#which is funny because his childhood would have been anything BUT normal- he grew up with freaks for parents and somehow turned out okay

[amazingdeadfish]

Shadowpuppet Valentines

Attempted to complete as many prompts from this list (Idk who this came from I will try to find out soon but if anybody knows please tell me 🙏 through either comments or DMs) as I could these past few days:

Staring off strong with Day One (featuring shadowpuppet yuri), Cuddling:

Day Three: Love Letters

Day Seven: Childhood Friends

Day Twenty Four: Fan Children

(Bonus for this day, for all you BAV readers):

[mairon-goth-minion]

time for James (this follows my Regulus post (which follows my Barty post (which follows my Evan post)))

James Potter who grew up surrounded with love and affection

James Potter who’d never known anything but kindness

James Potter who’d thought that everyone was just as happy as him

James Potter who felt physically sick when he learned about what all of his friends had had to endure in their childhood

James Potter who was most touched by his best friend’s story

James Potter who, the day he meant his best friend’s younger brother, at his friend’s house to retrieve the last of the belongings as he ran away, felt like he’d just seen the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen

James Potter who ever since couldn’t keep his friend’s brother out of his head

James Potter who nearly fell off of his broom at ever Gryffindor-Slytherin game because oh Merlin, that Seeker was goddamn magnificent

James Potter who wished he could just hold the object of his affection and tell him just how much he loved him

James Potter who thought that he’d just end up hurting both of them if ever he confessed, as everything seemed to want them apart

James Potter who tried his best to fall for that smart, pretty, stoic and funny girl who everyone thinks he likes

James Potter who hated himself for loving one he can’t have instead of the one he had

James Potter who simultaneously died inside and felt so alive whenever his crush passed near him in the hallways, though calling it a crush was now quite an understatement

James Potter who would have died thousands of time just for his ‘unrequited’ love to kiss him

James Potter who, when he read about the Heir of the House of Black’s death in the Daily Prophet, on a normal morning, felt his heart shatter into pieces, sinking to the ground, and screaming, and screaming, and screaming, and screaming, and crying, and crying, and crying, and crying, until his voice was gone, until there were no tears left inside of him to cry, until he was hollow and empty

James Potter who, when Voldemort came for him and his wife and his child, yelled at them to run, while not moving an inch himself because dying meant that he’d see Regulus Black again

“Regulus. Reggie. I wish I could’ve called you that. Maybe we’ll find each other, after all of this. Maybe there’s another universe where I wasn’t me and you weren’t you, and where I could have asked you out without facing society’s repercussions. Maybe, if I’d been just a little braver, we could be living together, and I could wake up next to you every morning, hold you tight and tell you that I love you more than the Sun loves the Moon. I would give the world to you, my Reggie, my north star, guiding my way, now gone and leaving me alone and lost. I’ll find you, Reggie. I’ll find you, my star. And I’ll love you more than what you believe you deserve, because you deserve all the love in the world. I love you. I love you. See you, angel”

part 1

part 2

part 3

[capt-zjaybird]

Do you like the crunch of dead leaves?

Part 1/?

Childhood friends, Teen!Kick (au? what-if? hc?)

TW: none :)

a/n: deciding to post what I have as of now and continue the story in another post in the far foreseeable future. Here's a bite and we'll see how it goes. First fanfic btw!

Trees rustle with each blow that combs through them, their dry leaves flaking off the arms of branches, the twigs sway slightly with the balding.

You weren't quite sure why you were out at this hour, strolling down the cracked pavement of a dusty old road, watching as the fallen leaves puddle up at the roots of their trees. For all you cared, you could've been at home, in the comfort of your room, tapping away at your gaming console. You could've taken the time to beat that new timed level you've been struggling with.

But no, you were outside. You couldn't help but wrap your coat around yourself a little tighter. It wasn't exactly your size, a little bigger than what you'd normally wear. The coat's color was a faded marble blue, a thrift store steal, sure, but it keeps you warm, so it's a keeper.

You continue walking to the edge of town as the chilly autumn wind nipped at your skin, painting your face with a red flush from the cold.

The surrounding scenery is a mix of warm colors, which is kind of funny when the actual temperature is quite the opposite. Who thought it would be a good idea to make shedding trees red, orange, and yellow, for you to look at and feel warm, when in actuality you're freezing your fingers off.

Your shoes scrape against the black asphalt.

This road is old, wasn't used as often. There were already cracked on the sides, pebbles sprinkled wherever rain touched. It was too rocky for skating, sadly, but perfect for walks. This part of the neighborhood didn't have residents, so it was nearly silent, save for the occasional rustle of leaves, or an echo of a bird call in the distance.

Quiet, dark, and overgrown, sprawling with weeds that poked out of the cracks, vines tried to cross the road, undisturbed by anything else. Sometimes, you wonder if the road would fall apart from how ancient and weathered it was.

You glance at your flip phone to check the time, its dim screen lighting up, contrasting to the darkness.

5:44 PM.

A soft sigh escaped your lips, puffing up in the air in a chilly cloud, before fading away. Since you had your phone out, you decided to read your messages again, double-checking your conversation with your friend, of sorts.

"cya east nbrhd at 6"

"y?"

"wna sho u sumn"

You were skeptical when you first received the text message, that boy was always up to something unusual, and he'd try to drag you in with him. This time though, it worked, since you actually came out tonight.

Sometimes, you wonder about your little friendship with the strangest nerd in middle school.

When you first met him, you were actually paired for a topic report. He insisted on doing everything on the project himself, but you didn't leave him, even if it was just simply accompanying him as he worked on the report. You felt like you needed to be around him whenever you had to work on researching or taking notes, it'd be rather lame if you contributed nothing.

After a couple of days, you seemed to gravitate towards each other whenever you spotted each other in school, normally because you'd talk about the research project. Chatting about the reporting topic trickled into questions to fill the silence, and rippled into more personal conversations regarding each other.

It was a nice change, to have a face you recognize. He didn't say much at first, but after he tolerated you enough to let you stay, he grew more talkative in your presence.

During the first few days of when you started hanging out with him, you noticed how he always seemed to carry a little camcorder wherever he went. It was almost like a kid carrying around his favorite toy, taking it everywhere. Silly, yet endearing. You couldn't help but tease him about it, hence giving him a little nickname, Cam.

He reacts rather positively to the name, Cam. In fact, he responds more eagerly to the nickname. Those eyes would always light up like little fireflies when he hears that simple nickname escape your lips, unlike the small grumble and an aversion of his eyes he'd usually react with whenever his actual name was used.

Before you knew it, you started hanging out with Cam more often, despite his eccentricities. Eventually, you were friends with the quirky dork.

Second time check, 5:52 PM.

Eight more minutes, he should be here.

You lift your gaze, scanning the surrounding trees and shrubbery, searching for... Well, something, anything, really, like light, or some sort of movement.

Another breeze combed through you, raking a shiver through your body. You just hope that you find that idiot before anything else finds either of you.

The rustling of a bush to the right catches your gaze, and your head turns toward the direction of he disturbance, watching the tall grass settle before your eyes.

The fog-filtered sunlight that spewed in through the obscuring trees gave little illumination, but it wasn't enough for you to spot anything. What could it be? A bear? No, no, those things are far too big, you would've spotted it already by now. If it were wolves, there should be more than just one.

This wasn't good. It was progressively getting dark, and you're too far from the nearest house to call for help. Running back home without a light would be a damn tripping hazard.

What if there's a wild animal out here? It must've already sniffed out your scent. You knew there's a scarcity of food for beasts during the autumn, so what if it was hungry?

You're pretty sure you can't run very fast, damn the heavens for making you the last choice at groupings in Phys Ed.

The thumping within your chest grew more prominent as your gaze wanders, scanning any moving bush, any rustling of leaves.

Another sound, the bushes rattled, footsteps race towards your location.

Your eyes widen as you snap your head towards the trees, watching a swift figure leapt in front of you, arms outstretched, ready to snatch you up and pull you into the leaves, taking you away from ever going home and seeing the light of day again.

Silence bit at your face. You slowly open your eyes, when did you even close them?

Before you was a looming figure, keen eyes brimming with anticipation, watching your reaction closely, matching the intensity of the camera lens that recorded the moment.

Your eyebrows nearly rose to your hairline as you blinked, the imaginary puzzle pieces clicking together as you stared at the man.

Embarrassment and a trim of irritation flared up in your chest, as if your face wasn't red enough. Without a thought you had blurted out what you wished was a curse,

"Cam!"

That grin grew when you recognized who the boy was, and a teasing snicker escaped him as you shoved your hand against his shoulder.

"Should've seen your face," he teased, those amber eyes gleaming with mischief. He was not going to live this down.

God, you just wanted to cover your face up from how mortified you were. The jerk recorded you on that stupid camcorder, again!

A soft sigh, followed by a snicker escaped you as you look back up at him, shaking your head as he laughed at your embarrassment, his eyes lighting up as his lips curled at the corners in that shit-eating grin.

"Hey, stupid." You mutter with a half-hearted glare, which you knew wasn't filled with anger, and Cam was smart enough to tell from how a smile crept up on your face.

You reached out to cover up his camcorder's lens with the palm your hand, quickly adding, "Turn that thing off–"

"That's goin' into the collection," the camera stopping running, pausing its recording, the soft whirring within ceasing after the click.

In exasperation at his antics, you roll your eyes at his so-called collection, you knew it was just footage of you and Cam's "adventures".

And by adventures, he meant recording moments of him scaring you before or during exploration of abandoned places. Which, speaking of abandoned places, you turned towards him after overcoming your initial annoyance.

"What did you call me out here for anyway?" You question with a tilt of your head, and Cam allowed a softer smile intrude onto his face at your curiosity.

"Why did I call you t'come out here? Oh, you must be wondering. It's so cold out at this time of the year, a lil' foggy, and it's pretty late, but hear me ou–"

You interrupt his rambling, "just get to the damn point."

A flicker of amusement painted across the boy's face, you could see it with how his eyes squinted, the bastard.

"Alrigh', okay, calm down..." His hands fly up to be on level with his shoulders, palms facing towards you in a gesture of lax defense. He could tell you were getting impatient with his crap, but it was entertaining in his eyes.

You know he didn't just call you out here for nothing.

"There's this interestin' place I found." Cam explained, lowering his hands and turning on his heel, motioning with a wave of his hand to call you over.

"Walk with me."

Despite your annoyance, you obliged, moving your feet to follow him, deeper into the forest, following him through whatever shenanigan plan he's got.

Walking alongside him in the dimming road, you glance around, watching a stray red leaf drag itself across the asphalt, before you turn to Cam, expectant. He's got to explain what's going on.

A flash of his eyes giving you a side glance instilled the thought that he must've read your expectant look. Without prolonging the silence, he clears his throat.

"There's this new cool place I dug up." Cam begins, gaze shifting from the road, to you. "Y'know that one mall that closed down few weeks ago? Fool's Gold, it was called."

A furrow of thought crossed your brow as he explained, a slow turn made you look at Cam as you walked. You've heard of Fool's Gold, little local mall outside of town, beside the woods. You've never shopped there with your parents, though, they preferred the more popular and trusted Walmart.

"Yeah? What about it?" You question, the curiosity tugging your sleeve. The trees that surround the road sway to the wind.

Cam smiles, "It's closed, meanin' it's abandoned. Nobody goes there anymore." He points out, you can recognize that intent shimmer in his honeycomb eyes, he's set on his goal.

You feel your face deadpan for a second, both out of hearing the obvious brought to light, and the cold. "This going into the 'abandoned places' collection?"

You knew about his little stash of tapes and digitally saved memories. The actuality of his exploration videos are what he calls "documentation of unvisited locations", or something like that, though you know damn well he considers you his star in his videos. The reason as to why he always records moments of you is all "for the memories", he says.

You're not quite sure why he'd need so many recordings of you, but it makes him happy to have them. Perhaps in the future, when you're all old and graduated college, you'd have these stupid little videos of your teenhood, evidence of all the shenanigan's you've done, and maybe you'd find a sort of nostalgia.

Either way, you're headed out to the abandoned mini mall that Cam speaks of. Whatever you find there might surprise you, you might get lucky and score some free goodies, or if you're unfortunate, you'd get murdered in that isolated place, and nobody would even know if it weren't for the camera footage that your friend had.

You just hope nothing bad would happen tonight...

[beanghostprincess]

Hi!

I just read a very funny fic 'Much ado about nothing' by Fire_lily and Violet_20 on AO3 and I was wondering... how do you think Sanji (and by the other guys) would behave when the girls are on their periods?

Okay, yeah, it was really funny. I often think about this, honestly, ngl. And you know how much I tend to write because I'm a menace to society, so I'll try to keep it brief. Btw, assume all the guys here are cis men (which hurts, because I'd rather die than say Usopp, Luffy and Zoro have dicks. But okay. Let's say they do) and that Nami is the only one in her period (because I think Robin is trans and also she has been dealing with pain so much on her own that even if she had her period, the crew wouldn't even notice. Nami, Franky, Jinbe, and Brook would be the only ones knowing).

Chopper is the one explaining what a period is, by the way, because these idiots know the basics but not much and I think they could use some health classes? Like, seriously, it'd be nice.

Luffy: Doesn't understand what the fuck is a period (Makino explained it. His ass didn't listen). If Nami is bleeding, can't Chopper cure her? Oh, he can't? Is she sick? Is she going to die? No? She's fine, then? But she needs them to give her a break because even if she isn't sick, she's still not going through the best time. It's uncomfortable and she feels bad and sensitive. I think Luffy would have a lot of questions and he would ask shamelessly about them. And he would also try to be considerate and share his food with Nami and cause less trouble. I know he's chaotic but he's always really nice when a crewmate is in pain, and if Nami (his navigator. His Nami!!!) is feeling bad, he'll do whatever he can to help her. If she has cramps he'll probably stay beside her and sleep with her and cuddle. He's actually worried sick even if she tells him she's fine.

Zoro: He doesn't really give a fuck. Kuina explained what periods were to him and how unfair it was and he agreed. It is unfair. It is fucked up. They shouldn't go through that. He respects Nami a lot for being able to work and yell and live normally while she's bleeding and cramping (I mean, that's HIS normal state, but Nami isn't like him). So he just supports her from a distance and if she needs anything he'll just try to help and that's it. He's like?? He's normal about it. Just a thing the body does. Everyone thinks it's such a big deal, but it's not.

Usopp: He grew up with Kaya. I don't need to say anything else. He's always complaining about Nami being louder than usual or oversensitive and saying that she doesn't need to blame them for being in pain, but he only says it because they're best friends, lmao. "Girl, I know you're in pain but it's not my fault. Chill. Do you want a chocolate bar?" and he's pretty much the only one allowed to keep her company when she's stressed and too angry to deal with the others. Bestie privileges. He knows how to make her happy. The perks of having a childhood sweetheart and taking care of her when she was on her period (she was just emotional, though, not like Nami who is a ticking time bomb depending on the month). He always has pads, pills, and distractions ready for Nami. He's just there and normal about it and helping her out.

Sanji: Fucking dramatic. I can't stand him. I'm gonna throw bricks at him. I love him, but he's either the most respectful gentleman on earth or the weirdest guy ever about this. He's probably both at the same time. He's SO annoying, oh my god. He keeps wanting to do everything for Nami, and okay, the food, tea, and extra snacks are fine. But it's just too much. He's the one crying all the time like "WHY DID GOD CURSE OUR MELLORINES WITH SUCH PAIN?????????? OH NAMI-SWAN IF I COULD TAKE YOUR SUFFERING I WOULD!!!!!! YOU ARE SO BRAVE FOR THIS!!!!!" and Usopp is the one actually throwing stuff at him and kicking him out of the girl's room when he comes to bring some snacks and won't shut up. He's,, Overly helpful. He has good intentions, really, but Nami is just on her period. She can still move and do her own things, thank you very much. I think he learns to be more normal about it with time, though. And he's just this way with Nami, probably (I say this bc I'm writing a Sanuso fic with Trans Usopp on his period and I swear Sanji is normal about it).

Chopper: I mean. It's the doctor. He keeps an eye on Nami and takes care of her. He's gentle and always tries to bring her painkillers if it's too much. Reminds her to drink a lot of water and eat properly but never too much because she could get sick! He's the cutest, gentlest thing ever.

Franky: Another dramatic man. He's just like Sanji, except that instead of crying because Nami has to go through this, he keeps saying she's SUPEERRRRR COOL AND STRONG FOR DEALING WITH THIS. But it's only for a few seconds and then he's just acting like a dad. Which includes helping if needed but then asking the weirdest questions to see if Nami is alright.

Brook: He would be the sweetest thing ever. But also, we gotta admit that he's still a perv and would ask to see Nami's underwear anyway. But leaving that aside, yeah, he's sweet. He offers tea and gentle music while she works and tries to be a gentleman. He makes a few jokes here and there, Nami hits him, the usual stuff. But he's a sweet grandpa so he's just there being nice. But, y'know, Brook is always nice to be around. He just offers his help more and often asks Nami if she's feeling okay.

Jinbe: He doesn't quite understand what he's supposed to do, but he just doesn't get in Nami's way if she's mad, and if she's sensitive he'll try to make the crew shut up for a while. Gentle older man. He always tries to make peace around the place, but pretty much like Brook and he also tries not to overstep. He asks Zoro if he should be doing something, and Zoro just shrugs and says to let Nami do her own thing.

[gojohatemail]

I really am getting tired about the way people talk about Laios.

Talking with my co-workers/friends and they all call him a freak and weirdo. People on here call him that too and irks me just the same. But these people know me. I can't help but wonder if that's how they see me as well. A weirdo freak who's life is effected by a disability.

Autism is a disability. I know some people don't like hearing that but it's true. My autism effects every step of my life, literally every step as it effects even the way I walk. I don't get sarcasm or most jokes. I talk too fast and too loud. Lights and sounds and smells and textures can be hell for me while for others it's normal and fine. And don't even get me started on the whole social cues stuff.

I talk with someone at work who speaks mostly sarcastically and worry I talk what she says the wrong way a lot. I think she's always mad at me. My friends on Discord say things in a jokey manner rather often and I have to remind them that I think they're being serious unless otherwise stated, which I know gets annoying for them. I talk fast enough as it is (it's a Southern thing) but when I get even a little excited my words blur together and I have awful volume control, coupled as well with hearing issues so I get even louder. I have to make myself talk slower, which makes talker even harder than it already it as my brain and mouth don't sync up so I fumble over words. Someone brought in Valentine's treats for our big work lunch and the texture of it was so bad I fought back tears cause I couldn't just spit it out, even though people told me it was okay, cause that would be plain rude.

But I work with other autistic people. Surely they don't see them as a weird freak? But only I get the weird looks. Autism is only really accepted when it's cute and quirky and when people don't have to be reminded that it's a mental disability that makes living hard. Special interests are only cool when it's something cute, not anything like bugs or medicine or weapons...or monsters. Everyone thinks the person who pretended to be a wolf or a dragon should have been bullied harder when they were young cause maybe they wouldn't be "weird" today. Maybe if I wasn't a freak as a child I wouldn't be a freak today.

Laios is a fictional character. He can't be hurt by people calling him a weirdo freak online. But people who relate to him might be hurt by the things people say. Laios is excitable, talks fast, doesn't understand people's social cues, adores something everyone else around him see as strange and odd, grew up alone and seen as weird, was even physically hurt by people who didn't understand him, didn't want to understand him. Wanted to talk about this for a bit so I'm putting it here. I don't really find it funny that he gets hit and smacked around by his friends just cause they don't understand him. Be bullied because people don't understand your disability as a child/teen is hard enough, but being ragged on by your own friends? Physically too? Which loops me back around to the start of this whole thing.

I'm tired. I'm tired of hearing about this character I love and relate to and see myself in being mocked and called a crazy weird unhinged freak just for being autistic. People can say what they want, but I can't help but feel that's the way they actually see me, see others who are just like me. I already don't feel like I belong in life. Even my closest, bestest friend doesn't understand and I can tell she gets frustrated when I get a little "too autistic". I can't change who I am, despite my mother's efforts to erase my autism in my childhood and just ignoring it now in my adult years. I just wish people were a little nicer to people like me.

Happy autism acceptance month or whatever.

[desertdragon]

🌑 New moon - Who is your most mysterious character? Are they different from what people assume?

☀️ Sun - Who is your most cheerful and positive character? Why are they like that? c:

XIV Charas obviously | @pettyeti

Sun:

Lewena was designed on purpose to be the sunniest one of the main six for a few reasons. It was the first thought I had for her, a go lucky person who by appearances can pass for your typical cheery girl character who's in touch with nature and sees little fault in others. I saw this a lot from other people and media because that's how women are expected to be usually. It also shapes her first impression as the harmless white woman you'd expect to see after its been portrayed over and over other places. But I'm tricking you on purpose.

Then while she can be that thing, her subversive traits would be a pragmatic ruthless capacity on top of her raw power. The one that looks and acts the least like power means anything to her should have the most terrifying relationship to it (which snowballed into making her stronger than Vaste at her fullest potential), while still taming it through kindness. Also I thought a bimbo looking white girl for a token white in the group would be funny. Similar to Vaste in the sense his original concept was someone completely incompetent at it becoming WoL.

Plus there had to be someone in the group besides Gan who could best show Vaste to believe in herself through an upbeat example. Whereas the other three (Weyd, Syv, and Mercuo) can do that but, they center better on a serious air of support as opposed to whimsical.

Her backstory wasn't made with the goal of why she's cheerful when we meet her, but it did become part of it I guess. Everyone on the GoTs had to suffer because of fate to become sympathetic to Vaste, and Lewena's represents the wanting to find happiness as well as pretend to be happy after trauma in order to fit in. As well as in order to try moving past what happened. She also never really grew up in a sense, because there were fifteen years of increasing community alienation and realizing her parents didn't love her. Then two years of slavery. Then half a year in Ul'Dah's slums, before at last by chance Weyd rescues her.

She never got to have a normal childhood or process the entirety of what's happened to her, like the five others. Then of course at the start her and Weyd have strains on their mother daughter relationship that ironically can only get better because she developed her happy positive seeking facade. Over time she comes to fully believe it, and doesn't revert to childlike behavior when afraid anymore.

Her cheerfulness at times can become arrogance. It further makes gives her a disturbing feel when she keeps it in her body horror forms for each of her powers. Unlike Vaste who tries rejecting power and suppresses herself, Lewena has bonded with and accepted what she is, like her mother. The Primals aren't parasites the way Vaste views her Hydaelyn enhanced body, they're friends sharing a home in her flesh. As long as they pay that symbiotic relationship respect, Lewena has no reason to turn on them, and no reason to not also show them pep. This on top of wanting her aether reserves endears her to the Primals too; she's not the mortal agonizing over it they'd expected. Her positivity gives her that steel spine to accept them, and it earns their respect in a way.

The thing that isolated her as a child isn't to be cursed but celebrated. Which now that I think about it is close to Gan's perspective toward himself after how he was treated for his skin and heritage back home. Both being opposites to Vaste who fixated on being outcast for those things. Though in terms of powers I think this difference has a lot to do with Lewena coming by her power naturally instead of being forced.

She loves dance too, and the first thing I could think of for that was someone being happy. It makes her feel safe.

Full Moon:

Syv. Because he's the one I've least thought about. Lmao.

But I was thinking about this, he would be the most mysterious because his past haunts him. He's loud and friendly and loves being involved but if you're paying attention, he keeps people at an emotional distance. He can entertain and be an ear or a shoulder to cry on for others, but they're so busy seeing how he takes care of them to realize it's a one way street. He doesn't reveal his past much if ever, and if it comes out he can spin it to make everyone brush what he revealed off.

He's good at distracting you into thinking you know him long enough that unless you're perceptive, you'll think you do know everything there is. He appears simple, because while he does want to atone for his family and his personal sins, he's still hung up on the shame that past entails. He can acknowledge it but he struggles to confront it by admitting anything directly. So only a handful of a handful of people have any idea of the truth at first. Even fewer realize there's a truth they're missing to begin with.

The loud party animal and guy who always has it together really doesn't because he can't yet deal with vulnerability in himself.

[seasonal-writes]

If you want to, please elaborate on tango and impulse... their dynamic is so so good<3

-🍂

well i meaaan.. if you really wannaa heaaar.. cracks knuckles SO. essentially, if it wasn't obvious, Tango and Impulse have been attached at the hip for a LOOOONG time in this canon. Impulse's official "title" is like, Personal Guard to the Heir. His only assignment, unless stated otherwise, is to ensure Tango's safety and well-being—meaning they practically "grew up" together because he was constantly tailing him and keeping watch. so you can imagine they know each other veeery well, because Tango's had Impulse as a guard for like, ten or so years? they're genuine friends, of course! best friends, i'd even say, asss tango was actually lowkey a recluse/kinda sheltered? so he'd interact with whoever he had in the castle's vicinity in the Nether, and that happened to be Impulse. so this random, older kid's assigned as his guard and tango's like "it's free real estate" and YES they used to get into trouble together. Impulse has turned his head at maaany of Tango's shenanigans, and Tango never stood for Impulse being punished for anything by higher ups. And when they tried to find Tango someone else after too many convenient "I just wasn't paying attention"'s from Impulse, Tango had a melt. down. That was the first time Impulse ever saw Tango have a real moment of rage, and you can imagine that there were more than just a few scorched painting to deal with, and that Impulse was immediately re-instated as his personal guard. i was actually JUST talking to a friend of mine about how it's canon that Impulse is a few years older than Tango, and he was given this position while training to be an official knight. so i always look SO FONDLY on the image of a tall and quiet, awkward young Impulse with a training sword next to an equally-as-awkward teenage Tango at like, parties and events 'n things. we were making jokes that Tango turns to him like "You gotta start talkin' to some people, buddy. You look too scary." and Impulse is just like "I don't get paid enough to talk to people." It's so funny to me, and that definitely says a TON about their dynamic. Impulse is definitely still quiet, but they're very chatty in private moments—which I tried to capture in chapter six. Impulse is literally a shadow when he's around more than just his prince, and i love the aesthetic of that claim with his blackstone armor and wallflower tendencies. But if there is even a slight change in Tango's tone to indicate discomfort, he's hovering right behind him with a glint in his eye and his weapon drawn. He's also bulkier and a little taller than Tango, too. So he's intimidating as hell.<33 ANYWAY. they're very close. and while Tango might not see it all the time, Impulse is insanely devoted to him. Like, Impulse would die before he let Tango get hurt, he'd break any rule and go to jail before even a hair on his head was disturbed. It's your usual Knight and Prince dynamic, but instead they're long-time best friends and the selflessness is cranked up to an 11. I also have this idea that Impulse doesn't know what he'll do without Tango to watch over. Sure, position change. Sure, there will be changes. But his purpose has been one thing for so long, and i'm sure the idea of Tango running away would be wildly devastating to him. so uh. do with this information what you will. i love them so much and i'd fully recommend sitting and thinking about all the scenarios of two goofy childhood buddies being put into things beyond their age, but still having each other at the end of the day. Or defending each other. Or just being soft pals. i'm so normal about them, can't you tell?

i'm also SO sorry for how long this is, holy cow. i just get very excited about all the characters and these two are a special case to me.

[bestofbucky]

Imagine the reader tells Bucky she’s in love with him, and dumbass Bucky thinking he’s protecting her from himself tells her that he doesn’t love her back, and they try to still be friends, but a few months later, he sees reader getting REAL close with Loki, and Bucky does NOT like that AT ALL 😭

ROOFTOP.

Pairings: Bucky x Reader, platonic!Loki x Reader

Word Count: 2.1k

Warnings: Angst, swearing, happy ending.

A/N: Thank you for this request :) Hope you like it!

Divider by me.

Looking out at the skyline of New York City you sighed. This was your favourite thing about living at the tower. You found yourself coming up to the roof a lot. When you wanted to get away from the constant movement and excitement of your life, you would find a moment of stillness here, you especially loved it at sunset and sunrise.

The rest of the Avengers all knew this was your special place, they wouldn’t bother you when you’re up here because they know how much it helps you. This time is different though. You had asked Bucky to meet you up here at sunset, hoping the environment around you would soothe your nerves. It seemed to be working, but then again Bucky hadn’t arrived yet.

It was as if he heard you thinking about him because not two seconds later, the metal door was opening and he stepped out.

He was wearing grey sweatpants and a white shirt that his muscles were threatening to rip apart. The warm glow off the sun on his skin, making him look ethereal, like a god sent down from the heavens above.

He searched around for you, his eyes finally meeting with yours. His smile grew wider and his eyebrows raised as he made his way over to you. Finally getting to you he pulls you into a hug. You happily accept, breathing in his scent hoping it will calm you like it normally does but it has the opposite effect.

Your mind goes into overdrive and you suddenly regret asking him up here. What if he doesn’t feel the same? What if you misread all the loving touches and subtle glances? What if you confess your feelings and you end up losing him forever?

“Doll?” Bucky's voice draws you out of your head. “Everything ok? You seem tense.”

You look up at him, he has a concerned look on his face. Taking a deep breath you nod.

“I’m fine Bucky, just a little nervous.” You explain but it only seems to confuse him more.

“Nervous for what?” He asks and you suddenly find great interest in the floor. Memories of time you have spent with Bucky come flooding into your mind. Movie nights where you two always sit together, whether there is room for you both or not. Mornings when Bucky will have your favourite breakfast prepared for when you wake up. Sparring together but ending up rolling around the mats in a tickle fight instead of a fist fight. You push it all aside and take a deep breath.

“I asked you up here for a reason.” You tell him. His eyes catch the sunlight and you are mesmerised. You remember the first time you noticed his eye colour. You’d had a nightmare and went to Bucky’s room hoping he could help you. He held you, telling you stories from his childhood, the rhythm of his voice soothing you off to sleep. You had woken up in his arms, feeling safer than ever before. The sunlight streamed in through the windows and when Bucky had opened his eyes, they were striking, you had wondered how you’d never noticed the colour before. It was in that moment you realised you had fallen for Bucky.

Two months later brought you here, in front of Bucky, on the roof, finally having the courage to confess your feelings.

“I asked you up here, to tell you that I love you.” You hold your breath waiting for his response but nothing comes. He stands there, completely silent. You can’t read the expression on his face but it looks close to one of fear.

“Please say something.” Your voice comes out barely above a whisper but you know he heard you. Finally he breaks the silence.

“I’m sorry doll,” he is looking everywhere except you. “I just don’t feel the same.”

Ouch. Like a punch to the gut suddenly all your worst fears seem to have come true. You try hard to stop the tears from forming in your eyes but it’s useless. Bucky still won’t look at you and it’s driving you mad.

“Look at me Bucky.” You try but it is like talking to a wall, he has closed off and there is no getting through to him. You can’t believe it. You don’t believe it. So you try one last time.

“Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me.” Your voice is weak from focusing your energy on trying to not cry. This is your attempt at a last resort, hoping he is just scared, that you didn’t misread the situation and he does love you back.

He sighs and looks at you finally. “I don’t love you, not like that. We are friends doll, nothing more.” His once calm blue eyes were now icy and uninviting. You feel like such an idiot for thinking your feelings would be reciprocated. Why would anyone as good as Bucky love someone like you.

You nod finally able to speak, “I think you should go.”

3 Months Later

You haven’t been up to the rooftop since that evening. Every time you tried you felt the same pain in your chest you had felt that day, when he told you he didn’t love you. That day changed you, your walls went up and no one was allowed close enough to try and knock them down.

Bucky tried to stay friends, he would still save you a space for movie night, he would still make your breakfast for you. So you stopped going to movie night, and started getting up earlier than him. It was too painful to have him at such a close distance but still out of reach.

Then, a month ago, Loki came to stay at the tower. You had met him a few times before but they were just passing moments. This time you had bumped into him on one of your ‘I can’t sleep’ walks. He thought it would be funny to get inside your mind. Although he quickly realised it was the opposite. Still, he took it upon himself to cheer you up and help you move on from Bucky.

Apart from when he got inside your head without your permission, you liked spending time with Loki. He is funny and charming and most of the time he helps you get your mind off a certain super soldier.

It’s movie night tonight. Loki told you he was going to save you a seat. Which is why you are currently standing by your door, wondering whether you should go or not. You really miss spending time with everyone, you just don’t know if you are ready to be in close proximity to Bucky.

Fuck it. You would have Loki as your support blanket, you know he would be there for you if anything happened. You took a deep breath and with shaky hands opened the door, making your way to the movie room.

Bucky always made sure he was the first in the movie room on movie night. He held out hope that one day you would decide to join everyone again and when that day came the spot next to him would be saved just for you.

So when he saw you walk through the door and scan the room for a seat he got so excited, this would be the start of your friendship again. This would be the thing to bring you back together and heal the wounds of your broken relationship.

But then your eyes landed on someone that wasn’t him, they brightened the way they used to for him. You made your way over and sat down next to Loki. He immediately wrapped his arm around you pulling you into his side, just like Bucky used to do.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the two of you, he hated how easily Loki could make you laugh, how comfortable you were around him. He hated that Loki was allowed to be near you but he had practically been banished, forced to watch from a distance.

He couldn’t take it any longer, he stood up and stormed out the room, ignoring the calls of his name. Everything Bucky had hoped would happen when he lied and told you he didn’t love you has happened. You are safe, protected from him, happy without him, but it was killing him.

Somehow he found himself on the rooftop. He had been doing that a lot lately, it reminded him of you. The angelic beauty of the New York Skyline. The serenity that allowed his mind moments of calm. It allowed him to get lost in thoughts and visions of you. The only place he could spend time with you was in his head and the rooftop allowed those visions to come easier.

The sound of metal creaking causes his head to shoot towards the now open door where you step out onto the roof. You look around for him, finding him standing by the wall already looking at you.

You walk over and stand next to him, eyes looking ahead at the city that never sleeps. Bucky has to fight the urge to pull you closer, removing the gap between you but it’s too big, too much has happened. Even though you are physically close to him, mentally you are further away than ever.

“I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.” You speak, it’s a sound Bucky knew was a luxury to hear.

“I’m fine doll. Go back and enjoy the movie.” His voice is emotionless but you have missed it nonetheless.

“Why do you do that? Why do you call me doll if we are only friends?” You suddenly feel yourself getting angry, you didn’t misread the situation between you and Bucky, he was the one that led you on.

“Are we even friends?” Bucky laughs but it is still void of any emotion.

“Answer the question.” You growl, showing how serious you are.

“It’s just a nickname.” He brushes off but you still aren’t happy with his answer.

“You don’t call anyone else doll. In fact, you don’t have nicknames like that for anyone. Just me.” You turn to face him but he is still looking ahead.

“I don’t know what you want me to say.” He huffs.

“I want you to tell me the truth.” You are shouting now, you can't help it, you are just so frustrated with him. “I want you to tell me why you call me doll and no one else!” He doesn’t speak so you continue. “I want you to tell me why you stormed out just now!” Still no answer. “I want you to tell me why three months ago you looked me in the eye and lied to me!”

That gets his attention. He turns to you quickly, his eyes wide in shock, scanning your face. “I-I didn’t lie to you.” The same look crosses his face as it did three months ago. That look answers your questions without him even having to speak. He was scared, he probably wanted to protect you. You sigh and go to walk away but he grabs your wrist, turning you back around to face him.

“I didn’t lie to you.” He says again, this time with more conviction. You can’t believe he is still too much of a coward to tell the truth.

“Fuck you Bucky.” You know he is lying to you and you hate him for it. You pull your wrist from his grip and stride over to the door but before you can open it a hand on your shoulder is turning you around. Desperation is clear on Bucky’s face as he hurriedly places his hands on either side of your face and presses his lips to yours. It’s eager and it’s bruising but it’s over all too quickly.

He pulls away, his hands still cupping your face, afraid that if he lets go he will lose you.

“Kiss me again.” Your voice comes out in a hoarse whisper. “Please.”

He leans in slowly this time and gently kisses you. He pours everything he has into the kiss and you feel it, you feel his passion, you feel his hunger and most importantly you feel his love. Your lips move fluidly together as he guides you backwards to rest against the door. The cold metal on your skin makes you gasp and Bucky uses this as an opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth.

Pulling away breathless he rests his forehead on yours, neither one of you ready to open your eyes just yet. When you finally do pull away you are met by those gorgeous blue eyes that you fell in love with and you can’t stop the smile from forming on your lips.

“I love you doll.” He whispers before leaning in again, closing the gap between you and crumbling your walls completely.

Permanent Taglist: @vampirewithbedsidemanners @townwitchbitch @velvetcardiganbucky @courtneychicken @band--psycho @tuiccim

[omiscurls]

hi!! could i request a diluc x fem!reader angst where they were childhood friends, and when reader gets a fiancé, diluc tries to confess his feelings but reader rejects him, gets married and moves from mondstat, and every now and then diluc sends reader letters (apologizing, asking how readers day was, hoping they come back). thanks!

unrequited

plot: reader rejects the character

contains: diluc

warnings: angsty and like one curse word, that’s all

diluc was a cute kid.

as the heir to one of the most wealthy and powerful families in mondstadt, he was polite not only to his senior, but also incredibly nice to his friends, as well. different that most boys his age, he didn’t go around yelling dumb, inappropriate jokes, and didn’t take pride in making girls feel bad.

he was always sweet to those doing worse than him in class, be it theory or sparring, and acted like an absolute saint to his adopted brother.

naturally, how could one not adore a kid like that? how could the mondstadt girls not line up to see him each time, how could the boys not want to play with him? how could anyone resist, when he had that charm to him that seemed to draw people near almost against their free will?

finally, how could you not take pride in the fact that out of all those over-the-top girls who fought over each other to talk to him, out of all those boys that never failed to bug him in each little scrap of his free time, he chose to try and get close to you?

you didn’t understand it at first, but it seemed like he genuinely wanted to know you, his eyes looking as though they were studying your expression at all times, a warm smile welcoming you each time you passed him by.

his words were careful and his sentences always strained, as if he struggled to talk, but a sense of honesty and genuine sympathy always seeped through his words, confusing your little childish brain, but also forming a warm and fuzzy feeling inside your chest. 

over the years, not only did you finally answer to his advances, but also befriend the kid. his rare smiles were reserved for your eyes only, and his mind opened up before you each and every time you talked, no restrain and limitations between you two. 

he’d sit behind you in class, sometimes passing you notes with an answer to questions you didn’t know, or a funny note about the teacher, or just simply asking if you want to hang out after school. 

you’d go to windrise and sit under the tree, talking for hours about the most useless of things, about what you thought the clouds looked like, but also your futures, your dreams and hopes. 

he’d explain math to you before every exam in the dark rooms of dawn winery, hair pulled up and tea made for the both of you, looking at your struggling with unmistakable patience and affection, but what could you know? you were kids, barely even teenagers. why would you think anything of the way he said he’ll “always be there for you” after some simple math tutoring? how could you analyze his kind stare that you never saw him wear for other people? 

and so you didn’t. 

he’d sit with you on the counter of his kitchen, carefully caressing your back as you wet his shirt with tears, quietly telling you that “they didn’t deserve you anyway” after your first ever heartbreak. to hell with the fact that his own heart was breaking a millimetre more with every word he spoke, if what he said calmed you in any way, he’d talk all night, going on and on about how you deserve the world, and nothing less. 

you held his hand at his fathers memorial service, letting him tighten his grip on your fingers harder every time, you wiped away the tears, you listen to his sobs and pleas when the two of you were alone. you offered solace to him over the next painful months, you justified every word he hurt kaeya with, only to make him feel better about himself. 

to him, you were like an angel sent from above. you restored the faith he had lost in the world, you stuck by his side and lighted up his days one after the other, how could he not adore you?

how could he not fall in love? 

and trust when i say, he did really try to avoid it. he tried pushing his thoughts away, he tried focusing on something else, tried avoiding you, tried everything. no matter what he did, his mind circled back to your smile, and unconsciously he smiled as well, even if the next second he’d look in the mirror and wipe it off his face as if it was a crime to smile. 

diluc was a cute kid, and he grew up to be a polite gentleman, whom you called a friend. and as any polite gentleman, he wouldn’t dare do anything to loose the honor you had given him, so he stayed silent. stayed silent since his in-class notes, through talks about the future, through your breakups, through all the times you had been there for him. in no universe would he ever mention how the weight was lifted off his shoulders every time you as much as looked his way, how all the clouds went away at the sound of your laugh, and how he was ready to do anything in the world to keep you happy. 

somewhere in his mind, perhaps he thought you had somehow known all along, and would reward his efforts to not complicate your life with his emotions with loving him back, but how could you know? how, if he kept it a secret that well? 

in the end, his own plan backfired on him, and he realized he had lost when you ran through his door, tears in your eyes, but a smile on your face, showing off a ring, shining in sunlight, resting on your finger.

if he ever thought “they didn’t deserve you” hurt him, “i’m so happy for you!” stabbed his soul a thousand times more painfully. 

to normal people of mondstadt, there was no change in behavior from the gloomy and serious owner of angel’s share, but a few noticed how heavy his presence was, how desperately he blinked back the sheen layer of tears, glistening in the candle light while he was serving drinks, and you were off somewhere in the back, laughing with your lover by your side. 

he had lost his chance, and now there was no way in which he could get you back. no way at all. all his life, he had built up a hope inside that one of these days, he’ll get a happy ever after, and lived with that thought through all the bad moments that came along the way, and now these years of carefully building this scenario came crushing down with the realization. 

in a desperate search of any relief, he came to the conclusion that the only thing to be even remotely at peace with himself was to... simply just tell you. 

so there he was, right outside your door, the watch on his wrist striking ten in the evening, stars shining brightly on your doorstep, as you appeared before him, merely a nightgown shielding you from the cold air of the night, a soft smile adoring your lips from the moment you realized it was him. 

“diluc? what’re you doing here this late?” you said, grabbing a coat from behind the door and closing it behind you. a foolish hope sprung inside him when you joined him outside, as he stared at you with a little grin, working up the courage to speak up. 

“there’s something i wish to tell you about” he merely whispered, gesturing you to come with him.

the walk to windrise was longer than the ones you remembered from your childhood days, and the sharp air nibbled on your skin mercilessly, to the point your legs hurt a bit when you reached the tree.

diluc turned your way and spoke for the first time in what felt like forever, but was thirty minutes.

“i hoped not to burden you with the secret i’ll share with you now, and i’m sorry for whatever bad outcome it might cause, but… truth is, i can’t keep it to myself anymore, and if i want to have some peace for myself, i have to trouble you with it.” he said quietly, settling worry in your gut.

“you can tell me anything” you assured calmly “your secrets are always safe with me”

he took one last look into your caring eyes, feeling a little better just having you smile at him, and took a breath before spilling.

“i might’ve been in love with you for the last ten years” he said calmly “and i know this is hardly the time, i really do, but i just-“

“what?”

you looked at him in surprise, blood audibly pumping through your veins as you tried to comprehend what he just said.

“i do understand that you’re engaged, but-“

“do you? do you, really?” you said bitterly, making his heart sink in regret. “because to me it seems like i waited for you all those years, i hoped, and i prayed, and i wished, and after i finally, finally gave up, you decide to mess with my emotions right when i thought i had them figured out?”

diluc was stunned. so you felt the same way about him, once? he could’ve had all he hoped for? he didn’t even comprehend the rest of your sentence fully, focusing on how you just admitted to having feelings for him somewhen in the past.

“no, i’m not trying to mess with you, I’m-“

“but you are! honestly, diluc, i knew you were somewhat insensitive, but this is blatantly cruel! what- i don’t- why didn’t you say this to me earlier?”

“i wish i did, but to me it seemed like you were always chasing someone else, and i didn’t want to-“

“bother me? is that it? you didn’t want to bother me so now you decided to try and mess with my relationship? god, i- i need to be alone right now. sorry.”

and with that you were out of your usual childhood spot, leaving him alone under the tree that shared both of your secrets and plans for so long.

a longing stare pierced through your back as you ran back to mondstadt, not going home right away, but trying to find a spot where nobody would find you.

“fuck” he muttered. he was familiar with the feeling of loss, but the fact that it was nobody’s fault but his own made it a hundred times worse.

diluc was a cute child, and grew up to be a polite gentleman. so he was there to apologize to you on countless occasions, ready to beg forgiveness for his recklessness and lack of thought, but you were never there to hear his pleas.

and so it went on, a huge wedding covered the streets of mondstadt in white while he stood in the sidelines, his friends said goodbye to you as he watched from a safe distance. you left, and so did every remaining proof of his embarrassment.

nevertheless, he sent countless letters, no address on the envelope, save for the name of the city, hoping that one of them would eventually reach you. sorrow and tears almost spilled from the words written in a tidy cursive, but he never had any certainty about wether they reached you or not.

and while he hoped you forgave him,

he knew you didn’t.

[heavenunderthemoon]

Olly, Olly, Oxen Free {Hotch x daughter!reader}

Warnings: PLEASE, be advised of the SEVERE mentions of gun violence, murder, death, etc. This is a heavy piece, so please, please, please, do not put yourself at risk to read this, if you would like to know the plot without reading let me know and I will accommodate as best as I can!

This is set in “100″, so, daughter!reader is currently trapped with foyet in her childhood home. Alright, enjoy. 

"Y/N."

You sprung from your place on the floor, watching your brother retreat past the living room, his feet happily climbing the old route he used to take in the childhood home he was raised in. You  doubted he forgot it so soon, even with his young age. This was the house they had made home. Over the last year, you would've done anything to be back in this house, surrounded by the memories of your past life. The life in which you weren't forced into the witness protection program, abandoning all of your friends due to a serial killer hellbent on destroying your father's life.

Your hand reached out, gently grabbing the cellphone extending from the hands of your mother's.

"Dad."

You forced herself to sound calm, composed. Sitting only ten feet from you was a man who had previously shoved a blade into your father's abdomen just to prove a point. You figured seeming weak wasn't particularly a good idea.

There was the hum of an engine, one that you knew well. When you was younger- much younger- you used to wait up for you father to come home from cases. Most nights you fell asleep before he came back, but on the rare occasion you actually made it past midnight, you could hear that very same hum of his government issued SUV pulling into the driveway, subsequently causing you to dart out of  bed to jump into his waiting arms. It never mattered to you that you would receive a scolding from your mother for not going to bed at a proper time, not when you would see the smile that grew on her father's face when you accomplished your goal.

That smile, so rare and so blinding, hardly even captured in pictures. Your father was a tired man, a hardworking man, a dedicated father, but all of his good qualities had hardened into stone from the heat of his job and sometimes you feared that eventually, even you might not be able to crack that tough exterior. It seemed silly, sure, but your mother used to be able to find the chinks in his armor, used to make him laugh and smile and love and then one day she couldn't and who was to say that it wouldn't happen to you too?

"Y/N/N, I love you, you know that?" He used the nickname Jack had accidentally given you. When he was just learning to talk, the boy was unable to fully pronounce your name and you had been stuck with it ever since. You used to hate it- or, at least pretend to, but you could never yell at Jack. The boy was too good at absolutely melting you.

Your father's voice, which was typically strong and gruff, came out a bit cracked. It filled you with a sinking feeling. If your father wasn't composed then how the hell were you supposed to be?

The man who hoisted you on his shoulders every Fourth of July to see the fireworks better, or grabbed every spider that made you scream for your life. The man who taught you how to swing a baseball bat and then immediately yelled because you whacked him right in the knee. A fearless, strong, admittedly taciturn man that was making abundantly clear the ambiguity of your future.

You swallowed down that fear, you couldn't afford to be afraid right now. Y/E/C  eyes looked up to your mother. She was still beside you, looking at her daughter as if trying to engrain every single facet of your face in her mind, burning the image of her daughter into her memory.

"I know, I love you too." You didn't know how you managed to keep your voice so even but to anyone listening it sounded like a normal conversation. She could almost imagine they were sitting at a dinner table (something they hadn't done in a year because of the Witness Protection Program).

Pass the salt. She would've said.

"I need you to listen to me carefully, Bug." If you hadn't been so worried that you might die soon you might've found yourself scolding the man not to use that nickname anymore. After your friends had slept over in seventh grade and heard your father use it you were teased relentlessly, but now you didn't mind it. You didn't mind your father using a nickname you hated. You didn't mind a lot of things now that you were facing death, serial killer breathing the same air as you and your mother, standing in your living room, staring at you with cold, calculating eyes.  

It's funny how little things matter when death enters the picture.

"Remember when I taught you to drive?"

Your eyebrows furrowed, and you glanced to your mother, trying to keep your face void of emotion.

You hadn't learned to drive. You had begged your father, of course, but he had said no. You remembered the fight that had ensued, his words loud just to overpower your teenaged protests. "There's no use learning to drive when your mother's here, sometimes me, and the metro, it's useless. It would do you better to learn something more useful, like shooting a gun."

Oh.

The sinking feeling returned in the pit of your stomach. Or maybe it just never left. Your eyes hardened with resolve over what you knew her father was asking you to do, and you nodded.

"Yeah."

A tiny breath of air left your parted lips, and even with the confusion laced on her mother's features and the amusement playing on Foyet's, your mind cleared a bit.

Frontside. Trigger press. Follow through.

"I'm a terrible driver." You murmured to her father. Your hand began to sweat at what he was asking of you. You recalled the shooting lessons. It had been a year or so ago, the man wanting you to be prepared for anything and then he had been shot and you hadn't seen him since. Even with the little practice, you hadn't been too bad, but this was nothing like the shooting range. This was pointing a gun at a killer and hoping to anything that was good and holy that you didn't miss. Even so, who said you could get to the gun before Foyet got to you?

"You're good enough."

Good enough. You wanted to scream.

Foyet rose from his spot on the floor, and Haley stiffened in her place.

"I think that's good enough, right, Y/N?" The way he moved, eyes trained onto you, alight with a kind of...mischief? Yes, mischief. Like an adolescent boy who just found his father's stash of fireworks. His body moved like a predator. Refined, sophisticated, and calculated.

And, as he moved closer, you could smell him. He didn't smell like you thought a killer would smell. Though, to be fair, you hadn't ever given much thought to the scent of a killer. Maybe you thought that someone capable of such dirty, heinous crimes would smell as such. Like the rotten core would seep through their pores and become a putrid scent recognizable to those surrounding him. Instead, he smelt clean. Like laundry detergent and freshly washed hair. The hand that didn't hold the gun reached up, taking a strand of your hair into his fingers and running it through them deftly.

"Don't touch me." You pushed him back on instinct and, not seeming to expect such force, the man was shoved back two steps. Rather than cocking the gun right then and there, Foyet looked at you with interest and then, he did something you didn't expect. He smiled.

A laugh fell through his lips. It bubbled and boiled and hit your ears like nails on a chalkboard.

"Wow, you've got a feisty one, Aaron. I think she gets that from you, the old ball and chain over here is a bit of a whiner." He chuckled to himself like he said the world's funniest joke, and you glared.

"Leave them alone." Your father may as well have been on mute because the killer paid no mind to his orders.

He breathed in a deep sigh, looking at you with those same bright, calculated eyes. Then, as if coming to a consensus, tilted his head. "How about this, how about you go hide, I'll give you a head start, and then I'll come find you."

You could feel her mother bristle from beside you, quiet whimpers coming from her mouth. The hum of the engine played in the background, and the wind chimes on the front porch sang a tune with the breeze. "No." You said firmly.

Foyet pouted, going to stand closer to the two. With each step he took closer to the two of you, it felt like a nail going into her coffin. You could see the twitch in his hands, as if itching to plunge a blade into your mother's flesh, yet, you couldn't just leave your mother. You couldn't leave her to die.

"Ah, come on. You're a teenager- a teenage girl, no less, aren't you guys supposed to be fun?" His tone was teasing and coupled with his non-imposing figure, he shouldn't have been able to chill you with his words but the way his eyes bored into yours they did.

You felt a hand on your elbow, a nudge and you glanced back to your mother. Haley was smaller than you, it had been that way for about a year or so now. You had hit a growth spurt once you entered high school, inheriting your father's height, and it caused you to be a couple inches taller than your mother. Her eyes were filled with tears that were streaming down her face without care. You had seen her mother cry more than most daughters should.

Haley liked to cry at night, after putting her children to bed. She didn't think about how often you stayed up, listening to the sobbing on the other side of the wall.

A hand cupped your face, and you leaned into the warmth. How many fights had you two gotten in over the past year? You had always been a daddy's girl. He was never home, and it left your mother to be the 'bad guy' in most situations. And then, you all had been forced to pack up your lives and vanish. That year had been filled with nights of yelling at each other. Fights about small things. Like, your music playing too loud, or drinking too much coffee. And big stuff too. Like, you confronting your mother about having an affair.

Your relationship had been rocky. But, she was still your mother. She still reminded you to wear a coat when it was cold out, or washed your sheets when you felt sick. She made your favorite meals when you were sad, and bought  nail polish that she thought you would like. She was your mother, and you didn't think you would ever be able to ignore that.

"Y/N, go." Her words were stern, and it reminded you of a scolding. But your mother's lips were tugging at the corners, and she was caressing your cheek so softly that you thought you would collapse right there. Your heart clenched at the sight of your mother.

Would this be the last time you saw her? The thought made you want to scream, cry, and punch something all at once.

For the first time that afternoon, you let your mask slip. Your eyes welled with tears, lip trembling. "Mom, no." it came out shaky, and you didn't have to turn around to see Foyet smiling at the way he could make an entire family fear for their lives in a mere couple of minutes. You could simply feel it.

Haley nodded, both her hands cupping your face now, scanning it over and over again. Your eyes, a fierceness to them that mimicked her own. A button nose that sat above rosy pink lips. On your chin, a small scar. You were an adventurous child. You hadn't been afraid to climb the monkey bars despite being far too small for them and when you had fallen off, you had busted the skin open. Haley remembered being panicked, seeing you covered in blood, rushing you to the hospital, to find that you were calmer than she was. That's how you always were. You were never scared. You were brave and fearless and kind and even if you played awful, punk alternative music that made Haley's ears want to bleed, you were such a sweet girl with a big heart. The mother stood on her tiptoes, kissing your forehead.

You let your eyes flutter shut for a moment, trying to burn the memory of her mother's lips on your forehead in your mind. And when you opened them again, you tried to burn the image of your mother as well. Even now, red eyed and sniffling, your mother was beautiful. Everyone always told you, you looked just like your mother. Haley used to have blonde hair. It had passed her shoulders and you used to beg her to play hair salon because of it. She had cut it after the divorce and you had a suspicion that it was because she craved change. Her cheekbones were high and sharp, just like yours. It made her skin pull taut when she smiled. Her nose was soft and dainty- something you had always been jealous of.

What if you never saw your mother smile again?

Haley was nodding, nodding and patting the girl's cheek and it took you a moment to realize she was speaking once more. "Go, baby. I'll be okay."

No, you won't. You wanted to say. You wanted to let your body fall into your mother's arms and have the woman hold you like she did when you were a child. You wanted to feel your mother's hands run through your hair and hear the woman sing you to sleep. You didn't care how childish it seemed, you just wanted your mother.

Your shoulders shook and you fought to keep your emotions from consuming you.

"I- I love you." It was a desperate attempt at closure but it did nothing to make you feel better. It only made your mother smile.

"I love you too." Haley gave one final pat before a light shove and you felt numb. You couldn't feel yourself hand the phone to your mother, nor could you feel your feet move in the desired direction. Everything in you felt like it was simultaneously being doused in cold water and burned in hot flames. Your mind kept screaming at you to go back. Turn around, grab your mother and hope for the best but you could hear Foyet talking with your mother now and she knew that your father had told you what to do next.

It was weird.

All the nights you had spent in that stupid witness protection program, closing your eyes imagining you were back in your childhood home. You would pretend you were back in your room, waiting for your father to come home. You would pretend your mother was putting Jack to sleep and you would pretend that everything was normal. Now you were back and everything was wrong.

Focus.

After teaching you how to properly use a gun, Aaron had told you where one could be found in cases of dire emergencies. Your feet stepped lightly, moving as swiftly as you could. The laces on your converse slapped against the sides of the shoes and you silently pulled open your father's nightstand. It hadn't been touched since you all had moved out.  It was normal upon first glance. A couple of papers, reading glasses, sleeping pills. You knew better.

You pulled at the string on the bottom, the false top giving in immediately and revealing the silver .38. You grabbed for it, cocking it as quietly as you could. The weapon was heavy, yet, familiar in your hand. You thought that in a time like this you would be more shaky, but all you could focus on was your mother's quiet sobs from the living room a whole story down.

The sound gave you hope. If she could cry, then she was alive. You pushed on with that thought in mind, rounding the corner. Just before you could head back downstairs and possibly take down Foyet, you heard it.

Gunshots.

Your mother cried out the first time, but it was completely silent after the second two. Just the light thud of a body hitting the floor.

You bit down on your cheek to keep herself from screaming. The taste of blood followed soon after. Your hand rose to your mouth, attempting to muffle the cries that attempted to escape.

"Y/N!" A sing song-y voice called out. There was a thumping sound on the stairs and after a sickening moment, you realized it was the sound of your mother's body hitting the wood. He was dragging her up the stairs, wanting to display her just how he liked. Your eyes burned and you let the tears fall down your cheeks without care. They dripped off your chin, falling onto your shirt. It was a band t-shirt. Your mother hated it, said that the swords were too violent, but she allowed you to wear it anyways.

You darted into the closest door- Jack's old room- eye's scanning your surroundings for a plan. Whatever Foyet was doing, you knew you didn't have much time until he was coming after you.

"I just wanna play, Y/N. Come out, come out wherever you are." He sang out. He must've taken your mother- your mother's body, you corrected yourself bitterly- to your parents bedroom. With a chilling realization, you remembered you had been there only moments before. He was close to you.

Your eyes landed on the closet, overflowing with toys, even months after not being in use. Jack tended to get whatever he asked for- not that he was spoiled, he was just hard to say no to. It wasn't difficult to squeeze into it, leaving the door open a crack. The gun sat in your hands ready and waiting.

You steadied the sound of your breathing.

How was you going to tell Jack about mom? Well that was a bit optimistic, now, wasn't it? Presumptuous of you to think you would live through the next five minutes to be able to tell your little brother that our mother was dead, You thought bitterly.

"I think I'll lay your body right next to your Mom. You'd like that, wouldn't you? So you can be together?" He was in the hallway, and even with the barrier of Jack's door and the closet door, the sound of his voice made you shiver. It was smooth, charming, even. If you hadn't known he was a complete psychopath you wouldn't have given the man much thought. You wouldn't have thought him capable of doing the heinous acts he had done.

There was a creak, the door opening to the room and your arms rose slightly. Your eyes were peaking through the crack, your heart racing. You could see the man moving into the room, searching for his next prey- and that's what he thought you were. Prey. He thought you were an easy target. Everyone did.

Everyone thought you were just some stupid kid. Some people said it outright and others just assumed. You could tell when you first met your father's team, some of them had stereotyped you as well. They had asked her about school and about boys and gossip, because they assumed that was all you were capable of speaking about and then you had surprised them by mentioning books and Neo-noir films. You were accustomed to being underestimated. And you were betting your life that George Foyet was doing the same.

As soon as you saw the man move into the middle of the room, you sprung. The door flew open and before you could hesitate, you pulled the trigger. Pure shock could've been the reason, you were able to get out of the room. Or perhaps you had managed to shoot him in the head and end your family's suffering once and for all. You weren't sure because you were moving purely on instinct. Your feet carried you through the house, jumping over toys and broken chairs and bloodstains that weren't there before.

"You bitch!"

Okay, so he was alive. He was chasing after you but you didn't look back. You jumped into the linen closet, out of breath but not allowing yourself to pant as you wanted to. You could hear the slight groans of the man as he made his way through the house, though it was farther, as if he was walking in the wrong direction. You had slowed him down, that's for sure. The gun in your hand felt warm, like a pat on the back, but the thought of your mother's dead body lying somewhere in the house sat in the back of your mind.

Where was Jack? You thought briefly. You had to trust that he was safe. Trust and pray that whatever their dad had said to him had made sense. You hoped he couldn't hear anything that was going on. That he didn't hear the sound of your mother being murdered and you shooting the killer.

You  felt the towel shelf press into your back, but you didn't dare move anymore. You were sure Foyet hadn't died now. If anything, you might've made him more angry.

It smelled like fresh laundry in the small space and it reminded you of Sunday nights. Your father was usually home, cases typically being taken during the week and coming home Saturday nights. That's why you liked Sundays so much. You liked waking up to the smell of pancakes while your father played a Beatles album. He would sing into a spatula and twirl your mother around the kitchen. And Haley would laugh and tell him to stop, but she never actually meant it. And, when he noticed you coming down the stairs, he would take you in his arms- no matter how big and tall you had gotten, he never stopped doing it. He would spin you around as well and when you was little you would dance on his feet, but when you were older, your bare feet would touch the cold hardwood floor.

Your mother would do crossword and pretend not to notice that your father was giving not-so-subtle hints every so often. Your father would have you catch him up on what you had been up to that week, and you would have to help Jack read through the comics because he didn't really understand the jokes. Sundays were your favorite days because instead of being a separate family like they were every other day, they were all together and it felt normal.

You closed her eyes, trying to imagine it was Sunday.

A large clatter rang out, effectively snapping you from your thoughts. You could hear footsteps, fighting, yelling. It was hard to tell how long you waited in the closet, gun pressed to your chest. You could hear someone outside the door, light footsteps against hardwood.

The light on the bottom was obscured from a large shadow and you tried to prepare yourself. What would death feel like? Maybe you was selfish, or maybe you were a coward, but you didn't want to know. You wanted to stomp your foot and say that it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that your mother was dead. It wasn't fair that you were about to die. The door was ripped open and you extended your arms, about to shoot blindly, when you saw who was before you.

"Woah, hey, Y/N. Y/N, look at me."

You had stopped crying long ago, but your entire body was shaking. There was so much tension in your shoulders, it felt like somebody had tied you up entirely, slowly but surely squeezing the life out of you. You hadn't realized it before, much too focused in getting as far away from the serial killer in your house as possible, but when you had shot Foyet, some of his blood had splattered onto you. You could see it now that the light was on it. It sat on your hands, partially dried and partially wet. And you could feel some of it on your cheeks.

You wondered what you looked like.

Derek stared at you. Your eyes were wild, darting between the gun in your hands and the gun in Derek's. Your cheeks, flushed as they were, were painted lightly with splattered blood. The only evidence of previous tears were puffy eyes, but you hardly seemed weak right now. You seemed...feral.

"Y'N, it's me. You're safe. it's me, it's Derek. Put that gun down." It was strange. It was like you could see his lips moving, you could see that he was speaking but you couldn't hear the words. All you could hear was the sound of your mother's body hitting the stairs one at a time.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

"He's dead. Y/N, he's dead." The sound came back all at once. Everything came back all at once.

You could see people behind Derek. There were cops and medical examiners, flooding in and out of your childhood home. They all seemed to be moving toward the same place, all in the direction where you had fled. They were heading toward the body, you realized. The body of your dead mother. There was the faint sound of sirens, and there was chatter. You wanted to yell at them, scream for them to be quiet. And then you saw someone else.

Your father was coming toward you. He was covered in blood. Who's blood was that? Was that your mother's? Was that Foyet's? Movement caught your eye.

JJ was holding someone in her arms, he looked confused, pointing at his sister, eyes alarmed at the weapon in her hands and the Jaraeu woman seemed to be trying to turn him away. He was asking for you.

'Y/N/N?' He said.

Your shoulders dropped, the weapon falling into the Morgan man's waiting hands. You stepped forward. Despite your sudden awareness, everything felt like it was in slow motion. The world was moving with resistance, and you opened her arms, almost crumpling in relief when Jack squirmed away from the blonde agent and ran into your waiting arms. You scooped him into your arms, sitting him on your hip.

"Y/N!" Despite all the chaos around you two, you let yourself focus on your brother. He seemed fine. Confused, surely. He had looped his arms around your neck but his eyes squinted at the blood on your cheeks that hadn't been there before. His little eyebrows furrowed, and he reached one hand to poke your cheek. "Are you okay, Y/N?"

Jack loved you. Before you two were put into witness protection program, he didn't see you all too much. You were so busy with school and hanging out with your friends, that you hadn't even been home very often. Then, you didn't have much of a choice.

You  liked showing Jack your music- the clean versions, of course. He would scrunch his nose at certain metal heavy bands, but you assumed he liked most of them just because you did. He liked to play cards with you, and have your draw him funny sketches. And when he would have bad dreams, you never hesitated to let him sleep with you.

You felt multiple sets of eyes on you, your father pulling you into a hug. They all pretended not to notice you flinch. You kept your eyes on Jack.

"I'm fine." You took a hand, running it through the boy's ruffled hair from hiding god knows where. He giggled at the action, and you let your hand rest on his cheek for a moment. Your mother was dead somewhere in this house, her body laid across the floor, slaughtered. You swallowed down the rising bile in your throat.

"Let's get you checked out, yeah?"

[iamdeku]

Needy: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Me? Making a fic title that isn’t based off a song somehow? Seems unlikely. 

Warnings: school stress. makin’ out. not proofread.

For @sems-diarie

You hated your classmate Bakugou Katsuki with a passion. He was arrogant, brash, and extremely loud. He was rude to you and he was rude to everybody else and he was completely convinced he was the greatest thing to ever exist. There was really only one thing you hated more than Bakugou.

Being teamed up with him for your class’s newest group project.

You had pleaded and begged with Aizawa to let you pair up with literally anyone else, but he was unyielding. All of his pairings were final, and you and Bakugou were no exception. You were just going to have to learn how to work with him, your grades be damned, apparently.

“Alright, listen up,” you said, taking your seat next to Bakugou the day after your group pairings had been announced. “You are not going to mess up my grades. If anyone is going to mess up my grades it’s going to be me. I don’t think you’re an idiot. I know you’re an idiot. So just sit down, shut up, and follow my lead.”

You were perhaps slightly harsher than necessary, even for a guy like Bakugou. In your defense though, you’d had a truly garbage day. Your coffee machine had broken, leaving you with no caffeine this morning. It was an expensive coffee machine too, and you weren’t sure when you would be able to buy a new one. You had spent half of your morning looking for the manual to the coffee machine in the hopes that Momo could just create another one for you, and by the time you realized what time it was you had no opportunity to do anything but toss your clothes on before heading to class. On your way to class, it had rained, soaking you through because you had forgotten your umbrella and provoking Mineta to make a comment on the clinginess of your wet uniform. You had gotten a worse grade than you were expecting on your last test, you had tripped and spilled all of your lunch across the floor, and now here you were, having to sit next to your assigned group partner, hair still damp and mood still very, very bad.

“Hey, I don’t know who you think you are extra, but I’m no idiot. If you think we’re not beating everybody else in this class, then you’re wrong. I don’t know what you’ve been told, but Bakugou Katsuki never loses.”

You had known the great Bakugou Katsuki for the last 3 years of yours and his UA career, and now, in your final year, you were pretty confident that you still knew him. You knew him as a guy who had definitely lost before in the past. There was no particular shame in that, but you couldn’t afford to lose this time, especially not on Katsuki’s account.

“You better be right about that, pretty boy, because this grade is important to me. If we get a bad grade on this assignment it’s going to throw off my entire average, which I really can’t afford right now. Speaking of which, we really don’t have the time for all this dilly-dallying. Let’s get to work, king explosion murder,” you mocked.

To your surprise, the ever confident Bakugou turned bright red at the old nickname.

“Whatever. Let’s just get to work. We’re going to have to trade contact information so we can figure out a time to meet up. Plus I don’t trust you not to screw this up without my advice.”

You rolled your eyes. The nerve of this boy. The sheer gall.

“Yeah, okay, whatever.” You reached into your soggy backpack and pulled out a pencil and a piece of paper, scribbling down your phone number.

“We should just be able to meet up in one of the dorm’s common areas. The trick will be finding a time when everyone else isn’t working there.”

You sighed, knowing your classmates wouldn’t make the scheduling of this easy. Even ignoring the fact that you might have to deal with their noise and obnoxious planning, Bakugou’s sleep schedule was another barrier to your project design. He went to bed early enough to severely limit your time for working on the group project. You honestly didn’t know when he found the time for homework. If you didn’t do yours immediately it probably wouldn’t get done until the very last minute.

“We can just study in our rooms. It will be quieter there.” Bakugou shrugged.

You froze at his casual words. Study in your rooms? As in study in his room? Nobody had ever been invited into Bakugou’s room. Not his best friend Kirishima. Not his childhood rival Midoriya. Not even that girl from the gen-ed course he’d dated when you were second years. Nobody.

“Uh…are you sure?”

“Yeah. Why?” He raised an eyebrow at you. “You’re making a weird face, idiot.”

You shook your head. “Nothing. I was just thinking. Yeah, we can just study in our rooms. Just text me before randomly showing up, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Aizawa was starting up class, causing you both to shut up. You felt a part of you get very excited that you might be about to see Bakugou’s room. There was something sort of forbidden to the feeling, fluttering around in your chest like a stupid flock of butterflies or something. You were sure it was just the appeal of his room, the secrecy of it all. You loved knowing other people’s secrets. That must have been what it was.

As it turned out though, your hopes and dreams were all in vain. Bakugou texted you to ask about studying, not in his room, but your room. You complied of course. As much as you wanted to see the inside of his mysterious room, you respected his privacy. After all, rooms were sacred. Your room was a deeply personal expression of yourself, and you weren’t about to pry into his space. It wouldn’t get you a better grade anyway, seeing as your project wasn’t on the inside of Bakugou’s room.

You had cleaned up your room earlier in preparation for this moment, anticipating that sooner or later Bakugou would want to study in your room even if you had briefly entertained hopes that he would want to study in his. Your normally messy desk was cleared off, your bed was made and your dirty laundry was all in the basket where it belonged. If you hadn’t cleaned the room yourself you would probably think that you didn’t live here.

Bakugou walked into the room with all the posturing of royalty, shoulders thrown back confidently as he eyed your room. He sniffed, passing whatever final judgement he would, and proceeded to sit down at your desk.

“Nice room, nerd. Cleaner than I thought it would be.”

You grew uncomfortably warm at the truth of his accusation, feeling specifically called out. Could he possibly have heard you vacuuming earlier? It didn’t matter. You didn’t care about his opinion.

“Yeah, whatever. Let’s just get to work, shall we?”

You pulled out your notebook, taking a seat on the floor and gesturing for him to join you.

“Why are you sitting on the floor, idiot?”

“I don’t have two chairs for both of us to work at the desk, so therefore the floor is our next best option.”

“No it isn’t.” Bakugou rolled his eyes. “You have a bed, don’t you? We can just sit on your bed and that way you don’t have to break you tailbone on the floor. Unless you like sitting on the hard floor.”

You gritted your teeth, glaring up at the challenge.

You pushed off from your hand, standing so you could loom over where he sat at your desk. “Fine. Bed it is then.”

You took a seat on your bed as he stood up from your desk chair he had invited himself to sit in. You waited for him to take his spot next to you on the bed, but he hesitated. For a guy who had suggested this idea, he didn’t seem to like it very much. Your surprise wore off though when you realized that he was being…awkward. Bakugou Katsuki was being awkward.

Was it you? Had you done something to make him uncomfortable? Or had he just been shy this whole time?

You could have laughed at him, but instead you took pity. You remembered your first year, when you had been painfully awkward. Maybe Bakugou had always been like that and you had just never had occasion to notice until now.

“Go ahead,” you said, patting the bed next to you. “Take a seat. I don’t bite, and even if I did you would like it.”

You laughed a little bit at your own joke, even if Bakugou didn’t seem to think it was very funny. You did succeed in getting him to sit on the bed though, so some small victories were won. He was stiff and sat much farther away from you than necessary, but he sat nonetheless.

After hours of working together, you managed to have a rough outline for the project. It was sort of a tricky project, based around gathering knowledge and making a presentation on the hero you thought to be the best. Bakugou had insisted with surprising vehemence on making it on All Might, and you agreed with him. After all, he was the symbol of peace and had been the #1 hero for decades. Even though this was a move you would have predicted more from Midoriya, you figured if you were going to do this project you might as well do it right.

Bakugou got up to head to bed, but you stopped him before he could leave. “Hey…I didn’t know you were so into All Might.”

Bakugou blushed, nervously scratching the back of his head.

“I mean, we all love All Might, don’t we?”

“I mean, I know I do.” You laughed a little to set him at ease before revealing a little bit of yourself. “When I was a kid All Might was always my favorite hero because of his smile. I always thought that if someone were ever to come save me, I would want them to smile at me like that.”

Bakugou was silent for a moment, thinking about your words.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I was always so impressed by his strength, and the way people loved him. I always wanted to be loved like that. I wanted to make people believe that I could help them. That they could trust me.”

There was a deep sense of vulnerability to his words that made you want to know more and made you want to understand this boy you had clearly underestimated.

“Is that why you became a hero?”

He huffed, retreating back into himself.  “I became a hero to prove I was better than everybody.”

In a way, it was a yes.

“Have a goodnight, Bakugou.”

He stopped in your doorway, looking back at you with a hint of that vulnerability from earlier.

“Goodnight.”

You had been working nonstop for the past 4 days. You had your schedule set up to an unreasonable level of strictness. You would work for an hour, watch a 10 minute motivational video, then work for an hour again. The only real breaks you took were to eat and sleep, and it was starting to wear on you. You just had so much work to do, and you needed to be free this weekend for the sleepover Mina was having, but you were exhausted.

You had finally reached a breaking point tonight, and you found yourself sitting in your bed crying. You weren’t pretty crying either. It was an ugly, exhausted cry, yanked out of you by the hours of work and stress. You had fallen onto your side, curled up in bed as the sounds choked out of you, ugly things breaking you open and cracking your chest and your voice.

Because of all the stress you had been under, you had completely forgotten about your group project. You had met up with Bakugou the first couple of days, but yesterday you had begged off and reschedule for…today. Right now.

You didn’t even hear Bakugou’s polite knock on your door, the same three knock rap he had given the last few days before coming in to work on your project with you for an hour. If he thought you were ignoring him or just not there, it didn’t stop him from coming in. You didn’t notice, completely oblivious to his presence until he spoke.

“Are you hurt?”

He rushed over to your side, rolling over your body to inspect you. His hands were surprisingly gentle as they skimmed over your body, checking for injuries, gently pressing into the divots of old scars. He found no hurt on you though, and pulled back, frowning.

“What’s the matter? Why are you crying?”

You sniffled loudly, shamefully wiping your arm across your face.

“I’m fine,” you reassured him, repeating it for your own benefit. “I’m fine, I’m totally fine. Everything is fine.”

“You sound like stupid Deku. Every time he’s ever told me he was fine he was lying.”

You choked out a giggle against your will. “Yeah, he does that doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, he does. But unlike Deku you’re not stupid. You want to explain this little episode to me?”

“I’m just…stressed.” You sighed, explaining your situation to him.

He sat back, stunned. “Well no wonder you finally broke. Nobody can work like that. You have to have fun, you idiot!”

For such a nice sentiment, he said it awfully aggressively. He almost made you burst into tears again, but he seemed to realize his mistake, quickly softening his voice again as he floundered for something to say.

“I…you…I’ve never seen you cry before,” he said.

“Yeah, well, I do it. This may come as a surprise but I’m human too, y’know.”

His hands still rested on your thighs, and you looked up at him hesitantly, breath catching in your throat. You had, of course, noticed that he was pretty before. Sharp cheek bones, harsh blond hair, bright red eyes that dug into your soul. Somehow though, he had gotten prettier over the past couple of days as you had gotten to know him, gotten to understand him better.

Before, you had thought he was arrogant. From your conversations though, you knew better. He just cared about people too much. Cared about their opinions too much, feared rejection. You offered up a little piece of yourself in exchange for everything he had admitted to you.

“Remember what I told you about All Might being my favorite hero? I thought to be a good hero you had to always be smiling. You could never show weakness. Not anger or sadness or anything else. That’s why you’ve never seen me cry before. Why I’m always so happy go lucky. Because I have to be.”

There was a pause while Bakugou processed that information.

“That’s…stupid,” he decided. “You shouldn’t hold back on your emotions like that. You deserve to feel things. You can’t dedicate your life to other people like that.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m starting to figure that out.” You stared down at your bedspread.

You were shocked when you felt a warm, calloused hand brush your cheek. Bakugou hesitantly, tenderly wiped the last of your tears away, and you felt something in your heart flutter. You had known Bakugou Katsuki a long time, but you had never known him like this. Looking up into his eyes did nothing to dispel your butterflies when you saw how soft his gaze was. Something in you ached to be looked at like that, to be held in someone’s hands as carefully as he was holding you now.

“Can I…can I kiss you?”

You weren’t sure where the question had come from, and yet you were, because some time along the way of getting to know him you had realized something. Everything you had thought there was to hate about Bakugou was really something to love. Over the course of this project, you had done something extraordinarily stupid. You had developed feelings for a boy who would never like you back. Which was why his next words stole your breath entirely.

“Please,” Bakugou said, his words a sticky sweet, fervent plea.

You blinked, daring to look at him again only to find him wide open to you. He was leaning forward, a look in his eyes you could scarcely describe, a feverish desire overcoming him. His hand on your face twitched ever so slightly in anticipation as you leaned forward.

When your lips met his, you were surprised by the easiness of it. You fell forward into him, arms draped around his broad shoulders as he pulled you in, large hand wrapping around your waist, firm and capable. He tasted like burnt sugar, impossibly so, and it made your head spin, made you dizzy with the sensation. It made you hungry for him.

When he licked your lower lip, you let him swallow you down, hands blazing a fiery trail across your waist to your back, making the trip over and over and burning into you with their warmth. You tugged on his hair lightly, eliciting a moan from him that shot straight through your chest. You gasped into his open mouth, your clumsy kiss flipping when he slipped his tongue into your mouth. Everything became easier when you let him take over, let him pull you into his lap up against the hardness of his body and tilt your head to the side just so, pliable and soft in his arms. Kissing him became easy and natural, shivers running through your body as you surrendered yourself to the experience.

When he finally pulled away, you found yourself licking a mixture of your spit and his off your mouth, not even minding how profoundly gross that was. Normally you would have shuddered, but you were far too busy staring at him, mesmerized and breathless.

“You, uh…that was…that was really nice. And I think you’re pretty.” Bakugou coughed. “Do you want to go out sometime? Because obviously you need somebody to distract you from your homework, stupid. Look what you did. Made a mess of yourself.”

You ducked your head into his shoulder at his words, hiding your face and your embarrassment. “Yeah, sure. That sounds nice.”

He hummed, the sound resonating in his chest and traveling straight to your ear. “Can I…kiss you again then?”

“I thought you would never ask.”

[maximumjinx]

Steven Universe Gravity Falls AU

~Yknow what they say, if you run out of content, ya gotta make it yourself. This is a ? shot (I might continue or not who knows not me) please don’t ask for more I have 18 unfinished fanfics on this site.~

California was nice, Steven had to admit. The people were nice, the food was fantastic, and the weather was splendid. It reminded him a lot of Beach City. Though there were just so many people, and traveling north, Steven was beginning to long for something small and simple again.

Oregon was the perfect place for that, right?

“Ronaldo wants pictures of Bigfoot, and if anyone can find him, its you Steven.” Petey’s voice was faint on Steven’s phone speaker, tossed into the passenger seat as Steven blindly picked a highway exit.

“Sure Petey, but couldn’t Ronaldo just go to a circus?”

“Not big feet Steven,” Petey emphasized, “Bigfoot.”

“Saying it twice isn’t helping buddy.” Steven was half paying attention. He was focusing on the winding roads and the looming trees surrounding him. Deep, in the pit of Steven’s stomach, he felt something start to tug him toward one direction farther away from the highway. He wasn’t quite sure if it was a good or bad feeling yet.

“Forget it, I’m going to take a blurry photo of that mean Gem in the woods and say its Bigfoot.”

“Just don’t let Jasper catch you, she’s no joke when she’s angry.”

“I saw her ripping grass out of the ground I think I’ll be fine. Later dude.”

Steven heard a small click and smiled to himself. He’s happy to see how far the people of Beach City have come and how they’ve taken to the gems. He remembers when the Crystal Gems were once the outcasts of town that locals warned you to stay away from.

He looked up to see a welcome sign.

“Gravity falls. Well, that’s a funny name.”

—

Steven wanted small and simple but he feels he may have overshot it.

This small town had exactly three attractions. A town museum that mentioned marrying woodpeckers (Steven couldn’t figure out if that was a normal human thing, like taxes and velcro), a small diner, and as one local described it ‘some tourist trap’ deep in the woods. It was a sticky summer day and the former two attractions didn’t have airconditioning. Steven gambled on the last stop in hopes of stretching his legs and maybe finding a source to the strange feeling in his gut. It had become much stronger since he entered this small town. Alluring, but nothing related to Gems as far as Steven could tell.

He parked in the nearly empty lot and stepped out. Jacket wrapped loosely around his hips, Steven made his way inside.

A girl that looked about 13 was petting a pig on the front porch. She was incredibly reflective, and depsite the heat wore a knitted bedazzled sweater that made her glow like a disco ball in the sun.

She looked Steven up and down as he approached, a wide smile taking up her face and Steven saw bright braces with colored bands.

“Hi!” She launched upwards, startling the pig away, “I’m Mabel, but you can call me anytime.” The girl winked and stuck out her hand, palm facing the floor.

Steven blinked.

“Mabel, stop scaring away the customers!” A gruff voice yelled through the screen door, and soon an older man stepped out in a suit, wearing a fez and eyepatch.

Immediately the old man squinted at Steven, sizing him up.

Stanley Pines knew this teen wasn’t local, but he wasn’t sure if he had any money. For all he knew he was another boy trying to hit on his giftshop cashier, Wendy.

Oh well, a customer is a customer.

“Come in, come in, and see our mystical and magical wonders!”

“Magical?” This could be it, Steven could figure out why this town has felt off. Maybe it was gem related after all.

Quickly this older man who had introduced himself as Mr. Mystery gave Steven a tour of what looked like failed taxidermy projects. Now Steven may have a lived a sheltered childhood, but he felt pretty confident there was no such thing as a Sashcrotch. And so far, nothing had felt magical or mysterious.

“That concludes our tour! Here is our mistifying giftshop and it’s purchasable wonders!”

“Right...” Well, at the very least he was able to spend some time in airconditioning.

There was a girl behind the desk in plaid that looked about Steven’s age, and just a half inch shorter than him. She looked bored, flipping through a magazine as a young boy that looked a lot like Mabel made googly eyes as he swept by the door.

Steven guessed there was no harm in asking around.

“Hi, I’m Steven.” He smiled easily, walking up to the register.

“No refunds, even if an exhibit bit you.” She sighed, peeking up before turning back to her magazine.

“Oh no, nothing bit me, I just wanted to know something.”

She looked up to get a better look at Steven and gave a small smirk.

“Sure, but only because I like your shirt. Mr. Universe merch, now that’s a deep cut.”

Unbeknownst to Steven, Dipper Pines would had been watching the exchange felt a twinge of uneasiness as this out of towner talked with Wendy.

“Have you ever seen anything strange or weird actually happen in this town?”

Wendy’s smile dropped.

“Why do you ask?” Her eyes flickered to Dipper, just for a moment, and that was all he needed to rush over.

“Excuse me sir, please buy something or exit the store.” Dipper spoke in the deepest voice he could muster.

Steven looked over with a questioning expression.

“Oh sure uh-“ He blindly reached for the wad of bills that his dad had given to him before he left. Steven pulled out a hundred dollar bill and put it on the counter. Wendy looked up baffled as Steven stuffed the other cash back in his wallet.

“Boy was I wrong about you kid!” Mr. Mystery, seemingly materializing out of nowhere, now bounded over. He had loosened his tie and lost the eyepatch which turned out he never needed.

“Whaddya wanna know? I’ll tell you everything. There’s gnomes in the woods you know-“

“Grunkle Stan!” Dipper protested loudly, dragging his Stan away and harshly whispering at him.

“Did you steal that money?” Wendy asked as Steven watched the pair whisper fight in the corner. He turned back to the girl and gave a sheepish smile.

“Uh no, my dad gave it to me before this roadtrip. He’s actually Mr. Universe.”

Wendy lit up.

“No freaking way! Your dad is Mr. Universe? I only got into him since he managed Sadie Killer and the Suspects and they always perform covers of his songs on tour, I can’t believe he’s your dad!” She rambled, stars in her eyes. Steven beamed, he loved when people praised his dad’s music. Greg really deserved it.

Steven learned Wendy’s name and they swapped stories back and forth, only interrupted as the girl from outside slowly rose from the behind the counter beaming.

“A cute musician that loves weird stuff, take me now.” She swooned. Steven blushed profusely, not used to the attention.

“Sorry, my girlfriend Connie probably wouldn’t like that very much.” He said gently. Mabel looked him up and down and pouted.

“I can wait, but not forever.” She warned, and winked, bounding to break apart her grunkle and Dipper, who are now whisper screaming with arms flailing.

“I wasn’t going to mention that Dorito shaped jerk! Just the normal stuff!”

“It’s dangerous! He could be a spy, or government, or another stack of gnomes!”

Steven raised an eyebrow and looked at Wendy. She chuckled and shrugged. Steven carefully approached them.

“He can hear everything you’re saying anyways so might as well tell him!” Mabel interrupted, nodding towards Steven as he came up.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m definitely not government.” Steven technically didn’t exist at all. He never had a social security card and didn’t have a birth certificate.

Dipper only glared. Rich strangers with an interest in the paranormal didn’t come through gravity falls without some kind of agenda.

Steven hated the conflict he was starting. No information was worth this family fighting.

“Okay,” he surrendered, hands up, “I’ll just go. I’ll stick around town until tomorrow if you change your minds”

“Wait Steven-”

“Let him go Wendy,” Dipper glared as the boy in pink walked out, “We can’t trust him.”

“But I was going to ask for Sadie tickets...” Wendy groaned, defeated.

“There’s something weird about him.”

“Great!” Mabel beamed, “He’ll fit right in.”

~.~

Steven wasn’t crazy about sleeping in his car, but was seriously considering it after seeing the state of his motel room. It looked like it hadn’t been used in decades, a thin line of dust covering every surface. He was also pretty sure they didn’t even have free ice. 

“Wish Pearl were here..” He mumbled, exhausted. He curled up on top of the covers, fully clothed, and let sleep take him.

Being Steven Universe however, meant rest was sure to allude the half alien. 

Steven found himself in a dark space, fog all around him. Before a word could come out of his mouth he heard a fast, repetitive muttering. 

“Stranger...Wendy looked pretty today..Can’t trust...Tell no one...Ford isn’t here..”

“What, the-” Steven quietly walked toward the source of dialogue, and saw the faded silhouette of the boy from the Mystery Shack. His back was turned to him, but Steven recognized the blue vest and mosquito bitten legs. 

“I thought I was over the dream hopping.” Steven spoke a tad too loudly, starting the young boy - Dipper.

“What-” Dipper’s eyes grew wide in panic, and the boy fell back harshly.

“No, no, you can’t be in my head!” 

“Wait, I’m not-” Steven tried to reassure him, stepping carefully towards the boy but Dipper let out a screech of terror, sweat gathering around his temples.

“Bill sent you didn’t he?! He’s not really gone- he’s going to hurt Mable again-” Dipper began to hyperventilate. 

“Dipper please,” Steven took a step back, arms in the air in surrender. 

“I-”

“I’m not going to hurt you I swear on the gems.” He placed a hand over his heart. “This is a total invasion of privacy but it’s something that happens when someone’s emotions are out of control-”

“How are you here?” Dipper demanded, scrambling to his feet. “Tell me what you are and what you want.”

“I’m just passing through!” Steven insisted, then lowered his tone to calm the younger boy. “I’m kinda of magnet for weird stuff. I just wanted to help in case anything was going on.”

“We deal with things just fine around here.” Dipper spat, then watched as Steven deflated. He seemed tired, like he hasn't slept well in a while. 

“So what are you anyways? How can you be here?”

Steven winced, and laughed nervously. “It’s kind of a long story..”

Dipper raised and eyebrow and swept his arm around the void dramatically. 

“You have until dawn.”

~

“I thought that was a conspiracy theory, it wasn’t even covered by major news outlets.” Dipper look exhausted, cross legged on the unseen floor as he ran his hands through his hair. 

“I think Garnet is pretty persuasive when it comes to government and reporters. They all kinda fall in love with her.”

“She’s the one that’s really two aliens?” 

Steven shook his head with a small smile. “It’s hard to explain but yes, I guess that comes close.”

“That’s actually insane. I’m insane, aren’t I?” Dipper stood up, leaving Steven on sitting next to an empty space. “It’s been too quiet around here and now I’m so desperate for weird, that I’m making it all up in my head.”

“I get that feeling.” Steven smiled without humor, “but no, this is real. I’ll prove it when you wake up.” Steven felt a shift, the fog in the void getting denser. 

“Sooner than I thought, you’re an early riser huh?”

Dipper looked back at Steven, panicked. “You’ll come to the Shack again right? In just a bit?”

Steven smiled. “Promise.”

~

Dipper woke up to his sister braiding his hair. Mabel still had her pjs on, and a make up kit next to the bed. Dipper frowned, tasting strawberry shortcake. 

“Stop testing party looks on me, Mabel.”

“Stop having my face structure and maybe I will.” She grinned, covered in blue glitter. 

Dipper quickly washed up and got dressed for the day, feeling like he was anxiously waiting for something but not quite remembering what. 

He felt like he had a strange dream last night...

He quickly remembered, choking on cereal as Steven walked into the shack right as it opened. Hair slightly frizzy from the heat and eyes strangely tired. Maybe dream hopping took energy that he anticipated. 

“Steven!”

“Meal ticket!” 

“Grunkle Stan.” Mabel chastised as Dipper rushed over to the older boy. 

“Good morning everyone.” 

Dipper stopped short, slightly hoping that everything he experienced wasn’t just his imagination. That everything exciting and weird and interesting wasn’t always trying to kill him, ruin his life, or steal his candy. 

Steven looked tired, like he had been doing this much longer than Dipper, but he had still come out with enough energy to smile. 

“Not insane?” Dipper asked hopefully, quietly. Steven snapped his attention from his Grunkle and Mable bickering down to the Dipper. He gave a reassuring smile, eyes quite serious. 

“Not insane.”

[theres-an-impulstor-among-us]

Hi there!

I finally have an idea for the sequel to the angst! By the way, it really did help. Less strong emotions :D

Anyways, idea. Woot woot-

Wels, as a kind of revenge for the death of Hels, wants to save some other helsmits from the world that is Hels. Because it sucks there. He ends up secluding himself from the server to try this. When somebody goes to check on him, they find an obsidian portal frame with a firey red portal contained within. Queue Wels and another Helsmit conveniently coming through, and Wels having to quickly explain before the Hermit tells X-

this is a long boi!!! lol

first part here

...

This is it. This is the moment Wels has been waiting for. After weeks of hiding out in his house, doing experiment after experiment, he’s finally managed to create a portal directly to Helscraft. Now he can finally start on his mission.

He steps through the portal and finds himself facing a bridge across a gigantic ravine with lava at the bottom. On the other side is a mountain made of netherrack and magma blocks, some of which are on fire.

Shivering, he crosses the bridge slowly, one step at a time, keeping a wary eye out for any helsmits around. There doesn’t seem to be any.

Until he steps off the bridge, glances up, and happens to spot a familiar person sitting in a “tree” made of soul sand and bone blocks. Familiar except red eyes, red streaks in his hair, a much shorter stature, and black-and-magenta dragon-like wings.

“Hi,” he says cautiously.

“Helsknight…?” The person narrows their eyes. “Why do you look different?”

“I’m not Helsknight, I’m his hermit counterpart.”

The helsmit blinks in surprise. “Welsknight? What are you doing here in Helscraft?”

“Are you Grian’s helsmit?” asks Wels, avoiding the question.

“...surely you can tell,” the helsmit scoffs. “Yeah, I’m Xelqua, Grian’s helsmit. Why’re you here? Where’s Helsknight?”

Again, Wels tries to avoid the question. “Were you… close to Helsknight?”

“Not really.” Xelqua again narrows his eyes. “What do you mean by that? Where IS he?”

“He’s…” Wels hesitates and bows his head. “I’m really sorry, but he… he passed away.”

He hears a sharp intake of breath from Xelqua.

“I’m sorry,” he says uselessly.

“Why are you here?”

Wels looks back up at Xelqua. “What?”

“WHY ARE YOU HERE?” demands Xelqua loudly. “What, is it not enough that we exist here in this HELLISH place?! You wanna come here and take it over too?! Drive us out AGAIN?!”

“I- No!” Wels hurriedly shakes his head. “No no no! I came here to invite you back to Hermitcraft.”

A flash of shock flickers over Xelqua’s face. “Why the hell would you do that?”

“Because Helsknight wanted all of you to be free. He sacrificed himself for me, so I’m carrying on his dream.” Wels offers his hand to the helsmit. “Xelqua, come with me to Hermitcraft. I can get you a better life there.”

“Wow.” Xelqua appears not to know how to react to this unexpected offer. “What do you get in return?”

“Nothing.”

Xelqua rolls his eyes. “SURE.”

“No, really,” Wels insists. “I want to help you, all of you. I’m not asking for anything in return. I just want you guys to have a better life.”

Xelqua regards Wels with a half-suspicious look. “Why me, of all the helsmits?”

“I want to save all of you at some point. You seem like a good place to start.”

The helsmit doesn’t appear to have a response to this.

“Please, Xelqua,” says Wels softly. “Give me a chance.”

Xelqua is silent for a while as he processes this in his head. Finally, he says, “Okay. I won’t turn down a chance to go to Hermitcraft.”

Wels can’t help an excited smile. “Great! You won’t regret it.”

When Xelqua hops down from the “tree”, Wels is surprised to discover that the helsmit is only just half his height. The height of a child, despite looking almost exactly like Grian.

“Okay, come this way,” he says.

He leads Xelqua back down the bridge and over to the portal. “Will you be able to come through?” he asks.

“I dunno, you’re the brainiac hermit,” Xelqua responds. “Will I die if I go through?”

“Not inherently, but…”

Xelqua shrugs. “Whatever. Death is better than another day in Helscraft anyway. YOLO.”

Wels blinks as Xelqua steps through the portal. Did he just say… YOLO?!

He hurriedly follows Xelqua. As soon as he steps foot in his house on the other side, however, he sees Xelqua frozen on the platform. When he steps forward, he sees why.

One of his friends is standing at the bottom of the staircase, staring at him in shock and horror.

Wels blinks, his heart starting to pound. “...J-Jevin. Hi. You’re in my house.”

“Of course I’m in your dang house, Wels!” snaps Jevin. “You haven’t been seen on the server for WEEKS! And now you come out of a demonic nether portal with a DEMON?!”

Wels quickly pushes Xelqua behind him. “He’s not a demon, Jev. His name is Xelqua. He’s Grian’s helsmit.”

Jevin’s eyes widen and he steps back.

Wels sees his friend’s muscles bunching. “Jev, no…!”

Jevin takes another step back.

“JEV.”

“Somehow a demon would have been BETTER!” yells Jevin, before taking off running.

Wels sprints after him. He’s a lot faster than Jevin so he’s able to tackle his friend to the ground at the top of the stairs.

“Jev, wait!” Wels grunts, trying to hold his squirming friend down. “Hear me out!”

“Are you INSANE?!” Jevin shrieks back. “WHY would you bring a helsmit here?!”

As Wels is about to respond, a dry voice comes from behind them. “Now I know why you said you wanted to avoid this guy, Wels.”

Wels twists his head upwards to find Xelqua standing over them, arms folded. “I didn’t say-.”

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?” demands Jevin, disentangling himself from Wels.

The hint of a smirk is visible on Xelqua’s face. “He said you were pretty close-minded and quick to jump to conclusions.”

“I never said-!”

Wels is cut off as Jevin jumps to his feet and jabs his finger at Xelqua. “You shut your mouth. You’re not even supposed to be here!”

“I’m not the one judging someone I just met based on their nature of birth, Slime Face,” retorts Xelqua.

“If you call me that again, I’m gonna ram my fist in your eye,” Jevin growls.

Xelqua lifts his chin challengingly. “Go for it. I’m not afraid to fight an old man.”

As Jevin moves suddenly, Wels gets between them and holds his friend back. “Okay, STOP it! Both of you! Jev, be the bigger person here.”

“I AM the bigger person!” Jevin snaps back. “Literally!”

“Wow, a short joke,” Xelqua says expressionlessly. “Original. You proud of that one, Slime Face? You feel funny? Clever?”

Jevin’s hands curl into fists. “Wels, you better explain yourself before I punt this obnoxious kid straight into the goddamn sun.”

“Your stupid slimey foot would go right through me,” Xelqua responds immediately.

“Right, that’s it.”

Wels has to strain against Jevin to stop his friend from physically attacking Xelqua. “JEVIN. STOP.”

“Explain yourself, then!”

Wels quickly draws Jevin aside into the next room. “Look.” He takes a deep breath. “I spent months befriending my helsmit, learning about how he dreamt of freeing his siblings from their torturous existence, only for him to die before even being able to start on his dream. Helsmits aren’t inherently evil, Jev. Helsknight grew as a person right in front of me. With the right environment and people surrounding them, they can become good.”

He pauses, his gaze dropping to the floor. “Even if I can only change one helsmit’s life for the better then maybe Helsknight’s death didn’t have to be meaningless.”

Jevin gazes back at him, an odd expression on his face.

“Just…” Wels sighs quietly. “Please don’t tell Xisuma until I’m ready. If he finds out about this before Xelqua makes any noticeable improvements, he’ll have him thrown back to Helscraft and all this will be for nothing. Helsknight’s dream can’t die like that. I can’t… I can’t lose him all over again.”

A short pause follows his words.

Finally, Jevin unfolds his arms and says, “Okay. How can I help?”

“By not treating me like a stupid kid,” comes Xelqua’s voice.

Jevin turns to find the helsmit poking his head through the doorway. “Wasn’t talking to you, Parrot Boy.”

“I’m not a parrot,” Xelqua says. “I’m a dragon.”

“Sure.”

Scowling, Xelqua extends his jet black and magenta wings. “My wings are dragon wings.”

“Whatever you say, Parrot Boy.”

Xelqua glares at him and doesn’t respond.

Jevin raises an eyebrow. “Nicknames hurt, huh?”

“Jev,” sighs Wels. “You’re the adult here.”

“Why AM I the adult here?” Jevin demands. “If he’s Grian’s helsmit, why is he still a kid?”

Xelqua stomps his foot. “I’m not a kid!”

Ignoring him, Wels replies, “Helsmits are only born once a person becomes a hermit. Grian’s only been a hermit for a few years, so Xelqua hasn’t had a chance to grow up yet.”

“Hey, I’m PERFECTLY grown up!” snaps Xelqua. “I already know how to kill things without spilling much blood and how to steal stuff from a chest from right under someone’s nose.”

Wels and Jevin exchange a slightly concerned look.

“But you never had a normal childhood?” asks Jevin.

“I’M NOT A CHILD!” yells Xelqua angrily.

Jevin persists: “Have you ever even seen grass?”

Xelqua scowls. “...what’s grass?”

“Okay…” Jevin pauses for a moment. “Come up this way.”

As he goes to the door, Wels starts to speak: “Jev-.”

“I’ll be careful,” says Jevin reassuringly. “Come on, kid.”

Clearly deciding not to argue anymore, Xelqua follows Jevin out of the house. As soon as he gets outside, he glances up and immediately jumps almost a foot in the air. “What is that?!”

Jevin quickly identifies where he’s looking. “The sun.”

“That’s not the sun,” scoffs Xelqua.

“It is.”

Xelqua shields his eyes from the sunlight and squints up at the sky. “But it’s not hurting my skin.”

“It will if you stay out in it too long.” Jevin pauses. “Why, what’s your sun like?”

“Volatile,” Xelqua responds. “If it’s in a bad mood, it’ll set you on fire as soon as you step out in it. Which is almost every day.”

Jevin blinks. “Your sun is sentient?”

“Trust me, that’s not the weirdest thing that’s sentient in Helscraft.”

“Do I wanna ask?”

“Nope.” Xelqua lowers his hand. “So what’s this grass thing you mentioned?”

Jevin gestures at the ground. “What you’re standing on.”

“Really? This is grass?” Xelqua hops up and down on it a few times. “I thought it’d be a bit more interesting.”

“Lie down on it.”

Xelqua shoots him a suspicious look. “Why?”

“Just do it.”

After a moment, Xelqua lies down flat on the grass. “Okay, now what?”

“Look up at the sky,” Jevin responds. “See those clouds?”

Xelqua frowns up at the sky. “The grey things?”

“Yeah. Do you have clouds?”

“Not like those. Ours are spikey and red and rain lava.”

“Oh jeez…” Jevin shivers. “Well, these ones won’t hurt you. Just watch them for a while.”

“Okay…”

The two fall silent. Jevin watches the clouds himself for a while, before turning back to Xelqua, whose expression is almost completely blank. “So?”

“Weirdly, this is nice,” admits Xelqua. “It’s a bizarre concept to not be afraid of every single thing around me.” As if on cue, a few raindrops start to fall from the sky. Xelqua hops up as the rain gets heavier and dives between Jevin’s feet, clutching Jevin’s leg tightly. “WHAT IS THIS?!” he shrieks.

“It’s just rain!” Jevin reassures him, gently stroking his wings. “Don’t worry, it’s just rain. Just water. It won’t hurt you.”

After a moment, Xelqua sticks out his hand and lets some raindrops fall on it. When it doesn’t hurt him, he carefully emerges from his shelter and hovers just above the ground, closing his eyes against the rain falling on his face. A smile appears on his face and he shoots upwards, his beating wings scattering raindrops everywhere.

Shielding his eyes from the rain, Jevin laughs as he watches Xelqua shoot up through the clouds and dive back down several times. It’s like watching a foal discover how to run for the first time.

“How’s it going out here?” asks Wels, emerging from the building. Immediately, he lifts his arms to shield his head from the rain. “Oh! It doesn’t rain often on this server.”

Jevin continues to gaze up at Xelqua far above him. “...Wels?”

“Yeah?”

“This kid really needs a better life.”

Wels nods. “He does. They all do. This is what Helsknight wanted: for the helsmits to have the same opportunities as us. The same expansive resource-rich world to explore, not the barren hellscape they’re forced to live in year after year. To be able to live and grow without worrying about being robbed or hurt or attacked or murdered by the world and people around them. They have so much potential that’s not being realised because they’re stuck in literal hell. I won’t rest until they’re all as free as Helsknight almost was.”

After a brief pause, he glances over at Jevin and finds his friend smiling at him. He chuckles. “What’s that look for?”

“I’ve never seen you this passionate before,” says Jevin softly. “It’s nice.”

“It IS nice,” Wels agrees. “I haven’t had a cause like this to fight for in a long time.”

Jevin pats his friend on the shoulder. “If you ever need help with Xelqua, lemme know.”

Wels glances at him in surprise. “You want to help with Xelqua?”

“Yeah, I really do.”

“Why?”

As Jevin starts to respond, Xelqua suddenly lands on the ground in front of them, soaking wet. “What are you two nattering about?” he demands. “Come fly up here with me!”

“We can’t fly when it’s raining this heavily, Xelqua,” responds Wels. “It’s too wet for our elytras to work properly.”

“Oh.” Xelqua rolls his eyes. “You guys are lame.”

Wels raises an eyebrow back. “Mhm.”

As Xelqua takes off again, Jevin says, “To answer your question Wels, I want to help because I can tell Xelqua has the potential to be a good kid. He’s got some problems I wanna help iron out.”

“Wow, I…” Wels smiles gratefully. “I’d love the help. Thank you.”

At that moment, Xelqua reappears through the rain and holds out a shovel to the two. “I stole this from a chest in that guy’s house over there,” he says proudly. “He didn’t see me.”

“That’d be Beef’s house,” Wels sighs.

As Wels reaches for the shovel, Xelqua sharply steps back, hugging the shovel protectively.

Wels shakes his head. “You don’t have to steal things here, Xelqua. We’ll help you get your own stuff.”

“Oh…” Xelqua reluctantly relinquishes his prize to Wels.

“Thank you,” says Wels gently. “Do you want your own shovel?”

After a moment, Xelqua nods.

Wels smiles, feeling strong paternal instincts towards the kid.

“Okay, let’s get you a shovel.”

[47crayons]

THE WICKED WITHIN—A COMIC SANS WIP REINTRO

!!!!! it's here :D the wip that started to consume me and has been continuing to do so since, now with a much better sense of what exactly is Happening

current tww taglist let me know to be +/- !! @a-completely-normal-writer @writing-is-a-martial-art @wannabeauthorzofija @magic-is-something-we-create @croctears @writeblrfantasy @opes-magnas @author-a-holmes @zoya-writes@fuyugomori @ink-fireplace-coffee

transcript is under the cut!!!

[transcript: a powerpoint presentation of black text on white background, written entirely in comic sans.

start slide one the top left corner reads in red, "warnings (most relevant) war, death, drugs (& addiction), poison". in the center, "the wicked within", and underneath it in smaller font, "a comic sans reintro by @47crayons". the comments around the entire slide read "a family that is so found!!!", "gang rivalry :D and gang content in general", "crime found family basically", "childhood friends to STILL FRIENDS", "all queer cast :p", "eat the rich (not quite, but it’s the right sentiment aldskjfls)", "kickass women, yeah bay bee", "nuanced relationships between different groups :D", "morally grey characters!!!", "so many different governments!!!", "a (mostly alsjflksdj) stable relationship!!!" end slide one

start slide two in the beginning of time… there were four gods: eltenjer, he/him, earth; skari, he/him, fire; aenged, they/them, air; thilda, she/her, water. i didn’t /mean/ for them to have genders, but a quiet breeze whispered “psst. i use they/them.” in the beginning? so you mean… they’re not there anymore? kind of! the gods need followers to survive, and after several unfortunate events, they lost the majority of their followers. the aforementioned unfortunate events: the great ruination, in which natural disasters caused several years of famine and other hardship. the restoration era, in which renovation led people to believe they can live without the gods. if the gods are dead, what’s the point? the gods aren’t /really/ dead, closer to dormant. they can’t actively interact with the mortal realm, but IF they had followers, they would come back to life. oh. did i mention that they control the magic. end slide two

start slide three the dormant gods who can't do... anything control the magic??? hey, no one said magic always has to work. foreshadowing alert huge foreshadowing alert. let’s talk about how magic works, shall we :D people use the Spirit to do magic. people have a Vessel (representation of stamina or how much Sprit can be used at once, can be trained!). people also have a Strength (a type of magic that works well with the user, these have varying frequencies which also depends on location). there’s too much i could say here, but the important thing is the main characters’ Strengths. the right depicts an image of a flowchart showing that gods need followers and produce sprit. people need spirit to do magic. end slide three

start slide four okay but where are we??? where could the magic be so fucked? well, here, of course! the left side shows a line art map, split into five parts going clockwise: portingdale, worchester, the hooks, elderwood, unlabeled. the legend shows that there are mountains in portingdale, forests in elderwood, and rivers that run from portingdale to everywhere else. the place where the four labeled regions meet is called the Inner City. the text on the right reads. welcome to Kjer! there are 3 districts. but wait! there are five? sections? and one isn’t even labelled. worchester used to be a district,,, but it left after the war began. the unlabeled section is the disputed region (re: war). let’s talk more about this war. elderwood wanted easier access to water (see: the rivers in the Wetlands) elderwood & portingdale have been fighting there on and off for over half a century. the hooks has three wards: west (hella rich), south (lower income), north (somewhere in between). end slide four

start slide five whomst. skip to the next slide if you want the actual characters. character basics: the unnecessarily-winded-and-cram-a-lot-of-lore-in version. in the North Ward of The Hooks, there are three main gangs. Kaer Styen, meaning “wicked ones”, Ghetfaer Skarnen, meaning “trickster lords”, Ad Knesten, meaning “the grumbles”. that was so many capital letters i don’t like capital letters alskjdflksjd. they have rivalries and conflicts from time to time, but it’s pretty rare. the tww cast is kaer styen !!! their main means of profit is a drug called jezdin. relieves physical and mental pain. lethal in high. quantities/ when tampered with. can also be addictive. they operate out of a dingy tavern-like building, and they live upstairs!!! okay so this is purely for vibes. how did u know. end slide five

start slide six the Gang. literally :3 Kaer Styen, my beloved. the first thing in each of their bios is their Strength (re: the magic slide). artbreeders!!! i fixed quite a few of them, but my artbreeder skills are questionable at best. this slide is split into three columns. the first column shows a white person with short, brown, curly hair and a firm, but not angry, facial expression. len, he/him, pan. Shifter (can manipulate physical properties). cynical, very cynical (because he has killer instincts). “oh people are dying? am i dying? are you dying? why should i care?” in a relationship with cal. the second column shows a person who appears east asian with long, black, wavy hair and fair skin. chloe, she/her, aroace. Chemist (chemistry but magical). literal archery god. also she’s so quiet it’s SCARY. seems welcoming, emphasis on /seems/ she’ll destroy your ass. knows what you’re feeling. she just. knows. the third column shows a white person with dirty blonde hair. they are smiling. cal, they/them, bi. Whisperer (can persuade others through speech/music). so casually funny all your burdens disappear for a hot minute. gets very attached very deeply. grew up in Portingdale which becomes Important later. end slide six

start slide seven cont. also they have piercings!!!! maybe i will make some picrews later (listen, i KNOW i’ve said this before but. maybe i’m for realsies this time, okay?) this slide is also split into three columns. the first a smiling white female with light blonde hair. eden, she/her?, demi lesbian. Healer (healing magic <3). seen hell and doesn’t want others to suffer. still believes in the gods’ existence. we Don’t talk about her awful parents. raised by a lovely woman in the South Ward, known as Nana. this eye (left) is almost PURPLE which i didn’t do on purpose but is honestly such a cool idea. the second column shows a partially smiling black man with short curly hair. jereth, he/him, gay. powerful life magic thing (will be spoilers if i talk any more). joins them at the beginning. honestly kind of scared of them (who wouldn’t be), but wants to live up to expectations. throws himself into stuff to avoid Thoughts. the third column shows a woman with brown skin, black wavy hair, and a small smile. she is NOT a member of Kaer Styen, but i’m talking about her here all the same. adalaide, she/her, bi (i didn’t like the e in adelaide alskdfjlsj). Melder (metals and the like). heir to the Portingdale throne (assuming her dad doesn’t disown her). Cal’s ex from a few~ years ago she’s still a lil’ hung up on them. technically an antagonist but i love her. so all my characters are queer sue me </3 end slide seven

start slide eight some semblance of plot? coming right up!! the four (jereth isn’t there yet!) are attacked in the Inner City. turns out it’s portingdale soldiers. and then they discover that portingdale has been poisoning the southern rivers (affects worchester and the south ward) because worchester doesn’t really contribute to Kjer as a whole. word gets out, and elderwood, naturally, is even angrier at portingdale (remember, they've been at war). so, they try to stop portingdale from being power hungry enough to poison the entirety of a country while learning about why worchester is so isolated while ALSO trying not to get killed by everyone who hates them. end slide eight

start slide nine memes :> the first is the meme of spongebob reading a sheet of paper and burning it. the paper reads, "going into worchester by yourself is going to get you KILLED", and spongebob is labelled "chloe". the second is the levels of brain template labelled "jereth". from the weakest to most powerful: "trying to figure out his magic", "doing it by accident", "saving everyone's lives". the third is the sleeping person and brain meme. brain: "you're going to portingdale". cal: yeah, i know. brain: you'll see adalaide. cal's eyes are wide open in fear. the fourth says "corporate needs you to find the difference between this image and this image". the first image says, "family", and the second one says, "len, chloe, cal, jereth." eden says, "they're the same picture". the fifth is the spiderman copycat meme where jereth is copying len. end slide nine

/end transcript]

[princessofprocrastination]

She’s Creepy (Dream)

MASTERLIST

pairing : dream / clay x reader. 

summary : apparently being a huge fan of a big youtuber is considered being a creep, according to minecraft gamer, dream. and ever since he called you mean things, your world turned upside down. (ANGST) (TRIGGER WARNING)

a/n : i’m aware i’ve been writing all angsts, i just enjoy a little heartbreak. this is a two part story!

you haven’t been on social media as a public figure for long, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t been on social media before this.

you knew people, you had people you look up to, as of many other social media influencers or content creators. 

you grew pretty quick on youtube and instagram. your content mostly included room makeovers whenever you felt bored of your own home or your storytimes. you blew up from talking about your stalker. 

since then, your subscibers stayed with you and supported you, saying that you have a charm, and that you exert good energy and vibes. and those type of comments have always made your day.

you always shared with your supporters about your life, not too personal but enough for them to feel included. of course, you’re not telling them your phone number or address, but you tried to share as many details you can legally in your story times. 

that also meant that you would tell your supporters small details about you, such as what book you were currently reading or who you’ve been watching on youtube. 

even before you stated posting on your channel, you’ve been watching a minecraft youtuber, dream and his friends. 

some of your fans would tag them in some of your instagram posts, or tweets that brought no harm so you never really acknowledged it since it wasn’t hurting anyone. 

you weren’t “fangirling” you’d say. it was more of you supported them and found them funny and entertaining. 

coincidentally, you landed yourself on the dream team tiktok, which means that dream and his friends were all over you for you page. 

and to show that you were active and not dead to your followers on instagram, you’d post a funny tiktok, usually included the dream team. you thought it was harmless. to you, it was just a way to show support. 

but only a couple days later, hashtags about you and the dream team, more specifically, just dream, were trending. 

when you saw this, opening your twitter app, you immediately went to find out what this was about. your heart jumped when you thought maybe dream acknowledged you. 

in fact, it was worse. 

what was trending was a short video clip during one of the dream teams chill streams on the dream smp. 

the conversation between george, sapnap and dream went like this. 

“you guys heard about that girl who kept reposting tiktoks about us on her instagram story?” george asked the other two boys. 

“heard she watched us before she even started her channel” sapnap. 

“i don’t know about you guys, but i think she’s being a little creepy.” dream said. 

your heart sunk to your stomach. did your actions portray you to be a creep to other people?

“dream, you can’t just say that, especially on stream.” sapnap scolded him, george also mumbling something. 

“why can’t i? i feel creeped out by her, a public figure posting me all over her socials.” dream replied, tone serious. 

you clicked off the video, before it replayed again. you couldn’t get yourself to rewatch that, to hear those words again. 

almost crying, you told yourself to suck it up, that this wasn’t worth you crying. 

although they were who you looked up as minecraft gamers, this wasn’t worth your breakdowns. 

that was until, you opened your direct messages.

you shouldn’t have. you knew the dream team stans would easily hunt you down, to ask you to back off from creeping their idol off. 

but no, you still opened your dms. you expected a normal dm, ones that say they support you or some of your friends sending you memes through instagram. 

what you didn’t expect was to see a flood of threats. 

some said “kill yourself, you don’t deserve a spot on earth after what you did.” and “back off and leave my mans.” 

it got worse from there. you thought maybe it’s just the dms, but you didn’t expect it to blow up more, with people tagging you with photos on instagram and twitter. people “cancelling” you. 

you didn’t understand how this blew up like this. you were even more baffled to see some of your supporters sending you threats, too. 

was this what you deserved? 

you weren’t one to make rash decisions, nor were you a suicidal person. 

you felt stupid. just because you supported big youtubers, you get this type of treatment?

the threats, the dm, never stopped. for three whole months, you had to deal with the never ending mean comments on your social media. you thought it would die down. 

it came to the point of seeing your address and your phone number all over the internet. you never thought it would lead to this. 

you didn’t know what to do anymore. 

not long after, people started showing up to your apartment. 

sure, your apartment didn’t have the best of security, which you blamed no one but yourself for being a public figure and living somewhere with little to no security. 

they started with knocking on your door during ungodly hours. next was mailing weird stuff or sending stuff to your house. lastly, which tipped you off was that they would vandalize your apartment. 

they would egg your front door, pee, or spray paint your walls of the outside. 

you couldn’t handle it anymore. 

soon enough, you knew you had to stand up for yourself. you had to call the police. 

and that was exactly what you did. you called the authorities, which made the brave teenagers leave you alone. 

while they were egging your house and making your life miserable, you knew this was the only time for you to make a rash decision. to leave the country, to somewhere no one else would fine you at. somewhere unpredictable, that no one would expect you to go.

it took a lot for you to book a plane ticket, box up your belongings and move to a completely different country, away from your hometown, florida. 

you loved it in florida. though it was humid all the time, you enjoyed it. now that you had to leave, you only had a little while to cherish it before you leave it all behind. 

and your family, your friends. the ones you’ve grown up with, ones you’ve grown to love and cherish. you had to leave that too. and without telling them too much information. 

that hurt the most, needing to leave your loved ones behind, to start a new life, to start afresh. 

-

DREAM’S POV

i didn’t know what was happening. one thing added onto another and soon it was out of control. 

i didn’t say anything at the start, not thinking it would go this far. i didn’t know to what extent my fans would go.

sure, i saw all the things happening, but i didn’t do anything to stop it. 

i saw her address and phone number all over social media, and did nothing about it. 

george and sapnap said something, and pushed me to do something about it, but i didn’t. i was stubborn.

speaking of, it’s been months since i heard anything about her from her herself, everything i see is from my fans or hers, wondering where she is.

should i be worried?

-

YOUR POV

you left florida. the only people you told were your parents and your childhood friend, not trusting anyone else. 

what you told them was vague, that you needed to leave, away from the US. specifically, you moved to Australia. 

you made a decision to not live near the city, but the outskirts. 

you were lucky that you weren’t a spender and you made more than enough money to make the decision to leave so suddenly. 

lucky for you, you went to college and had a degree in law, so you didn’t need to worry about not having a job.

you never thought you’d make use of your degree this early in your life, thinking that youtube and being a content creator would last a little while longer. 

you had to change you hairstyles, your fashion in general since you had to be in a more professional setting. although it was hard transitioning from a casual wear and having crazy coloured hair to wearing pant suits or formal dresses and going back your natural colour. 

three years. it took you three full years for you to even think of visiting your parents in florida again. also, given the fact that you had a stable job and you couldn’t up and leave. 

but recently, you were offered to work at another law firm in florida. you were happy to tell that to your family back home but at the same time, you were hesitant to go back to your nightmares. 

but you braved yourself, since you missed your family dearly. 

now, you were sitting on your desk in your cozy home, finalizing up the last of your move, like getting a house back in florida, this time with a better security just in case. 

boxes of your clothes and belongings went first, to reach your new house there before you did so it was easier for you, not having to worry about your stuff. 

you asked none of your family’s help, not wanting to burden them. instead you told them to just meet you at a restaurant you booked for you and your family and friends for dinner about three weeks after you landed. 

although they protested, saying it was too long until they can see you again, you told them to not worry and that you were going to use those three weeks to start working at the new law firm.

you decided to take a straight flight from australia to florida, not wasting any time. although it was almost a twenty-two hour long flight, you sat throug and got to your hometown safely. 

you didn’t know what was going on with the three boys you used to adore, since you didn’t have social media anymore. 

but you didn’t mind it, it was peaceful. 

two weeks since you’ve stepped foot in florida again. it felt amazing to breathe your hometown air again. it was refreshing. 

you have fully settled in your new house, and workplace. you were glad to have met your co-workers. they were all super welcoming and made sure you weren’t left behind in anything. 

so far, your transition from australia to florida has been smooth, and you weren’t worried about anything. 

you got a car since you’ve arrived, so that you could travel easily from one place to another. 

not to brag, but. you were making enough money to live a lavish lifestyle. a big house and a pretty expensive car, and that didn’t even make a dent in your bank account. 

you were proud to see that you achieved all this yourself, and only within a couple of years. 

you were just excited to meet your family in real life instead of facetime. 

finally, the day of the dinner with your family came. unfortunately, you had to take a case in the afternoon, so you had to come to dinner in your work pant suit, with a turtleneck and a little late. 

they understood it and told you not to worry about it, and that they would just seat themselves by your name instead of waiting for you. you promised you’d pay their dinners and apologized once again. 

the sound of your heels comforted you as you walked from the valet to the restaurant. you were a little nervous to meet them again face to face after three years. but you couldn’t wait to catch up with them and tell them all about your work life that you could never tell them during the facetime calls. 

you smiled to yourself, thinking nothing could go wrong. and nothing could really go wrong anyways, it was just a dinner after all.

but you hadn’t expected the three boys you used to idolize to be eating dinner at the same restaurant you and your family would be at, specifically, opposite your table.

you walked in the restaurant, telling the front of the house that you had a table reserved under your name and that you were pretty sure the rest of your family was already there. 

she politely told you to walk alongside her, leading you to your family. 

you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings. you were solely focused on seeing your family that you didn’t know that there were extra pair of eyes staring at you. 

you smiled as your family saw you. your mum crying while standing up to hug you tightly, as she once did three years ago. 

you could hear your friends shout your name loudly, as if to tell the whole world that you were finally here. 

“don’t cry, i’m staying, no more going back to australia, i swear.” you told your mum, trying to reassure her that you were fine and that you were not going to leave her again, since she hadn’t stopped crying.

you moved to hug your dad, who had been patiently waiting for his turn after his wife. “you look great, kiddo.” you thanked him as he complimented your professional look. 

you sat down, somewhere in the middle, between your family, opposite of your parents so that everyone could clearly see and talk to you easily. 

with how noisy you family were, you were sure the entire restaurant knew your name and where you had just moved from. 

they asked you about australia, what was it like to work there, away from your family. you caught up with every single one of them. 

“don’t you live in that really expensive neighbourhood right now?” one of your childhood friends asked. 

you winked at her, discreetly trying to answer her question. the whole table shouted and congratulated you for making it this far, in only a matter of short years. 

you covered your face, shy, not wanting this part of your life to be told to everyone in the restaurant. 

-

GEORGE’S POV 

there she was. the person whose life we practically ruined. luckily, we didn’t ruin it all for her. i guess she made use of her brains and is working a normal job.

“dude.” i tried to attract the other two boys’ attention. 

“i know.” both of them answered me. 

“she’s rich rich, huh?” sapnap almost chuckled but was totally serious saying that. 

“yup.” dream. 

ah yes, clay. the man dream himself. sapnap and i tried to persuade him into making it right for her, for you. 

sure, he had said those mean words, but he can take it back. three years ago, at least. 

she disappeared three years ago. vanished. no one knew where you went. some say you moved out of the country, which deemed to be true. couple of years later people started to find out what you worked as, but i tried my best to help get rid of the information 

but they just couldn’t pinpoint where. you basically uped and left everything. 

and there was time to apologize, but it had been to late. 

i thought she died, quite frankly. i didn’t want to be the cause of someone dying. well at least, not me, but my friend. 

now us three were seated in a pretty formal and expensive restaurant to eat dinner. and we did not expect to see her here. 

she came in a little late, wearing a very professional wear. seemed like you went to work before this. 

i knew you were a lawyer, we three knew that since our fans found it out. 

she looked completely different. hair not her usual crazy colours. just seeing her in heels baffled me. she was wearing something formal and that wasn’t what you usually wore, years ago. 

- 

DREAMS’S POV 

she’s beautiful.

not that she wasn’t before. 

but this version of her was different. her in her pant suit, in heels. a turtleneck under her blazer. 

she looked elegant. classy. rich. 

i mean, she is rich. 

her family screamed when she told them where she lived. and man, that neighbourhood only had rich people. it had one of the best, if not the best security you could ask for. 

it wasn’t easy to buy a house there. even if you had the money, you’d need a certain bank card to be allowed to even be shortlisted. 

and if i saw it correctly, she drives a bentley that was just parked by a valet kid. 

damn. she is one successful woman. 

i know, how could i think this much of her, how dare i when i didn’t even apologized. i didn’t even try. 

in fact. i did. even before she went MIA, fully on social media, i sent her direct messages everywhere. she never replied to any of them. 

and i knew no one that had her phone number. and soon enough, no one had heard from her in three years. 

and now she’s back. more beautiful than ever. 

i needed to speak to her i couldn’t live with the guilt that stayed for these past three years. 

my fans, my so called supporters made her life a living hell and i almost did nothing to stop it. 

i’m sure she hates me. but i have to try somehow, right?

question is, she didn’t have a social media anymore, and i can’t just speak to her now that she was sitting opposite my table. 

i kept on pondering as i heard a little bit of her conversation, about her life. 

i guess she moved to australia, and worked in a lawfirm in the outskirts. so unpredictable of her. no one would’ve guessed that in a million years. 

i watched as i see her smile as she listened to what her parents were saying. 

i cherished the smile since i didn’t know when was the next time i’d see her. 

she asked the waiter for the bill, covering the whole cost of her and her huge family’s meal. 

damn, this girl is too rich for her own good. 

she puts down the bill on the table, also leaving a generous tip for the waiter that served them. she stood up to walk after her family, needing to pass my table. 

since she had been oblivious to her surroundings, i didn’t expect her to spot us, to notice us. 

but i was wrong. 

PART 2

[peekawommy]

The Tale Of The Stars

Pairing: Wooyoung x Reader

Genre: Fairytale au, prince!Wooyoung

Words: +2.9k

A/N: This is my first post, I hope that youike reading this as much as I liked writing it. Without further ado, enjoy the reading

Since you were a little kid, your mother used to tell you a fairytale, your favorite fairytale. At that time you hadn't realized that she had made the fairytale up, creating the main female character to your liking but as you grew old and read about all sorts of fairytales you came to the conclusion that it was your mother’s own creation, making you hold it dear to your heart.

When you were younger you wanted to live in that story, so you could find your own Prince Charming and have a happy ending especially since your mother had never added any sort of villain nor monstrous creature to the story in your childhood. When your teens came around and you still asked your mother to tell you about the wondrous story, because you loved how your mother’s eyes sparkled whenever she told the story and the way she seemed to get in character every time, she had changed it up a little.

You remember the day she had told you with a smile 'Princess you're getting older now and you should learn that life is not as beautiful it may seem, even in fairytales’ and with that she started adding new characters to the story, some villains that were ready to take down the princess and her Prince Charming, friends that in the end betrayed the girl and anything her mother could think of to show her daughter just how much the world could be cruel.

Nonetheless, you still knew that the fairytale was your favorite, the story your mother liked to call ‘the tale of the stars’.

But now you were older, in the beginning of adulthood and you knew that your life would never become the fairytale you had wished upon when you were younger. You had responsibilities to attend to, friends to care for and a life that you couldn't leave behind. As of right now you were getting ready for work, your part time job that you had so you could pay for your education. College was one of your big responsibilities, sometimes you wish you could just drop out at some point, the stress it caused you was becoming too much but your future depended on it.

Once you were ready, you took your bag with all of your necessary stuff that you needed for work and later on classes. You thanked your past self for having chosen afternoon classes because the classes were not crowded and it was easier for you to have a job and study. As last, you took your keys and then you were out of your door, walking towards your car and driving off to start your day.

After a long day of school, you finally got home, feeling exhausted from all of the day's activities. No matter how long you’ve been doing all of that you couldn't get used to how tiring working and studying was and getting home late at night. Although you never got used to it, it became your routine. You come home, tidy your small apartment a little bit, make food for yourself, watch a little bit of Netflix and then go to bed. At times you realize that your life was dull, nothing seemed to bring you excitement anymore.

It was in those moments that you wished you did live in a fairytale, no matter what happened, there will always be some type of adventure going on, something bigger than having to decide if you were going to eat beef flavored ramen or chicken flavored ramen. Unfortunately that was impossible and the best you could do was get your degree and move to another city in hopes to start a new, hopefully more exciting life.

With a small sigh, you shook your head and moved on to take your clothes and take a shower.

After the shower you decided on skipping dinner and going directly to bed ‘what an exciting change from my routine’ you thought for yourself. Quickly, you got under the bedsheets and let your body relax. No matter what, your favorite time of the day is when you get to lay down in your bed and rest.

Since you were tired from the day you had, it didn’t take you long to fall asleep. In less than ten minutes you had already fallen into a deep sleep to which you would have hoped it was a dreamless sleep.

The next thing you know, you were hearing small noises as you were pretty sure it was something in your dream but it felt way too real to be a dream. Although you were confused, you could still feel a calming peace inside of you, as if you were in the most comforting place you have ever been, as if you were home.

"Excuse me lady, wake up...wake up, this isn’t a safe place to sleep” A voice, which seemed to be distant, called and with a small frown you started to wake up.

Like always, when you were woken up by someone, you let out a small whine and just turned to the other side while mumbling ‘five more minutes mom’. it took you a moment to realize that your bed did not feel like it was supposed to. It normally was comfy and warm yet now it felt hard, ticklish and slightly...humid? That seemed to fully wake you up as you frowned and slowly opened your eyes. At the bright light, your eyes squinted and you groaned light but the second thing you noticed was the sudden green that invaded your sight.

Now you understand why it felt so different because you were not in your bed but somehow you were laying on some grass. You confusedly sat yourself up and looked around, having no clue of where you were or why you had woken up there. All you could see were trees around you and the bright morning sun shining down on the leaves, making the dew drops on them visible. It seemed like you were in a forest.

“I am sorry to disappoint you but I am most definitely not your mother.” A deep voice startled you from your confused daze.

Everything just kept making less and less sense for you, you couldn’t remember when you had fallen asleep next to a guy nor did you recognize the voice. Had you been drunk the day before? Not that you could remember, all you could remember was taking a shower, going to bed and waking up in this weird yet beautiful place.

Once your eyes adjusted to the light, you slightly turned to the man standing beside you, which apparently you have only noticed now to be there. As your eyes laid upon the boy, or rather man next to you, you couldn’t believe your eyes, he was the most handsome guy you have ever seen in your life. His blond hair was perfectly combed back, his lips set in a visible amused smile, his clothes seemed to be elegant although rather old-fashioned, as if he came out of one of those medieval fairs and he had cosplayed as a king or a prince. You were about to comment on his choice of clothes but you were cut off by yourself as you noticed that your clothes weren’t the clothes you had fallen asleep with, you were sure that you didn’t even have that outfit in your closet. You were wearing a white dress which was long-sleeved and a black corset was hugging the top of the dress closer to your body, every curve of the body being accentuated because of it.

You probably looked quite crazy or weird to the boy beside you as you were looking at your clothes like it was the first time you were seeing them, let alone wearing them. You looked like you were out of place, like you did not belong there. The boy was trying to figure out if he had seen you before but he quickly decided that he had not met you before, he most definitely would have remembered your face, which contained a beauty that seemed to be different yet still ethereal.

“Where am I? Who are you?”You asked, your voice slightly raspy and strained as if you hadn’t used your voice in ages. It was quite uncomfortable so you cleared your throat a few times and hoped that your voice had gone back to its normal state.

The unknown man stared down at you and contemplated his choices, should he introduce himself and answer you or just leave you there and let you figure it out yourself. Fortunately for you, it wasn’t in the boy’s nature to just leave someone that seemed to be in need and besides he didn’t think that you would be any danger to him.

“I am Prince Jung Wooyoung, son of the King of Aldshore and successor to the crown and you are in my father’s kingdom” The boy introduced himself.

Your face morphed into an even more confused expression but this time it also held surprise within it. For some reason his name and the name of the place where they were were very familiar to her yet she couldn’t place her finger on why they were familiar. You searched in your mind to find a reason as to why it sounded so familiar yet all the places that you knew about on earth didn’t have any the name of this so-called kingdom and you would remember if there was a kingdom called Aldshore.

Then it suddenly clicked in your mind and your eyes widened at the memory. You knew exactly what that place was and who the boy was but now you were thinking that the guy must be kidding you and that it was some kind of prank. That place and the boy belonged to the fairytale that your mother had created and told you for years and years. It had taken you a while to remember because it had been years since you'd last heard the story since you were now a young adult and didn’t live with your mother anymore.

“You are joking right? If this is a prank, let me tell you that it is not funny now tell me where I am and why I am wearing these clothes. Were you the one changing me from my clothes? You creep” You let out loudly and stood up suddenly, just wanting to go home since you had to study for an upcoming exam.

Looking around, you realized that you had no idea where you were and you seriously doubted that you would be able to find your way home on your own when all you could see was trees and a clear trail where it seemed to extend for miles.

“I am sorry but I do not joke around when it comes to my title, my lady, and what does that word mean that you said, p-prank was it? Anyways I assure you that I was not the one that changed your garments, I would never take a lady’s clothing without her being my concubine or unless she gives me her consent to do so”

The prince answered, his eyes furrowed deep in confusion. The way you spoke was so different from what he was used to. He knew that you both were speaking the same language yet it sounded weird, more vulgar than his language. It quite shocked him how you had spoken to him, no one had dared to speak to him in such a tone and he for sure had never been called a creep before. Wooyoung didn’t know if he should be furious or be amazed that you had talked to him in such a way.

Suddenly you let out a laugh at the situation just thinking that it was all a big joke and that he was just a great actor but when you noticed that his face stayed unchanged, your laughter started to die down and you looked at him trying to find any type of humor present in his face but unfortunately you found none. Slowly but surely you were starting to believe him yet you couldn’t wrap your head around it, it was all supposed to be made up, a story told for little children and not real and standing in front of you.

“Am I dead? Is this my type of heaven? If so I want to talk to whatever god that made me come here because I need to have a talk with them” you asked more to yourself than to the boy still standing next to you.

The boy could not help but let a chuckle out before shaking his head at the question “I’m sorry, my lady, but you are definitely not dead unless I am talking to a spirit”

You could feel a huge headache forming as your brain tried to make any sense out of all that was happening. You decided to play along for now, hoping that somewhere along the way it all would make sense. With a little hesitation, you turned towards the so called prince and gave him a small tight smile

“I apologize I realized that I haven't introduced myself yet, I am Y/N. I am very sorry for behaving like this but…” you started but you remembered that you could not tell the truth of why you were behaving like that so you quickly made up a lie “I think I’ve lost my memory and I can't remember anything besides my name and my mother”

The prince seemed to believe you as his face turned into one of understanding. Prince Wooyoung was starting to pity you since you couldn't remember anything, for all he knew you were not even from his kingdom. He instantly made a decision to let you stay at the castle during the time that would be necessary to get your memory back. The boy smiled and nodded to show that he did not take offense in the way you had behaved nor in the way you had talked to him, he was sure that he would have reacted in a similar way if he was in the same situation you were in - in the situation he thought you were in.

“It’s alright, lady Y/N, I understand why you behaved like that and I do not blame you, if it had been another royal, they might have not been as forgiving as I am. Fortunately for you, I do not like seeing people in need of help, especially someone as beautiful as you, so I am offering you a place in my castle to stay in until you remember more about your life.” The young prince offered as he put a charming smile on his face.

The prince did know how to charm any lady in the kingdom, even some men too but you could not focus on that, the only thing that really mattered to you for now was how you ended up waking up in a fairytale and how the hell you would go back to your world. After his offer you just chuckled awkwardly and rubbed your arm, a nervous habit that you had, and blushed softly at the compliment.

“Oh I don’t want to bother you, prince Wooyoung, you probably have more important matters to attend to than having to help an unknown and lost girl” you answered as your head bowed slightly in embarrassment. "Nonsense I am more than glad to help you besides I can attend to those matters while also taking you in, I can multitask and I will also request a servant to be at your service, helping you with whatever you may need” The prince waved her reasoning.

You knew that there was no way you could refuse his offer, you remember how your mother had described the boy as stubborn and headstrong so all you could do was nod and accept the offer. Wooyoung couldn’t help as a bright smile grew on his face and holding a hand out to you so that he could guide you out of the forest and towards the castle but all you did was return his smile with your much smaller own smile before starting to walk in a random direction. This did surprise the prince that you had rejected his hand but he did not do anything about that as he let his hand fall to his side.

The boy suddenly laughed and smirked, which made you stop in your tracks before looking at him with a raised eyebrow because you could not understand why he was laughing out of nowhere. The blond boy only pointed in another direction and grinned innocently.

“The castle’s that way, if you go that way you might get lost and eaten by whatever animal lives in this forest” He explained which made your face redden in embarrassment and just turn towards the direction he was pointing to and walk without any word to avoid any further embarrassment. The boy just snickered to himself as he shook his head before going after you, jogging a little to catch up with you since you had already advanced quite a bit.

‘This girl is most certainly very interesting’ Wooyoung thought to himself before starting to explain the way back to the village and his house - the castle - and explaining every single building or house on the way there