enticing, and you found yourself moaning and drawing out the kisses for longer and longer.

Finally Jack tapped your shoulder, indicating you to stop. He brought his large hand up to cup your chin gently. “You ready, honey? You can open up if you’re ready to try.”

You nodded and opened your mouth obediently, as wide as you could, tongue hanging out. Jack laughed gently.

“Relax, darlin’. You don’t have to unhinge your jaw. Just open up like you’re going to take a taste of something delicious, ‘cause you are.”

You relaxed, letting your mouth close a bit. Jack placed the tip of his penis just inside your lips and took his hand off your jaw. He let it rest on your tongue and then he slowly slid it from side to side as he shifted just a bit deeper.

“You can suck on it if you want, real gentle.” Jack’s voice was encouraging, his drawl low and husky.

You closed your lips gently around the head and gave one experimental suck, like a lollipop. Jack pumped his fist up and down gently, “That’s it, darlin’, real slow and soft.”

You switched between soft sucks of the head and open-mouthed licks, feeling awfully pleased at the huffy breaths and moans that were coming out of Jacks’ mouth above you.

“God, honeybee. Is this your first time giving a man a blowjob?”

“Mmm-hmm,” you hummed.

“Well, darlin’ you’re doing just fine.” Jack brought his free hand to cup the back of your head. “Are you ready to go deeper?”

You flicked your eyes up to him, giving him a wide, innocent stare as you pulled off. “Deeper? How deep does it go?”

“Oh, all the way, darlin’. I think you can fit all of me into that sinful little mouth of yours.”

You looked from his dark eyes to his penis and back again. “Are you sure? I won’t choke on it?”

“Oh, no. I’ll be gentle, honey. We’ll go real slow and get you used to it.”

You nodded and opened your mouth again. Jack placed the head of his penis back on your tongue and you closed your lips gently around it. He removed his fist and then placed both hands on the sides of your head.

“Go slow, honey.”

You looked back up at him to see that he was gazing at you tenderly, enchanted by the sight of his cock disappearing into your soft mouth. He grinned softly at you. “Just go slow.”

You closed your eyes so that you could concentrate on it. He held your head gently between his big hands as you relaxed your jaw and throat, trying to take him as deep as you could. When the head hit the back of your tongue, Jack held it there and moaned soft praises to you.

“Oh baby girl, you are just perfect. Look how I fit in that sweet little mouth of yours.”

You glowed at his praises and pressed just a bit deeper. When the head hit the back of your throat, Jack made a soft hiss and pulled himself out.

You looked at him with wide eyes. “Did I do okay, baby?”

“Oh honey, yes. You did great, but if we keep doing that I’m not gonna last long, and we won’t get to the main event.”

You giggled. “Okay, where do you want me baby?”

“Why don’t you lie back on those big pillows and just relax, darlin’.”

You scooted up to the top of the bed and lay flat. “Like this?”

“Yes, darlin’. Just like that, pretty as a picture.” Jack knelt on the bed and crawled up to you. He reminded you of some jungle cat stalking its prey. He was going to devour you.

“Do I need to take my nightgown off?”

“Only if you want to, but it won’t get in my way.”

You nodded. “Then I’ll leave it on, I like it.”

“That’s fine with me, honey. Are you ready for me?”

You nodded vigorously. “Yes, Jack. I’ve been waiting so long. Please.”

He lay next to you and stroked you from hip to breast, cupping you through the lace before running his hand back down. He lifted the hem of your nightgown and pressed two thick fingers to your entrance. “You’re still so wet for me, but I have lube if you need it.”

You shook your head, “No, I think I’ll be okay.”

He assented. “Alright, but if you need it, you just say so and I’ll stop.”

“Okay, baby.” You cupped his jaw and kissed him deeply. “I love you, my husband.”

His face broke into a soft smile. “And I love my wife. Can’t believe I’m so lucky.”

“To find a virgin for your wedding night? Something special to deflower, that no one else has ever touched?”

“No, just to find you.” He kissed your forehead. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Even if you weren’t a virgin I’d still love you, still be the luckiest man alive to have you on my wedding night.”

Tears sprang to your eyes at his tender words, threatening to overspill. “Oh, Jack. I love you so much.”

He continued caressing you with his fingers. “I love you, honey. You think you’re ready for me now?”

“Yes, Jack, please please please. Right now.”

“Alright.” He shifted up to hover over you. “Just open your legs and relax your hips. I’ll be extra gentle.”

You did as he asked, releasing one slow breath out through an o-shaped mouth. He pressed the tip of his penis to your opening, then looked at you one last time with eyebrows raised for permission. You nodded and said, “Go ahead.”

He pressed in slowly, stretching you open. He felt so big and hard and glorious as he slid between your walls. The wetness in your core provided so much glide that he got all the way inside before you even realized it. He bottomed out and stopped, holding himself up on his arms to look into your eyes. You could feel your own slick mixed with Jack’s saliva drip down between your cheeks.

“Are you alright, darlin?”

You smiled, “Oh, I’m more than alright, Jack. My husband just took my virginity on our wedding night.”

He leaned down and kissed you. “I’m going to start moving in and out now, but if you need me to stop, just say so.”

You nodded. Jack started easing his hips in and out, and you could feel every steel inch of him sliding in and out. You felt another orgasm starting to build. “Oh, Jackie, I think I’m going to come for you again. Can you touch me down there?”

He shifted back to his knees and reached one broad thumb to swipe your clit. “God, honey, you’re so wet for me.”

You barely heard him as the room started to get fuzzy. You felt the dam threaten to burst, and you managed to gasp out, “I’m co-” before you bucked your hips again and came hard, clenching around his cock as he slowly pumped in and out.

“Oh fuck, baby girl. You should see yourself. That greedy little pussy is trying to eat me alive. I’m not gonna last much longer. Can I go faster?”

You moaned, “Oh my god, yes. Go for it.”

Jack took his finger off your clit and pumped just a little faster. “Oh fuck, baby girl. Where do you want me to come?”

“Inside, Jack. We’re man and wife now. You can fill me up and I’ll give you gorgeous babies.”

“Oh honey, I just want to fuck you and watch you get so round. You’re going to be pregnant before you know it.”

“Yes, Jack! Yes!”

“You gonna have my babies? You want all of me?” His words were exhaled in rough gasps. “I’m gonna fuck a baby into you. You won’t be able to get rid of me, you gorgeous girl. Gonna carry a part of me around with you for the rest of your days.”

You felt one more impossible rush of slick dripping from your pussy at his words, and you simply moaned, incapable of speech.

Jack suddenly fell onto you, face buried in your neck, and you felt him thrust hard and then stop. Something hot was releasing inside your pussy, and you whimpered and stroked the back of his head.

“Oh, Jack. I think I love you.”

He groaned into your shoulder, the words muffled. “I love you, too, darlin’.”

---

“Jesus Christ, Jack. That was amazing.” You took a sip of your champagne and passed the joint over to his side of the bed. “That was better than that time in Cancún!”

Jack laughed and choked on his toke, then passed it back to you. “God, I loved Cancún.” He took a long drink of champagne. “Was that the time I fucked you so hard the neighbors called the cops?”

You giggled. “No, that was that shitty little hostel in Amsterdam while we were on assignment, remember?” You took another puff and thought while you held it in, then you blew out a long string of smoke. “No, wait, it was Belgium.”

“That was fun.” Jack grinned to himself. “Remember Italy?”

“Which time? The yacht off the coast, or that blow job outside the Colosseum that one time at 3 a.m.?” You passed the weed back to him.

“Oh, Christ, honeybee. I forgot about the Colosseum.” He took a long toke and another thoughtful sip from his glass. “But that yacht was fucking amazing. I was balls-deep in you under that blue Mediterranean sky. God, you were so sexy in that little swimsuit you were wearing. Made me wanna marry you right there.”

“Aw, you old softie. You’re such a sweetheart.”

He handed the roach back to you to finish. “Remember L.A.? You looked so good gagging on my cock in that bathroom, mascara runnin’ all down your face. I almost felt bad it was a convenience store. I should have taken you back to the hotel first.”

“No way! That was hot. I had that plug in my ass all day, and you did me just fine when we got back. I couldn’t sit right for three days.” You threw your head back and laughed, nearly upsetting the bottle of champagne and the Altoids tin full of joints sitting on your lap.

Jack reached a hand out to steady the bottle. You fished a fresh joint out of the tin and closed the lid. A thought occurred to you as you lit it.

You exhaled and turned to him with wide eyes. “Holy shit, Jack. I should’ve bought my vibrating panties. Maybe we can run out tomorrow and buy a new pair.”

“Nah, they never get you off right. You said they move around too much.” He took the joint from you and drained the last of his champagne. “How about a new vibrator instead?”

“Okay, but tomorrow night it’s your turn to be the virgin.”

He exhaled a huge lungful of smoke and passed the joint back to you, waving his hand to indicate he was done. “Alright, but you have to promise not to be gentle. Can we do college professor and failing student?”

“Mmmm…” you thought for a moment. “Yes, but only if I get to spank you.”

“You got it, honey.”

You leaned over and kissed him. “God, I love my husband.”

He smiled at you and took your empty glass. “I love you, darlin’.”

--- Just-here-for-the-moment’s masterlist

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[ickymichi]

𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐒𝐔𝐊𝐀𝐖𝐀 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐈 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒:

𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

<3 warning: none really! just slight mentions of nsfw but nothing brutal, swearing, v slight angst, mentions of insecurity.

<3 things to know!: set in the timeskip, unless i’m like ‘this was back in high school’. (implied female) reader and issei are in an established relationship.

<3 summary!: headcannons i have about issei and his appearance/body. :)

<3 a/n: see i genuinely had no idea what to call this. like it’s headcannons that i have about issei’s appearance/body?. and also to make some of the things named more normalised and to make ppl see how attractive they make ppl. reblogs are greatly appreciated <3

all contents belongs to hotboyissei 2021. please do not repost or modify on this or any other platform.

𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐒: listen to this okay. issei with freckles on his shoulders. beautiful i know. but just imagine it. those nice broad shoulders with thousands of freckles scattered across them from years of tanning and getting sunburned on the beach while on holidays or just from the numerous summers he spent in your backyard getting a tan. just running your hands across them seeing how some of them connected to form a bigger one. he always tells you it tickles. but never says stop. also in summer he gets them on his face from the sun.

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐒: he definitely had them on like the part of his back where his arm meets his shoulders, on the under side of his biceps and definitely got some on his ass cause boy got cake. but he’s insecure about them and used to hate wearing tank tops cause you could see them. but you told him how much you love them and how cool they look. now mf thinks he’s hot shit (as he should) and walks around your house in them or just shirtless. if you have some to he would literally always be telling you how attractive it is. literally constantly.

𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑: he definitely is on the hairier side. like he got hairy ass legs let me tell you, but it thins out when it gets to his thighs a bit. definitely waxes or shaves his ass idc idc, was scared from this one time he was watching porn and it just got a shot of the guys hairy ass and he was disgusted. but also he got like, not a lot to where he has to constantly wax it, but a nice amount of chest hair, like it’s only on his pecs not on his stomach you know?. side story!: it was like, two months after you started dating and you were having a movie night at his and you were staying over. makki convinced, i mean convinced him you were going to have sex for the first time. so issei being afraid you’d think his chest hair is unattractive he booked a chest wax and made makki come with him. he recorded the whole thing and showed you two years later, big bad matsukawa issei himself, screaming from pain and nearly breaking makki’s hand with the grip he had on it. end of side story :). his happy trail? pheww that shit idky it’s just attractive to me for some reason. also has a bit of stubble but he shaves it cause of one time in third year he was just really lazy that week and didn’t shave and when the four of them went to go to the cinema on saturday oikawa said: “who’s uncles coming our way?”. from then on he never goes out with to them without shaving beforehand. if you tell him you find it attractive he’d grow it out a small bit just to see your reaction. but if you said you don’t like it he’d do it anyway to annoy you.

𝐀𝐂𝐍𝐄: high school issei definitely had acne. not like major but had some on his cheeks and his back. he hated it sm cause all his friends never had a problem with it. until you told him it doesn’t matter if he has it for not he’s still seggsy as fuck. now timeskip issei? not as much. he made sure to start taking care of his skin halfway through high school. that is until masks became a thing, poor guy has a love hate relationship with them now.

𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: listen, issei eats. mf has the biggest appetite you’ve ever seen. ceo of “you eating that?”. every time you see him on the couch he either has a bag of crisps, chocolate, popcorn, leftovers from last night or a takeout he ordered in his lap. man just loves food (i relate ‘sei dw). but all that eating makes boy bloat like crazy. like, he has a fast metabolism so mf never gains weight that much🙄. but he could literally eat half a sharing bar of chocolate and suddenly he’s eight weeks pregnant. also, he didn’t know what bloating was until you finished a movie night and mf took half the popcorn, had his own bag of jellies and three of the small multipack chocolate bars. so when he undressed for his shower and caught a glimpse of his stomach that normally only has a bit of pudge, pushed out to where it looks like he gained weight over night he has a stroke. this how shiz went down:

“(Y/N)!!” you literally sprinted to the bathroom thinking he fell or sum. “what issei? what happened?!”. “have i, have i always been this big?” “what? you look like you always do”. the distressed noise he let out along with him fake stumbling and grabbing the counter had you confused. “i look pregnant! what do you mean i always look like this? we’re getting a treadmill or at home gym or whatever i need to get back to how i was. good lord i really let myself go.” he ran a hand across his face while rubbing his stomach and looking in the mirror. then it hit you. “oh my god you fucking idiot, you do realise how much shit you are right? your just bloated.” “bloated? the fuck is that?”. you then spent the next fifteen minutes sitting on the toilet seat explaining what bloating was while he showered.

𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐇: i just know baby don’t got teeth that look like a fresh set of veneers. and it’s not like they crazy crooked, just slightly that you barley notice unless you’re up close and stare at his mouth. but because he’s always looking at himself it’s the first thing he sees. this leads to him covering his mouth whenever he laughs and only slightly smirking or lifting his mouth to a small closed lip smile when he’s told to smile. everytime he has to take a picture with his family one of his auntie who’s taking it shouts: “smile issei!” every time. and he always says: “i am though”which leads to his getting pinched in the side by his mother and her telling him: “fucking smile properly before i whoop your ass” through gritted teeth while she smiles brightly herself. he grew to not care as much when, you again, told him you love his smile when he threw his head back instead of covering his mouth when you told him a funny story.

𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐒/𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐒: heavenly i know, but bby doesn’t completely agree. we all know boy thick especially those gorgeously thick thighs! but he just thinks they’re too thick. he’s used to seeing oikawa and makki’s slender ones, so when he stands in front of the mirror in a pair of swim shorts he bought and they’re swinging on his waist but about to rip around his thighs he can feel himself start to tear up. and then, what a suprise, you walk in!

~ start story:)): “ ‘sei! you ready to go, oh are you okay?”. he whips his head around to see you standing in the doorway in the swim set you just bought your self. ‘god you look so good’ he thinks to himself. “uh yeah yeah i’m good just need a few minutes these uh, they don’t fit.” he brings a hand to his face and uses his index finger and thumb to wipe the tears in the corner of his eyes. “oh well then you can just tie the strings, that’s what they’re there for, i told you to go a size down silly”. you stand infront of him and start to tie the strings in the shorts around his waist. “no doll, they aren’t to big, they’re to small look” he motions his head to the way they’re straining around his thighs and he just wants to start crying again. “oh i see, we’ll theres nothing we can do there , is there? we’ll just buy another pair on the way.” how? he thinks. how are you not laughing in his face that his legs are to fat to fit in a pair of shorts that are 2 sizes to big for him? “i know what you’re thinking,” your soft voice breaks him out of his thoughts. “why is she not laughing at me huh? she probably thinks i’m fuckin’ ugly” you do your best to mimic his deep voice but just sound silly trying, making him let out a small laugh. “how many times have i told you how much i adore your legs hm? how many times have i done, such oh so sinful things on them while going on about how much i love them?. to many to count issei. so next time you think all those silly bad thoughts just think of me and every time i tell you nice things about them!”. now he’s definitely crying, but this time over how much your words helped him. and now he feels like a million dollars as he struts across the beach to the three men waiting for you with his neon orange shorts tied around his waist and clinging to his thighs. end story :))~

jesus i forgot about his legs. anyway, all his life he’s been told how ‘lanky he is’ and how long his legs are. this makes him feel like shit really,most of his jeans stop above his anlke so the only type of socks he had is the long ones that he uses to hide his ankles fromm people, making them think he has the perfect size. he’ll never forget the time he spent hours shopping with his mother and trying on countless pairs of trousers for an upcoming wedding that and they stop above his ankle. he feels embarrassed really, seeing the fitter tell him they can just get them custom made, but it’ll cost more plus the original price. watching how distressed his mother gets when he tells her how much it’ll be. he doesn’t want his mother spending that much money on a pair of trousers he’ll wear once so he butts in saying it’s fine and he’ll deal with it by wearing black socks and no one will notice. the same exact problem happens several years later except in his mother’s place is makki along with oikawa and iwa, watching him get fitted for your wedding. he tells himself ‘think of (y/n), think of (y/n) and how much she says she loves your legs’ but it’s hard to when all the other men have no problem finding the perfect suit size. he doesn’t want to pay extra for a custom suit but that’s what it looks like is going to happen.

-end <3

[jimlingss]

Hi! Here’s a request for your Drabble game: namjoon + fantasy au + “Take this seriously, it’s a life or death situation!” Can be funny or angsty and sorry if this request is too specific haha

Anonymous said: Hello Kina! I love literally all of your works! Can I request this prompt? “That’s barbaric.” “That’s how you survive.” Any member!

Anonymous said: zombie au with any member ?

Zombies count as fantasy, right? lol

↳ The Unintended

2.5k || 50% Angst, 50% Fluff || Kim Namjoon || Zombie Apocalypse!AU

You’re lucky to have Namjoon by your side.

He’s always been the outdoorsy type. One of your first dates together was a camping trip in the wilderness. You remember being mortified then — having no place to do your makeup or properly shower or be able to make yourself look good for him. But now you look back on the memories with fondness. He didn’t care back then and he doesn’t care now.

Not to mention, Namjoon was also a boy scout for eight years. When he got too old for that, he took up rock climbing and spent hours in the gym to beef up his arms. It’s where you met him in the first place as a receptionist at the gym where you were working part-time while going to school.

He knows how to fish. How to set up traps. How to start a campfire. 

Namjoon’s saved your life countless times.

But then again, he’d argue you’ve saved him lots of times too. Years of schooling to become a nurse wasn’t wasted on you after all. And you’re the better cook than he is.

“Look what I caught!”

You look up from the fire where your dear husband is holding a usual fish. But in his other hand is a rabbit held by its ears, dead. It’s dripping of blood, limp in his grip and you feel a twinge of guilt.

“That’s barbaric.”

“That’s how you survive,” he says. “I’ll prepare it to roast.”

You hum, taking the fish from him and the pair of you fall into routine. Namjoon works alongside you to prepare the food, poking the fire interchangeably and the both of you looking up once in a while through the thicket of the forest. 

After a moment, you pipe up, “Hey.”

Namjoon glances up at you and says “hey” with a tender, dimpled smile. 

The corner of your mouth quirks without being able to resist. “I’ve been thinking we should get on the move again. I saw a cottage down the road on our way here. Maybe we could check it out.”

“It’s probably already been ransacked.”

“Yeah, but it’ll be nice to sleep with a roof over our heads. I don’t want you to stay up and have to keep watch.”

“We take turns.”

You give Namjoon a look. “You never wake me up for my turn.”

He smiles sheepishly and you put your blunt knife down, quickly growing solemn. “I’m serious, Joon. It’s not good for your health to not sleep and I can’t— I can’t have you breaking down on me.”

Namjoon softens when he recognizes your distressed tone, when he sees your expression marred with worry. “Okay,” he murmurs gently. “We’ll leave tomorrow morning then.”

You nod and the two of you fall into a comfortable silence. 

As the fish and rabbit are roasted over the blazing fire, smoke fills your nose and you cough before batting it away. You’re starving — in general, you’ve been feeling weak these days but you don’t dare say anything to Namjoon. God knows what he’s putting himself through to make you feel as comfortable as you can. 

You don’t want to worry him even more.

But you can’t hide your groan or sickly expression when the fish you’re supposed to eat comes up to your mouth.

Namjoon’s immediately alarmed and wide-eyed. “What’s wrong? Is it bad?”

You hand the stick that’s pierced with the fish over to him while cupping your mouth, trying not to vomit. “I’m sorry. It just smells really bad.”

“I made it the exact same way before.” He frowns and bites into the fish that’s still steaming. Namjoon chews in his cheek. “It tastes fine, Y/N.”

You shake your head. “I’m good. I’ll have the rabbit.”

But as you shift over, your husband’s eyes bore into your profile.

Namjoon stares at you. He gawks.

Then his mouth opens and he says— “Are you pregnant?”

Your eyes double and you look back at him. But then you scoff. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

You look away from him, picking at the meat, but you swallow hard in the meanwhile, mind racing. It’s not possible. It shouldn’t be possible. You haven’t had your period for three months — but you didn’t think twice about it. Not when there were more pressing matters. Not when you just assumed it stopped because you haven’t had your nutrients and you’ve been starving.

Namjoon knows the gears in your head are turning by your expression. He knows after years of being together.

“Y/N.”

“I already said it’s not possible.”

“There’s a city ten miles away from here. It’ll take half a day to walk there, but there should be a pharmacy or a hospital—”

“We are not going to the city,” you interrupt in exasperation. “It’s a death sentence, Namjoon, and we’re fine out here.”

“Not if you’re pregnant.”

“I’m not.” You deflate with an annoyed sigh. “I know my body best, alright? So just drop it.”

Namjoon stays silent. 

The rustling leaves of the forest and the distant sound of the river rushing fills the growing space between the two of you. And it sinks in how harsh and upset you got. You look up towards your husband with remorseful eyes. The last thing you want is to fight out here. Who knows when it could be your last moment together. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I was just worried.”

You nod. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

Yet deep down, uncertainty swirls and you’re green with nausea again.

...

It took a year to happen.

At first, it was called a flu outbreak. Authorities kept it contained for a few weeks until it wasn’t anymore. Within the span of another week, it was declared a worldwide pandemic and entire countries went into quarantine. 

Life itself shut down. People complained and protested, and when thousands started to drop dead, there were protests for lack of government action. Then, it was millions dead.

Developing countries fell first. It didn’t take long after that for developed nations to follow.

Chaos. Panic. Looting. The dead walking the streets.

You still get nightmares about it. Namjoon does too — when he’s holding you and suddenly jolts awake, gasping. It’s then and there that you know he’s had a nightmare of one of the many close calls.

“I thought the cottage was closer than this.”

The both of you are trekking through the forest, lugging your bags and weapons, trying to remain as quiet and elusive as possible. 

Namjoon looks over his shoulder. “Do you need a break?”

You shake your head. “I’m fine.”

“It should be up ahead.”

You hum, feeling the heat of the sun beating down on you. But it’s still better now with the canopy of the trees hiding you. It’s refreshing even. You admire the unfamiliar scenery. 

All at once, you stop. None of this should be unfamiliar.

Namjoon doesn’t hear the crunch of leaves behind him and turns around.

“This isn’t the direction of the cottage, is it?”

“Y/N.”

Your brows furrow deep enough to hurt. “I already said we’re not going to the city, Namjoon! Why don’t you ever listen to me?!”

Suddenly, there’s snarling in the distance. Namjoon, on alert, clasps his palm over your mouth and both sets of your eyes flicker over. There’s a shadow in the distance, a lurching figure amongst the trees. It snarls again, jerking a bit in your direction, but then no sounds follow. 

It passes.

You breathe a sigh of relief.

“We have to go eventually, Y/N,” he whispers. “We need more supplies and if I can get my hands on a car, that would help us.”

“But—”

Your husband gingerly takes your hand, cradling it softly. “We’ll be careful.”

You gaze at him, searching his expression as if you’re painting his features to the forefront of your mind. But you already have. Yet, it’s not enough to feel comforted. “I can’t lose you, Namjoon. I can’t.”

Namjoon reaches out to hug you, embracing your body, frame overtaking yours.

You grasp onto his shoulders, trying to savour the moment and capture his warmth.

“You won’t. Not if I can help it.”

You nod into his chest.

The trek to the city is completed by afternoon and you find yourself standing in the remains of what was once civilization. There are decayed buildings, abandoned tanks, and much to Namjoon’s delight, many deserted cars. You see zombies bumbling around too. They’ve infested every corner street, every line of the road, and alley, nook and cranny. 

Their bodies are decaying, some with skulls lodged in half and their brain unraveling behind them. You have to hold back a gag when you can smell the rotten odour from here.

Luckily, you and Namjoon move quickly. You throw bricks and bottles at a distance to attract them and run the opposite way together.

First, you get to the small grocery store, opening your backpacks for the spare cans of beans and peas. It’s not much, but it’s a lot at this point. Namjoon even manages to score bandages.

“This is enough,” you murmur when you’re back on the open street again.

But before you can move on out, he stops. “Wait.”

You follow Namjoon’s line of sight. Across the street is a pharmacy and a horde of infected.

You pull your husband back before he can book it and the both of you hide behind discarded crates on the road. “Wait, why?”

“You know why. There were none in the grocery store. I checked, but if there’s any place that has them, it’s there.”

If looks could kill, Namjoon would be six feet under and then crawling out of his grave as a zombie. Maybe as the first one who wasn’t bitten or infected by the virus. “You’re being an idiot.” 

Namjoon grins. “Well, I was thinking of just shouting a battle cry and running straight in there.”

“Take this seriously,” you hiss and punch his arm. It does little to even push him back, much less hurt him. It doesn’t help that his muscles are rock solid. If only his brain was as developed — but if you were being honest, Namjoon was quite intelligent too. Except for right now. “It’s a life or death situation.”

Namjoon smiles, practically from ear to ear. 

The dimples on each side of his cheek crease and before you can react or say much else, he leans in and captures your lips with his. It’s a soft and sweet kiss. Then your husband cradles your face in his hand and tilts your head to deepen the kiss. You’re rendered to complete silence, melting into his touch as he takes your breath away. 

When he pulls from you, your lashes flutter.

You’re completely dazed. 

Until he grabs a rock near your foot and chucks it. It smashes into the window of a nearby boutique, glass shattering and all the zombies turn their heads. They snarl at a high pitch, screeching out as flounder towards the noise. Namjoon darts behind them, right out of your grasps.

You’d shout his name if it didn’t mean your own death sentence.

The wait is agonizing. You feel like you’re going to get a heart attack as you watch the door, unsure if he’ll come out. Even if he does, you don’t know if he’ll still be human and the Namjoon that you love. The one that you decided to marry, that you saw on the other end of the aisle and who cried like a dork when he saw you in the dress. 

Those years feel like another world. But they’re still memories you cherish.

The five minutes feels like an hour. You’re cursing, praying, regretting.

But then the buff idiot, your idiot, comes out and runs back to you with a massive grin. Uninjured. With bottles of penicillin, some kind of allergy medicine, and a pregnancy test you grimace at.

You seek refuge at an apartment building on the edge of the city.

It’s an expensive one that was fenced in and boarded up — one of the last to fall to the ruins.

You choose a room on the second floor that’s easy to get into and easy to escape if need be. Unfortunately a zombie lurches out from one of the rooms much to your horror, but Namjoon kills it. He takes his hatchet right into its skull and checks the other rooms before dragging the corpse out when you look nauseous again.

When it’s all over, Namjoon dusts his hands off like it was just some spring cleaning.

“What happens if I really am pregnant?”

You hold the test, motionless, until your head lifts to meet Namjoon’s softened eyes. There’s an overwhelming urge not to take it, to throw the box out the window and keep convincing yourself that it would be impossible to be carrying. But Namjoon risked his life for this.

And you know he won’t let it go. Not until an answer is certain.

“Then we’ll figure it out,” he murmurs gently.

“I can’t give birth on my own, Namjoon.”

“I know.”

“If the baby even makes it that far,” you whisper and he grimaces. But what worries you far more, what’s put you in so much denial, and made you sick with terror is the fact that you know— “I’ll slow you down even more, Namjoon.”

His brows furrow, lips becoming lopsided. “You don’t slow me down.”

“How many times have you almost died trying to save me?! I-I can’t keep up.”

At once, Namjoon engulfs you with his arms. He holds you close, body flush against yours and you press your face into his broad shoulder, smothering your worries for a moment with his soothing comfort.

“I love you,” he sighs against your ear. “No matter what happens, I love you. There wouldn’t be a reason for me to keep living if you weren’t here, Y/N. I’m only trying this hard because you are. You’re my purpose now. You and this baby, if it’s real.”

Your fingers clutch onto his jacket, hanging onto your husband as your anchor. “Shut up,” you mumble against his clothes. “You know I hate it when you talk like this. Like you’re saying goodbye.”

Namjoon smiles faintly, remembering how you made him promise to never say goodbye. “Sorry.”

He lets you go and you turn into the bathroom.

The minutes that follow are excruciating. Maybe you’re just impatient, but you’ve grown to hate waiting. But still, you wait by yourself while kneeling on the cold, tiled floors, staring at the stick you peed on.

It’s faint. And you pray your eyes are wrong. But as the minutes go by, it becomes stronger and stronger in colour.

You leave and Namjoon looks at you expectedly. 

“Well?”

You thrust the stick towards him. Two lines.

[d0llpie]

can you do 47 with kiyoomi or tsukishima?

“I lost the baby”

Tsukkishima x reader

warnings: miscarriage, blood mention

a/n: after the last one with this prompt i decided to make this one more comfort than angst to make up for how angsty i made the last one, hope you enjoy, thank you for the request <333 okay i just finished writing this it’s still angsty i’m sorry

wc: 1.2k

Tsukkishima was a doting partner, he always made sure to show you how much he loved you to make up for the comfort he couldn’t bring you with his words. He made sure to clean up your desk when you fell asleep early from exhaustion, tidying your room when you were too busy and even taking the time to make you meals if you were too forgetful. You showed your own appreciation through words of affirmation and touch. You were different in that capacity but you fit together well, always in sync, your senses of humor allowed you both to rarely fight and always get along.

You recently moved in together, it suited your schedules better so Tsukkishima could see you more since his hours at the museum changed. He started working later hours to make more money but having you move in allowed him to save up. He told you it was for convienence but you knew he just wanted to see you more, you could tell by the way he pulled you against him at night, the way he insisted on showering with you to ‘save water’ and the way he had your mug out on the bench before you even woke up. You loved living with your boyfriend, how domestic and safe you felt. It made you hopeful knowing he wanted to move further in his life with you.

Tsukkishima was planning out an anniversary date, it was your fourth anniversary and he was planning to propose, you were recently out of school and his job was stable and providing him with enough money. He had been saving up for a ring for a while now, but decided it was time to finally ask you, worried you’d find the ring now that you were under the same roof.

You were also planning a surprise for your anniversary date, you were pregnant. You were worried about his reaction but you knew if he was ready for a child you both could financially support them. Still, you were swarming with nerves, you’d never really discussed kids before but he’d never reacted negatively to seeing a child in public so you were slightly optimistic.

The date rolled around and you slipped on a black spaghetti strap dress and an oversized blazer. Tsukkishima entered your shared bedroom and smirked “you don’t look half bad” you would’ve taken offence if you didn’t notice the blush “hmm you too baby” you leant up to kiss his cheek before taking his hand “you ready to go?” you nodded and grabbed your purse, heading out to the car.

The car ride was a comfortable silence, gazing out at the setting sun and trees passing by, Tsukkishima humming softly beside you every now and then. “Alright, before we go in i have one of my presents for you now” you turned to face him with an expression of awe “tsukki you spoil me” you gave him a kiss again, he pulled out a small black box, a beautiful necklace inside with a tiny moon charm at the bottom “kei” you looked up at him smiling before wrapping your arms around his neck “yeah i know, c’mon turn around” he smiled when you giddily turned around, brushing your hair away from your neck to clip the necklace behind you. He pressed a kiss on your exposed shoulder before opening his door and leading you inside the restaurant where you had your first real date.

During dinner you both had a beautiful time, recounting memories and making snarky comments about the other couples eating together. He never failed to make you laugh, watching as your face scrunched up in joy, he could watch you laugh for hours. “Y/n, i have something i’ve been meaning to ask you” did he know? you wanted to come clean before he could ask so you cut him off “wait let me tell you first, i know we didn’t plan for this but i love you, i want to spend my life with you and i know we’re young but i’m ready...i’m pregnant..” you looked up to see him with tears in his eyes “kei?!” he chuckled before wiping his eyes “i want to spend the rest of my life with you too y/n..” he dropped down to one knee and took your hands into his own you sucked in a breath feeling tears brimming your eyes too “yes yes yes” he laughed again “y/n let me say it” you giggled, trying to calm yourself down “y/n l/n, i can’t imagine being with anyone besides you, i want to wake up everyday and see your stupid snoring and ridiculously adorable laugh, i want to be there when you’re sick and i want you to be the one i grow old and gross with, will you do me the honour of being your husband ?” you nodded tearily smiling at him as he moved up to cup your face and slam his lips against yours in a searing kiss.

The rest of the night was filled with soft sex and cuddling, talking about your wedding and children. It felt like a dream come true, and it was, until reality woke you up. It was only a week later, you woke up in pain and immediately grabbed your stomach, groaning out in pain, alerting Tsukkishima next to you. “Y/n? shit.” he lifted you into his lap and felt the blood on your pants. He could feel his heart breaking and his chest tightening but his priority right now was you. He rushed to put you in the car, speeding to the hospital hoping it wasn’t what he was thinking.

After the miscarriage you passed out in the hospital bed, tear stained cheeks and an anxious Kei by your side, squeezing your hand tightly. He stayed awake most of the night, crying softly, running his hands through your hand, holding you in his arms and trying to ground himself in any way he could. When you woke up in the morning Kei kissed your forehead. You snuggled up closer to him until you felt the pain return and remembered what had happened “i lost the baby...” you whispered quietly, feeling tears well up in your eyes again, Kei’s eyes were puffy as he pulled your head against his, shushing against your hair and whispering against you “i love you so much, it wasn’t your fault, baby you’re so strong, it’ll be okay.” you cried softly in his arms as he continued to rub comforting circles on your back, kissing your forehead “we’ll have a family eventually baby, please don’t cry, i love you so much..”

It took a while for things to get back to normal for you both but Kei was there every step of the way, helping you like usual. You dedicated your time to preparing your wedding instead, focusing on how much you loved Kei. It wasn’t meant to be, eventually you would start a family, it just couldn’t happen this time. You were coming to terms with your loss, Kei was so proud of you, reminding you everyday just how much he loved you.

He was your home and family for now, and that was more than enough for you.

[a-dorin]

"it's not a big deal"

pairing: professor!maul x fem!reader

word count: 2.022k

warnings: alcohol use, drinking, swearing, flirting, sexual harassment, slight age gap (no romance yet), sexual tension, mentions of student/professor relationship, 18+

a/n: i do not own the gif below! this takes place between ardor and tempestuous, which are chapters one and two. also i hope y'all enjoy how hot maul is in this like i did ;)

“how many times do i have to tell you this? professor kenobi is banging that hot political science professor. that blonde one.”

“nice word choice hardcase,” a platinum blonde snorts, bringing a cup to his lips, “i think you mean professor kenobi might be having sexual relations with professor satine.”

“isn’t she the pacifist or something?” another voice chirps, “a few of my friends have taken her classes. they’ve all said the same thing about her.”

“and that is?” the blonde arches a brow, his voice raised to a shout over the music.

“do we really have to talk about professors and class right now? shouldn’t we be celebrating our survival of the first week of classes?”

“and so she speaks!” hardcase bursts into a fit of laughter, taking another swig of his bottle, “sorry, you just hadn’t spoken in a while. i thought you went out to the dance floor or something.”

swiveling your head, your eyes dart over to the corner of the car, nose wrinkling in disgust at the sight of the mass of students, bodies pressed together, sweat plastering their bodies and clothes. why were some of them wearing jeans in august? surely they were overheated, the air muggy and thick. summer in coruscant was awful, even if the sun was well set.

the scent of alcohol and sweat hung in the air, almost clouding over your booth. shaking your head, your gaze falls on hardcase, his eyes glinting with the promise of more teasing, “i would rather not be included in the student body orgy.”

“everyone must be took drunk to care that they’re getting showered in sweat,” rex mutters, “tup, do you know what time coach buir said we had practice?”

“i think he mentioned something about weights at five,” a new voice remarks, flicking a water drop at hardcase, “that means if we leave now, we’ll all be getting about four and a half hours of sleep.”

“here we go,” hardcase lets out a dramatic sigh, rolling his eyes, “typical wolffe. always gotta ruin the fun.”

“i’m just trying to look out for your dumbass because i know you’re going to bitch about it tomorrow morning. i’d rather not run laps in the morning either for any tardiness. you know how much coach hates when we’re late,” wolffe growls, before taking a glance at his phone, “i don’t know about you guys, but i’m going to be responsible and head out now.”

beside you, rex mumbles a strand of curses under his breath, leaning his head against your shoulder, “sorry but i should probably head out too. the last thing i want is wolffe bitching and shit tomorrow. you know how he is, bein’ captain and all.”

closing your eyes, you exhale, gritting your teeth, “so you’re just going to leave me here?”

“i’ll leave my ringer on if you need me,” lips graze your temple, “hey, maybe you’ll run into that hot professor of yours. he can pick up a couple drinks for ya on his tab. i got the ones from earlier on mine. don’t worry about paying me back either.”

sliding out of the booth, you allow rex to make his way past you, “is this your ‘i’m sorry for leaving you behind on a packed night’?”

“perhaps,” the blonde shoots you a wink, patting his pocket, “again, if you need me, please don’t hesitate to call. i can come get you or pay for your uber. love you.’

“love you,” shifting your head upwards, you place a gentle kiss on rex’s cheek, “make it back safe. drink some water and take some tylenol. don’t want you feeling hungover in the morning.”

“i’m more worried about the ass-beating that’ll ensue when hardcase doesn’t show up on time,” a warm chuckle fills your ear, “see ya, bestie. make it home safe.”

“i will,” you take rex’s hand, squeezing it gently, “bye.”

“bye,” rex takes a step forward, waving a hasty goodbye before catching up with the rest of the boys, loud laughter rumbling amongst the group as they make their way towards the exit.

swallowing thickly, you slide back into the booth, fingers gripping the half-empty cup. of course they all had to leave, abandoning you on one of the busiest nights of the year. students of all ages, undergrad to grad, linger in groups, chatter filling the space as the song ended, leaving a pause before the next one started.

“you look lonely,” a voice, smooth and brassy, sounds to your right.

next to your table, stood a nautolan, drinks in hand. squeezing your cup, you blink, registering he was speaking to you, “oh -- um, uh, hi.”

“mind if i join you?”

“not at all,” you shake your head, “feel free to take a seat.”

“i’ve never seen you here before,” he states, flashing you a dazzling grin, “i’m nigel, a junior in bio. how about you?”

“oh,” you pause, biting your lower lip, “i’m just in health sciences. i’m a junior too.”

“a gorgeous girl like you doesn’t have a name?” carefully, nigel slides a cup towards you, “i talked to one bartender but another brought me my drink. somehow i ended up with two.”

cautiously, you accepted the drink, but didn’t take a sip, “thank you, but i’ve had my fair share tonight.”

which, you weren’t wrong. as you sat in the booth, you couldn’t help but feel this tingly feeling, as it rippled from your head to your toes. it was almost as if you weighed nothing, as if you were bouncy and light. a blissful sensation, really.

yet, there was this other feeling in your stomach, gnawing at you, threatening to consume you whole. the leather on the seat clung to your thighs, the temperature of the air elevating a few degrees as nigel’s eyes narrow into slits, his lips falling.

“come on, you don’t want a free drink?”

“like i said,” you clear your throat, “i’ve had my fair share tonight. i don’t want to feel it in the morning, ya know?”

“hm,” nigel hums, a hand darting across the table, finding yours, “could i interest you in something else, maybe? something like you come home with me instead, and i can offer you something other than drinks? we could have some fun, and then i could eat you for brea--”

“hey love,” suddenly, a hand falls on your shoulder, “i asked for what you wanted but they were out for the night.”

glancing upwards, your heart skips a beat at the person beside you.

warm amber eyes lock with yours, nearly glowing in the dim light, “i didn’t frighten you, did i?”

“hey,” nigel’s voice cuts in, “we’re having a conversation here, bud.”

his attention shifts, eyes hardening at the sight of the nautolan, “i was not aware that they hadn’t taken the trash out for the evening.”

“m-maul--” you begin, but you’re swiftly interrupted by his lips connecting with yours.

the kiss was brief, only a mere peck. yet, you couldn’t help but melt. his lips were soft, and gods were they so tantalizing as he pulls away, glowering over to nigel.

if only a moment could have lasted just a second longer.

“i believe you should have left the moment she expressed her disinterest in you. she can hold her own but gods you must be a fly or something. some sort of pest. leave her alone.”

nigel did not utter another word, exiting the booth promptly while you remained seated, cheeks burning hot, a fiery feeling in your chest. maul cleared his throat, lingering at your side.

“do you need someone to walk you home?”

“do you always kiss your students?”

there’s a brief exhale, the zabrak’s fingers finding your chin. he was more dressed than the last time you saw him, a light cotton tee clinging to his torso, the color complementing his tattoos. a pair of heather grey shorts hung on his hips, the cotton leaving nothing to the imagination. it helped him blend in, giving him a facade that he was just like you. a student stopping by the bar for some fun.

tilting your head upwards, you meet his gaze once more, finding it increasingly more difficult to maintain your composure as he leans in, chain nearly dangling in your face.

“i only kiss the ones who have my utmost attention.”

“how did you manage to slip in without people noticing? you’re pretty popular on campus, you know.”

“kallus lets me slip in through the back,” in the corner of your eye, there’s this shiny object.

quickly, you realize it’s a six-pack of bottles. beer bottles.

maul continues, his voice gravelly as his fingers remain on your chin, “this is the only bar in town who carries this kind of beer i like. now, is that a satisfactory explanation?”

“it’s good enough,” you’re surprised that he could hear the words your voice was so low, “you should leave.”

“not without getting you an uber first,” maul sets the six-pack on the table, pulling his phone out, “what’s your address?”

“i can make it home just fine,” you scoff, “just go already before we draw in any more unwanted attention.”

“i know you can make it home just fine,” you tense at the firm tone in his voice, “i just need to know you’ll get there safe. it’ll bring me some peace of mind. also, why are you here by yourself?”

“rex had to leave,” you mutter, fidgeting with your own phone, “just go, all right? it’s not a big deal.”

“all right,” the zabrak gives in, huffing, “i’ll see you in class on monday.”

“what if nigel recognizes you and reports you?” bringing a hand to your mouth, you feel horrible for even asking the question.

but, it needed to be said.

after all, your psychology professor conducted some very unprofessional behavior. not only in front of one student, but an entire bar full of them, no less.

“don’t worry about it,” maul places a tender hand on your shoulder, “if i do, it was worth it. i’m sure that prick was too intoxicated to even establish who i was. don’t worry about it too much, okay? i don’t want you losing sleep over your professor.”

“i lose sleep over your class anyways,” taking your cup, you finish off your drink from earlier, recoiling at the lukewarm taste.

grabbing his six-pack maul shoves his phone in his pocket, clearing his throat.

“be prepared to lose some more, love. you won’t sleep much when it comes to me. see you in class.”

“s-see you in class.”

as the zabrak slips into the crowd, weaving between all sorts of species and humans, the ambiance seems to crumble away, leaving you in the booth, mind reeling, wondering what the hell just happened.

maul, the professor from your psychology class, the one you saw at the gym, nearly half-naked, clobbering away at a punching bag, also happened to run into you at the bar, stepping in to prevent any more harassment from a very drunk nautolan. he kissed you. his lips were on yours, leaving you dazed and entranced, somehow craving more.

fingers brush your lips, and for a moment you forget that they’re your own, ghosting over the plush skin where his mouth once touched.

gods, this was only fuel to the fire, this attraction that left you yearning more and more.

yearning for him.

this wasn’t a big deal, was it? surely he would’ve done this for any other student? surely he wasn’t giving you some sort of special treatment. this was just some sort of fucked up incident. a fever dream, of sorts. gods, it sure fucking felt like one.

surely this wasn’t going to make things awkward in class. after all, you were going to see him bright and early within a matter of days. maybe he’d forget about it. maybe it was nothing.

this wasn’t a big deal. he said it wasn’t.

you were sure of one thing, though.

monday morning was going to be an interesting one, that was without a doubt.

☆☆☆☆☆

taglist: @maulieber @galacticdream @anakinswhore @zabrak-show @justalittlecloud @hounding-around @meshlamando @fandom-gal44 @xcertaindarkthingsx @maximumninjavoid @alwayshappysith @doobiwankenooku @javierpenaspinkshirt

[the-fiction-witch]

Daddy!

TV SHOW: THE QUEENS GAMBIT COUPLE: BENNY X READER RATING: FUNNY

I sat at the table in our little apartment, the ice cold floor against my feet, the sun coming in through the open little basement window, the heated steam around the room still not settled from the last shower. I was sorting through the mail putting it into three piles: one for me, one for y/n and one for junk. I glanced up a moment seeing the blurred shadows of y/n getting dressed in our bedroom, and I looked over to the rug where Erica sat with her little table playing tea with her dolls and bears. She saw me and waved so I waved back just then the door to the bedroom opened and I smiled seeing her in her little white tennis shoes, her black stockings, and her little blue dress her hair done up tightly and her make up perfect 

"You look beautiful" I told her 

"Thank you benny" she giggled 

"Erica? Doesn't mummy look beautiful?" I asked her

"Mummy always looks lovely" she giggled running and giving y/n a hug 

"Aww thank you Erica. Now come on mummy needs to go to work" she says petting Erica's hair and pushing her away "are you sure?" She asks coming to the table so I got up 

"Y/n" I laughed, giving her forehead a kiss "I'll be fine. How hard can it be?"

"Don't say that" she giggled "I just… I don't know, your not used to it, and it's been a while and not since- maybe I should stay home"

"Y/n, go to work darling. I'll be fine, nothing bad is going to happen I promise." I told her "everything with be fine,"

"I don't know I'm just worried about leaving you alone"

"Seriously? Y/n? I am the us chess championship I can handle our four year old daughter for a few hours"

"I know. It's just your not around her much and you don't know what it's-"

"I know I haven't, but I have to learn don't I? It'll all be fine. Don't you trust me?"

"Do you want the honest answer Benny or the lies?"

"Lie to me" I shrug

"You'll do fine I completely trust you" she says getting her bag and going to leave but I stopped her arm

"And the truth?"

"There are days Benny I don't trust you to look after a cake"

"In all fairness… it's not like I'm gonna eat our daughter? She's not delicious like cakes you bake" 

"I did make her" she laughed

"I helped!" I argued "come here sweetheart" I smiled and Erica happily ran into my arms so I sat her on my hip letting her nuzzle with my shirt "we'll be fine won't we? Mummy doesn't need to worry? We're gonna have the best day aren't we princess?"

"Yeah! Bestest day with daddy" erica giggled

"Alright, just follow the instructions."

"I know" I sighed 

"You know where Jr's schedule is?'

"Yes I know where jr's stuff is" I laughed slightly rolling my eyes 

"Okay, take care all of you I'll be back for dinner" she smiled giving erica a kiss and then me "don't fuck this up benny" she warns before getting her things and heading off to work. 

"Well, make it just us now erica. Well us and your brother" I told her 

"Can we play daddy! Can we?' she giggled

"Five minutes princess, daddy needs to finish with the mail and then we need to get you dressed" I told her putting her down so she ran off to play again, I finished up with the mail and went over to I guess the kids room, the corner of the apartment that I think just had a desk at one point where now all the kids stuff sat with a screen to decide if from the rest of our one room apartment but we were in the moving process we had found a little house but we can't move in till the other people are moved out so we're just kinda stuck here till they leave. With Erica's little bed and jr's crib and all their clothes and toys I helped Erica into her little blue dress much like her mother's having a bit of a fight with it, so many strings, so many buttons and tiny clasps. As soon as I got her dress on, jr began crying so I went over and picked him up out of his crib instantly noticing the problem "whoa! Yeah jr I think I'd be crying too if I smelt like that" I complained making erica giggle as I took him to the table and began changing him I knew y/n wouldn't have done it before she left she would have Intentionally left it for me, having to be very carefully "no! No jr. No. We do not bite daddy!" I told him he might not have teeth yet but when he gets your finger or anything in his mouth he will bring the full strength of his jaw down on you and it fucking hurts! 

"Daddy!!!! You have to braid my hair for me!!" Erica squealed jumping on her bed 

"I know princess. I know. Five minutes while I deal with your brother. And don't jump on the bed" I told her "ahh! Jr no! No! Do not pee on me!" I warn him quickly finishing changing him as well as dressing him for the day 

"Daddy!" Erica whines 

"I know sweetheart I know. I'm coming" I told her as I put jr in his chair giving him his milk for this morning then sitting on her bed with her starting to braid her hair, following instructions in her little book as I very rarely do it y/n always does it for her, this part over here and then this part over there ughh why do you have so much hair! Until it was done… mostly. It'll Do. And jr had finished his bottle so I put him in the stroller and did Erica's little shoes "now mummy days we need to go shopping and to the dentist. Now I think mummy is making it more difficult for us so I think we should go to the dentist first then shopping and then we can get ice cream okay?"

"Yeah!"

"Good girl, you're gonna bring dolly?" I asked as I got my coat on 

"I have to bring dolly" she giggled, getting her little rag doll and hurting along with me.

[glitxhwayventeen]

Lonely Together

Jihoon: Chapter 3 (Ain’t Easy)

Characters: Jihoon x female reader

Genre/Warnings: multi-member au (different scenarios), werewolf au, fantasy, angst, fluff, potential blood mentions, genocide mentions, health issues, panic/anxiety attack. Any others will be put as warnings when future chapters are thought up/written.

Author’s Note: Sorry for how short this is. The vaccine’s really killing my body. My head his pounding from how bad my headache is so I only managed to finish the one chapter. Let’s hope tomorrow is better 🤞🏼

Please remember that all of these chapters and the content within them are a work of fiction! They’re just for fun/entertainment!

Bold= Dialogue Italics= Thoughts

🥀 & ☁️

Lonely Together Master List

Chapter 3: Ain’t Easy

You stirred awake, having been knocked out from your little outburst for almost a solid day apparently. You realized that you were now laying in Jihoon’s bed, it smelt like him. You could also see the sun beams make their way across the walls. Your apparent mate was sitting in a chair next to you, holding your small hand inside his. You fluttered your eyelids open completely, widening them hesitantly for the day.

“Oh good. You’re awake. I was getting really worried” He sighed, running his free hand through his hair and rubbing his thumb over the back of your hand fondly with the other.

“What- what happened?” You groggily asked, voice hoarse from the lack of use.

You sat up to sit upright and rubbed your eyes to awaken yourself more. You could tell you were in his room. You could smell him all over, that sweet honey smell was intoxicating to you. You could never get enough of it. You could also see you were in a bigger shirt still, though this one was different than the one you were wearing when you were awake before. It had 3/4 sleeves and was a soft cotton feeling that made you want to cuddle into your blankets and pillows to sleep again.

“Well after… everything, you go a little too overwhelmed and passed out.” Jihoon informed you, quickly pushing himself to sit on the bed next to you and rubbed your back sweetly.

You could also tell that you had been changed into a pair of sweatshorts, which you were grateful for. And given the conversation you had before you had probably passed out, there was a fairly good chance either Jihoon changed you or one of the other mates did. Though you highly doubted that Jihoon would let ANYONE else touch your naked body as your mate.

If he had known more about your love life and who you were attracted to, he may have been a little more open to someone other than him changing you. But for all he knew you were attracted to everyone in his pack. So he wasn’t about to risk it. He was a very private person and he figured from what he knew about you, you were too. Not that any of that even really mattered at this point, there was just as good a chance he would’ve refused to let anyone else touch you even if he had known about your sexuality. He could already feel his territorial wolf instincts for you getting stronger. And the more time he spent around you, the worse it got.

“Oh…” you trailed, still trying to come to terms with being suddenly so conscious after having been dreaming for such a long time.

“Does stuff like that happen often to you?” He questioned you, giving you a warm concerned smile.

He couldn’t lie, seeing you passed out made him beyond terrified. He had just confessed to you that he was your mate and then you blacked out. He was worried you’d reject him. But he was just as worried for your own health. You were small, even smaller than him, and you seemed really tired and weak all the time. What if this was something that happened to you a lot? What if he couldn’t help you get better? He didn’t like the idea of you being sick. He didn’t like the thought of having to see you unconscious from fainting. He didn’t like it at all.

“It used to happen a lot when I was younger, and only when I got scared or nervous. My tribe’s healer used to say that I was… missing part of me? Like part of my soul had been missing? Or something like that? I dont know, I don’t really remember. It was a long time ago. The passing out hasn’t happened much since I’ve been on my own though.” You told him, your head abruptly pounding at the mere mention of your health issues causing you to wince in slight pain.

“Are you okay?” Jihoon cautiously putting the back of his hand to your head, eyes full of panic.

“Y-Yeah. I’m fine. How- how long was I out?” You wondered aloud, turning your eyes to him to get a better look at him.

Truth be told, you were out for a while. Jihoon hadn’t left your bed for nearly three days now. And when he had to for bathroom or showering purposes, he had some of the mates sit with you until he could rush back. He was worried sick about you, Seungcheol had to have Soonyoung practically force feed him so he would eat. He could help it though, he knew that had it been any of his brothers with their mates, they’d have done the same thing. When your mate was sad or sick, you didn’t care about taking care of yourself. You only cared about them and their well being. It was just their natural instinct.

He hesitated for a minute before he spoke, trying his best to come up with words that might sooth you rather than worry you, “Well.. let’s just say You’ve missed a few meals…”

“How many’s a few?” You pushed him to give you a less vague answer.

“Wellllll… we just got done with lunch… so Nine in total give or take” Jihoon earnestly let out, bringing his hand to play with the small locks of your hair.

Upon hearing his answer, you nearly jumped out of the bed nearly three feet in the air. But thankfully, your mate had stopped you from moving your limbs so quickly. He didn’t want you to end up collapsing from the lack of muscle use you’ve had the past few days.

“Nine! Jesus why didn’t anyone try and get me up that’s like three whole days!?!” You almost started to hyperventilate again. Your sight was beginning to turn fuzzy. You felt your heartbeat fasten in your throat. Your mind was buzzing in thought, you couldn’t stop it.

The water on the bedside table started to shake and pull out of the glass while your state worsened. Jihoon quickly picked up on what was happening with you and grabbed you by your face gently to get you to focus on him. He didn’t want you to pass out again, but he also didn’t want you using your powers accidentally from the shock of the whole situation.

“Just breathe (Y/N) you’re gonna pass out again…” he rested his forehead on yours and continued to try and ease your heart rate and calm your anxiety.

“One in… Two out… Three in… Four out… Five in…. That’s it… Just like that.” He cooed at you, rubbing your temples lovingly before sitting you back up straight.

Your breathing finally evened out enough for your vision to return to normal. Once you felt your chest start to slow down, your brain started to cease in thought.

“You sure that doesn’t usually happen?” He joked, still clearly concerned and half serious about your current state.

You shook your head slowly from side to side in response. You were grateful he was there to comfort you, but you still had so many questions running through your head. Your thoughts were going a mile a minute again and you didn’t know what to tackle first or what was most pressing.

“…Jihoon?” You hesitantly spoke to grab his attention. He already loved the way you said his name, it was like listening to a symphony in his head and he couldn’t get enough of it.

“Yes (Y/N)?” He responded while holding your small hand in his larger one, enjoying the way it fit in his perfectly. He looked at you with eyes of such love and adoration that you began to feel nervous.

“What are we gonna do?” You looked away from the dazzling man in front of you to instead down at the both of your hands that were laying in your lap. You began to fidget with the tips of his fingers to distract yourself so you could get the burn in your cheeks to die down.

“I- I don’t know. I never thought I’d get a mate, let alone have one show up bleeding at my doorstep. But now you’re… here…” he thought aloud, confusion masking his face the entire time.

He was glad he had found you, but he definitely never even once considered that the universe would bring you to him. He never thought of himself as someone’s boyfriend let alone someone’s mate. He wasn’t sure he would be very good at it, but he knew with you there he had to try. He just needed to figure out how to be one…

You took a moment to think. He was clearly just as lost as you were. But you knew what your heart felt for him, and you knew that being mates meant one of two things.

“Well… do you even want a mate Jihoon? From what everyone says, you don’t like being close to people. And I know I work better alone. So what do you want to do?” You anxiously awaited his response.

You could practically see the gears in his head turning. On one hand, he liked being independent and preferred his solitude. But on the other hand, he knew he would already die for you if he had to choose between himself or you. So, logically, that only left him with one alternative.

“I want us to be together (Y/N). I know it’ll be… a challenge, but I also know that as long as I have you, I’ll do whatever it takes to make it work.” He finally answered, bringing his hands to cup your cheeks that were still semi-swollen from your long rest.

Tears began to form in your tired eyes, “But… how do you know it’ll all work out? What if we can’t figure out how to cohabitate. We’re both so single alone, what if we can’t be a couple?” You whimpered, eyes full of fear as you looked into his caring ones.

“I won’t lie, it ain’t gonna be easy. But together, we’ll be okay.” He assured you, moving his gaze down to your lips.

He looked back at your face, silently asking for permission. You gave him a small smile and nodded, giving him the go ahead. With that, he leaned down to press his pillowy lips to your relatively chapped ones.

He moved softly, careful not to move too fast or too far so you would stay comfortable the entire time. Kissing him felt like you could actually walk on water if you tried. He made all your worries melt away with such a simple action. It made your heart flutter in a way it never had before.

He soon pulled away from you and leaned his forehead against yours, pecking the top of your button nose gently before a large smile formed on his perfect mouth.

“I suppose you could be right…” you trailed, teasing the small wolf slightly before breaking out in small fits of giggles while you tried to hold yourself back.

“You’re gonna have to get used to that you know.” He chuckled while caressing your jawline and gazing at you like you were a piece of artwork.

“Get used to what? Kissing?” You blushed at the thought, nuzzling your face into his warm hand to hide it.

“No- Me being right.” He declared, pushing his chest out with pride causing you to really burst out in full on laughter.

You could already feel the difficult times ahead of you both, but you also knew you would do whatever it took to stay with him. He made everything around you feel safe and at home. He’s all you ever needed.

(Updated 9/6)

[inthewild-flowers]

helloooo here's a commission for @ilysmb !!

info: omgcp, jack/bitty/parse, just under 2k words.

summary: parse accidentally hits someone with his car, and jack and bitty help him cover it up

warnings: blood, dead body, mentions of a car accident and murder, it felt a bit gory when I was writing it but it's not that bad

Oddly enough, Jack isn’t panicking.

He’s pretty sure he should be panicking. But he’s feeling quite calm, actually. Serene, almost. This is almost certainly one of the worst things that could be happening, but Jack’s brain doesn’t seem to be processing it right now, and he’s okay with that.

Parse is panicking. Parse is also covered in blood, so maybe it makes sense that it’s affecting him more. Bitty’s got his hands on his hips and he’s frowning deeply at Parse, and Jack almost laughs, because Bitty is so rarely openly disapproving of anyone, but apparently this warrants it.

“Can you tell us that again?” Bitty asks. Parse twists his hands in his shirt, starts to run them through his hair. Realizes they’re covered in blood. Goes back to twisting his shirt.

“I was driving,” he says, “and it was dark, and I hit something. And then I got out and it was a person and they’re dead.”

“And you’re covered in their blood because…” Bitty trails off and looks at Parse expectantly. His eyebrows are raised, as if he’s daring Parse to provide a satisfactory explanation.

Parse sighs. “Because I put them in the trunk,” he says.

“You what?”

“I put their fucking body in my fucking trunk and now I need to figure out what do do about it!”

A tiny laugh escapes Jack’s mouth, and Bitty shoots him a terrifying look. Jack clears his throat and looks at the floor, avoiding Parse’s eyes. If he looks at him, he’ll laugh again, he knows it.

Bitty sighs. “Alright,” he says, “let’s get you cleaned up before we do anything else.”

“Won’t I just get bloody again?”

“You’ll feel better when you’re clean.”

“Okay. Yeah, okay.”

Jack follows Parse up the stairs, one hand resting on his back after Parse stumbles and nearly falls. He guides him to the bathroom, sits him down on the closed toilet seat, and tells him to stay there while Jack gets clean clothes. When he comes back, Parse is pale and shaking, his hands twisted together with his nails digging into his skin.

“I killed someone,” he whispers.

Jack doesn’t know what to say to that. He did kill someone, and there’s not much comfort to be given in this situation. He gently separates Parse’s hands and holds one in each of his own. The blood smears between them, covering Jack’s hands as well, but he doesn’t care.

“It’s going to be okay,” he says. “You didn’t mean to, and we’re going to help you. You’re not alone in this.”

Parse nods, a jerky motion as he stares at their intertwined hands. Jack kisses his forehead. “Come on,” he says, “Let’s get you in the shower.”

~~~

Twenty minutes later, they’re back downstairs and Bitty has three slices of pie on the table. Bitty, despite his reaction earlier, greets Parse with a worried look and a tight hug. He fiddles with a strand of Parse’s damp hair and asks, “Are you okay?”

Parse shrugs.

Bitty nods, and he ushers Parse into a chair and hands him a fork. Parse picks at the pie, but doesn’t eat any.

“What are we going to do?” Jack asks.

“Clean it up,” Bitty replies.

“Clean it up?”

“Yes, clean it up. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Jack stares at Bitty for a moment. “Yeah, okay. Let me do some googling.”

“I feel like,” Parse says, then pauses and thinks for a moment. “I feel like googling might not be the best idea. Do you really want ‘how to clean blood out of a car’ in your search history?”

“Oh, yeah.” Jack is lost now. Bitty pats him on the arm.

“Don’t worry honey, I’ve got this.”

~~~

The first thing they do is dig a grave. Bitty wants to move the body first so that he can start cleaning the car, but Jack points out that if they’re going to move the body, they’ll need to have somewhere to move it to. So digging the grave comes first.

The far corner of their backyard is secluded, and the ground is soft, but it still takes hours to dig a deep enough grave, even with all three of them digging. It’s well past midnight by the time they’re satisfied, and although Parse seems to have calmed down slightly, Bitty has a murderous gleam in his eye.

“If you ever pull something like this again, Kent,” he says, “it’ll be your body we’re burying.”

Parse briefly makes eye contact with Jack, then looks away before either of them laugh. “Understood,” he says.

Bitty throws down his shovel and sits down in the dirt. Parse sits next to him, and Jack next to Parse. Their legs dangle over the edge of the pit they’ve dug, and Jack feels as though he could fall in at any second. He rests his head on Parse’s shoulder and reaches out to hold his hand. He can see Bitty doing the same.

They sit like that for a long time, contemplating the grave in silence. Then Parse says, “What if we get caught?”

Jack has been trying not to think about that possibility. He doesn’t know what he’d do if they got caught. At this point, it’s too late to stop, but he wonders if it might have been easier if Parse had just called the police when he hit the person. If he hadn’t got Jack and Bitty to help him. Jack immediately feels bad for that train of thought, because Parse didn’t ask them to go to these lengths, did he? Jack and Bitty decided to do this, and the more he thinks about it, the more he’s convinced it was the right thing to do. No, not exactly the <i>right</i> thing. But he doesn’t know what the consequences would have been had Parse called the police, owned up to this, and he doesn’t want to consider the idea of losing him. So yes, Jack decides, he and Bitty are doing the right thing.

“We won’t get caught,” Bitty says.

“You don’t know that.”

“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we don’t. Besides, who would expect two NHL players and their internet famous boyfriend to have a body buried in their backyard?”

Parse nods. Jack nods as well. Bitty kicks his heel against the side of the grave.

“Are you guys ready for the next bit?” Jack asks. Parse shakes his head. His grip on Jack’s hand tightens.

“We’re going to have to do it before it starts to get light,” Bitty says.

“Can we wait a little bit longer?” Parse asks. He sounds scared. Bitty sighs, but nods.

“Yeah,” he says, “a little bit longer.”

~~~

The first thing they have to do is find a tarp to make carrying the body easier. Jack digs around in the basement until he finds one, tucked in among their camping gear that they haven't used in years. He brings it out to the car, and he hopes that none of the neighbours are awake and looking out the window.

When he steps outside, though, he sees that Bitty has moved the car into the garage, and he remembers that there’s a door leading right from the garage to the backyard, and suddenly the task seems far less dangerous. Jack goes back into the house, then into the garage, where Bitty and Parse are standing by the car, staring at the trunk apprehensively.

“Have you opened it yet?” Jack asks.

“Does it look like we’ve opened it?” Bitty replies. He winces, and seems immediately sorry, but Jack isn’t mad. This is a stressful night for all of them.

He opens the trunk.

The body is inside, as he expected. It doesn’t smell terrible yet. It’s covered in blood, and the blood has smeared across the entirety of the trunk. It’s going to be awful to clean up.

Jack stares at the body for a moment. Don’t think of it as a person, he tells himself. He doesn’t know how else to think of it, though, and he wants to look away but can’t quite manage it. He clears his throat.

“So,” he says, “how are we going to do this?”

~~~

How they do it is like this: they spread the tarp on the floor of the garage. Part of it is under the car, and it’s perfectly positioned under the trunk. Bitty supplies three pairs of bright yellow cleaning gloves, and they roll the body out of the trunk and onto the tarp. Parse doesn’t help much. He started retching as soon as he touched the body.

So it’s Bitty and Jack that get it carefully onto the tarp, Bitty and Jack that each take two corners of the tarp and lift, Bitty and Jack that carry it out to the hole in the garden while Parse holds the door for them and stares at the ceiling. Bitty and Jack that dump it in. Jack thinks it’s fitting, a true demonstration of the lengths they’re willing to go to protect someone they love. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he also thinks it’s horrifying, but he ignores it. That can wait.

Parse is still shaking too much to hold a shovel, still looking sick at the sight of the corpse, so it’s Bitty and Jack that bury it as well, working silently side by side. The sun starts to rise. They pack in the last of the dirt.

It’s obvious that something has happened in that corner of the garden. Where yesterday there had been perfect green grass, now there’s a patch of exposed dirt and rocks.

“How are we going to cover that up?” Parse whispers. It’s the first thing he’s said in hours.

“I’ll go get some trees today,” Jack replies. “Baby ones, and we’ll plant them there. We can say we dug it up for that.”

Parse nods. His shoulders are tense, and he looks like he could collapse at any moment.

“You need to sleep,” Bitty tells him. Parse shakes his head.

“I don’t think I can,” he says.

“Will it help if we’re there?”

Parse shrugs. “I don’t know.”

Bitty stands on his tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to clean the car,” he says, “and then we’re all going to go to bed. You don’t need to sleep,” he adds when Parse starts to say something, “but having us there with you will be better than you being alone. And you do need to sleep.”

Parse nods. Jack reaches out and takes his hand, lacing their fingers together. “It’s going to be okay,” he says again. “You’re not alone.”

Parse gives him a small smile, but he doesn’t reply.

[greatbigbellies]

New commission story. This is an anonymous commission about a dysfunctional couple who wind up pregnant with sextuplets! Contains heavy multiples pregnancy, stuffing, humiliation, and discomfort.

They had been dating for three months, and living together for one, and Morgan was already at his wits end. Lilith, his girlfriend, was lovely, and sweet, and pretty, and all the things he wanted in a girl… but she was also ungodly frustrating because of one reason, and one reason only: she refused to do ANYTHING that might be considered work.

She was between jobs, hadn’t so much as taken out the trash, and still hadn’t unpacked from moving in with Morgan! Now he made good money. Morgan could support the two of them and then some, and he didn’t want a maid for a girlfriend, but what he did want was some backup. Coming home from work every day to see Lilith sitting on the couch playing videogames, with a sink full of dirty dishes, a can full of trash, and a pile of takeout containers was absolutely grating.

So finally, he hatched a plan. Something almost cartoonishly vindictive, but it had to be done, as far as Morgan was concerned. He’d ruin her. He’d knock her up, stuff her full of food, and watch her inflate like a balloon. If she wasn’t going to move, then he’d make her physically incapable of moving! Multiples ran in both of their families, so with any luck, she’d land pregnant with more than one. He also did all of the cooking. ALL of it. So sneaking fertility meds into her meals wouldn’t be too difficult either, he’d decided. And so, his campaign of corpulence began.

13 Weeks

“Nrrrrggghhh… come ON! Damnit!” Lilith swore as she attempted to button her favorite jeans. They had been holding up well through the first trimester, stretching with her skin, but that was starting to change. Of course, a lot had changed in the last 3 months… she’d found herself pregnant, with SEXTUPLETS no less, and was dealing with the ramifications poorly. She’d been stress eating a lot, something Morgan had been enabling quite a bit, and her tummy was already showing some growth. Both from food and babies, her waistline had a definite visible baby bump, and her belly button was flattened and preparing to pop.

“What’s wrong?” asked Morgan as he stepped into the room, a smile in his voice. He looked to see her wearing just jeans and a bra, fighting with the waistline of her pants. “I’m too big for my favorite pair of jeans! These have the cute patches in them!” she lamented. “Oh babe...” he trailed off, circling around to her front. He pulled something out of his pocket and knelt down. She eyed him suspiciously, not sure where he was going with this. He revealed the item to be a thin rubber band, which he stuck through the button hole and wrapped both ends around the base of the button. “Voila!” he grinned. She frowned in return. “Really? A rubber band? They’re not buttoned properly, people will judge me!” “Babe, we’re just going to the mall, it’ll be fine, now put a shirt on and do your makeup so we can get going!” he urged. “Are we going by JCPenny’s to get me a bigger wardrobe?” she asked. Morgan had turned to leave but stopped at the question. He had to think of an excuse quickly. 

“Not yet…” he said. “But I’ll get my quarterly bonus soon, then we’ll go clothes shopping then!” he lied. She crossed her arms and glared at him, somewhat temperamental from pregnancy hormones. “You’re really going to make me walk around with unbuttoned pants and a top that rides up because you want to wait for a bonus?!” he grumped. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “We can’t be all willy-nilly with money anymore, Lilith, we have six kids on the way!” he retorted. Her face tightened, then softened. He was right. She rubbed her tummy and sighed. “Yeah, okay, what’s like… one more week with tight clothes? Your bonus is coming in soon right?” He nodded, “Any day now,”

20 weeks

 7 more weeks came and went, and Lilith saw no sign of that bonus… or her feet. Now looking full term with one baby, Morgan had been doing a number on her figure. All of the weight seemed to gravitate to her midriff, and so her tummy grew both with child and with a thin layer of fat. Still despite the small wrapping of chub, her bellybutton managed to work its way into a full fledged outie, about as big around as her thumb. 

She sat on the couch in her usual spot, playing a first person shooter on the console, but it didn’t feel the same anymore. She’d gotten in an argument with Morgan before he went to work. A conversation about job prospects got ugly when Morgan pointed out she was too visibly pregnant for anyone to hire her. “Get comfy babe,” he’d said, almost mockingly, “You’re not going anywhere for a while,” There was some yelling, and swearing, and Morgan ended up stomping out the door, it was an all around rotten day.

That was, until the door opened, to reveal Morgan carrying what had to be $40+ dollars in takeout from Lilith’s favorite restaurant. “Oh my god, babe, what’s all this?” she asked, turning to watch him. “I felt bad about our fight earlier, so I bought enough food to keep you and the babies happy, as a gesture of good will,” he explained. “Oh, honey, that’s so sweet of you, but I already had dinner! I-” “All the better!” he cut her off. “You’re eating for seven now, and the doc said to let you eat as much as you could, so…” he set the bags on the coffee table beside her. Morgan smiled down at Lilith, looking at her with those cold steel blue eyes. Lilith brushed some of her bright blue hair behind her ear and broke eye contact. “I don’t know hon… that’s a lot of food there…” she trailed off.

Morgan sat next to her, between Lilith and the food, and placed a hand on her bare midriff, running a palm over her stretching skin. “I know it feels like a lot, but this is for the babies! We have to get them up to weight by the time you’re full term, and the only way to do that is to eat everything your stomach can handle,” he explained, somewhat firmly. She sighed, “Yeah, I guess you’re right, for the babies,” she took the first of three heaping takeout containers full of teriyaki chicken, chow mein, and rice, and got to work. 

Morgan kept close to make sure she ate every last bite, only getting up to bring her water when she asked for it. The first box went down pretty quickly, her pregnant appetite getting the best of her. The second was remarkably slower, and Morgan could see it filling out her tummy, causing it to push farther out, just slightly. By the time they hit the third box, she was struggling. “Babe I’m too full… I’m done,” she whined in protest. “Nope, you need to finish what you started,” Morgan said, once again rather firmly. “Morgan I’m gonna throw up if I push it any more…” He took the plastic fork and gathered a mix of rice, chicken, and noodles, and slowly delivered it to her mouth. “Just one more bite, for the babies,” he smiled coyly. She begrudgingly took the bite and began chewing, brushing her blue hair out of her sweaty face. 

She was the fullest she’d ever felt, her belly feeling overstretched from a combination of growing babies and filled stomach. The pressure radiated from her midriff to make her whole body uncomfortable. She was miserable, and Morgan knew it. He tried not to show his enjoyment, but the truth was this was going better than he could have hoped for. 6 babies would leave her massive, and his mission to stuff her with every calorie under the sun was going smoothly. At this rate, they’d need a bigger bed to both fit on, an expense he was more than willing to make happen.

33 weeks

Lilith’s flip-flops pattered against her feet as she waddled toward the mall food court, moving as quickly as she could, which admittedly wasn’t very quick at all in her state. Wearing shorts that were stretched to capacity, held up with Morgan’s rubber band trick, and a “PINK” tank top that functioned more as a bra than anything else, she blushed red as she made her way. Everyone, from the young to the elderly, stared at her, or more specifically, her massive, mountainous middle. She was rivalling octomom in size, and the bigger she got, the more Morgan found excuses to take her out. He held her hand and tugged her along, leading the charge to the burger joint. 

“Babe everyone is staring! I want to go home!” she hissed at him. He turned to give her a side-eyed look and hiss back “You’ll be fine. Now come on, the babies are hungry!” the pair rounded a corner and Lilith came face-to-face with her highschool BFF. Gwen. “Lilith?” she asked, recognizing the hair color. “Y-yeah…” stammered Lilith. Morgan beamed. “Oh my god! Girl you didn’t tell me you were preggers!?” Gwen smiled and circled around to give Lilith a genuine hug. The two girls looked to Morgan, Gwen with excitement, and Lilith with embarrassment. “And Morgan, you’re looking suave as usual,” Gwen smiled. Morgan smirked. “Why thank you,” Gwen turned her attention to Lilith’s pendulous belly, “Gosh I wondered why I haven’t heard from you in months!? When’s the baby shower? I wanna spoil this little…” she trailed off… “These little… guys?” she asked. “We don’t know the sexes yet-” Lilith was cut off “In about a month and a half, we’re going to have lots of fun little games centered about this tank right here,” Morgan gave Lilith’s belly a hearty pat, “So tell all your girlfriends they’re invited, cause it’s going to be big!” he grinned. Lilith shot him a radioactive death glare, but he ignored it, his plans already in motion. “Okay! I gotta run cause I can’t be late for an interview but I’ll catch up later! Bye hon!” she said, running off. 

“Bye… Gwen…” Lilith shot another look at Morgan. “What the hell was that?! We’re NOT having a babyshower!” “Says you,” Morgan smirked. He proceeded to pile it on, “But your friend was so excited! Are you really going to dash her hopes like that? She just wants to spend time with you,” Lilith pouted, “I… guess so…” her response was cut off by a deep rumbling from her tummy. Morgan shot her a mischievous grin and took her hand again, continuing their trek.

Seeing as she was too big to fit in the booths, Morgan sat Lilith down at one of the chairs, and went off to order. She could feel all eyes on her as she placed a hand on her tummy to try to calm the movement she felt deep inside. What was in reality only a few minutes felt like hours as she waited for Morgan to return with the food. She was happy when she heard him approach, but was upset at what she saw him carrying. “That’s six burgers!?” she whisper-yelled incredulously. “Yeah, one for each baby!” stated Morgan, matter-of-factly. “I’m not about to pig out in front of all of these people!?” 

Morgan’s smile dropped when she said that. “Are you really going to let the stares of a few strangers deny food for your babies? OUR kids?” Lilith sighed. “Well… no, but can we take this home?” her tummy rumbled again in protest. “I don’t think they can wait,” Morgan whispered. “F-fine… but when I’m full I’m stopping,” she sighed. Morgan placed both hands on the firm, warm front of her belly, feeling her popped bellybutton under his right palm. “You’ll stop when THEY’RE full, alright?” Lilith looked down at herself. Her massive, bloated, overly pregnant self, and sighed. “Yes dear,”

She picked up the first juicy, tender steakburger he’d gotten her, and took a huge bite. The food itself actually tasted great, the mustard, tomato, and pickles. She had been craving pickles today, she just didn’t want to admit it. One by one, each burger disappeared into her huge pregnant gut, eliciting happy kicks from its occupants. Morgan smiled as he watched her. These burgers would have given her trouble a month ago, but now? Her stomach was stretched, her babies were hungry, and she had the capacity to be a professional speed-eater, all thanks to him.

Lilith was enamored by the tastiness of the burgers, she was downing one after another, about 40 seconds a piece. She was starting to get embarrassed though. The way Morgan was grinning at her… the way the other mall goers were just… staring. She was a big, fat, pregnant spectacle… and she hated it. She felt a *pop* from the front of her shots and her heavy belly lurched forward slightly, and she knew what had happened. “Uh oh, babe,” Morgan said loudly. “Looks like that rubber band wasn’t strong enough against your belly. I guess you were right,” he shrugged. Lilith’s cheeks burned with bright red embarrassment, but she kept eating, pretending not to hear him.

She jumped slightly as she felt his hand touch her bare tummy, rubbing it gently. “Now isn’t this better? Eating to your stomach’s content?” she swatted at him and pointed to the nearby slushy stand. “Cherry,” she grunted through a mouthful of food. “Whatever you say,” he slipped away. In reality, she just wanted some space from him. Ever since she found out she was pregnant, he’d been so clingy, spending every spare moment with her, making her eat and drink. “For the babies” had become as commonplace as breathing, she felt like, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was doing this all on purpose.

Her thoughts were interrupted by his quick return. “They were out of cherry, so I got you tiger’s blood,” he said, handing her the 44 oz drink. She swiped it form him with one hand, and polished off the sixth and final burger with the other. She felt heavy. Well… heavier, as the six greasy sandwiches settled in her gut. 7 more weeks… then she’d be due, and this would all be over.

39 weeks

Morgan had made good of his promise. He threw a baby shower, and Lilith was the center of attention, despite her wishes. Gwen, along with four other friends of theirs, had come to the party, and despite the relatively small gathering, Lilith felt absolutely smothered. She sat in her usual spot, in the center of the couch, and she was surrounded by her physically close, if not emotionally close friends. Her tummy had absolutely ballooned, and she was so big she couldn’t reach her popped navel anymore. While she’d stayed relatively free of stretchmarks, red and purple veins made themselves known on her shiny, overstretched skin. Her underbelly hung between her legs, which were forced to spread to make room for her massive mound of a womb.

No matter what she did, how much she complained, or what she threatened, Morgan would not buy her maternity clothes. Her belly hung proudly on display for all to see, weather she liked it or not. This had become so much more apparent during the shower. While Morgan brought food and drinks for all, Lilith sat planted on the couch, cooed at and touched like a walking petting zoo. She felt like she couldn’t go 10 seconds without a hand brushing against her belly, and the visible motion from the sextuplets inside did not help. “You’re positively glowing!” They all said. “You exude motherhood!” “I hope I look as good as you when I’m pregnant!” she hated all of it.

She snapped out of her surly stupor when she heard Gwen address her by name. “Lilith, I haven’t seen you covered up once this whole pregnancy! What made you decide to go belly-out the whole time?” Lilith forced a grin, “Well, Morgan had a LOT to do with it,” she replied, mentally grinding her teeth. “You’re just so brave, like it’s such a powerful look! You’re like ‘look out world, pregnant mama coming through’!” Gwen laughed, resting a hand on the side of Lilith’s gargantuan midriff. Morgan stepped into the room with some sort of plastic box. “You girls ready for another game?” he asked. Lilith turned red, the last game had been all about guessing the measurement of her waistline. All the guests had estimated her bigger than she was, and Morgan made a big show of measuring her, having a hard time getting the tape measure all the way around. 72 inches. She was 72 inches around. She was bigger around than she was tall. She almost cried at the realization.

Morgan opened the box to reveal a rainbow of different body paints and brushes, “You all get to belly paint!” Every girl there except for Lilith beamed with excitement. The various paints and brushes were snatched up lightening fast, and before she realized fully what was happening, Lilith was surrounded by five women all kneeling around her and applying paint to her overstretched, pregnant skin. Lilith couldn’t see what was being painted on her due to her sheer size, but she could only imagine how awful and embarrassing it would all look. Morgan already had his camera out, taking pictures.

Shivers went down her spine as Lilith felt the bristles and thick paint run over her sensitive bellybutton, Gwen giggling as she ran the brush up and down. Lilith felt so embarrassed, so large was her middle that she could be used as five canvases at once! Her face turned redder and she frowned as Morgan snapped shot after shot of her massive, bare tummy.

As time passed Lilith grew increasingly agitated. The sensation of paint brushes on her belly was absolutely grating, and the feeling of dry paint caking on the skin wasn’t helping either. She realized she was getting hungry, which was only souring her mood more. She felt her stomach gurgle and saw Morgan’s eyes light up. He as attuned to the sound of her rumbling tummy like a shark to blood, Lilith could tell he had something planned for this event in particular. Her belly rumbled again, this time louder, and the girls started to notice. “Damn girl, we gotta get you fed!” said Gwen, patting the belly. “You must be dying over there!” Lilith shook her head, “No, no I’m fine, I just need-” “Some cake!” beamed Morgan as he carried in a triple layer devils food cake. Lilith gulped.

“Gosh Morgan you treat her so well!” said one of the girls. “Anything for my girl!” he replied, setting the cake on the shelf of her belly. Lilith’s pleading eyes met Morgan’s powerful gaze, and she knew he was about to make her pig out. Right here. In front of all of her friends. He took a seat next to her on the couch, grabbed a fork, and scraped off a big mouthful. “Say Ahh,” he whispered. The girls went back to talking amongst themselves and painting, and Lilith was feeling pinned down by the weight of her sextuplet belly, and triple layer cake. She winced, and took the bite. “There… for the babies,” Morgan said, getting another forkful.

Bite after bite went down and Lilith could feel the brushes on her tummy slow down until nobody was painting anymore. All eyes were on her. She chewed and swallowed bite after bite of the sickeningly sweet cake, the frosting getting on her face and the top of her belly. She felt a couple of hands start feeling up her belly again as she pushed past the halfway mark of the cake.

It was so heavy and rich, and Lilith could feel every bite of it go right to her midriff. The babies began to stir and kick, which only landed more hands on her tummy. Bite. Chew. Swallow. Bite. Chew. Swallow. It became almost rhythmic as she entered a food induced trance. She could faintly hear the girls saying things like “wow, she can really put it away,” and “Is she going to stop?” and “I think I feel her belly getting tighter!”, but she was lost to the caloric intake and sheer, painful embarrassment. 

She only came to when the cake stopped coming. When she had eaten it all. Gwen clapped for her. Morgan gave her a kiss on the cheek to congratulate her. Everyone else kept their hands on her belly. “She gets real strong cravings for chocolate sometimes,” Joked Morgan, the other girls giggling at her expense. Moran got his camera back out. “Smile!” he said, mockingly, as he snapped a photo. 

A perfect shot of Lilith, 39 weeks pregnant with six babies, her belly bare, resting between her legs. Her tummy was covered in little paint doodles of flowers, trees, landscapes, and stick figure families, except for the top shelf, which was stained brown from the smeared chocolate. Her mouth was open as she breathed heavily through it, feeling ready to burst. Morgan sat down next to her again, and showed her the picture on the camera’s display screen. “This is you babe!” he laughed. “This is what you really are!”

[hoe-doroki]

trust yourself

warning: eating disorder, food restricting, food withholding

pairing: Izuku x g/n!reader

genre: hurt/comfort

wc: 2.3k

a/n: This is the first of four attempts to answer this ask. This is a story with a reader who is food restricting, so everyone be careful to take care of yourselves! The other three attempts are Gratitude, A Start, and Picnic. All parts are unrelated to each other.

edit: I no longer write x reader but here’s my old masterlist - mobile | desktop

“You’re home!”

You cocked your head at a damp Izuku, coming out of the bedroom you’d just recently started sharing, with a towel trying to work the drips out of his hair. His hair looked black fresh out of the shower and it would slowly grow back its green shine as it air dried. You’d watched it before, carded it between your fingers and held it up to the light to see it happen yourself.

“You’re home,” you replied, brows furrowed in confusion as you kicked off your shoes.

“Yeah, I was on the early shift today,” Izuku said, voice echoing as he popped across the hall to put the towel back in the bathroom. “Remember?”

He came over to kiss you on the cheek and you pressed your palm against your eye, trying to remember the conversation Izuku had had with you that morning while you’d still been half asleep, despite already being changed and out of bed. It came back to you slowly. Maybe he’d told you, but you couldn’t say for sure. You shook your head, pushing it away.

“Anyway, I was just about to order pick up from the place down the street. What do you want?”

“Ah, I’m really tired, Izu,” you said, walking past him to the bathroom. “I was just gonna brush my teeth and go to bed.”

Traffic had delayed your commute home from work, but it was only about 7pm and the sun was even set yet. But still, you hardly felt like you could stay upright another minute. You were probably securing a bleary-eyed awakening at 3am, but work had been stressful and you just wanted to end the day early. Cut your losses and see if tomorrow would shape up to be any better.

Izuku followed you to the doorway of the still steamy bathroom, watching as you washed your face, beginning your nighttime routine. “No dinner?”

You lifted your face an inch out of the porcelain. “I had a big lunch.”

“Still,” Izuku said, stepping in and handing you a washcloth. When you finished patting off the water, Izuku was staring at you. You withered under his analytical gaze. He put a hand to your face and brushed his thumb under your eye. You knew that the circles under your eyes had been especially dark lately, so you looked down and shifted your face out of his grasp. “Maybe your blood sugar’s low and that’s part of why you’re tired. You might feel better if you eat something.”

“I don’t think so,” you said, reaching for your moisturizer. “It’ll probably just make it harder to sleep.”

You didn’t want to see those big eye bags in the mirror, so you stared at your toothbrush, keeping an eye on what was next in your order or operations. You’d moisturize, brush your teeth, put on your pajamas, and then pass the heck out. Then it would be over.

“You don’t want…”

You glanced up at Izuku, whose eyes were widening, a hand flying halfway to his mouth as a light blush dusted his cheeks. And, just like that, you knew he was seeing straight through you. Izuku was just too good at putting things together. Suddenly, you felt so tired that you’d be happy to curl up on the bathmat and call it a day right there. You didn’t need the bed. Tile would suit you just fine.

“Babe,” he said hesitantly, putting a hand lightly on your arm. “You know I love everything about you, right?”

You nodded, the words not penetrating. You didn’t feel the butterflies you usually did when Izuku showed how sweet on you he was, and that made you feel a whole other kind of upset. “I love you too, Izu.”

He was watching you so closely and all you could do was long for the bath mat to rest on. You clenched and unclenched your fists, your grip feeling loose and bloodless as your thighs began to shake.

Izuku was against you in an instant, pulling you into his arms. You hated that you were making him worried. You hated that his hold didn’t stop the shaking. You hated that you wanted to pull away.

“Nothing could make me love you less, Y/N,” Izuku whispered in your ear, and your heart broke just enough to let that feeling in. You clung to him, fisting the back of his tee-shirt and focused on the feeling of his wet curls against your face.

“I don’t know why you would,” you whispered.

“Oh, I do,” Izuku replied quickly. “It’s because you’re smart, kind, compassionate, creative, beautiful, my friends and my mom all love you, and there’s no one else I’d rather come home to. If you let me grab my notebooks, I can list off even more reasons.”

“No, that’s okay.”

“Just as well,” Izuku said. “There are too many reasons to list.”

He held you until the shaking stopped and you were able to relax just a little more into his touch.

“Here’s what I’m thinking,” Izuku said slowly. “I’m going to order some dinner, and you can help me finish it, how’s that? And we can just watch some TV. I know you’re tired, but I want to spend just a little time with you before bed, okay? I give you permission to fall asleep on the couch and I’ll carry you to bed.”

“Izuku,” you whined. “You always finish your food. You don’t need my help.”

“I don’t know,” Izuku said. “Sometimes I’m a little silly and order too much. And you know how much my mother hates waste. She’d be able to tell from her house that I didn’t eat everything and then she’ll rush over here and then we’ll never get to sleep.”

He was lying through his teeth and you knew it. Mama Midoriya would never do anything of the sort, even if she could. But you gave in anyway.

“Okay,” you whispered.

“Okay,” Izuku agreed. “I’m going to order the food and you can change into your pajamas. Then we can pick out what to watch. But this,” Izuku snatched your toothbrush and held it in front of you with an impish grin, “is mine for now.”

Izuku ran off, leaving you reminded of the flavor of mirth. He didn’t quite have you laughing, but there was half a smile on your face as you heard him calling the takeout place. You meandered to your bedroom and took off your work clothes, sliding into the well-worn cottons and poly-blends of your pajamas. You eyed the bed, longing for it, but thought about the idea of snuggling up against Izuku on the couch. It was hard to imagine that you deserved it, but deep down you knew the idea was sweeter than that of curling in on yourself in bed, alone, hours before Izuku would join you.

“Done,” Izuku said, holding up the phone as he leaned his head into the room. When he caught sight of you, his face bloomed into a soft smile at the sight of you in your pjs. He came over, putting his hands on your biceps, and pressed his mouth to your neck. “Mm, love you a lot. Let’s choose what we wanna watch.”

You followed him back out to the living room and sat together on the couch. He pulled you close to him, and you couldn’t help but snuggle up. He was so warm and you felt cold all over.

“Do you want to choose?” he asked, offering you the remote.

You shook your head. You didn’t want to have to make a decision.

“Okay,” Izuku said as he began clicking through thumbnails of shows.

For someone with such good reflexes, trained in making quick, high stakes choices, Izuku was just as bad as you were at choosing a television program to color the background. Eventually, he settled on a cartoon that you liked—he was probably aiming for a comfort pick.

Izuku then pushed off the couch. “I’m going to go pick up the food now,” he said. “I’ll be back in two minutes. Could you grab us some water and chopsticks?”

“Alright,” you said, allowing Izuku to help you off the couch. You tried not to show on your face the head rush you felt just from that simple exertion. You must have hidden it well enough, because the next moment, Izuku had grabbed his keys and wallet and was out the door.

You sluggishly made for the kitchen, opening the cabinets and grabbing two glasses, filling them up. You brought them to the coffee table and returned to the kitchen for chopsticks. You stared at the drawer, looking at all the different options. Stainless steel, bamboo, pretty ones painted with cherry blossoms. You were tempted to grab only one pair, but you went ahead with two. Two pairs of chopsticks was something you could do.

By the time you were done, settling on the floor leaning against the couch instead of on it, Izuku was back. His muscles were glowing faintly, red streaks fading away as he kicked off his shoes. His hair was totally dry now, fresh from having used One For All to dash to the restaurant and back. The only reason he’d been gone for the couple minutes he had was because he’d had to pay.

“Libations, m’lady?”

Izuku chucked awkwardly at himself, rubbing the back of his neck. Then he settled in on the floor next to you and began unloading the food. And it was so much. It was probably more than Izuku could eat by himself, but for you it definitely would have been multiple, multiple servings. You eyed it warily, like it was about to lunge at you.

“Wanna turn on the show?”

You blinked at Izuku, who was smiling softly at you. Not looking any different than the way he’d looked at you the day before and the day before that. He nodded at the remote and you hit play and watched the program come to life.

The both of you sat back like that for a while. Izuku’s hand was on your shoulder, running his fingers lightly back and forth. You were settled, focused on the show and breathing easily when Izuku reached for a pair of chopsticks and began eating. You stared, knowing that it was an invitation that you start eating too, but you were worried. The food would be tasteless, chalky in your mouth. The smell wasn’t making you salivate like it probably should have. You felt indifferent to it, like you were looking at any of the other household objects around you, the remote, the All Might figurine on the TV console. Not appetizing.

After swallowing his first bite, Izuku handed you the second pair of chopsticks. “You don’t have to finish anything,” he said gently. “And you don’t have to compare how much we eat, because I have to eat so much to do my job, right? So just try a little of each and go from there. For me?”

He was giving you puppy dog eyes. And there was really nothing you could do in that situation.

You tried one bite, starting with some rice and egg. And, miraculously, it tasted good. The egg was custardy and the rice had a nice balance of salt. When you swallowed, you felt a squeeze in your stomach, kindly asking for more. You decided to trust that feeling, knowing that the Japanese food wouldn’t feel too heavy when you were done. You took another small bite.

Izuku smiled at you, eyes shining. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

You nodded, hand over your mouth. “It’s okay.”

As the two of you watched the show, Izuku ate way more than you did. But you reminded yourself, as he’d said, that he needed a lot of calories every day to do all of the physical activity that was demanded of him, that One For All took out of him. What you needed was totally different, and that was okay.

There were leftovers when Izuku put his chopsticks down and leaned back, but he didn’t tell you to eat more. The two of you would wrap it back up and put it in the fridge, possibly take it to work as lunch tomorrow. When the program ended and the theme song for the next episode began, Izuku murmured, “We don’t have to talk about it today, but you know that I’m here for whatever you’re going through, right?”

You were curled against Izuku, head flat against his chest. You nodded into his sternum and hummed your affirmation.

“And nothing would make me not love you or not think you were beautiful. Because you’re still the best person I’ve ever met.”

You smiled sleepily. “You’re the best person I’ve ever met.”

“Well, you must be rubbing off then,” he said cheekily. “We both still have a lot to learn about taking better care of ourselves. Everyone does, right?”

You looked down at his right hand, scars dimpling it all over, mended bones poking out at irregular angles.

“I’ve been learning a lot about it since I was a teenager, but I’m sure you have too,” he said. “I think you know more than you think you do. All you have to do is trust yourself as much as I trust you. And love yourself as much as I love you.”

You were quiet as his monologue ended and your show came back on. When you were almost sure he couldn’t hear, you said, “I don’t know how.”

When he didn’t respond, you thought you’d gotten away with it. That your confession had made it out of you without repercussion. But a moment later, Izuku proved you wrong, saying, “Loving you is the easiest thing in the world. I’ll show you.”

Then he kissed the top of your head, just as your eyes began to droop, and your heart finally began to warm back up.

“I promise.”

[skinsharpenedteeth]

Wip Wednesday

Literally just started writing this... wtf am I doing to myself???

---

“How in the fuck can there only be one bed?!” Michael exclaimed, closing the truck door with perhaps a little more force than necessary. Alex watched him with a distinctly unamused expression, waiting for Michael to calm down before continuing. When Michael held his hands up and took a long inhale-exhale, Alex responded. 

“So apparently there’s a duck hunting tournament in town and all the hotels are pretty full because of it. I asked if there were any other hotels that might have a double and the girl at the desk said she’d already gotten calls from the other hotels asking her that. So, I’d say this is our only option, therefore I took it,” Alex explained calmly. Michael glowered at him from under his curls like Alex was trying to trick him. Alex grit his teeth, taking his own long inhale-exhale to keep from flying off the handle. “It’s too far to the next town and neither of us are running long on sleep. Let’s just go to the room and go to sleep.

Michael looked at Alex long and hard. This had already been a hell of a trip east in search of alien artifacts and chasing ghosts for leads about any other government alien programs. They’d been on the road for a week and a half and Michael was about to snap. He’d spent a week and a half in the car, eating every meal, sleeping feet away, and watching Alex walk around the hotel room practically naked. He hadn’t masturbated this much since high school and the idea of being within reaching distance of Alex all night long sounded like too much temptation to manage. But he didn’t want to fuck this up. Didn’t want to fuck them up. They were genuine friends now. They had adventures, they talked about things, they farted in front of each other. They were buddies, even, and Michael loved that part. He loved knowing Alex’s stories and having inside jokes. What he hated was getting caught off guard by all the little things that made his jeans tighten and his mouth go try such as walking in from a trip to the vending machine and seeing Alex while he was doing his PT exercises, sweating, looking flexible as fuck in his tiny PT shorts and groaning like a damn porn star. What he hated was smelling his amazing shampoo and soap combination every damn morning while he touched himself because he was always the second to shower. And what he really fucking hated was waking up to pee in the middle of the night and knowing that Alex not only had a tendency to throw off all the covers but also that he unconsciously cupped himself like he might wake up to jerk off at any moment. What he hated most of all though, was having to keep every touch between them casual. He couldn’t hold his hand while they drove or kiss his neck when they hugged. He couldn’t slide his arm over the back of the bench seat in his truck to tickle the soft, short hairs at the nape of his neck. He couldn’t stare at him like he was the fucking sun and he hated that most of all. So sleeping next to him? This spelled disaster and Michael very seriously considered sleeping in his truck. 

“Come on, Guerin. It’ll be like a sleep over. We’ll build a pillow divider between us and keep to our sides of the bed, okay?” Alex offered in a softer tone. He could tell that Michael wasn’t relaxing into the idea like he’d hoped. If Michael were a dog, his hackles would still be up, but he’d be tentatively smelling Alex’s hand to check him out. It hurt a little that Michael would be so hesitant about sharing a bed with him. They’d been together on the road for over a week and Michael had been fine with every other arrangement. He’d let Alex sleep on his shoulder while he drove. He’d helped Alex with some of the harder stretches he had to do for his physical therapy. He’d let Alex have the pickles from his burgers and Alex knew for a fact that the pickles were Michael’s favorite part. So what was the big deal? He stared at Michael’s slightly tortured expression and decided that if Michael was going to have a problem with it, Michael would have to tell him what the problem was before he could solve it. He’d give him tonight to settle it with himself. They were going to be in town for at least three days chasing down this latest lead. 

“Okay. Let’s go. I’m exhausted and I need a fucking shower,” Michael grumbled, grabbing his back out of the truck’s bed and hefting it over his shoulder. Alex gave him a weak smile before turning and leading the way.