#yeah you can see I had trouble with the right wing I know hush

[creamecream]

“When I saw your face,

You made me feel like a stranger in a brand new place,

And it felt so good to be understood,

There’s so much I wished that I could say,

So I, I’ll be your armor,

Do whatever it takes,

I’ll make the mistakes,

I’ll spend my life being your partner,”

Bubble Bath belongs to @abyssnighthawk and I.

[mochikeiji]

Enough For Me

Request: "Congratulations on 1k!!! you deserve it, you’re a really good writer. Can i request prompt 12 “please don’t cry” angst to fluff with yuuta from jjk. thank you, congrats."

12. "please, don't cry."

↠ Pairing: Okkotsu Yuta x Reader

↠ Warning: angst to fluff

↬ Word Count: 1.5k

↳ from Go! Go! Gogatsu Event

When did every thing become so loud?

One minute you were similing. Laughing loud with a hint of the obvious enjoyment masked on your features. Then second you're staring to nowhere but silence greeting you. An expression so dim that the light in your eyes wasn't present as well. Left at the forest training grounds, the others had already gone back to their dorms. You told them you were staying for a bit for extra training when in reality, you were looking for an outlet without anyone witnessing your hour of vulnerability.

Stupid clan and their elders. As disrespectful as it may sound, you understood now why Gojo despises them. Loud it was to the point it deafens your ears; the murmurs of a child cast away from the bloodline because of the mockery it holds. A no good sorcerer was never welcome in families like yours. People would still chew on your head even when you have your backs turned on them. So frustrating it was to shoulder a burden of their devilish gossip and expectations.

At first it was alright. You handled it well. But to the extent where one of the higher ups brought it up during a meeting? How many people know of you and the disappointment you carry?

Gojo had his fist clenched that day. Maki understood you more than anyone, having to be someone who ran away from her clan as well. Inumaki and Panda did their best in comforting you, telling you that humans are weird to drag other humans down when they're the same race. That was just being so entitled, said Panda. You however, convinced your comrades you were fine. You were used to it. And it was fine.

It didn't matter what other's say as long as other's knew you for what you weren't, right?

That doesn't mean you couldn't help but become overwhelmed of the impact they had on you. Like knives forcefully shoved their ways through your heart. The pack of negative energy should've been enough to form a large curse that could take you.

Loud it was indeed. To have so many people shit their way into your life when you only wanted to live yours and not bother theirs.

You gulped down the heavy lump in your throat. Caught up in the fog of profanities from the world. Who were you kidding, you weren't Maki who can handle all this thrown at her. Tumbling and falling, that was all you knew about yourself in your whole life. The nails that grip in your palms pierced through the skin as blood trickles down, no amount of pain could level the amount of pent up emotions you buried in your heart.

Perhaps you've were born in the wrong time and place. If only you were a simple civilian, maybe life wouldn't be so bad. A loving family would be there, instead of the ones that were throwing their unfulfilled dreams to their children and controlling of their destiny.

The look in your mother's eyes will forever haunt you. Looking already as tired as you were, her eyes spoke more emotion than you could ever endure as loveless, empty ones met your teary gaze that very day.

"I only wanted a daughter who could've done so much for me as I've given her life after birth."

Your heart throbs, soon you were down on the dirt covered ground on your knees. The weight of her words colliding in the world you swore was a safe space for you. It shouldn't matter. Not when they've cast you away and yet, no matter what there is, she was still your mother.

And still the pain is as fresh as ever coming from the one you used to call, "family."

As loud as your world was, your cries were louder and clearer this very night. As if with all your might, you wanted to scream from above on how this was truly unfair. Wanting someone— anyone to hear you curse at the world you were forced to live in. It hurts your lungs, it was indeed hard to grasp small bits of oxygen when your insides felt like they were shrinking from the compact.

You wish you could scream at your mother that deep inside you still loved her. Even as a child who never received the motherly love they deserved, you loved her dearly. It was by instincts and the remains of your vision as a baby, being held in someone arms in hushing your cries.

The surface felt so firm unlike you remembered how it was when you were young. Yet the warm embrace felt nostalgic as it shielded you from the cold blistering wind of the night, you find yourself searching against the surface without a care of any danger or anything anymore. You wanted to be comforted for once. To not feel alone.

"Please don't cry."

Small hushes drowned out your sobs, an arm wrapped firmly around your waist while the other pets your head at the outmost caring matter. Curling closer, your hand held the one on top of your head. Taking in the rough texture, but reminding yourself that someone was now here in your time of need. Here after being away most of the times.

"Yeah, it's me." sensing your troubles as he averts his gaze away from you as if he was embarrassed. "I heard what happened. I managed to finish up much just to get here." next to him was the blade he carries around. Probably less hazardous as to why he place it down.

"Yuta.." sobbing as you clutched on the white material he wore. He immediately reverts back to soothing you in your distressed state. Something about the way he holds you only made you tear up more. It broke his heart in pieces to see you hold onto him as if he was the only person left to anchor yourself. And here he thought he had it worse back then, your body language brought this resemblance to the girl he used to hold just as he was doing now.

"Shh, I promise you that none of those words said about you is true."

Easier said, he knew that. It was easy to reassure someone of their thoughts, but it's not that easy to erase. The mind is a wondrous and torturous place to be in. Old memories can be dug out to the surface and you'd still feel the emotion like it just happened yesterday. Oh if you had Yuta's vision of you, you'd believe in his words.

A strong role model like you is exactly the reason why Yuta aims to be the strongest as well. To help people realize that strength isn't found in the words of other human beings, but within yourself. Yes, it's a harsh world we live in. Those who feel lowly amongst themselves would drag those above them. And those who feel the surge of entitlement snarls at those below them.

But no matter who it is that doubts you, and your potentials, there would always be someone behind you, with the glimmer in their eyes, you are their hope and inspiration in some ways.

That is what Yuta murmurs next to your ear, your cries now subsided to focus on his voice. "You're doing great. We've seen it. I've seen it." facing you with his boyish smiles, you wondered how'd this guy who came looking like a ragged mess become someone twinkling brighter than the stars above the night sky. It was contagious, it made you smile so minimal.

"There's that pretty smile." chuckling, he pats your head softly like treating a little kid. Yuta knows deep down that he can't fully resolve the thoughts inside of you— one of these days you'll have these moments again. And it saddens him because he's often away from you. Yet he's breathless at the fact that you're able to hold yourself off with all these tormenting you.

"You're amazing, darling." came out lower than a whisper before his lips closed in with yours. Last time he kissed you boy was he sweating buckets. He wasn't even as bold as now to be able to initiate first and pull you flush against his chest. But the erratic pace of his heart still was the same as ever. The loudness that had clouded you vanished. All you could hear now were pleasant chorus played by the crickets of the night and the wind lacing together throughout the atmosphere.

He promises to do much more with you for the time being. Help you mend the wounds no one can see and assist with the battles you two could only share and understand. One day as he stated before he would walk through the doors of your clan and prove to them that you were the diamond in the rough they've thrown but he's found.

You were his own butterfly. Beautiful to his eyes, you bestowed your wings; and to yours you cannot see but for people to admire.

"Give yourself more credit. You've done so much, my love."

© all content belongs to mochikeiji. Please do not repost or copy, ありがとうございました!! (=^･^=)

[quindolyn]

hi can i request the maurauders going to see the reader do a musical like heathers or mean girls and they are just confused and turned on bc they didn't expect it to be this dirty (can lead to smut or not). luv you and hope you are taking care of yourself, if not go get something to eat, drink some water, take a nap, or do somthing you enjoy. or dont not trying to be pushy :)

Creature of the Night || Poly!Marauders

Word Count: 3029 (excluding song lyrics)

A/N: I think I liked how this turned out? I didn’t make it smut but it’s certainly suggestive, I went with Rocky Horror, I know that the musicals mentioned in the request are more modern but I fucking love Rocky Horror and I think it works with the request. When I first read this request I smiled so much because I love live theater, I don’t perform as much as I used to because as I progress with my education I’m focusing more on the stuff I can use to pad my resumes for college and stuff but I still love going to see productions. One of the worst parts of the pandemic for me has been not being able to go see shows, I miss it so much.

Warnings: theatre enthusiast reader, erections, suggestive material, song lyrics, slight teasing, wearing very little clothing in front of an audience, I believe that that is it

Masterlist

500 follower celebration

antici-

The magic of the stage was second to none. Sure, Hogwarts may have had witches and wizards, subjects like Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and ghosts that spent their time meandering about the halls but there was always a part of you that looked forward to the summer between your years at Hogwarts. Because no matter how magical Hogwarts was, the theater always made you feel completely and utterly alive. 

Every summer since the one after your first year at what all of your muggle friends thought to be a very prestigious boarding school up in Scotland, you’d taken part in your local youth theater’s productions. Your parents both being muggles thought that it would be a great way for you to be able to stay in touch with your muggle origins. 

The first year you’d been far too nervous to actually audition for a role, the very thought causing bile to churn in your stomach and threaten to make you sick all over your kitchen floor when your father first pitched the idea. So instead you’d done costumes and it was the most wonderful experience of your life. 

Who needed drugs when you had live theater? The hustle and bustle behind the scenes was electrifying but after two summers of costuming, of quick changes in the wings, learning how to use the ancient sewing machines they stored in the depths of the storage rooms, and pulling pieces for the actors to try on you decided that you wanted to try something more.

The moment you had stepped onto the stage it was like you’d come to life and you cursed yourself for not taking the risk earlier. You belonged on the stage, with the harsh stage lights on you and pounds of makeup plastered onto your face you could feel the magic thrumming through your veins and it was addicting.

If it was possible, you were even more excited to perform this summer, the previous school year you’d finally gotten together with your long time best friends the Marauders, turning them from friends to your boyfriends.

When your mother had sent word of the production being put on this summer you’d squealed while seated next to James and across from Remus, who had Sirius hanging off of his side. After explaining to them, mostly Sirius and James really, just what live theater was their first reaction was to ask if they could come see you perform.

“I don’t even know if I’m going to be cast,” You had explained gently, not wanting to get their hopes up in case you weren’t cast this year.

“Bull shit of course you’re going to be the cast,” Sirius had contested through a mouthful of jam and toast, waving his hand theatrically through the air, watching him that day was not the first time you’d considered how the way he acted often reminded you of an over enthusiastic theatre major.

Remus, the only one with any knowledge on muggle theatre had snorted, wrapping an arm around Sirius’ waist to pull him closer to his body, “She’s not going to be the cast Pads, she’s going to be casted,” He’d corrected gently, pressing a kiss into his long, dark tresses.

“Whatever,” The smaller boy had grumbled, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

Which brought you to where you were right now, five minutes to curtain touching up your make up in the mirror of the shared make-up room.

“Hey (L/N),” One of your cast mates called settling into the makeup chair next to you as she plucked a tube of dark red lipstick from the small canary colored makeup bag she had previously abandoned on the counter, “Your boyfriends coming tonight?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“Yeah, they are,” You responded, applying mascara to your lashes.

“Excited to meet them, that photo you showed us,” She smiled, fanning her face with her hand, “Smoking,” She smiled, making eye contact with you in the mirror.

Rolling your eyes you ignored her comment, “It’s five minutes to curtain, you’re just now doing your make-up?” You chuckled, noticing her black face.

“Oh, shove it,” She laughed as you pushed yourself from your chair, traipsing out of the room, giving her the middle finger on your way out.

“Break a leg!” She called after you as the door latched shut.

You weren’t usually this nervous before a performance but knowing that your three boyfriends were sitting out there somewhere in the audience had you pacing back and forth backstage wondering what they were going to think of the whole production.

“Rocky Horror?” Sirius’ confusion evident in his voice as he plopped down in his seat next to Remus, throwing his arm around the werewolf’s shoulders, drumming his fingers on his clothed shoulder hidden behind his knitted cardigan.

“Yeah,” James collapsed into his chair on the other side of Remus, tucking one leg under his body, “No clue what it’s about but I’m sure our angel will be wonderful. Can you guys see her?” He straightened himself up in his seat, craning his neck in attempts to catch a glimpse of you.

Remus being the only one with any ties to the muggle world knew a bit about the show and had to do his very best to suppress a smirk from overtaking his face as he knew exactly what he and your other two boyfriends were getting themselves into. 

“Just hush up you two, the show’s gonna start any moment,” He scolded, patting his large, scarred hand on James’ thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Rem,” Sirius whined, puckering his lips and closing his eyes, signaling to his boyfriend that he wanted a kiss.

“My needy baby,” He crooned, leaning in to connect his lips with Sirius’ in a quick liplock before pulling back, allowing Sirius to drop his forehead to smear against his shoulder.

“That’s mean,” Sirius murmured discontentedly.

“Poor baby Pads,” James cooed mockingly.

“Both of you,” Remus hissed as the lights in the theatre dimmed, “The show’s about to start, be good for me and be quiet yeah?”

Their response came in their silence as the crowd started settling down and the music from the orchestra pit began a voice coming from somewhere out of sight as it was played through the speakers,

“Michael Rennie was ill

The day the earth stood still

But he told us where we stand”

Not 20 minutes into the show all three of them were as hard as rocks, James had already made Remus check the playbill for the name of the character you were playing, not being able to remember what you’d told them as all of his concentration was focused on a certain place.

Janet Weiss.

Remus couldn’t remember either, but he was almost certain that’s the name he could make out in the dark theatre, printed next to a picture of your smiling face.

When you’d stripped down to your underwear the boys could barely focus on the plot line of the show, only being able to watch the way your bare skin shone under the harsh light of the spotlights. Watching as sweat glistened on your skin, making you shine as you moved about the stage. 

Enchanted by the melodic cadence of your voice they all felt a certain jealousy burning deep in the pits on their stomachs at the thought that there were dozens of other people packed into that theater, all observing you in your vulnerable state of under dress. Only they got to see you like that.

Sirius missed much of the first act glaring at members of the audience who he deemed as looking at you for too long for his liking, but if you were being honest a 4th year smiling at you in the hallway was sometimes too long for his liking.

It wasn’t like any of them had never seen you naked before, in fact they’d all seen you naked more than their fair share of times but something about you on that stage in a white bra with a matching slip was driving them all crazy.

Especially Remus, whose ultimate weakness was seeing you in anything white which was one of the reasons you’d been so excited to invite them in the first place, knowing that they would be horny messes the entire time.

On stage you did your very best not to look out into the audience looking for them, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to stop a ginormous grin from forming on your face and you couldn’t afford to break character. Not if you wanted the night to go your way.

As the opening notes to “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me”, rose from the orchestra pit you had trouble stopping a small smirk from pulling at your lips as you opened them, inhaling deeply before singing the first words of the song,

“I was feeling done in, couldn't win

I'd only ever kissed before”

Despite yourself you caught a glimpse of long dark hair in the audience, quickly taking a glance at Sirius’ face, eyes glazed over in lust, legs shifting uncomfortably with his mouth hanging wide open. 

Out of the corner of your eye you noticed another raven-haired boy’s mouth dropping as you shrugged off of your robe

“I thought there’s no use getting, into heavy petting

It only leads to trouble and, seat wetting

Now all I want to know, is how to go

I've tasted blood and I want more”

It was impossible to miss the way Remus’ jaw clenched as you laid your palm against Rocky’s chest, he was being played by your good friends who’d been working with the same theatre company as you since forever, he was like a brother to you. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t lay it on extra thick tonight with your boyfriends in the audience.

Tracing a dainty finger down Rocky’s chest you pushed your body against his singing out the next lyrics of the song,

“I've got an itch to scratch, I need assistance”

You turned you and your cast mate so that looking over his shoulder you were able to meet Remus’ eye, sending him a quick wink before focusing back in on Rocky.

“Toucha, toucha, toucha, touch me

I wanna be dirty

Thrill me, chill me, fulfill me

Creature of the night”

Pressing your back up against Rocky’s chest you guided his hands with yours to your breasts, squeezing them as you followed the choreography you knew by heart.

You ripped your slip from your body with the help of Rocky leaving you in only your white bra, matching panties and a pair of small heels as you paraded around stage, belting the suggestive lyrics into the theater.

“Then if anything grows, while you pose

I'll oil you up and rub you down (down, down, down)

And that’s just one small fraction, of the main attraction

You need a friendly hand, oh i need action”

You smirked, thinking about all of the action you’d be on the receiving end of later that night as you sunk to your knees in front of Rocky, your hands grasping his thighs. Deciding to tease them perhaps a little more than necessary as you went through the number, curling your leg around his and pressing your bodies together so that there was no space between your two questionably clothed bodies.

As the number was brought to a close it was impossible for you to ignore the excitement bubbling up inside of you as you continued your way through the show you kept throwing glances at your boyfriends, always finding their eyes already trained on you. More often than not, on some body part other than your face.

If your boyfriends thought that they had a bit of a problem before that song they were in a terrible predicament now.

Remus caught Sirius on multiple occasions trying to move the hand that he was holding to grope at his crotch as he tried to buck up into his boyfriend’s hand. And much to his own dismay, Remus would pull his hand away, thinking it probably wasn’t the best idea to give his boyfriend a hand job in a crowded theater. Knowing that he wouldn’t have to worry about James touching himself because he would never dream of disobeying him, Remus divided his attention between you on the stage and keeping Sirius in check.

Each of the boys were counting down the seconds until the show came to an end and they could get out of there and relieve some of their tension.  As the curtains were pulled closed they all breathed a sigh of relief before they reopened, leaving all three of them bewildered and slightly annoyed, even more so when they noticed everyone around them standing as they applauded the actors.

Remus forced both of them up when you rushed to the front of the stage, curtsying as the crowd went wild, your boyfriends most notably. As you took your bow you blew a kiss to your boyfriends taking note of the uncomfortable way they all stood, trying to adjust their erections to make them less noticeable while simultaneously applauding you.

As you cleared the stage after curtain call you took your time, doddling towards the dressing rooms where you had left the clothes you’d arrived at the theater in along with a special outfit you’d brought for after the show. Usually you were one of the first actors to clear the theater after a show but tonight you took your time. Hanging up your costume with more care than anyone really should treat any garment with and certainly more than what it needed. 

You smirked mischievously as you pulled the you’d brought outfit from your bag and shimmied it up your legs before slipping the delicate straps up your shoulders. You glimpsed yourself in the mirror, the red satin of the dress clinging to your curves in an attractive manner, short enough to display miles of legs and low cut enough to show off a decent amount of cleavage and perhaps a sighting of the matching red bra you were wearing beneath it.

Slinging the back of your black heels over the heel of your feet you snatched your purse from the armchair in your dressing room before striding out to go meet your boyfriends in the lobby, where you’d told them to wait for you.

Their heads all turned as they heard the clacking of your heels against the tile of the floor, “Boys,” You greeted as they unabashedly took in your new appearance.

As he most often was, Remus was the first one to collect himself, “Puppy, you were wonderful,” He praised, walking to meet you as you approached him, leaning down to smear a kiss against your cheek, “You did amazing up there, so proud of you,” He threw his arm around your waist as you walked towards Sirius and James.

“We got something for you,” He explained, his grip on your waist tightening, “Jamie give it to her, yeah?” 

“Oh yeah,” The smaller boy grinned, remembering the bouquet he held cradled in his arms as he handed it over to you, “Here you go angel.”

“Thank you Jamie,” You said as you took it from him, closing your eyes as you buried your nose in the sweet smelling flora. As you opened your eyes you made eye contact with Sirius, who stood across from you, practically drooling as he took in your appearance without any shame, “They smell wonderful.”

“You okay Si?” You asked, looking up through your eyelashes, batting them innocently.

“Like you don’t know exactly what you did up there to us (Y/N/N),” Remus whispered in your ear, pressing his nose into your temple.

“You guys are the ones who wanted to come,” You lilted, rubbing one of the velvety petals between the pads of your thumb and forefinger.

“Could’ve warned us,” James mumbled, his eyes not leaving your thighs as he licked his lips, if it were anyone else you would’ve been uncomfortable but you couldn’t help but feel flattered whenever any of them ogled you. 

“And what’s with the dress Pup?” Sirius nodded his head appreciatively towards your dress, obviously admiring the way it hung on your body.

“What, you don’t like it?” You asked with fake hurt in your voice, knowing that he more than liked it, he fucking loved it. 

“S’not that,” Remus mumbled, nosing at your jugular, “Just that whole show, got us a little bit worked up. We didn’t expect it to be so sexual Puppy,” He nodded towards James and that’s when you noticed the erection he was still sporting. 

“Got us really worked up, can we go home now?” James asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, trying to distract himself from his little problem.

“Jamie,” You whined, smiling wickedly, “I wanted to celebrate, I was thinking we could go eat somewhere, I was thinking maybe Thai food?”

You watched as Sirius ground his teeth, conflicted between needing to get home and not wanting to deny you from what you wanted. 

“Having fun teasing us Bunny?” Remus asked you with a sly smirk, knowing exactly what you were doing.

“M’not teasing,” You insisted, turning indignantly to your other boyfriend.

“Sure you aren’t,” He chuckled, “Thai sounds great (Y/N), wanna talk with you about the show,” The idea of teasing Sirius and James even longer was very appealing to Remus and he was ready to make the sacrifice of being teased himself, knowing that he’d be able to get back at you later that night.

“But-” James began.

“You wanna argue with me Jamie?” Remus challenged, raising a singular eyebrow.

“No,” He moped, “Of course not.”

“Good,” Remus said, nodding his head approvingly, “We wouldn’t wanna deny our Princess would we?”

James shook his head, eyes pleading, desperately seeking Remus’ approval.

“Pads?” Remus challenged, turning his attention to the other raven haired man.

“What? Oh um, of course not,” He agreed distractedly, dragging his eyes from your form to meet Remus’, his reluctance evident in his voice.

“Good,” Remus said pointedly, his eyes cold, daring Sirius to question him. When he didn’t the werewolf continued, “Let’s get going then, there’s a nice little restaurant a couple blocks away yeah?”

As you all hummed your consent you made your way to the exit, “Ten galleons if you can make James cum in his pants at dinner,” Remus whispered in your ear quietly enough so that  James and Sirius trailing behind you wouldn’t be able to hear you, you could hear the smirk in his voice as you exited the theatre.

“Deal.” This was going to be fun, you considered that you might have to invite them to come see the show again.

-pation

tagging: @randomoutsiders @weasleyposts @kittykylax @amourtentiaa @superbturtlemakerathlete

[griffintail]

The Lost Ones

Summary: Several of the SMP members find an infant in a place they didn’t expect and decide to care for them.

Pairings: Platonic! Parental! Tommy, Wilbur, Philza, Technoblade, Eret, and Dream x F! Child! Reader

Next

Warnings! : Swearing, Village Raid, Minor Violence, Minor Deaths (Mostly mobs), mentions of blood

A/N : I’m the biggest sap for child readers. Dating back to 2014. I literally couldn’t help myself. Just so everyone knows, I suck at writing in gender neutral terms, that’s why the reader is specifically female in all of these (Including Tommy’s, Minor Spoiler, Tommy’s just an idiot and doesn’t look). So, sorry about that.

I’ll most certainly will make more of these. I won’t always have it just like this, I might write a certain character individually in a scenario. It’s all dependent on my mood. I might add more characters! This is just basically the introduction. So yeah...ENOUGH RAMBLING! Hope you enjoy :)

       Tommy (Before the First Disc War)

        Tommy smirked proudly to himself as he tucked his new disc safely into his inventory bag before starting the walk back to his home. His adventure was successful, he managed to get a rare disc and it was now all his. Walking through the small bit of woods, he rested his hand on his sword handle. It was still night time after all and the monsters were out to play.

        As he could see the lights from the small town of the Dream SMP, he heard a cry. Looking back into the woods, he frowned before grinning.

        Someone is in trouble! He’d save them and get a payment—er— “willing reward” from them. Pulling his sword, he ran over towards the sound of another cry, this time the sound being continued. He rolled his eyes, someone was crying, what a pussy. As the crying was practically on top of him, he frowned in confusion as he only found a skeleton, which was trying to shoot at a basket hanging in a tree. There was no one there to be crying.

        He shrugged regardless, taking his shield off before going for the skeleton. It only managed one arrow before Tommy killed the mob. Looking at the basket, Tommy hummed before putting his weapon and shield away to climb up. As he got to a safe place to reach the basket, the crying now made sense as his eyes went wide.

        “You’re a fucking baby!” He shouted in surprise.

        Said infant noticed the new face and their wails quieted, but small cries still came out.

        “Quiet down. You’re going to bring monsters!” He hushed, moving carefully, getting the basket off, and brought it to himself. “How the hell did you get up here? Who just leaves a baby?”

        He looked down at the baby as he sat back in the tree. He couldn’t help but think how small she was, had he been that small when he was this young?

        “Guess you got nowhere to go huh?” He asked as the child looked up, their cries having gone silent seeing the boy much closer.

        They played with their blanket and he hummed as he held the basket close, making his way down the tree.

        “You’re lucky, a big man saved you! I don’t live far, so you’ll come with me. Of course, I wouldn’t just leave you here again.” Tommy rambled, despite knowing the infant couldn’t respond back. “I’m not some kind of monster!”

        He made it back to his home, putting the basket on his bed, and looked down at the baby with his hands on his hips.

        “If you were left out there like that, you’re alone.” This time, the baby gave a small babble and he couldn’t help the small smile that came on his face. “Well, then I’ll take care of you! I’m a big man and can do it easy! Phil took care of my brothers and me after all and he’s old and stupid. I’m young and very wise, so I can do it. I suppose you’ll need a name now.”

        If anyone had been in the room with Tommy, they’d be surprised how gentle he picked up the small human. Carefully, he held them properly, only knowing how as Phil had once shown him when they were helping a village out after a raid when he had taken the younger boy to trade.

        “Hmm, I’ll call you (Y/N)!” He decided. “And I will be the greatest father ever! And I know the perfect way to celebrate today!”

        Going into his bag, he grinned as he pulled out his new music disc. Putting it on the jukebox, he sat on his bed as the infant looked over at the object making the beautiful sound. His grin went into a gentle smile as he watched (Y/N) listen to the music. They’d both be happy; he’d make sure of it.

        Twenty Minutes Later…

        Tubbo sprinted down the stairs of his house as he heard frantic knocking on his door and the sound of crying. Swinging the door open, he let out a startled noise seeing a distressed Tommy holding a wailing baby.

        Of course, he’d need some help since there was just a little bit of a learning curve.

          Wilbur (Right after Declaration of War)

        Times were hard. Wilbur had just started a new nation to free himself, his friends, and his family from the iron grip of Dream and his friends, but they did not like the loss of power and declared war on him. As well as the war, Fundy had become a rather rebellious teenager and Wilbur wasn’t sure how to handle all of it. He didn’t let it show to the others though. He’d be a strong leader for them.

        He looked over his map of L’Manberg. They needed better defensive points…they fought with their words but Dream fought with weapons of destruction. They needed safe spaces to protect themselves…

        Wilbur jumped, knocking over an ink bottle over on the table when there was pounding on the van door.

        “Damn it.” He grumbled, quickly flipping the bottle back up and moved the map out of the way before going to the door.

        He opened the door to see Eret standing there, making Wilbur raise an eyebrow as Eret was on guard duty at the moment but looked shocked seeing what the other man was holding.

        “Hello, sir. They were just outside the gate. I didn’t see anyone else around.” Eret rapidly explained to his leader, the small infant wiggling in his hold. “I brought them here because they were cold.”

        “Get inside,” Wilbur instructed, going into the back of the van again quickly.

        He heard the door close as he grabbed his spare coat.

        “Hand them over,” Wilbur muttered, Eret carefully transferring his hold to the other man.

        Wilbur saw they had a blanket but it was thin and the child was cold to the touch. Wrapping his coat around them, he instructed Eret to light a furnace, which he did post haste.

        “Hello there, love.” He whispered quietly to the infant, rocking them lightly. “We’re going to get you warmed up and something to fill your stomach, how does that sound?”

        The baby didn’t fuss, too tired and cold to even thinking about making one. Wilbur stood next to the now lit furnace and looked up at Eret.

        “Is anyone out there?” He asked, his proud leader voice coming out.

        “No sir, I was worried about the child.”

        Wilbur nodded. “I commend you for saving their life, but I have it from here. Send someone to fetch milk and then please stand guard again.”

        Eret nodded before leaving the van.

        Once the two were alone, Wilbur sighed heavily as he sat on the floor, still close to the furnace. He felt the child’s forehead, feeling them warm up to his relief.

        “You gave us a scare little one.” He chuckled quietly. “But don’t worry, you’re in a safe place. L’Manberg will care for you. I suppose it was lucky you were left here rather than the Dream SMP.”

        He hummed quietly as he gently rocking the child, their eyes closing as they relaxed in his hold. As they relaxed, he gave a quick check for their gender.

        “Welcome little one. You’re the first woman of L’Manberg.” He smiled lightly.

        For a short while, he was able to forget about everything outside the van. He could relax himself and let his mind clear as he watched the little girl in his arms. They were both at peace.

        After a few minutes, he looked up as he heard the van door open. As he was standing up carefully, his own son Fundy came in holding a bucket.

        “Hey, Eret said you needed…What the hell is that?!” Fundy exclaimed in surprise, startling the girl in his arms, tears appearing in her eyes.

        “Shh, it’s alright,” Wilbur whispered to her as he rocked her again and he wiped her tears away with one hand.

        Fundy cautiously came over, raising an eyebrow. “Who are they?”

        Wilbur paused thinking for a moment, before smiling. “Meet your new little sister my son. (Y/N), the newest member of our great nation.”

          Philza (Right before Wilbur’s Betrayal)

        Phil shook out his wings as he landed in a village. He needed to rest them for a bit before continuing on his journey to L’Manberg. He had gotten word of how the tides had turned badly for his sons in the new nation they made to try and live peacefully. Originally, they hadn’t asked for his aid as Tommy and Wilbur had made contact with Techno and they believed with their older brother, they could surely turn it back. Yet, Tommy had sent him a letter with worry for Wilbur’s state of mind and Phil decided he needed to be there for his sons.

        Yes, he wanted them to learn the world on their own but there were some times when Phil needed to be there to help them.

        Looking at the sky, the night was fast approaching so he managed to get a house in the village for the night. Keeping his sword by his bedside, he went to sleep for the night…

        Startling awake, Phil heard the sounds of the village bell.

        “God damn it,” Phil mumbled, scooping his sword and bag before putting his hat on his head.

        Running out, he saw the cause of the panicked ringing. A pillager raid, and it was already out of control. Fires were crackling madly and blood littered the paths.

        “Shit.” He swore as a pillager spotted him and he dodged the arrow before running them through with his sword.

        The few surviving villagers ran from their homes and Phil went to follow when he heard a wail, the wail of a child. His throat tightened as he looked back to the burning buildings, his fatherly instinct along with his good nature kicked in.

        “God…” He muttered before spreading his wings.

        With ease, he was able to dodge between pillagers and ravagers alike as he followed the sound. Landing at the house that was most certainly ablaze, Phil kicked in the door. Holding his arm to his mouth and nose, he rushed in and found a small nursery, the flames engulfing the walls and ceiling. Rushing to the crib, he found the small child and quickly picked them up.

        “Let’s go kiddo.” He said as he rushed back out.

        Once he was outside, he took flight again and flew high enough to be out of arrow range, and flew far from the village. As he did, he looked the small child, of which he found out was female, over for injures as she screamed and cried. She had no visible injuries but Phil knew she had to have inhaled smoke. So, after a handful of minutes flying, he landed and shushed her quietly.

        “It’s alright kiddo, hang on,” Phil told her quietly as he went into his bag taking out a health potion. “I got something that can help you.”

        Being gentle, he gave them a few drops of the potion to hopefully clear out any smoke and heal the damage it might have done. The little girl gave hiccups and small cries.

        “It’s alright. You’re safe now.” He bounced her lightly, slowing down her cries to nothing. “There we go. We’re ok. Once morning comes, we’ll find the others of the rest of your village and see if we can’t find your parents.”

        The little girl’s eyes merely drooped and he gave smile before he frowned as he looked up to see the fires in the distance. They were a human child and he didn’t remember seeing any humans running away with the survivors but he’d try. And if not…

        “Don’t you worry, I’ll take care of you,” Phil assured the now sleeping infant.

        Technoblade (Start of Retirement)

        Techno shouldered the bag of wood he had gathered over his shoulder, his axe on his belt as he made his way home through the snow. The voices were relatively calm, not hungry for blood at the moment, and Techno was able to have a peaceful moment. As he trudged closer to his house, he slowed to a stop seeing footprints by the stairs and the voices kicked up as his thoughts went wild.

        Phil always gave him notice on his walkie if he was on the way and whoever had been there had gone up the stairs then walked away in a different direction from where they came.

        The voices were bringing up the question of if he was being scouted out. Who could have found his house? How did they find it? They started to demand blood.

        Technoblade took his axe off his belt while putting down the bag of wood. Going towards the porch carefully, he held it ready to expect the worse when he entered his house but he didn’t even go up the stairs to find something. On his doorstep, there sat a large huddle of blankets.

        Furrowing his eyebrows, he came up to the huddle carefully and slowly with his axe raised. Stopping when it was fully in view, he stared in even more confusion.

        “What the hell?” He questioned, lowering his axe slightly as he looked around the snowy tundra. “Who leaves a child on my doorstep!”

        In the middle of the huddle of blankets was a sleeping child, who wiggled slightly at the loudness of his voice.

        They’re an orphan now

        You know how you feel about orphans

        Blood for the Blood God

        Techno winced at the sounds of the voices as he looked at the child. They were right…they were an orphan now. Someone had left them on his doorstep and now they were abandoned. He gripped his axe tightly as he looked down at the infant.

        It’d be quick and easy…

        The small human opened their eyes slightly, squirming slightly as they saw him. Techno’s grip loosened, the voices screaming in protest. They were so small and so defenseless…he wasn’t calling for blood anymore.

        Grunting, he put the axe away, going back down the stairs to grab the bag as he clenched his jaw at the loud noises of the voices before going back and picking up the child with surprising gentleness as the child was startled slightly. He shouldered his door open, dropping the bag of wood next to the unlit fireplace before making his way upstairs to his bedroom. He put the child down, who watched him in silent curiosity as Techno took the walkie off his belt.

        “Phil, you there?” He questioned into it.

        It took a minute but the device crackled.

        “Yeah, what’s going on?”

        “I got a…issue. Come over as soon as you can.”

        “An issue? What kind of issue?” Phil asked in surprise as usually, Technoblade could handle most of his issues.

        “It’s hard to explain, just come over.” Techno rubbed his temple at the screams of the voices.

        “Alright, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

        He put the walkie down as he looked over at the child watching him.

        “What?” He huffed.

        Then the child gave a small giggle, trying to get their hands free to hold them out to him. The man stood there in shock as his heart melted. He had not felt something like that in a long time. Scrunching up his nose slightly before coming over and taking the infant out of the blankets and holding her as he used to with Tommy.

        “What the hell am I going to do with you?” He muttered and the small human held lightly onto his shirt, making even the voices slow down.

        He down a level in his home to wait for Phil, keeping the child in his hold as he just decided to do his normal routine. He started a fire and began to brew a few potions when the knock came on his door.

        “Come in.” He called.

        In stepped his father, who immediately dropped his bag in surprise seeing what Techno was holding as he added a new ingredient to his potion.

        “Hello.” He greeted the older man without looking at him.

        “What the hell did you have?” The older man questioned.

        Techno looked over at him confused. “Blaze powder.”

        Phil took his hat off as he ran a hand through his hair. “I meant the baby!”

        “Oh! Yeah, this.” Techno said casually, the older man freaking out. “Someone left them on my porch.”

        “Oh god…are they ok?” Phil asked, coming over.

        “Yeah, they’re fine. They were swallowed by blankets.”

        The child tried to take a bottle in their hands and Techno simply moved it from them and kept working like it was the most natural thing in the world. Phil stood in surprise at how casual Techno was, he knew about the orphan thing and how vicious the voices in his head could be.

        “What…what are you going to do with the child?”

        “That’s why I called you,” Techno said, before holding the child to the man. “You take it.”

        “What?! Techno, I can’t just take this child. I…” Phil’s hand shook slightly at the thought of Wilbur. “I can’t have another child right now. And L’Manberg will question where I even got them in the first place.”

        “Well then what do I do with it?!” Techno huffed as he was surprised by the quietness of the voices.

        “Well…you could take of them.”

        “I don’t know how to take care of a child. I don’t even like children, have you seen me with Tommy?” Techno rolled his eyes.

        “You seem to like this one.” Phil pointed out as Techno was holding them willingly and at the gentleness, he had with them.

        Techno frowned as he tried to think of a good reason. “That’s because they’re quiet.”

        “Look…I know you don’t want to hear this but maybe you should look after them, even just for a while. I can see if I can find someone who wants a child.”

        No, you found them.

        They’re rather cute…

        Keep them!

        The voices had done a full turn around from when they first saw the child. They were demanding Techno care for them and protect the fragile being. Techno couldn’t disagree with them because in his heart…he wanted to protect the child that had been left on his doorstep.

        “Fine, I’ll take care of them for a while but you need to help me, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

        Phil chuckled. “Of course, son. We should look them over first to make sure they’re alright.”

        Techno rolled his eyes but agreed, listening to Phil as he told him what to do. The father was smiling proudly as even though Techno was frustrated with the new task, he continued with it. Once she, as they discovered, was checked over, Phil put a hand on his son’s shoulder.

        “What do you want to call her?” Phil asked.

        He looked down at the child, who was giggling as Phil smiled at her.

        “Blood Child.”

        “Techno!”

        Later, Techno actually decided on (Y/N) and for once, the voices were on his side.

          Eret (Before the founding of L’Manberg)

        Eret chuckled to himself as he walked down the path back towards his castle. Tommy’s antics for the day had been particularly ridiculous that it still brought a chuckle to the older gentleman as he went back to his home. He knew the days around the Dream SMP certainly wouldn’t be boring.

        Walking to his castle, he stopped as he noticed a basket left in front of the door and peered inside.

        “Why hello there.” Eret smiled seeing a small face peering back up at him as they squirmed slightly in discomfort. “What are you doing here little one?”

        He carefully picked up the basket and went inside his castle. As he got to his bedroom, he carefully took the infant out struggling a bit but managed before searching a bit in the basket.

        “Hmm, no note or anything.” He muttered as he looked at the child squirming around. “Well, someone made a mistake leaving you behind. Let’s see if I can’t figure out what’s making you so fussy.”

        After a bit of trying, first checking to see if she needed a diaper, he figured she needed some food and managed to get milk, putting it in a clean potion bottle to help her drink it easier. That also took a few trials, but he managed to help her drink until she stopped fussing.

        “There we go, now I can see your lovely face better.” He smiled as he sat on his bed, wiggling his finger in front of her making her giggle.

        As he played with the small girl, he frowned slightly as he looked over the basket that she had been left in. Why would someone leave someone so precious on the doorstep of his castle? It was truly a shame for those that did leave the little girl as Eret couldn’t help but slowly smile again as the little girl grasped onto his finger.

        “You’re not going to have to worry little one. You can stay here with me and you can be the princess of this castle.” He promised her, hugging her lightly, making her giggle. “I’ll make sure you’re safe and happy. It will take me a little while to learn how to do it all properly but I’ll learn. How does that sound…(Y/N)?”

        He chuckled as he moved his head back as she reached for her glasses. Yeah, this sounded like a beautiful idea.

          Dream (The Very Start)

        Dream rolled his eyes behind his mask as he heard George screaming in the distance, Sapnap laughing wildly in return. Those two never know how to stop.

        “Come on you two! We need to build a house before the night comes.” Dream called to them. “Stop goofing off.”

        Yet, he could still hear George’s high-pitched scream and he just chuckled and shook his head at his friends’ behavior. They were the company he kept and he honestly wouldn’t trade them for anything.

        Eventually, they did stop screwing and they were able to get to work on building their first home of the new land they had. The three of them joked and there was some arguing still between Sapnap and George but it just made it peaceful for the three of them. It was how their lives were.

        Dream went to go look for some sheep to get wool for beds before night fully struck, leaving the two “children” at the house. As he went searching, he jumped when he heard the sound of screaming, but it wasn’t liking George’s scream. It was quieter but still a scream.

        “Hello?!” Dream called as he pulled out his stone sword.

        As he went towards the noise, he realized it wasn’t a scream of terror as he first thought it was. No, it was a screaming cry, the kind a child would make. He started sprinting at that thought and skidded to a stop as he found the infant that was making the sound laid on top of a rock, a group of three zombies trying to get it.

        Dream gripped onto his sword before shouting to get their attention and moved back, quickly taking care of the mobs. He pushed his smiley mask to the side of his face as he finished them off and rushed over to the baby.

        “Hey! Hey. It’s ok now.” He told them as he climbed up next to them, dropping his sword at the bottom. “All the bad things are gone.”

        He gently picked up the baby, shushing them as he put a hand on top of their head. Slowly, they quieted down and Dream smiled wiping their tears away.

        “Hey, there you go. See? There’s nothing to cry about.” He chuckled before screwing his face up to look funny.

        The child giggled and he grinned.

        “There we go. Now, let’s check you out.” He muttered, looking them over. “No injuries. That’s very good princess. Now, what are you doing out here?” He asked as he looked around, seeing no signs of human life other than the two of them.

        Dream’s blood boiled slightly. Someone would just leave a child out here? If it wasn’t for him, she would have died!

        “You got nowhere to go huh? Well, you don’t have to worry.” He said, carefully sliding down.

        He picked up his sword, putting it back in its sheath, before walking back towards his friends.

        “I’ll take care of you. You’ll be the princess of our new land! You, me, and your two idiot uncles.” He laughed, the tiny girl giggling at the sound. “And I’ll make sure you always have a reason to smile.”

[wincestisasincest]

The Barrel - Ch. 1 (LOTR x Reader)

Okay, so time for a fun and sexy take on Modern Girl in Middle Earth that no one asked for - what if the Modern Girl had a gun? I wanted to try and write something where the Modern Girl in question was not completely defenseless, and had a fair amount of experience that the others lacked.

This will be very slow burn, I think.

Chapter: 1

Words: 1452

Warnings: Blood, guns (obviously)

Pairings: None (yet)

The butt of the rifle cracked against your cheek. You bit your tongue, but kept your arms rigid and eyes open. The taste of copper slithered between your teeth.

The orc staggered, his head reeling back with the force of the bullet that had just been lodged into it. His spine arched, and his arms flailed. Before he could catch his balance, his heart finished beating and he collapsed to the ground. Pungent, dark blood oozed into the dirt.

The wizard hardly flinched. His weary, sloped brow and buggish eyes were fixed on you thoughtfully. He tugged a strand of his curly brown beard - the one that had been blanched with bird crap.

You dropped your arms and let the rifle relax into the natural dent of your hands. They were clammy, but the crisp chilliness of the forest kept them from being sweaty. Everything about you, from the fresh redness pooling in your cheeks due to the recoil of the gun to the congested nose you had that made you sniff every couple of minutes, put you on the edge of sickness. And yet, here you were, shambling and corpse-like, but still upright and alive.

You stepped towards the wizard, your eyes occasionally darting back to the orc. You hadn’t registered yet that you were the one who killed it. You’d give it some time.

“Are you Radagast the Brown?”

You kept your voice monotone and deep to not risk exposing the rasp extending up the back of your throat.

“Who’s asking? Friend or foe?”

“Friend. I’m (y/n).”

“No family?”

“None that are around here. I’m, uh, not from here. If it wasn’t already obvious.”

You swayed nervously on your legs. Your combat boots were worn beyond repair, though their gaudy artificial stitching that was loosely holding them together still stuck out like a sore thumb. The black tank top clung to your body, and though you mostly kept it hidden with an oversized jacket, you couldn’t help the occasional peak of bare flesh and tight fabric. Oh, and, of course, your jeans were bright-ass blue and had a leather tag on the back with an impeccably printed logo.

“Indeed,” the wizard nodded, “I’ve never seen a bow quite like that before.”

You neither. This whole shooting business was about as new as Middle Earth. When you had woken up in a small pile of freshly fallen leaves, the gun, along with a few packages of ammo, were about 10 feet from your stiff body. You hadn’t dared to practice anything besides loading and unloading the gun, lest you run out of ammo in the middle of your hour of need. You had abstained from counting, knowing that it would just make you more nervous.

“Yeah...” you trailed, “but anyway, I know you don't know me, but you know Gandalf, right? He needs help.”

“Help? Now, there’d have to be something mighty strong that could get that old goat in trouble,” he raised an eyebrow hawkishly.

“Saruman.”

“Saruman? Well now, that can’t be.”

“He’s working with Sauron. Looking for the ring, and-”

“Hush!” he finally broke eye contact with you and warily scanned the tops of the trees. Nothing but a wall of silence.

“The forest... it’s quiet. Someone is listening. Come, come. Matters like these ought to be discussed inside,” he turned around and waved for you to follow, hustling in between long, imposing trunks that looked like they were ready to fall on you and crush the life out of you at any second.

******

You had killed the moth. Not on purpose, of course. You seemed to have fallen on it after you crashed through the sky of Middle Earth.

You could remember hearing its screams. You rolled over, looking for the source, grinding the roots further into your ribcage. When you finally saw the tiny thing flitting on the ground, trying to get your attention, you dumbly watched its crushed wings and snapped legs twitch with jolts of desperation.

“I have a message! A message for Radagast the Brown! Friend of the Eagles! You must take it in my stead - it is urgent. The fate of Gandalf the Gray depends on it.”

You said nothing, barely able to keep yourself conscious as you rapidly inhaled and expelled stilted breaths.

“Gandalf the Gray was betrayed by former friend Saruman the White. He is on top of the tower Orthanc, in Isengard, dying with each passing moment. He dispatched me to tell Radagast to seek out the aid of the Eagles - he fears that they may be his only chance at rescue from the tower.”

“Are... are you real?” you finally sputtered.

“I am alive, but not for much longer. My strength fails me. But you must go. Follow along the edge of Mirkwood until you find the brown wizard. The fate of Gandalf, and perhaps the realm, may depend on you. Please, time is of the essence. You must leave.”

The creature’s mouth never moved. You never heard the sound of its voice. But you felt the words in your head, bouncing around there after being injected by some foreign source. The moth pointed its head straight at you.

“Please. It does not matter who you are - your future depends on the knowledge that only Gandalf holds.”

A throbbing pain blossomed in the back of your head, just under your neck. The moth flitted its wings once more, and then the telepathic force that had been drilling into your skull blinked out.

You took a long sip of murky liquid in a cracked glass teacup. Warmth stirred in your void of a stomach, which you had been trying to ignore.

“My word. Then it is true. Saruman has turned to the darkness,” Radagast said to no one in particular. He looked out the window, as if waiting for the silhouette of his friend to appear over the horizon, completely fine.

“I’m sorry,” was all that you could say.

He turned to you, eyes still flickering with life but in danger of going out.

“So am I,” he said grimly, “but, no matter. Gandalf was right. The Eagles are his only chance of salvation from a place as wicked as Isengard. I’ll get the message to them at once.”

He looked at his feet. You couldn’t actually recall much about Radagast from the books - you knew more about how low of an opinion Saruman had of him. But the look of despair that was settling deep within his chest was a grave reminder that he was just as capable of complex thought as anyone else.

You realized that you had just seen a man accept that there would be war on their hands, and that there was nothing he could do to avoid it.

“It will be alright in the end,” you found yourself saying.

Finally, he looked up at you sadly.

“I know. The world will always be okay in the end. And I, who have lived many years and will live many more, will be around to see it. But what will happen to everyone in between?”

“I dunno,” you shrugged, “but in the meantime we’ll just... do our best to protect them. That’s all we can do, right?”

You tilted the edge of your lips up, not quite forming a grin but far from the hopeless neutrality that you had carried with you into the house. He analyzed you, squinting his eyes and pursing his lips, not caring if you noticed.

“Who are you?”

“I’m (y/n).”

“A person is more than their name, especially one such as you.”

“I’m nobody important to this world. I don’t belong here.”

“And yet here you are. You’ve become somebody important,” he scratched his chin, “this appears to be beyond me, but I suggest that you consult with Gandalf. You’re already heading in his direction anyway.”

“What?”

“I’m sending you with the Eagles. The fellow will be in a mighty poor condition when you find him, it’d be irresponsible for me to send him back all by himself. And besides, you seem like a useful person to know.”

He smiled coyly. Your mind buzzed.

“There must be someone else that you can send?”

“Nope. Well, no one humann, anyway. One of the quirks of dedicating your being to the plants and the animals. Now, on you get! I can hear them circling overhead.”

You had no idea how he had summoned the Eagles, and at this point, you were almost too afraid to ask. You gritted your teeth and let your stomach do a cartwheel as you realized that you were about to come to terms with your fear of heights in the worst way possible.

So be it.

[hermiones-amortentia]

This is for people who think Ron and Hermione had no intellectual debates or Ron can't stimulate her intellectually. Here their intellectual debates in the books-

1. House elves

“They’re hats for house-elves,” she said briskly, now stuffing her books back into her bag. “I did them over the summer. I’m a really slow knitter without magic, but now I’m back at school I should be able to make lots more.”

“You’re leaving out hats for the house-elves?” said Ron slowly. “And you’re covering them up with rubbish first?”

“Yes,” said Hermione defiantly, swinging her bag onto her back.

“That’s not on,” said Ron angrily. “You’re trying to trick them into picking up the hats. You’re setting them free when they might not want to be free.”

Ron is the only one that confronts Hermione about SPEW and really engages into it (So that its clear: Hermione defends that the elves should be free at all costs, Ron says they should be aware and included in this choice = two points of view, both defended = intellectual debate)

.

.

.

2. Discussing the ministry

“It could be a frame-up!” Ron exclaimed excitedly. “No — listen!”

he went on, dropping his voice dramatically at the threatening look on Hermione’s face. “The Ministry suspects he’s one of Dumbledore’s lot so — I dunno — they lured him to the Ministry, and he wasn’t trying to get through a door at all! Maybe they’ve just made something up to get him!”

There was a pause while Harry and Hermione considered this.

Harry thought it seemed far-fetched; Hermione, on the other hand, looked rather impressed and said, “Do you know, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that were true.”

Ron =shows how it could have been a frame-up and presents evidence; Hermione =considers his side and changes her mind; they were discussing something and reached an agreement over facts = intellectual

.

.

.

3. In the creation of the DA, we see Harry behaving quite emotionally (understandable but this does not qualify, using your definition, as intellectual). Ron and Hermione make their case for why he should be the teacher and basically organize the entire thing themselves

“Let’s think,” he said, pulling a face like Goyle concentrating. “Uh . . .

first year — you saved the Stone from You-Know-Who.”

‘ “But that was luck,” said Harry, “that wasn’t skil —”

“Second year,” Ron interrupted, “you killed the basilisk and destroyed Riddle.”

“Yeah, but if Fawkes hadn’t turned up I —”

“Third year,” said Ron, louder still, “you fought off about a hundred dementors at once —”

“Ron and I have been sounding out people who we thought might want to learn some proper Defense Against the Dark Arts, and there are a couple who seem interested. We’ve told them to meet us in Hogsmeade”

Hermione and Ron recruited and organized everything for the DA

.

.

.

4. Discussing Dumbledore and Snape

“I did think he might be a bit better this year,” said Hermione in a disappointed voice. “I mean . . . you know . . .” She looked carefully around; there were half a dozen empty seats on either side of them and nobody was passing the table. “. . . Now he’s in the Order and everything.”

“Poisonous toadstools don’t change their spots,” said Ron sagely.”

“Anyway, I’ve always thought Dumbledore was cracked trusting Snape, where’s the evidence he ever really stopped working for You-Know-Who?”

“I think Dumbledore’s probably got plenty of evidence”

.

.

.

5. Sirius death

They stayed together in the Hospital Wing for weeks and it can be correctly inferred that this was discussed given their behavior towards Harry

“Ron and Hermione left the hospital wing completely cured three days before the end of term. Hermione showed signs of wanting to talk about Sirius, but Ron tended to make hushing noises every time she mentioned his name”

.

.

.

6. Mad-Eye’s death and the 7 Potters mission

“Oh, Ron’s mum forgot that she asked Ginny and me to change the sheets yesterday,” said Hermione. She threw Numerology and Grammatica onto one pile and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts onto the other.

“We were just talking about Mad-Eye,” Ron told Harry.

.

.

.

7. Hermione’s parents and the Ghoul (they planned and prepared for the mission together)

“Didn’t realize that Ron and I know perfectly well what might happen if we come with you? Well, we do. Ron, show Harry what you’ve done.”

“Nah, he’s just eaten,” said Ron.

“Go on, he needs to know!”

“Oh, all right. Harry, come here.”

.

.

.

8. How to destroy Horcruxes

“Hang on,” said Ron, frowning. “The bit of soul in that diary was possessing Ginny, wasn’t it? How does that work, then?”

“While the magical container is still intact, the bit of soul inside it can flit in and out of someone if they get too close to the object. I don’t mean holding it for too long, it’s nothing to do with touching it,” she added before Ron could speak. “I mean close emotionally. Ginny poured her heart out into that diary, she made herself incredibly vulnerable. You’re in trouble if you get too fond of or dependent on the Horcrux.”

.

.

.

9. Hallows x Horcruxes

“Well, I don’t suppose it matters,” sighed Hermione. “Even if he was being honest, I never heard such a lot of nonsense in all my life.”

“Hang on, though,” said Ron. “The Chamber of Secrets was supposed to be a myth, wasn’t it?”

“But the Deathly Hallows can’t exist, Ron!”

“You keep saying that, but one of them can,” said Ron. “Harry’s Invisibility Cloak —”

.

.

.

10. Formulating a plan to keep Hermione safe

“Ron glanced at Hermione, then said, “What if purebloods and half-bloods swear a Muggle-born’s part of their family? I’ll tell everyone Hermione’s my cousin —”

Hermione covered Ron’s hand with hers and squeezed it.

“Thank you, Ron, but I couldn’t let you —”

“You won’t have a choice,” said Ron fiercely, gripping her hand back. “I’ll teach you my family tree so you can answer questions on it.

Hermione gave a shaky laugh.

“Ron, as we’re on the run with Harry Potter, the most wanted person in the country, I don’t think it matters. If I was going back to school it would be different. What’s Voldemort planning for Hogwarts?” she asked Lupin.”

.

.

.

11. Off page discussion

“What’s happened?” Ron asked apprehensively. He and Hermione had been poring over a sheaf of scribbled notes and hand-drawn maps that littered the end of the long kitchen table, but now they watched Harry as he strode toward them and threw down the newspaper on top of their scattered parchment.”

12. Off page (2)

“You can’t tell me you’ve stopped having funny dreams,” Hermione said now, “because Ron told me last night you were muttering in your sleep again. . . .”

Harry threw Ron a furious look. Ron had the grace to look ashamed of himself.

“You were only muttering a bit,” he mumbled apologetically.”

Yet another evidence of their connection and off-page discussions

“Neither Ron nor Hermione spoke, but Harry felt sure that they were looking at each other behind his back, communicating silently.”

.

.

.

Ron and Hermione have emotional AND intellectual discussions throughout the series. So if you think Ron can't stimulate her intellectually you havent read the books. 😊

[marvelfansince08love]

hi laurennnn. how about soft platonic!wandanat (like wanda and nat are in a relationship, reader isn't) taking care of the reader (who they've kinda taken under their wing) after she did something really stupid on a mission? i hope that makes sense

Happy WandaNat Wednesday!!! 

Title: Breathing Again

Word count: 3k 

Pairing: WandaNat x Platonic!Reader 

Warning: a little sad, some fluff 

A/N: Minimal editing so I do apologise! Mysh (mouse) Myshka (little mouse) 

Gif owner @diegclila <3

For Alexis x @canarypoint

Breathing Again 

The first thing you noticed was the pain, that sore aching pain that reached all over your body as you tried to adjust to the bright light as you awake, groaning at the sensitivity of your eyes that stare back at the white light. Your gaze flickers around the dark room trying to gather your senses, blurry outlines begin to focus as you notice a familiar figure curled up on the chair beside the bed you’re lying on. You swallow and lick at your dried lips. 

“Wanda,” your voice rasped and croaked as you gained the tired witch’s attention watching her rouse to the sound of your voice. She moves quickly from her position once she notices you awake, her hands tentatively brushing your hair from your face as green eyes take in the almost healed bruises and scrapes that scatter across your skin. 

“Shh sweetheart, here drink some water.” she instructs softly, her voice hushed as she moves to grab you a glass of water from the side table. She tilts the glass to your lips slowly allowing you to take in the cold liquid sighing in relief as you quench your dying thirst. Turning your head you watch her frantically move towards the door calling for someone as you frown still unsure of your whereabouts, she rushes back over to you and smiles reassuringly. 

“What happened to me?” you ask, the events still a blur as you try to remember pieces of the mission. It was supposed to be a simple rescue job until an old rival of Tony’s decided to show up and stir up trouble causing the mission to go sideways, a second explosion had gone off close to where you were helping civilians escape out of the wreckage from the first hit unaware of the possibility of a second wave of explosions.

Wanda sits on the edge of the bed, her hand rubbing soothing strokes across your bicep. Watery eyes lock onto your own as you see her struggle to gather her words, before her gaze drops to her lap. 

“You were almost out of the building when the second explosion went off, Nat tried to get to you she was screaming for you to retreat but you were too stubborn for your own good,” she pauses, as she raises a scolding eyebrow at you but her eyes remain soft and full of relief at seeing you awake and breathing; living. “There was a cry for help just south of the building and as you got them out the explosion hit and you- you tried to use your powers to deflect the force but you weren’t prepared for it and-” a sob escapes from her throat as you struggle to sit upright tilting your head to gain her attention again. 

“I’m okay Wanda,” your words make her look up almost instantly, a small sad smile gracing her lips. 

“Barely, we were told that your chances of coming around-” “Y/N!” Tony’s voice cuts off Wanda’s as he races in with a woman dressed in a white lab coat, her badge indicating her profession. She moves swiftly towards you shining a bright light in both of your eyes making you squint at the harshness, your body still coming around from what feels like a million years of slumber. 

“Nice to see that you’ve come around, Y/N. I’m Doctor Jones, I’ve been looking after you while you’ve been here. Do you know where you are?” she asks, as if routine. “I uh- yeah. The hospital right?” you mumble, not overly confident with your answer. She smiles kindly at you as she nods in confirmation. 

“That’s right and while we have been able to keep you stable, you’ve been through some major trauma alright so I need you to take it easy for me while we go through some routine check ups okay? Do you remember what happened to you?” she continues to ask questions as she checks over your vitals, moving with such ease and experience as Tony remains quiet next to her but still hovers close to the good doctor who seems to be irritated by his lack of personal space. From the expression on her face this isn’t the first time Tony’s been pestering her while you’ve been out, you frown at that thought. 

“How long have I been out for?” your question makes them freeze, as Doctor Jones for the first time pauses as she writes on your chart, eyes flicker from one another. Wanda licks her lips as she looks away seeming to struggle with answering your question making you turn your attention to Tony. His shoulders slack as he stands a few inches away biting at his thumb nail.

“Two months and three days,” his words make your eyes widen as the machine next to you begins to bleep loud and fast.

“Two months!” you exclaim, your breathing becoming more erratic as you feel your chest tighten. Wanda seems to finally snap out of her tortured daydream as she focuses on your anxious form, her lips shushing you, her hands cupping your jaw as her thumbs brush across your cheekbones. 

“Y/N. Listen to me, I need you to calm down okay?” she instructs, taking a deep breath in silently asking you to mimic her actions. A familiar routine that you’ve both done ever since your first anxiety attack after your first mission with the team. Her soothing efforts seem to work as Doctor Jones informs you that all your vitals seem to be all stable and that once you have been medically reviewed, you can be discharged home back to Avengers Tower. 

Once the Doctor had left, Tony finally joined you and Wanda by the bedside sitting at the foot of the hospital bed. The pair caught you up on the past two months reassuring you that not a lot had changed, the lack of Natasha’s name didn’t go unnoticed by yourself though. 

“Wait, what happened to Natasha?” the two share a look at the mention of the redhead assassin. Tony pats your leg and smiles softly. 

“She’s fine, Kid.” he reassures, but Wanda’s distant look does nothing to calm your worries.

Since joining the Avengers you have become close to the assassin and the witch that sits beside you. The two had been dating for a while before you joined the team and became somewhat like mother’s to you, your mentors. Peter has Tony and you, well you had the two most badass women on your side. Moving away from your parents to live with the Avenger’s had been difficult at first, still trying to control your powers as well finding a way to fit into an already established team was hard but Natasha had been nice and warm towards you, teaching you the basics in hand to hand combat as well as weapons training while Wanda had taken you under her wing in the power’s department, having some power over certain elements yourself made you bond instantly with the witch. You had never been close to your parents, your abilities instantly labelling you as an outsider to them and the rest of your family but since being with the Avengers and having Natasha and Wanda look out for you, you finally felt a sense of belonging. 

Biting your lip, you nod trying to convince yourself of his words.

***

Walking slowly into the shared common room, you allow Wanda to guide you gently into the living room space where some of the team wait impatiently for you. Peter spots you first, smiling brightly as he takes in your tired form. Jogging over to you, he gently takes you into his arms and squeezes lightly.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” he whispers, you squeeze your eyes shut to hold back on the tears. The realisation of just how close you were to losing your life becoming more prominent as you squeeze him back ignoring the pain that creeps up around your body at the tight pressure. 

“Me too,” you whisper back, before pulling away and greeting the others. Your heart tightens as the emotions from the last two days start to surface as Thor is last to greet you, his gentleness surprising you at the usually strong and mighty God who doesn’t realise his own strength at times. As they step away to give you some room to settle down on the sofa, you can’t help but look around for the certain redhead. Wanda notices your search as she comes to sit next to you, the guys moving towards the kitchen to help prepare for dinner which only heightens your suspicions knowing that Steve is the only one allowed to cook in the kitchen after the last incident that involved the microwave, pop-tarts and Thor. 

“Wanda, is Nat okay with me? Doesn’t she want to see me?” your voice leaving her no room to dodge your questions. She brushes a lock of your hair behind your ear as she searches for the right words. 

“Nat is fine, Mysh. Of course she wants to see you, she just- after the doctor told us that you might not make it through, Nat kinda retreated into herself. She would sit for hours at your bedside, I was the only one besides Clint who could get her to eat and sleep. I only managed to convince her to come back here a few days before you woke to get some proper rest,” she pauses, as tears build in her eyes. “Y/N, you have to understand one thing about Natasha. She has always been taught that love is for children, that in itself closed her off to any kind of personal relationships with others even after leaving the red room. Since meeting Clint and then being here with us, she’s been able to let go of that old notion and genuinely open up to the possible idea of love and friendship, to me, to the team, including you, Little Mouse.” she grins as she calls you the familiar nickname that Nat gave you after you started training with her. 

“Is she here? I’d like to talk to her,” you murmur, suddenly feeling the need to apologize to her for not listening to her during that mission but most of all needing to reassure her and see her for yourself. Wanda nods as she leans forward pressing a kiss to your temple. 

“She’ll be in your room,” she informs you, a knowing look passes through her green eyes as you nod. You stand and head for the elevator that leads to the private quarters before pausing and quickly moving back to Wanda briefly wrapping your arms around her chest from behind leaning your head against hers for a moment. 

“Thank you for looking after me,” you mumble, she pats your arms and smiles. 

“Go and see Nat,” are her only words, making you salute her mockingly as she laughs. 

***

Taking a deep breath in you allow yourself a moment as you take in the familiar hallway to your bedroom, observing the picture frames on the wall. Frames showing yourself with the couple on your birthday, cooking with Wanda and Peter in the kitchen and one from your latest sleepover with the two, face masks in place as you pull silly faces. You notice your bedroom door ajar as you peek through the gap noticing Natasha’s figure curled up on your bed as her shoulders remain rigid and stiff as she faces away from you.

“Wan, I’m not in the mood-” 

“It’s me,” you cut in, watching her become tense at the sound of your voice. She quickly sits up from your bed and faces you, her face stoic as her blue eyes take in your form. Moving further into the room you decide to crouch in front of her placing your hands onto her knees. 

“It’s me Nat, I’m home.” you whisper, fidgeting in place as your nervousness begins to take over. Her hands tentatively reach your cheeks cupping your jaw as her eyes assess the fading bruises. 

“I am so angry with you,” she murmurs, her voice betraying her words as fear remains evident in her voice. Your lips twitch as tears begin to build in your eyes. 

“I know and I’m so sorry I should have listened to you-” 

“Damn straight you should have. Do you know how scared I was when I finally got to you? You were so pale and you wouldn’t wake-,” she trails off, as she continues to take in your face. 

“Natasha I know I scared you-” 

“Scared me?! I have never been so terrified in my life Y/N, do you understand how important you are to this team, to Wanda.. To me! I know how frightened your parents were when we told them, they threatened to have you transferred to the hospital back at home and for us to never see you again.” you try to interrupt to explain that you understood but she continues, the emotions from the last two months finally surfacing. 

“You may not realise this, but we care about you... so much, Y/N. At first I was so angry with you for being so darn stubborn and not listening to me,” she confesses, standing to her feet as she begins to pace. You stand as well stepping back to allow her room to let out her frustrations folding your arms across your stomach. 

“Nat, I understand how reckless I was okay? I’m sorry I don't know what else to say right now,” you murmur, suddenly regretting the decision to do this now as you begin to feel lightheaded. The day’s events slowly creep up on top of you as you close your eyes for a second trying to steady yourself. Natasha seems to notice your swaying state and reaches forward wrapping a protective arm around your waist, guiding you towards the bed.

“Are you okay, Myshka?” she asks, worry evident in her voice. “Lie down,” she instructs softly, making sure the pillows are plumped behind your head. You look up shyly at her feeling the dizzy spell surpass slightly. 

“Will you stay with me? Since I pretty much slept for two months I’m scared that when I close my eyes I’ll-” 

“I know, Kid. Scoot over then,” she bumps her elbow against your shoulder as she comes to lie next to you. Facing each other, you can see the conflict pass through her blue eyes as she brushes a thumb across your cheek, capturing an escaped tear. 

“If you need to sleep, you can. I’ll be right here when you wake up,” she promises, watching as your eyes slowly start to close on command. Natasha continues to watch as your lashes flutter, a small smile spreading across her lips. 

“How is she?” Wanda’s voice whispers from the doorway, Nat turns her head towards her girlfriend, her eyes softening. 

“She was feeling a little woozy but I think she just needed some rest,” she explains, Wanda moves forwards and kisses Natasha briefly keeping her head close to the redhead for a moment. 

“And how are you, my darling?” Natasha shrugs, turning to face you again as Wanda moves to lie on your other side smiling warmly as you seek her out even in your sleep, cuddling into her side. 

“I’m doing okay, just knowing she’s here and safe it’s like I can suddenly breath again you know.” Wanda nods understanding her brief sense of loss and grief for you, the uncertainty of whether you would wake again still lingering. Natasha’s eyes rest upon your sleeping form as she continues to open up to the witch. 

“I may not have the privilege of carrying a child but she gives me hope, that I can be that mother figure and not screw it up with my own past traumas,” Wanda smiles, as she glances down at you. 

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” 

“Just so you know she is grounded for the next three years,” Natasha’s vows, although the teasing glint in her eyes shows she only half means it, making Wanda chuckle. 

“I think you’ll have to get in line because her parents are on their way here,” Wanda informs, squealing as you suddenly sit upright, eyes wide at the mention of your parents.

“Shit! My parents!” you exclaims, groaning as you hold the side of your head feeling a sudden headache coming on, Wanda pats your back in sympathy.

 “Don’t worry, Mysh. We’ve got your back,” 

“Speak for yourself,” Nat mutters, grumpily. You turn your head to face her, a pout in place knowing it’s never a good sign when Natasha sides with your parents. 

“Have already told you how sorry I am?” you ask, innocently making Nat grin mischievously. 

Two weeks later

“One large pizza for the still grounded teenager,” Wanda teases, as she enters her shared living room with Natasha holding two boxes of pizza.

You turn your head from your sitting position on the floor as the smell hits your nose, wiggling your fingers towards them as you reach out for the top box. Sticking your tongue out at the avenger for her comment, you open up the lid and take a big sniff humming in delight at the greasy goodness. 

“I’m going to forgive you for that comment. The pizza saved you this time, Maximoff,” you warn jokingly at the brunette as Natasha comes to sit next to you on the floor, her back leaning against the sofa. Wanda places a few slices onto her plate before curling up onto the single seat, her eyes full of fondness as she takes you both in, watching as you slap Nat’s hand away from your pizza slices. 

“You guys know we have a couch you can sit on, right?” she teases, as you and Nat shrug stuffing the slice into your mouths eyes focused on the television. 

“Come on, babe. Don’t be boring and join us,” Natasha entices, her eyes full of mischief as Wanda scoffs shaking her head. 

“You both eat like animals. I’ll stay over here with my half of the pizza thank you very much,” she huffs but the glint in her eyes shows her amusement. 

You all continue to munch happily on the cheesy slices as you and Natasha make ridiculous comments about the reality TV show that plays on the flat screen making you both laugh. Wanda smiles fondly enjoying the peace and the very normal atmosphere;  being a well known superhero with many enemies makes moments like this rare so she remains quiet, that small smile playing on her lips as she observes her two favourite people in this rare domestic bliss knowing there’s no other place she’d rather be. 

Tags: @waitingfortheendtocome @natasha-danvers @natasharomanoffswife @xxxtwilightaxelxxx

[castexpectopatronum]

Liquid Amber - Part III [Remus Lupin x Reader Imagine]

Summary: You had been crushing on Remus Lupin for an eternity when you finally decided to ask him out. However, things do not go as planned and you remain wondering just what exactly is going on with this boy.

notes: reupload because the original got deleated

trigger warnings: none

word count: 1.9k

Masterlist

What was Remus Lupin hiding?

The question was burning inside of you ever since your encounter in the corridor a few days ago. And even though you knew that it was none of your business, you still were determined to find out.

Concerning this matter, it was fortunate you fancied Remus as that made you far more observant of him. Whenever you could, you shot glances at him, during meals and classes, and paid special attention to his behaviour. You did notice that he seemed rather sick, he looked pale and peaky and he seemed to be growing weaker by each day.

Then, he disappeared. When you stepped into the Transfiguration classroom one day, already late, only to find his seat empty, a deep frown appeared on your face. His friends, James, Sirius and Peter, were there, but unusually quiet and had black shadows under their eyes. Peter even fell asleep during the lesson; his soft snores filled the classroom until Sirius nudged him with his ellbow causing Peter to almost fall from his chair. You observed them carefully while pretending to listen to Professor McGonagall’s lecture. Perhaps the Marauders had pulled off an all-nighter of some sort but that still didn’t explain Remus’ absence. Maybe he had a hangover – although you failed to imagine Remus as some kind of party animal.

Remembering how sickly he had looked the day before, you decided to check the Hospital Wing for him and bring Remus some chocolate bars from Honeyduke’s which you knew he loved.

However, when you entered the Hospital Wing, you found that it was already occupied. James, Sirius and Peter were huddled around a bed at the far corner of the room, hiding the person lying in it from your view. The expression upon their faces turned into one of surprise once they spotted you, mirroring your own.

“Sorry,” you said, taken aback by their presence – although now that you thought about it, you should have expected it. “I didn’t know you were here. I was just looking for Remus.”

The three of them exchanged looks, as if they knew something you didn’t, and stood up.

“No problem, we just wanted to leave, anyway,” Sirius said. Next moment, he groaned all of a sudden, leaving you to raise your eyebrows in surprise. James bent down to whisper something in Remus’ ear who looked rather alarmed. He replied something in a hushed voice but James simply gave him a crooked grin, patted him gently on the shoulder and barely gave Sirius and Peter the chance to say their goodbyes before he pushed them towards the door. Playing with your sleeves, you observed them with furrowed eyebrows.

“Y’know, if it’s not a good time, I can come back tomorrow or-”

“Nonsense, the time is perfect,” James interrupted.

“Just make sure to be gentle with him,” said Peter in a concerned voice. “He’s been through a lot.”

Your frown deepened. “What do you mean?”

“Just a nasty flu, tha’s all,” said Sirius quickly, shooting Peter a warning glance. “Nothing to worry about. Give it a few days and he’ll be as good as new.” He turned to his friends. “C’mon, we best be going.” They shot you one last glance and Peter flashed a smile, then the door closed behind them, the sound echoing in the room, leaving you and Remus alone in the Hospital Wing.

You turned around to him and chuckled nervously. “Well, that did not quite go as I expected.”

Remus didn’t laugh. He didn’t smile. He didn’t give any indication whatsoever that he was happy to see you. He simply stared at you, his eyes shining like liquid amber.

“What are you doing here?”

“I missed you in class today. Here.” You placed the chocolate bars on the nightstand next to his bed. “A little something to cheer you up. Thought you could use it.”

Remus nodded weakly. “Thank you,” he muttered and watched you sit down on a chair.

You smiled sheepishly. “So, the flu, eh?”

Remus shrugged and pulled the blanket up to his chin. “Happens to the best of us.”

You took in his appearence with furrowed eyebrows. Remus was whiter than the bedsheets, his face was hallow, and his eyes, usually so attentive and full of warmth, were now dull. Dark bags circling them, and he looked very thin and weak. You doubted he even had the strength to get up.

“How are you feeling?”

Remus turned his head away from you and looked up at the ceiling. “I’m fine.”

You cocked your head. “And Dumbledore isn’t two-hundred years old.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “I don’t think he’s quite that old.”

“How would you know? Do you know when he was born?”

“No wizard gets that old.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Dumbledore did. The man is ancient.”

This finally evoqued a smile from him which you couldn’t help but return. But he remained silent.

“You don’t really have the flu, do you?”

Remus’ head spun around, and although he hid it quickly and put on a neutral expression, you did not miss the flash of panic in his eyes.

“Of course I have the flu. What else should I have?”

“Remus, you’re as white as a ghost. The flu is terrible but it doesn’t make you look as if you’re on the brink of death.”

The moment the words left your mouth, you knew you had hit a nerve. Remus’ jaw clenched and his eyes suddenly turned colder. He turned his head to stare at the ceiling, avoiding the worried yet piercing look in your eyes.

“It’s a nasty one.”

You snorted. “Sure. Don’t try and fool me, Remus. I know a flu when I see it and whatever it is that you have, it’s not that.”

He didn’t respond.

You sighed, regretting the harsh tone in your voice. “Listen, Remus... You don’t have to tell me what you have or why you get sick so often. But... I just want you to know that I’m there for you if you ever do want to talk about it. And whatever it is – I can’t imagine it could change my opinion on you.” You gave your best to give him an encouraging smile and stood up. “You should eat some chocolate. You’ll feel better afterwards.”

You knew he wouldn’t answer but still lingered for several moments to a least give him the opportunity to. When your conviction proved to be right, however, you gave him one last half-hearted smile and left the Hospital Wing.

A part of you had hoped that after this incident Remus and you would grow closer but instead Remus was more determined than ever to avoid you. Every time you passed him in the hallway, you felt a painful sting in your heart. However, the original issue of Remus refusing to go out with you became less and less important to you although your crush on him grew stronger by each day.

Your academic success was quite average but you weren’t stupid – to you there was no doubt that Remus’s illness was the cause of all this trouble, also considering he often looked pale and sickly. Every time you saw him looking particularly weak, your wish to help him grew even more urgent than before but you could only help him with his condition if you knew what it was – and trying to get Remus to open up about his sickness was about as effective as convincing James of writing a love letter to Snape.

It was two months of this slow torture and several stupid theories later that you realised Remus’s sickness was not only a frequent but also regular occurence. As far as you remembered, he seemed to be getting sick every once a month.

A deep frown appeared on your face and you turned around in your seat to look at Remus who was taking notes on Professor Flitwick’s words. His face was pale again with dark bags circling his eyes. A strange cut peaked out from under his shirt collor.

As if he had felt your intent gaze, Remus suddenly lifted his head. For one moment, is amber eyes burned into yours, then his intense expression turned into one of guilt and he quickly looked back down at his notes.

That day you merely picked at your food, your thoughts far away. Your friend watched in concern as you ripped a breadroll into tiny little pieces without eating any of it, staring absent-mindedly onto the wooden table.

“(Y/N), are you alright?”

Startled, you looked up, halting in your motion. “Yeah, I uh...” You hesitated, looking at the breah crumbs in your hand. “Actually, I still got something to do, uh...” Pushing your plate away, you stood up from the dining table, your friend watching you in confusion. “I’ll catch you up later,” you promised and left the Great Hall before your friend had even opened their mouth to protest.

The library was dead quiet as every student was at dinner which was very much to your liking. That way you could follow your suspicions without having to worry about anybody asking unwanted questions.

Pensively, you let your fingers brush over the back of the old books until you finally pulled one out, feeling the weight of it in your hands. You viewed the cover thoughtfully for a moment before you tucked it under your arm and continued to collect more books.

Half an hour later, you carried a great stash of books out of the library, carefully transporting them the long way to your common room as they didn’t all fit into your bag.

“What the hell is that?” your friend asked incredulously as you entered your dorm room and let the books fall onto your bed where they scattered all over your blanket.

“Books,” you answered.

Your friend raised their eyebrows. „Really,“ they said blankly. „Good thing you explained that, I had no idea.“ You threw them an half-annoyed, half-amused glance as they strolled over to your bedside and viewed the book titles.

“Magical Diseases and Epidemics,” they read aloud, “Dragon Pox or Measles? An Encyclopedia on Magical Maladies.” They raised their head to look at you, their eyebrows raised so high they almost disappeared in their hairline. “Are you sick?”

“No,” you said, shaking your head, and started stacking the books on the nightstand, pushing your friend aside as you did. “It’s ... a new hobby.”

“A hobby?”

“Yes. That’s what you call an enjoyable freetime activity.”

“I didn’t know purulent dragon pox were an enjoyable free time activity.”

You threw her an annoyed glance as you put another book on the growing stack. “It’s an interesting topic as I have realised.”

“And you had to skip dinner to get those books?”

“Yes,” you said, avoiding your friend’s eyes.

You knew they didn’t believe a single thing you said but thankfully, they didn’t further inquire. Instead, they rolled their eyes and let themselves fall onto their own bed. “I always knew you were weird,” they said. “Just make sure you don’t actually get sick. I don’t fancy getting dragon pox.”

“No one is going to get dragon pox,” you replied, but a small smile was tugging at your lips. The two of you walked down to your common room to do your homework which, although you had quite some trouble concentrating on, you hurried to finish, so you could get back to your books.

Remus Lupin had a problem and you were determined to find out what it was.

[silksoftstars]

Secret family

Pairing: Steve Rogers x fem!Reader, platonic!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Characters: Reader, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, OC daughters, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff, Sam Wilson, Vision

Summary: You're Steve's wife and he hid you from SHIELD and the Avengers, because you have healing powers. When Steve got heavily injured from a mission, Bucky calls you, so you and your daughters visit the compound to heal Steve.

Word count: 2800+

Warnings: Injuries (mentioned), a little bit of angst but not really, fluff, Dad!Steve (if that's a warning)

A/N: Honestly my heart is breaking with this gif. Also it took me way too long to write this, because my stupid self accidentally deleted the story when I was halfway done.

You were currently at work, when you got a call from Bucky, your husbands best friend. A wave of relief washed over you. Steve and Bucky had been on a mission for the past few weeks and it was the first time you heard from them since you said goodbye to Steve.

A call was good. It meant they were back from the mission and you would see them again soon. You weren't surprised that Bucky called you instead of Steve, it was their agreement to keep you safe that they would take turns on calling you, so nobody would get suspicious.

You took your phone and answered the call with a smile.

"Hi Buck," you greeted happily.

"Hey Y/N," Bucky answered and paused. You could hear by his tone that something was wrong and your smile immediately fell.

"So umm" the brunette continued and stopped again. He sounded exhausted and worried.

"What's going on? Are you hurt? Talk to me," you urged and started chewing on your lip, something you always did when you were nervous or troubled.

"No I'm good. It's just.. Steve got hurt badly and he doesn't want you to know, but I figured that you would want to know. I kind of hoped that you would come to the compound and heal him. Only if you want to of course," Bucky explained hurriedly.

You took a deep breath and started planning in your head. You would need to leave work early and pick up the kids from the babysitter.

"I'll be there in 30 minutes tops. But I'll have to bring the kids, is that alright?" You asked, while you already cleaned your desk and started packing your bag.

"Yeah sure, I'll wait outside of the building to et you through security. See you," the soldier answered.

"See you. And please take care of yourself too," you ordered. You knew that if Steve was injured Bucky wouldn't be completely fine. They would always try and push each other out of harms way. You deeply admired their friendship, but sometimes it led to the boys making stupid irrational decisions.

"I promise," you heard Buckys sigh but you decided to ignore his unwillingness, so you just gave an agreeing hum and hung up.

-

You opened the door of your car and jumped out. You had parked you car in front of the compound. You closed the door and opened the door of the backseat. Your four-year old daughter Jamie looked up at you. She had a frown on her forehead and clutched her teddy to her chest. Jamie had always been a smart sensitive child and she knew something was wrong.

You undid her seat belt, lifted her out of her seat and placed her on the ground. You closed her door as well and walked around the car to open the other door. Your other daughter, Sarah, was only one year old and currently asleep.

You gently picked her up and adjusted her in your arms, so she sat on your left hip, secured by your arm. Sarah whimpered in her sleep and her tiny hand gripped your shirt. The other one was in her mouth.

"Shh" you hushed her and rubbed her back. She fussed for another few seconds, but then stilled again.

"Mommy? I'm scared," Jamie whispered as she walked up to you. Tears had gathered in her eyes.

You walked up to her and smiled reassuringly while pulling her into your side.

"It's alright, sweetheart. We're visiting Daddy and Uncle Bucky," you told her while you started walking towards the compound. You placed her hand on the back of Jamie's head and side hugged her slightly.

When you walked closer, you saw Bucky sitting on a bench in front of the entry. He had already spotted you and patiently waited for the three of you to come over.

"Hey," you smiled at Bucky. Jamie squealed in delight when she saw her uncle and ran over to him to jump into his arms.

The man caught her with ease and lifted her from the ground to bear hug her. He ruffled her blonde hair and chuckled.

"Hey there," Bucky grinned. His face was bruised and he had a busted lip. You walked up to him and you hugged, mindful of the two girls you both were carrying. You placed your free hand on Buckys chest after he had let you go and send your powers through him. His face and all other injuries disappeared in mere seconds.

"You shouldn't have," Bucky protested.

"Well I wanted to," you answered him and smiled gently.

"Where's Daddy?" Jamie asked and tugged on Buckys shirt impatiently.

"We'll go see him right now," the brunette said and then added towards you, "the team doesn't know you, they might me surprised, but I'm sure they'll love you. I'll introduce you first and then we'll see Steve"

"Okay sure," you shrugged. You were a bit nervous, but after everything Steve told you about his team, you were a little more confident.

Bucky led you inside of the compound and closed the door behind the two of you. Jamie pressed her face into Buckys shirt, clearly scared of the new invironment and the cool white walls.

"Hey Friday, please tell the team to gather in the common room!" Bucky ordered. You furrowed your brows and tried to figure out who he was talking to, when a female voice answered.

"Right away, Sargeant Barnes," she said and you jumped and looked around, searching for the person who spoke.

"Tony's AI," was the answer to your unspoken question.

Bucky led you through several hallways towards what you guessed was the common room.

"Steve is in the medical wing. They stabled him and they knocked him out with some medication, because he refused to sleep," Bucky told you while walking.

You came to an open room and heard voices inside. Jamie seemingly heard them too, because she pushed herself away from Bucky and reached for you with a look of panic on her face. Her stuffed animal was still in her one hand.

You took her from Bucky onto right hip, trying to balance the two girl out. While Jamie latched onto you like a lifeline, Bucky took his goddaughter Sarah from you. You smiled as a thanks and together you made your way into the room.

The brunette moved himself partly in front of you and held Sarah close to him, his protectiveness shining through.

"Why are we here, Frosty? And why do you have a baby?" You heard a voice, that you recognized as Tony Starks.

Bucky stepped to the side and placed his hand on your shoulder. Jamie decided to risk a peak at the people only to quickly look away again.

However you could understand that it was a little overwhelming. Jamie had always been a shy girl and in front of her were standing or sitting nine people, all staring at us.

"Mommy there's Iron man," she whispered in awe into your ear. Bucky chuckled and smiled at you in amusement.

"So guys, this is Y/N Rogers, Steve's wife. They baby is Sarah and that is Jamie. They're Steve's daughters" the soldier introduced you, while ruffling Jamie's hair.

"Excuse me...wife? Daughters? Did you hit your head?" Tony spluttered.

"Steve and I agreed that we should keep our relationship and especially our daughters a secret. With him being a super soldier and me being a mutant, our kids are in danger and we wanted to protect them," you explained gently.

"But it's Capsicle, he can't have kids," Tony protested, crossed his arms and pouted. You had to swallow down a laugh, since you didn't want to seem rude.

"Tony you're a child," a redhead scolded him with a stern look, "I'm Natasha, you can call me Nat," she added towards you.

"Daddy says that you're really cool and that you can even take down Uncle Bucky," Jamie said and peaked out from your shoulder again with wide eyes.

"He said that huhh?" Natasha grinned at Bucky playfully.

"Do we need introductions?" Bucky asked, clearly trying to distract everyone. You decided not to call him out on it.

"I think I'm good. I believe I know your names," you smiled and scanned over the people. There obviously were Tony and Nat, you had immediately recognized Sam Wilson, Doctor Banner and Clint Barton. The twins Wanda and Pietro sat on the couch and Vision stood behind Wanda.

Steve had showed you pictures of the Avengers and told you storys because you were curious about his second family.

"So you're a mutant?" Wanda asked you curiously.

"Yeah I have healing powers. That's why I'm here now. To heal Steve," you explained.

"So you can heal? How does it work? Do you have limits?" Bruce asked and pushed back his glasses. He looked rather adorable with how his obvious shyness and his curiosity battled.

"I mean I can't raise people from the dead and I can't heal chronological illnesses but pretty much every injury. But I have to admit that you, that I haven't tried that much other then simple injuries" You answered patiently.

Then Sarah woke up and started fussing in Buckys arms, in which response Jamie started crying as well. Wordlessly you took Sarah from Bucky and started to calm your two kids. You knew that Sarah was fed and that her diaper was clear so either she was tired or irritated by the new environment.

Jamie on the other hand was distressed because she was overwhelmed by all the new people, the knowledge that something was wrong with her dad and that her little sister was crying as well.

"Come on let's sit down," Bucky said, when he saw your struggle to held both of the girls in your arms and led you to the couch where Wanda and Pietro were placed.

I sat down on the edge and Jamie slid into your lap and hugged you tightly, while you rocked your weeping baby.

"I'm sorry guys," you apologized while you went on to calm your girls. Sarah had gone over to quiet sobbing.

"Oh don't worry about it, there's always someone in this compound crying," Sam quipped and smirked at Clint who responded with a huff.

Pietro scooted closer to me and tapped on Jamie's shoulder. She glimpsed up at him and he gave her a smile. Then he poked her side and she giggled slightly and hid her face again.

"Are you hiding from me?" Pietro asked playfully and poked her again.

"Mommy he talks funny," Jamie whispered and looked at Pietro again. She was talking about his sovokian accent.

"That's sounds cool, can you teach me to talk like that?" Jamie asked her blue doe eyes, that she clearly had from Steve, sparkled in admiration.

"I don't know if I can. But I can try," Pietro answered with a boyish grin.

"Can I play with him?" The blonde girl asked you and after your nod she jumped onto Pietro with a giggle.

You knew you could trust the enhanced boy, so you switched your focus on Sarah and rocked her until she was asleep again.

When you looked up again, you noticed that all of the Avengers were watching you. You smiled a little shyly.

"I kind of want to see Steve now," you said and looked at Bucky, then added "Can you watch Jamie and Sarah? I don't want to take them to Steve if he is hurt. They can see him later."

Bucky nodded and gently took Sarah from your arms and rested her head on his upper flesh arm. You got up and looked around. Your eyes found Bruce.

"You were interested in my powers earlier, you could come and watch, I mena if you want to," you awkwardly proposed and fiddled with the hem of your shirt. No-one had offered to show you to the medical wing and you were lost, especially that Bucky now wasn't at your side anymore.

But for you it was more important that Jamie had someone in the room she knew and trusted. And you didn't want her to see her dad hurt.

"Yeah sure that would be great," Bruce smiled widely. He looked like a kid that just had gotten it's favorite candy.

"I think I'll come too," Tony decided and jumped on his feet. He casually took you by the arm and led you out of the room, Bruce on your tails. You looked back and caught Bucky's gaze, who reassured you with a smile.

You were deadly worried ever since Buckys call but you had tried not to show it. But now your nerves were reaching a new high and you just wanted to see the love of your life and hug him.

Luckily the three of you had reached the medical wing and Tony opened a door for you. You walked in and a startled gasp escaped you. Steve was laying in a hospital bed in a gown.

But the worst part was his messy hair, his pale, drained skin and his bruised, beaten up face. It broke your heart. You covered your mouth with your left hand while you stepped closer.

Almost scared you reached out and cupped the side of Steve's face and traced his cheekbone carefully.

"So how does the healing work?" Tony asked and plopped down in a chair. You jumped and pried your eyes away from Steve.

"Tony!" Bruce hissed and send me an apologetic glance.

"It's alright. Uhmm so basically it's like I have this power and I can feel it inside of me and I can send it into his body and the wounds heal and the power returns. At least thats what it feels like, it's kind of hard to explain," you shrugged and looked back at Steve.

Since you could no longer look at Steve, looking that horrible so you put your hand on Steve's chest and started your healing.

You all watched how the bruises and injuries healed and the color returned to his cheeks. A relieved sigh made it over your lips when you saw you husbands eyelids flutter and they slowly opened. A frown built on his forehead as he blinked and adjusted his eyes to the light.

"Hey Stevie," you cooed and stroked over his cheeks again. Steve's eyes found mine and they glittered full of love and admiration but also confusion.

"Hey Y/N/N, what are you doing here?" He asked and scanned the room his eyes lingering on Tony and Bruce for a moment. Apparently a silent conversation, that I didn't understood, took place and soon enough was Tony dragged out of the room by Bruce, despite his protests.

"Bucky gave me a call, said you were heavily injured. So I grabbed the kids and drove here as fast as I could," you explained and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You shouldn't have. Being even near my workplace puts you in danger," the blonde protested half heartedly.

"Well I'm rather on the run with you then in this world without you. Please just for a minute let me appreciate that your alive and then you can continue your speech," you begged and pouted for good measure. That always seemed to do the trick with Steve.

"Alright baby, come here," he sighed in defeat and stretched his arm out for you. With a big smile you crawled into his arms and hugged him tightly.

Then you tipped your head up and kissed Steve gently, trying to pour all of your love into it.

"I love you. I love you so much. I swear my heart stopped when I saw you lying in this bed and your face all busted open," you told him. The soldier held you tighter and tucked your chin under his head.

"I'm sorry. I promise I'll be more careful next time. I love you too. So so much," Steve answered and stroked over my arm.

After some time of silence Steve shifted slightly and then spoke again.

"How about you stay here for a few days and get to know the team? And then we have a talk about what's going to happen from then on. How does that sound?" Your husband suggested.

"That sounds great," you smiled and cuddled into the man.

You knew everything was going to be fine. Steve was perfectly fine, the Avengers didn't hate you and your family was happy.

You were happy and you knew that whatever the future would hold for you, you, your husband and your daughters would stand through it.

[shepard-ram]

New Day Brings New Faces [Hc!Reader & Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo]

(Mostly P!fluff, Request: I am that person who will request a part 2 for your fic- I am a sucker for these kinds of things and that fic was a hella good pick me up, thank you-

-🍯)

(I haven't been able to stop thinking about scenarios I am so happy to provide more crossover comfort. I am totally down to make this a full series. And the hermits are actually here this time!)

[Part 1 -Ambassadors Work]

[End Busting -side episode]

----------

You woke up stiff and lightly shaken, literally someone was gently shaking you. When you fully opened your eyes you met three faces. Your admin, mayor and his right hand shared the same confused, slightly worried expression. You glanced around looking for their source of concern, looking at your lap and- oh, oh yeah.

Your mind helpfully recalled the events of the previous day. It was Ranboo who had his head in your lap, barely an inch way Tommy and Tubbo layed next to you two. The three boys still fast asleep. With a quick glance at the sun you knew you had barley been asleep for an hour.

"I'm sure you have alot to say." Xisuma had finally said something after seeing you had collected your thoughts.

"Yeah, I do." Chuckling, still in a sleep clogged voice. "Please don't wake them up." You quickly added in a more hushed voice. "They deserve some rest." That didn't help their confusion, until you had explained why you had taken the boys with you.

"Was it really that bad?." Scar had asked after your summary. They shared a similar look to the one you wore when you realized how awful that place was.

"Yes it was." When you remembered something. You handed them the book with all the things you had learned over your visit. "I was given a tour, that has more than I can think of now." Letting out a yawn, already dozing back off.

"I know that things like this are decided by the whole server, but can you please let them stay for at least a little while." You made your request In the most sincere tone you could manage. "When they wake up I was planning on taking them to my base. Let them wash up, maybe get some clean clothes and a proper meal- and just take it easy before meeting some of the others."

"I don't see why they wouldn't let them stay." Bdubs responded. That made you smile. "But you should probably wake them up, surely someone will pass by soon." You nodded, beginning to slowly nudge them awake.

"Should we go?" Scar asked.

"No, they should meet you guys." He nodded sitting on the railing of the stairs. You watched the three groan from both the early awakening and the non-ideal bed they had been on. As soon as they saw the three unknown hermits they almost jumped back in various versions of shock. Tommy specifically looked like he had gone to draw a weapon had they been able to tavel through worlds. You hushed them standing up to introduce your friends, "Good morning boys" you started in a soft voice trying to keep them calm.

"Who are they?" Ranboo spoke first, he had been the least startled from the beginning.

"A few of my friends, Xisuma, Scar and Bdubs." You pointed to each of them as you spoke.

"Oh Scar and Bdubs? We were told about you" Tubbo said smiling towards you.

"Really?" Scar grinned.

"Yeah we got a history lesson" Ranboo explained before turning to X. "I don't think you were mentioned though"

"You didn't tell them about our admin?" Bdubs teased. Before you could make a retort Tommy fully got up, breathing much too quickly.

"Admin?" Making the connection in your head you rushed to his side. Trying to get him out of his frazzled state.

"Hey, trust me he's nothing like dream, -here breath" you guided Tommy back to the ground Tubbo placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Xisuma hesitantly kneeled in front of the teen.

"I was told a little about your home, I don't want to scare you." His efforts seemed to reach him, "If there's something I can do to make you more comfortable please tell me" Tommy nodded full exceptance marked with him putting out his hand, which X met with a smile and handshake. From there the two sets of three properly introduce themselves to each other. You felt a soft, warm pride wrap your heart watching them get along.

As the Hermit trio left to start the days work you told them the day you had planned, opening a nearby ender chest to retrieve some elytras. They watched in fascination as you produced four identical sets, along with enough rocket's to get you all to your base.

Tubbo seemed off-put as you strapped on your wings, "Do we have to fly?"

"The server's pretty big, it's pretty much a necessity."

"Oh, okay- I just" seeing him worryingly eye your rocket's you offered an alternative.

"you know we probably don't have enough time to teach you how to fly right now, and we aren't running on full sleep." You reasoned, "There's a nether tunnel can take. Completely enclosed, no flying needed- only an optional boat."

"Boat?" You smiled already leading them toward the nearest portal.

By the time you had reached the portal that connected to your base the boats you had used were dented and marked from basically being used as bumper carts. The four of you stumbled through the portal still laughing about the race you had took on the way there.

"Here I'll get you guys some food then we'll get some proper sleep." A yawn marked your proposal. They let out varying levels of enthusiasm while taking seats on the coaches and armchairs that filled this part of your base. "When we wake up I'll get you actual beds." You promised.

Yet when you returned with some golden carrots and steak they were already passed out on the spot. You didn't fight the tired smile that formed, going to get them some blankets. You set the food on a nearby table before heading to your own bed. Despite the bright, almost noon sun outside the window, you knew you wouldn't have any trouble sleeping. With a few ideas of what to do and what to show them, you let familiar comfort take you back to rest.

[yzafre]

just promise you won’t let me go | Axel 1

AO3

< Previous

  Axel is born into a world where your heart has wings. 

This, arguably, makes things worse. 

  Lea grew up under the bright light of Radiant Garden.  He couldn’t pin-point the day he met Isa, the day they became friends; most days if felt as if it had always been that way.  They balanced each other – Isa was reason to his passion, slow to his fast, night to his day.  Lea couldn’t imagine his life without him.

He watched his Mom and Dads go about their days together, moving to the same unknowable rhythm. They were a constant flurry of shared smiles and inside jokes, history lying between them, deep as the ocean.  They were soft touches and kind eyes, wings brushing and feathers blending as they carefully soothed ruffled pinions into place.  He watched as they delighted in the simple joy of existing every day together and he thought – yeah, yes.

And if sometimes he also watched the way Isa’s moms drifted together, fingers tangling at the dinner table, heated gazes catching on each other, lingering, with burning depths, and if sometimes he found his eyes drifting to Isa right after, stomach swooping, wondering if maybe, maybe –

Well.

The point was, he wanted what their parents had, and he could see it happening with Isa.

He brought it up one day, laying sprawled on the pavement after a spar as Isa read a book above him, perched primly on the bench.

“Of course, we’ll be a Flight,” Isa said, idly flipping a page, “Who knows what trouble you’d get into if I left you on your own. You’d probably die, or something.”

“Oh, hey!” Lea protested, “And if I left you alone, you’d be just as bad off!  I bet you’d never see the light of day; just curl up in the dark with your books till you shrivel away!”

Isa hmphed disdainfully and closed his book with a snap.  He didn’t disagree, though, so Lea took it as a win.  Brushing some hair from his face, Isa added, “All of that is moot unless we can find a third, of course.”

He had a point, Lea admitted, but, “Well, we’ve still got time.  There’s lots of people out there for us to meet!”

“And it will certainly take time to find someone else who will put up with you,” Isa drawled, peering down at Lea teasingly as he opened his book again.

“Hey!”

“Hush, I’m reading.”

  Lea grew up under the bright light of Radiant Garden, but the night still came.  He lived near the castle, and when the sun went down it began to lose its gleam. Worst of all, in the middle of the night, when no light could be seen, he heard screaming.

He and Isa, already curious, finally settled down to plan a way to get inside.  It took a lot of tries, so many tries, and they became horribly familiar with the scolding voices of the bulky apprentices that guarded the doors, but finally, one day, they did it.  They made it inside with no on the wiser.  There were grand stairs lit up by the wide windows, and they knew if they followed them up, they could find all the wonders hidden in the castle.  There was a slim spiral staircase hidden in the shadows, and they knew if they followed it down, they would find all the horrors hidden beneath.

They went down, and there, beneath the castle, they found a girl.

  They visited her, over and over again, sneaking into the Castle whenever possible.  She was amazing, wonderful, and they thought she might be their third, if only they could get her out.  But the day they went to rescue her, she disappeared.  They hatched a plan, to infiltrate the Castle as apprentices and find out what happened to her.

Of course, getting a post within the castle wasn’t quite as simple as that.  They were turned away, again and again, told that Ansem wasn’t taking new apprentices. Still, they persisted, the guards getting more and more agitated with each day.  Finally, when it seemed one of the guards would finally snap, they were saved by an apprentice with long white hair.  He smiled and soothed the guards, then took the two of them aside.  They give him their pitch as he listened quietly.

“It is true that Ansem isn’t taking apprentices right now,” he said, “However, I might be able to get you in through an internship program, if you’re interested.”

Lea and Isa shared a long glance and agreed.

  In a perfect world, things would go just like the movies.  They’d infiltrate the evil organization, maybe get caught, maybe not – but at the darkest hour things would turn and magically go their way.  They’d rescue the girl, ride off into the sunset, bond when they got older and live happily ever after.

But that wasn’t their story, and that wasn’t their ending.

Instead, years later, Axel found himself staring his friend down, something dark strangling him from within, wondering if it was all worth it.  He knew, somehow, that he was standing on the precipice of something irrevocable, with no idea how they got here.

  It went like this:  Being an intern led to them losing their hearts.  They became Nobodies – empty, aching.  They were given new names, and new purposes, as part of the Organization.

  It went like this: Lea and Isa, no, Axel and Saïx hatched a new plan, to gain relevance, status, and rise to the top of the Organization.  There, they could take back their lives and finally figure out what happened to their friend.  Isa had always been good at organization and logistics, and that held true even in the cold nothingness.  It was harder to see where Axel fit in, but he did as he was told and waited.

In the meantime, Axel ran missions, fulfilling run-of-the-mill tasks.  It was hard, at first.  He’d always been an agile combatant, aided by the power of his spectral wings, and he had to break the habit.  The first time he faced battle after becoming a Nobody, he tried to pull his ghost-wings out on instinct and –

Howling, aching, nothing, the loss of a limb, nothing is there why why why –

Nothing happened.  The heartless he was fighting slammed into him, claws digging deep into skin and doing its best to savage him before he erupted into flames, flinging the creature away.  He won, but at a cost.

Going forward, it was hard to retrain himself not to reach for his wings, but over time he managed.  Still, for all that he became more successful at his missions, that still wasn’t enough to truly make him indispensable to the Organization. Axel and Saïx were at a loss.

The answer came to them from above: the Superior had identified an individual he deemed useful for the Organization.  He needed someone to ensure they joined their ranks; Saïx volunteered Axel.  Axel was a bit unsure about it all: he was a good fighter, but he’d never planned an assassination.  Saïx insisted he was fully capable.  

The Organization’s goals always seemed vague to Axel, and this new task only confused him more.  But Saïx said he was putting the pieces together, so Axel would trust him and follow his lead.  He tracked the target down to a world filled with water.  Axel flipped his new tool in hand – a weapon handed down from the superior, that would supposedly ensure his target became a greater Nobody, just like them. The man, barely more than a boy, was lazing by the river side with an instrument in his lap.

Saïx was right; it was easy.

  It went like this: Saïx was kept busy as he pushed to remain relevant, important.  Axel was kept less consistently busy but could be sent anywhere at a moment’s notice. Still, each day they met up, sitting together in a mimicry of their childhoods.  Axel would keep up idle chatter just to fill the silence, play out the part.  Saïx sat beside him, silent.  Eventually the conversation, one-sided as it was, would peter out.  Even he couldn’t keep it up forever.

Axel stepped into his room after a mission one day, the emptiness cold and chilling inside the chest, and thought: what’s the point?  Why should I meet with him?  It was a long walk, and he was tired, and it wasn’t like it meant anything, anyways.  So, he didn’t.  He laid in bed all day, as evening slipped into endless night, staring at the walls until the clock ticked over to morning, then to evening again, and he thought: why should I stay here?

So he got up, went to sit next to Saïx again. Filled the air with meaningless words. Saïx just stared.  A puppet show, a pageantry, that’s all it was – there was no point to it, really, he realized.  The emptiness followed him around either way, and if he was going to sit in silence he might as well go find a more interesting view.  Whether he went, whether he wandered, it changed on a whim, slowly petering out till he stopped seeing Saïx altogether.

Take a mission, gather information, go to sleep – if you were moving, you were alive, and you could hold on another day.

Time started slipping, somewhere along the way. He lost a week of time once, and when he came back Saïx met him with a cool stare, berated him for incomplete paperwork.  He accepted the censure with all the theatrical exasperation of their childhood, but back in his room he found himself strangely thrown off by the interaction.  He stopped, running it over in his mind until he hit upon the snag.

Had Saïx even noticed his absence?  That was it, what threw off his rhythm.  He went missing for a week, that’s the type of thing you’re supposed to –

What, worry about?  Of course not – they don’t have the heart to do something like that.  He didn’t know why he thought otherwise.  Expectations, he supposed.  That was the order of events in the past, and he’d just expected it to play out like before.

He mulled it over in his head.  Just like Saïx should be worried about something like that, he felt like Saïx’s reaction was something he should be upset over.  The most he could muster up was the ever-present empty ache inside of him.

No use for it, he supposed – why pretend when it wouldn’t be real?

  It continued like that for ages – completing his work, finding a pretty enough view to sit and wait, speaking with Saïx only in brief snatches as he handed down orders, vague allusions, pieces of his plan for their grand ascension.  Time passed - a year, two, more? Impossible for him to know, when so much of it he didn’t truly experience.

He learned to let time and sensation slide by without completely losing himself, clinging hard to the memories of his past. Saïx, Isa, their past and their mission – when the world faded and he slipped close to the black, he clung to the only thing that felt Real to keep himself from fully slipping away.  In an effort to remain useful, in an effort to keep his mind present, he mastered his craft – slipping in and finding cracks in places, in people, being just as seen as he needed to be.

This group is causing the Organization issues, Saïx said, and Axel slipped his way in until the enemy crumpled under the sabotage.

This person needs to go, came the whisper, and Axel waited and watched and made them disappear.

There was a problem, and he took care of it.  He became whatever he needed to be.  

The Organization grew, bit by bit, and nothing changed – until it did.  A Keyblade wielder entered the world, and when he was separated from his heart the Organization snapped his Nobody up.

  It went like this: Axel was assigned to look after the new brat, and he didn’t have feelings about it, because he couldn’t, but if he did, they would probably be resigned exasperation.

The kid was a ghost, even more empty than most Nobodies were.  Axel got it, he did, how easy it was to just slip into the nothingness inside of you and stay there.  This, though, went beyond even that.  For him falling into the void usually meant disconnecting from the real world, but the Keyblade wielder could walk up and down every hall in their castle, complete a dozen rote tasks, and remember none of it the next day.  Creepy.

At the end of the first mission he took the kid on, he kept up some small talk just to chase away the silence.  So far, the kid spoke only when spoken to and even then in the fewest words possible.  When the kid mumbled something in his usual zombie-fashion, he really wasn’t expecting much.

“Speak up,” he sighed, because seriously, if he had to take much more of this, he was going to lose what sanity he had left.

“I said…”

“Uh-huh,” Axel drawled.

And that’s when the newbie turned things on his head, because he turned to look up at Axel – and his face was still just as blank, tone still just as flat, but there was a flicker of light behind his eyes as he deadpanned, “I could do that blindfolded.”

Surprised, Axel found himself dropping a laugh that was more instinct than planned performance for the first time in years and yeah, okay, maybe he wouldn’t be killed by boredom after all.  He didn’t really want to return to the frigid atmosphere of the castle, and he figured he’d be doing them all a favor if he could get the brat to at least act a bit like a human, so he tempted Roxas up to his favorite perch on the local clock tower and fed the boy ice cream.

  It went like this: It looked like Saïx really was making Roxas Axel’s problem, the control freak.  Not that Saïx bothered to actually tell Axel that; but he’s the only member assigned to a training mission with Roxas twice, and Saïx’s gaze burned a hole into Axel while he delivered their orders.  He’d learned to read between the lines.

So he went on another mission with Roxas, and maybe the kid was getting a bit less empty, but he was still pretty spacey and – to be frank – passive.  This is supposed to be the Nobody of the great Keyblade wielder? Axel wondered. If there was something familiar about him, the glimmer of a memory just out of reach in the shape of his face, the color of his hair, well, it probably didn’t amount to much.

Still, any company was better than being alone, and the facsimile of a relationship, acting out the patterns of companionship, could at least take the edge off the pervading emptiness inside of him.  So, when Roxas questioned his invitation to go eat ice cream, Axel named them friends – even if his heart wasn’t in it.

Ha.

  Here’s the thing about naming something: Your parents tell you not to name the stray you find.  They know that if you name something, you get attached.  

This is true of ideas, too.

  It went like this: Axel was sent to kill his co-workers in Castle Oblivion.  

Not that he knew that at first, of course, just that he was being sent to join the team there.  He informed Roxas before he went, even if he probably shouldn’t.  Saïx didn’t actually tell him not to talk about it.  That would involve talking to Axel for more than a minute, after all.

Besides, he’d been meeting up with Roxas for ice cream every day since the last time, keeping up the whole “friends” thing. Telling someone before you go out of town is something friends did, or so he remembered.  He figured if he was going to play pretend, go big or go home, right?

Because Axel was assigned to look after the new brat, and he didn’t have feelings about it, because he couldn’t, but if he did, what would have been resigned exasperation had shifted.  Seeing someone experience things for the first time with innocent wonder was strangely… nice.  Having wide eyes look at you, search for you first – it gave a sense of importance, a value to the everyday moments.

Unfortunately, Axel had a suspicion seeing the confusion in them if he disappeared without warning would be an equally potent experience in the opposite direction.  He didn’t want to test the hypothesis, in any case.  So, he told Roxas he was leaving, packed his things, and got his kill-orders from Saïx.

  It went like this: Axel was the only Organization member to survive Castle Oblivion.

He studied his compatriots for a day before crafting himself into what was needed – affable, a bit sly, the edge of a bite but not too rough.  It wasn’t hard, not too far off from what he’d become, anyways.  So, he played along and explored the castle and dug for information. He watched the little witch they’d found at work, watched the puppet Vexen had put together.

He watched the two come together; he watched them fall apart.

Watching them struggle against the inevitability of their fate, their existence, was…  He tried not to think about it and did his job.

Axel took out Vexen.  It was simple, just a snap of his fingers, the scientist already weakened. The Keyblade Hero took out both Larxene and Marluxia, which made his job much easier.  That left only two of the scientists in the lower floors.  When he went to investigate one was already gone – taken out by the Keyblade wielder’s friend.  That meant only Zexion was left.

Zexion was young – younger even than Axel and Saïx – and barely involved in anything that went down, but too much had happened here, and he couldn’t let it get back to the Organization.  That kind of information would be unpredictable in their hands, dangerous to Saïx’s plans.  So, Zexion must go – in a way that wouldn’t implicate him.  When he spotted the Replica prowling through the castle, he knew he found his way in.

Zexion died, screaming and terrified.

With all the Organization’s members removed, he continued his search for the Chamber Saïx insisted was there, to no avail.  By the time he resurfaced, all other inhabitants of the Castle were nowhere to be found – not the heroes, not the little witch, not the Replica.  He didn’t look too hard.  Vexen’s notes were missing, the paranoid bastard, but that was fine.  Axel knew the truth, and he’d be the one to carry the message to the right ears.

So, Axel killed his coworkers.  He did it, and he didn’t have feelings about it, because he couldn’t, but somehow, the incident… lingered.

  It went like this: Axel got back to find Roxas finishing up a mission.  Roxas stared at him like he’d seen a ghost, going on about worry.  It was impossible, of course, Axel knew that from experience, but he could appreciate the pageantry, he supposed.

They ate ice cream together on the clock tower. Turned out Roxas had picked up the newest member of the Organization, another Keyblade wielder, and was calling her “friend” and ah, shit, the kid was taking this much more seriously than he expected. Seemed like he really took the idea and ran with it while Axel was gone.  Xion wasn’t there, which was something of a relief.  He needed a bit of time, after everything, before he played nice with everyone again.  Instead, he basked in the quiet comfort of sitting next to Roxas – no demands, no urgency, just simple peace.

All good things come to an end, though, and he forced himself back to his feet and back to the castle.  He got half-way through the portal before deciding, no, he didn’t really want to deal with this today, and instead headed to his room.  Saïx, unfortunately, had other plans.

“Why didn’t you report in?” He asked, striding in without warning.

Or hello, as some people would say.  Axel sighed, turning away from the window, “What, not even one little word of appreciation?”

“The only thing I’ve heard is that Naminé’s gone missing.”

Axel arched a brow. That certainly wasn’t the only thing he’d heard, if even Roxas had picked up on how many people had died. The only thing he cared about, maybe.  He shrugged, “There one minute, gone the next.  I don’t know how she got out.”

“Did you search every room?”

“Are you kidding?” he drawled, “You know as well as I do that searching every room there is impossible.”

“And the Chamber.  Did you find it?” Saïx insisted.

“Come on, I would have told you that much,” Axel sighed.  And he would have – despite their slowly degrading communication, they were still on the same team.  “I gotta hand it to you – about Marluxia being one of the traitors?  You knew exactly what was up from the start.”

“Hm,” Saïx glanced away, dismissive, “I merely rounded up and sent off the ones who were getting in the way.”

Sharp awareness pierced through Axel, and he forced a dry laugh, “Woah, there.  Was I one of those you wanted to erase?”

Saïx only turned away, having got what he came for, “Good to see you made it back safe.”

Something in Axel screamed, and he called out after him, “I disposed of Zexion, by the way.”

Saïx stopped.  Look at me, a voice called in the back of Axel’s mind, I’m right here, look at me, look at me!

Saïx kept walking. Axel turned back to the window, alone once more.

I moved things along the way you wanted, he thought, at least for now.

  If he never mentioned Namine or the replica, well – Saïx never asked.

  The next few days were a return to normal missions – his end-of-day ice cream accompanied by Roxas’s presence without fail.  

“You know, you’re more cheerful,” Axel noted after listening to Roxas eagerly recount his day.

“You really think so?” Roxas asked, “I was thinking the same thing about you!  Well, most of the time, anyways.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.  Sometimes you get… I don’t know.  But mostly you’ve seemed brighter.”

Axel hummed, looking toward the sky, “Yeah, well; I guess he must’ve rubbed off on me.”

“Huh?”

Axel glanced over at Roxas, the blonde staring at him with wide, questioning eyes.  He huffed, shaking his head, “Nah.  It’s thanks to you that we get to sit here again and laugh while having ice cream.”

And wasn’t that true, for so many reasons.

Roxas’s new friend continued to be a no-show, and their Keyblade wielder worried over the situation until Axel agreed to go looking for information.  If anyone would know, Saïx would, but his friend seemed disinclined to answer.  Still, he gave in with some pressing.

“I suppose someone needs to go retrieve it,” Saïx sighed, “You and Number Thirteen will go search tomorrow.”

  It went like this: They found their wayward member behind the forests of Twilight Town, losing against a very large heartless.

Axel and Roxas made short work of it and led Xion towards the clock tower.  Along the way, Axel snagged three bars of ice cream for the group. He trailed behind the two younger members, watching as Roxas hovered over the reticent third, her face obscured by her hood.  Sometimes the blonde would look at her and react, like he saw something Axel couldn’t. Maybe that close he could see her face under there.

At the top he handed out the treats, prodding Xion when she didn’t eat.  Axel backed Roxas up when he started asking about what happened, and the whole story tumbled out: their second Keyblade wielder – and could someone tell him when that had happened – couldn’t wield the Keyblade anymore. If she couldn’t fill her role, she’d be considered useless, and Axel knew better than anybody what happened to those the Organization considered useless.

Roxas turned to him for answers – there’s a problem, fix it – and it wasn’t his problem, not really, but he couldn’t help his mind tick-tick-ticking away for a solution. And it was simple, really, such a small problem compared to everything he’d done for Saïx, and it didn’t require anything from him, so why shouldn’t he?  He suggested the kids double up, and Roxas took to it immediately.  Xion needed a bit more reassurance before accepting. She paused, asked if he was her friend, too – he should have seen it coming, really, Roxas had mentioned as much, but no one in the Organization really held stock in such things anymore so it still took him by surprise.  He looked over at her, and it was –

Her hood was down.  He hadn’t seen her take it off, but there it was, her bare face, and he knew it.  The soft shape and pale, watery eyes – for a minute all he could see was Naminé in her corner, watching the Replica leave but he blinked and no, that’s not quite right.  This gaze wasn’t as broken, and the face itself was framed by short, feathery-soft black hair.  He snapped his gaze away, shambled his way through something that might have been vague agreement.  He was already waist-deep in this charade, what was one more?

She thanked him.  It prickled along his spine.

  It went like this: they managed to get Xion and Roxas on joint missions.  Axel had to cajole Saïx into it, and it probably cost him a few favors with his friend, but he supposed it was worth it to get the two to stop curling in on themselves like that.

He finished his own mission quickly, and they were waiting for him, at the end of the day.  They met some of the locals, apparently, and were now asking all sorts of questions about friendship – they really didn’t get it. Still – inseparable, huh.

Wings and Flights were the obvious answer, but the words stuck in his throat, his mind trailing towards Saïx before skittering away.  It wasn’t like it was possible, without hearts, so what was the point of telling those two about something they’d never experience?  Instead, he danced around the subject, talking about best friends. He couldn’t find ways to explain, said it was because he didn’t have a best friend.

It was a complete lie; it was the absolute truth.

  It went like this: the two Keyblade wielders talked, about everything.  Roxas more than Xion, but they both expounded about every detail of their day, asked questions most knew you weren’t really supposed to.  In turn, somehow, he found he talked about himself, as well.

It was more then he’d talked in years.  He and Saïx knew each other well enough it wasn’t necessary, were able to get by with a word here and there, a wink and a nudge.  This, though, wasn’t the reading beneath the lines he was used to.  It was sustained conversation, learning each other. It became comfortable, an oasis at the end of the day, and without noticing he found himself slipping, sharing more than he meant to.  And the thing was – they listened.  Even if they didn’t understand, they still took in every word.

Even when he wished they didn’t.

Past memories – hah. As if he didn’t do everything he could to never think about it – his family, his world, the pain of being taken apart.  Now there was only Saïx, the only thing he had left.  They were supposed to be a Flight, they promised they’d get through this together, but most days being around Saïx only made the empty ache inside him worse. He spent more time talking with Roxas and Xion than he had with Saïx in an age.

This must have been what it was like, friendship.

  It went like this: they were never going to be able to keep up the ruse forever.

After he took out everyone at Castle Oblivion, they really were short-staffed. Inevitably, the day came that Saïx needed to put them on separate missions.  A bit of fast-talking and he managed to get them one last day, but with the way Saïx’s gaze lingered on him, Axel knew even that came with its own cost.

As their Keyblade wielders disappeared into a dark corridor, Saïx turned to him, “Don’t think for a minute I believed that.”

“Believed what?” Axel asked, practiced levity in his voice as he met his friend’s cool stare.

“That reprehensible performance.”

“Uh-huh,” Axel drawled, not breaking their gaze even as he summoned his own corridor, “Well… I’d better get over to Agrabah.”

He went to handle the heartless Saïx wanted to send Xion after and, ouch, damn, he saw why they wanted a Keyblade wielder on this.  There was this tension running through him the whole time, a distraction that kept bringing his mind to the others, because if they didn’t manage it, if Xion didn’t get her Key back today, then –

He shoved it down.  He had a job to do; he needed to focus.

He’d mostly managed to relax by the time he made it to the clock tower.  The others weren’t there, and he forcibly kept his spine from tensing, collapsing into his spot and laying back.  He’d just managed to sink down into that blurred space where time slips by when his view of the sky was obstructed, Roxas’s face appearing suddenly above him.

“Woah!” he snapped up, pulse racing, “Where’d you come from?”

Xion and Roxas giggled down at him, sharing a glance before hitting him with twin bright smiles.  The warmth of it hit him, surrounded him, a sensation that tickled something in the back of his mind, a name for this he almost remembered.  He found himself relaxing despite it all.

“How was your mission?” Roxas asked.

Axel sighed and fell into familiar complaints, grousing when they teased him, but the longer they went without sharing their results the more the tension built up within him. Finally, he couldn’t wait anymore.

"So?" he asked, leaning in, “how’d your caper go?”

They shared another bright look before Xion closed her eyes, bringing up a hand slowly – dramatically, really – and with a flash of light her Keyblade appeared.  Beside her Roxas shimmied proudly, throwing out his hands to present her, “Ta-daaaah!”

Xion turned to him with grateful eyes, dripping gratitude even when he pointed out how little he did. It made him feel small, the way she looked at him, but also the biggest he’d ever been, it made him feel, feel –

He sent her to get ice cream, so maybe he would stop drowning in her eyes.

  “I hope we can always be just like this, forever,” Roxas said later.

“Nothing lasts forever,” he had to tell them – because it was true, he knew from experience.  He thought of a promise, of dreams built up between two friends as children.  He thought of a young boy’s dream to live forever in other’s memories.

For the first time in years, he thought there might be something to it, after all.  It wouldn’t be the same, not without a heart, but –

“As long as we keep each other in our thoughts, none of us will ever have to be apart.  Got it memorized?”

The wish – I don’t want to lose you – sat heavy in his chest.  When Roxas teased, broke the tension, it was a relief.

He tried not to think about how much that statement resembled a Flight.

  It went like this: things were good.  Missions were still tiring, more draining every day.  He sometimes wondered if being so easy and open with them was degrading his hard-earned skills, his ability to morph and twist and do what needed to be done.  But then he’d find them waiting for him with wide smiles and open arms, and he couldn’t bring himself to care.  He’d thought it didn’t matter, taking time to spend with people.  You didn’t have a heart to feel it, so why bother?  But being with them, just spending time with no goal, no agenda but to share a single moment – it made things easier.

Better.

  It went like this: He saw Saïx in the hallways.  He’d just come from the clock tower, feeling lighter than he had since he lost his heart, and the sight of him sparked memories of times gone by, sitting and sharing and being together through their child-hood afternoons and the shivering emptiness of becoming a Nobody.  He’d stopped, he realized, stopped long, long ago.  Stopped visiting him, stopped talking to him, stopped acting like his friend. So, for the first time in ages, he didn’t think, just flowed with the new knowledge that things could be better and he called out, falling into step.  But the moment Saïx realized Axel didn’t need anything, didn’t have any information to share, he cut him off with cool admonishments – stop wasting time and get back to work.  Axel watched him go, and it –

  It went like this: They didn’t want anything from him.  Well, they did, but it was small things, so simple to deliver.  Just to meet with them, talk with them, answer their questions. Everything they asked for, they gave in return, in their own way.  They noticed when he was gone, remarked on his return.

There was Roxas, calm and warm, a steady presence at his side.  Roxas who teased and welcomed and comforted, all with quiet, watchful eyes, who even when he didn’t understand, cared.  Who beheld the world with a quiet intensity, treasuring it all away.

There was Xion, bright and fierce, a warming light with a bite, a sharpness he could feel reflected in his own jagged pieces.  Xion, who cut to the heart of the matter with brutal precision, backing off at the edge to soothe the wound.  Who took in every new piece of knowledge like a puzzle, connecting them all behind shining eyes.

He began this whole endeavor as a farce, a way to fill the time, and he’d known for a while that it wasn’t quite that any longer, but suddenly the depth of it smacked into his face, that this was real, he had two friends –

Three friends.  Of course, it was three, even if –

  It went like this: Talking to Saïx was exhausting.  His friend would approach with a request or with orders, only a moment’s conversation. Sometimes it would stretch a bit more, if Axel was feeling a bit more resistant: they would push and pull, test their boundaries, dredge up ancient memories between the until they were in sync once more, and Axel agreed, and Saïx would sweep away, dramatic as always, and –

Sometimes he wished Saïx would just stay.  It’s not like Axel didn’t understand – for years he had done just the same, leaving the moment the job was done.  And the guy was busy, there was a lot he needed to do in order to achieve their goals, and every quiet moment they spent together was a chance of being accused of colluding.  Still, there was something about the rhythm of their conversations, something about how exhausted he always was after, it –

  It went like this: one time he was startled out of a doze at the clock tower by a stupidly heavy blanket being dropped on his head, because a vendor at the world Xion visited swore it would give you “the best sleep you ever had”, and if he was taking so many naps then obviously he must be sleeping poorly.

It was a tease, a gentle dig at his habits, but the blanket was real, and his, and honestly it was very soft and very warm.  Something given freely just because they thought about him, something he could take with him, and it sparked something in him that –

  It went like this: they saved up every story, every mundane anecdote, and brought it to him without fail at the end of the day like cats with a prize catch just so they could share it with him.  In return they listened with rapt attention to every story he dared to tell, hanging on his every word like it was the most fascinating thing they’d ever heard.

  It went like this: The two came back from a mission absolutely filthy, and Xion had what looked like an entire bush trapped in her hair.  

He found the two struggling to remove it all, Roxas tugging at the twigs as Xion whined in pain, and he had to stop the two before they ripped her hair straight from her scalp. He spent an hour sitting behind her, carefully picking dirt and debris free, working on the tangles, as they regaled him with the details of their little misadventure.  He got so caught up in the retelling that he didn’t notice at first when he stopped working on detangling and instead started absent-mindedly braiding the short strands.  When he did, he figured, hey, he’d come this far, and started working the little braids side-ways into a crown.

“What are you doing?” Roxas asked, leaning in to watch with wide eyes.

“Just braiding it out of the way,” he muttered, “Maybe it’ll keep your hair clean next time, huh, Xion?”

He gave a light tug at the free strands, and she scoffed in mock-offense before falling into a fit of giggles.

“How’d you learn to do this?” She asked.

“Just something I picked up as a kid.  I used to-“ he cut off, shoving down the memories that try to swell back up, “Well, it was useful, once.  Haven’t done it in a while.”

He finished the crown, Roxas watching with rapt attention.  The moment he was done Roxas turned to him, saying he wanted a braid, too, even though his hair clearly wasn’t made for it.  Axel tried to tell him that, of course, but the blonde just pouted up at him, so Axel sighed and braided the damn hair.  The scruffy locks at the back were too short, but if he dug his hand into the ridiculous blonde cowlick he could get just enough, and the end result looked so stupid, but the kid seemed happy.  Then, of course, the twin terrors insisted on learning to braid themselves, and they tried their best, but it was their first time ever, and by the end of it all Axel had a dozen truly horrible braids running through his hair.  It was going to take forever to detangle the mess that night, but his cheeks hurt from smiling and his ribs hurt from laughing and he knew, he knew it was just the ghost of a memory brought on by physical stimuli but for a moment he swore he could taste what happiness felt like.

  It went like this: Axel was alone in his room, worrying at the corner of his gifted blanket when he heard the tell-tale whir of the door preparing to open.  He moved instinctually, shoving the blanket back and off bed, letting it fall to the floor hidden from view.  He didn’t think on why, just a half-formed understanding that it would stand out in the empty, austere nature of all rooms in the castle, and that standing out would be bad, somehow.

“Ever heard of knocking?” He snapped, eyeing Saïx’s approach, “What do you want?”

“Tell me what Xion has been doing.”

Something bubbled within him, hot and sharp as a knife.

“Well, how should I know?” Axel shrugged, as if she didn’t share her day with him every evening, “I’m not spying on her.”

“The two of you look pretty close,” Saïx pointed out, accused, almost.

“So, what, now I’ve got to rat on my friends to you?” he groused, looking away.  Saïx hadn’t cared how Axel spent his time for years, but now that he had this one thing, one spot of light, he wanted to turn it into a tool? “I think you should just go.”

Saïx paused, his assessing gaze weighing on Axel, “Today you and Xion will be going on the same mission.”

“Well, thank you, sir, for personally delivering that message to me.”

“We also need you to go back to CO soon.”

“Says Lord Xemnas?” Axel wondered, masking the bitterness with levity, watching Saïx from the corner of his eyes – he didn’t think so, but it was becoming harder to tell, lately, what was Saïx and what was the Superior.

Saïx shook his head, voice going quiet, “That castle hasn’t given up all of its secrets.  One even he doesn’t know of its whereabout.”

“Even he doesn’t know… You mean the Chamber, right?” Axel wondered, eyeing his friend warily, “We turned that place inside out.  If it’s there, we’re not going to find it just by looking.”

Saïx’s gaze sharpened, the way it always did when a tricky problem wouldn’t unravel for him, “Then let me give you another reason.  Xion comes from the castle, to which Naminé can be traced.”

Axel couldn’t quite repress the sharp breath of surprise, and Saïx leaned back, chin tilting up the barest bit in victory.

“The place where both Naminé and Xion were born,” he drawled, “it’s practically calling out for you.”

“Heh.  Whatever,” Axel said, trying to regain his balance, “As far as the Castle goes, you’re the one who really wants to go there.”

He met Saïx’s gaze squarely, mind hissing – look, see, I know you.  If you can read me, I can see through you just as well.  “By finding the room that Xemnas is searching for, you would find out everything about Xemnas’s true agenda, am I right?”

Saïx relaxed, voice going soft, confiding, carrying a bit of that energy he knew so long ago, “The Chamber of Repose, as well as the Chamber of waking – Xemnas has an agenda that he hasn’t told to anybody, and we are bound to find some clues in the Chamber of Waking.  And once we obtain those clues, we’ll have the upper hand for our own objectives.”

Maybe it was a play, maybe it was genuine – but damn if it didn’t work.  Axel pushed himself to the feet, blood pounding fierce in his ears, “I knew the time would come when Vexen and Zexion would get in your way.  That’s why I took the initiative and cleared the way to the top for you.  I can handle all the dirty work; you go all the way to the top.”

Their eyes met evenly, tension building, reminding him of long-ago nights hatching schemes and planning a path into a castle.  This was it, he’d missed this, he –

“You will be going on a solo mission to Castle Oblivion,” Saïx said, turning and sweeping from the room, “Expect the orders soon.”

Axel watched him go, the energy fading to leave him achingly empty, and he, he –

“Castle Oblivion,” he murmured, turning to the puzzle presented to him, “Naminé… and Xion?”

  Axel went on the mission with Xion the next day.  Even the knowledge that Saïx wanted to spy on her couldn’t ruin the sheer enjoyment of working with her.  She was a natural with a blade, and when you added in Axel’s magic and precision distance strikes, they breezed through their mission and retired to the clock tower early.

“Roxas is late today,” Xion noted, hours later.

“Hope Xigbar isn’t giving him too hard of a time,” he huffed, leaning back on his hands.

“Yeah, right?” Xion giggled, before lapsing into a pensive silence.  He waited patiently, and eventually she spoke back up, “You know what, Axel?”

“Hm?”

“When I sit here and talk with you guys,” she began, “I get the feeling that a long time ago, I used to watch the sunset with somebody else.  It’s the same when I watch the sea”

In his peripheral vision, Axel saw her pull something from her pocket, gazing down at it as she continued, voice hazy, “Someplace by the sea, where I hear the sound of the waves.  I get the feeling that I was talking with someone.”

Tension thrummed through him like a chord.  Maybe it was just the recent mention of Castle Oblivion, maybe it was the way she looked like Naminé, from the right angle, but something about this whole thing made him uneasy.

“So, you mean that you have memories of your past?” he asked, tilting his head to watch her carefully.

“No, it’s not quite like that,” she shook her head, before slumping, “Well, I dunno.  What do you think?  Are these memories?”

She looked so hopeful, turning to him with wide, lost eyes.  He sighed, “Huh… I wouldn’t know either.”

“You have memories, don’t you?”

“Yeah, sorta,” he shrugged, a bitter taste on his tongue as he forcefully pushed away the thought of Saïx, “Though it’s not like they’ve ever really done me any good.”

“And Roxas is like me,” Xion said, “Neither one of us remembers much.  I wonder if he and I had this much in common before we were Nobodies.”

Despite himself, Axel was starting to wonder the same thing.

  The Organization got a day off, nearly a year after their last one.  Axel had to explain to both Xion and Roxas exactly what a vacation meant, but then he took the chance to curl up with his blanket and catch up on some sleep.

He woke in the evening, a slow rise to consciousness, before lazily making his way to the clock tower. He turned the corner to find Roxas already present, blond hair shining in the sunset.

“I knew you’d be here,” he huffed.

“Axel!”

He made his way to his spot, stretching out before collapsing into his seat.  Roxas rummaged in a bag at his side, sheepishly offering a half-melted bar of ice cream.  Axel accepted the treat with a huff of amusement, watching as his eyes drifted back down to the ground below.  He followed his gaze to find a group of kids running around, “Are the kids here on summer vacation already?  Nah, can’t be.  It’s much too early.”

“Summer vacation?” Roxas asked, “What’s that?”

“A dream come true, that’s what,” Axel answered, peeling the wrapper from his ice cream, “Where they get a whole month off.”

“A month off?” Roxas gasped, eyes wide, and Axel had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as the kid looked down at his lap, truly baffled, “I wouldn’t know what to do with that much time.  I couldn’t even figure out how to fill a day.”

“You’d be surprised,” he said, leaning back as memories bubbled up, “They give you plenty of homework, and of course, you have to play with your friends every day.  Trust me, it’s over before you can blink.”

He breathed carefully, braced for an ache that didn’t come.

Roxas hummed, “I could deal with seven days, maybe.”

Tentatively, poking at that old wound despite himself, Axel pushed a bit father, letting nostalgia take him, “Most kids spend the time just goofing off with their friends.  They save the homework till the end and then help each other finish it.”

“That sounds fun, I guess.”

“Hanging around with friends is fun.  I’d forgotten all that since become a Nobody, I guess.”

Xion joined them shortly after, and he met her smile freely, feeling… warm.

  Saïx accosted Axel, on the way back to his room.

“What took you so long?”

Axel turned, hissing out a breath, “It’s my vacation; I can take all the time I want.  Since when do I have to check in with you?”

Saïx approached, nearly walked past before stopping at his side, “You’re letting yourself get too attached to them.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” he muttered, gaze wandering down the hall.

Saïx paused, gaze heavy, “You know, you’ve changed.”

Axel swallowed, cold seeping into his bones.  

I’m not the one who changed.  You did.

  It went like this: Axel found a blonde ghost haunting Castle Oblivion.

“Naminé,” he greeted, “So you did make it out.”

She froze in place, spine going stiff, before melting before his eyes and turning to face him, head down and fingers laced demurely, “Axel.”

Peering up at him throw lowered eyelashes, she eyed him with a gaze as sharp as her posture was soft. Huh, he thought, a sense of respect thrumming through him, one actor to another, not so broken after all.

“Are you here to take me back?” she asked.

Well, Saïx was certainly asking after her lately.  It would get him some more favors if he brought her in, would probably help their goals, but she flicked a glance up at him, all familiar blue eyes, and his lungs seized.

“Nah,” he shrugged, “Didn’t even know you were here.”

“Oh,” she blinked, shoulders caving in, face going lost and empty, “But, last time you said…”

He had to hand it to her, she really looked like a guileless doll.  If he didn’t recognize the look of calculation hidden in her eyes, hadn’t grown familiar with a sharper, less concealed version on Xion’s face, he wouldn’t have even noticed.  Two could play at that game.

“I had a job to do back then, that’s all,” he shrugged, all levity and unconcern, eyes casually perusing the walls, “If you managed to make it through, I’d say you’ve more than earned your freedom.”

“And your job today?”

Axel paused, glancing away, “Heh, you’re sharp.  My orders here are to look for rooms, not people.”

She subsided, going meek and submissive, but her gaze remained trained on him, calculating.  He watched her back, planning his next move.

“How about this,” he offered, words coming slowly, “I’ll forget all about seeing you here, if you tell me something in return.”

“What?”

“In all your time here, did you ever see another girl – one who’s face looks a lot like yours?”

She blinked, startled, before giving a flinch, a tiny widening of her eyes.  A second later her gaze went distant, eyebrows drawn up in false earnestness.  Now, wasn’t that interesting.

“No – I never saw anyone else,” she answered, and he watched as she measured her own words, “Did they have someone else?  Someone like me?”

“Hah, I don’t think there’s anyone else like you,” he answered, measured truth for carefully measured truth.  She’d already seemingly learned something just from his question, he certainly wasn’t giving her anything else.  But if she was going to push, he could as well.  Maybe he could throw her off his trail, “Where’s your little friend?  The replica?”

Naminé flinched back, going cold, knuckles white where they laced together, “He… didn’t make it.”

“Oh,” Axel said, chest strangely heavy, “Shame.  I was kinda rooting for you two kids by the end there.”

He rolled his shoulders back and began to move past her, when her voice stopped him in his tracks, “Why were you asking?  I thought you said you weren’t here looking for people.”

He glanced back, meeting the jagged edges of her stare for a long moment before sighing, “I’m not. The question was more personal curiosity.”

Averting his gaze, he continued forward.  Behind him, there were a few light footsteps, a rushing sound, then silence.  When he looked back, she was gone, nothing left behind but the faintest echo of a dark corridor.

  It went like this:  Xion wasn’t there when Axel returned, nor the next day, either.  Despite the comfort of being back at Roxas’s side, he found his gaze wandering back, searching for her presence.  Naminé’s expression kept haunting his mind – what did she know?  What was happening with Xion?  He remembered his time at Castle Oblivion, watching Naminé slowly fall apart as they took apart the Replica again and again.  

“Is there anything… you couldn’t bare to lose?” Roxas cut in.

“Anything I couldn’t bear to lose?” Axel asked, blinking out of his reverie, “What’s that about?”

“Well, I met someone today who had something like that.  This thing was so important to him he couldn’t bear to lose it, and Xaldin said that was his weakness.  Why don’t I have anything like that?”

Really, the questions this kid asked, “It’s because you don’t have a heart.”

“I guess… but Demyx doesn’t have a heart,” Roxas leaned over, swiping for his ice cream with sparkling eyes, “and I bet he’d get upset if you took his sitar away.”

“Huh… I think you have a point there,” Axel mused.  He hadn’t thought of it that way, not with how pointless everything felt for so long, but hadn’t he held on to Saïx, their past, the only real thing in their non-existence?  “So, you don’t need a heart to have something you can’t bear to lose, then.  If that’s true, then I guess the closest thing that we Nobodies have would be memories of our past.  It’s the memories that create the things we don’t want to lose.”

Roxas looked down, pouting, “Memories of the past… I don’t remember my past.”

“Even though you might not remember the past, I’m sure you have things you don’t want to lose.”

Roxas’s immediately brought up Axel and Xion, and it was, nice, really to be so valued, but then he started going on about being scared, and really.  Fear was lost to them, just like love, just like guilt.  They could certainly pull up a convincing facsimile – Vexen’s pleading, Zexion’s screams, Naminé’s pale, shaking hands – but that’s all it was. That’s all it could be.

Roxas and Xion were too much like Naminé, too close to being real; Axel had seen how that went for her.

  It went like this: the two Keyblade wielders got into a spat, of some sort.  He gave advice, watched bemusedly as it went straight over Roxas’s head, and sat down to wait it out.

But Xion remained a no-show in the weeks to come, Roxas grew more and more sullen, and Axel found a nervous tick building in his stomach.  It itched at him, a problem he couldn’t solve.  He tried to catch her, after a while, going in early for missions, waiting in the lobby for her to return in the evenings, but she always seemed to slip just out of reach.

In the meantime, he kept meeting with Roxas at the clock tower, a steady, unshakeable presence interspersed with reality-shaking questions.  When he came home asking about love, of all things, Axel just about choked.

It hurt, the empty place where his hopes and dreams used to lie, the memory of a glance from the corners of his eyes, blue hair catching the light as he thought yes, that. Now, when he thought of Saïx, there was nothing but painful emptiness.

And how did one explain something like that, anyways?  Something instinctual, that all children grow up knowing, and who knew how Roxas would react if he brought up that it often comes in threes, what direction he would take it.

So, he danced around the subject, cut off the conversation, ignored Roxas’s blazing eyes.  It was better that way.

  It went like this: the Xion problem came to a head when she failed a mission, falling into a coma.

Saïx mentioned it casually, a calculated off-hand comment and Axel struggled to keep a straight face through the air being punched from his lungs.  He shrugged, proceeded towards his mission, tried to ignore the tilt of Saïx’s head that read satisfied.

The raging fire in his chest carried him through his mission with vengeance, sustaining him up to the clock tower where Roxas was waiting, hands shaking and voice tight and strained. His reactions were so real, so natural, and he didn’t even know, had no idea what he was doing.  

Saïx called her ‘broken’, and Axel’s stomach churned.  Compared to the shattered reflection he saw in every mirror, the Keyblade wielders were flawless.  He offered to push Saïx for information just to make that pained look on Roxas to go away, to satisfy the burning embers in his gut.

  It went like this: Axel tracked Saïx down, interrupting him as he hurried between one meeting and the next.

“Hey, that was uncalled for!”

“I told you, keep out of this,” Saïx snapped.

“And I’m telling you that I have to know what’s the deal with Xion,” Axel leaned in, hands on his hips, “If there’s something going on, just be straight with me for once, will ya!”

“Do you mean just like you are always honest with me?”

Axel took in a sharp breath, eyes running over Saïx’s form, calculating openings, options, formulating the exact angle to break him open and –

What was he doing? The fire banked in him, leaving ice in its wake.  What was he doing, sizing Saïx up like an enemy?  This was his oldest friend, the boy he promised to form a Flight with.

“Well, you’ve got me there, I guess,” he sighed, a shaky laugh covering his stumble.

Saïx’s posture softened, and yes, this was better, this is what they always were. “Xion has no right to be among our number.”

“What do you mean?” Axel asked, brow furrowing.  As he watched, Saïx stiffened once more, turning away.

“It’s plain to see.  I have nothing more to say.”

Axel’s stomach lurched as he walked away, “Wait.”

Saïx froze, looking back over his shoulder, brow arched in question.  Axel’s mind raced, searching for anything to say, to extend this moment, “You ever find anything out on those chambers?”

Saïx turned fully to face him, blinking slowly, “No, nothing.  Why, did something come up?”

“Nah; just wondering if you had any new leads.”

“Unfortunately not.  Perhaps it would be different, if Naminé were found.”

Axel sighed, waving off the barb, “Eh, I doubt it.  She and the Replica were pretty wrapped up in each other, it didn’t seem like she cared about anything else in the Castle.”

“Naminé… and the Replica?”

It was nice, to get this out.  As much as he’d tried to ignore it, the events at Castle Oblivion had haunted him. He couldn’t talk about it with Roxas and Xion, didn’t want anything of that place getting near them, but Saïx? He was just as messed up as Axel, at this point.  Axel used to share all his thoughts with him, once upon a time.  Maybe he could again.

“I watched her and that Replica of Vexen’s while I was clearing out the castle.  It was strange, how attached they got.  Nearly drove the Replica crazy, in the end.  It should be all the same between us, without a heart, but seeing them together,” Axel shook his head, “They’re more real than we are.”

“The Replica grew attached?”

“Yeah, you couldn’t keep the guy down – believe me, we all tried.”

There was a long silence, one he quickly realized was too sharp to be called contemplative.

“Why,” Saïx asked, voice quiet and edged, “is this the first I’m hearing about this?”

Axel – didn’t quite freeze, but only out of practice.  Instead, he rolled his head to the side, watching Saïx carefully, “I don’t know – it didn’t seem important.”

“Not important?  I asked for your report on Castle Oblivion, and you left out information on both Naminé and the Replica program.”

“I just don’t see what it has to do with us,” Axel protested, baffled by Saïx’s sudden insistence.

“Don’t you?”

“Evidently not,” he grit out, “why don’t you enlighten me?”

“Vexen’s research is missing, this could have been a clue on what Xemnas’s goal is with the program.”

“The program’s dead, why should it matter now?”

“And,” Saïx continued, “If Naminé is invested in the Replica, then it’s possible we could have used that to track her down. It’s imperative that we take her in ourselves.”

Axel scoffed, “What, so we’re in the business of trapping frightened girls, now?”

“We’re doing whatever it takes to get to the top. Or did you forget what this is all for?”

“No,” Axel said, “I remember.”

What has become of us, Axel thought, looking up into cold yellow eyes. Once upon a time they stormed a castle to rescue a girl from her captors.  Now they sought to keep a girl as a test subject for their own agenda, now Axel used a young boy as a tool, now Saïx treated a comrade as nothing but an object.

What have we become, he thought, watching his oldest friend walk away.

  It went like this: Axel danced his way through his conversation with Roxas that morning, lying through his teeth that Saïx would reconsider his stance on Xion.  It would be fine.  Whatever was going on, Axel would take care of it before it became a problem.

  It went like this: Roxas dropped into his seat at the clock tower saying that he flew, and Axel – stopped breathing.

The way it would look flashed through his mind –

Roxas in silhouette, sun behind him, light filtering through spread feathers and he couldn’t tell, couldn’t see, the color of the spikes of his hair was, was –

But the way he described it didn’t match any method of flight Axel had ever seen, and he didn’t mention wings, so it was probably fine.  It was fine.

So why couldn’t he take his eyes off him?

  It went like this: the first Axel knew of Xion waking up was finding Saïx staring her down like he wanted to take her apart.  He hurried over, inserting himself into the standoff, “Oh, hey, Xion!  About time you crawled out of bed.”

“Morning, Axel,” she greeted with a bright smile, one he couldn’t help but mirror even as he side-eyed Saïx, who’d gone even more frigid.

“Roxas will team up with Axel today, as scheduled,” his old friend intoned, “Xion, I’m afraid I neglected to pencil you in.”

She shook her head, “Don’t keep me pent up in here.  I need the exercise.”

“I’ll look after her,” Axel interrupted, catching Saïx’s gaze, holding it, “I promise not to let her out of my sight.”

A breathless heartbeat passed as Axel tried to read those eyes, figure out what he wanted here.  Saïx glared back, just as determined, “Fine. Go, if that’s what suits you.”

A single breath, something delicate balanced on a thread, and he looked away, nodding at Xion.

  It went like this: Xion wasn’t completely well yet.  She collapsed, as they headed up the tower, and he moved quickly to catch her before she hit the ground.  A heartless sprung up immediately after, and he retreated with Xion in his arms while Roxas fended it off.  He checked her over quickly, looking for any wounds, any bumps or bruises.  No worry of a concussion, he caught her quickly enough for that, she was just – unconscious.

He sighed, pressing his forehead into the crown of her head, banking the fire boiling his blood, smothering the voice whispering thank the stars, thank the stars, I would burn down the world for –

He sighed, forcibly slowing his pulse with long practice.  Honestly, these two were going to be the death of him.

“Sora.”

It was barely a whisper, barely a breath from her lips, but he heard it.

His blood went cold.

  It went like this: Something had changed, in Saïx.  They ran into him on the way back to Xion’s room, and he stared them down, eyes trained on her, expression glacial, dangerous.

“Did it break again?” Saïx sneered, “At this point, we might as well put it out of its misery.”

Roxas snarled beside him, but Axel ignored it, forging ahead because if he didn’t, he’d stumble, as embers lit in his gut, slow, simmering.  He stopped beside his oldest friend, just a breath, the barest stutter of a step, words hissing up and out, “Keep your mouth shut.”

  It went like this: Axel couldn’t seem to move away from her, just watching her breathe.

“Are you worried about her, Axel?”

And what type of question was that, of course, of course he was, because that’s what you do when you’re friends, you –

Worry?  Of course not – they don’t have the heart to do something like that.  He didn’t know why he thought-

Worry?  We Nobodies don’t have the hearts to –

Maybe it’s just that you remember what it’s like to –

“Of course, I am,” he whispered.

“It just doesn’t seem like you,” Roxas mused.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you don’t like things to be complicated.”

His lungs burned. Stars, it was, it was so complicated, because these two were everything, everything, and Saïx seemed to want to tear them to pieces, and every time he went near his oldest friend there was this sense of tearing, and somehow –

Somehow it was worth it.

“You know, Roxas. Each day, I meet you two for ice cream,” he began, slowly, determinedly, feeling each word as it went.  Steeling himself, he forged ahead, “Now, why do you think that is?”

“Huh?”

“I mean,” Axel continued, turning to meet the blonde’s gaze, “If you think about it, I don’t need to go out of my way for you guys, right?”

When Roxas didn’t say anything, Axel nodded, “You want me to tell me why?  It’s because you two are –“

He stumbled, throat catching, another word forming that he couldn’t say, he couldn’t, they promised. He swallowed, dancing around it, “My best friends.”

“We are?” Roxas wondered, eyes wide and bright and that warmth spread and lit inside him, bringing up a smile he couldn’t resist.  And they were, his, completely and utterly.

“Get it memorized, alright? The three of us, we’re best friends – and best friends are willing to deal with complications.”

“Oh, yeah,” Roxas breathed, beaming up at him, “Guess we are.”

A giggle emerged from their side, and they both snapped their heads to the side to find Xion smiling sleepily at them, “Thanks, Axel.  You’re sweet.”

Axel flustered, ducking his gaze away, heat rushing to his face.  Alright, that was enough, “Are you feeling better?”

“I just got a little dizzy, that’s all.  Sorry to worry you guys.”

“Don’t scare us like that anymore,” Axel said, leaning in to place a gentle hand on her head, “Just take it easy today.”

Xion smiled, “I will. Thanks, both of you.”

  It went like this: Axel couldn’t sleep that night.  He laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling as the hours ticked by, mind whirling.  He thought she would be fine, as soon as she woke up.  Roxas was fine, and apparently, he’d been in a coma while Axel was gone, and with all their similarities he had expected Xion to be the same.  Instead, things only seemed worse.

Out in that square, passed out in Axel’s arms, Xion whispered Sora’s name; she shouldn’t even know who he was, should never have heard the name.  Saïx implied that she was connected somehow to Naminé.  Naminé was the Nobody of the Keyblade Hero’s friend. So then – whose Nobody was Xion?

Axel needed to know; whatever was going on with Xion, he needed to know.  She may have woken up, but she was obviously still on the edge of falling apart.  Asking Saïx was a non-starter, he’d made his opinion perfectly clear.  Still, he’d given him at least one lead to follow: Xion came from Castle Oblivion.

That wasn’t as helpful as he might have hoped, however.  Vexen was the only one of the science crew who could be relied on to take detailed, readable notes, and his research was missing.  Sighing, Axel scrubbed his hands over his face.  There was one last place the information might have survived.

Axel headed off for his mission, stubbornly not meeting Saïx’s gaze.  For a couple hours he went about his work, keeping a careful eye on the sky and waiting for just the right time.  It was Tuesday, which meant Saïx would be meeting with Xemnas, Xaldin, and Xigbar, leaving the castle clear.  It was the work of the moment to sneak in; picking the lock to Saïx’s office was even easier.

As the door clicked shut behind him, Axel cast a practiced eye over the room.  He only had an hour to work, but he’d done this on plenty of missions before, and that without the advantage of being familiar with the target. It only took three drawers to click on to Saïx’s filing system, and the next drawer he chose revealed Vexen’s archived reports.  Axel flipped through the dates, then moved two drawers over to find his early, scattered reports on runs to Castle Oblivion.

There was a list of experiments from before he moved permanently to the research facility. Axel skimmed through, stomach churning, it was –

A girl imprisoned in a castle, weak and shaking from the aftermath of experiments, she was there until one day she was gone, gone, gone –

It wasn’t the point. He flipped a few pages forward, noting when the Replica program began to be mentioned, before stopping when a line caught his eye.  Brow furrowing, he pulled it out.

Replica Program: Replica Model No. I Deployed

There wasn’t much more information on the sheet, but there was something about the date on it that tickled his mind.  He placed the report to the side, then moved to the filing cabinet directly behind the desk and shimmied the lock.  The top drawer was reports – not quite what he was looking for – but the bottom contained Saïx’s log-book.  Pulse racing, Axel began flipping through the pages, tracking back to – there.  The same date.

Delivered Number XIV to the Superior

He grabbed the report and laid the pages side by side, the picture snapping into place like a puzzle. A Replica.  No. I.  Add an X, put it backwards, and what does that spell?

Xion.

  Shit.

  Here’s a secret: when left without a heart, the body will inevitably try to replace it the first chance it gets, for as many times as it takes.  

That doesn’t mean it develops quite right.

  Next >

[theoldgaylion]

For the doriax prompts 👀 "seeking each others hands while sleeping" or "dancing together".

Whichever sounds more fun :))

Read it on ao3

"That was kind of Mr. Gilmore to invite us, don't you think?" Fearne asked in her usual hushed tone as she finished braiding Opal's long silky hair, who was sitting on a velvety dormeuse adorned with golden details and attentively following her movements.

"Especially after the troubles we caused him." Orym gloomily mused as he leant against the wall next to where the faun and the girl stood, one hand reflexively resting on his hip as if ready to act on whatever upcoming threat, despite not carrying any kind of weapons on his person.

Sitting, too, but in a little, uncomfortable armchair, though as luxurious as the dormeuse, in the farthest corner of the room, was Dorian. As he was trying to not have a panic attack and thus ruin everybody's feisty mood, he barely registered his friends chatting in the background. He was overwhelmed, the rooms and the main hall outside brimmed with people, from enriched nobles to foreign merchants to powerful wizards, and that feeling of inadequacy struck him as fiercely as ever. Although the possibilities were close to none, he was also afraid to come across his relatives, whether distant or not. He didn't want to meet them, he didn't want his friends to meet them, not when he left that life behind his back.

His mind was spiraling as he stared at a blank spot outside the wide window on the opposite wall, nervously twisting his fingers.

"Free food and alcohol are always appreciated." Dariax commented somewhere near his right, he could see him in his peripheral vision as he stubbornly tried to keep his unruly tuft behind his ear with poor results, standing in front of a wall length mirror, his tongue sticking out between his lips and his brow furrowed in concentration.

"We really owe him a gift, though." the halfling sighed and Fearne giggled amusedly as she wrapped a beautiful, bright pink ribbon around the end of Opal's braid.

"Maybe next time we're on an adventure, we can bring something back for him." she suggested, her face lighting up as a soft smile curled up her lips.

"That's a good idea. But!" and the girl stood up from the dormeuse before declaring, hands on her hips and chest puffing out, "But now we must party and enjoy free alcohol and food, as our winged boy here suggested.".

"Yes!" the dwarf exclaimed and winked at her through the mirror, before returning to his previous task.

"Hey, do you need a hand with that?" Opal asked him as she walked over to his side. "I have some wax that'd do the work." she wiggled her eyebrows as she fished out a vial out of her high-heeled opalescent boots.

Dariax gasped as he eyed the vial, then nodded. "You're a lifesaver." he thanked her before Opal uncorked the vial and let him get some wax to do his hair properly.

The genasi jumped a little in his seat when Fearne craned her neck to look him in the eyes, then heaved out a relieved breath. He didn't even hear her approach, so lost in his thoughts as he was.

"Sorry, I didn't want to scare you, Dorian, but I was wondering…" she tapped her lower lip with a finger as she studied him. "Would you like a ponytail, perhaps? You'd look great in it." she smiled down at him as she unwrapped another ribbon from her own hair.

Dorian blinked in confusion, caught by surprise, before his gaze bounced back and forth between Fearne and the ribbon she was now holding.

"W-why not?" the genasi accepted in a weak tone as he shrugged his shoulders.

Fearne just chuckled at that, then waited for him to scoot forward with the armchair before positioning herself behind him. First, she began brushing and carding his hair with her fingers, letting some loose strands down to frame his sharp features. Afterwards, she carefully gathered lock by lock in her hands before lifting them up at the top of Dorian's head.

"You and Opal have the most beautiful hair, so soft." she admitted, her voice cheerful as she proceeded to secure the ponytail with the ribbon, and Dorian skeptically glanced at her, or tried to at that weird angle. Not that he didn't trust her friend's opinion, but it really never occurred to him before.

Fearne's milky white organza gown rustled softly as she clopped right in front of Dorian. "One last detail." she explained when Dorian frowned at her, not understanding why the faun was vigorously rubbing her palms, a sly grin playing on her lips as sparks of fire flickered at the friction.

Dorian was getting anxious, but that feeling was short lived, leaving room for wonder as soon as realization clicked in. Fearne's hands moved to the sides of his face, then curled the loose strands with her heated fingers and Dorian noticed that it wasn't hot at all. Magic was truly something.

Once she was finished, the faun clapped her hands, satisfied with her work. "You look amazing, my friend." she assured him, her smile softening.

"Wow." a raspy whisper caught Dorian's attention before he could reply to that and he darted his eyes in the direction of it, to his right. Dariax was watching him mouth agape and cheeks flushed, and Dorian wasn't even sure the dwarf was aware he was doing that in all honesty.

Dorian turned incredibly frustrated under that scrutiny and fidgeted in his seat as a suffocating heat spread across chest and down his belly.

"Go look for yourself." Fearne prompted him to stand up with a gentle pat on his shoulder.

Dorian slowly rose up on shaky legs and moved to stand before the wall length mirror. Okay, maybe he should've trusted his friends more, because he looked fine as fuck. He never considered himself a vain person, but, as he stared at his own reflection now, he must've admitted that that outfit highlighted his best body traits, starting with the dark blue high-waisted lace pants he was wearing, not much see-through per se but open to the sides in two slits and with incorporated shorts that ran down to his mid thighs. On his upper body, the loose peach gold chiffon top that wrapped at his middle in a silver waistband with some rhinestones and left his chest exposed, the massive flowy sleeves clung at his sides and made him look so dreamy. At his feet, his beloved winged boots.

Opal helped him with his makeup earlier but he had the chance to evaluate her work just then. She used a silver eyeliner on his eyelids, the ends as sharp as her knives, while she dusted some moonshine highlighter on his cheekbones, the tip of his nose, his pecs and under his eyebrows, following their natural curve.

After a long time spent admiring himself, he felt very observed and turned his head towards Fearne, who was still looking at him, her hands clasped together against her cheek as she smiled merrily like a mother proud of her son.

"Thank you, Fearne. It looks amazing." he told her in an earnest tone.

The faun chuckled delightedly in response, before stifling a snort as her eyes glanced away from him and Dorian quirked one eyebrow at that. Then, he heard frantic fumbling and a loud snap. He spun around and found the dwarf still there, yet turned a little to his side as if he was trying to hide something, his mouth was pressed in a thin line now while tips of his ears were as red as his face as he busied himself with the laces of his vest. Dorian didn't know what to do with that notion.

Once they were all ready, the group finally exited the room, walked down the hallway and crossed the threshold of the dance hall, just to immediately get lost among the swirling of robes and skirts and cloaks, the colorful reflections of the flames that shimmered down from big crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the chattering of voices that mixed with the soft music playing in the air, the tables full of delicacies.

That combination of visuals, sounds and smells rendered the five speechless.

"Okay, this may be a little too for us." Dariax murmured to the group after a pregnant pause, his lips pursed to the side hidden behind his hand. And the genasi couldn't agree more.

"We've been lucky that Mr. Gilmore warned us and let us go on a shopping trip before coming here." Orym pointed out as his keen eyes studied the surroundings, feeling even smaller than he was already.

"Yeah, but, I feel underdressed all the same." Opal whined in a pout, crossing her arms on her chest. "And I'm wearing a fuckin dress." she added as she ran her hands down on her big puffy tulle skirt.

“Where's the wine?" the faun asked out of the blue as she looked around, her ears eagerly perking up, and the group laughed.

"Hey, look, there's Fy'ra!" Opal exclaimed as she pointed with her index finger at her, who was already in the company of Shaun Gilmore himself and a man who presumably was his husband by the way he was circling his waist with one arm.

Orym scolded her about her manners, or lack of, but his words hardly affected her since she was trotting to Fy'ra, Fearne following suit.

He sighed hopelessly, before joining them together with Dorian and Dariax.

They all greeted and complimented each other for their attires, everyone but Orym immediately falling for Gilmore's charme once again and his husband laughed whole-heartedly at their behavior, saying that he fully understood them.

As much as he really wanted to blend in and forget about his previous worries, Dorian felt anxious and uncomfortable, also regretting his choice of outfit for the night since it would've certainly drawn attention to himself, but now it was too late, he would've dealt with it.

His current mood must've been as clear as the empty glass Gilmore was holding in his hand because he noticed Dariax sliding closer to him at some point while the rest of his friends were chatting amicably, and tilting his head up to look at him.

"You okay there, bud?" he asked him in a lower tone, his warm hues regarding him with concern.

Dorian wanted to lie, although it would've been useless. The dwarf could be... slow on the uptake sometimes, that was true, but he always understood when his friends were troubled and that was one of the things he liked the most about him, he was kind and thoughtful and cared dearly for the people he held close to his heart.

So, the genasi shook his head and bit the inner part of his cheek.

Dariax’s mouth twisted in a sad grimace upon his non-committal reply. "Alrighty, let's go grab some food, yeah?" he proposed, nudging him playfully on the thigh while showing a toothy smile.

Dorian quickly warned Orym before walking away with the dwarf to find something to eat among the many, almost too many set tables.

Dorian's uneasiness gradually dissipated thanks to the dwarf's presence. Since that moment he stayed with him the whole time, trying to draw a smile out of him and the genasi really appreciated his efforts.

The two were now standing at a table with any type of meat Dorian could imagine, Dariax was trying his hard to catch a chicken leg with a fork but it kept rolling and rolling and squishing away as oily and dripping with sauce as it was, so he gave up in the end and grabbed it by the bone. Dorian wanted to be grossed out by that, but honestly after what they've been through in the last months that was the least disgusting thing the dwarf had done involving food, or anything else really.

The genasi had to admit that Dariax really stood out in those clothes. As if he was just seeing him for the first time that night, he ranked him up and down with his gaze, taking advantage of his current distraction. The dwarf had chose a white blouse with puffed sleeves and flounce collar, his broad shoulders emphasized by.. now that he took a better look at it, Dorian noticed that it wasn't a vest, more like a corset garment that made him waist look slimmer, the velvety burgundy texture complementing his auburn hair while the golden embroideries on the hems made him look princely, somehow. On his lower half, he wore black tight trousers with a detachable wrap pleated skirt on its left side, at his feet a simple pair of dark brown leather boots.

Dariax was so… dashing.

"Want some?" the dwarf's voice brought him back to the present and Dorian felt himself blush guiltily upon being caught staring so openly. Or maybe Dariax didn't notice him at all, too focused on eating his well-earned chicken leg. The genasi really hoped it was the latter.

"Uhm, no. Actually, I'm not that hungry." he admitted in a sigh and saw Dariax's joyful mood shift a bit. Even though the dwarf was helping him a lot, anxiety was still swirling in his stomach, clutching at it, making him feel nauseous.

"But if you don't eat, you can't drink." Dariax reasoned, his half smirk slotting back on his face, and those words earned him an amused snort from Dorian. As if that ever stopped the dwarf, or anyone in their group, from getting smashed, yet Dorian knew what he was trying to do and was grateful for his patience and consistency.

"I know, but I don't think I can drink either, sorry." the genasi admitted, another sigh falling from his lips, and Dariax gazed up at him, slowly lowering the chicken leg.

Clearing his throat, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then his free hand reached out for Dorian's and that gesture made his heart skip a bit, or a few.

"I don't know what you're going through, but I think we should enjoy ourselves tonight, we deserve some funny time, don't we?" the dwarf squeezed his hand oh-so-gently as his eyes bored into his as he spoke. "You should enjoy yourself, relax, unwind, relieve some stress." another squeeze of hand and Dorian's heart quivered in his chest. "Nothing's gonna happen, and in any case, I'm here for you. You got a healer in heels next to you." he winked at him as he tapped one boot's heel against the other.

Dorian's whole face was flushed deep purple by the end of his speech and, albeit his frantic heartbeat echoing in his head, he nodded and smiled down at him. The dwarf's hand was so warm around his and his mind quickly drifted back to all those time they slept together on his bed roll, so close yet so far, as Dorian wanted to touch him and hold him and-

Dorian shook his head vehemently and swallowed around a lump in his throat.

At that distance, Dorian noticed that there was eyeshadow on Dariax's eyelids, smudged, of the color of charcoal, in strict contrast to the amber of his hues, making them shine even brighter under the lights of the chandeliers. In the inner part of the eye, a glint of gold that recalled his corset, while a bronze highlighter gleamed on his cheeks. Opal must've done his makeup, too.

The genasi found himself staring at Dariax a lot that night, clearly unable to stop himself as if magnetically drawn to him.

"And honestly, you're really missing out because this stuff is delicious. I don't know when another banquet like this will happen to us in the near future." Dariax added a few moments later, emphasizing his words by swinging the chicken leg he was still holding.

Dorian heaved out a breathy chuckle, rolling his eyes at the ceiling, more for the sake of tearing his gaze away from him than being actually annoyed by what he just told him. "Alright, you got me. No more convincing." he gave up in the end as he picked a clean plate and a fork, before wandering around the table with his look.

"That's my man!" Dariax grinned victoriously, then joined him in the food hunt.

As simple as it was, that praise made Dorian’s chest fill with warmth and affection.

"Thank you, buddy. You're amazing." the genasi said after a while, his voice soft now, and shot a glance at his side to catch Dariax's cheeks turning as red as his corset as he murmured something under his breath that Dorian couldn't quite catch. In that moment, he realized it was the second time that he inadvertently made the dwarf blush and he stopped in his movements as that thought crossed his mind. What did that mean?

Anyway, the two kept circling around the table while chatting and, since Dorian's stomach finally loosened up, he was able to eat something, too. When the genasi lifted his head in a heartfelt fit of laughter after that Dariax told one of his dumb jokes about the turkey wearing socks, his attention was caught by Opal who stood some feet away at another table, watching them with a cocky grin and an arched eyebrow.

His laughter quickly ended up in an awkward coughing as he blushed from his neck to the tips of his ears and the fact that Dariax hurriedly came to his help didn't help his situation. At all.

Two glasses of wine later that embarrassing accident, glasses that Dorian gulped down like a drowning man in the desert, eventually they split up because Dariax decided it was the right time to go and grab some stronger alcohol that wasn't just wine; in the meantime, Dorian found interest in the instruments the band was playing. Despite his eagerness, the dwarf didn't leave him until Dorian assured him he was feeling better so he could go without worrying about him.

When Dorian noticed that it was taking the dwarf a little too long to get their drinks, he searched for him with his eyes, just to find him standing between two individuals, who possibly were courting him if he didn't mistaken the way they both leaned close to him, offering him drinks as they smiled flirty down at him.

He felt a strange pang of.. jealousy awfully twisting his guts as his jaw tensed at that sight.

"Are you going to ask him or not?" Opal's face suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

Blanking out for a solid second, Dorian almost choked on his own tongue. "W-what?!" he cried in a shrill voice and immediately slapped a hand on his mouth.

The girl sighed deeply as she slowly shook her head in disappointment.

"To dance." Fearne replied from his other side on Opal's behalf and Dorian felt suddenly very cornered. "I bet he's dying to. Waiting for you to make a move. Can't you tell?" she tipped her head in a quizzical way as she eyed him.

The genasi's gaze frantically darted back and forth between the two. "I-I don't think that-" he then started babbling out, anxiety coming back at full force, but Opal cut him short with a huffy tsch.

"Please, you two have been circling around this for months, honestly. Now it's your chance to go get it." the girl pointed out as she nudged him with her hip and Dorian's heart started hammering erratically against his ribcage. What were they talking about just now?!

"Get what?!" he croaked out in a squeal and the faun's laugh only made him more miserable than he already felt.

Opal loudly gasped at that question as if she couldn't believe what she just heard. "Dorian, how oblivious can you be?!" she looked like she was that close to rip her own hair off her head for desperation or to choke him with her bare hands in an act of mercy and the genasi thought that he really didn't want to find out.

Thankfully, Fearne intervened once again. As she grabbed Opal's hand to soothe her outburst of anger, she smiled her benevolent smile at Dorian. "Dariax's been over the heels for you for like.. well, pretty much since we met I think?" she confessed in a pensive frown, then had to stifle an amused giggle when Dorian's mouth slacked open.

His head was spinning dizzily as his heart jumped up in his throat, his hands were shaking as he brought one of them to scratch at his neck in a foolish attempt to calm his nerves. He was pretty much freaking out at that point, he'd never actually noticed anything that-

Wait.

Oh gods.

"I'm a fucking idiot!" he yelled as he smacked both his hands on his forehead, and the two girls tried to not make fun of him, just to fail miserably.

"Now that you're caught up, do yourself a favor and <i>go</i>." and with Opal's words ringing in his ears, he was being pushed by Fearne and the girl herself toward the dwarf, still at the same table.

And suddenly, he was in the middle of the dance hall, his knees wobbling as his heart was trying so desperately to break free from his chest. He wanted to hide. He felt.. irremediably stupid. How could he be so blind?!

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. In retrospect, above all the things that had happened between them in the past months, Dorian realized that the dwarf had been looking at him the whole night with such a look in his eyes, something deeper concealed behind his usual fondness that he reserved for his friends.

He was getting itchy. If he wanted to act, he needed to do it now.

Mustering every ounce of courage he had in his body, the genasi walked the last steps that separated him from Dariax at last.

He cleared his throat way too loudly to be spontaneous, interrupting whatever was happening between the dwarf and those two strangers. He didn't even spare them a single glance as he stared at Dariax, who was visibly surprised by his antics.

Dorian straightened up, before bowing a little with his upper body, his left arm folded behind, as he outstretched his other, unsteady hand towards him.

"Dariax, m-may I have this dance?" the genasi asked in a solemn voice that cracked a little at the end, feeling heat rising up on his cheeks the longer he hoped for an answer. He gulped as a bead of sweat glided down his temple, his heart beating so fast right now that Dorian felt like it could stop at any moment.

And Dariax was looking at him like he held the entire world in his hands and the genasi felt himself burn from the inside out under that intensity, his hazel hues gone wide and round in complete shock, his thick eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

There was a moment of terrible, utter silence. Then, the dwarf let go of his drink, which fell and spilled on the floor, and that noise made a few heads turn in their direction while the two individuals jumped back from him. But Dorian couldn't care less as Dariax's trembling hand clutched tight around his as a happy, dazzling smile bloomed on his lips.

"Of course." he replied in a whisper, hesitant yet fast, like he'd been waiting for that question all night but couldn't believe he just got asked.

Fingers intertwined, they sauntered over the center of the dance hall to stand in front of each other like the rest of the people didn't exist.

Dorian's yearning turned out to be pretty much useless since Dariax shared his feelings and he could plainly see it now, written all over the dwarf's face as he hadn't stopped beaming up at him since he accepted his invite.

The genasi had never danced with someone that much shorter than him, or had much experience with balls in general, but they would've managed nonetheless.

They were holding hands, both their arms stretched outward in the liminal space between them as they looked into each other's eyes, full of emotions. Dorian thought he was going to faint here and there from how tense he felt, he was anxious for a totally different reason now.

Then, their feet started moving on their own and the music grew louder and louder, their bodies following the rhythm as they met halfway, their hands locking in the right positions as much as their heights would allow.

"I didn't know you could dance." Dorian said, genuinely delighted by that discovery, as they turned and spinned, completely lost in the music, in each other.

Dariax chuckled, his cheeks flushing again upon that compliment and the genasi had to stop himself from acting on the thoughts that image elicited in his mind. "Me neither." the dwarf admitted as he shrugged his shoulders.

Dorian snorted amusedly, before tightening his grasp on Dariax.

They kept waltzing, staring at each other, smiling brightly, moving freely. They kept waltzing, fingertips brushing on clothes, hands grasping, wanting for more. They kept waltzing, their looks promising.

And Dorian never felt so happy in his life.

[pink-imagines]

star city

request: may I request a todoroki x fem!reader where shes a volunteer or sum for the hospital where deku, iida, and Todo are at after the fight with stain, and one night she's tasked with bringing them dinner but midoriya and iida are already asleep and for todoboi it's kinda love at first sight? 🥺🥺 if not it's totally fine! thanks!

a/n: hope this is okay! i kind of like how it turned out but i rushed it too much!!

warnings: mentions of scars

masterlist

requesting rules

When you walked into the room you had to keep yourself from screaming. There were UA students in the hospital room! More importantly, students who had gotten amazing scores at the tournament! You looked at the room number, to make sure that you were actually in the right room - which you were.  You had no idea what had happened to them, only that they were severly injured and that you were supposed to bring them food. But when you walked in you saw that thy were all sleeping soundly in their beds. The curtains were open, showing the skyline and the many lights that were still on in the city. They kind of resembled the stars that you couldn’t see in Tokyo, because of the pollution, and you smiled to yourself. You looked back at the boys and thn at the window again. They probably don’t want the sun to wake them up tomorrow... so you decided to close the curtains as quietly as you could. When you turned around you faced the boy with the split dyed hair. Todoroki Shoto, Endeavour’s youngest son. If you remembered correctly he had gotten second place in the tournament... but that’s not what intrigued you the most about him. It was probably because of the fight he had with the green haired boy laying in the bed next to him that made you look up to him as you did. Of course you didn’t know why he had never used the fire part of his quirk, but you could tell it was a big deal to him when he finally did.

You looked up at the boy’s face, at the scar. To think that someone around the same age as you could already be scarred so deeply, not only physically. He scrunched his nose slightly as a few strands of hair had fallen into his eyes. Without thinking you reached your hand up to his face and brushed his hair away from his forehead, making sure to not touch the scar incase it was sensitive. Suddenly his eyes fluttered open at your soft touch and you were about to pull your hand away but his grabbed your wrist. You looked at the big difference between his big rough hands and your small, slightly shaky, hands. He just stared at you without saying a word which only made you more flustered than you already were. “Sorry, I was just trying to brush the hair out of your eyes. I didn’t mean to wake you up...”, you stammered out. “I wasn’t asleep.”, he said, still not letting go of your wrist, “... you’re not the nurse we saw earlier.” “No, I’m just an intern... I came to give you food but it seems like everyone’s asleep.”, you looked at the other two. He let go of your wrist and looked around for a bit, as if he were thinking about what to say next. It was cute to see that such a powerful person would be hesitant about what to say to you. “I could eat.”, he looked at you again. You hummed and nodded, and with quick steps you brought him his food. When he started eating you made your way to the door, expecting he wanted some privacy. “Could you-”, he stopped you with his voice, “Could you sit with me for a while?” In shock, you looked over at him -  his face was red and you tried your best to hold in your laughter.  “Yeah, sure.”, you nodded and smiled at him reassuringly.

You brought a chair over to his bed and sat down next to him. Surprisingly he looked more peaceful now than when he was asleep, but you assumed that was because he was only pretending. “I saw you at the tournament.”, you said quietly as you fidgetted with your fingers, “You’re Todoroki, right?” “Shoto.”, he corrected. “Shoto...”, you said, feeling weird to call someone by their first name when you had just met them, “... you did amazing, either way.” “Thank you.”, he said and kept his focus on the food, making it clear for you that you’d have to keep the conversation going unless you wanted to sit in awkward silence. “I go to UA too.”, you said, “Not the hero course, but still.” “The hero course isn’t the only good thing at UA.”, he said and finally looked at you, “And you seem to be doing good things, so that’s all that counts.” “I guess you’re right.”, you nodded. He looked over at the window, which was now covered by the curtains. “Why did you close the curtains?”, he asked and turned back his focus to his food. “The sun comes up there, I didn’t want it to wake you up.”, you said and he hummed in response, “Why? Do you want me to open them?” “If you could.”, he shrugged, “It feels kind of like we’re trapped in here without being able to see the outside.” You winced slightly, not that he noticed, at the fact that you had done something wrong. So you quickly opened the curtains again and watched him as he looked in awe at the city lights. “It’s sad that we can’t see any stars.”, the two of you said at the same time. You looked at one another with burning hot cheeks and then looked away again. “... thank you for the food.”, he murmured as you took the empty tray from him. “No problem.”, you smiled at him and put the tray away. “I never got your name.”, he said suddenly. “Y/L/N Y/N.”, you said but then remembered that you got to call him by his first name, “I guess you can call me Y/N.” “Alright, Y/N.”, he said calmly and looked out of the window again. You shouldn’t do it... you really shouldn’t... but he looked like a bird trapped in a cage, just waiting to get to spread his wings again. Nobody should be here around now... “Do you want to go up to the roof?”, you asked quietly. “We can do that?”, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. Your heart skipped a beat as he said “we”, instead of “I” or “you”. “Yeah.”, you showed him your badge which brought you access to most of the doors in the hospital, “Only for a short time, though.”

The two of you snuck around the hospital corridors until you found the staircase that lead to the roof. “I like to go here during my breaks.”, you said in a hushed voice as you unlocked the door to the staircase, “You can see the city a lot better than from your window.” Shoto hummed in response, making you break into a smile which you quickly hid by looking away from him. He wasn’t very talkative but his ways of showing that he was listening to you when you spoke had to be the cutest things you’ve ever heard. You never thought that someone who looked so serious in a battle, and had the background that he had, would be acting in a way that sent butterflies to your stomach. “Let’s go.”, you said and started walking up the stairs, but quickly noticed he had some trouble with it, “Does it hurt? Should I help you?” “I think I can handle it-”, he tripped back but you quickly grabbed his arm. “You have to be careful...”, you scolded him with a sigh, “... c’mon, let me help you up to your feet.” He looked at you with big eyes, as if he had never recieved help before. You held onto one of his arms as he grabbed the rail to stabalize himself. “We shouldn’t go up if it’s gonna hurt you.”, you said quietly, “I’m sorry, this was a really dumb idea...” “No.”, he muttered, “It’ll be fine just... just keep your hand there.” If you weren’t completely delusional you could see his ears had a red tint to them. Though you weren’t sure if he was really flustered since he had turned his head away from you. Either way, you had your right arm wrapped around his and your left hand supporting his back. You were trying your hardest to not think about the way his back muscles moved under your hand, even if he was wearing a hoodie on top of his hospital gown. Those kind of thoughts would’ve been very unproffessional... then again what you were doing right now was also very unproffessional... you didn’t have much time to think about it as you were already up the stairs. “There you go.”, you patted him on the back and immediately cringed at your action. You had gotten so used to helping the older patients in the hospital that you had forgotten how to function like a normal human being. He chuckled at your exclamation which only made you more flustered. “You’re not hurting are you? We can go back if you want to.”, you let go of his arm. “I’m fine, let’s go outside.”, he smiled gently at you. His smile made you feel something you don’t think you had felt before. Shoto didn’t seem to smile a lot so you felt a certain way once he finally did. You opened the door with your keycard and stepped outside in the chilly autumn night air, holding the door open for him to walk through. He took a deep breath of fresh air, well as fresh as it could get in the city. Honking horns and carwheels against the asfalt sounded even louder now that you were outside. “This is nice...”, he commented quietly, you almost didn’t catch it. “You can’t see any stars but it’s still pretty.”, you said, “... and the lights in alll of those windows kind of looks like stars.” You didn’t know why you were able to speak so freely with him but it all came so natural with Shoto. Once again he hummed at your statement, with probably the most serious face you had ever seen. You looked at his face, as if you’d never see it again up close. His eyes were looking around the rooftop and his lips were rosy... why were you staring at his lips? You quickly looked away and Shoto started walking towards the edge of the building. You walked with him, your eyes falling to your hands which you were fiddling with.  “It’s pretty.”, he nodded, “Thank you for bringing me here. It was getting pretty crowded in that room.” “No problem.”, you smiled, “I guess you won’t get to go up here for the rest of your stay...” “... why not?”, he tore his eyes away from the view to look at you. “I’m going back to school tomorrow.”, you said and looked up at him, “Maybe I’ll see you there, but I’m sure you’re busy so-” “No I’m not.”, he said, almost too quickly. “Oh, well then we can see each other maybe?”, you asked slowly, “Only if you want to, of course...” “I’d like that.”, he nodded and looked back at the view, but you noticed him sneaking glances in the corner of his eyes. “Great.”, you smiled to yourself and looked out to the city, “You know, I’ve only just met you but it feels different with you.” You crouched down and moved a bit closer to the edge of the building. Usually you’d never go close to the edge of a building without a railing but you felt surprisingly safe. “Different how?”, you felt his eyes on you as your breath created a white cloud when it left your mouth. “I don’t know...”, you looked up at him and met his eyes, “Guess I’ll have to find out.” Your eyes closed as you smiled, so you never got to see the way his eyes lit up - and it was way too dark to see his reddened cheeks. He hummed again and you let out a chuckle as you looked back to the city. You sat down with your legs crossed on the cold ground and patted next to you for him to sit down, which he did. “You haven’t asked about my life...”, he said suddenly. “Hm? What do you mean?”, you looked over at him. “You know... about my father, my quirk, my...”, he motioned around his scar, “... this. Usually people ask about that sort of stuff after a while...” “They do?”, you furrowed your eyebrows together, “Isn’t that kind of rude?” “It’s not like they care.”, he scoffed. God... you loved the way he smiled, even if it was in this context. You’d probably be just as deligthed every single time the corners of his mouth lifted up. “... they should care.”, you said and peeled your eyes away from his lips to look him in the eyes, “You’re a human being afterall, you care.” You felt like you were stating the obvious, and maybe he’d look at you with eyes that said “yeah, I know that”, but his smile didn’t falter. Something got stuck in your throat and you so badly wanted to scream it out.  “I guess you’re right.”, he nodded and looked at you with a certain look in his eyes which you couldn’t pin point, but you knew you liked it, “You’re good with words.” “You think?”, you blurted out with a laugh. “Better than me.”, he looked out to the city, smile still on his lips. He had been smiling for a while now, usually it faded with time but you were glad that it didn’t this time. “You don’t have to be good with words, you’ll probably become one of the top heroes in Japan.”, you said quietly. “Yeah... but that’s all I’m good at.”, his smile turned into a melancholy one and your heart stung at the site. “... you were pretty good at making me feel less stressed tonight, you know?”, you said, “I think that’s a talent... being able to make people happy with your presence.” He looked over at you, giving you that look you couldn’t figure out again, and tilted his head slightly to the side. “You’re being really nice to me.”, he muttered, “... thanks.” “I’m just returning the favor.”, you chuckled and looked down at your hands, “We should get you back to your room now, though...”

The next day you didn’t have to wake up extremely early to get to work, that was your last day. Even though you had only talked with Shoto for one day he filled your brain to the brim. You couldn’t even focus on your breakfast. And the next day at school was even worse... in fact school was horrible, knowing that you can one day bump into him. You should’ve asked for his number...

The days passed, and after a week you saw him in the hallways. You were about to take another route to your classroom, as you felt very unprepared to talk to him, but he had already spotted you. His eyebrows raised slightly and a small smile formed on his lips. You felt everyone’s eyes on you, jealous and surprised, as he walked up to you. “Hi.”, he said quietly. “Hey...”, you returned his small smile, “... you’re feeling all better, I hope?” “Yeah, I’m fine.”, he nodded, “I forgot to give you my number so... here.” He gave you a note with his number on it and you looked at it with big eyes. The fact that people’s eyes were burning holes into your skin didn’t help your flustered face. “I was just about to hand it to your classmate, actually.”, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, “You’re surprisingly hard to find.” “You’ve been looking for me?”, you asked. “Just for a few days.”, he shrugged. “Oh... I’m sorry for not trying to find you.” “Why are you apologising?”, he chuckled, “I have to go... but make sure to put my number in your phone and um... text me?” “For sure.”, you nodded a bit too enthusiastically than you wanted, “... and um... make sure to take care of yourself, Shoto.” “Of course, now I don’t have a reason to go to the hospital afterall.”, he smiled and started walking away, “I’ll see you soon.”

- 

permanent taglist: @theoceanphoenixhasrisen | @raven-r0ses | @darkbeautyswife | @sondering-thoughts | @gowoneandonlyone | @bnhabadass | @queenblackcat | @jayetheanimefreek101 | @witchy-anna | @cutest-celestial-princess | @missymysa | @karebear5118 | @weebartistinc | @crystal-lilac |

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Rough Night

Bucky Barnes x (f)werewolf reader

Summary: Your life is already so weird, thankfully Bucky loves you through it all.

Warning: fluff, reader being a sass master w/ no filter

side note: couldn’t think of any cool avenger powers and then brain went werewolf so here we are

Masterlist

If you had a dollar for every time you’d ended up in the woods with ripped clothes and no shoes, well, let’s just say you could probably afford a real nice two bedroom apartment in some real pleasantly fancy building with a great view and all. Too bad green doesn’t just rain down from the sky every time the full moon comes round to knock you back into another world of blurry confusion.

You won’t lie to yourself, being what you are is strange and not very common in the slightest, obviously. It’s even weirder that you weren’t bitten one night and turned just like that, oh no, all passed down through the bloodline of other strange relatives. So you’re gifted with the curse, forced to inevitably change into a furry beast every single full moon, so what you’re still a mostly pleasant individual.

Well luckily for you, being born with the gift does happen to have its perks which do come in handy. For instance, you’re incredibly strong, quick on your feet, and have heightened senses, plus the ability to shift on command. It’s not all bad, well......most of the time.

Honestly you truly thought life couldn’t get much stranger for you and your whole hidden secretive situation, until low and behold some random red head found your little hideaway in a remote mountain side village far off in the Himalayas.

Everything was completely fine and under control and then BAM, she showed up with some important documents and something called an Avengers initiative and well shit, guess some time spent with the real world couldn’t hurt. I mean come on, some more friends seemed like a nice idea and uh, somehow they knew who you were so too late to run and hide.

Also at the time, considering you lived like a recluse on the edge of the village and of course for good reason, but damn if the red head didn’t just hand you an open invitation for some real adventure. Who were you to say no?

Fortunately for you, all seemed to go in your favor and fantastically enough, they had a nice big strong cell for you on nights when the wolf was inevitably bound to come out. A fridge full of plentiful snacks, a training room to lay off some steam, and a big safe and secure room all your own. It was perfect. Only problem was, there happened to be a very attractive and very wary of you super soldier who undoubtedly caught your attention.

How could you not, he smelled divine, muscles for days, thick thighs that could make a girl swoon, and he just seemed like the best goddamn hugger alive. Okay listen, maybe you were touch starved and deprived of human affection but dammit if your little monster heart didn’t skip a beat every time he was near you.

And yes, the few months it took to get him to crack was just down right torturous. But with some coaxing from Steve and encouragement from Sam, the winter soldier at long last did talk to you. Turned out he thought you were scared of him all along, how hilariously ironic you thought when he told you that.

But as time progressed and you both opened up more and more, a blossoming relationship sprouted forth, eventually evolving and manifesting into a big beautiful flower called love. Cheesy yes, but you couldn’t have dreamed of anything better.

And seriously, he wasn’t freaked out about your whole hidden hush hush secretive gift that usually either goes in your favor or ends up causing you major legal trouble. The man himself, Bucky Barnes, thought you were a marvel to behold, so odd and fantastic that he couldn’t stay away even if he tried.

And for that you could love him forever, especially now after a full moon while you’re out in the middle of nowhere. Hoping that the team will send your hundred year old boyfriend out to find you in the brisk dark morning after a grand unrememberable adventure. Which would be very nice of course, considering you have not a damn clue what you’ve done.....or where you are.

Cracking your back, you stretch your hands up to the dawning sky as a tired yawn escapes you. It’s been a long night and you look like a wild woman with your hear a fluffy nest and your clothes ripped in various unrevealing places thankfully.

Your surroundings are simply trees and small scraggly bushes, green grass underneath your bare feet and a small stream flowing in the near distance. With a second to listen, you can hear a highway a couple miles away to the east, guess that’s a start.

Rubbing your eyes you set out in that direction for about twenty minutes before a blue and gold Mercedes comes into view from the side of a country back road, it stops when you guess the driver spotted you from the tree line. Keeping a wary eye on the fancy sports car, you keep walking towards it until a figure gets out and leans against the passengers side door all cool and casual, then on further inspection you realize the driver is Bucky.

Yes! My knight in shining armor is here!

Trudging through the grassy field in the dewy morning light, he watches your every move, eyes crinkling in amusement as you come to stand a couple feet in front of him. Undoubtedly looking a bit wild, and very tired as you fold your arms underneath each other, giving your dark haired lover a shy almost fangy smile.

“I know I look like a hot mess.” You mutter with a shrug, biting your lip as you dart your eyes to the fields behind him, slightly embarrassed of the current disheveled state you’re in.

Bucky smirks before pushing himself off the car and engulfing you into a big Bucky bear hug to your pleasant surprise, “Y/N I’m just glad you’re okay and nothing bad happened to you.” He mumbles into your shoulder as you press yourself closer to him, letting yourself have this wonderful moment to relax and feel at ease.

Slowly pulling back to look up at him, you smile, “Aww Buck you were worried about me?”

He returns the grin, leaning down to press his head flush against yours, “We all were, me more then anyone else of course...and maybe for the general civilians nearby.”

You laugh nervously, “Oh right, yeah. Well hey, I didn’t destroy anyone's car this time. I think I’ve made progress.”

He pauses for a brief moment indicating he’s not sure if he should tell you something and this does make you nervous before Bucky finally lets out a little laugh, “You ate a whole cow Y/N.”

Snorting in surprise you quickly pull your head from Bucky’s, “What? Did I? Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Yeah, uh I wish.” He admits with a casual reassuring squeeze to your arm, “We tracked you with Sam’s suit tech, yunno Red Wing, and uh....you seemed to be having fun.”

Mentally and just about physically cringing at yourself, you purse your lips together in slight embarrassment, “Shit. Was it gross?” You ask, making a face that causes him to chuckle.

“A little.” Adds Bucky with another casual shrug to make you feel less terrible.

“Is the farmer going to see everything, I mean shit they’re gonna be so pissed.” You worry, biting your lip anxiously as you break eye contact from him. “Why am I like this.”

“Uh, that’s not going to be a problem.” Inquires Bucky causing you to find his blue eyes once again.

Eying him up suspiciously you raise a brow, “And why’s that.....Bucky what did I do?”

Taking a breath he gives you a small apprehensive smile, “Y/N...you uh, kind of ate......everything.”

“I what?” I did not! No way, right?

Giving you a quick kiss on the cheek he smiles affectionately, “I’m going to be honest with you here it looked like a kid with a piece of cake who has no impulse control, and loves cake....like a lot.....Rodney almost puked.”

Rolling your eyes you fake glare at him, “Oh god who all watched my little horror show?”

“Mostly everyone.”

“Jesus.”

“It’s like a car crash Y/N, we don’t want to watch but we can’t look away. Sorry doll.” He confesses apprehensively, though honest and sincere knowing you do feel bad for what you do when out of it.

“No.” You say honestly, pausing for a moment, “It’s fine. Seriously Buck, I’m just relieved you guys keep taps on me while I’m out, god knows I can’t help what I do and where I go. It’s nice to have people making sure I don’t injure any innocent bystander.”

“Yeah I guess so huh...alright Y/N/N,” Chirps Bucky with a beaming grin as he attempts to shift the mood to a less dull one, “let’s get out of here, I mean unless you want to sniff around the place for awhile...it is a nice forest over there and all but I guess we can stay and I’ll let you...”

“Alright Barnes, can-it or maybe I’ll bite you.” You tease with a playful squeeze of his bicep before breaking out of his strong grasp.

“Depends on the context maybe I’d enjoy it.” Adds Bucky sarcastically, side eying you with a half smile as you move to open the car door.

Shaking your head in playful disapproval you lightly shove him aside, “Believe me you wouldn’t.”

——

The ride back to the Avengers base or headquarters or facility, who the hell knows at this point, was actually quite smooth and peaceful. Then again you fell asleep as soon as Bucky made it onto the highway, and continued to catch a much needed nap for the next hour ride home.

No one ever said you were easy alright, but let’s be real, Bucky would let you put him through anything and he’d be happy about it.

After parking and walking down the sidewalk past some early morning trainees catching a run, the two of you made it into the Avengers official HQ where all your rooms and other luxury’s are located. But of course not before walking past the facilities giant living space and huge kitchen.

Just keep looking forward, keep walking, walk faster you idiot!

“Y/N!” Shouts Sam in that stupidly peppy obnoxious early morning voice of his, no doubt gaining the attentions of Steve and Natasha who are seated at the kitchens bar talking about some mission report.

Pausing in the large doorway that’s not giving you or Bucky a whole lot of hiding space, you take a deep breath before turning to acknowledge him, “You’d think people would be sleeping considering it’s only six in the morning.”

Chuckling, Sam raises his protein shake, “Weird,” He says while giving you a knowing smirk, “we missed you during training this morning.”

Nat and Steve conceal their amusement as you simply roll your eyes, “Yeah well it was a long night.” You mutter unenthusiastically, earning the tiniest laugh from Bucky which causes you to throw him a glare. Knocking that smile right off of his handsome stubbly face.

“Well we got all these shakes here if you two love birds want one. Hate to have em go to waste.” Adds the smiling man with a nod, if he doesn’t just love seeing you looking like shit. No Sam I do not accept this invitation for you to tell me how crazy I look.

Sam means well of course, but damn he loves teasing you in front of Bucky for a fun reaction out of him. And it’s kind of working, but not on Bucky.

“It’s fine Y/N, you don’t have to have one if you don’t want to.” Calls Natasha before taking a sip from her mug. “Just ignore Sam, he’s been annoying since the gym.”

Before Sam’s even able to speak you quickly narrow your eyes at him, holding up a finger before making hasty steps across the room. Stopping right in front of him, “Give it.” You deadpan.

Brows raised in surprise he glances from a confused Bucky, then back to you again, “Listen I only made so much, Y/N this is my breakfast okay you can’t just...”

Ignoring his rushed rambling you pull out the whole glass blender full of protein shake before taking a step back as the whole room goes quiet, then never breaking eye contact you heartily drink up the whole entirety of its cold contents without missing a beat. Yeah, definitely needed that.

After you’re finished you lick your lips in satisfaction, taking a step closer towards a speechless Sam as you set the blender back in its place. Giving him a satisfied smirk before walking back over to Bucky where you tug on his jacket to follow you down the hall and away from everyone else.

Sometimes you can’t help but be a little dramatic.

——

Laying sprawled out on yours and Bucky’s giant mattress, you stare up at the ceiling as he folds your clean and freshly scented laundry, your mind swirling with thoughts of what duties you have to be apart of today. Blah, work.

Sighing gently you glance at Bucky to see if he heard you, not getting anything from him you sigh again with more grandeur this time. Nothing. Rolling your eyes you suck in a deep breath before practically soft yelling out your exhale like the dramatic little beast you are.

Glancing over to Bucky, you watch as he turns around to put some of your pants away in a drawer. Okay then, that’s how it’s gonna be. Quickly sitting up, you smirk a devilish grin before silently reaching over to pick up a small pillow, once in hand you don’t think twice before launching it at full speed directly headed for the back of his head.

But before your decently soft projectile can smack his precious flowing locks does a metal arm swiftly reach up to catch it mid flight. Oh, shit. Bucky’s head turns to you, brow raised at you before tucking the pillow underneath his arm, and going back to his usual domestic duties for the day.

Okay, killer of fun Mr. James Buchanan Barnes.

Frustrated from lack of a reaction out of him, you stand up on the bed like a warrior about to give a great battle cry. Eyeing his cute butt up for a moment, you smirk once again before launching a sneak attack pillow right for his head. It sails magnificently across the room before a metal hand stops it in its place. 

Well, shit.

This time he gives you a proper look, full of mischief and a new profound playfulness that sends an excited thrill throughout your entire being. As fast as one of Thor’s lightening bolts does the pillow soar in your direction, but conveniently for you he’s forgotten just how quick you can really be. This is just what you wanted.

Dodging to the left you watch in almost slow motion as the fluffy cloth just misses your face, instead opting to smack against the back wall with a loud thud. Snapping your attention back to Bucky he narrows his blue eyes at you suspiciously while you let out an admittedly scary villainous chuckle.

Let’s party my love.

He hands you a smirk right before shifting his body to the right, arm cocked back and thrust forward just as quickly, launching his second pillow attack without an ounce of mercy. You see it coming a mile away and as graceful as a dancer do you flip off the bed, landing perfectly on the carpeted floor just as the pillow smacks hard against the door. Thwack!

Slowly standing, eyeing him up like a lioness to her prey, you give him a satisfied smile, “Missed.” You tease.

Letting out a breathy laugh, Bucky takes a cautious step in your direction as he tests the waters, “Y/N what are you doing?”

“Getting your attention you ass.”

Chuckling he takes another step forward, “Was I ignoring you?” Duh, that’s why I, oh wait he’s playing you.

“Well you certainly weren’t doing anything interesting.” You sass as he steps again closer, this time about an arms length away.

The corners of his eyes crinkle in amusement, “Okay that’s fair, but was the pillow really necessary?” He asks, though his tone is still humorous.

Not falling for his alluring charm you tilt your head to the side, a knowing smile breaking out across your face as he tries to register what your true intentions are. “Yes, and so is this.” You quip before dropping to the floor for a side sweep of his legs, in an instant he’s on the ground and looking wide eyed up at you.

God he looks beautiful. No, focus.

“Y/N!” He whines breathlessly, brows furrowed as he holds himself up by his elbows, “Now you’re gonna get it!”

Taking a quick step back you snort, “Oh really now?”

And he’s fallen for the plan.

“Yes, and when I get you, you won’t be laughing anymore.” He grumbles, trying to keep himself from laughing as well.

“Alright then hot stuff try and bring me down.” You snap back playfully as he rises to his feet, “First one pinned has to run with Sam later, and we both know how much fun he is to run with.”

Bringing his arms up into a defensive position he readies himself for an attack, “Yeah, I’d rather not be his jogging buddy today. I mean it is raining outside, but I know you’d look real nice after a wet run.” Teases Bucky with a smirk.

“Touché you smartass.” His lips twitch into a grin as you ready your own stance. “Now let’s dance.”

[yourwildsimp]

Typically

This makes many references to No Regrets (an insight on Levi before he enrolled in the Scouts.) I also tried a new writing style, so please, give me feedback!

includes: Erwin, Levi

warnings: alcoholic themes, depression, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), mentions of suicidal thoughts/actions

length: 2,028 words

•°•°•°•

Erwin Smith was typically content in his mattress by 10:30, praying to whatever gods that may (or may not) be out there that his slumber would be blissful and refreshing. He typically knew of his subordinates' locations and their relative mental states this late into any given night. He typically had most of his paperwork signed and stacked into a neat, organized pile.

Though tonight, as trepidation rolled over him in slow, progressing waves, Erwin Smith was neither content nor situated in a well-put-together office. He did not know where the Captain was or when the elusive man would return. He did not know beforehand that multiple contracts would need the Captain's signature. Hell, Erwin did not know if Levi could even write in cursive. At the moment, he did not know a lot of things.

Erwin wasn't exactly enthusiastic about experiencing these feelings of troubling uncertainty.

The dense thud of staggering boots on the half-rotted wooden flooring impeded Erwin's vexing thoughts. Moving from his spot by the window that overlooked the training grounds, he hastily stalked towards his office door. Yet as his fingertips were mere inches from the handle, the door slammed open, catching the Commander off guard.

Erwin back-stepped as no one other than Levi himself lost his footing from kicking the door open. The door frame was the only thing that aided Levi's attempt at steadying his balance; Erwin was far too focused on darting his bewildered eyes over Levi's condition.

Was the blunt and foul-mouthed Levi Ackerman. . . Drunk?

No, that couldn't be right. The man despised everything about alcohol: the lasting effects, the heavy smell, the noxious health problems. Every time the Corps tried to get Levi to drink, he had remarked about booze being nothing more than poison marketed as a miracle tonic. But, what else could explain the unfocused eyes that were typically sharp and observant or the swaying small frame that was typically nimble and composed?

"Have you been drinking, Levi? You look terrible."

The vicious scowl Erwin received told him that the way he worded his concern was extremely misinterpreted.

"Oh, fuck you, jackass. Not everyone can look like a shining star, Smith." Levi's words were unnaturally slurred, further proving what Erwin refused to accept. "Get outta my way and let me in."

Erwin cautiously stepped to the side- as he'd rather keep this peculiar sight to himself and spare the Captain's dignity. Levi's shoulder shoved against Erwin's bicep as he stumbled into the Commander's office. A snarl remarking Erwin's height was woven into the tense atmosphere of the room.

"Where have you been?" Erwin asked as he gently shut the door, keeping an apprehensive gaze on Levi.

He simply received a distracted scoff. Erwin took a deep breath before he huffed out of his nose. He watched as Levi fumbled through various unlocked drawers in search of who-knows-what.

"Levi-"

"Where's your Devil's water, Smith?" Erwin narrowed his eyes in confusion before Levi, belligerently, elaborated. "Your liquor, dip-shit. Where have you stashed it?"

Erwin pressed his lips into a thin line before he offered a calculated answer, "I don't hide alcohol in my office." A spiteful string of obscenities left Levi's swollen lips, the drunk balling his fist tight by his sides. "Liar! You're a filthy deceiver, you know that? You're worth less than the shit in the stables! A sleaze bag from the Underground would be more helpful than you!"

Erwin paused, studying Levi like Hange would study a Titan. "Are you okay, Levi?" He knew the question was redundant the moment the words left his lips.

“Fuck!” Levi yelled, tugging on his already loose cravat. “Am I okay? What kind of bullshit question is that? Hell, my uncle used to tell me that life’s like a toilet paper roll; you’re either on a roll or taking shit from some asshole- and you know what? You’re that asshole, Smith!”

"Be careful of the open window, Levi," Erwin warned, as polished and unwavering as ever. His indifference to the slew of insults and profanities made Levi's blood boil.

Erwin only moved closer when the Captain disregarded his warning and continued to near the dangerously open casement. Erwin tuned out the vulgarities that were continuously hurled at him with an intense enmity, the gears clicking together in his head.

There was a chance Levi's destination was through the window- a chance Erwin was not willing to take.

"What are you doing? You're going to fall out," Erwin said more forcefully.

The change in the Commander's tone didn't seem to phase Levi, who was resting his forearms on the window sill. As Levi's weight shifted to his unstable upper body, Erwin could feel his heartbeat pounding in his throat, temples, fingertips- everywhere except his chest.

Levi went quiet, his drunken tantrum utterly forgotten as childlike wonder filled his eyes. In the moment of calm after the storm, Erwin couldn't fail to notice that Levi looked so much younger when he wasn't so pent up. The Captain was significantly more demonstrative when he was intoxicated; and may it be good or bad, Erwin was content with Levi seeming mortal.

"He used to hate heights, and she smoked him for it," Levi broke the moment of silence with hardly a whisper. "It was all a game to her."

Erwin's features, which were glazed over with faux insouciant, didn't match the curious gaze he studied Levi with. He stood inert, fearful of scaring Levi into a diligent silence or another aggressive episode. Erwin didn't ask for extensive details, nor did he implore Levi to move away from the window again. He simply waited, having an idea of what was plaguing his inebriated soldier's mind.

"You know, when you found me, we were heading to get a job done," Levi spoke so softly that Erwin felt the need to hold his breath to hear him properly.

The Commander took Levi's brief pause as an opening to speak, despite having nothing to say. "Is that so?"

Levi exhaled something grim; something that nearly sounded like an empty chuckle. "Yeah, Smith, it is."

Levi ignored how Erwin wearily moved closer as he adjusted himself further out of the window. The Captain relished in a twisted feeling of pride knowing that he could make his superior jump to aid him, that he could make the man twitch with such a deep sense of uneasiness- so much so that it shone in his perceptive blue eyes.

"Levi, get away from-"

"He was so nervous for the mission, despite it being so. . . " Levi swayed his hand through the night air, searching for the right word after cutting Erwin, and his concerns, off. "So pointless," is what he settled for.

"It was just a run-through," he huffed out a sigh, "check the brothel for any kids, start trouble if there were. Then, haul ass to the surface to get the brats to somewhere safer. Simple, right?"

Erwin swallowed, his gaze settling on Levi's reflection in the mirror.

"But, something always has to fuck me over," Levi spat with a clenched jaw, capturing the window sill in an iron grip. "Isn't that right?! You simply adore dancing all of your puppets around until they can't take it anymore- but you don't stop, do you?!" Levi screamed at the full moon in the sky.

Erwin sharply exhaled through his nose, Levi swaying side to side like empty ODM gear in the breeze. Levi swore and stretched his fingers out to relieve the tension in them.

"I bumped into a guy whose ego was as big as his body. The bastard was huge and wouldn't let it go." Levi hung his head, the stars bringing back memories he'd rather forget. "I think you were there when we had settled the issue and took off."

Erwin remembers like it happened yesterday. He could never forget the first time he saw Levi fly on the Wings of Revolution; it was enchanting.

Levi outstretched his arm, one foot leaving the floor as he reached to the giant moon glowing against the night sky.

"Levi, you need to stop being heedless, or you'll fall and end up dead!" Erwin finally snapped, his hand darting to grab Levi's. He missed his target, the shorter one moving unexpectedly and making Erwin snatch his pale forearm.

The wind from the chill night ruffled the forgotten paperwork on Erwin's desk, Levi's eerily hollow chuckle overlaying the white noise. Empty steel-gray finally looked into Erwin's ocean blues, heavy-lidded and worn thin.

"Don't you know I'm stupid? The hell does 'heedless' mean, blondie?" Levi wore a painful grin.

Erwin furrowed his brow in worry, loosening his grip but not letting go. "Careless," he said gently, thumbing fondly at Levi's flushed skin. "It means. . . Careless."

Levi's bottom lip trembled, and Erwin swore he saw his small body twitch with a hiccup. "Maybe that's what I want, Commander- to end up dead," Levi breathed, sending a cold surge through Erwin.

"Hey, don't say that," Erwin said quickly in a hushed tone. His free hand gently cupped Levi's shoulder.

"Why not?" Levi's voice was so small. It scared Erwin. "Every time I shut my eyes at night, all I see is their faces, hear them call my name." Erwin could feel Levi trembling.

"I know, Levi. By the walls, I know how it feels to begin to go numb. How it is to lose everything close to you, and still need to press onwards," Erwin murmured.

"Oh, sure. You see the face of every comrade that you've sent to death in your dreams. I'm sure you remember each and every soldier." The sarcastic bite in Levi's tone made Erwin unhand the man's arm.

"Excuse me. . ?" Erwin breathed, stupidly hoping he had misheard Levi.

"You don't know how it feels to be looked at like a human shit stain for simply trying to survive! You're just Mr. Fucking Perfect, right?" Levi's fruitless attempt to push Erwin away by his chest only agitated the blonde.

"Another pompous asshole that wouldn't hesitate to judge me from getting on all fours back then just to be able to eat twice a week!" Levi's (false) accusations were making Erwin increasingly angry.

"You're no different than everyone in the Capital-"

"You'd better watch your mouth, Ackerman."

Levi sucked in a short breath so quickly, it made his throat dry up; though, that might've been caused by the snarl of his surname. He didn't get another chance to speak as Erwin loomed over his frame.

"Who gave you an escape route when you had nowhere else to turn? Was it the Capital? Who was it that believed in you when everyone else wanted you to hang? The Capital, perhaps? Apologies, my memory is hazy."

Levi had seen Erwin agitated, seen him berate cadets and superiors alike with no backlash. But the man was always so poised and assured. Sure, the unsettlingly strong fire behind his crystal eyes was never smothered, but it was not once openly expressed.

Until now.

It had Levi- the nephew of Kenny the Ripper, the Captain of the 104th Cadet Corp, Humanity's Strongest Soldier- intimidated enough to shrink in on himself.

"I don't mean to scare you, Levi. I truly don't. But when you have the audacity to lump me into the crowd of discriminatory pedophiles and rapists? After everything I have done for you?" Erwin scoffed, ending his rant.

"I-I... I'm-"

"I don't want you to apologize. It's difficult to believe that you would. It's just not like you," Erwin swallowed thickly as Levi sniffled.

"Levi, I-" Erwin cut himself off, clenching his jaw.

Want you. Need you.

I think I'm in love with you. What a dream it would be to say. But he shouldn't. And he won't.

"You should sober up here while I get work done. How does that sound?" Erwin felt the urge to vomit after those words burned off his tongue.

"Thank you," Levi hardly whispered. "Thank you, Erwin."

Closing his eyes tightly, Erwin nodded, leading Levi to the couch the was sitting against the sidewall.

"Of course, Levi. I would do anything for you."

[yes-another-obey-me-blog]

I did a thing

So you all know when I made that hcs list about omega Mc dealing with the bros fighting.  well I sorta made a fic out of it, I thought you guys would’t like it cause it was like the Solomon fic.  But now its just sitting here and now I’m like fuck it Imma post it so here ya go!

TW for this post! Abuse(mentioned), Panic attack, Bros fighting and it gets violent. 

GN Omega Mc dealing with fighting bros, Mc x Diavolo if you squint once again Mc has no contracts at this time, Belphie is in the attic.

It was the same issue different family, the clashing voices, the throwing of books, glass shattering, and the smell of pissed off alpha.  It wasn’t the first time you’ve seen alphas fight for dominance but, it was the first time you’ve seen demonic alphas go at it. “U-um g-guys the meeting going to start soon so maybe we should all just take a breath and-”

“You stay out of this omega!” Mammon screeched glaring at you then snapping his eyes back to Lucifer.  "I’m sick and tired of being treated as a second rate alpha, I’m done being called scum, and I’m done with your sadistic punishments!“  Lucifer, regal as ever just brushed his brother off and continued to take the files out for the meeting.

“Quit your whining Mammon, I don’t have the time nor the energy for it.”  Lucifer looked your way and rolled his eyes, he’s yet to accept you in his pack.  he could care less about how you feel but, he should try to keep you calm a panicking omega would be another headache.  "and control your self you’re scaring the omega, you scare them and it will cause trouble for Diavolo.“

"Why is Diavolo all you care about!”  Mammon roared pulling his arm back.  You moved before you could think, one second your a safe distance back and the next your gabbing Mammon’s arm to stop his punch.  The smell of nickel and copper with an iron tang hit your nose.  You’ve never smelled Mammon pissed but you assume this is his scent.  The room seemed to stop Mammon staring at you with rage that could rival Satan.  "Omega. let. GO.“  You shook your head and held his arm tighter.  Mammon shifted to demon form.

"Mammon let the omega go,”  Lucifer spoke with a deadly calm tone his wing spread in a show of dominance.  Mammon met his display with his own.  Lucifer shook his head at his little brother, his favorite brother, the little brother that would look up to him with eyes full of love and adoration now glare at him in hatred and anger.  "Mammon, Don’t make me put you in your place once again, especially in front of an omega.“

"Get the hell offa me!”  Mammon shook his arm violently managing to shake you off.  You back cracked when you hit the ground but you’ve felt worse pain, you jumped back up and got in-between the two alphas.  letting out your calming scent to try to get them to calm down, normally this would work in a pack.  But, you’re not apart of their pack, you’re an outsider putting your nose where it doesn’t belong and now you’re on thin ice.  

“Please try to clam down both of you, there is no need for this if we just talk it through I’m sure we can figure this out without violence.”  You smiled softly at Mammon, the demonic alpha you currently stood in front of.  He slowly approached you and you thought he was going to hug you or state you were right but, as he got closer you saw his eyes weren’t looking at you.  He was looking above you with fists clenched, teeth bared, and wings fully strained.  You made a big mistake, never turn your back on a raging alpha, your back was to Lucifer.  A deep growl sounded behind you and you slowly turned and were greeted to an enraged Lucifer.  It happend so fast.

A tail wrapped around your waist and yanked you out from between the two alphas seconds before the sound of bones snapping and roaring reached you.  "Mc, you normie are you crazy!“  Levi screamed over the fight.  "You’re the only omega I’ve seen that gets in-between shit like this!”  There was a loud crash and you both turned to see Mammon get slammed through the long meeting table.  

You clung to Levi and whimpered, “Can you stop them?”  He turned to you with a look of terror on his face.  You wanted him to get in-between two of the strongest Alphas in Devildom?  Mammon shook off the debris from the table he looked up growled at Lucifer then launched back up in the air.   Levi gulped, yeah like that’s going to happen.

“Do I look like Beel?!  I can’t stop them!”  He flinched when he heard you whimper a high pitched one and his widened.  "Mc, don’t screech!“  his hands covered your mouth, "That could make things even worse!”  He looked at your teary eyes and caved.  "Fine, I’ll see what I can do.“  With that Levi entered the ring, screaming about how their both being stupid Normies.  Beel was the next one to come in, as soon as he saw the fight he shifted and was air born trying to get in-between Lucifer and Mammon and physically separate them.  If Beel could have smelled you over the scent of sweat and alpha pheromone you would have been his top priority.  Satan came in next and was using his tail to grab at Lucifer and drag him down so Beel just had to subdue Mammon.  You had no clue when Asmo came in but he was on the phone with someone trying to get help you assume.

This was all your fault, you should have just left and gotten help when you saw the oldest brothers so tense with each other.  The voices of your family filled your head, screaming about you being a screw-up, about you being the reason they fought, why couldn’t you be better.  Your chest felt tight, the air was too thin, smells were too much the breaking of glass, shattering wood, and the sound of screaming or was is screeching?  Wait that wasn’t the brothers was that you?  Was this unholy mixture of a whimper, scream, and yep coming from you?  When you finally took a breath you noticed all the brothers had stopped moving.  Breathing hard your eyes dashed around the room looking for a way out, looking for some kind of safety.  Mammon took a small step in your direction but stopped taking a deep breath through his nose and he looked ill.  You reeked of rotten fruit and of blood, not a pleasant mixture but a very strong scent.

Thundering footsteps got everyone’s attention you whimpered and scooted back into a corner.  You always felt safe in corners, people could only come at your front, no one could attack you from behind or your sides.  You curled up tightly in a ball and hid your head in your arms protecting your neck for good measure.  The double doors swung open and the scent of an apex alpha filled the room.  

"Does someone what to tell me what’s going on?”  Diavolo’s voice boomed causing you to whimper and make yourself even smaller.  His eyes shot to you and he clenched his jaw, heading your way.  Tears filled your eyes as you tried to disappear in the corner but you couldn’t escape the absolute mountain of an alpha approaching you.

“I’m-I’m sorry, so-so sorry al-alpha.”  Your instincts were at war with each other, one side was trying to run and the other wanted to offer yourself to quell his anger.  But he just kept getting closer and closer to you so you submitted.  You forced your head as far back as you could, barring your neck as much as possible, and closed your eyes to avoid meeting his.  When Diavolo reached you he knelt down in front of you and spoke in hushed tones.

“Omega, it’s okay,”  He opened his arms.  "I’m here now, nothing can hurt you now.“  You whimpered and cracked an eye open, straining to see the alpha.  "It must hurt bearing your neck like that and, I know you can’t see me that well like that.”  Slowly you uncurled from your ball and looked down, still uneasy about meeting his eyes.  "I know you’re scared but, omega, you need to look at me and talk to me.“  He scooted closer to you.  "I need to make sure you’re not hurt.”  An alpha who wanted to make sure you’re not hurt?  That’s a first for you.  You looked up at the alpha kneeling in front of you causing him to hum happily.  "There we go, you’re so brave omega.“  He radiated safety, you wanted to feel safe but, you didn’t want to cross any lines.  One glance from Lucifer had you scuttling into his lap, fuck not crossing lines, you wanted comfort and you wanted it now.  His body stiffened for a second but his arms quickly wrapped around you.  You finally felt safe again in his embrace, his scent masked the other scents in the room making it feel like all the other demons weren’t in the room.  Your breathing started to even out and your scent started to return to normal, you were starting to relax.  A sudden cough interrupted you both, with a snarl Diavolo turned to growl but held it back when he saw it was just Solomon.

"Am I interrupting something?”  Solomon asked with a raised brow.  With a huff, Diavolo stood up, placing you in one arm, and walked towards Solomon.  Both apex alphas had a stare down neither one wanted to look away first but, one look at you in Diavolo’s arms had Solomon looking down first.

“No, you’re not interrupting a thing.”  Diavolo nodded at Solomon’s submission and carefully untangled your arms from him.  He smiled when you whimpered and held on tighter and buried your face in his neck.  "Mc, you need to go with Solomon what I’m about to do you can’t witness,“  he mumbled in your ear.  "But when I’m done I’ll come to see you alright?”  You nodded and let go of him.  "Good Omega.“  He placed you down and you walked to Solomon and, he welcomed you with open arms literally. "Solomon, take Mc to purgatory dorm.  They’ll be staying with you until further notice.”  With a nod, Solomon started to walk you out when the doors slammed shut and the lock clicked you both heard a beastly growl.

“Mc, hold on to me.”  You held on to him as he chanted something in Latin and a portal opened up he quickly dragged you through it when you both heard the yelling started.  The portal opened up in his room and he set you down on the bed.  "Feel free to make a nest if you need it if you need more blankets or pillows let me know okay?“  Solomon really wished he wasn’t on scent blockers at this moment he wanted you to curl up in his scent just like you did with Diavolo.  Solomon bit back a growl at the thought of him, turning around to hide his snarl.  Diavolo forced Solomon to show submission and for the first time, Solomon was pissed about it.  He’s an Apex just like Diavolo.  "Mc did you hear me?… Mc?”  Solomon turned to you and smiled, you were passed out clinging to his pillow.  Solomon walked over and sat down next to you running his hand through his hair.  "If that demon thinks I’m giving up on you, he’s got another thing coming.“  Solomon rubbed at his neck forcing the scent blocker off while forcing more of his scent out.  He placed his hand, that was drenched in his scent, on your scent gland.  He wasn’t trying to erase Diavolo’s scent, in fact, he was letting him know that he wasn’t the only alpha after your hand.  "Game on Diavolo, Game on.”