#yep. couldnt have placed them better myself truly

[airborneice]

ACCURATE

Saw this post by @airborneice and started having visions

-> Mattie, Arwen and Harvey are @airborneice ‘s OCs

-> Lauren is @blaithnne​ ‘s babygirl

-> Randall belongs to @hilda-fanblog, but they’re unfortunately not active among us anymore  😭

[xsteriism]

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad (on ao3)

by celestial-irondad

2, 352 words

hello! this is a (late) fic for @princessmisery666’s challenge with @technically-a-little-dragon as co-creator. happy birthday and i hope you enjoyed this little something! (i mentioned tony stark a little since i couldnt help myself, but it’s very brief)

beware of cut!!

----

“I am not in danger, I am the danger,” Peter said as he took two deep breaths. “In fact, hydra should be scared. I’m coming for them and nothing can stop me. I am Peter Parker, I am Spider-Man and I am not afraid of anything.”

He kicked down the heavy metal doors to the hydra base, wincing when the door unhinged and made the loudest ringing noise that seemed to resonate throughout the building. He rushed to pick the doors up, leaning them against the filthy wall, holdings palms out in case they fell again. He heard Bucky chuckling over the comms, followed by the clicking sound of his safety going off. 

“Yep, kiddo, you laugh in the face of danger, don’t you?” 

Peter sighed, wishing the rest of the team was with them, but they were all around the world for various missions tasked by Shield. Natasha was in Budapest with Clint again, doing whatever they were doing. Sam and Steve were in Wakanda for a mandatory meeting about something Peter can’t quite remember. Bruce and Tony were back in the compound, working on the latest updates for their weapons and equipment. And Rhodey was on medical leave, having eaten something… unpleasant the day before. This left Peter and Bucky to deal with this mission— a rescue mission for any potential victims residing in the hydra base.

When they reached the mission site, both superheroes realised there was no way to source for the victims if they didn’t split up, so with great reluctance, Bucky told Peter to meet him at the rendezvous latest by seven in the evening. Peter nodded reluctantly and did as he was told, hence his little pep talk for himself. 

The moment he truly took into account his surroundings, Peter felt something unpleasant churning in his gut. His spider-senses were going haywire, screaming danger, danger, danger in his ears, but Peter just chalked it up to being in a Hydra base and continued in his search for the victims.

Meanwhile, Bucky was also feeling the same unpleasant feeling, instincts screaming at him to leave, but he had a mission to do, so he sucked it up and continued onward. But something was definitely off, Bucky knew. Usually, a Hydra base would be filled with scientists, guards and commanders, but this particular base had nobody in it, completely empty, save for Peter and Bucky. The lights in the building were flickering, dim to the point of being unable to see and the doorknobs were so rusty that even a non-enhanced could break them.

All these pointed to one very obvious fact, realised way too late: this hydra base had been abandoned. Bucky cursed himself for not noticing it sooner, causing the spider-ling to be in danger. Fear thrummed in his veins as he reached for his comms to contact Peter and tell him to get out of the building as soon as possible. Just as he neared the entrance he used, a voice suddenly made itself known, creating a static in his ears that made him realise that his communications system with Peter was offline. 

“Intruder alert. Self-destruction activated,” an automated voice spoke, before metal shutters started coming down from the ceiling, about to trap everyone inside to prevent them from escaping. Bucky cursed again, running faster and sliding under them right before they hit the ground. Before he could calm himself from the adrenaline rush, the building collapsed, some of the debris hitting Bucky along the way, temporarily immobilising him. Bucky could feel his survival instincts coming in, the way Winter was pushing forward to take control of his body.

‘Mission objective: find and protect Peter,’ Bucky managed to tell Winter right before he faded back into his conscience. He trusted the soldier enough to carry out the self-assigned mission, something that didn’t happen often. They were forced to survive, not to have any wants or likes. 

Winter crawled out of the rubble when it was stable enough, immediately starting to dig his way through the chaos to find Peter’s thin body. Before Bucky’s anxiety made Winter panic, they heard Peter's short breaths through the comms and could tell that he was either in the midst of a panic attack, or was about to have one, but at least they knew that the spider-child was alive. They took off in the direction of Peter’s location, with Bucky thanking the lord for the technology the world had in his head.

“Hey, Bucky? You there?" Peter’s voice was too soft over the comms and they could practically feel the panic choking the kid. Winter could faintly hear panicked breathing and broken sobs over the comms as they desperately tried to find Peter. The spider-child must be terrified, buried under the building. Bucky winced as he watched through Winter’s eyes, his heart feeling as if someone wrung it like a cloth and proceeded to stab a thousand needles in it. Damn it, where was Peter?

“Help, I-I’m stuck! I’m stuck! Please... Bucky please help me— I… I…” Peter was crying over the comms and even though it hurt their enhanced ears, he didn’t lower the volume nor did he turn it off. He could hear thudding and crying and silent screaming and Bucky wished they hadn’t split ways in the first place.

“Hold on, kiddo,” Winter’s voice was deeper than Bucky’s and he said the nickname in Russian to let Peter know he was in control. “I’m on my way. You still there?”

It was radio silence on Peter’s end and Bucky’s anxiety was going to consume them whole if the spider-child was hurt in any way. Winter dug through the large slabs of cement, throwing it like they weighed nothing, through snow slapping his face, some even entering his eyes and making him tear up.

No matter how much he denied it, Winter knew he was tearing up for a whole other reason. 

When the soldier found Peter under the disaster, he was cradling an unresponsive girl to his chest. Winter could tell that she was dead. From her pale complexion and her malnourished body, the soldier knew there was no possible way she could have survived the collapsing building. Even so, watching Peter’s tear stained face was almost enough to break the cold-hearted Winter Soldier.

Subconsciously, Winter assessed Peter for any injuries. His leg was bent unnaturally and chances were he had a few cracked ribs. His black suit was ripped, exposing quickly bruising skin. As soon as the adrenaline wore off, Peter would feel the cold and the pain of his injuries. Winter would have to ensure they got to their rendezvous point before then. 

In a moment of uncharacteristic behaviour, he knelt next to Peter, placing his metal arm on the dead girl, slowly prying her out of Peter’s thin but strong arms without him noticing. His flesh arm was wrapped around Peter, trying to provide a comfort he wasn’t used to. The young hero was mumbling, seemingly too out of it to even realise it.

“I… I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice broken, dejected and forlorn. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you, Uncle Ben. I’m… I promise I’ll do better! I swear I will— I’ll save…”

Winter winced, having no idea on how to break it to Peter that the girl was dead, so he pulled the smaller body closer to his side, hoping the warmth they were giving off would calm him. The soldier hadn’t seen Peter like this before, so bruised, so hurt, so lost, but still so protective of someone he hadn’t even met in his life.

“Peter,” Winter called his name softly, forcing his voice to be comforting, trying not to use his default monotone voice, the same one used to report back to his handler when he was under Hydra’s command. The kid needed his comfort right now and Winter was going to do whatever it took to ensure he was safe.

Once the soldier managed to wrestle the dead body out of Peter’s strong grip, the first thing he did was throw it away from them. He knew it was cruel and disrespectful to someone already dead, but he couldn’t risk Peter gripping it with his super strength. There was only so much Winter’s strength could do against Spider-Man.

Peter thrashed in Winter’s hold as soon as he realised what was happening. “Wint— what are…? No! Stop!”

Winter couldn’t even manage to carry Peter into his arms before he was escaping his hold, crawling on broken legs to the dead body. The soldier’s heart ached for the child, who was so young but already knew of death and destruction.

“Hey, kiddo, it’s okay, you’re safe now. Let’s go back to the quinjet, okay?” Winter coaxed, putting his arm gently on the kid to not scare him. This soft side of the usually cold and threatening soldier was new to Winter, but he knew what he had to do in order to keep him safe— to keep them both safe.

Peter shrugged his hand off his shoulder, reaching out to the dead girl. Winter frowned, the clock in his head ticking like a bomb, calculating how much time they had left before Hydra came to inspect their base for potential survivors.

“Pete, we gotta go,” he tried again, but when the kid ignored him yet again, Winter knew he had to harden his resolve. He slid his knife out of its sheath and, with his mind made up, threw. It was quick, of course. The Winter Soldier never missed by accident. He couldn’t miss, or he’d have to deal with an angry handler and Hydra’s torture methods.

But, the scream that escaped Peter as the white snow stained red was almost enough to wish he had. It nearly made him flinch, his heart feeling like shattered glass as he approached the kid, who was trembling like a leaf.

“Wint— Winter, why… did you do that?” Peter’s voice was barely even a whisper and if it weren’t for their heightened hearing, Winter nor Bucky would’ve heard it. Peter sounded like a parent who witnessed the death of their child. It was awful and heart wrenching.

If it were Bucky who was in control, he would’ve flinched, but even so, the soldier was known for being heartless, after all. It was only recently that he learnt how to love again, how to care and protect again.

“Let’s go, kiddo,” Winter tried again, voice soft, “you’re bleeding out and injured. Let’s go back to the tower and patch you up.”

“No! How could you— how could you just kill her?” Peter shouted, voice cracking with the emotions he was feeling. “I… I had a responsibility to save her and you—”

The ticking in Winter’s head was getting louder and so was Bucky’s panicked shouts to get them both out of there before Hydra found them. So, with a heavy mind and an even heavier heart, Winter knocked Peter out with the safest method he knew how, using his flesh hand and hoping to God he didn’t hit too hard.

Gently gathering the kid into his arms, Winter took off in the direction of their rendezvous point, hoping Shield had received their distress signals when their comms went offline and sent back-up. He nearly collapsed when he saw the quinjet they came in next to the Shield jet, relief coursing through his veins.

Winter ignored the agent waiting by the aircrafts in favour of demanding they get back to the compound as soon as possible. He didn’t even see her face in his haste to get onto the quinjet, Peter still limp in his arms. Tony had been extremely firm when he said Peter was not to be harmed in any way, shape or form, but no one had expected this to happen. 

Both Bucky and Winter knew they would have to do a lot to gain back the trust of Tony Stark, adoptive dad of Peter Parker. Everyone knew how protective the saviour of the world got whenever it came to the— his child. Especially when it came to his spider-child.

The man had lost the child, once, seen him fade to dust right before his eyes, right in his hands. Nobody would blame him if he was more than just a little over-protective of the child. 

Bucky knew he would be, too.

Growing restless by Peter’s unresponsive body, Winter started pacing around in the jet, wanting to go and hunt for the Hydra members but wanting to stay by Peter’s side in case he woke up. Before he could wear the jet down, a firm hand pressed onto his shoulder, stilling in his movements.

“Soldier,” the agent from earlier greeted, voice emotionless and Winter quickly realised that the agent from earlier was Maria Hill, not by Fury’s side for once. “I’ll take care of the kid. You go do what you gotta do.”

Winter faced the agent, eyes narrowed in distrust, stepping closer to Peter’s body and Maria immediately raised her hands in surrender to show she meant no harm, that she was planning no harm. “Will you feel better if I said Tony was the one who sent me when he received the distress signals?”

“Ton— Stark sent you?” Winter asked, body relaxing slightly. If Tony sent her, then she would mean no harm. He was overly cautious when it came to the kid, so unless he was absolutely sure Maria would do no harm to Peter, she wouldn’t be here.

Maria rolled her eyes. “Why do you think I’m not with Nick, right now? I owed Tony a favour, so here I am.”

“If you hurt him, or if he’s hurt while under your care, I’ll kill you right after I come back from killing them,” Winter said, voice rough and eyes hard. Maria nodded, rolling her eyes again and waved him off. Winter grunted, snatching the parachute from the corner and tugged it on before jumping out of the aircraft.

It was time to test if Shuri managed to get his Hydra programming out of his head.

----

hello!!! thank you for reading my fic and please leave a heart if you liked it!! comments are welcomed and follow me for more!!

[firethesound]

OMG YOU WROTE A FIC AHHHHH dont mind me i am just going off to ao3 and dropping everything to read it! I just love everything you write and EVERYTHING YOU POST i am so so so happy to have found your writing i enjoy it so much its so wholesome and you make the characters feel young and immature while still being all the post-war grown up and they just go about their lives like normal people. SO GOOD.

I really truly loved impracticality because it was my first one of ryours to read and it simply HOOKED ME IN, TOTALLY SUCKED ME IN I CANT FIND BETTER WORDS TO EXPRESS MYSELF. i finished all the others you posted on ao3 excluding just Clocks because ahhh. Everything you write is different yet with the same writing style. its fucking perfect thats what it is. I loved all secrets because they grew into their roles and those tattoos oh my god and the sweet sweet relationship-

TLMB where they CHOOSE to bond with each other and not cuz they have to. ALSO LOVED SHITFARTS. PERFECT. matchmaker OH MAN SO GOOD. 4D holy shit i have never laughed so much over penis jokes fuck i almost died of laughter- BABY! mpreg!! it was so good to see draco's reaction oh man so worth it! YSM! AHHH DEAGE which is not icky the least and OMG THOSE FLYING HEARTS HA AH and that scene where draco is like was i obvious and harry is like what i am obvious ??

PLOT! I WAS LAUGHING because that title acro was plot and it didnt have any and i thought it was a brilliant pun there! Blue sunny day! vamp fics squick me but i trust you so much and this WAS SO GOOD this was perfect the way it was handled with the hopeful ending and the beautiful morning they would spend with each other ahhhhh so good HOW DO YOU WRITE SO GOOD I AM SO IN LOVE WITH IT. Moon! pardon me buti usually dont read T fics BUT THIS WAS 160K AND I HAD TO.

i had read secrets and that had plot and i knew the plot in this one would be better to read and if you didnt have E in it, its totally your choice whic you made consciusly. AND BOY I LOVED IT SO MUCH. the angst killed me but the sweeet flow of the writing made me feel so good and the original (i read before, since it was linked) made me so intrigued to see how you would dab with it. I LOVE YOUR STYLE. I THANK THE GODS FOR GIVING YOU THIS AND FOR YOU TO HONE THIS SKILL!

Tuesday! oh man! i loved how potter didnt sympathise with draco but was like yeah dont worry this phase passes mate and oh yeah here is your key to that old palace of a place js and draco like uhhh i am not breaking up i just wanted to clean before you moved in cus god knows you dont know how to keep the place clean so just move in yeah? GOOD SHIT. Revolvevlover! oh man i had soo many feelings for this! I truly loved the flow, i KNEW IMMEDIATELY WHERE ZEIT WAS INVOLVED -

Because if anybody writes magic with suhc concrete bedazzling explanations (as in azoth, all time fave EVER) its zeitgeistic and you both meshed your two startlingly beautiful and unique styles into one and gave us a Grey Harry and Justified draco fic that simply blinded me in its brilliance! IT WAS PERFECT THANK YOU BLESS YOU. the ending was so good so well crafted because even if they both escaped, i dont think they would get together. they would choose to leave each other and -

heal and harry has to start having and experiencing feelings for the first time in a long time. draco deserves better and hence they would choose a good five year time off (however long) and when they meet, maybe in a place like a wineyard or a garden because i am a sap and i always feel like the best way to heal is to start connecting with the earth and let it heal you. and then they both can have the happy ending they deserve. together, hopefully. but not immediately.

sorry for the spam but i had a rush of feelings seeing you update on ao3 and i couldnt help myself from gushing about everything you wrote to you ha ha I have been following you for a while and have seen a couple of posts where you hinted on writer's block and its totally completely understandable so seeing you post just made my day and gave me hope in this cloudy day. thank you so much. your writing moves me and i hope i conveyed that in my message. you deserve so much praise! THANK YOU!!

Holy fuck. I have just about combusted into a total mess of blushing and flail. This is just the most wonderful message, it was pretty much the first thing I saw this morning when I woke up, and here I am this evening and it’s still been the best part of my day. Thank you so much for these wonderful messages, I am filled with joy and am unbelievably flattered that you’ve read all my fic and can comment on them like this one right after the other!

Yep, writer’s block has unfortunately been a thing with me this year. It’s been ages since the last time I’d posted fic back in... oh goodness. April. I was actually kind of nervous to be posting fic again after so long with nothing, and it really means so much to me to hear that it made your day! Thank you thank you thank you for writing to me

I’m also going to tag @lol-zeitgeistic on this, because zeit definitely needs to see that someone’s said nice things about revolvevlover and Azoth.

[set--suna]

A Different Mask

Hi this is bad but I'm posting it anyway -- The world of the Phantom Thieves was a hilly one. There were challenges and calm, dangers and warm moments. But all the Phantom Thieves had one thing in common: they went through their pain together. They had been there for each other when nobody else possibly could be. When one Thief couldn't be there, there was always another to help with whatever pain one had. They were, as they say, thick as thieves. All the Phantom Thieves had reached one unconscious conclusion, as well: none of them had been through as much as their leader. They all agreed on it, even if they didn't know it. Akira Kurusu deserved the world. -- The group would always be there for each other. Akira knew that fully well. Yet he never leaned on them when things got rough in his head. They all relied on each other, but Akira couldn't bring himself to put his problems on their shoulders. Whenever his confidence wavered in a Palace, the team was always hyping him up. But that's all they saw. They didn't see his emotions outside the Metaverse. Those were his only secret. They didn't know about his nightmares. They didn't know the reason he listened to all of their problems was so they didn't end up like him. He wanted them to have someone to turn to. So he locked his feelings away to be the cool and collected leader he was. Supposedly. He kept his trauma inside. He kept the anger he felt when his friends were taunted and teased contained. He tried to make the comments from the kids at Shujin go in one ear and out the other. Whenever someone looked at him with that look of disapproval, he oh so tried to shake it off. But it all made him have days where everything just felt... numb. Like nothing he did mattered. These days were the days he thought about betrayal. Where he thought about his friends leaving him behind. Abandoning him. Akira Kurusu was scared. Today was a day where his feelings slipped themselves into every crack of his thoughts they could find. They partially distracted him at school, made his comments to his friends sound half-hearted when he truly meant them, kept his responses to Sojiro short, and made him reluctantly obey Morgana when he told him to sleep. "Hey, Akira, what'd you get on the third question of the test? I put B, but I'm not very confident in my answers," Ann sighed, resting her head on her hand. She had her mouth in a pout with her genuine look of unconfidence. "I got B, too," Akira responded. He sounded uninterested, but he really wanted to boost Ann's spirits. "Oh, great!" Ann said with a smile. "That makes me feel better." She spun back around when the next teacher walked in the room. He didn't miss her look of slight concern while she turned. "Welcome back. How was school?" Sojiro asked when the bell rang above the door to LeBlanc. "Good, as always," Akira responded, it didn't come out as he intended it to. Sojiro just laughed softly, "An answer I'd expect from you." He frowned as Akira moved towards the stairs, absentmindedly wiping away at a glass. "So, you ready to go to bed?" Morgana asked later. "Yep," Akira replied, sliding under the covers. "I'm tired." "For once," Morgana said sarcastically. "Goodnight." "Goodnight," Akira turned on his side and shut his eyes. He didn't see Morgana jump on the bed and give him a worried look. He just felt him curl up next to him and release a sigh. -- Akira had a nightmare. He was back in Okumura's Palace. A crowd of worker robots surrounded him and his friends. They had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. They fought and they fought to no avail. Akira had to watch as his friends fell around him, one by one. Ann was bleeding from a wound on her head. Makoto's arm was broken at the elbow, told by it's odd angle. Yusuke was so beaten he couldn't stand. Futaba was trapped outside the circle, not hurt but in danger. Morgana was struggling to stay conscious. Ryuji's leg had given out on him due to the stress. Haru was standing mostly uninjured, but her father's shadow was pestering her with "Okumura Daughter" duties. Akira was helpless he couldn't do anything. He was exhausted. He fell to his knees. "This is what brats like you get for meddling in the wrong business," Okumura walked to Akira. "You get beat." There was a gun shot, but Akira missed it. He woke with a start. He was shaking. He felt lightheaded. He couldn't focus. He pulled his knees to his chest and squeezed them tight. He didn't notice Morgana stir next to him. Morgana didn't move. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to risk Akira's panic getting worse. Instead he just pretended to shift in his sleep. Akira's shaky hand reached for the windowsill. He grabbed his phone and checked the group chat. Nobody had said anything since their final goodnights. He wanted to talk with someone, anyone. But who would be awake at this time of night? He gave in. Akira: Is anyone awake? Ryuji: yeah Ann: yep Futaba: mhm Yusuke: Yes. Haru: I am. Makoto: So we're all awake at this ungodly hour? Ryuji: i couldnt sleep Ann: Me neither Ann: I keep falling asleep and waking up again Haru: I get how you feel, I was just thinking of texting you all myself. Yusuke: I am only awake because Futaba is keeping me up with her constant messaging. Futaba: this is important stuff im sending you! Yusuke: You are sending me pictures of foxes in costumes. Futaba: EXACTLY Makoto: So in one way or another... We all are having a struggle with sleeping. Ryuji: thats what it looks like Ryuji: aww man i wish we could meet up Ryuji: im not even sure if i feel tired anymore Ann: I mean, it's almost 5, we could meet up anyways? Makoto: When did everyone go to bed? Ryuji: 10 Ann: 9:45 Haru: Nine 'o clock. Yusuke: Eleven Akira: 10:30 Futaba: ive taken naps throughout the day so im not really tired Makoto: I see. Makoto: Well, I guess we all got reasonable hours of sleep. Makoto: I will permit this once, and only because we are all in the same boat here. Ryuji: all right! Ann: Yes! I've always dreamed of doing something like this! Yusuke: Where should we meet? Ryuji: how about Akira's place? is that ok? the place doesn't open until 8, right? Akira: Yeah, it should be fine. Haru: What about Mona? Is he awake? Akira poked the cat with his finger. His hand still felt slightly shaky, but he was calming. Morgana meowed in reply, but rolled onto his side to look up at Akira. Akira: He's up. Futaba: Great! See you all there! Akira sat his phone screen down on his bed. Morgana now laid on his stomach, his tail swishing around. "What's up?" he asked drowsily. "Everyone's coming over. No one could sleep except you," Akira replied, semi-sarcastic. "Ok, might wanna fix that bedhead of yours a bit, though," Morgana replied. -- Futaba was quick to hop onto Akira's bed, sitting criss-cross for once. Ryuji sat on one end of the couch and Ann on the other, stretching her legs out across Ryuji's lap. Makoto and Haru sat on the floor by the sofa. Yusuke simply took a chair. "Man, I'm glad to be outta my house. There was no chance of me sleepin' anymore," Ryuji groaned. "Every time I shut my eyes, they just wanted to open again," Ann complained through a partial yawn. "I would fall asleep for an hour at a time. It's rare I sleep like that," Haru shook her head. "Do we all have something on our mind that's keeping us up?" Makoto questioned why this was happening. "Umm... not that I can think of," Ann answered. "There's nothing that would keep me up at night except Futaba," Yusuke commented. "Shut it, Inari," Futaba responded. Akira fumbled for words. He ran a hand through his hair in thought. While the others maintained a steady conversation on sleep habits, Akira was lost in his thoughts. He wanted to tell them. He didn't want to keep his emotions a secret anymore, they deserved to know. They cared about him and should know when he's feeling down. But how could he start? He didn't have to. "Akira? You ok?" Morgana asked, tail swishing. "You look kind of out of it." "Now that he mentions it, ya do, dude. What's up?" Ryuji is quick to follow up. Akira hesitates, "There... There's something I need to tell you all." Akira talked the most he had ever talked at once then. He told them about his nightmares of losing them and everything he's ever known. He told them about his emotions building up and how he felt like crap on those certain days. He poured his heart out in a matter of minutes because he wanted to stop hiding this. He wanted to stop being scared. He talked about the trial and being sent to Tokyo by his parents and how it made him feel so... abandoned. Betrayed. "Akira... You know you can talk to us, man," Ryuji was frowning though he was definitely concerned. "Yes, you will always be one of us," Yusuke spoke, sitting on the edge of his seat. "Mhm, text me whenever and I'll be sure to respond!" Futaba nodded encouragingly. "We will always be there for you, Akira," Makoto had slid closer and placed a hand on his knee. "Wherever we may be, we will always be willing to talk." Akira felt his hands get shaky again. But there was no fear or panic this time, just relief. They still saw him as Joker, their leader. Their tactician. Their friend. "I never would have known this affected you so much if you hadn't told us," Ann frowned guiltily. "Yeah, I feel bad," Ryuji looked sad. He faced Akira seriously. "Just worry about yourself, man, before you worry about what others say." "They don't know you like we do, anyways," Futaba added. Akira nodded. His face was hot. He was struggling to keep his shaky hands under control. He felt tears welling behind his eyes. Why was he still trying to keep his emotions in? "I'm glad you told us about this," Haru smiled at him warmly. "You can surely rely on us as much as we have relied on you, leader," Yusuke says assuringly. Futaba quickly hugged Akira's arm when he began to cry. It ended up with all of the Phantom Thieves on or around his bed. Ann was on his other side, head on his shoulder. Ryuji sat on the other side of Futaba, his hand lingering close to Akira. Makoto was kneeling in front of him, clasping a hand in both of hers. Yusuke and Haru sat in chairs on either side of her, leaning in close to fill the circle. Akira's free hand was on his face, wiping away tears that kept being replaced. Morgana squeezed in and curled up in his lap, nudging him with his nose. "We're a team, Akira. Teammates never leave another behind," he said, closing his eyes. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts had always had one thing in common: they shared their pain together. And they all awakened to one more thing; Akira Kurusu deserved the world.

[ifuckatex]

BURNING TIME ✐ SKATE

TAGGING → Kate Rutherford & Skylar Puckerman

TIME FRAME → August 19th, 2017

LOCATION → Detroit on the Beach

GENERAL NOTES → Kate & Skylar have a bonfire and get rid of the past. Lowkey not done bc i am lame.

Skylar was glad that they were out of Lima, since it was a drag and everything started to suck. Between Parker and DJ, she was growing tired of the same old cheesy ass love shit. Though, she did hope that they were broken up when they got back in town, but she couldnt roll her eyes hard enough when she saw Parker's cheesy ass Instagram post about him her home. "Give me a break." She muttered as she grabbed her box of things and walked to the beach. She was glad it was only 71 degrees out, since she couldnt handle the heat all that much.

Kate after everything that had happened with Dani and Santana, the young woman needed to get the hell out of dodge. She was lucky to have a friend like Skylar who was always ready to go, heading out to Detroit after renting a room through her parents' time share. She sighed glancing at the bandage that covered her knew tattoo before grabbing a few of her things and heading out to the beach to get this bonfire started. "Are you burning some things too, sweet pea?" She asked, looking over at her friend with a smile and setting her things down so she could start the fire in one of the barrels they had specifically for the bonfires.

Skylar nodded as she heard Kate with a smile and placed the box down next to the barrel. "Yep, mostly the pictures of DJ and I, along with the mixtape that I created. I dropped off his hoodies at his and Parker's apartment." She rolled her eyes, knowing that she was able to show her disgust towards the couple and glanced down at her new tattoo, glad that they had gotten matching tattoos. "You know, I don't get it. He's the one who cheated, yet, he comes out smelling like roses and gets a new girlfriend after the affair happened. Me? Nothing except getting shit on." She knew that she had a lot of built up anger on the subject, which was fair but she couldnt understand why was painted as the bad guy. "Granted, yes. Its nice seeing that they're happy but don't have to tell the fucking internet about it." She sighed as she brushed her hair away from her face and looked at Kate. "Im sorry, we should be focusing on you, not me and my problems."

Kate smiled softly, knowing it would be good for them both to get rid of things. It would be a fresh start for each of them and that's exactly what they needed in order to move on in life. "Because sometimes things just work out for people even when it's not exactly fair. I think people mistake your anger for something else so they don't get to see the side of you that I do and that automatically makes someone a bad guy. It's stupid but it's how it is." She glanced at her friend then. "Do you still have feelings for him, Sky? Be honest with yourself and with me." She murmured before glancing at the picture in her hand and digging through her bag for the other things she could burn. "It's okay. I don't want to think about it to be honest. I don't get why it hurts so much because it was one date and one that didn't happen because she picked someone else right after but it sucks." She shrugged her shoulders. "I think it's because she was the first one I put myself on the line for after Jaxon so it just felt like a kick to the face."

Skylar grabbed one of the pictures of them and glanced over at Kate as she spoke, swallowed some before she glanced down at the picture. "Yeah, he turned his life around but like." She bit down on her bottom lip and let out a shaky breath. "I have some feelings but mostly anger and hate a..and I just want to see him miserable because he deserves to be miserable. Not fucking happy with Parker, especially Parker. Of all people, talk about a big I told you so moment when he posted that picture of them." She closed her eyes and looked at her. "Im sorry K, I know she's your friend too." She grabbed the mixtape and placed it onto the picture. "It does, because you literally shouldnt do it and.." She opened up her mouth and closed it when she heard her friend. "I was about to say something about that, actually. You made yourself vulnerable and she doesnt need your hurt or your tears."

Kate nodded in understanding, knowing how important he was to her. It was hard to let go of someone who meant a lot to you even when they hurt you in the long run. "And I can understand that. He hurt you, badly. And I can't imagine how it feels to have him end up with someone everyone seems to say he was going to end up with. I wish I was hear back then so I could have protected you from that pain." She licked her lips before clearing her throat. "She is my friend and she is just an unfortunate part of the story but I think we both know it's not her fault. He is the one that cheated and him only. But that doesn't mean you're not allowed to be angry about things. Just don't let it hold you back from whatever might make you happy in the future. Like fuck him for hurting you but also fuck him because he doesn't deserve to have this kind of hold over you." She reached out to grab her hand and hold it in her own. "I did. I let myself be very vulnerable and it bit me in the ass so yeah, it hurts. And yeah it hurts even more because she's still flirting blatantly where I can see it but what can I do?" She unfolded the sketch of Dani she had made before tossing it into the fire. "But this will be the first step to letting go of that sucky feeling. Like you said, she doesn't need or deserve my hurt or my tears."

Skylar gave her a small smile and shook her head. "It hurts, a lot and me too, but you're here now. That's all it matters." She replied and listened to Kate, knowing that she shouldnt be angry towards Parker, it wasnt her fault that he cheated on her. "I know its not her fault, I mean. Im sure she ripped him a new one when she found out. Since she's pretty scary when she's angry." She licked her lips as she nodded and felt her grab her hand. "You're right." She replied as she tossed the two things into the fire and glanced over at her. "Tell the bitch off? If you want me to do it, I'd be more than happy to do it." She watched her unfold the sketch and watched it end up in the fire. "Exactly, neither of them do because we're badass bitches and we're tough as hell."

Kate shifted over to wrap an arm around Skylar's shoulders, hugging her close and offering a smile in return. "Oh, I have no doubt that she did. Because no matter what, she'll call someone out if they did something wrong. It's just who she is." She watched her friend toss the picture and the mixtape into the fire, knowing that getting rid of it all would help. She was already starting to feel lighter. "If I was meaner, maybe. But she doesn't owe me anything and at least she didn't try to purposefully hurt me you know." She pulled out an envelope full of pictures she hadn't ever been able to look at after she had awoken in the hospital after the last time with Jaxon, pulling one out and taking in a shaky breath. "We are. And that is why I know we're going to be okay. No matter what happens, no more pain if we can help it." She swallowed hard and threw the entire envelope into the fire, shaking as she did so.

Skylar nodded slightly. "Yeah, she's been like since Ive known her." She whispered softly. She wrapped her arm around her middle and glanced over at her, feeling better now. She slowly nodded as she talked, knowing that she shouldnt have wronged her best friend. "True, but still. She still led you on." She rubbed her back, pressed a kiss against her head as she felt her shake. "Exactly, and if we get hurt again, then I guess we can come back here and do it again." She grabbed the rest of the pictures of DJ and her into the fire. "We're gonna be alright."

Kate was glad to have Skylar with her, knowing there was only a few people who knew what she was truly going through- what she had been through. "Well, it's too late to back track now. I should have just left it alone the second she started flirting with Santana. But it's done now. I've deleted her number and thrown away the paper that had it to begin with." She murmured, thankful for the support as she let everything from the past few days and past few years go. "You're right. This can be our spot." She sighed a little, nodding her head in agreement and looking up at Skylar then. "We are. And we're going to have an amazing semester, fuck whoever thinks they can ruin that. I am going to try to be more...open to letting people in and so are you. " She nudged her then with a grin before grabbing the bags she had brought down. "I figured besides the alcohol, we could be like little kids again and make s'mores."

Skylar frowned when she heard her and glanced over at her. "It happens, okay and you're right. We need to start looking towards the future and try to overcome this." She replied and nodded. "Yeah and anytime we need to escape. Come here and take our anger out on something." She smiled as she looked back at Kate, nodded along and grinned when she nudged her. "I agree. No more dealing with closing off people." She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the bag. "Have I told you that I love you?"

Kate "Definitely anytime we need an escape." Kate grinned even wider before shaking her head. "Not today you haven't. I love you too and I figured you'd be happy about it though." She pulled out a box of graham crackers and handed it off before grabbing the marshmallows and chocolate. "Thank you for coming all the way out here with me and getting the tattoo, and just everything." She smiled softly. "Thank you for being you really."

Skylar "And we're going to take Hannah with us, too." Skylar wrapped an arm around her shoulders and let out a sigh. "Oh, well then." She grabbed some graham crackers and nodded as she placed the box onto the ground. "You're welcome." She kissed her cheek and shrugged a bit. "You're welcome."

Kate nodded her head. "I know she was excited to be able to come with us so we'll definitely have to take another one just so she can come with. Hopefully it won't be too awkward with the whole Dani situation." She rested her head on Skylar's shoulder. "Okay, Maui. Let's make some s'mores and get the real party started." She teased, pulling out some skewers to start making their s'mores and putting on together on a stick for Skylar to hold over the fire. "For milady."

Skylar "It won't, she's not her sister." Skylar replied as she glanced at Kate and rubbed her shoulder as she pressed a kiss against her head once more. "Sounds good to me." She dropped her arm from around her and smiled when she grabbed the stick from her. "Thank you milady."