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filthforfriends · 2 years ago

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Chapter 9

Alpha!Damiano x Omega!Reader

Yes twice in a week<3

The sound of three seatbelts being undone rouses you before Dami has the chance. The first thing you do is check if your scarf has stayed in place. It had. Damiano’s over reaction might have been a dead giveaway, so the whole charade could be pointless. It’s not your peers' judgment that worries you. Most of the alpha-omega population was marked for the first time in high school or secondary education. However, the judgmental stares of nosy parents as you pick your way to your seats was slightly unnerving.

You sat five rows back from where the coaches stood, greeting all of them. How one smile was supposed to smooth over yesterday was beyond you until you saw Dami’s smile. Waving cheerfully, you do your best to emulate everyone’s disposition.

“You gonna be okay for a minute?” Dami asks, plopping the three blankets you settled on down.

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead.” He nimbly jumps down the bleachers and vaults over the railing onto the sidelines. Although Damiano is out of sight, you can hear when the team sees him from their cheers. The whole amphitheater is loud, especially some screeching coming from the unofficial omega section. Turning to see who’s making all the god damn noise, you realize it's Emmaline trying to get your attention.

“Oh, hi!” you wave. Her and Athena aggressively beckon you over, a request which you only heed to stop bringing attention to yourself.

“Starting early are we?” They burst into giggles as you seat yourself in the middle. Really, you should have been smarter, because a tipsy Emmaline starts pulling down your scarf. You smack her hand away.

“For fuck’s sake,” you hiss, giving her a scorching, dirty look.

“Sorry, sorry,” she chortles, throwing her hands up like a robber. “I don’t know why you’d want to hide it. Damiano’s gorgeous.” A raging flare of jealousy is your first indicator that the mark is taking effect. Dami’s beauty was an objective fact and Emmaline was mated to Lars.

“I just don’t want to announce it to everyone all at once. My family doesn’t even know.”

“Then why the hell risk coming here??”

“Em, you know what happened yesterday,” Athena whisper yells. She bends over so she’s not audible to other attendees.

“But he can’t even play! What’s the fucking point of dragging her out here at the ass crack of dawn on a Saturday?”

“I honestly don’t know either,” you pipe up. Emmaline may have been rude, but she alway said exactly what she meant. A whistle indicates the start of the game, and you all take a moment to cheer Romero on. Manchu Sport ran onto the field, from the opposite side, in some offensively neon green uniforms. As soon as her attention isn’t on the field, Athena glances back and forth between the two of you incredulously.

“Because someone started a rumor that she found him! And that, y’know…it wasn’t just a normal fight. Does Lars not tell you anything?”

“I did find him,” you respond. For the first time in possibly their entire lives, Athena and Em are speechless. Someone on the coaching staff or in the collegiate sports office had treated Dami’s full blown health crisis like a fictional tabloid anecdote. It made you murderous.

“He’s not actually dangerous if you don’t threaten him,” you justify.

“Uh, well not to you because you’re marked,” Athena challenged.

“He marked me after.” Em and Athena are shocked, and maybe even a little impressed. If they had actually seen Dami in an episode, like his team mates, they’d know he wasn’t a violent monster. This fact was evidenced by Romero Soccor’s warm greeting. Of course, it only takes one little lying shit whose inadequacy complex is triggered by Damiano.

“Wait, where are you getting your information? This is supposed to be private.” Athena looks at you with pity.

“There was a basketball tournament this fall. Some error by the referee at the semi-finals. Oceanna was supposed to play Romero in the finals, but they got disqualified super last minute and Dam had to play his old school.” You realize that you don’t even know the name. Asking now would make it seem like Damiano withheld information from you.

“There wasn’t any warning and there was no one to sub in,” Athena continues. “If he didn’t play we’d have to forfeit so –”

“So of course he agreed to play, anyways,” you fill in.

“And we won by a landslide,” Emmaline adds, proudly. “But they were sore losers. Asked for a rematch, but we won the whole tournament.”

“In retribution the couple of seniors that knew Damiano was forced to switch schools started talking to our seniors. Eventually someone, somewhere leaked the why.”

“Sadistic cunts,” Em curses.

“PTA vultures.”

“Sadistic PTA vulture’s cunts,” she compounds.

“So how many people know?”

“Star was trying to keep it quiet,” Athena sighs.

“But now…” you prompt.

“About a third of the team knows and a few of their omega’s. A lot of people just thought he was upset yesterday. It’s a coveted secret. Knowing is a sign of seniority, so it’s not spreading like wildfire.”

“Yet,” you groan, resting your face in your palms. “He’s not even a threat to betas or omega’s, ever.

“Really?” Emmaline exclaims. “Christ, they made it seem like – ow!” Athena kicks her hard so she stops talking. You’d been so enraptured in conversation that you didn’t notice Damiano’s presence until he was right behind you.

“Hey,” Dami greets you warmly. He sits on the riser above you, arms draped around your neck. You tilt your head back for a kiss. It's just a peck because the position is awkward. He rests his face against your scalp and breathes in deep.

“What's it been? An unbearable 12 minutes without her?”

“Actually I believe it’s been 13 minutes and 5.2 seconds.”

“So basically an entire lifetime.” Em and Athena tease.

“Fuck off,” Dami mutters, lifting his face after a few moments. “I was just checking on you. You looked stressed.” You place one hand on Damiano’s cheek and turn to gaze up at him. His big, soulful eyes stare down at you adoringly and you forget to answer his question. He cradles the base of your skull, fingers threaded in your hair. Dami kisses your forehead and you allow your eyes to fall closed, just focusing on the sensation of his skin on yours. This was your little safe haven, where your mind went quiet and all the complexity of the world fell away. This was simple, animal.

When Dami pulled away, your fingertips fell to his jawline. He caught your hand in his, kissed it, and placed it in your lap.

“Whatcha talking about?” Lying doesn’t even cross your mind.

“You.”

“Me?” he asks. His infelction and expression are so cheerful that you hope Dami will allow you to elaborate later.

“Yeah, about how it took y/n six days to get your mark. Couldn’t even hold out a full week.” Dami’s eyes don’t move from your face. Instead of being offended by Em or emasculated, he grins.

“I assume they’re not this mean to you?”

“Definitely not, but I can come sit with you if you want?” It was adorable that Dami might miss you from only a few yards away.

“Take your time, I’m just checking.” He gets up and returns to his family.

“So he’s clingy, '' Em narrates. Damiano settles next to Sandro, pointing at something on the field. You quickly scan the auditorium for what everyone else is doing, and find yourself being watched by half a dozen people. Not glanced at in curiosity, but examined. You check to see if Dami has noticed, but he’s blissfully oblivious. His parents on the other hand, Isabella especially, are hyper-aware. She keeps looking back and forth between you and the spectators.

At first you wonder if it’s your fresh mark, but that's far from newsworthy.There was an omega at the far end of your section whose mark couldn’t be more than a week old and was being spared no glances. Under Isabella’s strategic gaze, you finally realize your role today.

“Oh my fucking god,” you groan.

“What is it?”

“I’m the evidence. I’m here because I am the evidence that Damiano isn’t vicious and out of control. They’re all fucking looking at me,” you hiss, ducking. Athena and Em glance around themselves.

“I wouldn’t say all –”

“Sadistic PTA vulture’s cunts.” Emmaline announces the words louder than necessary while looking behind her.

“Mm-mm, I am the wrong person for this job.” You put a hand to your chest as it tightens, then lower that hand because people will blame your distress on just speaking to Damiano. “If I have a panic attack they’ll blame it on him.”

“You’re not gonna have a panic attack,” Athena soothes, taking your hand and squeezing it. Emmaline does the same on the other side.

“Just pretend that you’re sick.”

“They’ll blame that on Damiano too. ‘Did you see his girlfriend? I’ve never seen any omega look so ill after being marked by a normal alpha.’” You impersonate these apparently hobbyless, prying alpha parents in a nasal voice.

“Well, shit,” Em deadpans.

“Am I gonna be in the spotlight forever?” you worry. “People are always gonna be prejudiced. How much of my life is gonna be fighting this bullshit because I love someone with AD2? I am not a shiny person.”

“I’ll pretend to be sick,” Em decides. “Ready, set…” She stands up to cheer like she’s wasted. Nothing has happened on the field. Then she takes a long drink from her suspicious coffee mug, wobbles, and pretends to gag. So you and Athena rush her out of the bleachers and into the first bathroom. Once the door is locked, you sink to the floor, dropping your head between your legs.

“Okay, listen. You only have to control what people think, if you care what they think,” Em points out.

“There are laws and protocols in place to protect the rights of people with hormonal dysfunction. Just get through the next year and change, then you can do it your own way.” You focus on taking slow, deep breaths, thinking that scenting would be really helpful right now. “And if Dam takes a job where he only interacts with omegas and betas, then the whole thing is mute, anyways.”

“But Damiano is so stuck in this way of being. You have no idea how fucking difficult it can be.” Athena looks at you helplessly.

“That boy would walk on glass for you.” Emmaline declares this as if Dami’s commitment was ever in question.

“But I don’t want him to! I want his life to be easy!” The room falls silent. Never did you imagine that Em and Athena would be your confidants in anything.

“I used to have playdates with Dam, when we were tiny. Isabella has always had a stick up her ass. She makes things seem harder than they are. Just…look at this again in a couple days.”

“Reevaluate,” Athena agrees. You nod, trying to shake off the anxiety. Now that you’d dodged the panic attack from, everything was uphill. At least that’s the platitude you kept repeating to yourself while walking back to the amphitheater because it had to be true.

“Very impressive performance by the way Em.”

“Thank you, thank you.” She stops to take a bow and wave at a fake audience. Knowing you’re going to be observed, you school your face into an annoyed friend and go straight to Dami. He’s standing up, back to the field, having a heated conversation with his mother. When Damiano sees you his shoulders relax and his focus shifts.

“See?” Isabella gestures towards your approach. Dami folds you into a tight hug which your return. For a few seconds, you don’t have to think about what your face is doing. Based on how tense he was, Dami probably wanted to go find you and his mother insisted he remain seated. Doing otherwise would be fuel for rumors.

You and Damiano sit on a quilt. It’s a nice alternative to cold, metal bleachers that have made you butt numb. He also threw a blanket across your laps. You could feel his concerned gaze on you. Concealing your distress for his own good had you twisted up inside and he could sense the conflict below the surface.

“Later. We’re good.” He nods, expression unchanged, and pecks your lips. The game drags on, and while being tucked under Damiano’s arm is wonderful, the sensation that you’re being watched prevails. It makes you want to crawl out of your skin. At one point, you throw your legs over Dami’s lap so you can press your face against his coat and pretend to sleep. He can probably feel that you’re faking it right now, just as you could sense last night. He strokes your hair and fiddles with your scarf, attentive in a way that makes your chest feel warm despite everything.

When the crowd is focused on whether or not a goal is about to be made you pull Dami’s jacket aside and press your nose to his scent gland. He smells like the first warm rain of spring, when everything comes alive in the greenest hue of green. He also smells like you. Unfortunately this scent won’t stay on him permanently until you mate. On the other hand, his smell is now gaining prevalence in your pheromones because of the mark. It’s a sweet musk, the perfect encapsulation of Dami’s alpha role within your relationship.

Damiano should pull away from you. Scenting is considered inappropriate behavior for a public setting. This is close enough that if someone in front of you were to turn around they’d think you were rude. Luckily, his giant hood and shoulder pads shield you from the back and side with a modicum of privacy. Instead of stopping you, Damiano sits completely still and allows you to enjoy his pheromones. Rather than just smelling, you breathe in with your mouth open and eyes closed. The subsequent effects are powerful enough that you’re satisfied, slowly pulling back.

“Better?” he murmurs, readjusting his jacket to its normal position.

“Yeah,” you sigh, lacing your hands together under the blanket. You realize that you can figure this out if you’re always on the same team. You’d have to stand by Damiano, even when it challenged you.

Unfortunately, the effects of your little transgression don’t last very long and you’re craving scenting again. You couldn’t do it here. Lord knows, what people would have to say if the both of you disappeared somewhere private. Not in the car, but maybe Damiano could walk you upstairs. It’d have to be really rushed.

“Damiano, is she asleep?” Isabella whispered. When he looks down at you, your eyes flutter open to lovingly meet his gaze.

“I think so,” he responds.

“When we drop y/n off, we should meet her family officially. I think it's far past time for that, don’t you?” Yep, they knew. Rather than banish you, Isabella had made it public that you were Damiano’s committed girlfriend. Sure, you felt a bit like a prop, but it was weirdly validating.

“Yeah, okay.” Dami looks back down at you, eyes wide open and ready to admire him from any angle you were provided. His hair fell around your face like a curtain. For a brief moment, it was only you two. It seemed that you realized simultaneously that this position was very similar to one you took last night, where Dami had pulled you sideways into his lap and cradled you. Sure it was just your legs across his lap today, but the blankets and shelter of all the layers created intimacy. Dami’s cock twitched against your thigh and he winced.

“Stop thinking about it,” you whispered.

“I can’t,” Damiano blushed.

“Think about the game.” He sighs, readjusts uncomfortably, and focuses on the scoreboard. The hand holding Dami’s is toasty and you rub your thumb to and fro. Damiano looks back at you and his expression becomes somewhat pained.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he demands, in a whisper.

“Like what?”

“Like…how you were.”

“This isn’t how I looked when you knotted me,” you defend. Dami’s eyes go wide and he shakes his head. You’re not sure about what, speaking so softly it's not as if anyone else could hear.

“Why would you bring that up?” he hisses. Damiano’s cock jumps against your thigh again.

“I thought that's what we were talking about.”

“But don’t actually say it. That makes it so much worse.” You shrug and Damiano focuses on the field with a heavy sigh. There probably wasn’t any discernible difference and this was all in his head. Testing your theory, you try to emulate the expression you’d used while play-fighting. Damiano had put you on your back and you’d looked at him like you’d never dream of disobeying him again.

When Dami compulsively went to check on you again he actually froze. You hadn’t thought it would do much at all. Instead, these barely negligible changes in expression had a huge impact. Manipulating Dami with just your eyes was dangerously fun, but he looked like he was about to blow a gasket.

“Christ, really?” You drop the facade and his chest heaves. The smirk that appears on your face might get you in trouble later, but you can’t help it. Dami untangles your hands and turns his attention staunchly forward. He gently pushes your legs off of his lap so you’re sitting upright. His other arm remains around your shoulders, perhaps for appearances.

Your stomach is sinking at the knowledge you’ve upset him. Dami’s arm pulls back too, but only so he can rub your back. It’s those long, soothing strokes he uses to comfort. He’s not angry. In fact, his hand finds your waist and pulls you closer. At the same time his stoic expression is focused on the field, like he’s refusing to look at your way.

“Love?” you murmur. Damiano turns to you immediately. His face is attentive, nothing else.

“Hey,” he jostles you, pulling the blanket up on your lap. Out of relief you kiss him, but Damiano doesn’t allow it to be more than a brief peck.

“I’m not mad, but I need to not have a boner when I stand up. Your legs putting pressure on my lap was not helping.” Dami drops his head so he can whisper in your ear.

“Oh.” You wrap both arms around his torso under his unzipped coat. “This okay?”

“Mhm.” Damiano pecks your forehead, watching the game.

“I promise I won’t do that thing with my eyes again. You can look at me.”

“But staring at these disgusting, sweaty, muddy alphas is much more effective.” You decide not to take it personally.

“When you’re warming up and it’s windy, you all look like blue marshmallows with legs.”

“So the height of masculinity?”

“Exactly.” He squeezes you and leans his head against yours. The gesture roughly translates to thank you for understanding.

Romero barely loses the game, with both sides yelling at the referee. Dami gets so invested that he spends the last 10 minutes on his feet with Sandro. His profanity laden encouragement, screamed at Star, ended with you covering your ears. Athena was just as into it, but you could see Emmaline rolling her eyes from across the amphitheater. When Manchu is announced as the winner, you do get on your feet because being the only one seated felt strange. Daminao beamed when he saw you heckling beside him.

Filing out of the bleachers, you realized this was going to be Act 3. The Davids greeted the coaches from over the railing while Dami sprinted onto the field, jumping several feet in the air. He greets his teammates: fist bumping, shoulder checking, and straight up shoving each other to the ground in good spirit. There are a couple stragglers who seem too intimidated to partake and stand a couple yards away.

Leaning against a fence post, you wait at the entrance to the field. You want to be in Dami’s line of sight when he looks for you. As he scans his surroundings, you wait for him to find you. It has become one of your greatest joys, to watch the change in Damiano’s face from searching to locating you. He lights up.

After exchanging a few more greetings, he heads towards you. A younger player, one of the stragglers. follows behind him. He probably wants to say hi now that Damiano is not surrounded by other loud alphas.

“Ready to go?” Dami calls out.

“I don’t know, are you boys done with that mating dance?” He chuckles, and in the background Lars flaps his arms like wings and hops. Another player follows along, squawking.

“I don’t know them,” Dami jokes, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb. Of course, this only encourages the team’s antics. You’re so distracted that you don’t hear the scrawny player that had followed Damiano the first time he speaks.

“Oh shit, hey Mika. What's up?” Dami greets him warmly.

“I said, ‘you seem fine.’” You and Damiano look at eachother, trying to discern what the little shrimp was talking about. “You’re obviously fine, so why didn’t you play?” Dami is wracking his brain for anyone missing at yesterday’s practice, but you both realize that wouldn’t matter. This kid would be informed of the fight as soon as he stepped into the locker room this morning. He was trying to humiliate Dami, when all of Romero Soccer's attention was on him.

“Because the collegiate sports board isn’t a 7/11,” you snap.

“But Julio was removed from the team. What’s there to evaluate?” Mika was smirking, trying to force Dami to out himself in front of dozens of spectators. Behind you, people were slowing down as they walked by. You scramble for an answer. Just cursing the little shit out was an omission of guilt.

“Nikolai.” You throw Damiano a life line and he takes it.

“I guess no one told you that either,” Damiano cringed. Pitying Mika for not earning inclusion in team conversations was so much more effective than attacking him.

“Nikolai is on probation and the board has to decide what to do with him.”

“Did you try to kill him too?”

“I didn’t try to kill anyone!” Damiano lashes out. You catch him by his wrist and pull him next to you.

“I just don’t understand why Nikolai and Julio aren’t even allowed to be here. Since, you’re obviously a danger to people around you. Everyone who knows agrees with me, but they just too scared –”

“You know I truly cannot imagine being this insecure.” Dami may not be willing to sink to Mika’s level but you’d happily make friendship bracelets with Hades. You’d take pleasure in crushing Dami’s enemies in the process of defending his honor. So he can see the confidence in your face, you look over to him. Damiano is petrified. Are you absolutely ready to go to war right here, right now, in front of god and everybody? Yes, but he’s not.

“Or should I say delusional. Everybody who? You’re the only one standing here. Literally look around yourself.” Mika does in fact, look around himself. “C’mon, let's go,” you pull Dami’s hand towards the parking lot. Before you can turn around, Mika recovers.

“That’s what I’m saying! They’re scared of him.” You force yourself to burst out laughing and look at Star from across the field. He understands that gaslighting is a group effort and starts chuckling, staring at Mika like he’s lost his mind.

“What the fuck are you even talking about? I’m actually so confused.” Acting as though the whole thing’s absurd was a shortcut to ruining Mika’a credibility. There's a place inside your heart where you know a shred of empathy should lay, but all that’s left is anger on your alpha’s behalf.

“I have no idea,” Star agrees. Mika’s head turns back and forth as he realizes the power of a vindictive omega.

“Julio attacked Dami. Dami defended himself. Julio got kicked off the team, but somehow Damiano is the unhinged, violent one? Julio isn’t even allowed to come to games!” People had stopped walking altogether, just to watch the spectacle.

“Yeah, what are you even mad about?” says a voice you don’t recognize.

“We lost because we were missing three of our best players and it's his fault! He shouldn’t even be on the team!”

“Thank you.” Damiano finally pipes up next to you. Everyone listening in has confusion on their faces.

“For saying I’m one of the best players on the team. That means a lot, man.” He even claps Mika on the shoulder while smirking. It’s his alpha smirk, his I know I’m the hottest one here smirk, his I have the power smirk. It means all his defenses are up, but also that he’ll be okay.

Lars matches that expression, and suddenly Mika feels very small. Everyone has forgotten about the second sentence. He shouldn’t even be on the team. They’re all enraptured by this young, egotistical alpha being publicly humbled by his own.

“You should be thanking Dami, since you’re his alternate.”

“I’m not his alternate!” defends Mika.

“Oh, sorry I don’t know a lot about sports. What's it called when someone is only allowed to play if one of the good athletes can’t?” you ask Damiano. He scoffs and puffs his chest out.

“Good game, boys.” He raises his hand in farewell, and walks away, throwing an arm around your shoulders. You decide to keep the charade up as long as you’re being watched.

“That was so random. What is up with that kid?”

“I don’t know, maybe dehydration,” he shrugs, casually. Dami catches on so fast that you wonder if this isn’t the first time he’s had to perform.

“Are they gonna have to get him a doctor?”

“Maybe,” he sighs. “I sure hope not. I think he’ll feel okay after some electrolytes.”

“Is it ‘cause he’s never been on the field for a full game?” Usurping Mika’s last bit of credibility is vindicating.

“I think…” Damiano squints his eyes while pretending to jog his memory. “Yeah, I think that’s the longest he’s been in a game.” A few seconds later you’re out of the crowd and walking across the parking lot. Sandro and Matteo are standing outside the car and Isabella comes up behind you, breathless.

“Good, that was good!” she assures, always watching. The best way to describe Damiano’s response to her words is that he shuts off. He shuts off his emotions, reactions, opinions, vulnerability, personality, affection. In the process he mutes your connection. The ways you can sense and anticipate each other is severed. When you reach out to understand it's like screaming into the universe’s largest expanse of emptiness. Sure, non-verbal episodes as a stress response weren’t uncommon with alpha-omegas, but this went so far beyond that. There’s no shape or light in the place you used to be connected. He’s not there. He occupies some other space, entirely unreachable.

You’d never appreciated your bond. It grew so gradually and paled in comparison to a mating bond. Now that Damiano had blocked everything out, your tethering point became a bloodied hole.

“Let me in. Let me in,” you whisper in his ear. The car was moving but your whole world felt at a stand still. Damiano hadn’t cared who sat in the middle seat. Now you had to wonder if he’d be compelled to protect you right now. No, you didn’t need his protection, but after a year with a safety net that yawning chasm of fate feels less like a fact of life and more like inevitability.

You try to hold Dami’s hand, but he barely responds. Even as you lean your forehead against his temple.

“Just let me in. You don’t have to let anyone else in,” you whisper. “Please, please, please, please.” Blocking someone less than a day after marking them had to be the height of cruelty. “Dami, you’re hurting me.” He doesn’t react. “Love, you’re hurting me.” Tears burn behind your eyes. Would this episode affect your mark? Would it develop normally or would this thrilling new intimacy be warped?

“Just squeeze my hand.” You wait in rapture, knowing that he won’t punish you in an effort to punish himself. He’ll hold your hand back and you’ll start from there. You wait and you wait and that response never comes. If Dami wasn’t blinking, you’d assume he was unconscious, but even when you woke in the middle of the night it wasn’t like this. He wasn’t exhausted or preoccupied. Damiano was purposefully pushing you away with both hands and every ounce of his monstrous mental fortitude.

“This isn’t fair,” you whisper. “I want you just as you are.” Pressing a kiss to his cheek makes you realize that Damiano always leaned into your touches, ever so slightly. The meeting of your lips and his bare skin always changed his breathing. Now he’s a statue, like you mean nothing to him.

“There's something wrong with Dami.” Your voice shakes and the tears fall. Everyone looks at him. You expected someone to startle, instead it's as if they’ve seen it before. Sandro reaches across and shakes his knee.

“Dam? Damiano, c’mon. Dam?” Nothing. Your stomach turns and suddenly you can’t stand being in the same space as this creature who was once your boyfriend filled with energy and passion for life.

“Pull over.”

“What?” Matteo asks. “Here?” You nod.

“Pull over. Just pull over, it doesn’t matter.” He idles on the shoulder outside an abandoned industrial building. You clamber out of the car. After a few breaths of fresh air the nausea abates, but everytime you look at him it comes back. For the first time, you could describe the exact color and shape of Damiano’s soul. The weight, texture, and the way it shimmered in the sun, or sung with the wind on stormy afternoons. You could do all these things, because you now knew what he looked like without it.

“Can you hand me my backpack?” you cry, covering the ugly noises your mouth is making with one hand. Sandro picks it up and reaches across Dami’s body, handing it over. Damiano’s eyes follow. For a millisecond you can see him, cowering in the farthest corner of his brain. Or maybe you’re imagining it to stay sane.

“Sometimes the stress after an episode makes him non-verbal. We already know that it’s a normal –”

“No! This is not non-verbal. My sister Thalia goes non-verbal when she gets overstimulated. This isn’t – he’s not…” A sob shakes you so completely that you sit down in the grass. Matteo turns off the engine and switches on the hazard lights. Isabella gets out and walks around the car.

“These episodes are usually very short. He’ll probably be fine within the next couple days.”

“Fine?” you seeth. “A person does not go from that to fine in 24 hours, or a week, or probably a fucking month!” Part of you is aware that this isn’t the way to talk to your alpha’s mother, but a significantly larger part doesn’t care.

“I know the catatonia –”

“Catatonia!? He’s not there, Isabella. He’s not fucking there!” You point to your head while tears run down your face. “Do you understand? There’s nothing on the other end. He’s not there!” No beta could begin to comprehend this, but Isabella is an alpha. She takes a deep breath and nods and that's all you can make out between the sobs. Everyone's expressions are blurry, but you don’t care about their condemnation or absolution. Let them think what they want about your reaction.

“That is not stress! He’s – he’s just…he doesn’t want to interact with the world.” you sob, gasping for air. He doesn’t want to be here are the words you can’t bear to say. Isabella places a maternal hand on your back but enrages you rather than comforts. Isabella, who made Dami come to the game where he was ambushed and judged.

“If you knew this could happen, why make him go today?” you demand, furious. “You should have protected him! If he’d stayed at home this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Or something else could have triggered it.”

“And I could hypothetically get hit by a bus at any minute which is why I don’t walk into the street with my eyes closed!!” Outright screaming is a sign this interaction needs to end. “I’m sorry for yelling. I’ll walk home.” The words are mechanical, and you never meet anyone's eyes.

“Honey, that's going to be at least an hour,” Matteo calls. You can’t look back, already crying so hard that walking is difficult. Crying so hard you can’t even hear when the car drives away. Crying so hard that you don’t hear your mother trying to get your attention when she pulls up next to you.

“Y/n? Y/n? Darling, the Davids called me. They explained what’s going on.” You trip on the curb trying to get into the car. Landing on the asphalt reminds you of all the times Dami caught your clumsy ass, which just increases the despair. The ride home is a couple minutes, during which you try to get your shit together.

“Is Clio home?” you sniff.

“Yes, she is,” your mother replies evenly.

“Fuck,” you groan, rubbing your flushed face.

“I’ll make sure she goes easy on you.” Walking into your house was a mix of emotions. At this moment you’d be dreading the Davids driving away and wishing you had more time with Dami. Right now, you miss Damiano, but can’t stand being around him.

As soon as you get your shit together it all goes to pieces again. First thing you do is take off your coat, Dami’s coat. The memory of how animated he was this morning is torture. After the shoes and the jacket you take off your scarf out of habit, revealing the evidence that you’d been marked.

Crying some more while mom makes camomile tea only gives you a headache. When Clio walks into the kitchen, you know it’s about to hurt like a brain aneurysm.

“Are you out of your fucking mind? You’re 15!” she exclaims, first thing. “I’m gonna kill him for deceiving you like this. There’s things that you don’t even know about and –”

“I know,” your croak. “I know about all of it and I provided informed, enthusiastic consent, so you can fuck off.”

“And the fact that you were okay with it is just evidence that you’re not old enough to make this decision, oh shit.” You burst into tears again. Clio takes three steps forward and crushes you in a hug.

“I’m gonna get snot all over you.”

“Don’t care. I’m going to castrate him with a butter knife,” she pledges.

“Please don’t. He’s not the reason I’m crying. I mean, he is, but not like that.”

“Then what’s it like?” she questions, harshly. Clio pulls back to look at your face.

“He didn’t hurt me, but he’s in a shitty situation. I’m pretty sure I’m in love with him and I just feel so much empathy that I can’t – can’t” you gasp, followed by a sob. Mom hands Clio a paper towel for you to blow your nose. Clio analyzes you for a few moments, gaze scrupulous.

“Come with me.” Your sister drags you to the bathroom and rips off the bandage. She must examine the bite for a full minute, before stepping back.

“I assume you’re checking y/n’s mark,” mom calls. “How’s it looking?”

“Immaculate,” admits Clio begrudgingly. “There’s nothing left for me to do,” she calls. “No discoloration, no sign of infection, no rash, no irritation, no discharge. I could put a bandage on it, but it’s already scabbed over.”

“Well, that’s excellent!” Mom is trying to interject as much positivity as possible into the conversation via her tone of voice.

“Maybe the bastard does care about you as much as you think he does,” Clio mumbles. This makes you smile, but then your eyes water.

“Sit sideways,” she demands. You sit sideways on the closed toilet lid so she can brush your hair. It's sort of her love language. Clio takes it down out of the jumbo scrunchie pensively.

“I thought you lost this.”

“Lent it to Dami. There's a picture in the school newsletter. He kept it by his bed all week.”

“Sentimental bastard.” Clio pulls her phone out of her pocket and switches to your email. She stares at the picture in her nondominant hand while brushing with the other.

“Hmm” is the extent of her retort. After detangling she methodically applies hair oil and creates plaits. Mom brings you a cup of tea, communing from a seat on the edge of the bathtub.

“So, yesterday?” she asks. You nod in return. The way Clio braided was way more complex than you had the patience to learn. Her beautiful, delicate hands worked painstakingly.

“I hope it was…I hope you feel content with it.” Clio radiates disapproval, but she doesn’t speak up.

“He was amazing,” you whisper, staring at the grout. “I wasn’t scared. I felt respected.” Even talking about Damiano in a hoarse murmur was almost too much. “It was my choice, all of it. I picked exactly when I got marked.” Mom nodded, shifting her grip on the tea mug, thoughtfully.

“You picked a good one,” she decided, then dropped the topic. Her and Clio chatted back and forth, just ambient noise. Your neck was stiff by the end of it, but the result was beautifully intricate. You admire how shiny your hair is in the mirror, no longer feeling the urge to blubber.

“Thank you.”

“It’s lovely work Clio.” She gives a tight lipped smile in response, standing with her hands on her hips.

“Stress is such a vague term,” she proclaims. You know it's in reference to the details mom had shared with her. This entire time Clio has been contemplating the situation.

“I think he really loves parts of his life, but sometimes it gets too overwhelming for him to tolerate. Isabella just accepts that, but I don’t.”

“And you shouldn’t,” Clio agrees. “His parents are being irresponsible.”

“I’m sure it's a very complex situation,” added your mother. Such a gentle mannered woman had ended up with three daughters that were all just different brands of incendiary.

“They’re trying to do the right thing for him, but it feels like they never talk about it. There was just this protocol decided on at some point and they’re gonna stick with that forever.” Your mother nods in agreement and the bathroom is silent for a minute.

“Do you feel like now you could stand to be around him?” Clio asks, folded arms.

“Uh, yeah. Him shutting me out was just…too much.”

“It’s not about you though, he’s shutting everybody out.”

“He could have made an exception!” you snap.

“Or maybe he couldn’t,” Clio countered. “Maybe it was just too hard. Anyways, my point is that he needs you right now because you advocate for him. If that’s too much pressure, fine. That’s fair, you’re only 15.. But if it’s not, we should go.”

***

You call Isabella before leaving, just to make sure you hadn’t offended her to the point of banishment. Surprisingly, you hadn’t offended her at all. She thought your presence may be a great idea, but only as long as it wasn’t detrimental to your own health. You agree, when what you really want to say is that nothing could be worse for my mental health then the haunting void in my mind where Damiano used to be.

His room is dark: lights off, shades drawn. If not for his pheromones, you might not have known Dami was under all those blankets. At least he smelled the same, that was a comfort.

“Hey it’s me, here to ruin your peace and quiet.” He doesn’t respond, doesn’t move. “Make any sound if you want me to leave you alone.” Again nothing, but Dami had been absolutely silent since you left the parking lot. Trying to figure out if he’s asleep, you lightly place your hand on his back and can feel his heartbeat racing. He’s probably too anxious to sleep.

“How about, stay in that exact position if you want me to leave.” You brace for it to be like holding his hand earlier, but Damiano pulls up the corner of a quilt, inviting you to lay beside him. You squeal in excitement, crawling over.

He doesn’t pull you against him, but he does hold eye contact, which is his second effort to engage with the world around him.

“Look at you, being a chatty Cathy,” you wink. “Oh shit, was that insensitive? God damn it I never know when to stop talking and, oh no.” The preemptive embarrassment hits you. “Oh, it's just gonna be so much worse now, too,” you groan, before catching yourself. “But, like no pressure! Take all the time you need. In the meantime, I…well, we’re gonna need some sort of signal for you to tell me to shut up. Do you have a bell?” You sit up, evaluating the trinkets in reach for their usefulness. “Hmm, no bell, but maybe something else that makes noise? Oh, I know!” You sink down to the pillow again. “Get one of those spray bottles they use for cats that are misbehaving. Do you have a plant mister? I'm pretty sure they’re – mm!”

Damiano kisses you. He just lurches forward and puts his mouth on yours. Technique wise, it's your worst kiss, but you still throw yourself into it. One hand comes to cup the side of his face and you stroke his cheek. You try to coax him forth, into the kiss, but it doesn’t work. He doesn’t touch you and it wouldn’t matter if he had both arms wrapped around you. It’s sort of like kissing a stranger. It feels like you’re cheating on Dami.

Compared to the normal raging inferno, you’ve got no chemistry. It’s how romantic and sexual interactions were before Dami. This was the part that was so impossible to explain, how being alone in a closed room with the right alpha could be more compelling than actual sex with someone else.

“My love,” you coo, pulling Damiano towards you. Gentle wasn’t working, so your other hand snaked under his waist and around his torso. You throw your leg over his, trying to tangle your bodies together. Dami isn’t registering that the licking and pushing at his lips with your tongue is a request. Once he opens his mouth to take a breath though, you trace the inside of his lip. What a stupid mistake to think that French kissing would work well right now. In any other situation you’d give up, embarrassed. But Damiano was trying to engage after being so completely crushed by stress that he had a trauma reaction.

“Okay, hey. Why don’t you just lay on top of me?” You flip into missionary position, arms extended. Dami gives you a strange look and awkwardly flops down. You’re hell bent on getting his face by your scent glands.

“C’mere, baby. Come up here. Mhm.” You cup the base of his head and press Damiano’s face against your mark. He bumps it painfully with his nose and you wince. Physicality wasn’t why this worked well. It worked because underneath it all, you were highly biologically compatible. That was still intact, if you could just get him to open up and feel it.

“Think about how you smell,” you whisper, and wait a full minute. “Now focus on how I smell.” After a few seconds, Dami’s hand crawls up the bed, and laces itself with yours. Somehow, some way, that resonated with him.

“That mark is yours.” Your voice wobbles, but you keep the tears at bay. “I’m yours.” Without your explicit permission, your legs have wrapped themselves around Dami. The weight, heat, and smell of his body are all the same. You’re battling primal parts of the brain that interact minimally with your conscious mind. They’re screaming: I know who this is! We know who this is!

Out of reflex, you internally reach for Damiano’s presence, already anticipating his absence. It still sucks. It feels like Dami is braced with his back to the door and you’re trying to donkey kick it open with both feet. It’s exhausting on both ends.

“I smell so good because the diversity between our immune systems is compatible. Even in the ways we're different, we’re –” He shakes his head, growling against your neck. Damiano tries to create space, but you end up on your side, noses pressed together.

“You can feel it. I belong to you, so you marked me.” There’s comprehension in Damiano’s eyes. “Which is why you can smell yourself inside me. I’m y/n and I belong to you and I asked you to mark me so you don’t just get to abandon me. No!” you growl in frustration, as Damiano’s eyes switch to looking straight through you. He’s totally checked out in a way so unsettling it makes you nauseous. Mentally, Dami has wedged a chair under the door knob, but you’ve started to work on removing the hinges.

“Do you even care that you made love to me and knotted me and marked me and I liked it so fucking much even though it hurt? It was special! You don’t just get to…Stop pretending I’m not right in front of you!”.

Dami’s face crumples. He looks sickened with guilt, on the verge of tears. His expression breaks your heart, but at the same time you feel elated. This person, however tortured, was Damiano. He wants to run and hide so you use every ounce of your strength to keep him close.

“Stop pushing me away!” You attempt to make your voice commanding instead of petulant and desperate. Damiano tries to wrench himself out of your grip, but you both know it's bullshit. Damiano is incredibly strong. So if he really wanted to be free, he could throw you across the room. Or he could inflict pain to make you let go. He does neither. This is why you decide, possibly against your better judgment, to force the issue.

“Let me in. You can do it, it’s just me.” Damiano turns his face away, which you use as an opportunity to press your lips to his ear. “Mine. Mine, mine, mine.” The reminder that he belongs to you, just as you belong to him, is too much. Or perhaps claiming him, as he tried to run from himself, was what earned rejection. Either way, Dami flips over and turns his back to you.

“Damiano, I am proud to be your omega. Damiano, you are brave. You are loved. You are in control.” He lashes out and bites your arm. The mark won’t even last until tomorrow. Instead of moving it out of range, you reposition your forearm to the exact spot it rested when Dami nipped you. This upsets him enough to let out a angry whine of betrayal for the apparently unforgivable crime of believing in him.

“Damiano, I’m proud to be your omega.” Now he exerts some strength, pinning you to the bed haphazardly with his chest and both hands. You’re on your side, arm crushed underneath.Using your free hand, you move the braid from covering your neck. Further revealing the most vulnerable place on your body, rather than using this moment to guard it. He growls and yips, like trusting him is even more offensive than providing affirmations. Damiano grabs both your wrists in one hand and painfully wrenches them to the side. Now immobilized, he rests his teeth right on your jugular vein and snarls terrifyingly.

“Bullshit,” you spew, trying to wiggle free. He keeps a tight hold on your wrists and brings his teeth to your trachea. You try not to cower. Instinctually, the response is fear, even though you know it's an empty threat.

“You’re not even letting yourself go into headspace because you’re too fucking concerned about actually scaring me.” You challenge him right back with a snarl that encompasses all the frustration of today..

With your faces pressed together, you both bare your teeth. It's more exhilarating than anything else. Damiano had never interacted this way, even though you knew it was a side of him that existed. Calling his bluff makes Dami drop the act. In the wake, you catch tenderness in his eyes.

“This isn’t your fault. None of it is your fault. You are free of blame. You are free of guilt.” He seems to give up on scaring you off. The threat was so empty, that it was more of a test than anything. Would you still want him not pretty and polished for everyone’s consumption? Could he trust that? He rolls over and curls fetal, making himself small in a way you’d never seen an alpha behave before. Gritting your teeth, you persevere.

“Why are you running from how I feel about you? To punish yourself? You’re not allowed to twist up my love for you like that,” you growl. “Stop it. I don’t consent to have my love used that way.” There it was. You’d admitted it. Damiano lets out a choking sob and takes the wall away. It’s like breaking through the surface after a riptide has kept you under water within an inch of your life. He’s everywhere again, in every sense. There's even parts of yourself you get back. Not because he took them, but because the wind blows a flower’s seed across the fence, and upon finding greener pastures the new bloom flourishes.

In the same way, parts of Damiano that were wrenched away had wallowed in their grief, sickening you. Their sharp, broken corners left stinging cuts on the soft tissue of your insides. It was no longer possible for you to be whole and separate.

“Hello my love,” you choke. “Thank you for coming back to me, I missed you.” Kiss. So very –” kiss, kiss “much!” He’s still curled up in a defensive position as you kiss his face. Silently, tears are streaming down his cheeks. It’s healthy, even if it's hard to watch.

“I meant what I said about taking your time. Don’t just stuff it all down as soon as it feels manageable. This time things are going to change so you don’t have to keep going back to this place to survive.” Dami flips on his back, face hardened, and pulls you onto his chest. His legs come up and wrap around your thighs too. It's a strange position, but you don’t dislike it.

His cheek is pressed to your forehead, so Damiano’s tears wet your face as well. This is how you can tell that things aren’t getting better. He’s still crying just as hard 15 minutes later, jaw trembling. Dami is clutching you the way a child clutches a teddy bear. Perhaps you’re not actively doing much, but if he didn’t have a secure hold on you that would make the whole thing too overwhelming to even consider.

“I love being this close to you.” You let those words stand alone for a few seconds. “Is there some way I could make this moment better? I could rub your feet, massage your back, play with your hair, put lotion on. Is there a specific type of touch that’d make you feel better?” Dami shakes his head and squeezes tighter. “Okay,” you agree, content. You’d got him back in the way that matters most. There were far worse things than being Dami’s teddy bear. Plus, this was heaven compared to him not holding your hand in the car.

At some point he realizes your forehead is all wet and releases you. You wipe it off with your hand and attempt to evaluate the situation. This was the second day you’d helped Damiano through a crisis. If he was in crisis, there was nowhere in the world you’d prefer to be than by his side. However, this one could have been avoided. Dami’s hatred and fear of these episodes made much more sense. It was never just a health event. He had to reconcile whatever harm he’d caused, save face, apologize the exact right way, damage control, justify his existence to a board of some sort, pretend he was unaffected, pretend it was insignificant. He had to parade himself around for the judgment of others, making sure it ended up favorably.

Even before that, he had to deal with injuries, public appearances, medical treatment that fucked with his hormones, exhaustion, and nightmares (apparently). Then there were the subsequent doctor’s visits. The following non-verbal episodes were just his mind and body trying to survive all that anxiety and dread.

“I was just thinking about how this is a proportional reaction to everything you’ve been subjected to.” He’s expressionless. Despite this, within yourself, Damiano feels just as present as usual.

“Hey, never do that dead eyed, soulless thing with me again, okay?” He nods diligently, visibly burdened with guilt and other crushing emotions. That's not what you wanted at all. You kiss his cheek and pivot to a bright tone.

“Do you want some water?” He nods, which is encouraging. “Food?” He shakes no. “Okay,” you accept without argument. “I’ll be back.”

Sandro, Isabella, and Matteo are all standing in the kitchen when you walk in. It’s painfully awkward, considering you just had a full blown mental breakdown on the side of the road in front of them.

“Ugh, sorry, excuse me.” You open the cupboard and take a glass out, filling it with water from the sink.

“If he seems thirsty you should give him this.” Anxiously, Isabella takes a bottle out of the fridge. “Electrolytes, some calories.” When she hands it over, you decide to take both. Sandro clears his throat roughly, probably a nervous tick.

“Is everything okay?” Matteo asks, timidly. You’re not sure what to say. Obviously, it is very not okay.

“He’s not getting worse,” you volunteer, to avoid giving anything away. Maybe communicating with you was the only thing that felt manageable. You weren’t about to create expectations that he had to meet. No one pressed you further after this nondescript answer, so you returned to the bedroom. Damiano had opened the furthest shade an inch, just enough light to see. He sat on the edge of the bed with his back turned to the window.

“Hey, your mom gave me this,” you hand over the bottled drink. “But I also got this.” He takes both and drinks the glass of water. Each ends up on the nightstand.

“So…I want you to know that you can kick me out whenever you want. Don’t feel obligated or like – okay. Okay!” He starts tugging your arms. “Okay, Dami,” you giggle, being lifted you onto his lap. Again, he wraps his arms and legs around you, but this time you come to rest on your side.

“I wasn’t saying right now, but eventually when you want space, Daammm!” This time he rolls so your face is pressed into a pillow and your voice muffled. “So you’re happy I came over, then?” He nods harshly, rubbing his face along the fabric of your top like a cat, casually dispersing some pheromones as a result. “I’m happy I’m here, too.” Damiano starts nuzzling your neck and you feel like a dumbass for not thinking of it earlier.

“Do you want me to scent you?” He disentangles himself from you and hops out of bed. At first you’re confused, until you hear the door latch. Dami pulls off his sweatshirt and tee then throws himself on the mattress beside you. He’s almost smiling, like he’s holding his mouth in a straight line, rather than having no emotion to move his face. The mock neck of the long sleeve you’re wearing gets in the way before you can even start. While it was a great look for hiding your mark, it’s a real pain in the ass right now.

First, you attempt to roll it down, but that only works if you use your hand constantly. Going shirtless might seem presumptuous and the last thing Dami needs right now is more pressure. So you end up crouched over his chest, biting your lip in thought.

Damiano raises his hands and rests them on your back. He begins unbuttoning the dress, making the decision for you. While he works, you rest your forehead against his, treasuring this moment. He pushes the right sleeve down, then the left. Finally, he reaches into your dress and grabs the hem of your undershirt. Dami pulls it off your head, catching your hairstyle in the process. After the top is discarded, he examines the braid with a grip on the hair tie. Dami appreciates all angles.

“Since I was little Clio has done my hair when I’m really sad about something.” You wince as soon as the words leave your mouth. Dami’s face changes, but there's no platitude or assurance for this. Devastation wasn’t an overreaction and you both knew it. Instead of trying to fill the space, you lean down and run your right scent gland across his pecs and collarbones, ending by fitting your neck to his. It's a little sore from the bruising. You can’t just haphazardly rub against him and roll around in bed like animals.

Dami notices your limited movement and remembers to check your scent gland. He sits up, examining the mark on your left side carefully.

“It’s healing well,” you assure. He nods, laying down with a sigh. Any stress relief is negated. You try a different tactic, fitting your neck against him against his again. Resting there, you carefully brush back and forth, focusing on being thorough. After a minute you move up to his jaw, then cheek, then hair. His body relaxes underneath yours. His hands on your back grow limp and when you check on his expression, Damiano’s eyes are fluttering.

With both hands, you stroke his head, massage his scalp, play with his hair, run your nails along his undercut. The way he rubbed your ears in the shower yesterday was heavenly so you try to do the same. You start by tracing along the cartilage, rubbing the shell of his ear, pulling the lobe between your fingers.

When that’s done, you quietly open the drawer in search of lotion. It’s hilarious that sexually liberated Dami still uses lotion to masturabate instead of lube. However, it makes your life easier right now. With a couple pumps in your palm, you run your hands down his chest and abdomen. Starting at the top, you work the meat of your hand into the muscle of his pecs. You’ve never massaged someone's chest, not really sure how to do it. He seems to be enjoying it with little rumbling hums which is all that really matters anyways.

From sternum down you’re at a loss. There’s no muscle on his ribs to massage and having someone press on your stomach sounded unpleasant. Instead, you just rub the cream in. Switching to his forearms comes with new ideas. You apply gentle pressure while running your hand up and down. You use your thumbs to massage Dami’s hand. There's obviously a lot of muscle in the area, but you have no idea how to treat it. Still, he seems to enjoy this most of all so you repeat it on the other side.

Next your attention is turned to his legs. Paying so much attention to his thighs may result in certain circumstances you were unsure how to navigate. Damiano saves you the worry by flipping over. It was wonderful to see him accept some generous comfort, asking for it without words. He allows himself to relax under your gentle touch like never before. You realize it's probably because he’s not battling impulses. He’d marked you less than a day ago so those demanding, alpha sexual impulses were quieted. For now. There needed to be a system of consent put in place soon.

Damiano whiles beneath you. In a moment of thought, your hands had stilled. You smiled because it was the most he’d communicated with you all day.

“All right, all right,” you respond fondly. “No need to complain about it, geez.” Although it felt counterintuitive, in Dami’s position you’d loath being treated like glass. Maintaining some sense of normalcy was important. As soon as you worried about the teasing being one-sided however, Dami used his hips to knock you off him. You laughed while climbing back to your previous position. Not because it was particularly funny, but because you were relieved. Even within the circumstances, your dynamic was completely preserved.

“Ingrate,” you muttered, squirting the cold lotion directly onto his back. He let out a sound of displeasure. You leaned forward and kissed the back of his head before continuing. Damiano was so muscular from all the sports he played that your hands grew sore.

“Your shoulders are like massaging concrete by the way.” You sat up and took a break, shaking your hands to stop them from cramping. Dami turned onto his back again and extended his arms towards you, releasing you from the obligation. Happily, you rested under his chin and enjoyed having your hair stroked until his hands were tired as well. Then you just lay in silence and that was okay.

Notes: I’ve noticed in hurt/comfort stories that everyone just moves on and there’s no emotional consequence from traumatic events. That’s not realistic with the amount of pressure alpha Dami has been under so you’re in for a bit more angst

Masterlist

@asianhawkeye-blog @bieberhoodforever @blackberryblossom @butkutee @cuzimitaliano @elvirabelle @ethaneskin @iamtashaquinn @icarodamiano @idyllicbutterfly @ilwiwbysmv @immrbrightsideeee @little-moonbeam-666 @maneslut @mortyandem @ohdamiano @the-chaotic-cow @theimpossiblehologramtree @wasteddoubts @weareoddlydrawn @whore4damia @woahzz11 @8iunie @azertyhug @biancathecool @xweirdxsceletton @bohemianrainbow @boyswillbeexecutied @daisy0gf @dustyinkpages @katyldamusic @minnietmouse @obiw4n @persona1read1ng @ch3rryk4ii @gr8rainbowpunk @hiraetheral @homesicam @iosonoarina @l0standn0tf0und @que--sera--sera @stardustingold @superchrystaldrug @teenyweenynightghost @damoriaa @teacosea @softmullet @solacestyles @thegeminisgirl @bobfood @slavicgoddess

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darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght · 3 months ago

Text

Chapter 33- Part 2

Now then, time to figure out what's going on with this place- sheesh, even more pink and purple…

And the creepy little Tangrowth vines are back, lovely. But I guess I can't be too weirded out- the green from these and the rocks nicely breaks up the deluge of magenta from the ground, so I should thank them for saving my eyes from burning!

I also don't think we'll have much trouble sneaking up on Team Meteor either. I mean, just look at those grass patches, Cain can so easily camouflage into them, his hair would blend right in! They'll never see him coming!

Speaking of green-

Okay how is that building in the ground like that? Did it just drop out of the sky, or does this Jell-O go deeper than I thought?

Actually, speaking of the ground…the more I look at the grass patches, the more I wonder…is this place Corrosive Field? Guess we'll see whenever I run into a battle of some sort.

Well, one of those items is nicer, even if it's not that helpful at this level in the game.

That is NOT Corrosive Field! Another entirely new Field, cool- hopefully I'll come across the Field Read-Out sooner instead of later.

They've even got gravestones here? Do they say anything special-?

Huh!? “Molinar”!? Isn't that Heather and Corey's last name!?

Corey's grave, too?? So uh- okay, not only do we have a name for Heather's mom now, but…you're telling me THIS place is where the two of them were buried? Seriously? No, that can't be right.

I think it's more like the gravestones probably got…snatched up by whatever PULSE is responsible for making all this debris pile up. Still, interesting choice for the game to show me the graves of Heather's parents at this point in time…

Oh, I can walk over these? Good to know.

Fitting, and…is that a Gym sign?

This is not the Beryl Ward Gym! Did the PULSE match the Beryl Ward Gym sign too? When did that happen?

And an impassable ledge- well, I can't find anything I missed up here (at least nothing I can get to or use, like that steel railing up there), so no use putting it off.

What!? That's just straight-up the gate leading to Apophyll Academy! And I'm certain that didn't get stolen at any point!

I…oooooh, wait a second, I think I understand what's going on now. The debris isn't being directly yoinked from their proper places throughout the region, the PULSE must be…copying the items, and depositing those duplicates here in the Wasteland. That would explain why the Academy gateway and Beryl Ward Gym sign are here, and it would also explain why Elena and Corey's gravestones are here too, because they certainly weren't buried here.

And yet, the Wasteland still only sees fit to drop Shards…but there's a guy over there, that's new!

Oh, that's what that one beam in the first area was? I was wondering why Xera couldn't do anything with it. So then, do I just-

Okay, so it's just a ledge but with more steps- literally. But I do see another tombstone, whose is this one?

…Just had to remind me of what happened last time right away, didn't you, game? The audacity of this wasteland…

But there…I see you behind the rock, I would very much like to have you, and I am GOING to get you. Well- after looking around this area a bit more.

Alright, not much else to see here I suppose.

And so, looks like the only place to go now is into that partially submerged building, lovely.

Alright, several different paths to take it looks like, but let's see if there's anything to see on this hill…besides the other Gym sign.

…ah- okay, I'll be honest, I did not mean to jump down that ledge. I didn't even know that was a ledge, I was just trying to interact with that shrub, and- yeah.

Well, now that I'm here…might as well look around.

That's something!

And that's for Rock Smash- but since I don't know if I'm supposed to go that way or not, I'm gonna keep looking around here.

Oh, that's much better! Thanks, random barrel!

Alright, nothing else down here, time to head up.

Also very nice, however I see an opening in the wall over there, however however I don't know if the plot’s gonna progress up there, so I'm just gonna go back to that one hill and down that beam.

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liz-allyn · 2 years ago

Note

Fuck you and fuck blaze

Ooh… is this a tasm peter prompt? I don’t take requests but I’ll give it a shot!

You own a small, quaint bookshop, researching ways to advertise (as your last effort, screaming obscenities at passersbys, proved unfruitful) when suddenly. you see him.

oh.

(See I gave you the acclaimed ‘oh’ because im an artist)

It’s Andrew motherhubbin Garfield

He walks into your shop, dressed head to toe in black, specifically comprised of a straight-fit jacket with notched collar and wide fluid trousers, by Saint Laurent, both in black and silver pinstripe wool, a “Yves” collar shirt in black-matte silk with a shiny stripe, a striped silk lavalliere, which is similar but more relaxed than an ascot, and finally Saint Laurent’s Vassili Chelsea leather boots, which feature a Cuban heel that marries nicely with his ‘reading poetry on a chill Thursday morning at 11am’ vibe.

“Hello he said I am Andrew Garfield. I am looking for poetry to read all this chill Thursday morning.”

You were overwhelmed with shock. This was your favorite actor ever except he really hated the Spider-Man movies. You really hate all forms of commercialism. Even more, you hated the Social Network. You hate anything that glorifies commercialism especially in a social context. You also felt like Hacksaw Ridge was garbage, Silence was boring, Tick Tick Boom could literally suck a dick and die, and Under the Silver Lake was stupid, and although mainstream kinda got you, you hated it for being shown commercially in a theater.

“ wow that’s a lot” he said.

“Oh, I said all that out loud?” You say

“Yes,” he says, as he flutters his long lashes over his Amber golden eyes. “You did. So do you have a book on poetry?”

“ Sorry, sometimes I just don’t know how to talk to people,” you said. “I spend a lot of time alone writing hateful messages online. It’s just that I hate commercialism, and I hate advertising so much, but more than anything I hate fire. Fire is bad, and it killed my whole family, which left me as an orphan. Anything fire related is awful.”

“ wow he said “what an amazing story. I hope you don’t think this is too forward but I really think we should fuck.”

“ That is crazy” you exclaim. “People tell me I should get fucked all the time!” Then, as you sigh prettily you say, “I have Prince Harry’s memoir in stock, want to fuck on top of that?”

Andrew says “that’s edgy. I like it. But first, my friend Lin Manuel Miranda and I agre going to a basketball game snd he has an extra ticket. Would you like to go?”

“Omg,” you say, hyperventilating as you grin wide. “I hated Hamilton so much.”

Andrew laughs, “really no one says that. I’ve never heard that before.” You stare at his pouty cherry lips and his Greek-carved marble jaw and then you go to the basketball game with him. You sit court side, which is lame, because you’re right next to Lin manual and he’s next to tobey maguire, whose giant swimming pool blue eyes are distracting.

But it’s okay, you realize as Andrew grips your thigh. There’s nothing commercial about this at all so it can’t hurt you. Portland is the opposing team and it can’t hurt you in your safe space. And after this your gonna get railed. Not just by Andrew Garfield, but by the Portland Trail Blazers.

The end!

Thanks for reading anon!

#sorry lol #salty anon #salty fic prompts you never asked for #triggered?#youre loved #fuck me for testing out the system to see how it works #apologies to Andrew garfield #apologies to the Portland trailblazers

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demonfox38 · 2 years ago

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Completed - Star Fox 64

(Okay, so this should probably read, "Completed So Many Times I Lost Count - Star Fox 64." I'm trying to keep this title from being too obnoxious.)

"Star Fox 64" is not the best game I have ever played. It is, however, the most important one.

I know. That's a loaded gun of a sentiment. I've fallen in love with many games in my life, after all. "Tales of Symphonia," "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night," "Castlevania"'s Sorrow arc, the "Left 4 Dead" games, several "Smash Bros." titles, "Team Fortress 2"… I could make quite the list. What, in thirty-some years of playing video games, makes me say that "Star Fox 64" is the most important game that I have ever played? It's meme anthros acting out a melodramatic space opera, after all. Not exactly high art.

To put it simply? Becoming competent with it founded the bedrock for my ego.

Look. You're not gonna get my reverence for this game until you get me. Which, maybe you already do if you've been following me for a while. I know it's crass to make an autobiography out of a game evaluation, but for once, I'm feeling open about talking about myself as a person. So, if you're willing to indulge me, hang on for a few paragraphs. If not, CTRL+F or keep scrolling until you see ""Star Fox 64" is."

So, if you've read previous evaluations, you might know that "Super Mario Bros." convinced me that I would not be good at video games after a brief accident involving a timeout and my father being absent. Okay. A four-year-old will come to certain conclusions. It happens. Now, throw that kid into an education system that judges it to be intelligent. Like, not a hyper genius, but someone worth cultivating in talented and gifted classes. Someone whose entire identity becomes convinced that their grades were their sole source of value. Someone who cannot tolerate their own mistakes.

They don't take risks. They don't try something again if they turn out to be bad at it. They ignore it and go do something else.

Dominos were stacked. The 90s closed out. "Pokémon" became a thing. For the first time in almost a decade, my family got not one, but two new consoles. Naturally, a Game Boy Color and a Nintendo 64. "Pokémon" was played. Then, "Super Smash Bros." That brilliant goddamn masterpiece in marketing and child manipulation. The reason copies of "Earthbound" sell for $300 USD.

You know what you do with fighting games. You scroll through the characters, learning about this one and that one, trying to find the one that resonates with you the best. Yeah, I know about Mario. Donkey Kong's familiar, too. Who's this green guy? Link? Weird name. Who's the robot? Oh, it's a lady? Cool! Seems like her games are on the NES and SNES. But, the rental stores don't have NES games anymore, and I don't have an SNES, so I guess I'm out of luck. Yoshi? Eh. Kirby? Weird.

Fox?

Oh. Yeah, this guy! Air combos like nobody's business. He's got a team named Star Fox, huh? Kind of narcissistic, isn't it? But, it's his dead dad's team? And he's trying to earn his teammates' trust? He seems interesting. Why haven't I heard of him before? I'm out of luck with "Star Fox" being on the SNES, but "Star Fox 64"…maybe my local rental shop has that.

They did. And guess what?

I absolutely sucked at it!

But, only for a little while…

"Star Fox 64" is a rail shooter / vehicle driving simulator released for the Nintendo 64, as the name implies. It is part "Star Fox" remake, part reanimation of the scrapped (and super later released) "Star Fox 2." Its primary focus is on high-speed firefights, coupled with free-range dogfighting in its so-called All Range Mode. Depending on the player's capabilities in target neutralization, navigation, and team maintenance, they may take a myriad of paths through the Lylat System, all of which culminate in a final battle with the wicked Dr. Andross. Heavy, heavy emphasis on the a in "a final battle." Even that is split based on your skill.

While obviously not the first game in the series, "Star Fox 64" is a mold setter when it comes to overall series behavior and game lore. It introduces numerous reoccurring cast members, including Fox's father James McCloud (previously just Fox Sr. if you were reading the "Nintendo Power" comics, which, don't), team friends Bill Grey and Katt Monroe, and the rival troop Star Wolf. Voice acting and line refinement brings out a sheen of personality that remains fresh, even decades past the game's recording. Additionally, gameplay enhancements are granted for protecting each member of team Star Fox, increasing the incentive to keeping your team healthy and whole. It even grants two new vehicles to the player's available armada—a tank (the Landmaster, later a meme in its own right), and a submarine (the Blue Marine, which…okay, it's less memetic, but goddamnit. It's still better than "Zero"'s Gyrowing.)

Hmm. Nintendo got away with calling an aerial combat game "Star Fox Zero," and yet, they ended up censoring Andross' name from its Japanese variant of Andorf. I suppose me not needing to provide a link to explain the latter makes that choice a little more obvious.

You know how some people are freaks for physics of "Sonic the Hedgehog" games and get annoyed when Sonic doesn't operate in a precise manner? I get that exact impulse, but for "Star Fox 64"'s Arwing controls. That Arwing is my favorite machine of any game I have ever played. The offensive and defensive capabilities of it are absolutely mad. Stackable lasers, a sticky homing charge, bombs, barrel rolling—you can hit all functions at once to become a searing, rotating wheel of death. Threading while tipped 90 degrees onto the vehicle's side is a dream, too. The only detail I find lacking is with the boost meter, and even then, it is only because I got used to the length of "Star Fox Zero"'s meter. The Arwing is a good ship. A great ship. The ship I would slap a bumper sticker on my car for. It would truly be "my other car" in a "my other car is" sentiment.

Am I as deliriously passionate about the other vehicles in the game? Not as much. But, I do think the Blue Marine is fun, if slow. I'm a little clunkier with this game's Landmaster, but certainly, not incapable with it. After all, any tank with the ability to hover is going to win a few points in mobility.

Please, remember—I did not start out grand at any of these vehicles. Just because you have access to all of these capabilities doesn't mean you will get how to use them right out of the gate. This game will use any crack in your defenses to smash you to pieces. Fields of enemies will turn your screen into a cascade of red laser fire. Massive obstacles will take up 95% of your play space, and you will have to find a way to maneuver around them before they tear the wings right off of you. Even peeling bosses open may put you at greater risk. I mean, you've gotta do it, but it's important to know just how fast that boss will try to fry your ass once you do. It's definitely a case of being forewarned and forearmed.

Despite being violently antagonistic about your progress, the game also gives you avenues for aid. But, that entirely depends on how much help you're giving your teammates. Keeping Slippy in combat grants you analysis of a boss machine's shields, which lets you know how much life they have left. Peppy throws hints not only for level navigation, but for targeting enemy weak points. Falco…well, his selling point is initially that he helps you get into the harder route (and the true ending) of the game. But, honestly? Are you seriously going to let sarcastic, tsundere Falco Lombardi bite a bullet and miss out on his banter with other cast members? Is your heart that cold?

I don't think this game gets enough credit for its English dubbing. "But, D.F.," you might be thinking, "Isn't it schlocky as hell?" Absolutely. It is 100% a bastard sibling to works like the original "Resident Evil" games and the first "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" dubbing. Every actor here is leaning into the cartoony nature of the work and selling it for all they've got. It is appropriate. It is a treat. It is 12 years before Rick May (Peppy's voice actor) would honor us again with the "Meet the Soldier" monologue. Bless that man's memory a thousand times over for everything he did for the Internet and this game, along with the rest of the present cast. I'm so glad Nintendo of America's gone back to picking up as much of them as they can for modern releases. Absolute gemstones in a Burger King kid's crown.

Look. I've played through the Japanese dub of "Star Fox 64" a few times. It sounds very straight-laced. Trust me when I say you want that sloppy cheese of the English voice acting all over this pizza. It adds to the texture.

For me, the game's weakest point is its music. Not that it is necessarily bad, mind you. It just doesn't have the same drive that the original "Star Fox" or subsequent "Star Fox" games have. It's very checked, which fights with a level's pace, on occasion. When the soundtrack is at its best, it tends to be on eerier themes. Particular pieces of value here include:

Title Screen (particularly after the opening flourish)

Map

Aquas

Zoness

Warp (very X-Files)

Boss B

Hopefully, this gives you a basic understanding of this game's composition. Let me tie it back into why it was critically influential to me and why I'm still willing to mark out for it so many years later.

My first run in the game? I completely wiped out on Fortuna. Absolute Game Over. For those reviewing the map and game rules, that's three lives lost by Level 3 of the lowest difficulty route. 3/7ths progress, and dead. Would this be good for a newbie? I had no idea. There was no one reviewing my footage, keeping my score, telling me that I sucked or that I had to get good. It just was what it was in my own mind's eye.

Herein is where the wonderful composition of this game recompiled me.

Despite the game's difficulty, its chattiness brought me back. It had two primary actors—Peppy and Slippy—that were quick to point out my progress on handling tough enemies and difficult terrain. Even while kicking my ass, this game was trying to teach me. For the first time, I was comfortable with screwing up. I could measure my progress and gauge what I was doing right and wrong. Every failure was a closer reach to success. Dying at Sector X. Wiping out at Titania. Then, finally, hitting the credits, and ah shit!Having to learn the harder levels to get to the real ending!

And then, I did it.

I did it a lot.

I did it so hard that now, when I boot the game up after years of letting it sit cold, it's not a matter of success or failure. It's a gamble on how hard I am going to succeed.

Am I the best at this game? Obviously not. You don't see my name on leaderboards on some score attack site, do you? But, I am consistently, reliably good at this game. "Star Fox 64" was the first thing in my life where I went from trash to treasure because I fought for that skill. I had blood in my nose and scabs in my throat, and I still wanted mastery of this game. (Okay, the bodily wounds may have had more to do with a joint tonsillectomy and adenoid removal, but you get the picture, right?)

Why? Why was this game so worth my time and effort?

Well, it could always be backwash from being raised in a second-wave feminist environment, having to prove my worth through violence (or, at the least, masculine activities.) But, if not that? God, man. Why do some people rescue beautiful princesses? Why do others plant fictional farms and build dollhouses? Can't we have the real thing? Sometimes, the answer is no. And, no. I can't go to faraway galaxies and get in dogfights. I can't pilot a plane. I'd get sick! I struggle to make friends, and God knows I can't make my parents happy. But just for an hour at a time, I can have a world where I can meet its needs and it mine, even as it's burning to the ground.

This is the game where I fell in love with video games.

And man, that scares the hell out of me!

You get it, right? Things that you love can hold incredible power over you. Things that you love open you up to derision from others. Even on this obsessive fandom hell site, I still hesitate to talk about the things that I love, particularly when it comes to video games or stories. Because it's not real, is it? Not like your friends or your family. And yet, people gain something real from the love of a fantasy. Perspective. Empathy. Confidence. They can lose real things, too. Money. Sense. What vestiges of reality keep them alive.

I wish I had something sagacious to say here, regarding finding a perfect balance between fantasy and reality. Michael Ende would have had better words regarding that, but he's dead. I guess all I can tell you is that a bunch of cartoon animals barking at me ended up being pretty good for me, even in real life. It gave me room to fail, then helped me succeed. It helped me learn to study, plan, practice, and execute. And you know what? It turns out you can apply those tasks to many areas in your life. Like, I dunno. A taxing academic system or a demanding job or playing musical instruments or writing weird-ass fanfiction online.

Okay. Maybe I didn't come away from this game completely normal. Just better than I was.

If you too would like to have a brain reformatting and/or an existential crisis with a bunch of space furries, "Star Fox 64" is a pretty good way to do that. I imagine you will find it hard to start. If you find the Lylat System as charming as my child self did, it'll likely be worth the effort to keep trying. At the very least, pull up a long play and dish up the cheese. I mean, you get to have the benefits of YouTube, in this dystopian future. I didn't. I had to get my hands dirty, instead. But man, it was a thrill doing so.

If nothing else, I hope you can find love in something that kicks your ass. Weird and disturbing as that blessing is.

#post game evaluation #star fox 64 #long post #D. F. 38 gets a little too emotional about the silly space animal game

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ryanlockheart · 1 year ago

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"you're the perfect guy for the job," sydney explained with a smirk. "i wouldn't want anyone else to wreck this tight little cunt. you're the only who's worthy enough to own this pussy... and i fuckin' think it's hot that you know that." maddox may have been a freshman, but you would've never guessed by the air he carried about himself. that was one of the things that drew sydney in. sure, he was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen, and yes, those big feet had definitely played a role in deciding to make a move. there were so many things sydney liked about him already; now that he had the younger male, he was never going to let him go. the chemistry was far too much to allow himself do that. "probably not, but i have no doubt you'd get them together. after all, you'd be team captain... you'll tell them how to use my throat, how to fuck this tight little pussy. lord knows i'll be fucking all riled up, all that sweaty musk in the locker room," sydney went on with a smirk. "you make the rules, daddy. i'll clean every foot ten times over if you told me to. i'd let them all sit on my face if you told me to... if i have to work to earn those cocks, i will. they're gonna be blown away with how good of a little slut you've got, daddy." no matter what, no matter who they brought into the bedroom, sydney wanted to make sure it was established whose he was. he'd always come home to maddox, and maddox would always come home to him. he didn't want to compete for maddox's attention, and sydney would never let his eye roam anywhere else but maddox. "i mean, i can be the team's trophy or good luck slut or whatever... you get to tell me what to do, daddy. you can even lock my cock up while they fuck me. i'll take those cocks so well, i'll clean every foot. 's how bad i need it," sydney whined. there was a whole slew of fantasies they'd barely scratched the surface on. he just hoped that maddox would be able to take him at his absolute sluttiest. "i'll be the luckiest girl in the world, getting to slobber all over those fuckin' perfect feet. i just know they smell so good, like a real man," he went on. "i'll be cumming in no time, daddy. i just need someone to rail me like a fuckin' man... and that's you. don't care how bad i humiliate myself; i want everyone to know what a whore i am for you." the two of them had a whole slew of plans, it seemed, for their future. they had a future, sydney was sure about it. he'd never felt like that about any man before. maddox just simply was the real deal. "that would be the perfect little skirt to show off my ass for your boys," he agreed with a smirk. "exactly. plus, might be nice to show them how it's done... how a real man ruins a tight little pussy. 'd want you to fuck me so i hard i piss all over myself. i know you could do it." down on his knees with maddox hovering above him was where he felt the most comfortable, and he could tell that the younger male liked it just as much. "can't help it. i want unrestricted access to that big fuckin' cock, and i know you'll want this pussy twenty four, seven... if you wanna dress me up too, that'll just be an added bonus."

"i don't wanna be anyone else's. i just wanna be yours," sydney said softly. "even when you share, 'm yours. i don't care if i've got three cocks in my cunt — if you want me all to yourself that moment, everyone'll get kicked out. can't you see, daddy? i belong to you." he liked that maddox was someone who was willing to take control, to pull his hair tighter when he disobeyed, to put him back into his place if he ever stepped out of it. sydney liked to test his boundaries, but more importantly, he liked a strong hand to remind him of them. not that sydney would ever do anything to betray maddox's trust, but he would do something to get him riled up. "i already know that, daddy. might be a little slut, but i wanted to be yours the second you walked in here. your cock's the only cock i need," sydney assured him with a soft smirk on his lips. "i'm dead serious. do it, daddy," the curly-haired boy egged him on. maybe it was the little bit of liquor in his system that prompted him to go so public with it... maybe he'd regret it when he sobered up, but something told him he wouldn't. sydney wasn't ashamed of sex. he wasn't ashamed of himself, and clearly, maddox wasn't either. "that sounds like a wet dream. 's how i want you to wake me up every morning. you've got my permission to use this pussy whenever you want, daddy. you never have to ask," sydney explained. he rested on his calves with both cocks resting near his face. he bobbed along benji's length, an easy feat compared to maddox's. he wasn't going to lie — even as skilled as he might've been, maddox had been a challenge. his face was still soaked with piss and cum, but that didn't deter him. hands wrapped around the bases of both, sydney slapped both of the heads against his tongue as he glanced up at the camera. a smirk was hinted at on the corners of his lips, posing for the photo like a good little slut. "fucking finally... 've been dying to sniff them since i came over here," he admitted with a chuckle. maddox's abrupt departure left sydney shaking in his wake, still feeling the electric shocks his lips had left. it was pure heaven. he'd finally met someone just as enticing as him. sydney hurried to the restroom, freshening himself up just a little. after all, he was going to get dirty again if he had anything to do with it. as soon as he ready, he made his way over to the living room. he already spotted the freshman, spread out on the coffeetable like he owned the place. sydney had never seen anything so hot in his life. "you're not gonna wanna miss this," the curly-haired male announced to the bustling crowd as he sauntered over to the younger male and settled at his feet. "hi, daddy," he murmured. his back arched, skirt now barely covering his round curves that were accentuated by the thong hugging his hips. "do i look pretty enough to get a taste of those big, sweaty feet?" sydney questioned. "or am i gonna have to beg like a good girl?"

"what can i say? i just know what you need," maddox said with a grin. "you know that i'm the only one who can give it to you, don't you? there's plenty of guys here, but no one can put you in your place like me. 'm gonna own that tight little cunt of yours, princess... doesn't matter if i'm a freshman or not." perhaps the rumors going around about sydney should have given maddox reason to be skeptical, but they only made him more curious. even now, maddox didn't know how true those rumors were. sydney was obviously desperate—but he wasn't acting like someone who got what he needed on the regular. maddox was happy to fill that void. "do you think they'll know what to do with a little slut like you, baby? i might have to whip 'em into shape, but i know you'll be the happiest little slut in the world. surrounded by all those big cocks and sweaty feet for you to worship. the smell of that locker room will be enough to make that pussy twitching," the younger boy mused. "i can definitely see how badly you need it... and daddy's gonna make sure you get it. all those feet in your face, all those cocks in your cunt—we're gonna fucking wreck you, make you worship every last one of our feet before we even think about letting you touch our cocks. and, if you're really good, we might just make it a regular thing. getting to share a slut is a whole lot better than a trophy, right?" if sydney was looking for someone to fulfill his fantasies, then maddox was more than happy to step up. he had plenty of untapped sexual desires of his own, and seeing sydney sprawled out in the soccer team's locker room, surrounded by a dozen sweaty jocks, had just climbed to the top of that dirty list. "just wait, princess. pretty soon, you aren't going to be imagining my feet, you'll have them all over your face—and everyone is gonna know that you're daddy's little footslut," maddox promised, tucking a curl behind the other's ear. "and then, when i have you folded in half and i'm railing that little pussy 'til you're pissing on yourself, you're gonna be sucking on your own toes and telling the whole room that you love daddy's big cock." there was no such thing as too much when it came to sydney, and maddox was learning that lesson in the best way possible. maddox was saying things that he never thought would leave his lips, doing things that would've seemed crazy to him just a few days ago. "think i should get you a skirt in the team's colors, baby? you'd look extra pretty waiting for daddy in that," he asked, grinning from ear to ear. "that'd drive them crazy, knowing that you're waiting there for me, not them. they'd be watching us, waiting for me to let them join in... but you're mine, and i'm calling the fucking shots." maddox couldn't do much but gawk as sydney swallowed his spit without hesitation, his cock practically jumping in his jeans at the boy's slutty display. "asking me to move on already, are you?" he hummed, wearing a smirk on his boyish face. "in that case, i'm definitely gonna have to get started on that collection, aren't i? if i'm gonna have all around access to that pretty cunt, gotta make sure you're all dressed up for me, too."

"you already know i'd fuck them up, princess... then i'd take you home and pound you until i was shooting blanks," he confirmed, face turning red. "no one's allowed to touch you without my permission. i only share when i'm feeling generous, or when i want to see you get really fucking slutty. otherwise—you're fucking mine." maddox knew that sydney was trying to get him riled up, likely to see whether or not the boy was serious about everything he said—and truthfully, it wasn't until that provocation that maddox realized he was. "and that's why you're the best little slut daddy could ever ask for, princess," maddox said with warmth in his voice. "there might be times that i wanna see you slutting yourself out for my teammates because i know you'd love it, and i think it's hot—but you're all mine, even if i'm sharing you every once in a while. you got that?" maddox happily accepted the other's phone, swiping it open and quickly getting to the camera. if sydney wanted everyone to see what a filthy little slut he was becoming, then who was he to stop it? "if you're not being serious, then speak up now. otherwise, everyone's gonna know that you're a little gooner slut," he warned. "princess, if you think there's a chance of me sleeping anywhere but your bed, you've lost it. first thing i'm gonna do when i wake up is slip inside that loose cunt, feed you another load and top it off with piss. you're gonna be my little urinal first thing in the morning, and then after you've spent all fucking day with my cum and piss inside you, i'm gonna do it again... you're daddy's little fucking gooner slut now, princess—and i can be just as nasty as you." every time maddox thought he'd caught his breath, sydney would take things one step further. it was like they were playing a game of tug-of-war, and maddox was determined to win. he waved benji over, knowing that no one would have expected the little nerd to indulge in such filth, and grinned as the smaller boy whipped out his cock and joined the fun. his orgasm snuck up on him quickly, a combination of sydney's skill and benji's piss cascading down the older boy's face to thank. "good girl, princess... taking both our loads like the filthy little slut you are," maddox grinned, slapping his cock against sydney's cheek as he took benji's down his throat. "y'know what, i think you're right. benji—get your cock on his tongue, let's show everyone how naughty he's been." the boys brought their cocks to sydney's face, and maddox was snapping a photo before he even had time to question it. he shared it to sydney's story with a devilish smirk on his face, nudging benji before the nerdy boy made his way back into the crowd. "nice try, princess—but you're not getting any more cock until you've cleaned my sweaty feet in front of everyone here," maddox said with a smirk, lifting sydney to his feet and pulling him in for a kiss. he licked the mixture of cum and piss from his lips before he walked around sydney, headed for the living room. "clean yourself up, slut... then you better meet me in there," he instructed over his shoulder. he waltzed into the other room like he owned the place, plopping down on the empty sofa and kicking his feet up on the coffee table. maddox could already feel people staring at him, wondering what the hell a freshman was doing walking around with so much confidence, but he couldn't have cared less. sydney was the only thing on his mind, and it wouldn't be long before the older boy's face was buried in his sweaty feet—and he couldn't have been more excited.

#thread: sydney greene.#thread: sydney & maddox 001.

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sentakushimasu · 3 years ago

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diving off the deep end, breathe slow

pairing: sero hanta/iida tenya summary: Sero drowns during a training exercise. Today doesn't make Iida's list of top ten favourite days. genre: hurt/comfort, whump word count: 11.4k warnings: drowning, cpr, hospitals, slight vomit warning (no actual vomiting), hypothermia title from: dayseeker - drunk AO3

Sero tried to ignore the pang of disappointment in his chest as he saw Aizawa’s allocated teams. They were supposed to be randomly generated but Sero couldn’t help but feel like the world was out to get him.

Iida wasn’t on his team yet again.

It wasn’t a big deal, but every time they had a big scale training session, Sero wanted to try working on a team up with his boyfriend. They both had quirks that made them incredibly mobile, but they needed to work better in combat as a team.

Aizawa, however, seemed dead set on preventing that from happening.

Sero had to suppress a yelp as an arm wrapped around his neck and dragged him staggering along. He regained his balance as Kirishima let go of him, grinning widely.

Kirishima, Mina, Shinsou and himself in a team. They could make this work.

They’d all been arranged into five teams of four, tasked with placing quirk suppressing handcuffs on members of the other teams. Kirishima took the role of their self-proclaimed leader and happily accepted the five pairs of cuffs to share between the team. They’d been given the red ones, making it easier to keep track of who was cuffed by which team.

The other teams had other colours, and other interesting combinations of quirks. The blue team, consisting of Iida (their appointed leader), Yaoyorozu, Tsuyu and Uraraka, were likely going to be scarily efficient despite their lack of flashy quirks.

The green team was led by Deku, which, if that wasn’t scary enough, was followed by Shouji, Satou and Todoroki. Sero had to suppress a shudder just looking at that team. The only member who couldn’t easily snap him in half like a twig, could make mountains of ice and pyres of fire without batting an eye. He really hoped another team dealt with them before his team had the misfortune of running into them.

Less intimidating was the yellow team, fronted by Sero’s partner in crime, accompanied by Ojirou, Hagakure and Aoyama. Any team that let Kaminari take charge was not one that Sero felt the need to be scared of.

Bakugou was already barking out orders to the black team. Sero cringed in sympathy for Kouda, Jirou and Tokoyami. Their self-appointed leader was bound to run off on his own, leaving them without much opportunity to intimidate anyone they ran into. Tokoyami could be pretty terrifying in his own right, but going up against a team with Deku and Todoroki? He didn’t stand a chance.

Aizawa interrupted them, speaking in a bored tone, “the first team to use all of their quirk cuffs wins. No, you cannot cuff your teammates, doing so results in immediate disqualification for the entire team.”

Iida’s hand shot up. “Can we use the other teams’ handcuffs if we become separated from our team?”

“The team the cuffs belong to gets the point.”

Uraraka was the next one to raise her hand. “If we handcuff someone with their team’s handcuffs will their team still get disqualified?”

Aizawa paused for a second, regarding Uraraka with a lethargic look. “Yes.”

Okay, Sero had officially decided that the blue team was kind of terrifying. He wasn’t going to let himself be fooled by Uraraka’s round cheeks or the pink-heavy colour scheme of her hero outfit; she was out for blood.

As it turns out, Iida’s team was the only one asking any questions as Yaomomo joined the discussion. “Do we have to cuff both of their hands?”

“No, it’s the same as your previous exams. If you cuff one hand or ankle, you get the point.”

Mina leaned over and gave Sero a well-placed elbow to his ribs. “Don’t let glasses distract you, he’ll steal your handcuffs and disqualify our whole team while you’re busy making heart eyes.”

Sero just rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t let that happen.”

As if to exemplify the fact that Sero was a filthy liar, he made eye contact with Iida who promptly gave him a wave that he returned with what was undoubtedly an utterly lovesick grin if Mina’s exaggerated fake gagging was anything to go by.

“We’re screwed,” she whined.

Sero gave her a half-hearted glare. “You have such little faith in me.”

Aizawa directed their attention to a map of the training grounds they were located in today. Between the cityscape of ground beta and the added area of the river and its surrounding banks, clearly he was prepared for a lot of big scale altercations. There were five markings on the map, all with a colour corresponding to the different teams.

“Every team has a starting location and the next fifteen minutes to get there

Most of the teams’ locations were within ground beta, aside from the red dot next to the bridge and the blue dot a little ways down the path from the bridge, away from ground beta. Great, an area that Sero couldn’t even swing the majority of, and they were completely exposed to the wind.

He was beginning to think that it was much too cold for outdoor training. As he trailed behind Kirishima and Mina. Shinsou hung back but Sero didn’t hold it against him, they were certainly a much louder group than the purple haired boy would be comfortable with.

Although that didn’t explain why he still let Kaminari follow him around like a hyperactive clingy puppy.

After all, Sero, one of the most chaotic and academically-underwhelming members of class 1-A had somehow managed to be dating Mr Perfect, the class president, for the past four months. Now that had been a shock to the rest of the class, most of all, Sero Hanta whose heart still skipped a beat when Iida reached out to take his hand.

Shinsou at least looked like his hero suit wasn’t going to let him freeze, his capture weapon even seeming to act like a scarf. The same could not be said for anyone else on their team as they began the trek down the pathway up to the bridge.

“Kiri, how are you not a popsicle? You have sleeves but no shirt!” Mina claimed as she shivered.

“I’m invincible,” Kirishima shrugged as he tapped a hardened fist on his now hardened chest. For dramatic effect.

“It’s too cold to be outside,” Sero piped up, rubbing his arms in an attempt to keep the blood circulating. He was kind of hoping that they ran into Todoroki during training, at least being gently roasted alive was better than the cold he was currently experiencing.

Maybe when the exercise started, they would be able to warm up, but the distance between them and the closest group was quite significant and he wasn’t sure they’d be too into an all-out battle.

Maybe if Yaoyorozu made a net and Sero accidentally let himself get caught, Iida would carry him back to base. That was always an option.

The bridge was a good location. From their position in the middle of it, they would be able to see anyone trying to sneak up on them. It was a better vantage point than what the blue team had, that’s for sure.

The group was just standing on the path along the riverbank, Yaoyorozu already sparkling as she used her quirk. As Sero squinted his eyes he could tell that she was handing a jacket to Tsu, he couldn’t help but to feel sympathy for his classmate who was much more sensitive to the cold than everyone else.

There was a ringing noise coming from the wristband Kirishima had been given as their team’s acting leader, to signal the start of the exercise.

“Theoretically, we could just wait for them to come to us,” Shinsou offered. “Let Bakugou deal with Midoriya and Todoroki before he tries to blow our heads off.”

“Good plan,” Sero supplies, trying to show Shinsou some support. “I’ll swing up the bridge supports and keep an eye out if you guys want to sit by the railing and stay out of the wind.”

Mina eyed him warily. “What about you? The wind is gonna be worse up there.”

Sero shrugged. “Pro-hero Cellophane isn’t bothered by the cold.”

“You’re not a pro yet,” Mina corrected him, folding her arms across her chest.

“If you get too cold you’ll come back down, right?” Shinsou asked, his voice laced with an emotion Sero couldn’t pinpoint. “If you faint up there, it would be bad news.”

“I’ll be extra careful,” Sero said with a wink.

Kirishima gave Sero a thumbs up and at that, Sero turned to look up at the structure of the bridge, quickly dispensing his tape.

As the tape curled around the support beam and held its position as Sero gave it a firm tug, he used it to propel himself upwards.

It had probably only been five minutes of Sero leaning against the cold metal of the bridge’s support beams before their first challengers arrived. Sero could see two figures headed towards them. Smaller in stature and both dressed dark, it only took Sero a few seconds to identify Jirou and Tokoyami.

Jirou, they could handle pretty easily. Tokoyami would be trouble.

Mina and Kirishima wouldn’t be at all effective against Dark Shadow, so that match would come down to Sero and Shinsou.

Scratch that, it came down to Sero.

He’d only just managed to swing down onto the bridge and alert his team to their visitors before Jirou’s quirk ripped through the air.

The volume disoriented Sero for a moment, knocking him off balance before he could swing himself back up into the air. He needed to incapacitate Jirou if they had any hope of using Shinsou’s quirk. If Tokoyami couldn’t hear him speak, he couldn’t be brainwashed.

Sparing a glance behind him, Sero noticed that Mina and Shinsou were both struggling to stay oriented as the sound assaulted their senses. It was no Present Mic, but it was powerful enough to pose a threat to their group when their most powerful quirk needed to be heard to work.

They were lucky that Sero at least had a quirk that worked long distance because while Kirishima and Mina had to get close to their opponent to use their quirks, Sero was able to maneuver through the air.

He had gotten much better at using his quirk midair during his time at UA, able to turn and shoot another reel of tape at the railing across the bridge and pull himself back down to the ground.

His landing was smooth as he folded himself to roll across the asphalt and up onto his feet.

He would never complain about the gymnastics classes his mum had forced him into during middle school ever again.

With another spin, he was wrapping his tape around Jirou and yanking her towards him, her arms pinned to her sides. She was too startled to maintain her quirk, whipping her earphone jacks towards Sero, likely in hopes of deterring him.

It didn’t work. Of course. As Sero slapped the quirk suppressant cuffs on her wrist.

He offered Jirou an apologetic smile as she glared at him.

The moment was cut short by an impact sending Sero flying to the side.

He quickly adjusted his form so that he rolled on impact with the ground and could easily pull himself back up on his knees. Only to find himself faced with Dark Shadow moving towards him, swooping side to side menacingly.

Sero was a big fan of the sentient quirk, it was like having a dog in the dorms, if dogs were made of shadows and could speak. What he didn’t like about Dark Shadow, was its ability to absolutely throttle him right now.

Forcing himself to his feet, Sero started to back away from the quirk, hoping that his team would figure something out while he had the threat distracted. If Dark Shadow focused its attention on someone else then Sero could possibly manage to restrain Tokoyami and cuff him if he was fast enough.

“Tokoyami, help!” Jirou called out, sounding so panicked that even Sero’s head snapped up at the sound.

Just in time to see Tokoyami’s expression go blank and his stance lose its tension. The consequence of calling out to his teammate in concern.

Shinsou was kneeling on the ground a few metres away, his hand still on his mask, his unruly purple hair moving in the wind. Clever.

Dark Shadow was quick to snap its attention to Tokoyami, fussing over the boy who wasn’t responding to him.

Sero saw his opportunity and took it.

He shot out the tape, wrapping it around Tokoyami to restrain him in case something interrupted Shinsou’s mind control.

Dark Shadow quickly retreated back into Tokoyami and Sero couldn’t help the proud smile spreading across his face as he nodded at Shinsou and gave him a thumbs up.

Shinsou’s quirk was officially his favourite. That was badass.

Their relief was soon interrupted by a loud clatter.

Sero’s eyes fell on the black handcuffs now sitting in the middle of the bridge. Which could only mean that someone else was here, and Sero sincerely doubted that Kouda would be dropping things from a height like that. Which left the last person Sero wanted to fight right now. Bakugou Katsuki.

The sound of an explosion confirmed his suspicions.

The dropped handcuffs weren’t a mistake, they were a threat.

Sero barely had a second to shoot out more tape and grab Shinsou, pulling his teammate towards him as Bakugou descended on the place where he stood, his hands popping with explosions.

With his hands on Shinsou’s shoulders, Sero steadied the purple haired boy, loosening the hold of the tape.

“Are you hurt?” Sero asked quickly, his eyes worriedly scanning Shinsou for any signs that the tape hadn’t been fast enough.

Shinsou looked thoroughly spooked but shook his head after a few seconds, snapping back into focus. “No.”

“Good. Did you cuff Tokoyami?”

Shinsou nodded. Great, that kept their threats to a minimum.

“Good job,” Sero said, giving Shinsou’s shoulder a supportive pat. “Stay where he can’t get you.”

Sero didn’t wait for a reply as he dispensed his tape and swung himself up into the fray.

Bakugou was fixated on Kirishima, hitting the boy’s hardened exterior with explosion after explosion. Sero cringed in sympathy, Kirishima said that it didn’t hurt but it still had to be hot.

Choosing that moment to look away from the fight, Sero turned to pull himself even higher up, reading another set of handcuffs in his non-dominant hand.

That was the easy part.

He turned back to the fight only to see that Bakugou had successfully cuffed Kirishima who was just staring at his wrist in shock. And Bakugou was notorious for not knowing when to quit as he reared up to set off another explosion at Kirishima.

Shooting out his tape in a panic, Sero grabbed Bakugou by his waist and tugged him away from the redhead. Only for the explosion to be rounded on him.

Bakugou missed his mark and Sero foolishly let Bakugou explode the tape that tethered them together.

His enemy was now airborne, setting off explosions as he hovered, staring at Sero with murderous intent. Sero hoped he looked good because this was going to be his last day alive with Bakugou looking at him like that.

Sero was a lot of things, a smart guy who thought things through before he did them was not one of them.

He shot out tape at a support beam directly across the bridge, and prayed that Bakugou didn’t sever it as he yanked himself to the other side. His other hand readied with the handcuffs.

In a stroke of dumb luck, Sero managed to clip the black handcuffs above Bakugou’s gauntlet. The older boy had made a mistake dropping those as a threat.

Sero had a split second to be proud of himself as the incessant sound of popping ceased before he realised that he was swinging over the edge of the bridge and Bakugou was plummeting.

He was getting too far away, forgetting to halt the unwinding of his tape until he was a ridiculous distance out from the bridge. There was no way he could reach the explosive teen now.

He shot a new piece of tap at the railing and tried to pull himself back down, turning to shoot a second strand towards Bakugou to hopefully help his descent.

The tape missed and Sero was swinging too low, on course to swing under the bridge before he could pull himself back up the other side.

Shinsou’s capture weapon caught Bakugou and Sero had to hope his fall wasn’t too dramatic as the top of the bridge left his eyesight.

He just had to swing under the bridge and come up on the other side, and then he’d be able to check on everyone. It would only take him a few seconds to be back topside.

Sero felt the release of tension in his tape and before he even realised what was happening, he was in freefall and on a collision course with the river. That was the thing about his quirk, the constant looming threat of falling. In his panic, he tried to fling out some more tape, hoping it would find a purchase on some part of the underside of the bridge.

Or the railing that entered his line of sight as he fell along the trajectory of his previous swing. He could almost swear he saw a head of fluffy pink hair peeking over the railing.

His tape failed to connect with anything as his body hit water.

Which was freezing.

The shock of the impact and the temperature drop had Sero taking an involuntary breath of nothing but water, the coldness eagerly filling his lungs and pushing out whatever air he had left. He wasn’t sure if his helmet was still on his head or if it was just whatever the opposite of watertight was.

Even opening his eyes to the assault of the cold water didn’t help his case. He couldn’t see any light to tell him which way the surface was. All he knew was that his lungs burned and he could do nothing more than try to swim and hope he wasn’t sinking.

He tried to stay calm, but there was really no option for him other than to panic and hope that someone fished him out of the water.

Kirishima would sink like a stone if he even dared to jump in after Sero, he would immediately harden in contact with the water. Mina and Shinsou could swim but the jump off the bridge was far too dangerous.

Maybe Bakugou could get to the water with his explosions, but Sero couldn’t remember if he’d be able to propel them out of the river even if he did go after Sero. He didn’t see the end of Bakugou’s fall, his friend could very well be dangerously injured, far too poorly off to help the one who was responsible for his fall.

His head was so foggy.

There was a different quality to the darkness that crept in around the corner of his vision in comparison to the darkness of the water. Sero had always thought he could hold his breath for a long time, but he guessed that the gut instinct of inhaling the water would be his undoing.

Sero vaguely recalled that there was another group, closer to the riverbank. He couldn’t remember who had been there, but he could only hope that Tsu was nearby, she was perhaps the only one who would be able to get him. She was very qualified with water rescues.

The fog was growing thicker, heavier, and Sero wasn’t sure he had the energy to keep up his fight towards the surface.

It was always fun when a training exercise became a rescue mission. He just hoped that someone fished him out before it was too late.

Everything was heavy and Sero let the water take him.

Iida’s entire team snapped to attention when they heard a scream.

“SERO!”

It was raw and filled with genuine terror. Iida felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head as he turned in the direction the scream came from. Just in time to see a dark form hit the water at a high speed, white strips of tape hanging uselessly in the air as they floated down onto the river’s surface.

With bated breath, everyone watched the surface of the water, waiting for Sero to surface.

Iida’s mind was a whirlwind. Had he hit his head? Had he been blown from the bridge by one of their classmates’ stronger quirks? Why had Iida yet to see his boyfriend’s hair pop out the top of the water?

No one needed to say anything before Asui was racing down the riverbank and throwing out her tongue.

Asui pulled Sero from the water with ease, how she had even known where he was, was beyond Iida. He would have to thank her later, after he checked on his boyfriend.

That water had to be freezing, and Iida was not unfamiliar with the knowledge that Sero would lose his body heat a lot faster in cold water. He was in his winter version of his suit but it wasn’t waterproof.

Sero’s helmet had fallen off at some point, maybe even prior to him hitting the water, Iida noticed as he raced over to meet him and Asui.

Iida didn’t know what he was expecting when he crashed to his knees next to his boyfriend’s wet form. Coughing and complaining? Sure. Sero being completely limp, soaked to the bone and not giving Iida’s presence any acknowledgement? Not what Iida expected.

Sero’s dark hair was plastered to his skin by the water, his eyes were closed, his lips and the tip of his nose going a jarring shade of purple and grey.

“Sero?”

Iida wrapped his hand around the top of Sero's shoulder, where it met the base of his neck. He tried to ignore how cold Sero felt to the touch, blaming it on the water, but the temperature of his skin had anxiety curling in Iida’s gut. "Sero? Hanta, can you hear me?"

Sero offered him no response, not even a twitch or grumble like he usually did when Iida bothered him while the older boy was trying to take a cat nap on the common room couch.

Okay. Bad news.

"Call an ambulance, and Aizawa-sensei!" Iida called out. It came out a lot shakier than he was expecting.

He leant down so that his cheek hovered above Sero's mouth and nose, his hand resting atop his boyfriend's chest. He was hoping, begging, for the sensation of air brushing against his face or movement under his hand, even the sound of Sero's breathing or the sight of his chest rising and falling.

Worse news.

Sero wasn't breathing.

Iida wasn't wearing his watch so he couldn't be certain that it had been ten seconds but he knew that it had been too long without any indication that Sero could breathe.

Aizawa regularly made them revise first aid so it wasn't like Iida didn't know what to do.

But there was a world of difference between a CPR dummy and turning his giggling boyfriend onto his side, and Sero being completely unresponsive and being entirely dependent on Iida to help him.

Taking a deep breath and trying to shove his anxiety deeper inside himself, Iida positioned himself. With his knees pressed up against Sero’s side, his right hand over his left and his elbows locked straight.

His mind was a whirlwind as he started the compressions. Was he pressing hard enough? Was it fast enough? Was he even helping?

He was quick to shove the thoughts out of his mind, he couldn’t afford to think about anything other than the compressions. If he hesitated or freaked out, it could cost Sero his life.

“Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty,” Iida counted under his breath. He leant down to Sero’s face, his hands tilting his boyfriend’s head back and pinching his nose as Iida’s mouth covered Sero’s cold one.

Two breaths and he was back to pumping Sero’s heart for him. Iida’s head swam at the thought.

Iida was counting his way through his second ground of compressions when someone fell into place on Sero’s other side. Iida didn’t even bother to look up at who they were, he only cared about one thing right now, seeing Sero awake and breathing.

“Iida.” So it was Yaoyorozu next to him. “I have a defibrillator. Attach it while I do the breaths, okay?”

Iida nodded firmly. “Okay.”

Fuck, he’d forgotten all about the defibrillator in his panic. Had she made it? He tried to pull up the mental map of where AEDs were located around campus but it was all a blur in his head. He couldn’t think clearly about anything other than Hanta.

He says his “thirty” loud enough for Yaoyorozu to hear him and she snapped into action, passing the opened defibrillator to Iida as she placed a bag-valve-mask over Sero’s nose and mouth.

Either she was truly the best at locating things under pressure or she was incredible at using her complex quirk in a panic. Iida couldn’t rule out either.

He would be grateful for her for the rest of his life, he suspected.

Iida grabbed the shears from the defibrillator box and started to cut away Sero’s hero costume. It was a simple motion, starting at the base of Sero’s throat and stopping just above his pelvis.

Vaguely, Iida was aware that Sero’s chest was falling for the second time and Yaoyorozu was setting the bag valve mask down next to his head.

“I’ll get it, you do compressions.”

Iida couldn’t find it in him to say anything, getting back into the rhythm of pushing on Sero’s chest. It was more physically draining than he had expected, his arms ached and his chest was begging to feel tight with the exhaustion. But he couldn’t stop. He would keep going until Sero’s heart was beating on its own.

Out of the corner of his eye, Iida can see Yaoyorozu peeling back the film on the AED pads so he took over the breaths for her. He didn’t even bother fumbling with the mask that was on the other side of Sero.

In the span of two rescue breaths, Yaoyorozu had dried off Sero’s torso with a towel that would have seemingly appeared out of midair if Iida didn’t know any better and attached the pads to his chest.

Iida hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Yaoyorozu’s voice was firm yet comforting as she spoke. “Keep going.”

Thankfully, at least one of them could keep their head on straight right now.

As Iida continued the compressions, his heart breaking ten times over with every one, Yaoyorozu called out to someone outside of his field of vision.

“Uraraka, can you use the bag mask? Just squeeze it twice when Iida does thirty compressions.”

There was a silent exchange and another body kneeling on the ground with them.

The AED made a noise when Iida stopped his compressions. How long had it been? It felt like a lifetime. The amicable chatter he had been exchanging with Asui and Uraraka as they walked down the riverbank seemed like it had happened forever ago. Where was Aizawa? They needed help.

“Analysing rhythm, don’t touch the patient.”

Iida snatched his hands away from where they hovered close to Sero, shuffling back until his knees were no longer touching his boyfriend.

They waited with baited breath for the machine’s verdict.

“No shock advised. Continue compressions.”

Iida was back in position in less than a second, pushing down on his boyfriend’s chest again. Sero’s sternum was firm below the heel of Iida’s palm.

How many times had he languidly traced his fingers across Sero’s skin, trailing ghosts of fingertips over his boyfriend’s sternum, a flat palm pressed over where Iida could feel the strong thumping of Sero’s heart? He’d become so accustomed to just reaching out and touching Sero, it was normal, but this wasn’t like that.

There was no sight of black eyes watching him carefully as Sero’s lips curled into a smile, a soft “I love you” on his tongue.

The stupid monotonous “press, press, press” from the AED was not helping to ease Iida’s panic. He couldn’t do more than try to tune it out.

“Come on, Hanta,” Iida pleaded, his voice breaking with the pent up emotion he had accumulated in the past few minutes. “Breathe.” Iida was still pressing on Sero’s chest, hoping that with every thrust downwards that it would spur Sero into motion. “Please, Hanta. You have to breathe!”

Yaoyorozu and Uraraka both refrained from saying anything as the tears started to fall, Iida couldn’t keep them at bay anymore. He was tired, he was desperate, and Sero was still cold and unresponsive.

His tears hit the back of Iida’s hand, others pooling on Sero’s skin.

Aizawa couldn’t have picked a better or worse time to show up.

There was some shuffling and Aizawa was kneeling on the other side of Sero, Yaoyorozu having moved to take over the position by Sero’s head. Where did Uraraka go?

“Iida,” Aizawa said. He was clearly out of breath. Had he run to them? Iida didn’t doubt that his teacher would. After all, he’d proven himself willing to give his life for them. “Next round you’re swapping out with me,” he commanded in a low voice.

Iida shook his head. “I can’t”.

“You can. You’re tired and you need to let me take over. You’ve done well, let me help, Iida.”

Iida couldn’t keep up his argument. Aizawa was right, he was tired.

As he finished his round of compressions, he leant back heavily, turning his legs so that he didn’t sit on his engines.

Aizawa offered him a sympathetic look, but there was an edge to it - worry.

Iida couldn’t do anything more than watch as Aizawa took over. He kept his eyes trained on Sero’s face, mostly obscured by the mask. Yaoyorozu also had tears in her eyes but with her lips pressed into a firm line, they didn’t spill.

That’s when it really sank in.

This was supposed to be a routine training exercise, and now Sero might not walk away from it. How did everything go so wrong so quickly?

Aizawa was still going when he spoke, “Sero, if you open your eyes, I’ll give you an A on every test left in the semester.”

There was a weird quality to his voice. Iida wasn’t used to hearing this much identifiable emotion from his teacher, a plea with the unconscious kid he was supposed to take care of, masked in useless humour.

Sero would laugh if he made Aizawa cry. It had always been such a bizarre thing to think about, but Iida wasn’t so sure anymore.

His timing was almost comical.

As Aizawa started on his second round of compressions, the student beneath him jolted, spitting up water as he desperately tried to suck air into his lungs.

“Sero!” Yaoyorozu exclaimed, Iida had no doubt that she was crying those tears now.

“Turn him on his side,” Aizawa instructed as he slid his hands under Sero’s shoulder and hip, turning him towards Iida who quickly moved to help guide Sero into a stable side position.

He was breathing, and it finally felt like Iida could breathe too.

Sero was coughing as his chest spasmed, emptying his lungs of filthy river water.

Yaoyorozu was cooing and brushing Sero’s hair out of his face. If the tape user was more aware right now he probably would have been blushing at the ministrations, but currently they just helped to settle his panicked writhing.

“Just breathe, Sero,” Iida says, his voice uncharacteristically shaky but no one dares question it. He’s completely focused on holding Sero steady as he breathes. The sound is laboured and wheezy but it’s the most beautiful thing Iida has ever heard.

Iida doesn’t even look when Aizawa unwraps his capture weapon from around his neck and slides the bundle of fabric under Sero’s head. His scarred and much bigger than Yaoyorozu’s hand rested against the back of his student’s wet head for a few moments before he retracted it, instead opting to hold onto Sero’s wrist, feeling his pulse and looking at his watch on his other wrist.

“You did good, kid. Focus on breathing.”

Sero let out a weak and breathless laugh. He seemed to be done with coughing up the water, much to Iida’s relief. “Praise from Aizawa-sensei, I really must be dead.”

Aizawa didn’t look up from his watch. “Do you know where you are?”

“Somewhere wet,” Sero grumbled before shuddering. “I’m cold.”

“Yaoyorozu, do you think you could make him a blanket?”

Iida looked up at Yaoyorozu, only really looking at her at this moment. Her eyes were red and her face tear-streaked, she looked exhausted. He felt bad that Aizawa was asking her to do even more after she just exhausted herself and her quirk to save Sero’s life.

But Sero was shivering pretty aggressively under Iida’s hold. His lips and nose were still discoloured, and from this angle he could see that the purple tint extended to Sero’s eyelids.

She nodded. “Of course.”

Aizawa wrote something on the back of his hand as he set Sero’s hand down. Iida had no idea where his teacher had produced the pen but he was fairly impressed with Aizawa’s efficiency and professionalism. Especially considering that Iida and Yaoyorozu were both still crying. The wetness on Aizawa’s cheeks did not evade the class representative’s notice though.

As the sparkles in the corner of Iida’s vision died down, he was handed the corner of a very fluffy blanket, Aizawa taking the other as they tucked it around Sero.

“The ambulance is almost here,” Uraraka’s voice chirped helpfully from behind Iida. He hadn’t realised that she was still there.

“Thank you, Uraraka. Do you think you and Asui can meet them when they enter the training grounds and guide them here?” Aizawa asked, his voice so soft it was frankly unnerving.

“Of course, sensei!”

And with that, the two girls were gone.

“Tenya?” Sero croaked, snapping Iida back to focus.

“Yeah?”

If Aizawa noticed the use of Iida’s given name, he didn’t give any indication. Maybe he was just too relieved that Sero was alive to care much about anything else. The teacher just continued to kneel there with a hand on Sero’s back and his eyes on his watch.

“Are you okay?” Sero asked softly, reaching for Iida with a clumsy hand. Cold fingers wrapping around Iida’s own.

Iida takes a few seconds to be surprised. “What?”

“You’re crying.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay, that’s all.”

“Hmm,” Sero hums thoughtfully. “I like it better when you smile.”

They kept up the random chatter until the ambulance arrived. Aizawa took the role of talking to the paramedics and Iida was incredibly grateful for that, he wasn’t sure he could get through a sentence without crying at the moment. He was feeling very emotionally raw.

The paramedics were nice enough to work around Iida, whom Sero was still holding onto.

Sero grumbled when one of the paramedics secured an oxygen mask to his face, letting go of Iida’s hand to try and remove it. He was sitting up now but his eyes were still glossy and he didn’t seem entirely present. Iida snatched Sero’s hand back with a firm look.

“Don’t do that.”

“It feels weird,” Sero whined, his voice muffled by the oxygen mask.

“Too bad. Don’t drown next time.” Iida felt kind of guilty when he was being so strict with Sero, but he wasn’t about to let his boyfriend interfere with his medical care.

“You’re so mean to me.”

Iida was about to respond but he was interrupted by one of the paramedics, he was unsure if it was the same one that gave Sero the oxygen mask or not. “Do you think you can stand?”

Sero paused for a second, mulling over the question before he gave the paramedic a shake of his head.

“That’s okay, we can go at your pace. You can sit here for a little longer and try again or we could figure out some other option that suits you,” the paramedic said in such a comforting tone that even Iida felt reassured.

Sero seemed to perk up at that. “Can Tenya pick me up?”

Iida internally groaned. Their relationship was not going to be a secret from Aizawa after today.

“If that’s what you’re both comfortable with, then sure, I’ll just hold onto the oxygen tank and we’ll get you on the gurney and loaded into the ambulance, okay? It’s much warmer than out here, too.”

Iida had no qualms about lifting Sero. His boyfriend weighed basically nothing and loved being carried around regularly. Sometimes he would be too tired to be bothered walking up to his dorm and made Iida scoop him up and take him there to prevent him from sleeping on the couch and waking up with a crick in his neck.

With an arm under Sero’s shoulders and another behind his knees, Iida easily lifted his partner. It was only a matter of steps to the elevated surface of the gurney which he nestled Sero on easily.

The other paramedic was quick to cover Sero in blankets, especially considering that the one Yaoyorozu kindly provided was pretty much soaked through at this point. Iida hoped she would get some rest when she got back to the dorms, but figured most of the class would wait up for news on their classmate’s condition.

As the paramedics loaded the gurney into the ambulance, one of them turned to speak. “Who’s riding with?”

Iida turned to Aizawa, expecting to be given instructions to handle the class while Aizawa went with Sero to the hospital but Aizawa just nodded his head in the direction of the ambulance. “Go ahead.”

“But sensei-”

“No buts. I’ll wrap things up here and meet you at the hospital. I trust you can handle things for an hour.”

“I- thank you sensei!” Iida said, following his boyfriend into the back of the ambulance.

Turning back to look at Aizawa who was bending over to pick up his sodden capture scarf off the ground, Iida saw the group of their classmates that had gathered. Only a few of them were there, but they all looked off.

Iida’s entire group was there, of course. Yaoyorozu was folding up the soaked blanket she had made for Sero, her face still covered in tears. Uraraka had her arms around Tsuyu, both of them looking worse for wear.

At some point that Iida would not have been able to pinpoint if he tried, Sero’s team had joined them. Ashido was holding onto Kirishima, looking like she’d barely just stopped crying, Kirishima didn’t look much better, his own face streaked with tears. Shinsou hung back from the two, his mask in his hand as he watched everything with wide eyes.

Bakugou wasn’t a member of either group but he was there, looking uncharacteristically solemn. Iida idly wondered how much they’d seen. Bakugou was not known for being quiet, and he was just standing there with a vacant look as his arms hung limply by his side.

Iida turned back to Sero just in time to see him giving his friends a wave.

Out of everyone, he seemed to be taking it the best. He was soaked to the bone, visibly exhausted and had an oxygen mask strapped to his face but he still smiled when he met Iida’s eye.

“Tenya don’t let them take my suit,” Sero called out. Iida was growing more accustomed to Sero speaking through the oxygen mask, making communication much easier. It also helped that Sero was now a lot more aware than he had been in the ambulance.

“It’s beyond salvation, you’re going to need a new one,” Iida stated.

Sero just whined at him. “I don’t want them to cut my suit.”

Iida looked over at the nurse who was already most of the way done cutting the fabric away from Sero’s skin. “I already cut it.”

“But it’s okay when you do it.”

“If you’re brave and listen to the hospital staff, you’ll be able to go home earlier.”

Sero perked up at that. “Really? Can we watch a movie back at the dorms?”

“If you’re feeling up to it when you get discharged, then sure,” Iida said with a soft smile. He rubbed his palms against his thighs, cursing how uncomfortable it was to wear his suit for non-hero purposes. He did not design it with sitting in a chair in mind.

The other issue was that his hands would not stop shaking. It had been a solid half an hour of sitting in the ER with Sero but Iida couldn’t quell the constant trembling. It wasn’t even subtle, he had planned on texting the class group chat with an update but he couldn’t hold his phone steady for long enough to even unlock it.

Sero had noticed, pretty early on actually, he mumbled something about Iida’s shaky hands and offered to hold them. That had lasted for a short while until Sero had gotten tired of trying to comfort Iida. He was very exhausted, losing the energy to do much more than pipe up occasionally when he thought of something funny that he wanted to share.

Iida sincerely doubted that Sero would be able to hold out for an entire movie by the time they got back to the dorms. That was unless the doctor decided to keep Sero overnight, which was still possible.

However, Iida really hoped that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t sure he could handle going back to the dorms for the night and not being able to confirm his boyfriend’s safety with his own eyes.

If the anxiety seized him right now, he could just reach out and take Sero’s hand or look across the bed at the monitor that beeps to reaffirm that Sero’s heart was beating fine.

Iida wasn’t sure he could ever shake the fear of the realisation that it wasn’t. It hadn’t been. He’d come within a hair’s breadth of not sitting next to Sero’s hospital bed as the older boy complained about getting his suit cut off.

He could be sitting in the dorms right now, grieving with everyone else. But he wasn’t.

Sero looked extra unimpressed as he sat up, Iida leapt from his seat, his arm coming up behind Sero’s shoulders to stabilize him.

The nurse quickly tied the hospital gown in place and Sero was eased back onto the now elevated mattress so he could sit up and pout at Iida with minimal effort.

Sero spoke when the nurse left the room, pulling the curtain shut behind her. “It’s ugly.”

Iida rolled his eyes. “It’s practical.”

“Still ugly,” Sero grumbled. “I’m tired.

“Take a nap, I’ll be here the entire time. Just don’t mess with the wires.”

Sero rolled over onto his side and pulled his knees up to his chest. “Goodnight, Tenya.”

“It’s like 3pm.”

“Goodnight, Tenya,” Sero said again, his voice firmer.

Iida couldn’t help but sigh as he stood up again to press a kiss to the top of Sero’s head in his semi-dry hair. “Goodnight, Hanta.”

He lingered for a moment, drinking in the sight of his boyfriend. The whiteness of the hospital gown, the bed sheets and blankets all served to amplify how pale Sero looked. He still had that purple tint to his extremities. There were at least a billion wires poking out from the top of the hospital gown, all of them connected to some monitor or another. The oxygen mask was still firmly fixed to his face, a little grey rectangular clip on the index finger of his right hand to document the necessity for the mask.

He knew Sero had to be feeling pretty awful right now, but his boyfriend continued to joke and try to make Iida smile, it made his heart squeeze in his chest as Iida reached for the bundle of blankets that had slipped to Sero’s feet. He tucked them up to his boyfriend’s shoulders and pressed another kiss to his hair before returning to his seat.

After a trip to radiology for a chest x-ray that Iida had to sit in the waiting area for the duration of, Iida followed Sero up to a room in the pediatric ward.

It was weird, following the orderlies and his boyfriend’s hospital bed through the corridors and a bunch of kids. Some of them were crying and screaming, others running around with friends and giggling. He felt very out of place as an almost-adult still dressed head-to-toe in his hero gear.

As Sero was settled into the room, his oxygen mask was switched to a nasal cannula that showed off the fact that the colour had come back to his face. He still had his pile of blankets as well as an additional IV that the nurse said was warm saline to bring up his body temperature a little faster.

The wires were still there, as was the pulse oximeter clipped to his finger, and a little paper cup of tea in Sero’s hands that he slowly sipped.

Aizawa joined them after a little while, as Sero’s eyelids were beginning to droop again. “What’s the verdict?”

“They killed my suit,” Sero grumbled, pouting like a child.

Aizawa quirked a questioning eyebrow.

“They had to cut it off of him when he arrived,” Iida supplied helpfully.

“I’ll contact the support class when we get back to UA,” Aizawa said simply, ignoring Sero’s pout. He lifted up a hand with two cloth shopping bags dangling from his grip. “I got your classmates to get you both a change of clothes. I figured you didn’t want to be Ingenium right now, and Sero is going to need something to wear when he gets discharged.”

“When is that going to be?” Sero asked, bringing his paper cup to his lips again.

Aizawa levelled him with a stern gaze. “You almost died, Sero.” His expression and voice softened considerably. “I’m glad to see you’re doing better.”

“So when do I get to go home?”

“The doctor said that once his temperature and Oxygen levels are back within a normal range, they’ll keep him for a few extra hours for observation. Said it’s unlikely that they’ll keep him overnight unless a complication arises,” Iida explained.

Aizawa pointed an accusing finger in Sero’s direction. “Don’t even think about wracking up pneumonia or, god forbid, a cardiac arrest. You’ve already traumatised poor Iida enough for one day.”

Sero tapped the finger with his pulse oximeter clipped to it on his chin. “I could do another cardiac arrest, for the drama of it all.”

Iida made a choked noise. “Please don’t.”

Sero and Aizawa both turned to him, Sero’s eyes wide and Aizawa’s eyebrows pulled together - in concern.

“Do you need a hug, Iida?” Aizawa asked in his usual monotone, regarding his student with an unreadable expression.

“What?”

Aizawa spread his arms in an invitation. “Free dad hug, one-time offer.”

“No-” Iida started, not even able to finish his sentence through his surprise. Aizawa was offering to hug him. “No thank you, sensei.”

“Your loss,” Aizawa said with a shrug, dropping his arms back to his sides.

Sero perked up. “I want a dad hug. Can I have a dad hug?”

“No. You give me heart palpitations, you don’t get a dad hug.”

“Aww, just one?” Sero asked, reaching a hand out towards Aizawa. It was clear that Sero was milking this opportunity for all it was worth, he knew he’d never be able to be so casual with Aizawa under any other circumstance without getting scolded.

“Maybe if you still want one when you’re discharged. Focus on recovering for now.”

“On it. You’ve neer seen someone more recovered from drowning than me.”

Aizawa set one of the bags of clothes at the foot of the bed, holding out the other one for Iida to take.

“The Ingenium suit can’t be all that comfortable right now.”

Aizawa’s gaze softened when Iida held the bag of clothes to his chest but didn’t move, his eyes still glued to Sero. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Get changed.”

Iida wanted to object but Aizawa wasn’t wrong. His suit was big and clunky and awkward. It was making his back hurt from the simple task of trying to sit in a chair.

He nodded and quickly shuffled out of the room and to the bathroom at the end of the corridor.

He changed in record speed, not wanting to be away from Sero for too long. The trembling he had finally managed to suppress came back with a vengeance when he left Sero’s company.

Hurrying back, Iida slipped back into the room, dressed in a much more comfortable hoodie and sweatpants.

Aizawa looked up at Iida from his place in the lone seat next to Sero’s bed as the door fell shut behind Iida. “Iida, can I speak with you outside for a moment? It won’t take long.”

“Sure.” Iida said, meeting eyes with Sero who looked equally as confused.

Aizawa continued walking up the corridor until they approached a vending machine. He punched in a few numbers and inserted his money, in a matter of seconds there was a chocolate bar being pressed into Iida’s hand.

“Eat it. You look like you’re about to collapse.” Aizawa’s voice was missing its usual commanding edge but Iida obeyed nonetheless.

“Present Mic is staying with 1-A in the dorms. Last I heard they’re watching movies and ordering food.”

Iida hummed thoughtfully as he continued to eat the chocolate bar under Aizawa’s watchful gaze. “That’s good.”

“They’re all worried, but glad that you’re here with him.”

Iida didn’t have much more to offer than another hum.

He was folding up the empty wrapper with trembling fingers when Aizawa spoke again. “If they do end up deciding to keep him here for the night, I’ll see what I can do about you staying with him.”

Iida looked up at that. “What? Why?”

“Your hands have gotten considerably more shaky the longer we’ve been out here. Staying with your boyfriend will help you keep calm, and I don’t think either of you would benefit from being alone right now.”

Curse how observant Aizawa was. They always forgot, but he noticed the smallest things. “He’s not my boyfriend-”

“Iida,” Aizawa cut him off, “I have known you since you were a baby. You’re going to have to be a better liar than that to convince me.”

“How long have you known?”

“I’ve had my suspicions for a few months, you’re not exactly subtle. But Hizashi and I have been in and out of hospitals enough, I know that look. And Sero calling you by your given name when he was half-conscious while insisting that he hold your hand and be carried by you did not help your case,” Aizawa supplied.

“Ah, that makes sense.”

They stood there in silence for a little longer, before Aizawa of all people broke it.

“Iida.” The softness in his voice was back. This had been a very out of character night for the both of them.

“Yes, sensei?”

“How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine-” Iida started, looking up to meet Aizawa’s gaze. Which was full of concern as he regarded his student. Iida cut himself off with the strangled sob that clawed its way out of his throat.

And he fell apart. One crack in his resolve and it all came pouring out. He didn’t have the energy to try and stop the sobs and the tears in favour of saving face in front of his teacher.

Aizawa didn’t speak, he just pulled Iida into a hug. There was barely two inches of height between them but Iida had never felt so small.

He continued to cry, loud broken sobs into Aizawa’s shirt, his tears undoubtedly leaving a large wet patch in the fabric. He was just so overwhelmed, more than he had thought, and it all came spilling out of him at once.

Aizawa, to his credit, gave pretty good hugs. He held Iida steady, rubbing circles into his back and mumbling words of comfort. “It’s okay, let it out. You’re gonna be okay.”

It took a while for Iida to finally get his sobbing under control. He had no idea how long he'd been crying in Aizawa's arms but it was definitely too long.

Sero was probably wondering where they were.

Iida cleared his throat. "Sorry sensei, I-"

"Don't mention it," Aizawa cut in quickly. "You've had one hell of a day and you needed comfort. It's nothing to be ashamed about. Personally, I've probably spent more hours crying into Kayama's shoulder than I've spent sleeping in the past month."

"Midnight-sensei?"

Aizawa nodded. "She gives the best hugs."

“That makes sense,” Iida mumbled, wiping at his eyes with the edge of his sleeve.

“Are you feeling better?” Aizawa asked, punching a few more numbers into the vending machine. Iida was hit with the shocking realisation that he’d just had a breakdown in the middle of this corridor, in front of a vending machine. If anyone had wanted a snack all they would have seen was Iida sobbing in his teacher’s arms for god knows how long.

Iida laughed a little breathlessly, there was no humour in the gesture. “Aside from crying out half the fluid in my body, yeah. Thank you, sensei.”

Aizawa bent down to retrieve something from the vending machine, only to hand a water bottle to Iida.

“Let’s go check on trouble, what do you think?”

Iida nodded, smiling softly as Aizawa began walking back to Sero’s room.

Sero had been discharged at midnight. A full nine hours after his admission. It’d been a long night.

By 5pm, Sero had been taken off of his supplemental oxygen, and his levels stayed consistent in its absence.

The remaining seven hours passed without incident.

Most of them were spent with Sero insisting that Iida sit in the bed with him as he messed around on the younger boy’s phone. Iida had supervised Sero’s texting the class group chat and the older boy went as far as to send a selfie of himself and Iida to comfort their concerned classmates.

“Mina says you look worse than I do,” Sero chirped.

Iida just nodded, leaning his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Tell her I said thank you.”

Sero showed him a few pictures that had been sent in the group chat. One of Present Mic drinking a mug of something in the dorm kitchen with his hair out of it’s gelled spike and in a complicated arrangement of braids and Ashido standing next to him, looking incredibly proud of herself.

A picture of Bakugou sitting on the couch, his head on Kirishima’s chest, he appeared to be asleep, bundled up in a hoodie that was definitely not his if the print on the back was anything to go buy. Iida was fairly confident that Kirishima was the only student in their class who owned limited edition Crimson Riot merchandise.

Another picture, this time of the floor where Uraraka appeared to be demolishing Jirou and Todoroki in uno.

The final picture Sero showed him was a selfie sent by Kaminari, the electric boy looking very happy as he threw up a peace sign, Shinsou was sitting next to him and held up a less enthusiastic peace sign but still gave them a smile.

Soaking in the physical affirmation that Sero was okay as the older boy pressed into his side was enough to soothe Iida’s anxiety. He sat back as Sero messed around on his phone, chatting with their classmates until he got a little too overwhelmed for his tired mind to keep up with.

Sero had begged to watch a movie not long after he’d bid farewell to the class chat, only to fall asleep on Iida’s shoulder before they were even halfway through it. Iida, however, was not far behind him.

The nurses had been very stealthy with their regular vital checks, successfully not rousing either of the boys as Aizawa continued to do all the necessary paperwork and phone calls in silence.

The two of them were woken a little past midnight by Sero’s doctor carrying out a final check of the boy’s condition before happily handing Aizawa the discharge papers.

Aizawa and Iida waited in the corridor for a nurse to help Sero get changed. When the eldest boy joined them, he was wearing an outfit not dissimilar to Iida’s. In fact, he was wearing one of Iida’s hoodies that hung loose on his lanky frame.

Iida had half a mind to just carry Sero up to his room when he fell asleep in the passenger seat of Aizawa’s car, a blanket tucked under his chin.

Gently shaking his shoulder, Sero stirred with an unintelligent string of mumbling. “Tenya?”

“I know you wanna sleep, but we’re at the dorms now, so you gotta wake up enough to get to bed.”

“Carry me,” Sero grumbled, his hands fisting in the fabric of Iida’s hoodie.

Iida couldn’t help but to laugh a little at his partner’s antics. Sero was so clingy when he was tired. “I would, sweetheart, but everyone’s been waiting for us to get home and I’m afraid they might collapse if they see me carrying you inside.”

“That’s so rude of them.”

“Okay, you tell them that.”

“I will,” Sero said firmly as he stumbled, half-asleep, out of Aizawa’s car, his hands still latched onto his boyfriend, using Iida to steady himself.

Aizawa silently watched the scene unfold, never saying anything as he followed behind the pair. Eighteen sets of eyes landed on them the second they stepped over the threshold.

“Sero!” a cacophony of voices called out.

“Don’t crowd him, he’s exhausted,” Aizawa commanded over the buzzing activity around him. “Where’s Mic?”

Iida watched Bakugou shrug and point towards the common room couches with the jerk of his thumb. “He fell asleep.”

Aizawa quickly departed from Iida and Sero’s side, headed over to rouse his husband. Iida couldn’t fathom how they’d actually managed to keep their relationship a secret from the students for this long. They were nothing close to subtle.

Iida stepped back a little, his hand still in Sero’s as the class descended upon them. Kirshima, Kaminari and Ashido all took turns giving their friend a hug. There were lots of questions thrown around, and a lot more hugs for Sero to receive, even one for Iida from Yaoyorozu who looked as worn out as he felt.

Tears were shed, everyone basking in the relief that their classmate was back, safe and sound.

“You look wiped,” Kirishima said as he turned to Iida who just offered him a half-hearted smile.

“It’s been a long day. I think we’re just gonna head up to bed before Sero falls asleep standing up.”

Kirishima gave him a firm pat on the back. “Good luck with that, Bakubro is intent on feeding you both. It’s the closest he’ll ever get to admitting that he cares, do not take it lightly.”

Iida nodded before turning back to Sero who was almost swaying on his feet. “Let’s go sit down, Bakugou made food.”

Sero hummed, not even bothering to open his eyes as Iida wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “He’s a good cook.”

Sitting on one of the common room couches, under the watchful eyes of everyone who wasn’t convinced that Sero was okay just yet, Sero and Iida shared a bowl of tofu stir fry.

Sero didn’t have the stomach for much, and insisted that Iida feed him, too tired to operate chopsticks on his own. He’d fallen asleep curled up into Iida’s side before the bowl was even emptied.

Iida stayed on the couch with Sero for a little while, talking with his remaining company in a low voice until he started to feel himself drifting off. It was time they made their way up to bed.

There was truly no other option but to carry Sero upstairs at this point, it was nearing 2am and there was no hope to rouse his partner for long enough to get all the way up to either of their dorms.

Bakugou, Ashido, Kirshima and Kaminari had been the only ones to stay up with them until that point. Shinsou was also there but he had spent the better part of the last hour asleep with his head in Kaminari’s lap while the latter ran his hand through the unruly purple hair, so he didn’t really count.

Actually, Bakugou seemed to be the only one still fully awake, despite his tendency to go to bed much earlier than everyone else. He’d never admit to it, but he had been worried, Iida didn’t have to know Bakugou well to know that much.

“Thank you,” Iida said, careful not to wake Sero up as he spoke.

Bakugou just looked at him and huffed. “I didn’t do it for you, nerd.”

“I’m grateful nonetheless, do you want a hand getting everyone up to their rooms?”

“They can take themselves, just take him upstairs.”

Iida pretended not to notice the lack of his usual nicknames as he turned back to Sero, shaking his shoulder lightly.

“No,” Sero mumbled, turning to bury his face further into Iida’s shoulder. “Don’t wanna.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

Sero turned his head upwards to give Iida a pointed look through his messy and now dry hair. “You’re gonna make me get up.”

“Correct.”

“No.”

Iida leaned down until his mouth was level with Sero’s ear. “If we go upstairs we can cuddle,” he whispered in a low voice.

Sero hummed. “Really? Lead the way, Class Prez.”

It was not a complicated process to scoop Sero up and into his arms, one arm under his back, the other curled behind his knees. Sero’s weight was a comfort to have resting against Iida’s chest as he walked them to the elevator.

It was times like this that he was glad his boyfriend weighed the same as a bunch of grapes. On a good day, Iida could easily lift the heavier members of their class, but at that moment he was beyond exhausted and he wasn’t sure if he could even carry Sero much further than up to his dorm.

The elevator ride up to the fifth floor passed by quickly, and Iida easily made his way to Sero’s dorm.

If Iida had to wager a guess who had put the extra blankets on the bed and arranged what looked like a care basket on the little table in the middle of the room, he would put all of his money on Ashido. She notoriously would pick on and tease the other members of the Bakusquad but she had proven herself to be incredibly thoughtful and considerate on multiple occasions.

He would have to remember to thank her in the morning.

For now, his only goal was getting his boyfriend into bed. After everything, Iida felt like he could sleep for a week, figuring that Sero was not going to object to that plan.

Setting Sero down on the bed, Iida moved to pull the blankets on top of his partner. As he tucked the edge of the blankets under his boyfriend’s chin, he moved to smooth the furrow in Sero’s brows with his thumb.

Sero blinked up at Iida then. His black eyes found blue ones in the low lighting. “Are you staying?”

“Sure,” Iida said. He had been planning to sleep in the hammock, giving Sero space but also being close enough to verify that he was safe.

“Not in the hammock,” Sero said sternly, narrowing his eyes at Iida. “You said we could cuddle.”

Iida sighed, there was no use trying to argue, he was putty in Sero’s hands. “Little spoon or big spoon?”

“Little spoon.”

Sero pulled the blankets back as he shuffled closer to the edge of the bed, making room for Iida to slot himself into place behind him. It wasn’t the smoothest job of sharing the bed that they’ve ever done but Iida eventually settled in, sliding his arms around Sero and holding him close to his chest.

Iida buried his face in the crook of Sero’s neck, breathing in the scent of his boyfriend. “I’m really glad you’re okay,” he mumbled into his shoulder.

He felt Sero’s soft laugh against his chest. “Me too. I can’t have some dude hitting you up with a ‘he would want you to move on’, you’re mine forever.”

“Forever,” Iida said, tightening his hold around Sero ever so slightly.

Sero hummed, the sound was low in his throat and Iida could feel the vibration of it against his skin. “Forever.”

Iida was lounging on Sero’s bed, not quite bothering to get up just yet. His eyes trailed Sero’s movements as the older boy circled his room. He had a check in with Recovery Girl in an hour so he was intent on getting changed himself. After the past few days, the soreness and exhaustion were starting to ease and he was a lot more mobile.

And that’s how Iida ended up face-to-face with a shirtless Sero who was still trying to figure out what shirt he wanted to wear as Iida’s eyes zeroed in on the dark purple bruising covering the front of his boyfriend’s chest.

It looked painful but Sero paid it no mind.

“Hanta?” Iida called out, sitting up with a much more tense posture than he had had moments ago.

“Hmm?”

“Are those bruises?”

Sero looked at Iida for a moment, confused, before looking down at his chest and giving his boyfriend a chuckle and a shrug. “Oh, those, yeah. I assume they’re from you, y’know, restarting my heart.” He paused, running a hand through his messy black hair. “Thanks for that by the way.”

“No problem…” Iida trailed off, starting at the mottled discolouration on Sero’s chest. He wondered if it had really hit Sero yet, truly how close the older boy had come to losing his life only two days ago.

The two of them had been excused from classes for at least a few days unless Sero was feeling up to going to class before then. Sero’s absence for the purpose of rest and recuperation, Iida’s to keep an eye on his boyfriend and look out for any symptoms of secondary drowning or pneumonia. He helped Sero to remember to take his antibiotics as well as just helping him do tasks that were a little too strenuous.

Aizawa had given them a stern look and told them to call him if they needed to or if they were worried about something. He’d also told the two of them that they had appointments with Hound Dog scheduled for them on the following Monday.

The rest of the class had informed the two of them that all training exercises had been suspended for the rest of the week until any changes to improve student safety could be made. Iida did not envy the meetings that Aizawa was undoubtedly going to be sitting through in the week to come.

“You know, you could always blame those on Aizawa-sensei,” Iida said, hoping to lighten the dark look that had crossed Sero’s face.

Sero blanched. “Aizawa-sensei saw me without a shirt on.”

Iida couldn’t help but to raise his eyebrows at the shift in mood. “I think that was the least of his concerns.”

“I can’t show my face ever again,” Sero groaned, flopping face first onto the bed. Only to let out another groan and roll onto his back, rubbing a free hand on his chest that had undoubtedly protested the motion.

“You are being dramatic.”

Sero rounded on Iida, giving him a serious look. “Do you think he noticed that my nipples are uneven?”

Iida just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses up. “Your nipples are not uneven, Hanta.”

Sero nodded sagely. “Yaomomo definitely noticed.”

Iida threw a pillow at his boyfriend.

#bnha #mha #bnha fanfiction #bnha fic #mha fanfiction #mha fic #seroiida #seriida #iidasero #iisero #nyoomtape #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #sero hanta #iida tenya

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adaine-abernantt · 2 years ago

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Ok SO first we need some context bc this session was my character-centric.

I am played a gem dragonborn divination wizard (Daeira) whose spouse was murdered right in front of her and their brand new baby girl by an undead (presumably Strahd minion) for snooping around the legends of Barovia too much bc Daeira is a librarian, after her mother, and is dedicated to finding out and telling and logging stories. She and her spouse would go out on adventures and missions to find more stories and information for the library.

Anyways, spouse is murdered, and daughter is kidnapped as Daeira is issued a threat/warning- if she doesn’t stop snooping around, her daughter will also be killed. So obviously Daeira sets out for Barovia to look for her daughter and ends up teaming up with some other adventurers. Tah-dah, we have a party folks.

We’re doing some things around Barovia generally just following one thing on to the next and we end up at Yester Hill and find this big ole tree surrounded by blights just a little ways away from an encampment of evil druids. We kill all the blights, and I realize that there is something special about the tree bc it is immune to physical damage- can only take magical. So I hit it with a fire bolt, and in my head I hear my daughter speaking to me (bc Dragonborns get telepathy). My daughter was in the fucking tree being absorbed by it. We managed to get her out but she has been blighted and now my character has almost fully gone off the rails.

I believe one of the last things I said this session was that we were going to go to the nearby encampment, take hold of the highest level druid there, and murder all their companions one by one until they un-blighted my daughter. Our party cleric did inform me that if we took a nap, he had remove curse. So that’s what we’re actually gonna do but we do have to go fight the druids next session anyways.

And this is all after I absolutely massacred a shit ton of blights in this encounter and previous encounters this session with just so many scorching rays and fire bolts, plus I got to use my breath weapon 😈 and my gem flight for the first time! And I asked for some cool shit and got extra blights killed in single attacks by our party NPC- Perrina the Platypus, an undead platypus skeleton that a different PC stole from Strahd when he was kicked out of Barovia (for essentially being a bloody annoying drunk asshole). Perrina has a “hat boomerang” and I got my dm to let the hat hit a second monster on its way back to the platypus.

I believe my fellow party member had it right when he said “MaryBeth is going feral” but let’s all be real- my DM went feral first. She told me she’s been planning this whole daughter in and being absorbed by a tree mess since I gave her my backstory in early October.

Who’s ready to hear about the bullshit that went down in my Curse of Strahd campaign tonight 🤠

#huzzah for wild shit #I’m ready to murder some Druids in two weeks #anyways so that was my evening #shout out to anyone who read this far #curse of strahd #dnd #dungeons and dragons #dnd curse of strahd

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ssamie · 4 years ago

Text

ten. “greatest desire”

kozume kenma x fem dazai!reader

(bsd x hq)

tw: mentions of suicide, guns & cementaries

masterlist. suicide freak!

"uh hi.. i know we don't really know each other that much.." atsushi started off. the boy had a nervous smile on his face as he stiffly waves at kenma, with tanizaki and naomi by his side

"but have you seen y/n-san?" atsushi asked

"y/n? why, what happened to her?" kenma asked worriedly

atsushi, tanizaki and naomi were stood in front of nekoma's gym, trying to look for the girl, as per the president's wishes. "its been about a day since you guys went out to the arcade, right?" tanizaki chimed in "has she shown herself to you, or atleast texted any of you?"

kenma frowned as he shook his head no. he looked back at the team who were trying to act like they weren't eavesdropping.

"no.. i just assumed she was busy with work" kenma muttered

"hmm, i tried to ask ranpo-san but he's too busy" naomi chimed in as she hugged tanizaki's arm to her chest

"oya oya, sorry to barge in on the conversation-" kuroo interjected. the captain had a sly grin on his face as he walked towards the group. "but we just so happen to overhear something about our manager going missing?" kuroo mused

"yes, sorry if we're intruding" atsushi bowed

"but y/n-san went missing again, and the president ordered us to find her in under four hours" tanizaki sighed

"or else we get our asses handed to us" atsushi shuddered

kuroo and kenma gave each other a look and nodded along. "we'll try to look for her later" kuroo said "we'll let you guys know"

"thank you so much!" atsushi exclaimed with a smile "would you mind calling the agency if you find her?" he said as he handed them a piece of paper with the agency's number

"its really hard tracking her down" tanizaki says with a chuckle "when she chooses to disappear, it's like she never existed in the first place"

"anyways, we'll be on our way" atsushi excused "we've troubled you long enough"

"its no problem.." kenma muttered

naomi waved them goodbye as they walked away. the duo waving back meekly as they watch their retreating figures disappear.

"hey, you okay?" kuroo nudged his friend kenma nodded and looked down at his shoes "yeah.."

"i think i'll go look for her now" kenma muttered "eh? kenma, we could just go later" kuroo said with a raised brow

"im going. bye" kenma muttered, completely disregarding kuroo as he went straight out the door

"where's he going?" yaku asked as he peeked his head out the gym doors "he's gonna look for y/n" kuroo answered

"damn. what a simp" yamamoto sneered

"wow. that's rich coming from you."

"i swear to god.." kenma grumbled "if she ends up getting found in a ditch and i wasted all that time running around for nothing.." he scoffed

he's been running around the streets of tokyo, passing through every street and alleyway to try and look for the girl. so far he hasn't seen a single trace of her, not even a single person who has managed to pass by her.

"y/n.." kenma huffed out. he was currently by a riverbank, leaning against the metal railings of the bridge while he tried to catch his breath.

"you called?"

kenma jumped at the sudden emission of her oh-so-familiar voice, and turned around to face her "what the- y/n?! where did you come from?!" kenma shrieked out

"also, where have you been?! atsushi-kun and a bunch of people from your job came to the school today looking for you" he said

y/n chuckled and strode over to his side, jumping over the rails and sitting on the flat surface of the bars. "if i told you that the port mafia took me hostage and threatened to execute me, would you believe it?" she mused

"no."

"then i won't bother to say" she shrugged

kenma eyed her warily. her port mafia story could actually be believable, now that he thought about it. given as, her bandages were loosened and torn, almost as if they broke off with too much movement. and along with the dried blood resting upon her cheeks and hands.

"are you okay?" kenma asked worriedly

even if it was believable, it could've been just her trying to kill herself yet again. not that it was any better

"of course" she smiled "though my body is a bit sore.. chuuya really doesn't hold back"

kenma froze and slowly turned his head towards her with a blank and emotionless look on his face.

"chuuya doesn't what." kenma spat out "did you seriously disappear to hook up with that dog? that-that man child? that eyesore? that-"

"what are you talking about?" she laughed

kenma huffed and propped his elbow on the cold metal, resting his chin on his hand as he pouted

"you're really funny, kenma-kun" she mused

"really? cause im not laughing." kenma grumbled "i ran around the whole city for you, only to find out you ran off with some guy" his honey hued orbs eyed her down, watching her chuckle softly as the golden rays of the sun illuminated the surroundings around her

"y/n.." he mumbled "why did you really disappear?"

"i already told you" she replied with a sigh "the port mafia is truly a force to reckon with"

"that's why you gotta stay safe, kenma-kun" she mused "you never know who and when they'll strike next"

kenma sighed and nodded along. it was old news -- the port mafia, that is -- its been stirring up the whole city for the past few months.

"ne, kenma-kun" she called out "if we do end up dying alongside each other, i suggest we drown ourselves in this river." she said

she stared down at the flowing water, the golden colour of the setting sun reflecting off of it. "its clear and pretty, not much people are around.. its quite tranquil." she hummed

"i never really understood this.." kenma muttered "but why are you so intent on dying?"

"and i never understood you, and so many others." she replied "tell me, kenma.." she turned to face him, her bandaged hands loosely gripping the railings, as her legs and feet dangle off the ledge.

"do you really think there's any value in the act of living?"

kenma didn't answer. instead he stared at her, and her clouded eyes, each orb holding an unforgivable amount of sin and deciet that he could only imagine.

"well.. is there any value in the act of dying?" he asked back

she blinked dumbfoundedly at him, fairly shocked at his question.

"isn't there anything else you desire? life is kinda cool too yaknow?" kenma said in a sheepish tone

she stared at him a few minutes longer before averting her gaze. she chuckled and closed her eyes as the cold wind breezed past. "man fears death, and at the same time, man is drawn to death" she said

"its a singular event in one's life that no one may reverse" she hummed "and that is my greatest desire."

kenma didn't know how to reply to that, so he didn't. he simply looked down up at the setting sun, letting silence wash upon them both.

"hey kenma" she called out. kenma looked at her, curious and wary. "yes?" he asked

"wanna hang with an old friend with me?" she suggested with a soft smile

"me? won't that be intrusive though? i don't really know them.." kenma muttered nervously

"it's fine. he'd probably be happy i even talk to people my age" she said with a chuckle. she jumped off the railings and landed on the ground with a grin. she stretched her aching arms over her head and patted kenma's back.

"he's a lot like you" she mused "always saying life is worth living and all.."

"okay then.." kenma agreed reluctantly "but if i sense that person doesn't like me one bit, im leaving." he groaned out

"im pretty sure that won't happen" she chuckled sheepishly

"why are we in a cementary?" kenma grumbled

"is this where you kill us both?" he scoffed playfully "i wouldn't be surprised if you already have a hole dug for us"

she chuckled and shook her head "no, no" she mused "were just taking a small stroll" she cooed as she looked around the awfully empty surrounding "ah! there it is" she perked up "it's been so long since i went here that i almost forgot my way around"

kenma followed her as she skipped away, though he was quite confused, he didn't question her.

"hurry, kenma" she called out as she watched him struggle to walk faster "i hate you" he grumbled back, which she chose to ignore

she smiled softly as she stood infront of the oh-so-familiar grave.

"geez." she mumbled "its been so long since we hung out, odasaku"

"shame we couldn't meet at the usual place" she chuckled and sat down on the grassy ground. she leaned back on the gravestone, resting her back against it as she waited for kenma to arrive

"y/n?" on cue, kenma chimed in. he was panting slightly, most likely from running and walking around for so long "what are you doing?" kenma raised a brow at her

"kozume kenma-kun.." she called out

"yes?" he asnwered

"do you know whose grave this is?" she mused, pointing her thumb to the gravestone she was leaning on

kenma eyed the name engraved on the stone and shook his head. "no..but it's someone dear to you, right?"

"what makes you think that?" she hummed out in amusement

"i've never seen you pay visit to a grave before" kenma muttered. the pudding head hesitantly sat down infront of her, bowing at the grave before settling down on the ground.

"does it look like im visiting a grave to you?" she asked with curiosity

"it does.. why?"

she smiled softly and leaned her head back, letting it fall and her eyes to land straight at the cloudy sky "well, i thought of it as hanging out with a friend but.." she trailed off

"i guess that works too" she sighed out

kenma frowned as he watched her close her eyes. her smile faltering as a wave of comforting silence washed upon them. "im sorry" kenma muttered "i shouldn't have said anything.."

"its fine." she chuckled "its been years since he died." she smiled bitterly "i guess it's time someone snaps me out of my daydreams"

kenma didn't respond. he simply toyed with the grass on the ground and the few flowers littered around.

"yaknow, kenma" she said with a smile "you're the first person i brought here"

"me? why?" kenma asked in surprise and confusion

"because this friend of mine was a good man." she said "he told me to try and look for my reason to live."

"and i think i found it" she whispered as he looked into his eyes

kenma blinked in shock as he basked in her awfully heartwarming words.

"my reason to live is to die with you."

"of course. its gonna be about suicide again." kenma sighed dejectedly. "but y/n, if you think of me as your reason to live.. then i'll take it upon myself to keep you alive" kenma smiled at her, tucking his blond hair behind his ears as he kept his honey hued orbs trained on hers.

"kenma.." she teared up

she blinked repeatedly as she opened her mouth to speak.

"i.. I DON'T WANT THAT! I WANNA DIE WITH YOU!" she whined loudly "i already had our suicide planned! i even suggested the whole river thing a while ago!" she exclaimed

kenma deadpanned as he watched her ramble on and on about her ideal double suicide. "i really don't care." kenma groaned out "i don't want you to die." he whined "why do you keep trying to kill yourself"

"just because, okay?!"

"just for that, im gonna call your agency and hand you over" kenma sighed as he dialled the agency's number

"traitor!" she shrieked "kunikida-kun will undoubtedly beat me up" kenma ignored her as he started speaking on the phone.

"yes, she's with me.." he muttered "is she behaved?" he repeated the question as he sent her a pointed glare

"no, not really" he scoffed

"kenma, you're heartless!" she shrieked in horror

"cmon. let's atleast pay respects to your friend before we leave" kenma said with a sigh "dont worry, kenma-kun! i already thought this through" she grinned. she then pulled out a bottle of sake and a book and placed it on the ground.

"you brought him alcohol? seriously?" kenma furrowed his brows

"hey, it's two of his favourite things, okay?" she defended with a laugh

"do you know how ridiculous i looked while buying these things at the store?" she chuckled "they thought i was a madman or something!"

"i would've too" kenma answered back

"you're so mean to me, kenma" she pouted "anyways, we should go." she said as she dusted her pants and unravelled a thin layer of her torn bandages.

"i can't wait to tell you about this suicide method i learned about." she beamed. she tugged on his arm and pulled him away as she continued to blabber on his ear "apparently this one does the job right away!" she exclaimed

"can you believe it, kenma?"

"wow. crazy." he replied dryly

"yeah, and all we gotta do is shoot ourselves with these guns-"

"no."

"oh my, this almost feels like a welcome home party!" she cheered. she gave the detectives a close eyed smile while they simply stared back at her with a look of agitation and worry

"where the hell were you?!" kunikida exclaimed angrily as he tapped his foot on the ground

"the port mafia!" she answered back nonchalantly

they all perked up in surprise from her claim. "huh?! the port mafia?!"

"hai hai! but don't make a big deal about it!" she chuckled as she waved her hands dismissively

"you could've died!" kunikida exclaimed "now, now! i'd like to think of it as akutagawa-kun needing some attention that's all" she joked

"jesus christ" kunikida sighed as he adjusted his glasses "that boy could kill you and you still won't take him seriously"

"anyways, why is he here?" he asked as he pointed to kenma, who simply ignored him and avoided their eyes as he played on his phone

"oh! he's the one who found me, so i thought it'd be right for me to repay him" she smiled brightly as she squeezed kenma to her chest, all while he unbotherdly continued on with his game

"i've thought of so many fun things we could do back in my dorm, hehehe~" she chuckled mischievously as kenma's face paled. she only gripped him tighter when he tried to scurry away.

"i- i see.." kunikida stuttered out. he looked at them with wide eyes as she started squeezing him tighter while kenma tried to pry her off

"y/n, you're strangling me!" kenma huffed out "i know!" she grinned

"we'll leave you two alone then!" kenji said with his usual smile as he ushered the others away

"they're worse than tanizaki-kun and naomi-san.." atsushi shuddered "that's because she's trying to kill him" tanizaki sweat dropped

"and herself, as well" yosano sneered "go get your man!" she cheered as she sent y/n a sneaky wink

"yosano-san! don't encourage her!"

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randomfandomimagine · 3 years ago

Text

Love’s Worth Running To. Chapter 5: Hero Work

Pairing: Barry Allen x Stephanie Williams (OFC)

Fandom: Justice League / DCEU

⬅ PREVIOUS CHAPTER • CHAPTER INDEX • NEXT CHAPTER ➡

AO3

A/N: Another chapter! I think this one as very interesting stuff, and it’s finally starting to move on to my favorite part of the story, I can’t wait to post the few next chapters!

Also, and as always, remember to give this some love! Please reblog and leave feedback if you’re liking it, it would help me out a lot and it’d mean the world to me!! 🙏 Thank you so much to everyone that’s supporting this series 🥰💜

With the excuse that she needs to face it sooner or later, Stephanie starts trying out her powers. She promises herself that it means nothing, only a way to ensure they won’t become something dangerous because she can’t control them. It doesn’t mean she will recklessly go out trying to be Wonder Woman. But the improvised hero outfit still lays on the ground. She hasn’t put it away. Keeps glancing at it.

Meanwhile, as her eyes are fixed on the costume, a light crackle of electricity hovers over her palm. Stephanie sighs and focuses her attention on it, watching how the small force field slowly grows. The semi-transparent sphere, at first as small as marble, has reached the size of a football ball now.

Stephanie tells herself that big progress has been made, as at least she is now in control of it even if the force field isn’t big enough to really protect anyone. Its surface is also irregular and unstable. She grits her teeth, frowning in confusion, but the very best she can do is maintain the current state of the force field.

“Ah!” Stephanie suddenly yelps when her phone buzzes. The force field in her hand crackles, creating a mild disturbance in the air, before completely fading.

Promising to keep working on her newfound abilities after checking her phone, she picks the device up and looks at the screen. Her heart halts in anticipation as she reads the text. It’s from Ben.

While it isn’t the person she was expecting, it still warms her heart that Ben is reaching out and checking on her. For that reason, she proceeds to read the message and a small smile finds its way to her lips when she does.

Good morning, Stephanie! How are you feeling? I hope you’re well and recovered. There is no rush to return to work, but I must insist that you rest and properly look after yourself. I’m your boss, so you have to do as I say.

Best regards, Ben.

Stephanie chuckles, endeared by his thoughtful message and amused by the fact that he signed it like he would a written letter... despite the fact that the phone already showcases the sender. Grinning, she starts typing to reply to him.

You may be the man in charge for the project, but shall I remind you that you’re not my boss?

Best regards, Stephanie.

However, and despite the lighthearted interaction, a void settles in her chest.

For a moment, Stephanie had hoped it was Barry contacting her, only to remember that she had been ignoring his many calls and messages. He has probably given up on talking to her, figuring she will do so when she feels comfortable with it. And she misses him. For that reason, she dials his number while Ben types back.

Barry takes a few rings to answer, but when he does his warm and familiar voice is filled with excitement. It makes Stephanie smile as soon as she hears it.

“Steph?!” He answers. “Oh my gosh, hi! How are you feeling?”

“Hi, Barry” The girl can’t stop smiling now, while at the same time wondering how she had survived so many days without him. “I’m feeling better, thank you”

“That’s great, I’m so glad to hear it!” He sighed from the other end, as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “Um… did you need anything? Or did you just call to chat?”

“Well…” Stephanie awkwardly chuckles, feeling embarrassed for isolating herself. But now that she has her powers mostly under control after that long week, she feels like she can talk to him again. “Actually, I wanted to apologize… I know I’ve been very distant, but…”

“Hey, no” He gently interrupts her. “Steph, you don’t have to apologize, don’t say a word. I understand that you needed some time, anyone would after what you went through!”

Stephanie pauses for a moment while the nerves suddenly stir in her stomach. In the end, noticing his silence as well, she pipes up once more.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, Barry”

“I’m always gonna worry about you”

She smiles to herself, knowing that he means that in the best way possible. The nerves disappear, replaced with a wave of warmth that fills her. Suddenly, all those negative emotions she has been experiencing for days are gone. All thanks to his magic.

“Listen, I’m in a hurry. I’m so sorry, I really can’t talk more” Barry mumbles. “But, uh... how ‘bout we meet this evening? I’ll take it easy on you, I promise, I just want to hang out with you for a bit”

“Sure” Stephanie chuckles. “I’d love that”

“Cool!” She hears him happily chuckle as well. “Pick you up at 7?”

“Yeah, see you later” And Stephanie hangs up, unable to erase the smile from her face.

When Barry arrives to the place of reunion, he heaves a big sigh. The sky suddenly looks bluer, the birds are singing louder and the sun shines brighter. Everything is okay.

“There you are” Clark pats his shoulder, warning him of the team’s presence. They had been waiting for him. “How can a speedster like you be late?”

“Right, sorry about that” Barry grins instead of taking his words as a scolding.

“You look happy…” Diana tells Barry, kindly nudging him a little.

“Yeah, well” The boy suddenly feels slightly flustered by everyone’s gazes on him. “I talked to Steph”

“Your friend?” Bruce pipes up, the hint of a smile peeking in the corner of his lips. “We told you she just needed some time”

“She doing okay?” Arthur asked, frowning slightly in concern.

“Yeah, she’s fine… she’s fine” Barry sighs like that again, feeling lighter. “Phew, it was such a relief”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Barry” Victor gravely tells him. “But we have work to do”

“You’re right, I know” The boy nods to himself. “I’m ready, let’s go”

The silence settles for a moment. Overlooking the city from their high spot at the top of the skyscraper, the six pensively observe the atmosphere beneath their feet. There is the usual busy sound of traffic, of the crowd’s murmuring and the occasional ambulance or police cars sirens in the distance. Other than that, there are no signs of an imminent threat.

“What are we doing here again?” Arthur pipes up. “Everything seems calm”

“Too calm” Bruce grimly replies, glancing at the rest. “I know something’s wrong”

“I can feel it too” Victor adds. “The electric devices feel erratic, like a virus is slowly poisoning the city”

“What we can do about it?” Diana stares at the cyborg, whose eyes are fixed on the city underneath.

“Can you do something to stop that virus?” Barry suggests to him. “Get into their systems or something?”

“I can’t” Victor gravely says, locking eyes with the speedster. “That’s how I know something’s wrong”

“I can feel it too” Clark admits. There are no traces of his usual smile. “Maybe it’s just an intuition, but-”

Before he can even finish his sentence, a loud ruckus startles them all. Something has changed right under their field of vision. An automated train, moving on its own and filled with thousands of innocent passengers, is violently wavering and making the people inside it scream and panic. It moves at a vertiginous speed. More strange noises ensure that the train isn’t the only electronic device malfunctioning there.

“You wouldn’t be doing that, by any chance?” Barry asks Victor, who slowly shakes his head.

As on cue, everyone moves at his denial. The six seem synchronized as they throw themselves down the rooftop. Diana uses her lasso to soar through the air, Bruce glides with his cape and Barry speeds leaving behind a faint blue tail. Clark flies, followed by Victor with his propellers, and Arthur throws his trident and rides it like a surf board.

In the blink of an eye, the six have landed on top of the train. More panicked screams fill the interior with the loud thud of their landing. They struggle to maintain balance in the speeding train. Moving quickly, Clark tears the metallic top of the train open and so everyone drops to the inside.

“Please stay calm” He kindly says to the terrorized passengers.

“We’re here to help” Bruce assures them with his deep voice.

“We’re saved!” A blond woman exclaims. “It’s Superman!”

“And Wonder Woman!”

“And The Batman!”

Although a warm welcome, the Justice League focuses on the mission ahead: saving those people. They exchange quick glances between them and get to work. There is no time to lose.

“Barry” Bruce lowly tells him. “Get rid of all the electronic devices as soon as possible”

“Before they overheat and explode” Victor urges him, his red eye seeming to recognize the extent of the danger they present. “They’re malfunctioning just like the train”

“Copy that!” And with that, the speedster is gone in the blink of an eye. With shocked gasps, the people find that their phones, tablets and any other electronic devices are taken from them. Some explode as soon as they’re thrown out the window, causing an even further outrage.

“I’ll try to stop the train” Victor closes his eyes, focusing his mind on the electric system.

“I’ll do that too” Clark nods, helping the cyborg by flying to the front of the vehicle. As soon as he disappears, the train produces a strident creaking as it drags along the rails. Carefully. Very slowly, it starts losing speed. He can’t risk harming the people inside with a violent halt.

“We’ll get the people safely off” Diana taps Bruce, who doesn’t lose one second to go with her.

“And I’ll help you out” Arthur throws his trident to the doors, breaking through them to allow them an exit.

Soon after, Barry has returned and instantly goes with Diana, Bruce and Arthur to help them move the passengers out of the speeding train. Clark seems to continue his part of the rescue, because it loses speed by the second. Slow and safely.

While Arthur breaks open all the doors he can to create more exits, the rest gets ahold of as many people as possible. The train hasn’t quite stopped yet. Bruce carries three grown men, using his grappling hook to swing to safety. Diana has picked up a group of four children while Barry puts their parents to safety. Perhaps they can’t quite understand and solve what is happening in the city yet, but in the meantime they can always protect the people.

Seven o’clock can’t come soon enough. Time passes slowly, and Stephanie’s eyes keep landing on the discarded outfit on the ground. She bites her lip. Knowing she is meeting Barry later seems to fill her with courage. Hope. Maybe she can be like their heroes, like Wonder Woman and Superman. At the very least, she can try.

“Maybe I’ll just try it on…” She mumbles, trying to get rid of her impatient energy, and as though they outfit would have changed sizes during those few days she hasn’t touched it.

Telling herself that it’s only a way to stay distracted and busy while she waits for Barry to arrive, although that isn’t for two more hours, Stephanie gets changed. The tight leggings slip on easily, like a second skin, like they’re the right thing to wear. After she puts on the tank top as well, she stands before the mirror once more. The same sense of excitement and wonder settle in her stomach, taking the form of butterflies that take flight inside it.

The look is almost complete. Just when she is applying the eye shadow like the other day, a sound interrupts her. Several police cars pass by her apartment at top speed, illuminating the streets with their blue light. A test. A call to adventure. Will she answer?

“I can do it” She whispers to herself. “I want to help, I can do it”

Anxious as the police cars wail in the distance, Stephanie nods in resolution. After such a long time of inactivity, her muscles complain at the sudden energy bursts. Ignoring the light aching of her body, Stephanie runs. She leaves her apartment, leaves behind her building and runs in the direction the police cars took. After days if inactivity, she feels alive again. Her lungs urgently fill with air, her heart begins beating so fast that it throbs in her ears.

Stephanie doesn’t stop running, chasing the call to heroism and smiling widely.

She gasps for air as she watches the scene before her in confusion. The streets are total chaos. Even the few policemen that have stayed seem to have lost their minds. All the people, from ordinary bystanders, to service workers that have left their establishments, are running aimlessly and screaming in a panic.

“HEEEELP!!! He will kill us all!!” A shrieking voice gathers her attention upwards. A man is teetering at the very edge of a ledge, at the top of a building. He seems about to jump. Stephanie can’t get there in time to save him. Where is the Justice League when you need it?!

Trying to make herself audible among the shouting of the panicked people around her, she focuses on the man whose life is in immediate danger.

“Stay where you are!” She shouts at him, but he only dedicates her an absent glance.

Stephanie frantically looks around, searching for something that can help her. Nothing of use is in sight. What can she do? An idea suddenly pops up in her brain. Wiggling her fingers, she tries to create a force field around herself. If it’s stable enough, maybe it can lift her off the ground and transport her to him.

But it’s all for naught. It’s too late. Her heart skips a beat.

The man has walked off the ledge.

“NO!” Stephanie screams, so violently that she hurts her throat.

On an instinct, she reaches out in his direction despite the big distance that separates them. Her head fills with uneasy thoughts, all of which are focused on helping him. Saving him! Her first attempt can’t end like that, she needs to do something!

Just as the man is about to step into the air and commence a free fall of several stories high, a bubble creates around him. The man gasps, suspended in the air by a wavering force field.

Realizing it is her doing, Stephanie clenches her jaw and focuses all her might on it. Although it quakes with her effort, the bubble carefully glides downwards until it touches the pavement. As soon as it does, the man looks around in a daze and begins to walk away.

Stephanie finds that such small deed was too great for her. All her energies abandon her and she suddenly falls to the ground. She sits there helplessly. Her heart has recovered that unforgiving pace and she breathes heavily again, even worse than after her dash.

In a daze, feeling how her brain slowly fills with fog, Stephanie watches the scene. Two men are fighting close to her, shouting as they’re convinced the other is a threat. A woman and her baby run aimlessly, wailing as each make more noise than the previous. All around her reigns absolute chaos. Panic. Terror. The reason? She doesn’t know. She doesn’t understand.

A man runs for his life, anxiously looking over his shoulder as though something or someone is chasing him. Stephanie can’t see anything behind the man. Just as he passes her by, she weakly holds on to the leg of his pants.

“Sir, sir!!” She calls out, trying to get through to him. Fighting his panic, he nervously turns to her. “What is happening?!”

“T-The scarecrow!” The man gulps. “We’re all going to die!”

And with that her breaks free from her grasp with one simple jerking motion and continues on his escape from an invisible foe.

Stephanie frowns under her eye mask. There are no signs of any scarecrow, and even if it was… what would a scarecrow be doing in a city? Why would an inanimate object be a threat? These people seem to be frightened of an imaginary foe. The only thing different aside from the panicked people is a strange ambiance. Although slightly similar to the way her force fields change the air, this once it feels heavy. There is a mild odor of something burning, like popcorn that has been on the microwave for too long.

But… there is no fire. Stephanie suddenly gets an urge to leave. She makes to stand up, but she remains too weak to move. Anguish overcomes her. Something is happening in that place, something that she cannot comprehend but that is starting to take over her too.

She doesn’t know what, but something is wrong. Something is about to happen. Something bad. Something terrible. She can’t stop thinking about it. A feeling of dread overpowers any other rational thoughts. Now Stephanie understands how all those people feel. Panicked She does too.

Her eyes frantically travel all around her, expecting hidden enemies in every corner. Her powers are useless, even if she could use them. She can’t protect herself, or anyone else.

Static-like void fills her brain, causing her to push her hands against her ears when it feels like her head is about to explode. Her temples throb. Her heart thumps. Her breathing quickens.

Just as she feels herself about to completely lose control, a figure appears in front of her as though it has fallen from the heavens. Stephanie yelps and whimpers, shielding her face with her hands and leaning backwards to get away.

“Hey” A deep dark voice approaches her. “You okay?”

Stephanie dares to peek through her fingers, only becoming more frightened when she actually sees the person… the… creature? It looks like a man, but her panicked mind can only see an enormous bat standing on two legs with its wings wide open.

“Ah!” She screams, so the figure folds the wings and cautiously approaches her. She still doesn’t trust him. “Please don’t hurt me!”

He can hurt her. He will. Anyone can. Anyone will.

“I’m not going to hurt you” He slowly crouches down to be at eye level with her. She can see his worried brown eyes through the mask that covers his features. “Look at me”

“You’re… you’re…” The world seems to spin around her, and Stephanie is out of breath. “You’re The Batman”

“That’s right, I’m here to help” He reminds her, offering her his hand. “What’s going on?”

Stephanie gulps as he pulls her to her feet. It comes to her attention that he looks her up and down, reminding her of the outfit she’s wearing. A hero… she failed. The reason why she went there on the first place was because she wanted to help those people, but… reality becomes a little more stable as she realizes… not even the police stuck around.

“Can you hear me?” The Batman tries again. “What is happening?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know” All her thoughts are scrambled, too fast to stop as they slip through her lips. “Something… is wrong… I can’t explain it...”

A sudden urge to cry causes her to stare at him, begging for help. Maybe he knows what strange occurrence takes place in that street, or how to stop it, or how to end it. He doesn’t seem to, but his eyes are filled with compassion.

“I assume you wanted to help, but you can go” He tells her, supporting her as she feels herself swaying. “Don’t worry, everything will be alright”

Stephanie slowly nods, taking a deep breath and making an effort to fight through that strange trance of terror. No one has attacked her yet, despite her irrational conviction that they would.

“Go, get to safety” The Batman insists, gently letting go of her. “I’ll take care of this”

She opens her mouth. To warn him. He doesn’t know. Since he has just arrived, he has no idea what he will soon experience. But Stephanie can’t speak up. She barely has the strength to stand.

Stumbling and in a daze, she takes a step. She needs to get away from there, breathe a different air. Clean air, not contaminated with whatever is hurting her so. For that reason, she takes another step. And then another. Little by little, she gets away from there. The safety of her home has never felt so distant.

When she wakes up, Stephanie can barely remember how she clumsily plopped on the bed and fell asleep. She had nightmares that are impossible to remember. The fact that she is still wearing her hero outfit is proof that it really happened. She still feels feverish and exhausted from her attempt. Something out of the ordinary was happening there. She can only hope The Batman helped those people, and that he himself was safe after all of that.

Remembering she is supposed to meet Barry when he texts her a quick ‘omw’ that lets her know he will arrive soon, Stephanie gets up. She gets changed and stumbles through her own house as though the ground is shaking under her feet.

Her mind seems to clear up as the minutes pass. When she is done getting ready, she goes to the door where she is supposed to meet Barry. He isn’t there yet. At least, her thoughts feel more coherent and ordered now.

Even after that strange effect has passed, adark feeling stays with Stephanie, like a black cloud that stays with her. At first she assumed it was the rare burst of adrenaline traveling through her veins. Now she’s not so sure. Her heart hasn’t stopped beating erratically ever since then, and although there is no more danger she feels on edge. Frightened. She wonders if she really wasn’t as brave as she though she was, or that she abused her still recovering body too much, or if the experience was too harrowing to easily leave behind. Whatever the case, a sudden presence forces her away from those thoughts.

“Hi!” Barry jumps into place in front of her, bearing a wide grin that seems to brighten up the subtle darkness that has clouded her heart. “I’m here”

“You’re late again” The girl only says, even if she’s already smiling. Barry’s feeling has a healing effect that cures her lingering restlessness.

“I know, I’m so sorry” He dramatically sighs, although he does look a little tired. “Busy day”

“What did you do today?” Stephanie asks, trying to start a conversation while at the same time distract herself from her unease.

“Uh….. you know...” Barry shrugs. “Run around, do some errands, save the world…”

Stephanie laughs out loud at his joke, and he grins widely in return. However, the gesture vanishes from his face immediately after. He is staring at her with his brow knitted in concern.

“Steph, you look pale…” He whispers, rubbing her arm. “You okay?”

“Y-Yeah” She chuckles, internally panicking at the mere thought of him finding out about her powers and her little adventure. “I just… went for a walk to kill time… Guess I’m a little tired”

Barry pauses. She can almost see the wheels turning in his head. He is about to tell her that she should rest and take it easy, but he doesn’t. Instead, he dedicates her his best encouraging smile.

“I’m gonna spoil you today” His hand lingers on her arm. “You’re still recovering and you deserve to be spoiled”

“So it was a trap” Stephanie smirks, playfully rolling her eyes at him. “I should have known”

“There’s no escaping now” Barry offers her his arm, which she links with his. He then playfully arches his eyebrows. “Shall we?”

The pair smile at each other as they begin to walk. Barry immediately goes on about what they can do. They can get some snacks and take a little walk. Since she’s been locked inside for so long he wants her to get some air, but he’s stern on letting her rest, so maybe they should sit at a terrace. She doesn’t care what the plan is, she’s just happy to be with him. His presence is reassuring, silently reminding Stephanie that there is nothing to fear.

It has returned. That feeling of dread, of imminent danger. It isn’t nearly as strong as before, it merely feels like a shadow of its former self. Nonetheless, it is barely enough to make even breathing exhausting. Stephanie can’t focus.

Night is slowly falling as the sky turns a slightly darker shade of blue. It has orange and purple tinges as the last traces of the sunset erase from the horizon. The early night breeze envelops them, gentle like a caress.

Barry has been talking almost all evening, but Stephanie is no longer answering him. She is absently playing with the paper that the hot dogs they ate came in.

“What do you say?” Barry is saying then, but she’s not listening. “Steph?”

Stephanie is so out of it that she can’t answer. She grits her teeth, trying not to wince, when her temples begin throbbing. Her entire body is giving her signals. All she wants to do is rest. Sleep. Sleep for a really long time.

“Steph” He sternly calls her, taking her free hand when she feebly leans on him. “W-What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…” She gulps, avoiding his gaze as she lowers her head in the hopes that the stillness can level her dizziness. “Just got a bit light-headed”

“You sure you’re okay?” When she doesn’t answer, he continues. His voice carries a hint of panic. “You’re still recovering, maybe you should have stayed-”

“I’m okay” She rushes to say, trying her best to smile at him. “Just a bit tired”

“Steph, you almost died not that long ago” Barry gravely says, subtly sinking his fingers into her arm. “And you don’t look so good”

“Barry” She begins to say, tiredly tilting her head as she peers at him. Her vision blurs, but she tries to fight through her unwell. “I’m just… a bit weak…”

He doesn’t reply, only furrowing his brow and feeling a pang of concern in his chest. He had been scared enough to find her after the accident, it only makes it worse to see her in that state still. He doesn’t think he could take the idea of her not being alright.

“And…” Stephanie gulps, wobbling slightly. “V-Very dizzy…”

Barry wraps an arm around her. His heart is racing in unease. Just as he supports her, Stephanie falters. The breath hitches in his throat as he tightens his hold on her and presses her against his side.

“Steph?!” His voice breaks as the concern completely takes over him.

For a few seconds she doesn’t reply, only limply lying against him. Memories of finding her after the accident return to Barry, and he grimaces at the mental image. Luckily, she reacts in time to pull him out of those dark thoughts.

“I’m… okay…” She tells him in a daze, voice weak.

Still firmly holding on to her, he presses his free hand against her forehead. Stephanie’s skin feels warm, confirming his suspicions that she was still sick.

“I’m taking you home” Barry states. “No buts, you need to rest”

Stephanie babbles, opening and closing her mouth. If only he knew the true reason behind her state. But he can never know. In any case, she doesn’t feel lucid enough to speak. The mere idea that she has a secret identity feels far too surreal at the moment, even to herself.

“Can you walk?” Barry tenderly moves the hair away from her face, trying to take a good look at her. She only shakes her head, frowning as she tiredly puts her head on his shoulder. “Okay, up you go”

Straining a little, he grunts as he sweeps her off the floor and into his arms. Stephanie suddenly feels incredibly safe and comfortable in his embrace, and the deep unwell lessen slightly.

“You’re strong…” She chuckles, and she briefly wonders why she’s tilted to the side even though her head is still resting against his shoulder.

“See? You’re clearly delirious” They peer at each other for a moment.

The slight motion of picking her head off his shoulder sends a wave of vertigo through her. She whimpers, closing her eyes tight and gingerly resting her head on his shoulder again. Then, a sudden change of position startles her. When she opens her eyes, they are already at her place. Baffled, she feebly glances around. A moment ago they were… and now… she must be really delirious...

“We’re here” Barry carries her inside. “Do I need to take you to the hospital?”

“No, I just…” She starts to say, but her voice then becomes urgent. “Put me down”

Confused, Barry does as she says. When she is on her feet again, Stephanie presses her hands over her mouth. The wave of nausea soon passes, much to her relief. However, everything else does too.

Barry exclaims as he throw himself forward to catch her. Stephanie drops down, falling limply to the ground. His arms break her fall and he nervously scoops her into them again.

“Oh my gosh…” He mumbles as he rushes her to the bed. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh…”

He shakily sighs to himself as he carefully lies her down. The girl’s arms stay locked around his neck even when he lets go of her. Barry stops to intently watch her. She now looks peaceful, as though she badly needed that rest. She’s resting, he tells himself. Yeah, just resting. Her chest softly moves up and down with her calm breathing.

“She’s okay” Barry assures himself, although he begins pacing up and down her room.

Thousands of terrible thoughts battle in his brain. She’s sick again. She hasn’t recovered. She’s dying. The accident was too much for her, she will never fully recover.

“Okay, calm down, Barry” He takes a deep breath, even if he still paces. “She’s fine, she’s gonna be alright”

He tells himself that all those thoughts are lies. They are just fears, not reality. Interrupting himself, Barry stops and looks at her again. Stephanie lies motionlessly in the bed. She is still pale, but she doesn’t look terribly sick. He sighs and resumes his pacing.

“She’s not as bad as she was in the hospital” Barry whispers, trying not to wake her. “She looked much worse then. Besides, Steph’s strong, she’ll be fine, she’ll be-”

Barry’s phone rings, startling him so much that he yelps and jumps in place.

“H-Hello?”

“Barry?”

The boy finally quits his pacing for good. His hand flies to his forehead. He had totally forgotten he was supposed to return to the Batcave after being with Steph. Things had seemed to gotten worse. After their rescue on the train, panic had seemed to reign on the streets for several hours. There was no explanation, but they knew it had something to do with the rest of strange events. And maybe a villain was behind it all.

But now… Stephanie needs him. She is sick. Now he can’t leave her.

“Bruce! I’m so sorry” Barry rapidly says. “I know I should be there, but Steph got really sick and…”

“Is she alright?”

“Y-Yeah, yeah… I think so…”

“And you?”

“I’m fine, I just got scared…” He sighs, settling his nerves. “Really freaking scared”

“So you can’t make it?” Bruce asks him, but at least Barry is relieved that there is no anger or annoyance in his voice.

“I’m afraid not… I’m really sorry, I just…”

“I understand” The man replies. “But we have to check that out”

“Sure, yeah!” Barry nervously ruffles his own hair. “You guys be careful out there, okay?”

“We will” Bruce gently says. “Take care of your friend”

“Yeah” The boy absently hangs up, turning to her once more. She is now lying over her side, having turned slightly in her sleep.

Barry watches her, wondering how he can contain such an immense amount of fondness for her. Just the sight of her pale face was enough to break his heart. If he could, he would hold her tight and never let go, protect her from everything.

When he slowly walks closer to her, a board of the wooden floor creaks. Barry freezes, but it’s too late. Stephanie groggily turns around, opening her eyes moving her head to look around her.

“Barry?” She mumbles, looking around, disoriented. “What…?”

What is Barry doing there with her? However, she quickly forgets about him when her eyes fall on the window. It’s almost dawn. An alarm blasts in her head as her usual routine occupies all her thoughts. She needs to get ready!

"I gotta go to work!" Stephanie makes to stand from the bed, but Barry is faster. He pushes her by the shoulders and forces her to lie down again.

"What?” He exclaims, feeling that anguish that he had just gotten rid of creeping up again. “Are you… are you serious?"

"Barry, I’m gonna be late! Our investigation is very important, it will help so many-"

“Oh my gosh, Steph!” He exclaims, in a surprisingly loud and exasperated voice that instantly silences her in astonishment. “Can you stop thinking about everyone else and take care of yourself for one minute?! Don’t you remember what happened to you?!”

And suddenly, with his words, Stephanie does remember. The accident, the hospital, the heroic attempt, the inexplicable dread in the air… Everything. She relaxes, forgetting about work. She now remembers she hasn’t gone to the lab in a week. But it’s too late for Barry.

Stephanie gawks at him, having no words to retaliate. His sudden outburst is so unexpected that she is utterly speechless. A second after he finishes his sentence, however, his eyes widen in surprise as well. They silently stare at each other.

“I’m so sorry” He utters, averting his gaze in shame. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I just…”

“You’re right… I just got a little disoriented” Stephanie reaches out to delicately take his hand, which he reluctantly allows. “I’m going to lie down, okay?”

The boy nods his head, and he doesn’t move at first even as she insists. When Stephanie tugs at his fingers, he starts to move slowly. Barry turns, hesitantly facing her. Stephanie only pulls a little harder, inviting to sit with her as she returns to her previous spot. Exhaling all the anguish in a shaky breath, Barry joins her in the bed.

No more words are spoken for several seconds. Stephanie doesn’t let go of Barry’s hand. His eyes are watery. Even as he looks away again, she knows, and that is why she tugs at him until they’re both lying down. Resting on their sides, they’re now facing each other. They just rest there for a moment, letting all the tension in the air to vanish and lingering on their positions until Stephanie’s soft voice breaks the silence.

“Are you okay, Barry?”

“Yeah...” He takes a deep breath in. “Just a little shaky”

“I’m sorry…” She mutters, and her hand is delicately pressing against his cheek before she can stop herself. “I really hate to worry you”

“You can’t scare me like that again, okay? Ever” Barry replies, taking her hand off his face and clutching it between both his palms. “Just when I thought you were out of danger you faint on me like that and…”

“I’m okay, Barry” Stephanie assures, chuckling a little when his eyes fall upon hers in a skeptical manner. “I’m better now, really, I just need some rest”

“I can assure you, you’re getting some rest” Remnants of that exasperated tone linger in his voice. “I’m making sure you get some sleep even if I have to lie all day here with you!”

“Is that a threat?” She tenderly smiles, and the callback causes Barry to chuckle.

He pauses, taking a moment to sigh and calm himself.

“Are you really feeling okay?” He lovingly presses her hand against his chest. His heart is drumming underneath it. “Don’t lie to me, Steph, I’ll know”

“I am, I promise” Stephanie snuggles closer to him, embracing his warmth and comforting presence. “Just a little tired”

“What happened to you?” He whispers in concern, even if his arm automatically falls over her frame. “I thought you had rested a lot, that you were recovered. Did I overdo it today? I really tried to…”

“No, no, it’s not that” The girl locks eyes with him, biting her lip as she wonders if she should tell him. In the end she partially does, thinking that he doesn’t need to know the true reason behind her little adventure. “When I went for that walk earlier I… I don’t know… Something affected me… It was like the air was contaminated… It made me feel scared and horrible”

“What was it?”

“I have no idea… I just know there’s something strange going on in this city”

“Yeah, I know…” Barry somberly mutters. After a brief pause, he feels his shoulders relaxing the closer she is. “Try to get some sleep, okay? I’ll watch over you”

Stephanie breathes in, just at the same time that Barry does, and peacefully exhales with him. She hasn’t been feeling safe ever since that awful experience from before. Now, next to Barry and enveloped by his arms, she feels the safest she’s ever been.

Tag list: @scared-to-be-lonely345 / @ocfairygodmother // Ask to be added to be notified when I post for this series!!

#loves worth running to #lwrt #barry allen #barry allen x reader #barry allen x oc #barry allen imagine #ezra miller #justice league #justice league imagine #justice league series #dc #dc series #dc imagine #oc #series #original character

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underfell-crystal · 3 years ago

Text

Sea Thieves: Old Scars

TW: Past trauma, panic attacks, scars.

Alkai belongs to @mochamashi and Harp belongs to me! Written for @kiokodoodles / @okay-kioko 's mermaid/pirate AU

(first thing I write for this AU is angst/hurt/comfort. Dunno if that's good or bad.)

"Okay. This is gonna be great! We're gonna have so much treasure after this."

Harp swam alongside the beta fish mermaid, rolling her eyes. "Everything's about treasure for you."

"Says the selkie who has almost gotten killed cuz of her stomach."

Harp stuck her tongue out at Alkai, pouting. "I was HUNGRY, okay?"

"Yeah, I know. You're ALWAYS hungry. That's the only reason why you decided to team up with me in the first place."

"Nuh uh. I also thought you were cool and wanted to be your friend."

Alkai turned their gaze to her and gave Harp a sharp toothed grin. "Awww, shucks. You're too nice."

Harp grinned, lacing her fingers behind her head and swimming backwards. "Aren't I?"

"Now you're starting to push it."

"No take-backs!"

After a bit of swimming, the hull of a fairly large ship came into view. Alkai grabbed onto one of the planks and glanced at Harp. "Okay. Plan is you sneak up and grab some food and treasure. Once the coast is clear I'll come up and grab some more treasure. If you get caught, I'll rescue you, and then we'll escape."

Harp nodded firmly, gripping the strap of her satchel. "Got it."

She swam towards the surface, grabbing onto one of the nets hanging just above water level. As she pulled herself up, she focused her mind on her lower seal half and changed her tail into a pair of human legs, her seal skin appearing around her shoulders. She climbed the rest of the way up, peeking over the edge of the ship to make sure nobody was in sight before clambering over the railing and pulling her bunched up brown dress out of her satchel. She removed her coat for a moment, a feeling of queasiness washing over her as the coat left her body. She quickly put on the dress and put on her seal coat over it, breathing a soft sigh of relief as the feeling of sickness vanished.

She hurried to the back of the ship, tiptoeing so she didn't alert any of the crew members that might be around. She carefully opened a heavy wooden door, and her eyes widened in delight at the sight of all the food. Her eyes immediately went to the crates of vegetables, dried meat, and biscuits, and she quickly snatched up several servings. Food acquired, she snuck out of the storage room. Now to find the gold.

Of course the treasure would be in the captain's room. He was either very paranoid or very arrogant to have his gold in his sleeping quarters. And seeing as he'd fallen asleep counting his money, it was likely the second option. Harp crept forward, slowly opening her satchel and taking small handfuls of coins and placing them in her bag as quietly as she could. She really didn't want to wake the captain up as he slept less than three feet away. As she was distracted by her thoughts about food, her hand moved too far forward into the pile of gold and sent the coins clattering loudly to the ground. The captain jolted upright and locked eyes with Harp.

Shit.

Harp turned on her heel and ran, bursting through the door of the cabin as the captain shouted for her to stop. Several other crew members emerged from below deck and quickly zeroed in on her. She stumbled over a coil of rope, one of her hands instinctively grasping at the bag at her side as she barely avoided faceplanting the wooden planks of the ship.

The other crew members were on all sides of her. The captain appeared behind her, eyes ablaze with rage. He looked furious, and Harp wasn't about to stick around to find out what he did to thieves. She turned and hooked one leg over the railing, her gaze dropping to the water.

She froze.

There were several large shapes beneath the water. Mostly black with white markings. Sharp, SHARP teeth. Beady black eyes stared at her.

Orcas.

Harp couldn't breathe. She was trapped. She couldn't go back in the water. She was way too slow for them- even if Alkai got to her in time to help, it would be two versus five at the bare minimum. She- she-

A hand gripped her arm and yanked her away from the railing. She flailed her arms desperately, shrieking in panic, trying to get away. Her arms were pinned to her sides, and the captain's scowling face came into view. "You.... How the Hell did you get on this ship?"

Harp forced herself to take deep breaths. Breathe.... In and out.... She met the captain's gaze hesitantly. "I.... I stowed away..."

The captain crossed his arms. "Liar."

Harp felt a shiver run down her spine as the captain stepped closer, his dark eyes cold, calculating, and knowing. "I.... I do-"

"My crew and I double checked every room, every crate, and every barrel. We checked the masts and the hull of the ship. There is no way you could've snuck on here."

The captain tilted his head, his gaze landing on her neck, where some of her spots were visible.

Oh... Oh no....

Harp swallowed. "I.... I..."

Before she could come up with a believable lie, she felt her coat being ripped off her shoulders, and she was immediately hit with a wave of nausea that made her vision spin. The crew member holding her handed her coat to the captain, much to Harp's horror. The captain examined the spotted pelt before looking up with a slight smirk. "No way you could've snuck on here... Unless you came from the ocean."

Harp could barely register his words. Her head hurt, her eyes weren't working properly, she couldn't BREATHE-

Something big and heavy swung from to the side and sent the captain flying. A familiar figure appeared from the other side of the ship, and Harp felt a wave of relief wash over her. Alkai was here.

The crew member released her and drew their saber, letting her fall to the deck. Harp tried to stand, but it felt like she'd drunk too much rum. Her legs were shaky and barely supported her weight, and her spinning head wasn't helping matters. She collapsed to the ground, her vision going white for a brief moment. Through her pounding head, she could hear the sounds of swords clashing against each other. She tried to stand up again, but her legs felt like mush. She heard the sounds of rapid footsteps approaching, and someone grabbed her under the arms and hauled her to her feet, carrying her toward the railing.

Alkai's voice floated through the fog in her mind. "Change back!"

She felt something soft be shoved into her arms, and she clung desperately to it as Alkai dragged her overboard. She barely remembered to hold her breath before they hit the water, the sudden cold almost making her black out. Change back.... Change back.... She gripped her pelt and wrapped it around her shoulders, the fog in her mind slowly beginning to dissipate. She felt her legs reforming into a tail, and as she looked around, her vision slowly started to get clearer. The boat was pretty far away, but she could still see things moving in the distance.

Don't think about them. She felt hands on her shoulders and turned her gaze to Alkai, whose brow was furrowed in concern. "Harp, stars, are you alright?!"

"Y... Yeah.... I.... I thought I was finished..."

Alkai exhaled slowly. "You froze. Why?"

Harp tilted her head in confusion. "... You didn't see them?"

"What? The orcas?"

"Yes!"

Alkai frowned for a moment before a look of understanding passed over their face. "Were you scared?"

Harp looked down. "..... Yeah...."

Alkai noticed her expression. "Hey, it's fine to be scared. But we need to get further away."

Harp nodded in relieved agreement.

"So.... Why are you scared of orcas?"

Harp and Alkai were sitting together in front of a small fire, drying their clothes and cooking some fish they'd caught. Harp stared at the fire, silently debating whether or not to tell them the whole truth. Alkai waited patiently beside her. "You don't have to talk about it if you really don't want to."

Harp shook her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's fine... Just.... Trying to decide where to start."

Alkai nodded. Harp took a deep breath. "I ran into an orca mermaid when I was younger. Orcas in general are already freakishly smart, but having one be half human is a recipe for a swimming murderhouse."

Alkai stared at her with large eyes. Harp gripped her arms. "I went out too far... I was trying to catch some fish for us- um, me and my family- to eat, but I wasn't paying attention.... And.... Then he appeared. I tried to get away, but.... Orcas are faster than seals and....."

Harp took a shaky breath, feeling Alkai gently rest their hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Harp, you don't need to tell me everything."

Harp shook her head. "I want to tell you everything. I'm fine, I just.... need a minute."

After a few seconds of silence, she continued. "I escaped alive, obviously, but... Not unharmed. He gave me some nasty cuts on my back and tail."

"Really? How come I haven't seen them?"

Harp pulled down the back of her dress, turning her back to Alkai so they could see the upper area of her back. "Feel along my spine."

Alkai obeyed, and felt a slight groove next to her spine. A scar. "They're old, so... They're pretty hard to see unless you're looking for them..."

Alkai traced the pattern of almost invisible, jagged scars down her back. "Harp... Thanks for telling me..."

Harp nodded, letting go of her dress and turning to face them, eyes focusing on a very interesting twig next to her feet. "Yeah.... um.... That's why I'm scared of orcas..."

"Harp."

Harp looked up, confused. "Huh?"

Alkai's eyes were serious. "I won't let anything hurt you, especially any orcas. I promise."

Harp blinked her large eyes and smiled softly. "Thank you... You're a good friend, Alkai."

The two fell asleep looking at the stars, feeling just a bit closer than they were before.

~Aaaaah I finally finished this!~

#oc oneshots #mermaid and pirate au #alkai #harp #sea thieves #selkie crys

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bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture · 4 years ago

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Okay, so the brain’s a bit caught up in one of my other writing projects, but I refuse to abandon this entirely. So I’m gonna just power through this and then get back to Vibing™.

Actually, it’s kinda cute that the hero Thirteen is introduced in chapter thirteen. I wonder if Hori did that on purpose or just managed it as a fun coincidence.

[No. 13 - Rescue Training]

So we start off on Wednesday morning (which would be April 12th/11th) at 7:35 AM. There’s a hostage situation by a villain who looks like a goddamned pokemon (my brain has made the ‘buff ditto’ comparison and now I am Shook) who is, according to Mt. Lady, a serial robber and murderer by the name of Habit Headgear. Kamui Woods, whose wood bindings have apparently been broken trying and failing to contain the guy, is tossed back on the ground as he notes the villain is strong and a quick strategist.

Seems like she and Kamui Woods have teamed up together! Or at least responded to the same villain attack again. Also, who’s this dude?

Random Mii Blaster escaped from Smash Ultimate and is now in BNHA, when will the madness end.

Naturally, the hostages are not handling this situation super well, though the crowds watching don’t seem as worried? IDK hard to tell from far away. The buff ditto villain uses double team, no wait I mean agility, actually his high speed to show how outclasses the heroes on the scene are.

As he announces his plans to escape, we see All Might rushing in loud enough for the stomps to be heard. He announces his arrival mere moments before he fucking snaps the villain’s neck with a handchop - or, well, not really, but damn that had to be a hard hit. All Might also managed to grab the family out of harm’s way in the process, announcing that he’s on his morning commute.

The crowds cheer for All Might, while Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods are somewhat put out - they appreciate the help, but also worry All Might will put them out of business.

(I guess this is where all those fics that do bring up how All Might cuts down the hero job market on his own pull from? Or just coincidence, who knows.)

The police thank All Might with salutes for the help, and All Might give his own quick responding salute before he declares he needs to head off so he won’t be late. Of course, that’s when he hears about a hit-and-run (that super hearing lol) and takes off, just so coincidentally in the direction of said trouble. Despite that fact that he needs to get to work. This man.

While he’s in the air, he considers how his speed has dropped, and that he’s been weakening since he passed on his power. Not to mention that after his rescue of Izuku and Katsuki from the sludge villain, his maximum time went down. Which is not at all referencing him about to overdo it again and lose more time, no siree.

We descend into a flashback to right where we left off after the battle trial, with All Might confronting Izuku about telling Katsuki about (some of) One For All. All Might is surprised and a bit nervous? Worried? Or that bead of sweat in the flashback might be from the strain of holding the form when he’s about to run out of time.

In any case, Izuku in the past apologizes and says he hasn’t even told his mom, but that he had to tell Katsuki something… All Might determines this might be a consequence of not being explicit enough about keeping the secret, since Izuku isn’t the type to brag or boast. Also calls Izuku too sincere, hah, isn’t that the truth. All Might says it’s lucky Katsuki thought he was joking, so All Might can forgive the slip this time, but that Izuku cannot tell another soul.

(Stares at this.) (Looks at recent manga events.) Whelp.

Anyways, All Might catches the car of the hit and run guy (and man, that face the dude is making) while thinking about how, suitable successor or not, Izuku’s still just fifteen, so All Might had to make things clear. Of course, then All Might overhears about a hostage crisis the next town over, and, well.

We transition to right after lunch (12:50) with Aizawa announcing that that day’s hero training plans - something supervised by himself, All Might, and one other teacher. Izuku realizes it has to be a special class, while Sero raises his hand to ask what they’re doing. Aziawa’s reply?

I swear this is exactly the same shit All Might did before the battle trial, gimme a second-

Bahahahaha incredible. Though then again, I wonder if those are security cards keys to certain locations. It would make sense, though then I wonder how Katsuki and Izuku were able to get into Training Ground Beta without one… hrm…

Anyways! Kaminari, Ashido, and Kirishima end up talking about it; Kaminari says it’ll be a rough day, with Ashido pumped as she agrees, and Kirishima also pumped as he says that it’s what being a hero is all about. Asui notes that she’ll be right as home in a flood. Aizawa silences them with a glare, saying he’s not done. He presses the button to unveil the costume lockers, telling the class that it’s their choice whether or not to wear their costumes, since some of them are ill-suited for this kind of activity.

Oh boy, will this put you on the path to the hero you’ll be come… but not for the reasons you think, buddy. The joke here is trauma.

It seems like most of the class does still choose to go in costume, barring Izuku - whose costume is still being repaired after the damage done to it in battle training. However, he still has his belt, gloves, knee pads, and mouth guard (with the mouth guard being new) on him.

Golly, I wonder why your costume needed to be replaced, Izuku.

(thonk.)

Also Tenya jkfdkjdgfkj Oh My God You Dramatic Egg. He’s got a whistle and he’s directing the class to line up by ID number so they can fill the seats in an orderly fashion.

I’m love this boy so much. And it’s even funnier because the bus has an open layout, meaning it was pointless. Poor Tenya is in Despair, with Ashido teasing him for his efforts being wasted.

Savage. But yeah, looks like it’s Sato, Izuku, Asui, Kirishima, Tenya, Ashido, Aoyama, and Kaminari in the front seats. And Asui - sorry, Tsuyu - just outright says she says what’s on her mind, which startles Izuku since he didn’t expect her to talk to him I guess? She tells Izuku to call her Tsuyu, then turns to him and just says his quirk resembles All Might’s.

Izuku, being the sincere boy he is, stutters and stumbles out something that almost looks like a denial, before Kirishima, bless his himbo soul, points out that All Might doesn’t get hurt by his own quirk, so they’re already different in that way. He then goes on to state that that kind of simple, strength enhancing quirk is awesome and that a lot of cool stuff can be done with it.

Kirishima then goes on to show off his hardening, saying that it’s good for a fight, but otherwise boring. Midoriya ‘holy fuck I love quirks’ Izuku thinks otherwise, actually sparkling as he proclaims the quirk to be neat and more than enough for going pro. Kaminari notes that heroes also have to worry about popular appeal. Aoyama says his navel laser quirk is both strong and cool, and thus perfect for heroics. Ashido then kneecaps him by adding in that that’s as long as he doesn’t blow up his own stomach.

Ashido’s Savagery: The Sequel.

In the next panel, we see Katsuki’s been paying attention to this convo, which has me wondering if this is when he was first starting to piece together OFA from Izuku’s mention of ‘getting the quirk from someone else’ and ‘like All Might’s’. However, when he is brought up in the conversation (alongside Shouto) as examples of ‘strong and cool quirks’, he feigns disinterest and looks away, trying to play cool.

(Also, he doesn’t seem to have his gauntlets on him here, though I know he’s brought one with him as seen a bit later. I wonder whether he chose to leave one of them behind or if he might have been restricted from bringing more than one by Aizawa… interesting either way.)

Tsuyu then brings up how Katsuki being so unhinged means he’ll never be popular. Katsuki, naturally, takes offence and slams his hands on the rail in front of him, demanding to know what she just said. Tsuyu sticks out her tongue as she points at him making her point. Poor Jirou, having to be seated next to someone so loud.

And the moment literally the whole discord was waiting for, Kaminari’s brutal vocabulary takedown of Katsuki, something cut entirely from the anime. Friendly reminder that Kaminari is, in fact, a major lit nerd! He’s Not Dumb! Stop Making Him Dumb In Fics! He not only has the most verbose vocabulary in the class that isn’t from the rich kids (and in some ways is even more so), he also has Katsuki absolutely pegged despite only knowing him for a few days. He Earned His UA Spot.

While Katsuki snaps back at Kaminari, Izuku is hunched over in disbelief that Katsuki’s the one getting bullied for once, but he supposes that that’s UA for you…

To the side, Yaomomo declares the conversation vulgar, while Ochako is laughing and saying it’s fun. Offscreen, I’m assuming that it’s Kaminari mock-marvelling at how he didn’t think Katsuki’s mouth could get any fouler.

The last panel on the page is Aizawa interrupting them to announce that they’ve arrived at the training grounds, and to look sharp. The whole class (I guess?) snaps to attention.

And that’s the halfway point, so I will leave the USJ proper for next time! This has been a Savage Mina and Smart Denki appreciation post, so appreciate them, or else.

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toorusbaby · 4 years ago

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second choice, pt. 4

summary: being in love with hajime iwaizumi is like riding a rollercoaster of emotions. it’s thrilling as it is exciting, but you feel a little lightheaded... because he doesn’t know how you feel. the worst part? he thinks you’re in love with his best friend.

warnings: just pure fluff, oikawa cockblocks, slow burn, slight angst if you squint real hard

word count: 1,885

part five here

Your face burned at how blunt your words sounded when spoken aloud and it took extreme self-control to not facepalm yourself in embarrassment. You nervously bit the inside of your cheek.

That definitely sounded better in my head, you thought.

The only sounds you could hear were the shuffling of your feet beside Iwaizumi. The ace however, was taken aback by your response and had remained silent to gather his thoughts.

She wanted to spend time with me? Wouldn’t she want to spend time with Oikawa instead since she likes him?

Unable to hold his words back, the blushing boy had blurted out the question that had bothered him for months.

“Y/N, do you like Oikawa? Romantically, I mean,” He asked, his voice slightly wavering. Nonetheless, he didn’t look away from your face; he wanted to see your entire reaction. Iwaizumi was terrified to hear what you were going to say next. Even though he was hoping you didn’t feel that way towards his best friend, the spiker knew there was a low possibility of you returning his feelings anyways. Despite his self-doubt, your answer still mattered to him. When he heard you chuckle, Iwaizumi was confused.

“You keep asking me questions about Oikawa, Iwa,” you sighed and twirled the pom-pom keychain on your purse. “I won’t ask why, but this is the last time we’re bringing him up today.” You teasingly scolded the ace with a small grin, approving of his quick nod.

“I think Oikawa is extremely attractive, not to mention charming. He’s incredibly sweet,” you started off.

Gross. Iwaizumi couldn’t help but grimace.

“But I only see him as a friend. Nothing more, nothing less,” you shrugged your shoulders. The adrenaline in your veins gave you the courage to say one last thing. You turned your head and cheekily grinned at Iwaizumi’s indistinguishable expression. “I do like someone else though, even though he’s pretty clueless for a smart person.”

Iwaizumi felt his chest constrict at your words but he resisted the intense urge to question who the lucky person was. Although he was silent when the two of you continued to walk, the volleyball player’s mind was filled with questions. If you didn’t like Oikawa in a romantic way, which other boy were you interested in? Iwaizumi was aware of your friend circle; the only boys you interacted with were on the volleyball team. As far as he knew, you weren’t into younger guys so he could count out the underclassmen. Iwaizumi also wasn’t suspicious of either Hanamaki and Matsukawa since jokesters weren’t your type. So who the hell could it be?

Unless the person was from another school.

Hajime had to stop himself from clenching his fists at the thought of you swooning over a student from Karasuno. Or Date Tech. Maybe Shiratorizawa? Please God, not Shiratorizawa, he pleaded internally. But in truth, the school didn’t matter. Although he was desperate to know who the mystery boy was, Iwaizumi respected your privacy. If you wanted to tell him who the boy was, Iwaizumi would allow you to do so on your own merit.

He just really wished it was him.

“You see that over there?” Your voice broke the green eyed boy’s train of thought. Startled, Iwaizumi looked in the direction of your finger. When his eyes landed on what you were pointing to, he was surprised. How did he not see that earlier? It was nearly impossible to miss. Iwaizumi quickly looked at you, only to be met with your twinkling eyes. Despite the icy air, you felt warm inside. The beaming smile on Iwaizumi’s face was definitely worth the cold walk. It was the giddy sparkle in your eyes that warmed Iwaizumi’s cheeks.

“I figured you’d like it. But,” You slid your purse off and clutched it to your chest. The spiky haired boy watched you, oblivious to what you were about to initiate. Before he could question you, your body positioned itself into a running stance. “The last one there loses!” You shouted and took off. Iwaizumi blinked to himself, clearly at a loss for words. Seconds later, the blushing wing spiker found himself running after you, shouting at you to be careful.

༺♥༻

“All I’m saying is that you should’ve never tried to go up against me,” Iwaizumi snickered, the rare sight of a smug smirk making you roll your eyes.

“Well someone’s cocky,” You flicked the volleyball player’s forehead, eliciting a small groan from the tall boy. “But we all know that I let you win.” You grinned.

There the two of you stood, on top of the wooden arched bridge that hovered above the koi fish pond you had grown to love over the years. Watching the koi fish never failed to comfort you, even if you had always done so alone when visiting Osaki. Today however, was different. Although you felt as if the pond was a ‘secret’ of yours, you decided to bring the special boy who meant just as much to you, along.

Despite the many clouds in the sky, a bit of sunlight had been able to shine through. The branches of willow trees that dangled over the pond that was scattered with lily pads was truly a sight to behold. With his body leaning against the railing of the wooden bridge, one would assume that Iwaizumi would be focused on the swimming koi fish just below him. After all, he was surprisingly fond of fish; the beautiful scenery before him was an additional plus. Iwaizumi never took mother nature for granted. But if that was truly the case, why couldn’t the green eyed boy take his eyes off of you?

Beside him, you were also against the bridge, your chin resting in the palm of your hand. From the way strands of your hair fell onto your face because of the wind, to the way a small crinkle formed at the corner of your right eye when you smiled down at the pond, Iwaizumi noticed it all.

The distance between you wasn’t large by any means; it was close enough for the boy to truly study your features. The fading acne scar on your cheek, the tiny zit on your chin, a small beauty mark or two in different places. The way your mascara was a bit smudged under your lower lashes due to moving around the entire day, walking through the smoke of barbecues at the festival. The way your lipgloss had naturally faded away even after you reapplied, but hints of the color remained, reminding Iwaizumi of strawberries on a warm, summer day.

Despite what you’d consider flaws, he thought you still looked breathtaking. Before today, neither of you had been so close in proximity physically; everything was always from a distance. However, after spending the entire day with you, the hours filled with laughter, teasing, and smiles, Iwaizumi had never felt closer to any other person, physically or emotionally.

A large koi fish had caught your attention, surprising you at how its white scales sparkled from under the water. “Haji, look at that one!” With widened eyes and a beaming grin, you placed a hand on his arm. Lifting your gaze away from the pond, you turned your head to face the boy beside you, whose green eyes were already on yours.

You had never had the chance to really look at Iwaizumi’s face before, especially not up close. Hajime’s dark brown hair actually had a few lighter strands, a likely result of being out in the sun for hours on end in the summer. His warm green eyes had flecks of grey within, framed by the long dark lashes always made your knees weak. You could tell that his pink lips were soft, seeing as Iwaizumi always applied a layer of Burt’s Bees lip balm; you could smell the faint scent of peppermint from where you were standing. From the obvious details to the smaller ones such as the very few fading acne scars and the small chicken pox scar Iwaizumi had next to his left eye, your mouth became dry. He was just so handsome.

Iwaizumi felt his cheeks burn at the thought of you observing his features. The way your eyes wandered across his face caused the volleyball player to purse his lips together, a wave of shyness washing over him. Was there something on his face?

Suddenly, you felt a small itch in your nose. Quickly, you turned away to quietly sneeze, awkwardly grinning afterwards. “Oh, excuse me,” you sniffled and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear to face the boy once again. This time, Iwaizumi’s lips were formed into a small frown.

Way to ruin the moment, Y/N. You sighed to yourself and pulled your sleeves out far enough to bury your clenched hands underneath the turtleneck.

“It’s pretty cold, huh? Even so— Iwa? What are you...”

Iwaizumi stood straight, eyebrows furrowed as he began to undo his scarf. With a sigh and click of his tongue, he expertly wrapped the navy blue fabric around your neck, lifting your hair out of the way. Frozen at his sudden action, your arms felt like jell-o at your sides.

“Geez, you’re gonna to get sick, Y/N. Why didn’t you bring a scarf in the first place? Or gloves?” Iwaizumi gently scolded, huffing in the process. His green eyes were quick to glance at your clenched fists that were hiding underneath your now-extended sleeves.

The feeling of Iwaizumi’s body heat along with his signature pine scent that lingered on his scarf caused blood to rush to your face. You were sure you’d pass out at any given moment. Much to your luck (and confusion), you remained conscious, staring at the boy with wide eyes, especially when he began to remove the black gloves from his hands.

“Iwa,” You called out, placing a hand on his to stop his actions. “You don’t have to do that,” you mumbled, your eyes darting away from his face in embarrassment. If you thought you had been shy around the volleyball player before, this situation took the cake. You couldn’t help but stare at your makeshift sweater paws.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Y/N. If you catch a cold—“

“Iwa-chan, what are you, my mom?”

The infamous death glare Iwaizumi sent in your direction to intimidate you only caused a loud laugh to escape your lips. It wasn’t long before you accidentally snorted, causing you to cover your mouth to laugh even more. At the sound of your snort, the ace’s frown morphed into a smile before he chuckled himself. With a lopsided grin, Iwaizumi began to slide his gloves on to your ice cold hands. You didn’t stop him.

“Even without him here, it’s almost as if Shittykawa’s presence remains.”

“You make it sound like he’s dead, Iwa.”

“He will be if he keeps influencing you like this, you dummy.”

Iwaizumi’s teasing smile made you grin cheekily. There was truly no other person in the world that could compare to the boy leaning his side against the railing before you.

“Shush,” you joked and used your now gloved hand to play with the ends of the soft scarf around your neck. It wasn’t just any scarf though.

It was Iwaizumi’s.

🏷️ taglist: @webkinzfroggie @isseikawa

feel free to ask, dm, or comment to let me know if you want to be added to the taglist! <3

#haikyuu #haikyu x reader #iwaizumi #hajime iwaizumi #iwaizumi x y/n #iwaizumi x reader #aoba johsai #seijoh

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honeypirate · 4 years ago

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Girl Next Door

Daichi x y/n

This is unedited

“Hey babe! Who’s this?” You find your boyfriend, Daichi, talking to three girls in the parking lot “oh! This is Yui, we go to school together and she’s captain of the girls team. She brought a lucky charm for the team!” He shows you and you smile “that’s so nice of her!” You say and genuinely smile at the poor girl who obviously had a huge crush on Daichi. “Isn’t it tho! Oh sorry Yui! This is my girlfriend, y/n” you bow slightly “it’s nice to meet you!” One of her friends elbows her “oh!” She says and bows back “it’s nice to meet you too!” Daichi squeezes your hand “we have to get going now to the court. We’ll see you later Yui!” Daichi says before pulling you off with him. “Oooh Daichi you didn’t tell me she was basically in love with you! I feel bad” he groans “why do you feel bad? You didn’t do anything.” He asks “because I get to date you and she doesn’t, I know what she’s missing. I get to kiss you and touch you. I’m the lucky one. I hope she doesn’t hate me” he stops for a second and cups your cheeks “she doesn’t hate you. Trust me. I don’t think she’s capable of that feeling” he kisses you, just a peck which wasn’t even new but your stomach flooded with butterflies. He never ceased to give you butterflies even after a few months. You’re Daichis neighbor and you’ve known him since middle school, you went to a different high school though because the women’s volleyball team was more promising. You’ve always been close friends with him but the relationship didn’t take the next step until now as third years, after practicing with him in your backyard one evening he kissed you out of the blue, and you were addicted to those kisses now.

It was the final game against Shiratorizawa and it came down to game five. Whoever wins this is going to Tokyo. You’re standing from your seat, in the front row of the stands, you feel like your stomach is in your throat. You wouldn’t even be surprised if the stress and anxiety from this game turned your hair gray now. It’s 19-20 and we need one more point to win. “COME ON DAICHI COME ON KARASUNO!” You yell out trying to give them some of your energy. They all looked like they were in pain but now that Tsukishima is back we can take this! You don’t blink, you don’t breathe, not until the whistle. Not until the win is final. Then you scream in excitement and start to cry. Daichi, Suga, and Asahi are hugging and crying and when they pull away Daichi looks into your eyes and you laugh and blow him a kiss which he graciously catches and places on his lips before sending one back to you. You couldn’t wait to celebrate with him after the ceremony but for now you were jumping and celebrating with Yachi and Tanaka’s sister whose name you forgot but it’s been so long now that you can’t ask without it being weird. You just adopted calling her Big Sis because that’s what she felt like to you too. You lean over the side of the railing “Daichi! Sugawara! Asahi! You guys are amazing! Congratulations guys!” You yell down to them and they yell back thanks with tears still streaming down their faces, Asahi holds up the charm that Yui gave Daichi, you didn’t know when he gave it to Asahi but it didn’t matter. Asahi, Suga, and Daichi smile and yell a thank you to Yui for the charm. When the team huddles they’re right below you, you keep your eyes on Daichi and can’t stop smiling, he can’t stop looking up at you either not even listening to the Coach. The feeling in the air was so thick with excitement and happiness, the energy was seeping out of everyone who supported Karasuno. But your feelings ran deeper than them, you were in love with Daichi and you couldn’t help but realize that right now. You’ve always loved him, you loved how strong he was and how determined. How he was a natural leader and truly cares about those he leads. How he has always been there for you for as long as you could remember. You laugh and the happy tears come streaming down your face again. “I love Daichi” you whisper then laugh again “Y/n?! That’s so cute and amazing! I’m so happy for you!” Yachi says beside you and then hugs you “no wait Yachi I.. he.. he doesn’t know yet so don’t say anything please?” She laughs “okay your secret is safe with me!” She pretends to lock her licks and toss the key away “thank you Yachi” you laugh and turn your attention back to the ceremony.

After the ceremony you make your way through the crowds down to where the team with exit the gym, when you see Daichi you laugh and start to run, he hears your cute laugh and turns smiling. You run into his arms outstretched in a tight hug. “I am so proud of you baby” you whisper in his ear and kiss his cheek. Taking his hand you continue to the parking lot with the team, but you guys are a few steps behind so you can have a little bit of your own time. “How are you feeling?” You ask him and squeeze his hand “I feel amazing. Like all my dreams are coming true. We just beat the unbeatable team, all the hard works paying off, and the cherry on top is you.” He squeezes your hand and you blush “my sweet girl. I’ve been in love with you for my whole life it seems. And now you’re mine. Holding my hand and celebrating this victory with me. I’m so excited for the future!” He’s so handsome and determined, you blush when he says he loves you. He’s never said it out loud but you think you’ve always known. “Daichi I meant like your body, you really pushed yourself out there all five games. Are you okay?” You laugh and point out how he and the rest of the team are walking, their legs like jello. He grunts “oh. Yeah. I’m dead.” You laugh and turn his face towards you giving him a quick kiss while walking “I love you Daichi” you whisper and look to the ground a little embarrassed and shy “I love everything about you. I.. I always have. It just took me a while to connect the dots. For so many reasons I could probably fill up an entire book. I’m so excited to be on this journey with you” he squeezes your hand “ride back on the bus with us. I’m sure Coach won’t mind. Then we can talk more on the bus and walk home tigether. Plus we’re probably gonna get some food too and I don’t want any more time away from you, sweetheart” you nod “that sounds amazing” He’s so tired you can see it in his eyes. The rest of the night is amazing, you eat food and celebrate with the team, it’s such a wonderful feeling being there with them. Being there with Daichi. Holding his hand or feeling his hand rest on your thigh under the table. You’re so excited for the future knowing that Daichi will always be in it with you.

#hq daichi #haikyuu daichi #daichi fluff #daichi sawamura imagine #daichi sawamura fluff #daichi sawamura #daichi x you #daichi x reader #daichi x y/n #haikyuu #hq #haikyuu imagines

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heartwoodventures · 4 years ago

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Primary Access Required: Testing, Testing

In which Heartwood heads back to (bloody) Coerthas in order to test Aislinn’s aether dampener and catch themselves a spidery bioweapon!

Aislinn arrived in Heartwood’s front hall after a quick rest and a change of clothes. Seeing Rising near the tanks, she walked up and peered into the aquarium. "How's your friend?" she asked, doing away with any preamble.

Rising was eyeing the smaller fish swimming around the bottom of the tank as Aislinn approached. "Seems like he's doin' alright! If he ain't been eaten yet I don't think he will."

Aislinn gave a brief smile as she caught sight of the little bugger. "Looks like he's one of the team now. Good on him." she nodded before turning and taking a seat to wait for things to get under way. "How about yourself? How's things?"

Cravendy slips out from her room and joins the others by the couches. Once seated, she immediately begins to fiddle with her gun, double and triple checking its parts on repeat.

Riylli lazily waves to Cravs as she enters and takes a seat near her. "Hey! Have we always had this many Miqo'te in the company? Why'd no one tell me?"

"Still need a name though." Rising rubs her chin as she was clearly running through suitable options in her head. "Crimble I suppose seems alright, an' can't complain here, yourself? Carve anythin' neat yet?"

"Crimble." Aislinn tried the name out a few times, murmuring it under her breath. "Aye, that fits. Tiny-sounding. Like a crumb or a thimble." At Rising's question though, she tilted her head. "I'm getting really good at spatulas. And kindling. Lots of kindling for the fire." she replied in a deadpan way before shrugging in wry amusement. "So it goes."

"Well then after you start your fire with the kindlin' you have somethin' to flip your food at least! I guess next thing ya should work on is a fork or a plate eh?" Rising plopped down on the other chair, cursing a moment later. "Shite, we're headin' to Coerthas right?"

N'yami moved through the estate with a carbuncle following right behind her, the Seeker chose to stand next to the railing and eye the group that had showed up. Ears flicked at the mention of Riylli's comment then offered a small wave. "I tend to hide out in my workshop, only come out when I'm either needed or dragged out."

N'ana Firesong stretches.

“I always figured ye cat-folk kept to yourselves...” Cravendy dips her head at N’yami. Case in point.

Riylli waved back to N'yami and flashed her a quick grin. "Well, it's nice to finally meet ya then. My names Riylli." She said, before her friendly attitude turned on a dime as she turned back to Cravs. "Don't call us cats." She said, her voice cold and clearly annoyed.

Haila meanwhile, merely remained silent. She could see new faces being involved in this particular case, and it didn't bring any relief more than worry. Having more people meant bigger risks of losing someone again, or at least, such was the case in her eyes as she glanced around with a small frown.

N'ana Firesong simply dusted her legs and made herself comfortable.

Evelyn Blazewing laughs and shakes her head upon hearing Riylli's comment. "Fufufu... this vessel is merely temporary. But I suppose I am still /technically/ a Miqo'te..." She brought her bandaged right hand up to cover the left side of her face. "I much prefer the company of my familiar than I do that of mortals. But, I figured I should at least come out every once in a while to converse with the commoners..." She smiled smugly to herself with her last comment.

Riylli Aliapoh raised an eyebrow at Evelyn's comment, then looked around the room to check everyone elses reactions only to find no one looking as confused as she was. "Erm... Right. Well, nice to meet you too... I think."

N'yami Synch: "N'yami, ya ever need somethin' fixed lemme know and I'll lend a hand." The carbuncle next to the Seeker jumped up onto the Seeker's shoulder to wrap around her like a scarf, the summon wanted to feel a part of the conversation. "Oh, and this is Whackara before she hits me for not introducin' her." The summon puffed out her chest with joy. "So I'm sure the rest of ya are as excited as I am to head out to Coerthas and deal with that cold hell."

Cravendy Hound grunts, but obliges to Riylli’s request. She was used to hanging out with pirates whose conversations were often thinly veiled insulting contests, and old habits die hard. “Right...Mee-quote-tay. Not cat.”

Aislinn was about to open her mouth to reply to Rising but quickly shut it as N'yami started talking. She turned her attention to the miqo'te and simply sighed. Damned bloody Coerthas.

N'ana Firesong: "What is in this Cold hell ye are dealing with?"

Haila Wetyios: "The reason we're short three people within the Company right now..." was all she'd comment, choosing to allow N'yami to take the floor on this one.

N'yami Synch: "Allagan spider creatures that some crazed scientist made to drain aether from living things...." She paused and thought it over for a moment. "I think that about sums it up." The Seeker shrugged. "I just got pulled into this recently."

Evelyn chuckles to herself. "Ah, are you all going out? I, Evelyn Blazewing, third incarnation of Lord Blazewing the Phoenix, the Eternal Ember, shall accompany you. You said we are headed to Coerthas, is that right, mortal? Fufufu... a phoenix not need worry about the cold. You should be most glad that I'm tagging along! My prowess with fire shall prove most useful to all of you there... i-if you'll have me, I mean." She looked away a bit at her last statement.

Rising Lotus grumbled more as their location was confirmed, shrugging as Riylli glanced at her. "Don't have my damn cold gear with me..gonna be a fun day." she sighed and slumped down a bit in the chair.

After casting an askance look at Evelyn and her declaration, Aislinn murmured almost to herself. "I'll have to grab my bleeding coat before we head out." If Aislinn hated anything, it was the cold.

N'ana Firesong: "Well then meh blade if for ye then. Don't know much of whatever these spiders are but aye am always willing to test meh metal."

Riylli grinned. "Finally, I've been waiting to go after those spiders ever since I joined this group! You can't just lead with that then make me build up some town for moons instead. I'm built for smashing, not building!"

Haila snapped her eyes towards one of the newcomers. "Pride won't do you any good in this, nor recklessness. These things have casters as their primary targets each and every single time we've come across them." she said, immediately sighing afterwards as she raised a hand to her forehead. "It goes without saying that magic should be the very VERY last resort in this expedition you're all about to go." she added, this time glancing at everyone.

Cravendy Hound: “Are ye all ‘earin’ what I’m ‘earin’? Or am I ‘avin’ some kind of...” Cravs shakes her head in confusion at Evelyn’s remarks. But it was all very curious to her, and she found herself wondering about the curious character. “Aye, let’s bring along that one.”

N'yami had a very confused look on her face for a moment but it vanished as soon as it appeared. "Well, I believe Aislinn had a device to help us?" She perked a brow when looking over to the Hyur. "Last time we talked we were goin' to use me as bait for pullin' the creature in while the rest of ya bring it down."

Haila Wetyios: "All of this while keeping the spider as intact as possible. 'Tis all I'd ask to finish cracking the data and communication they all share."

N'ana Firesong: "So we are studying them, not slaying them."

Riylli Aliapoh breathed a sigh of relief that someone else was hearing what Evelyn was saying, and that she had not just gone insane. But she had another concern now, turning to Haila, "Wait, we can't use magic? No one said anythin' about not using magic."

Aislinn nodded to N'yami. "The aether dampener, aye. Did you remember to grab it from your mother's desk?" she asked. "Like I said before it. ..*should* mask a person's aether signature a great deal. But, you can't get something for nothing. In return, it makes using aether far more difficult. Like training with weights on. Should being the operative word. I've tested it out here but it's never really been field tested before. And not against those bioweapons." she added.

N'yami’s ears went down for a moment, that's right she was supposed to grab it. But never fear Whackara was on the case! The carbuncle swatted Yami over the head before opening her mouth to show the object they were talking about. "Oh yea! Gave it to ya to protect." Holding her hand out the carbuncle just dropped it in Yami's hands like it was no big deal. Clearly this wasn't the first time the carbuncle was used for storage.

Cravendy‘s frown deepens at the mention of N’yami being bait. “It sounds like ye ‘ave all the pieces aligned, but that sounds risky. If it looks like yer in trouble, then ye’ll ‘ave to forgive me for trashin’ the enemy.”

"We've lost three people so far, all of them having a specialty somehow tied to conjury or white magic. We can't take extra risks again." Haila paused, turning over to Riylli.

"When the first person went missing, a group of three assembled secretly and went to try and find them without telling anyone... Needless to say, only the one person that wasn't exactly magically inclined came back. Those creatures are an army of machina to say the least."

Evelyn Blazewing sighs. "Fine, mortal. I shall hold my magic unless it is absolutely necessary. You needn't worry regardless, for a phoenix always rises from her ashes!" She struck a small pose, leaning back in her seat for a moment before returning to her usual position. "So we're letting it live? Perhaps it is best I not use my magic after all..." She sighs and shrugs. "I will simply find another way to assist you all, then. I shall exercise extreme caution so you do not worry, viera. Does that help ease your nerves?"

Riylli Aliapoh peaked up from over the back of her couch to listen to Aislinn explain. "Well... I should be able to work with using less aether, but you won't be getting me at my best! I was hoping to show off proper this time too, since no one could see anything during that dodo fight..."

Aislinn nodded in thanks to the carbuncle for remembering. She looked back to N'yami. "Once you're ready, just cuff it to your wrist, the stone and circuitry should do the rest." she once more eyed Evelyn with a wary gaze.

Haila Wetyios: "As long as you keep your own distance, I won't complain." she merely stated with a serious tone, though from her voice, it was clear that she had her own reservations or even personal feelings about this entire case.

Rising Lotus raised her hand "Going with what Cravs said, in case things start to go sour, we ought to have a signal or somethin' to switch from catchin' to smashin' and gettin' outa there."

Aislinn turned her attention to Riylli. "Unfortunately, I only had time to create one prototype." she jerked her chin to the one in N'yami's hands. "The rest of us need to be careful."

Riylli groaned. "Great... Guess I'll just... Play defense, or somethin'..." She muttered, totally pouting over not getting to fight the spiders properly

"Should I put it on now or wait till we get there?" N'yami eyed Riylli for a moment, an actual caster would be better playing bait but the Seeker couldn't bring herself to letting the others getting injured if things went bad.

Aislinn does her best to hold her tongue in the face of such idealistic exuberance. The gravity of the loss of Heartwood members in the face of these bioweapons hadn't truly sunken in for the new recruits. Sometimes experience was the best teacher. She looked to N'yami and took a refocusing breath. "Depends on if you think you're going to need to call upon some aether between now and then."

“Scream once if yer in trouble, twice if yer just foolin’ with us.” Cravs dryly advises N’yami.

"What happens if I do it three times?" N’yami grinned, joking of course and an attempt to lighten the mood. "No worries, if things start goin' bad I'll let ya know guys know."

Evelyn: "Ah, is that what our signal shall be? Primitive and simple, yet effective. The success of our mission is all but assured regardless if we take the necessary precautions."

N'yami nodded. "So." N'yami clipped the item onto her wrist. "Who wants to hold the Carbuncle? If things start goin' bad she'll let ya know." The summon’s ears perked up and pitch black orbs looked around the room to determine who her Coerthas buddy will be.

Evelyn raises her hand enthusiastically. "I shall care for thy familiar, mortal. Choose me, and you shall not regret it."

Cravendy Hound tries to lean into N’yami’s confidence, and tries to tell herself this mission will be smooth sailing. But an ever familiar anxiety sets her heart pumping. Cravs huffs, and moodily looks to the corner of the table.

"Whackara is connected to me, if I'm in trouble her fur will bristle so just keep an eye on that." The carbuncle jumped down from N'yami's shoulder and went to sit on the arm of the chair where Evelyn was, a paw reached out to rest on the red heads shoulder as if to say 'Buddy'.

Evelyn grinned quietly to herself and chuckled. "The pact is complete, then. I shall guard this one with my life. You needn't worry, I will simply resurrect should anything happen to me. Your safety is all but assured, friend." She reaches a hand out to softly pet the carbuncle.

Rising Lotus "We have somethin' to catch it or keep it too right? Or should we jus' break it's legs an' bring it in?" she crossed her arms and leaned back into her chair. "Granted I don't know anythin' near enough 'bout them as Haila, but I do remember ya sayin' it can call other ones too right? Do we have some way to stop that?"

Haila turned over to Rising, "No ways to disrupt it yet I'm afraid, 'tis one strong signal, but the best would be to drag the straggler you mean to capture as far away as possible before it calls reinforcements."

N'yami hummed in thought for a moment. "Could use wires? A barrier would just be absorbed by the damn thing, but we would need a couple people who would want to volunteer to just jump the damn thing and tie it up."

Aislinn let her gaze drift over to Rising and Cravendy

Evelyn sighed and looked around. "Unfortunately, this vessel's arms are quite frail, otherwise I would love to volunteer... are any mortals willing to take the lead?"

“Seems easier to just break its legs. We won’t be needin’ those to do whatever we need the spider for, right?” Cravendy looks around, suddenly wary of another’s gaze on her. “Jump it. Beat it up. Been there, done that...”

Rising Lotus grimaces "Ugh, alright. I don't wanna see a wave of them things again if I can help it." she glanced at N'yami as she offered her suggestion. "..that sounds like it'd work, sure Cravs is a right fine knot tie-er too. " she looked toward Cravs.

Riylli raised her hand. "I could probably incapacitate it with my magic pretty easy, depending on how strong the thing is. Would give me something to do too..." She said with an overexaggerated sigh

Haila Wetyios: "As long as it gets the job done, I have no quarry with it. Breaking the legs should do the job, but if all else fails, I'll take a broken spider."

"Ah, are you not joining us, mortal? A shame, your apparent experience with these spiders would be quite the help." Evelyn said, turning her gaze to Haila.

Haila Wetyios shook her head. "As much as I wish I could, I have my reasons for not going... 'Tis been by mere coincidence that the spiders didn't pick up on me the other times. But I can't risk a third one. At least not if I want a few plans of my own to work."

N'yami Synch: "So who's ready to go catch us a spider!? That's a dumb question no one really is but hells we need the bloody thing so let's go punch it in the legs."

N'ana Firesong gave a small sigh. "Why spiders" she mumbled.

Cravendy glances back at Rising. “Can’t say I’ve ever kidnapped a spider, but there’s a first for everythin’. But the idea would be the same. Lure it away to some lonely corner, away from pryin’ eyes, and tie it up afore it knows what got ‘im. Or beat it till it’s broken.”

Riylli gave a concerned look to the pirate Roe, unsure if she was joking or not

Rising Lotus: "Well lets play it by ear then. If we have a chance to bind it lets do that, if not we'll smash it's legs off, and as a last case option we'll kill it all together."

Evelyn stands up and strikes a pose with her staff. "Let our operation commence. The Goddess of Victory is on our side, so long as we err on the side of caution. Now, let us show these spiders true despair..." She held her bandaged right arm up to her left eye again, folding her left one across her body. She let out an enthusiastic "Fwahahaha!" and shook her head afterward.

Aislinn nodded and rose to her feet. "Seems like we have a plan in place." Roughly, but it was still a plan. "I'll go grab my bloody coat." she shook her head and retreated briefly back to her quarters.

After the group made the walk through Coerthas back to the area where they knew the spiders would appear, with some grumbling cause of the cold of course, N'yami lead them through the snowy terrain. Stopping in her tracks the Seeker looked around with perked ears. "Where exactly were you all ambushed before? Perhaps that will be the best spot to look for one."

Riylli kicked at the ground below, trying to keep her shivering to a minimum. "...Hate this stupid place... Grounds all frozen... Terrible to work with..." She muttered to herself as the rest of the group did their thing

N'ana: "Aye hope we finish up quickly. As much as aye enjoy mountain trips in Othard this cold is a different story."

Aislinn looked to Rising and Cravendy to answer that question. She hadn't yet ventured out to meet these spiders head on. For obvious reasons. Heartwood still needed at least a semblance of a medical staff until they could get G'lewra and Vanriri back.

Rising Lotus huffed as they exited the cave, rubbing her hands together as she was a tad underdressed. "I think it was a bit more down there, near the bridge right?" she glanced at Cravs, keeping her body moving to build up some heat. It then dawned on her the Cravs was kind of not there at the time, but maybe she knew somehow?

Evelyn shivered quietly, holding Whackara in her arms. "F-Fufufu... this cold is n-nothing... you m-mortals always complain about the silliest things..." she posed again in her usual fashion.

Cravendy feels her gut sink as she remembers a time when...it was before she woke up, and yet. She groans, but answers to the best of her ability. “Yeah, I remember it was by that hill, and we crossed a bridge at some point. Over there?” Cravs points down south.

N'yami Synch: "Works for me." She offered a shrug and just started walking down the path, they'd eventually run into the blasted thing right? That's how it usually worked from what she heard. "Time to give this damsel-in-distress thing a try I suppose."

"I-If these things go after magic users, how 'bout we just start channelling and wait for it to show up?" Riylli offered, getting sick of standing in one place freezing her tail off

Cravendy lightly elbows Evelyn as she passes her. “Phoenix-lass, right? Ye think ye can ‘eat up the poor sods who’re freezin’ their arses off?”

Rising Lotus looks at the river over the hill. "This is lookin' familiar, bridge ain't too far from here." she pointed across it. "They all came from the other side of it, and we fell back to the bridge." she pointed to the left down the path.

Aislinn heard Cravendy and looked over her shoulder. "I'm good. No need to light me up or anything."

Evelyn Blazewing 's eyes open wide. "Sh-Share my warmth? With... e-everyone? F-Fwahaha, I certainly would if it were possible. Touching a mere mortal with my body temperature s-so high would incinerate them to mere ashes!" she quietly mumbled to herself. "B-Besides, I'm kinda using it right now..."

Cravendy nods to Rising’s statement. “Some of ‘em were underneath the snow too, so watch where ye step.”

Aislinn took a few steps back at that. "Great." she muttered as she peered down at the frozen ground around them.

N'ana Firesong: "Ye seem ye can mix a drink right now, Phoenix."

Evelyn: "I would be happy to mix you a drink were now a good time, mortal. Ask when we return home and I shall happily oblige."

N'yami looked around for a moment as they paused. "We'll stick around somewhere safe so the rest of ya have a place to hide while I drag the damn thing out." The Seeker pointed over at the boulder sticking out of the ground. "Go hide over there while I call it out. Rising, and Cravs, get ready to launch yerself at it once it comes out."

Rising Lotus: "Aye, pulled...uh.. someone off one before it got her, then it called it's friends." she tapped her boots on the ground to shake some snow out of her sandals.

Cravendy: “Aye. Come on Rising, we got a boulder to snoop behind.” She starts to walk over.

Heartwood runs into another RP FC also RPing (Riylli Aliapoh) (feels like two rival gangs are passing) (Aislinn North) ((Throwdown)) (Haila Wetyios) Oh snap)) (Rising Lotus) We have to intimidate them, everyone make yourselfs big)) (Cravendy Hound) OH?? )) (N'yami Synch) PUFF OUT)) (N'yami Synch) I think we win)) (Cravendy Hound) omg haha )) (Riylli Aliapoh) (as big as you can get) (N'yami Synch) Lol one of them is a friend of my so I whispered yelled at him to get out of my swamp xD))

Rising Lotus nodded, pumping herself up before tailing behind Cravs, drawing her spear on the way.

"I can help too y'know..." Riylli muttered as she stomped off to hide behind the boulder

Aislinn murmured to N'yami as she gestured to the device on the miqo'te's wrist. "If your plan is to take that off to lure a spider, I'd suggest snapping it right back on the moment you get one on your trail. As it is we're going to have a hell of a time shutting it up before it calls any others." she nodded. "Watch yourself, aye?"

Cravendy ducks behind the boulder and peeks out, as sneakily as she can manage. But she’s half-distracted by Rising, who to her...does not look dressed for success, in this weather. “Nophica’s teats, ye askin’ to catch a cold again?!” She harshly whispers.

N'yami Synch: "Cravs and Rising, pull Riylli with ya when the thing comes out, the faster we bring the thing down the better." The Seeker looked over to Aislinn and offered a short nod. "I can defend myself pretty well, if you know someone else needs it more I'll be fine without it."

Riylli's ears perked up, her pouting interrupted. "Wait, me? I mean, yeah! The grounds a bit frozen, but I'm sure it'll be fine" She finished with a confident nod, back to her usual self

Rising Lotus was peeking around the other side of the rock, spearing humming away as they waited. "I'll be fine, been through here lots of times dressed like this. Build's character." she shivered a bit as she said the last part. " 'sides fightin' will keep me plenty warm."

Aislinn shook her head and snorted. "I'm not playing the lottery like that. You're going after the spider, you take it. I'm just saying." she turned and went to stand with the others.

Riylli kicks a bit off snow onto Rising's exposed toes. "Builds hypothermia is what it does. How are you gonna fight when you're frozen to the ground?"

Cravendy: “Might be awhile ‘fore we’re fightin’.” Cravs looks back at N’yami and watches the miqo’te like a hawk. Her breath coming out in chilly plumes, she mumbles something under her breath. “Feh, character...Personally, I’m done buildin’ anymore of that.”

N'ana Firesong keeps a watchful eye over her surroundings.

N'yami unhooked the device from her arm for a moment, and that's when the rest of the group would feel a surge of aether crash over them. The group would feel a wide range of emotions hit them, the strongest one they felt would send a warmth through their cold bodies. Raising her hand in the air the Seeker summoned a ball of aether and shot it off in the air, one after the other like a show of fireworks and each one burst in the sky. Red aether mixed into the white winds that were carried off to call upon the creature they were looking for and with how much the Seeker was giving off did the group hear an echoing screech off in the distance. Those who had met the creatures would know the sound all too well, it was coming.

N'ana Firesong knelt over, feeling the warmth take over her body and shivered. "Thralls balls!"

Rising Lotus shot Riylli a glare, flinging the snow off her foot, about to retaliate before N'yami started and she focused up, tightening her grip on her spear. She grit her teeth as they had garnered hopefully only one's attention.

Evelyn recoils a bit, reeling from the emotional surge she just felt. She then turns her attention to the sky, and back to N'yami. "An excellent show, mortal, but will it do the tri-" She's cut off by the screeching, which causes her to smirk. "Fufufu... it seems your ploy worked. Everyone, ready yourselves. Our enemy will be upon us soon." She mumbled to herself again. "I-I think... that's our enemy..."

Aislinn stumbled back as the aetheric emotions hit her, the warmth flowing into her body triggering a sense of alarm. No. Not now. But it soon passes as she realized it was only N'yami and not herself. She breathed and tried to shake off the feeling. "That'll get them if nothing else." she said low, her voice wavering slightly.

Riylli glances over to Evelyn. "Hey, crazy lady, how hot can that fire of yours get? Y'think you can thaw the earth a bit for me when we jump out?"

Cravendy grunts as she weathers the wave of aether, sets her jaw as foreign emotions flow through. When it passes, she finally takes a gasp of air. Without knowing it, Cravs had been holding her breath. But she could not breathe easy, not yet. They were coming.

Evelyn glares at Riylli. "I am not crazy, mortal. My flames are the hottest in the realm. I would be more than happy to assist you, however." She sighed. "So, my talents shall simply be used to thaw the earth? Fine, fine... I came here to offer my assistance, after all."

The sound of heavy footsteps could be heard as the beast came crashing through the snowy plains, this one was the perfect size to carry someone off and with how much aether it detected it seemed determined to catch whatever was creating it. At the last possible second N'yami slapped the device onto her wrist again to dampen her aether, and that's when the Crawler stopped in front of her. The familiar whirring noise was heard as it scanned the Seeker for the aether source.

Aislinn North From her hiding place behind the boulder, Aislinn tensely watched, her breath trapped in her lungs. She sincerely hoped her device wouldn't fail now, of all times.

Cravendy‘s eyes widen at the sight of the machine, but any hesitation is quickly pushed down. Cravs shuffles over the boulder and charges at her target, hoping to knock it off balance with a low blow to one of its many legs.

Rising Lotus "Great, a big one..." she hopped out from her hiding place and charged forward, taking a great big swipe at it's front left leg as she got in range.

Riylli Aliapoh hopped up onto the rock, shouting out to Evelyn. "Time to shine, crazy phoenix lady! Help me get the earth under it's legs!" She commanded, and began to swirl aether around her as she commanded the earth to reach out and swallow up the spiders legs, though as she suspected the ice made it difficult to manage. However, with Evelyn's help…

N'ana Firesong: "Take out it's eye!"

Evelyn sighs and smiles, bringing her rod close to her. "Fufufu... behold mortals, the purest of flames, the hottest of cinders! This is a gift from Lord Blazewing himself! To ash do we fall, and from ash do we rise... now!" *she launches a small fireball, which then explodes into a larger flame that consumes the ground around the spider. "Hell's Maw!"

Aislinn reached into her coat, white-knuckles wrapping around the grip of her pistol as the others charged. She wouldn't use her aether but she would shoot if things began to take a dire turn. For now, she watched and waited, fighting the frustration that rose in her.

Despite the several attacks aimed at the spider, it seemed as only a selected few even had an effect on it. Riylli's rocks for once, managed to at least ground it on the spot. It's metal legs though, were stronger than the ones that they'd faced before, that much was clear from the fact that it's hindleg barely took any damage from Rising's attack. The edges of it's fleshy limbs suffering very slight charring as it detected the aether sources around it. The fire spell becoming it's first target as it had been the biggest display of aether out of all of them, with the earth rocks being a close second.

Aislinn North can see where this is going and cursed harshly under her breath. The weapon was already assessing and zeroing in on those who had created a display of aether. "Get ready to scatter." she warned.

Finishing it's scans of it's primary targets as well as potential threats, the mechanical spider made several whirring sounds, had it been a smaller one, it would have surely attempted to call for backups already. This one though, was big enough to attempt it's own attacks. Lifting the few legs that weren't trapped in stone, it attempted to free it's other legs as it hurled rocks around at the closest people within it's range whilst smaller spiders dropped off the big one, rushing at the people in the back.

N'yami watched as the crowd charged at the Crawler and watched the chaos start to form, the Seeker waited for the right time to interfere and if needed she would join the battle. Her ruby gaze kept flicking down to the device on her wrist, debating to take it off to act as bait again, that's why she was here right?

Riylli pumped more aether into her spell, refusing to allow the spider freedom so long as she could help it. "Gonna need you guys to keep those things off me! Can't exactly multitask right now!" She called to whoever might be able to help

Ready for it, Aislinn dashed out from behind the boulder as the smaller spiders charged toward them. She fired off a few shots as she went, hoping to pick a couple off before they swarmed the others.

Rising Lotus managed to dodge the stones that were throw at her, grunting and gripping her spear tightly. With a mighty shout she jabbed the tip of her spear right between where the leg meets the body, twisting and pushing open a gap towars the now exposed and vulnerable shoulder mechanics! If someone could aim several shots in there it would sure do a lot of damage!

Cravendy Hound: “Umf! Shit, thing’s built like a brick ‘ouse!” Why did she think that tackling a thing made of solid metal was a good idea to begin with? Now her shoulder felt all kinds of wrong. She rolls to dodge the flurry of rocks and, out of the corner of her eye, she sees the smaller spiders rush at the party’s backline. A bitter cocktail of anger and anxiety sets her heart alight. Not on her watch!

Cravendy grins when Rising serves her an opening on a silver platter. “Thank ye, flower. Now!” She whips her gun out and sends a flurry of shots aimed directly at the exposed circuitry.

N'ana stabbed at the smaller spiders around her. slashing and kicking the ones too close to her.

Evelyn targets the small spiders approaching her, readying another area fire spell. Without giving a small speech this time, she simply readies and casts another area fire spell, hoping to get rid of the smaller spiders coming after her. After launching her attack, she mutters "Calamity Blaze." and strikes a pose.

Relatively assured that she hadn't made herself a target for the smaller spiders, Aislinn continued to fire off shots to drop the bastards before they could reach the ones casting aether about with abandon, pausing only for the scant seconds it took her to reload. Her precision as a sharpshooter on display, she rarely seemed to miss her marks.

Riylli grit her teeth, trying to hold on as the spider did everything it could to free itself from it's bindings. "I ain't gonna be able to hold much longer! Do whatever it is you gotta do, and do it fast!" She called out to the front lines, swearing under her breath. "'Take it alive' huh? Easy to say when you aren't the one holding the damned thing..." She mutters angrily, before pumping another dose of aether into the earthen shackles

Rising Lotus grinned as Cravs fired several shots into the hole she made, twisting her body around to try and spear the other front leg, aiming for the first joint from it's body and thrusting hard, hopefully she'd continued to have good results aiming for those points compared to hacking and slashing

Cravendy feels that telltale burn of combat. Of blood boiling, of time slowing. Given her proximity to the large machine, Cravs decides to try to grab hold of another leg and directly press the end of her gun at its joint. Squeeze, and fire.

The onslaught of attacks took it's toll, for a moment it seemed that the large spider had underestimated it's targets. Such was the issue of programming it's priorities. The leg that Rising and Cravs had worked together to damage caused several circuits to go haywire. The spider had to pause for a moment as the rest of it's legs too, started taking damage from the shots, the spears and the rocks keeping it grounded all causing damage beyond acceptable parameters, the creature attempted to step back to no avail, it's smaller spiders being taken one after the other with the group work from everyone attacking it. Upon finishing it's damage calculations, it buckled down, almost compacting part of it's body for a moment as it emitted a deafening sound alongside static that was nearly palpable in the air. It wouldn't damage it's opponents as much as it would deafen them briefly, but it was for sure calling for nearby backups.

Riylli just kept channeling really. Nothing to see here. She wasn't getting tired or anything. It's fine. All fine.

Cravendy recoils at the explosive sound blaring right next to her ears. She searches for the source of the sound but can’t quite focus with this ringing in her head, so instead she opts to continue her assault. Cravs aims her gun at the spider’s chassis and fires several times. If it’s broken, the racket’ll stop, right?

N'ana shook her head feeling a bit dizzy and off balance from the noise. She put the sword inside its holdster and then drew it with a blinding light of power on one of the spiders back legs.

Aislinn staggered to the side and clapped a free hand over one ear as the blaring beacon went off. Damn it all. That thing simply needed to -die-. Gritting her teeth against the painful noise, she did her best to keep watch on the casters, and pick off any of the smaller spiders that still remained. "Someone shut it up, fast!" her words barely heard over the blaring siren.

Rising Lotus braced herself as the screech blared, bracing herself while she gazed over the ugly thing. Things usually make sound from their mouths, so she thrusted right under it's glowing eye, hoping that was where it would be? If it had one?

N'yami Synch placed her hands over her ears as the creature called out for help. Why did it need to be so loud? "Take it down now! We need to get out of here fast before the backup arrives!"

Riylli Aliapoh huffed, feeling neglected out there in the backlines, watching everyone else do cool stuff. She was not one to enjoy taking the support role, and suddenly a very stupid idea dawned on her. She grinned, "Alright, time to end this!" She called out, suddenly thrusting her arms out to the sides and pumping in every last bit of her aether, the earthen shackles that had been binding the creatures legs suddenly flying out in opposite directions, ripping the spiders legs out with them

Evelyn Blazewing covered her ears and crouched down in recoil from the harsh noise the spider emitted. "I-It's worse than the wails of the damned... shut up!" She stood up, braced herself, and fired a ball of flame at the mechanical arachnid, yelling out "Flames of Ifrit!" as she did.

Cravendy Hound brings her arms up in time to guard herself against a shower of earth and ice. “By the godsdamned Navigator! Warn me next time ye use yer magic!” But, seeing as the spider was now rendered legless by Riylli’s efforts, it seemed a good opportunity to grab and go. Cravs stumbles to the other end of the machine and tries to lift it. They had to get this thing, and themselves, out of here fast.

While incredibly risky and stupid, Riylli's idea worked, the sudden pull from the rocks alongside it's already damaged legs nearly ripped all of them off on the spot. Only one leg remaining, which was the one N'ana kept attacking as the blasted thing started to squirm as much as it could. Several smaller spiders dropped off it's insides, clearly confused as the signal it was sending out to them was not going off well thanks to the damage caused by Rising and Crav's shots.

N'yami bolted towards the giant spider and went to lift it with Cravs. "Let's go go go." The carbuncle grew in size to be big enough to ride and trotted up to Riylli incase she needed to be carried home. "Those who can lift get over here."

The large spider was rendered defenseless, and most of all, it was half intact.

Riylli fell to her knees, aether spent and body exhausted. She grit her teeth and picked herself back up, using her staff to keep her balance as she didn't want people seeing how wiped out she was. "What else could 'time to end this' mean!?" Riylli shot back to Cravs, before carefully trying to crawl her way off the boulder she was dramatically perched on. Maybe exhausting herself right before it was time to run... was not the best plan

Rising pulled her spear back just in time to watch Riylli pull it's legs off like a child would do to a bug, and probably Riylli to a bug too honestly. Quickly returning her spear to her back, she made her way to the front, squatting down and preparing to lift it with the others.

As the limbs come off the spider in a mighty pull of earth, Aislinn wasted no time rushing towards the downed bioweapon, taking out the small spiders that wandered around in confusion. "Alright. N'yami's right. Let's take it and run." she holstered her weapon and made ready to lift along with the others.

Evelyn applauded Riylli's display, a proud smile on her face. "Excellent, truly excellent work, mortal. Your prowess with the earth is quite remarkable..."

Cravendy grumbles something under her breath about being more specific, that “time to end this” should clearly state -how- as well. But it was all bullshit and Cravs knew it - couldn’t expect people to say all that in the heat of the battle. Didn’t stop her from complaining the whole way back though.

Riylli gave a tired grin, always ready to accept some praise. "Best geomancer in eorzea, you can bet on it! You were a big help with that fire though. Couldn't have done it without ya." She said with a nod, before noticing the large carbuncle seemingly waiting for her to pass out. "Oh, hey... you. You offering a ride?" She asked, giving a shrug as she hopped on and did her best not to look so relieved.

As Heartwood managed to take the giant Crawler back, hopefully Haila was fine with the size of it, the group successfully completed their mission and even managed to escape the backup before they showed up but now the real question. How are they going to get it through the door?

#ffxiv rp #balmung rp #ffxiv crystal rp #Heartwood Ventures #Heartwood plots #Primary Access Required #Cravendy Hound #n'yami synch #N'ana Firesong #riylli aliapoh #rising lotus #aislinn north #haila wetyios #Evelyn Blazewing

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