#when it went towards me. nd then i got distracted by the other dog

[dsfjjshgffdg]

going to the store was so worth it i got to say hi to the little (3 months old iirc?) puppy again and this rlly nice smooth collie .. owner was like "they can tell u like dogs!" Fuck man i sure do

[yandere-daydreams]

Title: Puppy.

Pairing: Yandere!Oikawa/Reader/Yandere!Iwaizumi.

Word Count: 2.5k.

Synopsis: It’s a pet’s job to make their owner happy, or their owners, in your case. You don’t mind. If anything, you take pride in how often you make Oikawa and Iwaizumi smile, how often they laugh, how happy they seem to be with you. You only wish they’d try to return the favor, from time to time.

TW: Hybrid!Reader, Implied Non-Con, Implied Dub-Con, Emotional Manipulation, Gaslighting, Possessive Mindsets, Threats of Abandonment, Mentions of Animal Abuse, and Questionable Implications. 

Sometimes, you could still remember how happy you’d been when Oikawa and Iwaizumi first took you home.

It helped that the shelter was such a bleak place to be, after a few weeks. It wasn’t unbearable – the volunteers were nice, you were fed twice a day, and there were plenty of other animals to play with, but the older hybrids were always so stand-offish and everything seemed just a little duller than it should’ve, the ill-fitting clothes a little too grey and the walls a little too plain, a shade of white that seemed to make your eyes burn if you lingered on it for more than a minute. You couldn’t complain, but they’d been a splash of color, in comparison, Oikawa, his smile brighter than the sun, and Iwaizumi, scowling and glowering and trying to pretend he didn’t know the strange man trying to fit his hand through the thin bars of your kennel. They’d been new. They’d been there for you, and you should get to feel happy about that.

You’d just been so excited, that first day. You’d tripped over your words when Oikawa asked for your name, laughed a little too loudly at every passing comment and half-hearted joke, and when Iwaizumi finally relented to ‘looking at’ the paperwork, your tail had wagged so violently, you’re sure animals on the other side of the shelter were able to hear it beating against the concrete. You’d wanted to go home with Oikawa, who pet you so gently and spoke to you so softly, and you didn’t mind Iwaizumi, even if he was a little more reserved than his partner. You’d wanted to find a home, one you wouldn’t have to leave. You’d been so, so happy.

You were still happy, in a certain way. Not as happy as you had been, but happier than you ever were in the shelter. Happier than you would’ve been. That was what Oikawa said, at least.

You were happier with than you could ever be, with anyone else.

Some days, you tried to believe it, too. Sleeping on his bed helped, his mattress softer than the thin mat you’d been given at the shelter, his sheets warmer, creating a nest of fleece and silk and wool you couldn’t help but fall into. Save for Oikawa’s shallow breaths, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, the house was quiet, the road outside empty, the sun just barely beginning to rise. Despite Iwaizumi’s noticeable absence, it was cozy, homey in a way you’d craved every time another hybrid was adopted, every time you had to watch—

“I thought dogs weren’t allowed on the bed.”

The bedroom creaked swung open, Iwaizumi’s voice echoing through the small space. Immediately, you pushed away the memory, knowing better than to linger on things like that. You should be happy. Neither of them liked it very much, when you weren’t.

He must’ve been jogging, a fresh towel slung over his neck and his forehead still dripping with sweat, but Iwaizumi’s tone was jovial, energetic, that kind of lax, serene playfulness Iwaizumi seemed to exude, whenever he wasn’t forcing himself to stay on-edge. You squirmed, attempting to sit up and greet him properly, but the arm snaked around your midriff only held you tighter, pulling you in Oikawa as he groaned, his eyes only flickering open for a second before promptly clenching shut again. “You’re making my puppy nervous,” He mumbled, still obviously groggy. “Go away. You gave up your spot ‘nd you don’t get it back.”

There was plenty of room, really. You usually slept between the two, letting Oikawa cling to something warn while Iwaizumi scratched idly at the base of your ears, but still, you didn’t hesitate to wriggle out of Oikawa’s hold when Iwaizumi whistled, the simplest out of his many commands. You didn’t waste time, clambering to the edge of the bed, Iwaizumi watching on with a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, only growing more apparent as you came to kneel in front of him. Despite your stiffness and your downcast gaze, your tail swept over the sheets lazily, a quiet show of your muted fondness that never seemed to go overlooked. He only laughed, a large hand coming up to ruffle your hair before he caught you by the chin, tilting your head back just far enough to press his lips against your forehead. It was a familiar display of affection. It was a display you really, really liked, if you were being honest. The volunteers were always blunt, at the shelter, too afraid of getting attached to be so liberal with their encouragement. Iwaizumi didn’t have to worry about that, though, and neither did Oikawa. You were theirs. As far as they were concerned, you were going to stay theirs, too.

The thought should’ve comforted you than it did, but you tried not to worry about that.

“Couldn’t get you to wake up, this morning.” He wasn’t whispering, but his voice was low enough to make the conversation feel private. Not conspiratorial, but personal in an intimate way, just bordering on uncomfortable. “Hybrids are supposed to be lively, aren’t they? Are you getting lazy on me?”

“’m not a dog,” You mumbled, the dismissal half-hearted. Iwaizumi was the stern one, the mean one. He knew how to take care of you, he knew what you needed and how you’d act, but he chose to get the details wrong, anyway. “Tooru lets me sleep in, and you run too fast. ‘s not fun.”

There was a pause, and he dropped his smirk. Instantly, you realized your mistake.

You moved to correct yourself, but a sudden pressure stopped you, two hands landing on your shoulders and a chest coming to press against your back, Oikawa’s taller form quickly eclipsing your own. He had to lean down just to nuzzle against the side of your neck, a throaty whine quickly filling the silence. “Puppy’s learning, Hajime. That’s a hard thing to do with such a shitty teacher.” You flinched back, your pointed ears dropping to your scalp, but Iwaizumi let the insult slide with a stifled huff. That was what Oikawa seemed to expect, remaining just as casual as he went on. “C’mon, you remember what you have to call us, don’t you?”

If it hadn’t been for Iwaizumi’s hand, you might’ve looked away. You wanted to, even if you really weren’t sure why, just yet. “Of course, master.”

This time, Iwaizumi sighed, the sound contented, pleased, proud in a way that made you proud, too. He’d never told you what it meant, and you’d never thought to ask, but Iwaizumi liked it. He was nicer when you used it, his touch just a little softer as he cupped your cheek, Oikawa’s laugh just a little louder, his arms falling back to your waist while his chin came to rest on your shoulder, his attention now refocused on his partner. “And you call me a pervert, Iwa-chan. At least I’ve never resorted to something so cliché.”

More words you didn’t know, more jokes you didn’t think were funny, but you couldn’t bring yourself to mind. You concentrated on staying still, instead, on not disturbing the happy little world Oikawa and Iwaizumi had made for themselves and been kind enough to bring you into, too. They rarely fought, but you still liked it when they got along, when Iwaizumi pushed Oikawa’s hair out of his face, when Oikawa giggled and melted into his palm. You were happy, when they did. You were the happiest when their attention was on each other, rather than you.

They kissed each other differently than they kissed you. Lips slotted against lips, eyes fluttering shut, a breathy ‘shut up’ and a mumbled ‘make me’ in response – soft, tender little interactions that you tried not to watch, from your spot on Oikawa’s lap. You tried not to, but you didn’t have much time to distract yourself, not before Oikawa’s fingers brushed against the inside of your thigh, not before you were brought back to stubborn reality by a startling, throaty noise, something been a cry and a groan. Something that spurred Iwaizumi forward, despite how calm he’d been earlier. Something that made him just a little less inclined to being gentle, and a little more prone to getting… ‘carried away’, as Oikawa liked to say.

You almost made a run for it. You could apologize later, but Oikawa was quick to stop you, nipping at the edge of your jaw as his grip tightened, calloused fingertips soon digging into the meat of your thigh. “Puppy wants to play, too.” It was a drawl, this time, dragged out and melodic, a lethargic kind of inflection that made your heart beat just a little faster, that made you curl into Oikawa the moment Iwaizumi’s eyes shifted towards you. “You’re not gonna leave (Y/n) out, right, Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi didn’t kiss you like he kissed Oikawa. He gave Oikawa a chance to reciprocate, he pulled away when Oikawa couldn’t breathe, but he wasn’t as considerate with you. He probably just didn’t know he had to be. You were a hybrid, you were supposed to be tough, but you didn’t feel tough as his lips crashed into yours, as he caught you by the collar of your shirt, as he pulled you closer and closer and closer until you were forced to shove at his shoulders, to thrash against Oikawa, to misbehave. You didn’t like misbehaving. You really, really didn’t like being bad, but…

You liked the way Iwaizumi touched you even less.

Oikawa wasn’t any better. Even after Iwaizumi relented, his grin suddenly replaced by a small, stern scowl, Oikawa kept going, barely bothering to glace up while his mouth trailed along your jugular, the crook of your neck, the dip of your shoulder, leaving sore, tender bruises in his wake. Even now, they hurt, and they’d hurt more in the morning, but Oikawa didn’t seem deterred by the way you whimpered, how you leaned away from his touch. You weren’t sure why you thought he would be. It wasn’t like he’d ever tried to stop himself, before.

“Someone’s fussy,” Iwaizumi called, speaking past you. Oikawa only hummed in response, letting Iwaizumi go on uninterrupted. “Don’t tell me you have a favorite. It’d be a shame if we needed to teach you that lesson again.”

“No, it’s just—” Denying it came instinctually, but so did faltering, cutting yourself short when you realized he wouldn’t like what you had to say. It felt made your skin crawl, when he touched you like this, when your owners looked at you like that. It didn’t feel bad, not at first, and you weren’t sure if it was wrong, but it felt like something you weren’t supposed to do, even if you couldn’t put your finger on why. “It’s not that,” You tried, and you weren’t lying. You’d be shying away from Oikawa, too, if you could. “I just don’t… It hurts when you—”

“When did you get so spoiled, cutie?” If Oikawa was still half-asleep, you couldn’t tell. He sounded lucid, perfectly awake and aware, perfectly able to make something in your stomach twist, a tight knot forming in the back of your throat. Being spoiled was a bad thing. You didn’t want to be bad. “It makes us so happy when you play along. I thought you wanted to make us happy, but…” When he trailed off, it was deliberate, a short silence punctuated by a click of his tongue. “I could’ve been wrong. Maybe our next puppy will be a little more grateful.”

They warned you about this, at the shelter. Bad owners, the volunteers said, owners who aren’t caretakers, owners who aren’t satisfied with the kind of companionship hybrids are meant to provide. They didn’t treat their pets with care, and in a way, neither did Iwaizumi and Oikawa. You never felt like they cared when you were pinned to the bed, when your head felt so full and your body felt so hot and all you could do was hope it’d end, eventually. They were bad owners, even if they weren’t bad most of the time.

But, if you said that, if you tried to run away, if you cried and growled and lashed out like you used to, like you had when Iwaizumi and Oikawa first brought you home, you’d be a bad pet. You’d be the bad one, and you knew what happened to bad hybrids. There’d been plenty of them at the shelter – dogs who couldn’t bite and cats without their claws, bad hybrids, mutilated hybrids. You didn’t want to be bad.

You really, really didn’t want to be bad.

It would hurt. You already knew it would, and there wouldn’t be a minute of it you genuinely enjoyed, but that didn’t really matter. You threw yourself towards Iwaizumi regardless, wrapping your arms around his neck and burying your face in his chest, wasting the distance you’d worked so hard to create. Iwaizumi was caught off guard, but he managed to recover quickly, a breath of a chuckle slipping past his lips, the sound barely muffled by your proximity.

“I’m sorry!” It was a desperate, fractured cry, but neither seemed to mind, Oikawa cooing as he rubbed circles into your hips and Iwaizumi just shaking his head, more a sign of disregard than disapproval. It didn’t matter. You’d already disappointed him. You were supposed to make him happy, and you hadn’t, you’d failed to. It was only fair that he got to disappoint you a little, too. “I didn’t mean it, please, I don’t want to go back to the—”

“It’s alright,” Iwaizumi soothed, as you broke into hysterics. “Tooru just likes being mean, ‘s all. You’re not going anywhere, even if you do still need some training.”

“Obviously. Iwa-chan’s too much of a softie for that.” Iwaizumi’s sympathy was minimal, manufactured, but Oikawa’s was practically nonexistent, his faux concern fading into a timbre of pleasant, numbing satisfaction. It was nice, how awful he could be at holding a grudge, but for whatever reason, you couldn’t find it in yourself to be very thankful. “But, I can’t stay mad at our puppy, ‘specially when you’re so timid. We just can’t trust anyone else to take care of you, not when you’re so easy to scare.”

You could’ve said something. You didn’t think you were timid, but you didn’t correct him, not as he pawed at your waist, not as Iwaizumi’s fingers slipped under the hem of your shirt, not as your voice hitched in your throat and you lost your chance entirely. It was alright, though. This was for the best. This was good.

They’d taken such good care of you, at first. They’d made you so happy. They still made you happy, sometimes, and if you tried hard enough, you could make them happy, too.

Hopefully, if you succeeded, they’d stop trying to make you so miserable.

[shining-m00nlight]

17 feels like classic nedlyn so i will ask for that as well

17. “I’m cold.” 

Oh yeah a classic Nedlyn trope. Cat is cold and Ned warms her. So lets go. (And I only needed a mouth to write it.)

Catelyn didn't know what to do. She must have had run through the little cabin a hundred times but she still couldn't find anything that could help them. After having searched for what felt like forever she was getting really angry at whoever made the decision not to plan ahead for emergencies in this cabin.

She couldn't find anything to get in contact with anyone. She had looked for an emergency phone or a button or anything that would be helpful in informing people that they needed help. At this point she would have been glad to find some sort of fireworks, so there was at least a little chance someone would notice them up here. But naturally there weren't any.

Not for the first time today she wondered how exactly she had gotten into this mess.  And the answer was, Brandon!

 It had started about a week ago when they were at a family dinner and someone, she couldn't even remember who it was, had made a joking comment about them hopefully  getting married soon. When they had gotten back to Brandon's place a huge fight had broken out between them just because of a silly little comment. 

Brandon had accused her of telling people "this nonsense" about them getting married was true to get his family to put even more pressure on him to finally marry her. She hadn't even known there was pressure from his family. His words had of course infuriated Catelyn for two reasons. First how could he ever think of her as being this manipulative. And second that it was apparently such a terrible thought for him to be marrying her.

"That is not what I meant Cat. You know that right?! It is not about you.", Brandon had yelled at her. Then stopped for a second. "Wait...no...that's not what I meant."

"No, Brandon I understand. It's not about me. Nothing here ever truly is and this is the problem in this relationship. Everything has to be about you! Everything has to work out just the way you want it to. And you don't want to marry me because then you might actually have to grow up or god forbid you have to give up some part of your fun, carefree lifestyle... like your women." 

Brandon had looked shocked at what she had said. She wasn't sure if it was because he had thought she didn't know about his women or because he didn't think she would ever dare to bring it up. She hadn't bothered finding out which one it was. She stormed out and walked back to her own apartment. 

It hadn't been the smartest idea considering it had already been late and her apartment wasn't close to where Brandon lives. When she had finally arrived home it had been four a clock in the morning and she had been frozen through to the bone. Something that happened quite easily to her in contrast to Brandon. He had always told her that Stark didn't get cold. That if they ever did something was really wrong.

So Cat knew something was very wrong! 

After their fight there had been a silent between the couple for days. Cat had decided that she was not gonna call him. She had been tired of always being the one giving in and excusing Brandons shitty behavior towards her. She didn't quite know what she had expected but after four days he had actually called her and had asked if they could go away for the weekend so they would have time to talk without being disturbed or distracted.  

That's how she had gotten here in the first place. Brandon had invited her to the secluded little cabin up the mountains that was owned by his family. The cabin and its surroundings had been beautiful ever since she had seen it for the first time. The first time she had ever seen it was in the summer where the trees would be a wonderful green and the water in the little ponds that surrounded the cabin shimmered in the sun. While the summers were gorgeous the winters were pure magic. Everything was coated in a layer of snow. The only things that weren't white were the red leaves from the weirdwoods trees that shined the brightest this time a year.  

She had agreed to meeting him here. She had been suspicious when Brandon Stark of all people had made the suggestion to take time out of his life to have a mature adult conversation. It shouldn't have surprised her that he never showed up. Not for the first time her lack of surprise at the shitty things Brandon did to her made her wonder if she shouldn't have noticed before how much was wrong in their relationship.

They had planned to meet at the cabin at six pm and to then stay the weekend. It had been two days since they had talked on the phone. She had thought about what she would tell Brandon ever since their call ended. She knew their relationship couldn't go on like this any more. Brandon would have to promise and then show her that something will change otherwise there was no chance that their relationship could ever work again. It was important for them to finally have this talk, that much she knew.

That's why Catelyn had arrived at the exact right time. Brandon hadn't.

She got mad at herself for even thinking he might actually keep his promise, she should have known better. She had tried to call him but he hadn't picked up. After an hour had passed she had wanted to try again but to further her anger her phone had died. The plan had been to stay another hour and then leave but a loud knock had interrupted her thoughts.

When she had opened the door there were three things that surprised her. The first thing was the cold breeze and the snow that hit her in the face. The second thing was that Brandon's brother Eddard Stark was standing in front of her. And the third thing was that he was drenched in water that already started to freeze. He was shaking and tried to say something but before he could Cat had already pulled him into the cabin.

"Oh my god, what happened to you?" she had asked while moving him in front of the heater for him to sit down to then kneel next to him.

It seemed like he wanted to answer her but his teeth were chattering too much. She had stood up to turn up the heater. Suddenly there was a loud crash and everything went dark. She had jumped at the loud sound but it had only taken her a second to figure out what happened.

"What the?…shit", she had yelled: "The power is out!"

She had grabbed a blanket nearby and knelt back down next to the shivering body that was Eddard Stark. 

"Are you ok?" she had asked while trying to wrap the blanket around him.

He had still shivered but this time he could answer: "I got up he...ere to get you. An...nd I forgot about the little ponds. Bran..."

Cat didn't need more of an explanation. Brandon had abandoned her in this damp cabin and then sent his brother to fix his mess, as always. By the time Ned had arrived at the cabin the snowfall had picked up which led to the small ponds being hidden under it and easily overlooked.

"I…Br...randon..."

"It's ok. I understand, don't try to talk too much unnecessarily." she had stopped him. 

For a moment she had thought she could see him smile, just the tiniest bit. Then she had realized why. Properly no one had ever accused him of talking unnecessary or too much. 

Cat had tried to think of what they could do now. From the short view she had gotten from outside when she had opened the door for Eddard, there was no way for them to drive back down the mountain and she had known with the power out they couldn't stay here either.

"Eddard…..Ned? Do you have a phone with you? I could try calling someone. My phone doesn't have any battery left." Trying to talk to him had been a little bit awkward. Besides the fact that Ned was shaking like a leaf, they just didn't really know each other that well. 

It wasn't like they didn't like one another. She actually liked Ned a lot. He was kind and smart and it was easy to talk to him once you broke through his surface a bit but there was always some distance between them. She couldn't put her finger on why but she sometimes got the feeling Ned tried to avoid her until she seeks him out. 

The first of the few times Cat had met Eddard she thought she might have done something to offend him but Brandon told her it was just Ned's brooding and distant nature.

With his shaking hands Ned had pulled a phone out of his pocket. It was of course completely wet. Cat had taken the phone to check if there had been anything she could do but the phone had been completely dead. So then she had started running around the little house like a crazy person but still hadn't been able to find anything to help them.

They were stuck in this cabin, that was getting colder by the minute.

After not finding anything useful Cat returned to Ned, who was still sitting in front of the heater which had already started to Iost their heat, wrapped in the blanket that had become just as wet as Ned himself.

"I can't find anything to contact anyone! So I guess we have to wait out the storm. That also means we need to get you warm."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine. Your teeth are basically giving a concert. You need to get warm again and that quickly. First you need to get out of those clothes." Cat told him.

Ned looked at her so scandalized as if she had asked him to kill his dog.

"I can't take my clothes off in front of you"

"I promise I won't look but you need to get warm and without power that is not gonna work with you sitting here in your wet clothes. I'll go look for some more blankets. You should get into bed and try to warm up."

Ned stood up from the floor. He didn't look too convinced but walked towards the small bedroom. Cat actually found another blanket and some towels which she brought to Ned. 

She was faster then she had expected because when she walked into the bedroom the young Stark was still standing next to the bed. His shirt and pants were off and his back was turned to her. While he was leaner than Brandon his back was still quite muscular and when he moved it looked really nice on him. Suddenly Cat had the urge to touch him, to not just see but feel his muscle move.  

She must have made a sound because he turned around and she immediately felt how the blood rushed into her face. Apparently she wasn't the only one because Cat could have sworn she saw a little bit of color creep up Neds cheeks as well.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. I found some towels for you." 

She walked to Ned and handed him the towles desperately trying to not stare at his chest. Which turned out to be very hard because she couldn't look him in the eyes either. So her eyes just switched around the room while she tried to control her blush. She handed Ned the towles and he began to wrap them around him. 

"Thank you Catelyn." 

Now that he was out of his wet clothes Neds teeth had stopped shattering but he was still visibly shaking and that worried her.

"You should really get into the bed now Ned. Or you will not get warm again."

 Ned listened and climbed into the bed but she heard him mumble something about "Starks" and "not cold".  After he covered himself with the blanket he looked back up to her. It felt a little bit weird just standing there over him not sure what to do next.

 "What should we do now?" Ned asked the question she was thinking.

"Now, you are going to sleep and hope that the storm stops so we can get home tomorrow without somebody to rescue us. If you need anything I will be on the couch in the next room." she answered.

He looked at her, nodded and after looking at her once more, he closed his eyes. 

"See you in the morning", she whispered while leaving the room. 

Catelyn went back to the couch. The living room was already colder than before. That's why she tried to snuggle into the couch as deep as possible while pulling the blanket close to her. Hopefully Ned was warmer in his bed.

She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. It took some time but after a while she finally fell into an uneasy sleep. Last thing she felt was a little breeze around her face and she hoped that that night in the cabin wouldn't become much colder.

 She jolted awake at the sound of the wind blowing against the wooden walls. It definitely had gotten colder since she fell asleep and no matter how close she pulled her blanket it couldn't keep her warm anymore. It wasn't a great feeling but she was going to live and just try to sleep through it at least that what she told herself. 

But when the wind stopped howling for a minute, she heard another sound. One she had heard earlier this night but hoped she wouldn't hear again. Neds shattering teeth. Her wish that Ned would be warmer in his bed than she was on the couch had obviously not come true. His unfortunate meeting with the water probably hadn't been helpful and now he was possibly freezing to death.

Determined she picked herself up from the couch and walked back into the small bedroom. She stood in front of the door for a minute before finding the courage to walk inside.

"Ned? Are you ok? I heard you from outside." she asked in a whispered tone to not scare him should he be sleeping.

"I'm cold. No matter what I do I can't get warm. I can't feel my toes anymore and my hands feel numb." he pressed out. 

"Why didn't you call me? I would have come to help you!"

"You can't do anything… there is no...power here"

In that moment Cat had an idea and made a distinction. She took the steps towards the bed and put the blanket that was skill around her shoulders on top of Ned.

"W...what are you d…doing? You n...eed your blanket."

"Yes! So do you and that's why we are gonna share it. We need to warm eachother with the body heat we have left before it leaves us completely" 

She started talking of her jacket and pulled her hoodie over her head. Even while shivering Ned still looked at her like she lost her mind. Normally it was really hard to read Eddard Stark but in that moment there was no doubt what he was thinking right now.

"It's ok Ned. We need to have skin to skin contact to warm up. I'm afraid you're gonna freeze to death otherwise and I can't explain that to your family. If I understand everything correctly it would be against nature for a Stark to die from the cold. That's why I'm gonna take my clothes off now and then I will get under the covers with you, so we can sleep until the next morning and not die of hypothermia. Are you ok with that?"

Neds stared at her for a few more seconds like he was trying to find something in her face and then nodded. Cat quickly took off her shirt, she had no desire to stand in the cold air any longer than necessary. It was a very awkward moment and she tried to not look at Ned while she peeled her skinny pants down her legs. Why did she have to wear those today? Getting out of them was a pain. 

She almost tripped and fell down which made her look up. Ned stared at the ceiling as if he had to study it to pass an important exam and concentrating on it made him feel bad. 

She debated whether or not she should take off her bra as well. The idea of sleeping in her bra wasn't very comfortable but she probably shouldn’t sleep next to her boyfriend's brother without it. The weird thing was the thought of laying naked next to Ned exited her more than anything else and gave her a funny stomach ache.

What is wrong with you Tully? This is not the appropriate time! Actually this thought is never appropriate, she thought to herself.

In the end she decided to leave her bra on. Ned already looked uncomfortable, she didn't want to add to that. She almost jumped under the covers so there was no heat lost and she had gotten cold too while standing around in the cold air. 

At her sudden appearance next to him, he winced. On instinct she put her hands on his chest to calm him down. 

"Oh my god, sorry Ned I didn't mean to scare you." 

"Everything is fine. You didn't do anything wrong. There is no need to apologize." 

He still seemed kind of tense but it was hard to tell considering he was still shaking like a leave. She stroked over his chest in an attempt to warm him up a bit and to get him to relax. It didn't seem to work. To her Ned still appeared just as tense as before. Maybe distracting him by talking would work better. 

"This will work, Ned. We'll get through this night." 

He actually smiled at that: "Of course we are, Catelyn. You are way more stubborn than this storm." 

Hearing him say that surprised her. She had never heard him making any kind of joke and it seemed hardly the time for them but at least it seemed to relax him.

"How would you know that? And I'm not stubborn, I'm just determined."

"Mmh" Ned mumbled and his lips formed a little smile but closed his eyes again.

"And it's Cat by the way. You don't need to call me Catelyn all the time."

"Cat" he repeated her name and now his smile became wider.

Seeing his smile made her feel good. It was a nice smile and she wished she could see it more often. His lips were quite nice too. She shook her head to get these thoughts out of her brain.

"We should go to sleep now. How should we do this? Maybe I could just...like lay kind of on top of you but still kind of next to you. I think that way we will warm each other best. Are you comfortable with that?" she asked him.

Ned didn't open his eyes and didn't say anything either but then nodded. Cat had the feeling that something was still making him feel uneasy. Maybe it was because of her, she thought. Maybe he hated having her so close to him.

"Are you sure?" she asked again she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. 

This time Ned nodded immediately.

Cat carefully moved closer to him. She slung her arm over him and placed her head on his chest and snuggled her body as close as possible to his. Ned's arms were placed awkwardly on the matrance unsure where they should go. Cat touched one of his hands and noticed it was cold as ice. 

She took both of his arms and slung them around her so they would warm up quicker. When his hands touched her back she shivered. He tried to pull them back but she held them in place.

"It's ok Ned, the cold will be gone quickly."

His arms relaxed a bit. She wished he would have said something but he kept quiet.

She twisted her head up to look at his face and whispered: "Sleep well" 

"You too Cat. I hope your sleep will be good." Ned whispered back.

For a second time this night she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. She eased a bit more into Neds arms around her. His heart beating next to her ear lulled her into a deep sleep pretty fast. Her last thoughts this time were wondering when was the last time that she felt this safe in Brandons arms?

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

Ups changed up the roles because why do things as expected?

Btw I know there is something weird is going on with the grammar. I hope that can be forgiven.

[nachtai-ish]

Oscar Darling (4/??)

pairing: chris x blackactress!reader summary: ...interruptions are so rude.

previous chapter

(author’s note: this was written in haste as I needed to get it out of the way. please ignore any mistakes.)

You had to admit, Chris had you at an disadvantage. His home was warm, it’s white walls with dark wood reminded you of the Northeast. You figured that he would also want his home to remind him of home since he was so displaced. Dodger was nestled right near your feet, cuddling with his stuffed lion watching the fire that was making the dimly lit room, just the right amount of sultry.

           It also didn’t help that from your seat in the living room, you had a perfect view of Chris dutifully minding the stove with a towel over his shoulder and a wooden spoon in his hand. You were intrigued. You could remember watching a video where he said that he couldn’t cook anything but eggs, yet there he was in his plain white t-shirt stirring a sauce so it wouldn’t ‘break’.

           Every now and then he would look up and give you a grin that had you shifting slightly in your seat. You really didn’t know if you would make it through the night. As you shifted again when he looked up at you, Dodger adjusted so that his feet were warming your toes.

“Is Dodger bothering you?” He asked.

You looked down at the dog, who was sitting so calmly at your feet, and wondered if he ever bothered anyone. “No. Why would you ask that?”

Chris smirked, not looking up from the pot he was stirring, “Well, you keep shifting. …so, you’re nervous then?”

You rubbed the back of your neck, “No. No I’m not nervous why would I be nervous?”

Chris looked up then with a pearly white smile on his face, “Well…a strange guy co-erced you into come over to his house instead of going to a restaurant. He’s cooking your dinner and …who knows what he put in it. Also…there are 4 exits to this house…but they are so far away from where you are right now…he could totally catch you before you could get to one.”

You smirked and picked up the wine glass, taking down a small gulp, “You know…you’re really not helping the whole creep vibe.”

He laughed and walked over with his own wine glass, “Wait, before you label me a creep, I have a second theory. You’re nervous because of the potential of us having sex tonight.”

You choked a little at the word sex and he chuckled.

“Gotcha.” He said looking up from the sauce.

You sat the wine glass not needing to potentially drown from wine inhalation in front of Chris. “You have to admit. It’s kind of weird that we went into this knowing that we might have sex.” You stood up gently, not wanting to disturb Dodger and eased your feet from under him before walking over to Chris in the kitchen.

He looked at you, and nodded, poking his lip out a little. “Yeah, it’s a little weird but only cause people aren’t honest with themselves. I mean, I’m attracted to you…sexually.” When he saw the crestfallen look brush over your face, he grinned. “At least for right now, and you are to me, I think.” He opened up the stove to check on what looked to be chicken. “Right?” There was some nervousness in his voice.

“Mm, yeah I am.” You nodded when he stood up from looking in the oven. He grinned at you, suddenly looking like a happy puppy.

“Good, because this would be really awkward if you weren’t.” And suddenly his lips were on yours and he was all at once moving you to press against one of his countertops. You were stunned for a moment, you were really kissing Chris Evans. His lips were against yours, his teeth biting down on your bottom lip. And oh god, now his tongue was exploring your mouth.

You let out a moan at the sensation you got from his tongue gently coaxing yours forward and then the feeling of his hands roaming over your waist daring to go lower at times. You moaned again and he pulled back slightly breathing slightly hard.

“Good right?” He mumbled.

You hadn’t opened your eyes yet and when you did you were met with the hazy blue eyes you often dreamed about. You bit your lip and nodded.

“That’s it?” He smirked. “Just a nod? I can do better than that.” He angled his head towards yours leaning in for another kiss, but you stopped him. Was that smoke?

“Wait.” You looked past him and almost laughed. It was definitely smoke. “…Chris…I think your sauce is burning.”

“Oh fuck me.” He quickly turned back towards the stove where his pot was definitely smoking.

You giggled, “I’m sure it’s okay. Like I’ve eaten burnt food before, in Louisiana they call it Cajun.” You joked.

He turned the pot off and quickly put it under running water. He leaned against the sink and sighed, now looking like a kicked dog. “Fuck. I was trying to impress you. I don’t know how to cook.” He looked exasperated and his face was turning slightly red. “…I…nevermind.”

“What? What did you do?” You walked over and stood next to him.

He covered his face and laughed, “I…fuck. I bought that Gordon Ramsey masterclass thing. I wanted to cook you something fancy since I didn’t want to deal with a restaurant.”

You grinned inwardly and then it forced itself on your face. You pulled his hand down and your grin doubled at the sight of his red face. “That’s so cute.”

“Cute?” He chuckled. “It’s embarrassing. I couldn’t even follow directions.”

“I mean, it wasn’t your fault.” You brushed his cheek. “You just were distracted. If you never kissed me, it would have been fine. But it was a good kiss, well worth burning some sauce.”

He looked at you then, a smirk beginning on your face. “Just good? I really need to try again.” He leaned towards you again but you tilted your head back, keeping your lips just out of reach.

“…And you can. Later. You.” You poked his chest. “Promised me food, and I am starving.”

           And that’s how you ended up on the couch with Chris Evans, a pizza box between you and a pizza box on the coffee table. You were both sitting sideways so that you could see each other and were currently laughing about something silly that had happened to you on set.

“So how did you recover?” Chris asked finishing off another piece of pizza.

“Well, luckily I was only really an extra. Hot Girl B. So I stood up, pulled my skirt up and continued walking in the scene.” You smiled as he laughed.

“I would have been mortified. And this was your first movie?” He picked up his beer and sipped.

“Yeah. Well 2nd really, I was also an extra in The Duff but I wasn’t credited.” You picked up another piece of pizza. “And I was mortified, but I couldn’t show it. Will Smith was literally 4 feet away from me.”

Chris laughed again, showing all of his teeth, looking like he almost couldn’t breath. You smiled then and giggled too, liking that you could make him laugh so fully.

“I can’t believe you can show your face in Hollywood.” He said wiping his eyes. “I hope you had on some good underwear.”

You smirked, “Well I was playing Hot Girl B….so what do you think?”

“Wait.” He stopped laughing, face suddenly becoming serious. “You didn’t.”

“I did.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“You were on the set of a Will Smith movie and you didn’t have panties on?” Chris covered his mouth and then moved his hand. “You’re a brave soul.”

“I was playing a hot model type. Models don’t wear panties. You would know.” You smirked at him.

He smirked back at you, “Touche. And I have it on good authority that the models I knew wore panties…. tiny ones.” He sipped his drink smirking behind it when you gasped. “What you brought it up.” He threw his hands up.

“I didn’t expect you to be so candid about it.” You grinned at him.

“I mean. It’s pretty much all out there. So why not be honest about it?” He put his beer down. “What about you?”

“What about me?” You sipped your drink looking away from him.

“What about you? Your dating history. Besides that one PR stunt you did with that one guy, I haven’t heard much about you.”

You folded your arms, looking over at him then. “…How did you know it was a PR stunt?”

He grinned, “I know a thing or two about PR stunts. Plus, the public outings Downtown, kissing right in front of the paparazzi? The obvious hickey on his neck… it was a textbook PR stunt.”

You nodded, impressed. “To my credit, it was my first one. And honestly, it wasn’t really beneficial.”

He pointed his beer towards you, “That was your first mistake, PR relationships have to be beneficial to both parties.”

“First mistake? There were more?” You gazed over at him and he was gazing back at you a small grin on his face.

“A couple, but the main one was in the kiss. He kissed you like this.” And his lips were on yours again, as magical as the first time. He didn’t deepen the kiss though and you were sad about it, a groan even left your lips when he pulled back.

“But…what was wrong with that one? It was simple. Chaste.” You licked your lips.

His eyes followed your tongue before he swallowed the last of his beer, “…Y/n… no man, woman, …person should ever kiss you chastely.” He kissed you then, passionately, moving forward making you lean back to accommodate him. Your back hit the couch and Chris moved to lay in between your legs, still kissing you just as deeply. You heard something hit the floor and moved your head, your lips making a smacking noise as they parted.

“What? What? Is something else burning?” He looked around and then sat up on his knees allowing you to get up.

“No, no. I just heard something fall.” You looked down and saw it. Giggling, you pointed at the pizza which Dodger was picking at. Chris followed your finger and sighed, a grin planting on his face as you laughed harder. Dodger had successfully gotten a piece of crust that you had left in the box.

“No Dodger, that’s not for you!” Chris quickly got up trying to wrestle the crust from his dog’s unwilling mouth.

“Dodger, no.”

The dog barked.

“Dodger, you can’t have this. You’ll have tummy pain.”

Dodger barked again.

This went on for a few minutes before Chris successfully got the albiet wet crust out of his dog’s mouth. He sent Dodger to his bed while he stooped down to clean the rest of the pizza up. You got down to your knees and helped him get the pizza up.

“It’s not a good day for your food is it?” You joked.

“This never happens. I swear.” He said, putting the last of the pizza in the box. You both stood to your feet. “…It’s your lips. They’re distracting.”

You grinned then, your body getting the shivers. “What a line.”

He smirked and walked into the kitchen to put the box in the trash. “It was a line.” He came back wiping his hands off on his jeans. “But that doesn’t mean that it’s not true.” He pulled your face to his, and you softened in his arms, ready to be kissed again.

           But then, his doorbell rang.

“Oh fuck me!” You yelled out this time.

He chuckled, “I swear, I’m trying. I’m really trying.” He dropped his hands from your face and walked over to the door. “I’m honestly not sure who this could be.”

“Don’t answer it then.” You called to him as he disappeared around the corner.

You could hear his chuckle and then heard his door open. You flopped down on his couch in a ball of frustration. You heard Dodger whine and looked back at him.

“Me too, boy. Me too.” You pouted at him and then looked the way Chris had disappeared.

           You heard the door close and looked away, trying hard to look like you were not desperate for his return.

“Sorry, it was just my agent dropping off a script.” He grinned. “I think I’m going to get this one.” He smiled at you, sitting next to you with the thick binder in his hand. “I have a audition in the morning.”

“Congratulations.” You ran your hand through your hair and smiled at him. “Uh, I guess I’ll go and let you read over the script.” You stood up, grabbing your keys off your table.

“No, you don’t have to go.” He put the binder down. “Seriously, stay. I can read over this later.”

You shook your head, grinning softly at him. “No, you need to be ready for your audition. It’s okay.” You pulled him closer to you and kissed him softly. “Maybe next time.”

“…Tomorrow then. After my audition.” He said against your lips.

You nodded, “Tomorrow. …Just…Dm me.” You joked before kissing him again. You made a step to leave but he pulled you back and kissed you again.

“…Tomorrow.” He said softly against your lips.

“Tomorrow.” You nodded and then waved goodbye to him, before giving Dodger’s sleeping head a rub and leaving out of the door.

           Three hours later, you were tossing and turning, kicking yourself. You had missed your chance to fuck Chris. You should have demanded, insisted that he wait on the script and instead memorized how you felt wrapped around his-

No, you couldn’t. You knew how important auditions were, and even with Chris being a mega movie star, you still know that a bad audition could cost him the role that would transition his platform from franchises, to big Oscar movies. He couldn’t be overly tired from giving you the best sex of your life when he auditioned. No you would just have to wait.

           You opened your eyes, looking at the clock.

It was 12 ‘O Clock on the dot. Officially tomorrow. The day you would finally have sex with Chris.

You rolled over, hoping to get some sleep.

Knock. Knock

But of course, interruptions were happening a lot lately.

           You stood up, and made your way to the door.

“Who is it?”

“Chris.”

           You opened the door, shocked. He was wearing a ball cap and a hoodie over a pair of grey sweatpants like he had rolled out of bed as well.

You quickly pulled off your bonnet and threw it to the side, “Chris…what’s going on?” You asked running a hand through your hair.

“…It’s tomorrow.”

           And then he kissed you.

(a/n: DON’T STONE ME. I PROMISE NEXT CHAPTER IS SMUTTY!)

[tango-uniformed]

Attica! Attica!

This sucks but I like Attica as a neurotic republican politician. Idk how to write Leon being mute or whatever I just gave him a stutter bc...communication. Also I dearly wanted Serena to have a solid place in the cast so I was like, what the hell, she can be on Attica’s staff. Idk if she should have an important position like campaign manager or something but rn she’s just an assistant. Also since this is Attica’s POV Serena is less funny and Leon is idk more caring than he actually is bc she perceives them that way (Serena is actually funny and Leon is actually a dick)

Its funny because I’m pretty sure Attica is going to be the “good guy” on the protagonists side and help them and Milo is going to end up being a terrifying source of trouble for everyone. Also I was like ok and rolled the ethnicity dice and was like the Kings can be Chinese and the surname King was changed by their grandfather from Qing when their family really started grabbing power, and then was like ok Serena’s adopted but she’s of Iranian origin (guess that means Danny is too)

$$$$$

Attica King averaged 4 hours of sleep a night. And that was if she was lucky.

Looking at twitter was giving her heart palpitations, but what was she supposed to do, 5 weeks before the Midterm elections? Her numbers guy said that her district would re-elect her by a large margin-- it was red. It had always been red. It wasn’t like that hippie freak who was running against her had a chance in hell. People in Indiana loved her. People in DC though, where she spent considerably more of her time, hated her guts. The vitriol and fake news that journalists were spewing about her online proved that much.

“I’m gonna kill somebody,” Attica said. It was 7 am. She had already been to the gym, showered, sensibly done her hair and make-up, and put on the kind of suit that said ‘listen to me you dummy’. She brandished her phone at her Chief of Staff. “Do you see what they’re saying about me, Leon? They act like I’m some kind of younger, smarter, Chinese female version of Stalin all because they can’t bully me into voting for their stupid gun regulations. People are out there blowing each other up with their minds! What the fuck am I supposed to do, help get rid of guns and leave every sucker who can’t do magic defenseless?”

Leonard, Attica’s Chief of Staff and younger brother, shrugged helplessly. She liked to think of him as the RFK to her JFK. Without the whole getting shot in the head thing. “G-get off twitter,” he said. He was not partaking in the breakfast that Attica’s assistant picked up for the team. Something about the breakfast pastries and espresso made him bitch about how unhealthy it all was. Leon opted to bring a protein shake instead, which worked out for him. At 6 feet tall and weighing over 200 pounds of muscle, he was often mistaken for her bodyguard if he wasn’t dressed up. He kept his black hair shorn close to his head, which didn’t help either. It made him look like he was the type to rip people apart with his bare hands. “You’re obsessing.”

“Where the fuck is Myers?” she asked. “He’s my communications director. Shouldn’t he be out here, I don’t know, directing? Putting an end to all this fake bullshit.” Attica looked at her phone again, pulling up a particularly offensive tweet. “‘ King is unhinged and desperate, putting the needs of lobbyists in front of the needs of her constituents.’--and this is posted with that terrible picture of me, that unflattering close-up where I had pollen in my eyes so they looked red.” She was gripping her phone so tightly that her knuckles went white. “Now whose fault was that? I didn’t have my eye-drops.”

The only other staff member present, Attica’s personal assistant of 3 years, went bug eyed. This was magnified by her thick lensed glasses. She put up her hands defensively and almost dropped the armful of manila folders she was holding. “That’s not my fault, that picture was from when I took some personal time off.”

“That was when you were vacationing in the mental hospital again and I had to rely on a temp for two weeks and was completely up shit creek without you, Serena, so yes it was completely your fault.”

Serena was in her mid 20’s and pretty in a frazzled, underfed, nerdy way. She had only been hired because she was Iranian or something and Attica had been afraid she looked racist after making some allegedly offensive comments while supporting the President’s drone strikes in the Middle East. As it turned out, Serena was brilliant and had graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in Political Science, an inexplicable Chemistry minor, and a desire to work on the Hill. The only reason Attica hadn’t appointed her to a more important position at this point was due to her unfortunate tendency to eat handfuls of pills whenever life got too stressful.

Attica quickly cycled back to the matter at hand. She poured some coffee, which she knew would only make her keep vibrating. It was her 3rd cup of the day. She felt like a hummingbird. “What am I going to do about these people degrading me online?”

From where he sat on the couch, Leon leaned over to out his face in his hands. Dramatic bitch. “For the last time, remember the first amendment.”

“R-r-remember the f-f-first amendment,” Attica repeated in a high pitched child’s voice, mocking him. She chugged the rest of her coffee and caught Serena staring at her like she had lost her mind. At this rate she was going to going to have a heart attack before she turned 40. “Grandfather would have sent someone after those motherfuckers with a crowbar.”

“G-Grandfather was a monster.”

He was right. But being monstrous was just more effective. Who was that old dead guy who said it was better to be feared than loved? Napoleon?

Attica kept looking at her phone. Too bad people didn’t seem to fear her yet. She could feel the blood pounding in her face. When she was angry, her skin turned very red, blotchy and unattractive. It couldn’t be helped. And what she was reading made her angry. Half of what she was mentioned in was negative. And half of those were violent, threats against her. “Here,” she said, landing on an egregious one. “‘King’s giant tits once again distracting everyone from her cloven hooves lol’. I want this person dragged into the street and shot.”

“Jesus C-Christ, c-c-calm down.” The muscles in Leon’s face tightened. He was gritting his teeth.

“Ma’am, maybe you should put your phone away,” said Serena.

Attica kept reading. “‘The NRA owns King but how would she like it if she got used as target practice’. ‘If I saw (pretend this is an at sign)AtticaKingIN in real life I would punch that bitch in the face.’” She began to breathe faster. Were these people from Indiana? Would they vote? Did they actually hate her? Who were these people? “‘King is part of the GOP gestapo’. ‘(at)AtticaKingIN doesn’t care about gun violence in her own state, vote her out!’ ‘I hate that dumb cunt (at)AtticaKingIN she needs to shut her mouth or suck my dick’. ‘I--”

Leon stood up, snatched Attica’s phone out of her hands, then held it above her head where she couldn’t reach it. Attica punched him in the chest but her brother was a wall of muscle and didn’t seem to feel it.

“Seriously, A, you need to c-calm down,” he told her. Attica punched him again. “I don’t want to know about the threats anyone’s making towards you, it’s upsetting. At 9, that lobbyist who works for Madeline C-Caligaris--”

“Do you want some xanax?” Serena interrupted.

Attica spun around to glare at her. She was aware of how flushed she must look. It was just...she cared so much about what people thought about her. “No,” she said coldly, but breathing heavily. She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. Imagine if Grandfather could see her now. After all, he had wanted Leon to head the family business. Hell, before he died, the old man had even expressed regret for treating their youngest..brother, Milo, like a stray dog. But never her. And Attica had tried so hard for all those years and slaved away just to get his validation… “Do you need a xanax, Serena?”

“I do now,” muttered Serena.

Attica tried to grab her phone one more time, then gave up and sat down.

It wasn’t even 7:15.

She took a deep breath to clear her head. “Ok. Tell me about this lobbyist. Calligaris-- that’s the Proverge exec, right?”

Leon nodded curtly. He put his sister’s phone in his breast pocket and sat down next to her. With a sudden rush of urgency, Attica realized that all he had wanted to do was protect her. How had their roles switched like that? When they were little she constantly made herself torment the kids who picked on him for the way he talked. After 30 years he barely even stuttered anymore. “C-can I get those files from Foster v Proverge, please?” Serena leafed through her armful of papers and presented him with the relevant ones. “Thanks. You read this, A?”

“Let’s work under the assumption that I didn’t.” She had been too busy talking to her numbers guy about the polls the previous night to actually look into anything that would affect her policies.

“Proverge wants to build a factory in your district. Magic distillation for use in their products. 200 new jobs. They c-can’t get approval in Indiana anymore-- they c-can’t get approval from most places these days because of all the lawsuits. People protest.”

Attica rolled her eyes. Liberals. “What lawsuits?”

“From the early 2000’s. Proverge distillation factories in Georgia, Tennessee, and Michigan all attempted to c-cover up widespread negative variant medical symptoms that affected workers who were exposed to thauma-slurry being distilled unsafely.” Leon flipped a few pages of the file. “Mostly c-cosmetic. But there were c-claims that the exposure to the slurry also lead to violent psychological problems and some c-clearly unsafe environmental effects.”

People were so whiny. Attica shrugged. “200 new jobs is more important than a couple honest mistakes the company made. I want to make this happen-- an announcement about job creation could really push my numbers in the polls. If protests become a problem, I’ll just send in the cops to clean them up.” She paused. “Or, I’ll send in Milo.”

Leon looked at her like he was trying to peerinto her soul or something. His broad, honest face was genuinely concerned. What did he see in her face? Did he see the will to do whatever she had to? “He’s g-g-getting worse. You c-can’t keep doing that.”

“The fuck I can.”

“He’s not listening to me anymore.” Leon’s face twisted up. Out of the whole family, he was the only one who treated Milo as more than he was. He allowed their deviant half brother to terrorize everyone as he pleased, just because he felt sorry for the bastard. “He’s go-g-going to screw up.”

The thing about Milo, was that someone had to be holding his leash.

“He’s fine,” Attica said with finality. “Maybe if he fucks up bad enough, he’ll actually learn his lesson.”

Leon stood up, handed her phone back, and walked out of the room without saying another word.

“Are you talking about your creepy little brother again?” asked Serena. She was scurrying around, straightening up the breakfast pastries and exuding her nervous energy. “He makes me uncomfortable.”

Attica massaged her forehead. “Me too,” she said. “Can you get in touch with the Proverge people and make sure they’re on their way?”

“On it.”

She could feel a headache coming on. But getting the credit for creating 200 new jobs... it was worth it. It was even worth dealing with Milo. It was worth it. She could be proud of herself. It was worth it. It would all be worth it.

Wouldn’t it?

[ansatsu-database]

Korotan C Rough Summary/Synopsis (Part 4)

June 2016? My goodness, it’s been that long!? Sigh, my work life...

Previously on Korotan C: Princess Lea of Norgo Kingdom visits Kunugigaoka for a Debate Rally, but she's decided to sneak out of her hotel and into the city. Upon saving her from an assassination attempt, Class 3-E and Asano Gakushuu are now bodyguards on a mission to escort her to safety.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Spoilers beware, and remember, this is not intended to be a full word for word translation. This is only so that you have an idea of what is happening.

I have no guarantee that these are 100% accurate

Chapter 4

Taxi would be the quickest way to reach the embassy, but should their enemies discover them, it’ll become easy to mark and ambush. Thus, Karma suggests that they use methods that include crowds of people to make things harder for them.

They’ll use public transport whenever they can, and switch the mediums of travel too. From here, they can take the bus, then switch to train at the station. Of course, some of them have to stay with the princess.

Nakamura then suggests maybe it’ll help if the princess wears a different outfit. Like, she can put on a Kunugigaoka uniform, then someone else dresses in the princess’ outfit.

That idea will put the person dressed in the princess’ outfit in danger of being assassinate though. “Well, even if I say that, you’ll still do it anyway,” Karma quickly realises.

“Same hairstyle, same colour, isn’t that just right? Exactly like the princess who’s being marked! Incidentally, you better protect me, my meat shield!!” said Nakamura.

“Hey! How many times are you going to use me as a meat shield!?” retorted Terasaka.

After Nakamura and Lea swapped their clothing, Yoshida brings the princess a knit cap for her to completely hide her blonde hair.

“Class E keeps on demonstrating an unfathomable level of prowess, whether at the Athletic Festival or the 2nd Trimester Finals, just where did your strength came from?” questioned Asano.

“Well… it was probably… the result of us fighting to the death at the precipice that was Class E…” answered Isogai.

“Isogai-kun… is getting better and better at lying…” remarked Kayano (probably)

“Well… it’s not like he can say that it was all thanks to a Mach 20 superbeing,” replied Nagisa (probably)

Unbeknownst to everyone, someone is spying on them from the shadows.

“Everyone has matured well, getting more and more reliable. Should anything happen, Sensei will be there to help, so just go along with your own daring ideas!”

Suddenly, a dog barks from behind the octopus and he screams. Karma and Asano both heard him, to the former’s exasperation.

The students travel in 2 groups, with Lea grouped together with Asano, Nakamura, Karma and Terasaka. En route to the bus station, Lea gives the ambassador a call, telling him that everything’s fine, and she’s heading now to the embassy.

When the bus arrives, Karma and Asano boarded first to make sure passengers are OK, with Nakamura and Terasaka keep up their guard from behind.

Karma sits at a window seat closest to the emergency exit, with Lea next to him, and Asano standing next to her. Nakamura and Terasaka then sit to her front and rear, completing a cross-formation that defends Lea in the center for their travel.

But during the bus journey, Karma decides to lighten things up with small talk, to Asano’s chagrin.

“Hey, don’t you forget that we are supposed to be protecting the princess! Don’t relax your guard, we’re not here for sightseeing!”

“While keeping up your guard is important, it’s still a long way to the embassy, so there’s no way to maintain such a high tension for the whole trip.”

“It’s because you carry such optimism like so many others who’ve given up on hard work that you…”

“Besides, if you want to pursue perfection in being a bodyguard, then before the princess made her suggestion, you should’ve taken the first step, so being adaptable is another essential skill to have.”

“I don’t need you to teach me how to be a bodyguard! And on the social side of things, I have plenty of experience.”

--

Lea watches with amusement at the banter between the two.

She remarks that “Karma” is an odd name, is it common in Japan? He reckons he’s the only one in Japan to have it, it’s a name that his always-travelling parents with their strange tastes came up with.

Isn’t that lonely, what with his parents not being at home? He thinks he’s actually freer this way, as long as they don’t mind his business he’s got no objections. Lea feels envious at the relationship the Akabanes have.

Karma then brings her attention to Asano’s family. Normally, if you have the school’s board chairman for a father, then you would get all sorts of special treatment, and everything is fine and dandy, but not for Asano-kun. Never mind special treatment, the way he kept working hard to stay at the top is considered “that’s how it should be”, that’s just…

[“You know nothing! Can you cease with your blabbering! Since ancient times, the only ones who become rulers are the strong. That is my father’s compass of education, and one that I believe to be correct. I never yearned for any warmth between father and son, and I have no interest in discussing such relationships with someone who likes to gossip like Akabane. So whether it’s this guy, or my father, I will rule over you all, over all of humanity. That is my calling, and I take joy in living in this calling.”]

[“Pfft,”] blurted Nakamura. [“So cool, Asano-kun! But I think that’s just a load of hubris.”]

[“There’s no helping it if it’s seen as hubris, although, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to be undeterred by the gazes of others and stick to your beliefs. But if it were me, there’s no way I would ignore how others around me sees things, or the expectations from my parents or my citizens. I would stick with my beliefs while carrying all the pressure and responsibility, and I would hate to act like I’m losing to that pressure!”]

[“Indeed, running away is no good.”] (Don’t know who says this)

Seeing his retaliation, Lea lightly pats him on his upper arm.

[“Let’s not talk about this anymore, Gakushuu is too perfect, it’s boring.”]

[“Expectations from others is proof of your worth, and as for how this strength is to be used, it’s completely decided by me, by my freedom. I decide where my life leads to.”]

(He was so serious that Karma and Nakamura opted not to tease him here)

[“From now on, I shall etch your words into my heart.  I will believe in myself and do the things that I believe in, and I shall not falter and continue forward, no matter what those around me say. But conversely, please remain in contact with me as much as possible.”]

[“Then you had better keep up with my growth.”]

Seeing how the two have been using such tough language against one another, Karma can’t help but feel excited. [“My oh my~ Don’t you think those two suit each other a lot?”]

[“Can you not make such low-levelled jokes!?”] Asano angrily stares at Karma.

[“Aha, he’s angry now~ Asano-kun is so cute~!”] [“He does like the princess huh~!”]

Asano’s strong tone only got Karma and Nakamura more fired up.

[“When this is over, if you dare to spread this sort of rumour, I’ll use all the power in the school to massacre you!”]

[“So scary~”]

She may’ve been the butt of the joke, but Lea holds in her laughter and turns to the windows. The appearance of her excitedly gazing out at the scenery of the passing streets presents a temperament of both girlish innocence and royalty. Asano involuntarily looked at this from a side view, but when he suddenly sensed a devilish gaze coming from Karma, he hurriedly turned back towards the front.

“Hey! Can’t you all speak with some simpler English? I couldn’t hear a lick of it!” said Terasaka.

“Man, you just had to do it, breaking up this lovely atmosphere?!” retorted Nakamura, as the bus slowly approaches the train station.

--

Meanwhile, the second group had already taken another bus, arrived at the train station and got into formation. Some went to check the surroundings for any assassins that may be in hiding, while others remain nearby gathering intelligence on the situation.

In front of the station, Nagisa and Kayano are throwing out snacks to the pigeons nearby, with more and more gathering, and even landing on their heads and shoulders and pecking at the snacks in their hands. Isogai and Maehara, on guard nearby, wonder if they’re alright, but it’s part of Karma’s plan, what can they do?

The “escort” bus now arrives at the station. Maehara spotted that one of the people waiting in line to board is dressed in black and reading a newspaper. And as the passengers gradually exit the vehicle, he leaves the queue and approaches them.

Isogai can see that the man has something in his hand, probably a syringe. He calls out to Nagisa before the duo runs towards the bus.

“CLAP” With a sound from Nagisa’s hands, the pigeons all flew towards the airspace around the bus. The man in black was distracted for one moment, and when he looked back, he’s face to face with his target. Well, someone who was supposed to be his target, smiling.

“Eh??? Did you see the princess?” Seeing Nakamura’s grin, the assassin knows that he messed up, and Isogai takes this chance to bat away his syringe with a rolled-up notebook. Not giving him any leeway, from behind Nakamura, Asano sends a kick his way and knocks him out.

The assassin had two more accomplices, and after seeing his defeat, they retreated to their car. But when they opened the door, they saw that the wheels had all fallen down to the side of the road. Next thing they knew, they’re strapped to their seats with duct tape.

[“You are under arrest.”] Nearby the station was Korosensei, dressed in police uniform while chewing bubble gum and playing with the duct tape roll. Next to him is Yoshida with a wrench and Muramatsu with a carjack, snickering that the assassins were way too obvious with their black clothes, black car and bubbling bloodlust.

“Korosensei, did you come to help us?” asked Nagisa. Having heard from Karasuma and Kataoka, at first Korosensei wanted to bring the princess to a safe place at Mach speed. But since he’s not allowed to do that, he can only support the kids, ensuring that the princess makes it to the destination and that his students are safe as well.

By the way, he took the chance to clean away the pigeon feathers and droppings on Nagisa. “Wha? When did that happen!?”

As thanks, he gives the leftover snacks to a delighted Korosensei. In exchange, he gives his bubble gum to Nagisa before disappearing at Mach speed.

[ughrafe]

observations on that prison scene

aka i was rewatching uc4 cutscenes and noticed a ton of little details in the prison scene that i just . needed to point out ??? so these are my observations, sam & rafe & nate centric, under a cut because it got really long & full of pictures–i’ll say over and over again that i’m in awe of how much effort naughty dog put into this game.

nate’s line “hey give me a call when you’re tall enough to ride the rides!” to gustavo as vargas leads him away from the fight. i wonder if at any point he’s thought it @ rafe lmao

after lying to vargas, nate goes to find sam. sam looks like he’s having fun beating the other inmates at the game they’re playing and smiling smugly til he looks up and sees nate. his smile goes awaaaay

probably at that black eye, you know

the way sam delivers the line “jeee-sus they worked you over good” is golden, it reminds me of faraday’s line “jesus wept” from the magnificent 7

sam & nate’s conversation before rafe comes in. i feel like “now this rich asshole comes in on the tail end” is the first time nate has properly brought it up – i’ve no canon evidence to support that, but i feel like it can be inferred from conversation cues? nate sounds earnest, whereas if he’s brought up this specific issue before, he might have said something like “i still don’t understand why ____”.

which is interesting because if that is the case, the way sam responds suggests that nate’s argued against rafe’s involvement before–it’s kind of a simple, tired, “don’t- don’t start, please?” he’s definitely had to defend rafe’s involvement before. which makes me wonder, if nate has voiced distrust of rafe but hasn’t brought up what really bothers him about rafe until now, how did their previous discussions about rafe go? i imagine nate might have said vague/passive aggressive things like “i don’t trust him,” and clearly sam had defended rafe & his decision to trust rafe well enough before in order for them to still be working with him. i’d like to know what sam might have said in rafe’s defense when they first teamed up, if there was anything beyond “we need him to get into the prison”.

just. there’s a tone when sam first goes “don’t start” that implies they’ve discussed this before, but the rest of the conversation lacks that tone imo and. basically i wish we had more background on how they came to work together and more on nate & rafe’s dynamic (nate clearly doesn’t like that rafe’s just “coming in on the tail end.” on the other hand, this scene is before nate goes off to find 3 ancient cities and become “““a legend”““ so there’s not as much basis for rafe to dislike him this early on. i headcanon that rafe admired the drakes and wanted to impress them to some extent, but again, it’d be nice if we actually knew more of their dynamics!!

rafe finally comes in, seemingly from out of nowhere. i honestly wonder what he was doing before he saw them & came over??? probably standing idly and being uncomfortable

“i’ll work it out with vargas, don’t sweat it.” rafe puts a hand on sam’s upper arm. sam doesn’t flinch away. note that rafe doesn’t look at sam even though sam’s the one who voices concern about what would happen if other people find out about the cross, even though rafe’s words are directly in response to that concern–instead rafe looks at nathan, and his expression is pretty relaxed and confident. personally i see this as support towards “rafe was trying to impress them"

rafe glances at both brothers throughout their conversation but it’s interesting to note when he does. “for now let’s get on to more important matters” he looks at nate, makes sense because nate was in charge of/presumably has the cross, then he looks at sam. nate suggests they go somewhere else more private, rafe looks at him, again makes sense. he takes a step back and begins angling his body away, but then there’s like a split second’s pause when his gaze switches to sam and he nods (even though it doesn’t look like sam’s looking back at him?) and then begins walking away.

the differences in the unholy trinity’s prison garb!! i really don’t know much about what inmates are given to wear/how that differs across different prisons, but i guess here they were given the same overshirt and two kinds of undershirts? there’s seems to be a sleeveless undershirt (the one gustavo was wearing) and a longer-sleeved undershirt (the one that nate is wearing). if you look around in the scene at the other inmates you can see what they’re wearing varies – some have the overshirt buttoned up completely, some have it unbuttoned with an undershirt, some unbuttoned with no undershirt, some topless entirely, etc etc

the neckline is the telltale difference – the sleeveless shirt dips lower, below the collarbone, while the longer-sleeved one cuts right along the collarbone. references:

nate & rafe have the same necklines, so it seems like they’re both wearing the long-sleeved undershirt. (sorry the picture here doesn’t have the best lighting).

meanwhile sam appears to be wearing the sleeveless shirt underneath.

so now we have that established, there are the overshirts. it’s hot in panama ofc. much of the prison yard is exposed to sunlight. we see inmates that are openly shirtless and many have their overshirts unbuttoned/completely off. sam’s got the sleeveless shirt and he wears his overshirt unbuttoned, with sleeves rolled up past his elbows. nate’s wearing the longer sleeved undershirt and he’s also got the overshirt unbuttoned and rolled up to his elbows. but rafe? rafe’s wearing the longer sleeved undershirt and has the overshirt buttoned up. @rafe maybe this is why u can’t chill…….

in all seriousness though, i feel like these details reflect them really nicely. sam’s sleeves are bunched up with wrinkles suggesting that they’ve just been rolled up carelessly, while nate’s have been folded up with a little more care. nate’s also covered in dirt – which ofc is from the fight, but if you think about how much of the active work he does across this series, it’s apt that he’s covered in the most grime. sam’s looks well-worn too, but rafe’s looks the cleanest, unsurprisingly. rafe also has his sleeves pulled mostly down to the wrist, just slightly rolled up. he looks like he’s trying to cover himself up as much as possible, and while i did see other inmates wearing garb the same way he does, it’s very fitting considering his background and how different the world he comes from is

so they get inside and nate pulls out the cross. rafe reaches for it, and nate goes “hey” and holds it away from rafe a  ibit. “may i?” i’m surprised rafe doesn’t sound more sarcastic/impatient here. my guess is nate’s been open about his distrust and rafe knows the younger drake isn’t completely sold on him and for once chooses to placate.

i like how nate looks to sam before moving. sam nods and nate hands over the cross. i wish i could tell more clearly who rafe is looking at here

like even though their judgments of this guy differ, nate still trusts his brother

won’t stop nate from eyeing rafe skeptically though lmao

oh naughty dog why didn’t u give us more of these 3 interacting

“why would avery’s men go through the trouble of hiding a cheap crucifix?” rafe looks at nate first, then sam, then nate again. interesting thing considering rafe himself later on calls sam the “authority on avery”. though this could also be just because nate was the one who brought them the cross and rafe assumes he’s already got an explanation for it

nate explains it’s not a crucifix. sam begins to look away, distracted by something?? maybe bored by the conversation? i can’t quite tell, and i like how nate has to nudge him a few times to get him to pay attention

“if it’s not jesus then–?” rafe shoots quick glances at sam then nate, and nate’s like “read the inscription.” i love how most of this scene feels like nate patiently guiding a student

THEN ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS. at the prompting, rafe hesitates with “uh…” YOU CAN HEAR NATE SCOFF SLIGHTLY ND LOOK AROUND LIKE “IS THIS FOR REAL I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS” JUST BEFORE RAFE STARTS READING . i wish we got more of these two being petty at each other. i mean i guess that’s the whole game on rafe’s end but i still want more.

 sam puts rafe out of his misery & translates. i’m still not over rafe’s little “…look at you” like it’s so funny that he seems genuinely awed. again, he definitely looked up to the drakes one some level bye

i love nate’s face here. it sums him up for this entire chapter

rafe’s so smiley as he listens to the drakes come upon the scotland revelation. as sam begins to say “there is a cathedral of saint dismas…” rafe is looking intently at him and his brow furrows slightly, IN AWE. i feel ya rafe

rafe takes point as they leave. when the inmates show up he sinks back behind nathan, oh rafe

ofc can’t forget his face when the inmates begin closing in, like this is the reason i went back to rewatch in the first place

the ensuing fight: “jesus did you have to pick a fight with the most popular guy in this joint” “well i didn’t hear you volunteer” (volunteer to be the one to pick a fight, or volunteer to be the one nathan gets to pick a fight with?) “GUYS SAVE IT FOR LATER” oh sam i feel ya too. imagine forcing those to sit down to a civil dinner with each other jfc

okay i’m gonna stop here because i have to get off, but there’s so so so much more i WANT TO BURST. like tldr naughty dog really outdid themselves !!!!!