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jarofstyles · 1 year ago

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Oh Baby, Baby! Five

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Warnings- Pregnancy, hormones, etc.

WC- 2.3k

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Y/N was certain that she was going to kill someone.

This was why she normally had Harry go to the shops by himself. Her non pregnant self could barely deal with a Saturday crowd. Pregnant Y/N? She was homicidal.

People didn’t know how to walk. How to say ‘pardon me’. How to talk at a normal volume. Her eye was twitching as her hands tightened on the stopping trolly, taking a deep inhale as she watched Harry place a bag of cucumber into the basket. “Think that should be good in the Veg.” He chirped, looking at the list on his phone. She could see the little bubbles being filled in and going down each time he checked off an item. Thankfully he still had a functioning mind because hers was feeling like TV static as she tried to keep herself calm.

Her belly had begun to show a bit more and she was extremely protective of her little bump. Hand rested on it, she self soothed by rubbing over it, her stretchy cotton tee shirt dress moving with her hand. She’d chosen the green because Harry specifically liked her in that color, but she was more than aware of how she had begun to stress sweat and he would more than likely be exposed to the stains it would leave behind.

“Hey..” His hand on her shoulder startled her, making her jump. When had he even approached her? “You okay, love?” His hand shoved the phone into his pocket, instead gently tilting her head up towards him. The look of true concern made her soften her tense shoulders a tad, sighing as she nodded. This newer side to him, having to admit that she was his and he was hers, that they were an actual item, was still somewhat new. It was a weird mix of things that still was hard to understand. On one hand, it spooked her when he was openly affectionate like this, but the bigger side felt like it was natural. Settling into a place it always should have been, perhaps this aspect being the piece she felt somewhat missing in their friendship prior to this.

Harry wasn’t just her best friend anymore. He was her lover. The fucking father of her child! They were going to be around each other forever.

“Yeah.” She said tiredly, letting her face fall into his hand. “I’m a bit overwhelmed, honestly. Knew I needed to get out of the house but I forgot what a madhouse the store turns into on weekends.” A weak smile was pulled to the corner of her lips as his brows furrowed at her answer. Yes, it had been her idea to go. She had been holing up inside of the home and she needed to get some more fresh air and stimulation, but the grocery store was proving to be a bit much.

Pregnancy was a lot more strenuous than she had imagined and she knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park. Mentally it had been taxing, worrying about her abilities to be a mother and also cultivating and nourishing this new relationship with Harry, she had been anxious for a while despite it all. She was hopeful, anyways, because there was no one else she would ever dream of having a baby with.

With all that was going on, Harry had been a saving grace. A shoulder to lean on and a confidant, now that the layers had been shed and she knew that her feelings for him were not at all one sided. He seemed to thrive, actually, by feeling needed. It was something that had initially shocked her because he used to run away or pull back in the face of commitment, but he was already talking about what they’d make a tradition for their baby's birthday, how they were going to do the holidays, if they’d request their families to come together or split their times… It was incredible but also a bit weird to see. He had slid into the role like he had been born for it.

He’d even suggested they attend birthing classes together. Picked up more parenting books than she had. Gave her the prenatal vitamins and changed all the coffee in the house to decaf, much to her dismay. He was excited and happy and it felt bad that at times she felt a bit like a grinch. To which he would remind her that she was the one growing a little baby inside of her and had her body changing. That it was his job to do the other preparations because she needed to focus on keeping herself and the baby healthy. He was infuriatingly understanding.

“M’sorry. I forgot a bit, I kind of space out in my own head.” He mumbled. “Do you want to leave? I can come back later and get some of the stuff.” See? How was he being so good?

“No, no. That’s ridiculous, we’re halfway through the list. I’m just adjusting, I think. Hyperaware.” She laughed. “Just need to get through it. We’re getting lunch after so I can unwind there. The Bluebird Cafe still okay with you?” She asked, letting his hand fall back to her arm.

“Anything that’s good with you. Y’know I’m not picky, babe.” He chuckled. “They’ve got the good sandwich and salad combinations. I’m not on the cleanse anymore.” She had forgotten about that. A juice cleanse was a little ridiculous to her but apparently he said it helped his gut. To her that meant his bowel movements must be incredibly unpleasant. “Let’s power through the other half of the shopping, I’ll stop home and run it up, and then we can go fill your hunger. All good.”

“Okay.” It wasn’t much to argue, instead letting him pull her in for a quick hug and a press of his lips on her head. She really didn’t know what she would do without him.

—----------------

“So.” Harry’s hands folded against one another. Their food order had been taken and Y/N was sat comfortably in the booth across from Harry, her feet tangled with his. He’d ordered for her, being all too aware of what she had been prattling on about in the car, along with a smoothie he just simply knew that she liked. It was little things like that that caught her off guard. How much had he always been paying attention to that she didn’t even realize?

“Yes?” She asked, amused as she ran her hand absentmindedly over the growing swell of her stomach. The habit was human nature and Harry expressed jealousy sometimes that he couldn’t always be stroking over their growing baby, but he wanted to remain somewhat normal. He was already so fastidious about everything else, something neither of them had anticipated in this whole journey, so he didn’t want to smother Y/N with his eagerness.

“How are we….” He leaned on the table on his elbows, hands clasped. “How do we tell the parents?” It was a loaded question considering they really did need to tell them, sooner rather than later. Neither knew Harry and Y/N were even together, let alone that he was fathering a rapidly growing child inside of Y/N’s tummy. They’d kept it quiet for Y/N’s sake and superstition, wanting to make sure she made it into a safer part of the growth to tell people. It had been Y/N’s idea to have a child, even if she had been a bit impulsive, but she was trying to keep this intimate piece just to themselves for as long as they could. What had started as something off the cuff had become even more important to her than she had anticipated- and that was saying a lot.

“I mean, they’re going to be thrilled.” Harry started again, seeing the little wrinkle between her brows that always formed when she thought too hard. “They’ve been rooting for us to get together since we met. I know the baby part is going to kind of… throw things off, but I know they’re going to be overjoyed to learn that we’re havin’ our little Sprout.” The fondness could be seen physically on his features, like he was floating when he spoke about them. Their little baby, the sprout he was keeping track of every week on an app on his phone. He had quite a few downloaded, actually, but one in particular had been purchased with the premium membership.

‘Might be useful after Sprout, too.’ He had simply shrugged when she asked why he bothered paying for the lifetime membership. It still set the butterflies in her stomach on flight whenever she thought of that little instance.

Her bashful smile was his response, brushing imaginary lint off her dress before daring to meet his eyes. Harry had been more confident about this whole thing even though she had been the one to say she wanted it, and it had been like they sort of switched places. His confidence was starting to be a bit infectious.

“I think we should tell them together.” She finally conceded. “I have no idea how, really. We can check pinterest or just tell them? I know it's the first grandchild for both of them so I want it to be special but I don’t want to overdo it. You know?” Y/N knew Harry would get exactly what she meant. “We can do ultrasound pictures in gift bags, or the tee shirts that say grandma on them? I’ve never done it before.” She peeped, flushing to herself. No shit, this was their first child. This would all be a learning curve for everyone involved.

“No, no. I understand, pretty.” He reached out to grab her fingers that had been fiddling with the edge of the paper napkin, ripping it up slightly. A nervous habit. Instead he spread her fingers out and curled his around hers, running his index finger down the middle of her palm. “I think the ultrasound frame would be the best option. A keepsake that they’ll both like. Maybe we can have them over for a spring dinner, do it then?” The calming touch had it’s intended effect, Harry’s sharp eyes watching as her shoulders relaxed slightly and she nodded at the idea. “Perfect. I don’t mind keeping it to just us for a bit but, you know how gossipy people are. They’re gonna start talking about us going to the appointments and shopping. Don’t want to get everything online.” Harry had been a big advocate for them going out to have the full experience. He wanted to help her choose a crib, a playpen, a baby monitor- all after scouring the safety ratings and reviews, obviously- He wanted to be the one who put together the crib, the one who helped build the nursery. He’d expressed how involved he wanted to be not only in the baby’s day to day, but her pregnancy. How could she say no? How could she not lean all the way into it when she saw just how incredibly happy it made him?

“I know. Everyone is nosy.” Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “It’s okay, though. I just want to make sure random people don’t come up and feel my stomach. Maybe get me a sign that says ‘ask before touching’ to put on me.” Her joke made him chuckle but it was a real concern of hers. Y/N liked to keep her physical touch to a minimal with strangers. Harry wouldn’t stand for her being uncomfortable. “It’s different around family, like if we go to family stuff, but a lot of strangers just go up to people and touch and it’s weird.” A fake shudder exaggerated her disgust.

“Yeah, m’not sure why that’s a thing, my love. I’ll work something out.” Knowing him, he may very well get her a sign to stick on her tummy, but she would see. “We’ve got the telling our parents squared away, so I suppose my next question is when would you like to go shopping?” The eagerness for that was not well hidden, if he was even trying to hide it. Y/N doubted it.

“Probably soon after we tell them? We can start looking online. You’ve already got the baby locks taken care of.” Her eyes rolled in her head, making him pout. That was still something that he took seriously! He’d seen too many horror stories. “When Sprout, y’know, Blooms, we are going to be overwhelmed and probably busy. I don’t want there to be an accident and we just forget to babyproof something because we have other stuff going on.” He paused, bringing her hand to his face to kiss the knuckles. “I want this to be as stress free for you as possible. Just want you to focus on growing our baby, taking care of yourself. So m’gonna try and take care of stuff in the background so there's no worry, or sudden panic for you.”

Harry truly managed to blow her mind every day. Little things like this, his pure thoughtfulness made her a bit speechless. How she’d managed to snag the best baby daddy of all time, she didn’t know, but it would be something she was always thankful for. There wasn’t enough time to thank him for it, their food approaching as she was trying to find the words, but she was quick to squeeze his hand back and snug their legs up a bit more as she brought the straw of her smoothie to her mouth.

Life had somehow stuck her with the best person to grow with.

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ssahotchnerr · 8 months ago

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aaron would never admit it, being a man who loves his children equally, but there’s just something about ellie that’s always made him worry more. his career mainly focusing on female homicides certainly doesn’t help, but he swears it’s just something different. something shifted in him the day he held ellie for the first time, an innate desire to shield her from a kind of harm jack wouldn’t have to worry about.

the first time ellie proves her capability to aaron, she’s 9, sat between you two in the principal’s office. her knee is scraped, wild curls springing loose from her french braid, her (aaron’s) brown eyes glaring at her principal analytically, almost as if she’s trying to jumpstart her profiling career in her grass-stained soccer uniform.

the principal explains the severity of why the two of you had been called in—ellie had kicked a boy 5 years her senior in the shins, then had to be pulled off of him by one of the assistant coaches.

“eleanor odette hotchner,” aaron starts, “do you have ANYTHING to say for yourself?”

ellie looks right at him, unwavering.

“he picks on jack all the time. he’s the reason he came home with a bruise the other day. i saw it happen, dad. no one did anything about it, even after jack and i came in and told you.”

you and aaron look at each other, taken aback, and then to the principal as he sputters out an explanation.

“wait,” you interrupt, your own profiling skills kicking in, “is that why you and jack were late that one day coming home?” you look to aaron again, “jack said he hung back to ask a question about his science project.”

ellie shakes her head.

you two look back to the principal again, flushed red at the gaze of two identical sets of brown eyes glaring at him.

“you two have to understand, coach carter is one of the best JV coaches-“

“carter?? as in nathan carter’s dad? the same nathan carter who bullied jack so bad we had to switch classes in the middle of the school year?” you connect the dots, anger rising at the man in front of you.

the principal remains silent, sighing as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

ellie leans over to aaron, lowering her voice, as if telling him a secret.

“it’s called nepotism. uncle spencer told me about it.”

when the three of you leave that day, ellie is still suspended for three days, as opposed to the week she had been eyeing originally.

he saves the story till the perfect time arises, only a few days later. it’s a tense moment on the jet, when everyone is exhausted from a long, grueling case.

he starts it with an offhanded comment about how ellie has been on suspension, and 5 sets of eyes and ears perk up.

“ellie? our ellie? what happened?”

he hits the story’s climax right as dave is taking a sip of his whiskey. at the mention of nepotism, he laughs so hard it comes out of his nose.

ellie’s gonna be fine, aaron tells himself. as long as she doesn’t give her old man a heart attack first.

oh my god?????? yes. yes yes yes yes YES

not only does ellie favor aaron’s traits, she’s just as fiercely protective.

plus, aaron and jack have always been coming to her rescue whenever she needs it — her being the ‘baby’ of the family, being more vulnerable in different instances, they love her and want to protect her. so when the time comes for her to do the same, she does not hesitate. it’s what they would’ve done for her.

and of course she knows better — fighting is never the solution, doesn’t solve anything (and the fact she’s now on nathan’s and all his friends radar) — she was not about to be a bystander and let her big brother take a beating. absolutely not. so as she’s sitting in the principal’s office waiting for you and aaron, she’s extremely nervous, but regardless of what follows, she doesn’t regret what she’s done.

and while aaron has to be Dad and not condone fighting, he’s so incredibly proud of her. ellie apprehending a kid who’s twice her size — his little ellie???

it settles a bit of his worries. like, he’ll always be worried due to what he sees everyday, but ellie has proven can defend herself (at just 9 years old) and he has to give her more credit. she’s not some little weakling — she’s a hotchner.

and the bau finding out??? incredibly shocked, but just as aaron and you — proud.

#i’m SCREAMING THIS IS PERFECTION #THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS 😭#ellie hotchner <3 #aaron hotchner #criminal minds

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five-rivers · 10 months ago

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radiology

for @dekalko-mania and @dragonsdomain

Danny looked down at his arm and leg, then up at the ER desk, then over to his mother, sitting next to him, who had witnessed the car ‘clipping’ him. Unknown to her, it had done quite a bit more than clip him. Anyone else, and the driver’d have a vehicular homicide charge on his hands, not just a hit and run.

If she hadn’t been watching– If he’d seen the car–

Well, then he wouldn’t be in this mess, would he? He would’ve dodged, or gone intangible, or just hidden the injuries he did get until they cleared up. Just like he’d hidden all the other injuries he’d gotten that week.

Although, he could admit that these were pretty bad, all things considered. Worse than he usually got, which was incredible, considering he’d gotten it from something as banal as a car accident.

Less banal were the other injuries he was sporting. Like, new broken bones and bruises? That’s what he was supposed to have. That’s what was normal to have after a car accident.

Old broken bones and bruises… He definitely still had the ones from being hit by the car, but they just as definitely had started healing already, faster than a normal human’s ever could. So had the broken bones and bruises he’d gotten earlier in the week after a particularly nasty fight with Aragon, the bites from the ghost bear, the stab wound from an anti-ghost knife (thanks Valerie)... But they were still there. Those would be harder to explain. If he even could explain them.

He needed to figure out how to hide all of this. Like, obviously, he couldn’t hide everything. He had been hit by a car, and, more importantly, he’d been seen getting hit by a car. But the weirder stuff? He could do that.

“Fentons?” called the receptionist. “They’re ready with the x-ray.”

“He’s going to need a wheelchair,” said Maddie.

They got him a wheelchair, despite his protests that he could still walk, and wheeled him over to radiology. He eyed the x-ray machine with trepidation and distaste. It didn’t look like much, not compared to some of the machines he’d been in, but that didn’t mean it didn’t have the power to destroy his life. Metaphorically. Probably couldn’t do it literally. Probably.

A woman leaned into the room. “Mrs. Fenton, we have a question about your insurance.”

“Right, okay, I’ll be right back, sweetie.”

“Don’t worry,” said the radiologist, who was adjusting something on her computer. “We’d actually ask you to leave the room while we did this anyway. No reason to irradiate you today.”

“My jumpsuit would–”

“Mrs. Fenton, the insurance.”

“Yes, yes,” said Maddie, she walked out, leaving Danny behind with the radiologist and the nurse that had helped them back here.

The nurse helped the doctor make sure he was arranged properly for the x-ray, each limb in place, while the radiologist took a series of images. Then he got him back into the wheelchair.

“Thanks David, I think we’ll be okay here for now, if you need to get back to the ER. I’ll call Molly when Mr. Fenton’s ready to get his bones set.”

“Alright,” said the nurse, nodding. “You’ll be in good hands, kid, Molly’s great.”

That left Danny alone with the radiologist, who was clicking through Danny’s x-rays on her computer and rapidly paling. With a flash, he went ghost and phased into the radiologist.

He didn’t like overshadowing people very much anymore. It had been fun at first, getting to be someone else. Like playing a part. But being the part, being puppeted… That was a lot less fun, and once Danny realized that, he stopped, except for when it was going to save a life. Or his secret. Which was pretty much his life.

He stared at the computer screen. Overshadowing someone didn’t mean that he knew what they knew. Not really. But he did get echoes. Impressions. Bits of emotion. Sometimes, he even got a snippet of something they knew so well that it was basically muscle memory. So, he knew his x-rays were screwed up, but not in what way, except–

Oh, yeah. That would do it. That was probably it, anyway. He’d forgotten that he’d phased the thermos into his stomach to hide it, earlier. Along with a couple pencils, a spoon, and various other small objects. That was probably also related to why his liver felt so bruised… He hadn’t realized it’d show up in x-ray even though it was intangible, but then, Danny was still visible while intangible, unless he went invisible at the same time, so… Yeah… Huh, the physics behind that had to be wild.

But that wasn’t relevant right now. He was hurt enough that he didn’t think he could hold onto the radiologist for more than a few minutes longer. She wasn’t really fighting him, but she had a strong sense of self.

However… he deleted all his x-rays. That was step one. Now, she had to have, like, spares or something. Something he could substitute in for the images he’d just deleted. He minimized the window and started looking through the radiologist’s files. The spares might not have bones broken in the same places… or even broken bones at all, but that was fine. People got lucky in accidents all the time. He could play it off as the car not hitting him that hard. Or something.

Panic and aching pain may have disrupted his thought processes just a little bit.

Finally, he found something labeled EXAMPLE 20XX. That’d work. That was over ten years ago, for all that it looked like the right file type for the x-ray program, so hopefully the radiologist wouldn’t recognize it.

He loaded the pictures up and fled the radiologist’s body. Just in time, too. As the radiologist was orienting herself, Maddie came back in, a scowl on her face. However, the scowl quickly turned into naked worry when she saw Danny.

“Were you able to take his pictures already?”

“Yes, we have a new fast imager. But these are…” She trailed off, examining the screen intensely.

“Is something wrong?” asked Maddie.

“Well,” said the radiologist, “come look.”

Maddie crossed the distance between Danny and the radiologist. “Oh, thank goodness, I don’t see any breaks.”

“And that would be good, if these were his bones.”

“They’re not?”

“Not unless he’s a thirty-five year old woman,” she said. “Sorry, this is my sample set. It shouldn’t be connected to his– Nothing like this has happened before. I didn’t even have my samples open.”

“Could the undo button help?” asked Maddie.

“I mean, if they were in here at all, maybe,” said the radiologist.

Tucker was going to kill him for not restarting that program. And the computer. And emptying the ‘trash’ bin. And probably a dozen other things that would have prevented from the radiologist and his mother being able to restore everything with a few clicks of an ‘undo’ button.

“Oh, here they are, they’re…” She started losing color again. “Mrs. Fenton, do you have any idea what this… what these things are? Or how he could have… Dear lord, I think these are more break than bone.”

Maddie turned to Danny. Her stance looked casual, but Danny knew she could whip out a gun faster than you could blink.

“Danny,” she said, “can you explain any of this?”

#danny phantom #phic phight

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these-written-reveries · 6 days ago

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Dissimulate My Love (Pt. 2)

‣ Pairing: Touya Todoroki (Dabi) x GN!Reader

‣ Genre: flangst (angst & fluff)

‣ Summary: Touya is in love with you, and Toga knows. The self-proclaimed “expert” crafts the perfect plan to bring the two of you together, but Touya is still determined to keep his feelings hidden from you. Unfortunately for him, Toga’s plan seems to be working out in her favor, his carefully crafted mask slipping and his secret threatening to reveal itself at every turn.

‣ Warnings: angst (with a happy ending), slow burn, brief examples of suicidal/homicidal ideation, lots of swearing, Reader gets hurt but is alright, insecure/self-deprecating talk, Touya pining for Reader HARD, Toga being an annoying younger sibling to Touya

‣ Word Count: 11,018

‣ A/N: Finally got fed up thinking about it and decided to write it. Yay! Could've split this into multiple parts with how long it is, but I'm nice, so I won't do that to you guys (I really don't wanna format more posts than I need to heh). Would love to hear your thoughts on it!

***I imagined Touya wearing this as his disguise lol.

(Part 1 here)

Touya was way in over his head.

When he had agreed to Toga’s stupid blackmail proposition, he had hoped that she’d quickly forget about it, find something else that suited her fancy and leave him the hell alone.

It had been days, and her persistent, knowing looks and teasing chatter about you showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Oh, she was really set on this.

He should’ve known.

“We need two people to follow the suspect and gain more intel. Based on what Y/N gathered from their previous stakeout, it appears highly likely that he is working for both sides,” Shigaraki explained to the League members, scattered around the room.

Red eyes landing on you between the fingers of the mask covering his face, he continued his speech. “Y/N, you will be assigned as one of the members for this mission. As for the second-”

“Ooh!”

Toga had her hand raised high, almost falling out of her seat as she tried to get Shigaraki to notice her.

He sighed. “Yes, Toga. I already picked you to be the second.”

“Actually, Tomura, I-I mean, Mr. Boss, I was going to suggest that Dabi be the second member for this mission,” Toga spoke sweetly, obviously hoping to sway the decision of the shaggy-haired leader.

Touya narrowed his eyes at Toga, but didn’t bother opening his mouth to object. Even if Shigaraki didn’t pick him, he was going to personally threaten persuade him into allowing him to go with you instead. After last time, he wasn’t letting you go without his protection.

Shigaraki’s eyes mimicked Touya’s, a mixture of curiosity and suspicion within his gaze. “Why?”

Toga shrugged. “Just ‘cause…well, I don’t think I’m a good fit for the job. Dabi would be better, in this case.”

“What are we? Chopped liver?” Twice scoffed.

Toga waved her hands around in defense. “Nooo! I just think Dabi and Y/N make a good team. Wouldn’t you all agree?”

Mr. Compress nodded. “They do work well together.”

“That’s true! Like that one time they defeated that rogue Nomu together!” Spinner added.

“Oh yeah! I thought we were all gonna die!” Twice put his hands on his face dramatically as he recalled the ordeal.

Toga smiled, looking back to Shigaraki. “Exactly! That’s why Dabi should join Y/N on this mission, Mr. Leader Boss!”

Fucking kiss ass...

Shigaraki rolled his eyes. “What makes you think extra crispy over there is a better fit for a stealth job, hm? He stands out like a sore thumb.”

Touya clenched his fists tightly, glaring daggers at him.

Fucking asshole...

“Don’t worry! I can sort out a good disguise for him!” Toga assured, a confident smile on her face.

Clearly over the entire conversation, Shigaraki grumbled to himself before letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Fine. But you better not fuck this up,” he said, pointing to both Toga and Touya.

Touya was almost annoyed he didn’t point at you too. Then again, he would’ve sooner burnt the crusty leader’s hand to ashes before it ever pointed your way to begin with.

He looked at you to gauge your reaction about him being your partner for the mission. You looked back at him and smiled, sending a surprising wave of relief through his body.

“Looks like you’re getting your wish this time,” you teased.

Touya half-chuckled. “Yeah, lucky me.”

“We do make a good team, though, don’t we?” you asked, looking at him with a familiar, yet all too foreign, softness in your eyes.

Unlike him, you didn’t try so hard to hide every ounce of emotion you felt. You were openly kind and compassionate towards those you cared about; always there for the other members of the League when they needed it. He admired that about you. And yet, he always found himself so confused to be on the receiving end of your kindness.

Why waste your kindness on someone like him?

If anything, you were a fool for doing so. Unbeknownst to you, every time you offered your sweet kindness to him, he only grew to crave it more, to crave you more.

In a way, his feelings for you were all your fault. If you had never spared him that warm smile when you two had met, if you had never gifted his ears with the sound of your adorable laughter when he had said something funny around you for the first time, if you had never placed a gentle hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him after a bad day, if you had never shown such concern for him when he was hurt, if you had never looked at him with that sweet look in your eyes…

If you weren’t still looking at him like that…

…maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t be so fucking obsessed with you, fighting for his goddamn life to remember how to breathe under the weight of your beautiful gaze.

It was pathetic, honestly. He knew it, yet he couldn’t make it stop.

All your fault.

“Yeah…I guess we do.” He nodded, doing his best to appear nonchalant, hiding the fact that internally he wanted to scream at you and kiss you at the same time.

All the while, he could feel the looming gaze of the young blonde behind him, her little giggle ringing in his ears—a taunting reminder of her secret plans and the fact that Touya still hadn’t found a way to put a stop to them before she pushed things too far.

Yeah. He was definitely in over his head.

“Change of plans. You’re gonna be their boyfriend!”

Touya stared at the young girl before him with a bewildered look on his face.

“Uhh…wasn’t that already implied when you said you wanted to 'help', or whatever?”

Toga groaned dramatically. “For the mission, dummy! You’re gonna be their fake boyfriend. And if you’re lucky, and you listen to every word I say, by the end of it, you’ll be their real boyfriend!”

Now it was Touya’s turn to groan.

It was too early for this shit. And by “early”, it was 2pm. His sleeping habits had started to resemble a nocturnal creature’s many years ago, and he never bothered to change it. Being up at night was better anyway, as he could more easily hide in the shadows and conduct his business, out of sight from those who may easily recognize him.

However, this mission required him to be up earlier than usual. Earlier than he really needed to be, but Toga insisted on having extra time to get his disguise all sorted out. She had been working on it for the past week, finding the right pieces for him. He had to keep her on a tight leash, otherwise he’d be clad in colorful clothes, a wig, and blingy accessories, as she had previously suggested to him before he quickly shut it down.

But of course, she always managed to find a loophole to appease her whims.

Unbeknownst to him, Toga had a vial of his blood laying around that she’d greedily stole from him the last time he was bleeding out after being injured. He was so out of it at the time, he didn’t even realize.

Apparently, she saw this as the most opportune time to use it.

He was mortified upon waking to find teasing messages from members of the League and pictures of Toga posing as him in a bunch of ridiculous outfits being used as memes in the group chat.

The group chat you were a part of.

To say he wasn’t happy with the little brat that week was an understatement.

By the end of it, he was nearly out of breath from saying so much at once, and she was smirking.

He was so livid and embarrassed, he waited for her arrival back home, only to pull her aside and berate her for it, ignoring her attempts to apologize and play innocent. He told her that it was a huge invasion of privacy and that she was sabotaging any chance of her stupid plans coming to fruition by sending embarrassing pictures like that and that you would probably never be able to look at him the same again and that she better drop the whole “matchmaker” act, because now he was absolutely certain he would never confess his feelings for you, because there was no way in hell you would ever feel the same, especially after seeing him like that!

Why the fuck was she smirking?

His heart nearly sank to his feet when he realized you had walked into the room.

Fuck.

Touya cringed thinking back to it. It had been three days, and he hadn’t spoken to, nor seen you at all. He still wasn’t even sure if you’d heard anything. You seemed to look away quickly and acted as if you didn’t just walk in on him angrily admitting his feelings for you to Toga, but how was he to know you weren’t just pretending not to have overheard?

In the moment, Touya didn’t bother to press for answers. He was out of there faster than anyone else could blink, but not before sending Toga a sharp glare, a silent warning not to speak a damn word to you, or she’d be next on his hit list.

Now, as he sat in an uncomfortable chair, suited up in his disguise, he grumbled at Toga’s hands in his hair. He gave up trying to swat her hands away after the third time of her smacking his hands in return and threatening to burn him with the curling iron if he didn’t stop. He made some snarky comment about his scars and how if she was gonna threaten him, she’d have to do better than that.

Just the mention of her spilling his secret to you was enough to shut him up real quick, his jaw clenching tightly as he huffed in frustration.

It wasn’t until a few minutes had passed that he felt it safe enough to continue his snarky attitude.

"This is stupid," he muttered.

"No, it's perfect! This is your chance to make a move!"

"The hell are you talking about? You really think that me pretending to be their boyfriend is gonna somehow make me their real boyfriend? This is just a job to them. They'll see everything I do as acting, that’s it."

"UGHHH! Haven't you ever seen a romance movie before?!" Toga exclaimed, waving the curling wand in the air dramatically as she spoke.

She didn't bother to leave room for him to respond, already knowing the answer.

"This is the part where you woo them by showing them what it'd be like to be in a relationship with you! They'll suddenly look at you differently afterwards and from there, the love will only grow bigger until you both can't take it anymore and then you'll finally makeout and live happily ever after!"

Touya rolled his eyes. "First of all, stop wavin’ that shit around unless you wanna end up lookin’ like me. Second of all, I don't know why I'm taking romantic advice from a naïve kid.."

Toga scoffed in offense. "You think I'm naïve, huh?"

"Yep," Touya responded, popping the "p" for extra emphasis.

A deep frown overtook Toga's features, huffing at him angrily as she pointed the curling wand at him. Touya remained unmoved, a deadpan look on his face.

"I am not! You're the one who knows absolutely nothing about love!"

A dry chuckle escaped Touya’s mouth, though his face remained mostly impassive.

"I may not know much about love, but I do know it's not all sunshine and rainbows and happily ever after's like you very obviously think it is. Sometimes people love people who’ll never love them back. And sometimes people love people, but that doesn't mean they should be in a relationship! Especially if it'll only ruin the life of the person they love."

The room went silent for a moment as Toga lowered the curling wand, her face softening.

"You really think that way about yourself? That's sad."

"Tsk...My whole existence is sad. Pathetic, really." Touya moved his eyes down to focus on the ground beneath his feet, suddenly feeling uncomfortably vulnerable under her gaze.

He was struggling to keep up his tough, detached façade. Even his self-deprecating jokes weren’t landing right.

All because of the thought of never getting to have you the way he longed so deeply for, to feel the love he'd always secretly wished to experience. It wasn’t something he could easily brush off with an indifferent shrug or a stupid joke. It was just depressing.

All your fault.

"Hey! Don't talk about my big brother like that!"

Touya's eyes went wide as they snapped up to meet Toga’s, who stood firm with one hand on her hip and a pout on her face, the other hand pointing the curling wand at him once more, this time in a scolding manner.

"Maybe you don't think of me as your little sister, but I think of you as my brother. I don't like it when the people I love say mean things about themselves. Especially when it's not even true!"

Touya was shocked into silence, which urged her to continue to speak.

"The only reason why I wanna help you so bad is because you're family and I want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy, Dabi. And I know you'd be great in a relationship because you're an amazing person! You're so tough and brave and you always protect us and you let me sit with you when I'm sad or when I have nightmares and you always make me feel better with your messed up jokes, and you're very considerate of the people close to you, even when you act like you could care less!"

She paused to take a breath, her passion getting the best of her.

"You're just...really cool, and I look up to you a lot. So I know you'd make Y/N happy too, and I bet they totally love you back! And even if they don’t…then it’s their loss!"

Touya remained silent, unsure of what to say. For once, he didn’t have a witty or even snarky response in return. He was filled with emotions he couldn’t fully make sense of or translate into words, even if he wanted to. Even if he should have said something.

Thankfully, Toga knew him well enough to know when to press for a response and when to move on. This time, it was the latter.

"Hm...you know, I think this look definitely needs some glasses," she said, stepping back to scan him up and down.

Touya let out a small huff of laughter, a fond smile tugging at his lips.

"You already curled my hair or whatever and now you wanna put me in glasses? What are you tryna to do? Reverse 'Princess Diaries' me?"

"First of all, they are beach waves. They’re super in style right now and—Wait...Did you just—"

"I've seen some romance movies." Touya shrugged, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

Toga let out a laugh that sounded more like a pig squealing. She seemed to be way too excited over this, and Touya couldn’t help the chuckle that rumbled in his chest as he watched her.

Once she managed to get ahold of herself, she spoke again.

"Since when do you, big scary Dabi, watch movies like that?!"

"Since when I wasn't big scary Dabi. I dunno, haven't seen that shit in years." He shrugged again, trying to bury the memories that began to bubble up to the surface.

Toga understood what he meant and grew a little quiet along with him as she finished up the final pieces of his hair and fixed the collar of his coat once more.

"I meant sunglasses, dummy. Since you won't let me use makeup to cover up your scars."

A cringe overtook Touya’s features. "I don't want that cakey shit on my face. Besides, I doubt you'd be able to cover all this up."

Toga shook her head with a sigh. "You underestimate my skills. Also, hate to break it to you, but 'Princess Diaries' isn't technically a romance movie."

Touya was taken aback. "The fuck? Yes it is."

Toga giggled. "Nope. It's like a total side plot. Cute of you think that, though."

Touya’s eyes narrowed at the blonde, who simply stuck her tongue out at him in return, handing him a black face mask, that which he quickly snatched from her.

"Don't patronize me, brat. You're younger than me, remember?"

"I may be younger, but I'm clearly smarter,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Touya glared at her, yet he could barely contain the amused smile that tugged at the corner of his lips behind the mask that now covered the lower half of his face. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the sound of footsteps entering the room.

Turning his head, he almost choked on his spit when he saw you, stood there in a pretty wig, the color of which matched his Blueflame almost perfectly, and artificial black horns curling out of the sides of your head. His eyes trailed lower, admiring every detail of your casual civilian outfit that suited you so well. Your face was covered with a black face mask, similar to his, but he could tell you were smiling underneath it by the way your eyes crinkled—a mixture of amusement and embarrassment at his reaction.

He was gawking like a fool. Thank fuck he had a mask over his mouth, otherwise he'd be even more embarrassed by the way his jaw hung slightly open as his eyes scanned over your perfect form. He turned to Toga, his hand outstretched.

"Gimme those glasses."

As he put them on, Toga began speaking, a smirk on her face. "Wow, Y/N, you look smokin' hot! Don't you think, Dabi?"

He rolled his eyes, clearing his throat before speaking. "Mhm, sure, I guess."

"Is that how you're gonna speak to your romantic partner? Come on, you can do better than that!" The younger girl nudged him with her elbow, staring at him expectantly.

He glanced at you, surprised to find you crossing your arms at him as well.

Between the two of you, he was doomed to never catch a break.

"Fuck, okay...You look...hot, or beautiful, or whatever. The blue suits you," he muttered, his face flushing as he tried to get the words out.

Toga patted him on the arm approvingly. "See? Was that so hard?"

Touya ignored her, his eyes glued on you and the way you looked back at him with your eyes crinkled up into somewhat of a flustered smile, a small giggle leaving your lips.

Goddammit. Could you stop being so fucking cute for one second? Give a man a break!

"Thanks, Dabi. Not to say you don't look good as well, but not gonna lie...somehow you look even more suspicious in that coat than without it,” you spoke teasingly, your eyes raking up and down his figure, making him suddenly feel way too hot in those clothes.

Toga spoke up before he could get a word out in response, waving her hands around as she spoke.

"I tried my best, okay?! This guy is not only very hard to properly disguise, but he's also stubborn as hell!"

You chuckled, placing a hand on Toga’s shoulder to get her to settle down.

"It's okay. You did great."

Turning back to Touya, you glanced at Toga’s work once more, before reaching a hand out towards his hair, causing every muscle in his body to freeze as you ran your fingers through it. The gentleness of your touch was so unfamiliar to him, yet he knew right away he could never get enough of it. He had to stop his eyes from fluttering closed in response to the intimate contact, instead focusing on your face that was much closer to him than usual, suddenly wishing he wasn't wearing the sunglasses so that he could truly admire the details and colors of your skin and eyes and the way the blue hair framed your features.

"I like your hair like this. It's nice." The soft tone of your voice somehow made the moment feel even more intimate.

Touya could feel his body temperature increasing. He hoped you couldn't feel it radiating off of him.

He swallowed hard, trying to make his voice sound nonchalant, despite the racing beat of his heart. "Thanks."

Just as quickly as you had initiated the contact, you pulled away, leaving him nearly whimpering at the lack of your touch. He stifled his response and by the time he had collected himself, you were already by the door, looking over your shoulder at him.

"You coming, boyfriend?" you asked, a teasing tone lacing your words.

He was fucked. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

"Y-Yeah." He cleared his throat. "Yep. Let's go."

He followed you out the door, stopping before it shut to glance back at the giddy girl looking after the two of them with a toothy smile. Any annoyance he felt towards her melted at the sight of her happy face.

Dammit. He really was getting soft, huh?

"See ya later, brat," was all he said before he finally let the door shut behind him.

The two of you had been following the suspect around all day, having gained little to nothing from it so far. He had been going about his business around town, while the two of you tried to appear like a normal couple, spending the day together, while still mostly staying out of sight from him. From your last mission, you had gathered information that put this guy at the top of the suspect list for being the mole that had been responsible for the sabotaging of many of the League’s planned attacks, forcing your leader to shut down any current and future plans until the mole was found and rid of.

You were told not to come back unless the two of you had successfully gathered the incriminating evidence needed, and you had the mole in your possession.

At this rate, it seemed like the two of you were never going to come back.

On second thought, Touya wouldn’t mind that one bit. The idea of spending the rest of your lives together, under the obligation of some stupid mission you were assigned years ago, made him smile to himself. At what point would it turn from “just a mission”, to something more?

If he really was lucky, as Toga suggested before, then this stupid mole would go underground, leaving the two of you to continue searching for him forever.

Forever. Just the two of you.

“What’s got you smiling so big?”

Touya snapped back to reality, locking in on your curious, but teasing eyes.

You were huddled against him as you both leaned against the cement wall of a random building, hugging his arm against your chest—the cold air apparently being the reason for your doing so. Your chin was propped up against his shoulder, glancing up at him with those gorgeous fucking eyes. Even behind the mask over your mouth, he could see you smiling clear as day.

He suddenly felt weak in the knees.

All day you’d been touchier towards him, and it was driving him insane. Of course, it was part of the job, but damn was it hard not to grab you and kiss you when you were so close to him.

So goddamn close, he was sure the scent of your perfume had attached itself to him too. So close, he could feel your breath at times, tickling his skin when you leaned in to whisper something to him. So close, he could see miniscule blemishes and features on you that he hadn’t noticed before.

His strength was wavering, as was the invisible mask he usually wore so well.

Unfortunately, the real mask he was wearing was doing little to hide his embarrassing moment of weakness from your observant gaze. Or, perhaps the lack of sunglasses over his eyes were to blame as well. He had taken those off a while ago, due to very few people being around.

And the fact that he was sick of them preventing him from being able to truly look at you.

Clearing his throat and straightening his spine, he wiped away his smile and shook his head.

“Nothing.”

As if you were going to let him off that easily. He knew that, but he was physically incapable of saying anything else in the moment, especially not when you gripped his arm tighter as the wind blew past the two of you, tugging him close enough that he could feel the rise and fall of your chest against his arm.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah.”

There was a brief pause before you spoke again, standing on the tips of your toes as you drew yourself closer to his face, a playful smile on your own.

“I bet you were thinking of me, huh?”

Touya couldn’t help that he grew tense over what you said, but it only encouraged you to continue.

“Ha! Look at you, stiff as a board. How cute,” you teased. “I bet you enjoy pretending to be my boyfriend, huh?”

Damn right he did.

Touya scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Don’t get so cocky, now. That’s my job.”

You hummed. “And yet, I don’t see much of that cockiness right now. Looks like we switched roles, didn’t we, hot stuff?”

“You’re insufferable,” he muttered, shoving his hands deeper into the jacket of his coat and staring straight ahead near the shop where your target was expected to exit from at any moment.

He was dying inside. You were going to be the death of him.

You gasped, pointing at him. “See? That’s my line!”

He couldn’t help but join in on your laughter, shaking his head as you giggled into his arm.

Although he was desperately seeking an excuse to flee the current conversation, he simultaneously found himself disappointed when he spotted the familiar figure leaving the small convenience store with a bag in hand.

At once, he grew serious, honing in on the man, who took a quick scan of his surroundings as he continued to walk down the street opposite of the two of you.

Touya nodded his head in the direction of him. “He’s on the move.”

Placing a hand on your waist, he guided you to walk with him, lingering behind a ways back so as not to arise attention or suspicion from the man.

Touya felt your fingers graze against his palm before they laced themselves between his.

His breath hitched in his throat.

It was so much harder to focus when all he could think about in the moment was the soft feeling of your hand and how it seemed to fit in his perfectly.

Almost like you were made for him.

The two of you walked along for a while, taking some twists and turns, until you were eventually headed down a path towards an area Touya was quite familiar with.

His hold on your hand grew firmer, pulling you slightly closer to his side as he leaned in to speak to you.

“This place is trouble. Stay close to me.”

You nodded and wrapped your other hand around his bicep, a smirk tugging at his lips beneath his mask at the way you so willingly clung to him.

After a few more blocks, it became more obvious what Touya had meant. It was a severely neglected part of the city, a hot spot for criminal activity and overall shady business. Touya recalled once arguing with Shigaraki about never sending you to this area, at least not alone. He had heard too many stories and experienced many things himself in the area that just the thought of you stepping foot there sent a shiver down his spine.

Unfortunately, he didn’t get a say now. You would never agree to being left behind while he went alone. You were too stubborn for that.

He put all his focus into keeping an eye out for any danger that may be lurking around the corner, growing tense as he prepared himself for anything that might happen.

You seemed to respond to his shift in energy by holding onto him just a little tighter. This small action only spurred on his protective nature even more, determined to keep you safe from any harm.

A few more minutes of walking and the man suddenly came to a stop, making an abrupt turn into a small coffee shop. You and Touya stopped at the end of the block, staring at the shop he had just entered with bewildered faces.

“Coffee? Here? Didn’t we pass up like three other shops on the way here, in much safer areas?” you asked, looking at Touya.

He nodded. “There’s no way the coffee is that worth it.”

You were both silent for a while, hidden behind a corner as you watched the man order his drink and proceed to sit at one of the indoor tables near the window that served as a wall between the indoor seating area and the small, empty outdoor seating area.

Chewing on your lower lip, you hummed. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to find out for ourselves, huh?”

“Tsk. Fine.”

Touya took a step forward, but you stopped him, pulling him back by your connected hands and placing a firm hand on his chest. He looked at you with furrowed brows.

“I don’t think you should go in. Walking outside on a cold day looking like that is one thing, but entering a coffee shop looking like that will only draw suspicion. Especially the whole sunglasses indoors thing,” you said, motioning to his outfit. “I’ll go in and order and you can pick one of the outdoor tables for us to sit at. I don’t think he’s really seen us yet today, so he probably won’t even pay any attention to us.”

This time, you tried to take a step forward, only to quickly be drawn back, Touya’s arm snaking around your waist so you didn’t stumble.

“Ha. Very funny,” he muttered dryly.

“What? It’s a good plan!”

“Wrong. It’s a shit plan. In fact, it’s hilarious you think I’d let you go off anywhere on your own in this place.”

You narrowed your eyes at him, a frustrated huff causing your nostrils to flare.

How cute.

“I can handle myself, you know? How do you think I managed to get into the League, huh? Why do you think Shigaraki always sends me on missions like these?”

Touya pretended to be deep in thought. “Hm. Good questions. I think the answer to both is ‘’cause you’re pretty’.”

You gasped in offense, stepping back from him. “That is not true!”

Touya half-chuckled. “You think my eyes are lyin’ or somethin’?”

A frustrated growl left you as you yanked your hand out of his, trying to keep your voice contained as you spoke. “I am not just my looks! I have real skills, and I’ve made it this far without you, boyfriend, so I think I can order a damn coffee by myself!”

With that, you spun around and began storming towards the coffee shop, ignoring the fact that Touya was following behind you in stride, hands in his pockets as if he was unaffected by your sudden outburst.

Inside there were very few people and no line. You didn’t even spare a side glance at the man you’d been following all day, too angry to do anything but step up to the front counter and spill out some random order from the very small menu to the guy running the register. The other worker sat on a stack of boxes near the entrance to the back room, scrolling on their phone, but quickly sighed and got to work once they heard your order.

It was hard not to notice the gun poking out of the back of his jeans, just below where his apron tied around his waist.

“Can I get you anything, sir?” the cashier asked, the words lacking emotion, as if rehearsed to death.

You rolled your eyes as Touya’s presence loomed over you.

“Black coffee. Hot.”

Touya could tell you weren’t really paying attention to anything that was said at this point, still running over the words that were spoken earlier between the two of you in your mind as you reached for the wallet inside the little bag Toga lent you.

Touya was faster, handing the cashier the money before you could finish sifting through your wallet.

Your head snapped up, followed by a sharp inhale as you processed what he had done, before sending a glare his way and storming off to sit at one of the outdoor tables.

Now he was starting to regret being an asshole earlier. Just a little.

He still couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at his lips as he looked back at where you had run off to.

You were just so adorable when you were so worked up.

Pretty hot too.

You’d kill him if you could observe the thoughts than ran through his head.

“Trouble in paradise, huh?”

The cashier’s voice rang out in his head, interrupting his train of thought. He felt a twinge of annoyance as he turned to look at the guy, but ultimately let out a small huff of laughter, his eyes finding you again as he spoke.

“Yeah…Somethin’ like that.”

Touya was right. The coffee definitely wasn’t worth it.

Yet, the two of you continued to sip away at your drinks as if you couldn’t get enough of it, suddenly very interested in the trash blowing in the wind and the car alarm going off a few blocks away. You occasionally flicked your eyes to the man through the window, who seemed entirely uninterested, or possibly even unaware of your existence.

The last time Touya tried to speak, you snapped at him to “shut up”. At this point, he was running thin on patience.

"I was kidding, you know. You're a lot more than your looks. I didn’t expect you to take it so seriously."

“Of course I did. It came from you,” you blurted back, your tone full of bite, but your words revealing the hurt underneath. You let out an exasperated sigh as you pulled your mask down to take another sip of your drink.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know…It doesn’t matter,” you mumbled, picking at the edge of the cardboard sleeve over your cup.

An annoyed sigh fell past Touya’s lips. He reached over and placed his hand over yours, gently pulling it away from your cup so he could grasp it properly. Your eyes met his as he spoke.

“It matters to me. So spill it.”

He watched as the walls you built crumbled away, feeling you relax slightly under his touch.

“I just…I care about what you think. I respect you a lot and…I hate the idea of you thinking of me as only being valuable for my looks,” you explained, your eyes disconnected from his, but your grip on his hand growing slightly tighter, almost as if subconsciously seeking his comfort.

He tried and immediately failed at letting his ego run wild with this.

You were holding his hand. Seeking out his comfort. You cared about him and what he thinks.

Fuck. He needed to focus.

Touya scoffed. “Are you kidding me? Fuck…Yes, you’re goddamn gorgeous, I’d never lie about that, but I’ve never once thought of that as your sole defining quality. I mean, you’re badass as fuck, and I know I haven't really said it out loud before, but I really respect and admire you and your skills, and who you are as a person, and whatever. You’re just…really amazing.”

Your eyes crinkled slightly, your cheekbones rising on your face.

“Don’t listen to me, okay? I mean—yes, listen to me, but don’t listen to me when I’m being a dumb asshole, ‘cause I never really mean that shit. I just have a tendency to push people’s buttons,” he continued.

“On purpose. ‘Cause you like riling people up,” you added.

He chuckled, but remained serious as he spoke. “Yeah, but it’s different with you. As much as I like seeing you riled up, I don’t like it when you’re really hurt by what I say, so if I ever say some dumb shit again, you better call me out on it.”

“You know I will,” you laughed.

He joined your laughter, now feeling a weight off his chest as he looked at you fondly. “Good. I need someone to keep me in line.”

“Oh? And you’re electing me for the job?”

Finally, the two of you were back to your regular banter. Touya felt airy and happy once again as he smiled at you.

“You far exceed the requirements. Couldn’t think of a better person for the job.”

A delighted gasp entered your lungs. You placed a hand on your chest in a playful show of pride. “Wow. I’m honored.”

Touya couldn’t help but feel his face flush a little at the implications of your conversation. If only you meant it in the way he did…

He deflated a bit, but tried to hide it by placing his lips on the rim of the gross coffee that he regretted buying more with every little sip.

Silence dragged on for a while, both of you eyeing the man who still hadn’t moved from his spot in the coffee shop. He had bought himself a newspaper and some chips from the small convenience store earlier, seemingly reading every inch of the paper diligently.

At this rate, the two of you would be stuck in the damn cold outside of this coffee shop for hours. He was growing more aware of every chill that passed through you, and it made him grit his teeth, about to rip off the stupid jacket he was wearing and pass it over to you at any moment. But you’d inevitably decline, making some worried comment about how he might get recognized.

Stupid scars.

Finally, you broke the silence.

"Soo...those pictures…"

And just like that, he wished you hadn't. Was this your way of punishing him for earlier?

Touya's mouth suddenly felt dry, his hands becoming clammy as he braced himself for the rest of what you were about to say.

"You looked pretty good in the blue jacket. Kinda bummed she didn't pick that one for you."

He let out a small breath of relief, but tensed up once more when you opened your mouth to speak again.

"Not cool of her to do that, though. I'm assuming you scolded her well enough, based on the other night. Sorry for walking in on you, by the way. I didn't reali—"

"You heard what I said?"

Touya could feel his heart beating out of his chest. The fear and embarrassment of you finding out like that was enough to make him want to run out into oncoming traffic and let death finally take him.

He eyed the nearby street, mentally begging for a car to come speeding through.

"Not really. You just seemed upset, is all. Rightfully so, if you ask me."

And just like that, he no longer wished to die. Maybe life was worth living, after all?

Touya shrugged. "Yeah, I was. But she's just a kid, you know? No parents or whatever to guide her, just us pack of freaks. She's bound to make stupid mistakes," he explained, his dry laugh manifesting as a transparent cloud amongst the cold air. "Shit, I've done way worse. Guess I don't have much room to judge."

Your warm, visible smile set his nerves at ease. He latched his focus onto it as you took another sip of your drink before glancing back at him with a look that felt genuine and kind and made him feel...safe?

"You're a good big brother, you know?"

"Oh god, don't tell me you see me as that too?" Touya blurted with a groan of distaste.

You smirked. "Would that be a bad thing?"

Fuck. You're fucking kidding, right? What the hell was he supposed to say to that?

"Yes, that'd be the worst possible thing, even worse than being friend-zoned, because that means I stand even less of a chance than I have secretly begun to hope that I have, all because I've been letting that little brat get into my head lately, and fuck, of course this would happen to me, I'm an idiot to think that you'd ever love me back, what am I even doing—"

"Uh, no. That's...fine. Whatever," he said quietly, suddenly shutting down as he looked at his coffee.

Your breathy giggle is what caused him to glance up at you, only to find you covering your mouth like you were amused by some joke he wasn't in on. Or, perhaps, a joke that he was the butt of.

"I don't think it'd be appropriate to view my boyfriend as a brotherly figure, would it?"

God, he wished you weren't joking, that you really meant it, that none of this was pretend.

His teeth clashed together as he forced out a huff of laughter through his nose.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

And just like that, he couldn’t wait until all of this was over.

Finally…

Touya watched closely as the man stood to leave after receiving a phone call. Reading the man’s lips during the brief call failed to provide him with any valuable information. Regardless, the two of you were going to find out what he was up to…

one way or another.

Was Touya considering simply cornering the man and placing a hand around his neck, increasing the temperature in his palm until he finally talked? Maybe toss him around, leave a few serious burns, if option one didn't do the trick?

Yes. In fact, he’d argue his methods were far more effective.

But you wouldn’t approve, and neither would Shigaraki—in this case, at least.

As far as Touya was concerned...

This was a waste of fucking time.

The sound of your shoes making contact with the pavement was the only sound he could hear in the quiet area that the man had lead you to. Daylight was beginning to fade as the sun set against the horizon, causing the regular bustle of this side of the city to settle—for now. Touya knew better than anyone that the cover of night was a criminal's best friend. It was only a matter of time before the more dangerous kinds of creatures began to roam these very streets.

You both slowed down a bit, making more of an effort to remain quiet and undetected.

Touya couldn’t help but think of this guy as an idiot for not paying more attention to his surroundings. For what he was suspected of, you’d think he’d be a little more careful.

That, or you and Touya were just too good at your job.

Glancing at you, he took note of your focused gaze, and the fact that you weren’t touching him anymore.

He knew it was his fault for shutting down earlier. You seemed to sense this and backed off from the whole “couple” act. Despite the fact that it was his fault and you were simply trying to respect his unspoken boundaries, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated at you for it. Had he really grown so greedy and entitled to your touch and affection—albeit not genuine—in the span of a day?

All he knew was that his hand felt empty without your fingers laced between his, and that pissed him off.

How dare you give him a taste of this, with every intention to rip it all away from him after the mission was completed. How dare you toy with him like this, making him want you even more than he thought possible.

All your fucking fault.

And partly Toga's too. But he wasn't thinking about her at the moment.

Only you. Always you.

The target stopped before the back door of what looked to be an abandoned warehouse, causing you both to come to a halt. Touya pulled you around the corner the moment the man turned his head to glance around, checking for any observers.

Your back was pressed against his chest, his arm wrapped around your front as he kept his back flush against the brick wall. He didn’t hold himself back from indulging in the moment, breathing in your shampoo and perfume as your warmth and the distinct scent of you permeated through him, making his head feel fuzzy.

Maybe he was imagining things, but he could’ve sworn you leaned back into him, almost as if savoring the fleeting moment as much as he was.

No. He was definitely imagining things.

Once the two of you were sure the coast was clear, you snuck your way over to the abandoned building, checking for any windows that could be used to take a look on the inside.

“Over here!”

Touya turned his head, quickly following your hushed voice to where you stood, a window just above you and a pile of old wooden boards and boxes below it.

He smirked to himself as you struggled to climb on top of it before walking over to you and hoisting you up onto the platform without a word. You gave him a nod as a “thanks” and immediately turned to the window, standing on your toes to peek through the bottom of it.

“He’s meeting with someone. A man in a black suit, but he’s wearing a balaclava,” you whispered, detailing what you were seeing.

“They’re talking…Oh! The man just grabbed a briefcase from behind the box around the corner!”

“Let me guess. It’s filled with money,” Touya muttered flatly, leaning against the wall beside you.

“Yep.”

Touya scoffed, crossing his arms. “Let’s just bust in there already. We have the evidence we nee—”

“Oh shit! Oh fuck!” you whisper-yelled, voice laden with panic and surprise.

“What?!” Touya asked, only to be completely ignored as you leapt off the platform and began running as fast as you could around the corner, headed straight towards the door you saw the man enter through.

Shit.

Touya raced after you, suddenly understanding why you had run as he saw the man in the suit and balaclava bolting down the street a hundred feet ahead of you with the briefcase in hand.

“Y/N! Fall back!” Touya yelled, urging his legs to move faster so he could catch up to you, the cold air prickling his hot skin and blowing back his hair as his hood flew off his head.

The man turned his head, unwavering in his pace, as he reached his hand out behind him and out came a bunch of small blades, whizzing like bullets in your direction. You stumbled backwards, attempting to dodge the blades, and fell hard, hitting the back of your head against the pavement.

Touya’s heart stopped, his stomach dropping between his racing feet as a wave of dread sprawled from his chest to his head, making his ears ring.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!

Not you. Please not you.

Why didn’t he stop you earlier from running? Why wasn’t he faster?

This was all his fault.

It felt like years before he finally reached you, falling to his knees before you, his chest heaving, burning, aching for you.

You were out cold, unresponsive to his hands on you, trying to shake you awake as he scanned you for any serious injuries from the blades.

He would’ve been relieved to find that the blades managed to miss you, besides a few nicks on the surface of your skin, but all he could think about was the fact that you still weren’t waking up.

“Y/N! Wake the fuck up!” he cried out through clenched teeth, trying and failing to keep the panicked tears from welling up in his eyes.

Nothing came from you. No warm smile. No adorable laughter. No gentle touches. No sweet look in your eyes. No teasing remark.

And just like that, he felt like burning the whole world to ash and taking himself down with it.

“Fuck!” he yelled, yanking the mask off his face.

He checked your pulse, but it seemed slower than it should've been.

Or maybe he was simply too out of it to count properly.

Tears fell freely down his cheeks, the intensity of his emotions putting a strain on the staples around his mouth and eyes, causing pain to radiate throughout his face.

But he could barely feel it over the pain he felt in his chest, like his heart was being slowly torn to shreds, bit by bit.

With shaky hands, he pulled out his phone, struggling to find Kurogiri’s contact.

Why the fuck did he never bother to put his number on speed dial?

What the hell was he thinking?

This was all his fault.

Before he could press “call”, he heard a small groan come out of you, his eyes snapping up to you as you scrunched your face slightly in discomfort, your eyes beginning to flutter.

“Fuck. Y/N!”

His phone fell to the pavement as his hands instinctually moved to cradle your face, his touch mimicking the gentleness of your own towards him earlier that day. Every ounce of his being craved you, desperate and pleading for any reminder that you were still with him, that you wouldn't leave him. He was absorbing every micro-expression, movement, sound, and breath coming from you, as if it were the life force that fueled him.

When you finally opened your eyes, he felt like he could breathe again.

“D-Dabi?” you mumbled, your voice a little hoarse.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you,” he whispered, not even bothering to hide the look of pure softness and love in his eyes as he gently grazed his shaky thumbs over your soft cheeks, wiping away the tears of his that fell like droplets of rain onto your skin.

He was filled with an overwhelming sense of relief and gratitude. Nothing else mattered to him in this moment but you.

Your eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips, which remained mere inches from yours, a shaky breath entering your lungs that Touya didn’t miss, snapping him back to reality for a moment.

His eyes were intense with worry and panic as he spoke.

“Are you okay? Are you hurting? How’s your head?”

“Kiss me,” you whispered, quickly causing him to grow quiet.

Touya froze, a blank stare on his face as he tried to process what you had said.

“Huh?”

“Please. Kiss me,” you repeated, your voice soft.

Touya wanted to scoff, but he didn’t have it in him. Clearly, you had a concussion and were talking nonsense.

He scanned your face, your eyes pleading and desperate.

For him.

Who was he to deny you at such a distressing time?

Letting go of any remaining inhibitions, he closed the gap between the two of you, pressing his lips against yours tenderly. Pouring all his feelings into the kiss, he internally melted at the feeling of your lips and the way they moved against his just as fervently.

Forcing himself to pull away, he opened his eyes to meet yours again, noticing the small, warm smile that pulled at your lips.

And just like that, everything was right in his world again.

Well...almost.

He needed to get you somewhere safe, where he could take care of you and make sure no harm ever came your way again.

“C’mon, sweetheart. Let’s get you home,” he said, grabbing his phone before helping you sit up.

You leaned your head against his chest weakly.

“You’re such a good boyfriend,” you mumbled, slurring your words.

Touya let out the smallest huff of laughter. “Yeah…We’ll see what you think when you come outta this hazy state.”

Pressing his phone to his ear, he waited for his cue before speaking.

“Kurogiri. Sent the address. Come get us. Y/N’s hurt.”

“What about ‘don’t fuck this up’ do you not understand?” Shigaraki snarled at Touya, who merely rolled his eyes at him, focusing on his job of carrying your tray of food to your room.

“You got your stupid mole-”

“Yeah, half dead! He’s still in a fucking coma! We’re no closer to finding out who he was working for! He’s just a useless corpse at this point!” Shigaraki stomped after him, scratching incessantly at his neck.

Touya clenched his teeth, letting out a frustrated huff before spinning around to face the red-eyed leader.

“Stop complaining. Doc said he’d wake up soon, didn’t he?”

Shigaraki grumbled to himself, scratching harder at his neck. “It’s taking too long. You do realize that every second we don’t find the fucker that you let get away, the entire League is put in more danger?”

Oh, he could just strangle him. Maybe light his ass up. Turn the crusty prick to ash before he could even think of spewing another disrespectful word at him.

“Y/N almost died trying to catch that bastard,” Touya spoke through his teeth. “If you think I don’t want his head on a stick, you’re sorely mistaken. I’ll find him myself if I have to. But for now, we wait.”

A growl left Shigaraki, his patience thin to none and his stress at an all-time high, if his raw and bleeding neck was anything to show for it.

Touya was seconds away from joining the club.

“We wait,” he repeated. “The ‘useless corpse’ will quickly become a lot more useful once he wakes up. Trust me.”

With that, he turned, continuing to walk the short remaining distance to your room. “Now, fuck off. Y/N doesn’t need to hear this bullshit.”

A scoff could be heard behind him, followed by some angry muttering that Touya didn’t even bother listening to.

All he was focused on was you.

Upon knocking quietly on the door, he heard a different voice instead of your own, granting him access.

Toga stood by your bedside, head facing the door as she locked eyes with Touya, a big knowing smile on her face that made him frown in return.

“You mind? They gotta eat,” he said, trying to get Toga out of the room as soon as possible. The longer she spent in there, the more likely she was to make it weird between the two of you.

Even weirder than it already was.

“Oh! Yep, not at all! See ya later, Y/N! Feel better soon!” She smiled and waved at you before practically skipping out of the room.

Touya rolled his eyes at her childish glee over the two of you being in the same room together.

Shutting the door behind her with his foot, he offered you a small smile as he set the tray of food on your bedside table.

“Need help sitting up?” he asked, and you nodded, still feeling quite weak after all that you'd been through that day.

Without hesitation, he leaned in, wrapping his arms around you and pressing his hands firmly against you as he positioned you upright, placing a pillow behind your back.

He was about to grab your tray when your hand wrapped around his wrist, causing him to look back at you.

“I still mean it, you know.”

Touya’s brows furrowed. “Mean what?”

You smiled. “That you’re a good boyfriend.”

Touya let out a sigh. “Thanks…I guess,” he muttered, before attempting to turn away from you again.

You wouldn’t let him. Tugging him back towards you.

“Just admit it.”

“Doll, if you don’t stop talking in vague little riddles, I’m gonna have to send the doc back in to reevaluate you,” he said, growing slightly frustrated.

“Admit you liked it! Being a couple…”

Dammit. Were you hell bent on embarrassing him to death, or what?

He already cried all over your face and kissed you while you were clearly out of it. If you didn’t stop, he might say something that would ruin what was left of your already shaken friendship.

He couldn’t lose you.

Touya scoffed. "You admit it!"

"Don't turn this around on me! I asked you first!" you said, pointing a finger at him.

"I'm not admitting shit!"

You raised a brow at him. "Oh really?"

"Yeah."

You suddenly grew quiet, the look on your face wavering, almost as if you were...nervous? Unsure?

"Why not?" you asked, your tone lacking the confidence it once held.

Touya was all the more confused, but he quickly shoved it down, along with the rest of his feelings.

He wouldn’t lose you.

"What the fuck does it matter? It was a job, nothing more!" he argued, waving his free arm in the air dramatically, hoping you'd drop it already.

You didn't. Of course, you didn't.

Instead, he watched as your face morphed into that of stubborn determination as you shifted your legs in the bed, fighting through the discomfort and weakness so you could stand up to properly face him, swatting his hands away as he tried to stop you.

“What’re you—Would you stop being so goddamn stubborn! Lie back, right now!” he ordered, to which you merely scoffed.

Touya gave up, allowing you to use his arm to stand up.

“If you try to leave this room, I will throw your ass back in that bed and tie you down,” he threatened lowly.

“Just shut up and look at me,” you commanded.

Touya blinked at you, shocked by your sudden shift in attitude to something far more serious than before.

Your eyes were unreadable, but they held strict contact with his, clearly challenging him. His heart fluttered excitedly in his chest, only frustrating him more.

“Drop the fucking attitude—”

“Touya.”

Shit.

Memories flooded back of him drunkenly telling you his real name and almost confessing his feelings for you shortly after. Even without him asking, you promised not to tell another soul about his true name. But you still knew, and that meant you knew more than anyone else in the entire League knew about him, and for some reason, that deeply frightened him.

He knew it would come to bite him in the ass someday. At least one of his secrets were still kept hidden from you.

It was better that way. For his sake, but mostly yours.

Hearing his real name roll off your tongue sent an immediate shiver down his spine, a mix of emotions rising within him as he remained frozen in place, his eyes watching you with intensity as you moved closer, stopping just inches away from his lips.

He had to remind himself to breathe.

"Just be real with me. Be honest,” you whispered, your breath fanning against his face.

Silence.

As it stretched on, and Touya battled with his own hesitation, your face began to grow more frustrated, until you finally snapped.

"Fine. I'll start."

You inhaled sharply, eyes boring into his as you spoke.

"I lied when I said I didn't overhear what you said the other night to Toga. I heard almost all of it."

Touya’s eyes widened, his face flushing.

"What…"

His brows furrowed as his face quickly evolved into a scowl, hands clenching, even as he continued to allow you to hold onto his arm for balance.

"Why the fuck didn't you just say you overheard me sooner? Why do all of this…teasing and prodding bullshit?"

You responded, but seemed to completely ignore his words. "It's a little cowardly of you, don't you think? And the Dabi I know isn't a coward."

Touya grew quiet.

You were right. He was a coward. If there was one thing he hated about you, it was the fact that you made him act like a damn idiot.

“Well, maybe Touya is,” he spoke softly, the fear seeping out of him as he felt his mask being pried off by you—the same one he’d hidden behind for years up to this point.

You were going to see him for who he really was, and you were going to fall back in disappointment, in disgust.

He didn’t want to lose you.

“Touya—”

“Don’t.”

He let out a shaky breath, keeping his eyes away from you.

“All I wanted was for you to tell me yourself! And every time I tried to give you the chance to, you didn’t take it,” you said quickly before he could interrupt you again.

"Let me guess, you had something to do with Toga's stupid plans?" he spoke flatly.

"Not really, but she did come to me first with the fake couple idea. I thought it was funny, so I agreed. Figured that maybe it'd give you the nudge you needed to stop being a big wimp and fess up already,” you said, attempting to lighten the mood a bit.

Based on the way he snapped his fierce gaze up to you, it was obvious that you had failed.

"Fuck you." He tried to sound angry, but even he wasn't convinced by his performance, internally cringing when he noticed a hint of the amused smile that you were trying your best to hide.

Touya growled in frustration, continuing to speak before you could say anything.

"So is this just a twisted ploy to get me to look like a fool, or do you actually want something more here?"

Your smile grew into a smirk.

"What do you think, hot stuff?”

Touya looked at you incredulously, before his face hardened, eyes filled with anger and hurt. You had to be fucking with him.

"Right. Well, I'm leaving. Glad you got a good laugh."

You grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"Wait! I love you too, okay?!”

Touya paused for a moment, replaying your words over and over before he finally turned around to face you, slowly…hesitantly.

"I never said that I lov—"

"You didn't have to. But you do...don't you?" you interrupted, growing impatient with the back and forth.

Touya shrugged his shoulders, his eyes softening as he looked at you. "The fuck do you think? I'm still here, aren't I?"

"I suppose I'd be incinerated by now if you didn't, right? Considering all my mean teasing and prodding," you said, a playful smile tugging at the corner of your lip.

He let out a dry laugh. "Maybe. Probably."

The air finally felt lighter between the two of you, but it was different than before. Touya considered for a moment that he must be dreaming, still too shocked to comprehend that you really felt the same as he did.

"So, what now?" you asked, your eyes flickering away as you suddenly struggled to hold eye contact with him.

So damn cute.

"You're asking me?" he questioned, brows raised.

"I just need to know if you want this too! You know…if you wanna be my real boyfriend,” you said, clearly flustered and unsure as you looked to him to anchor you to some sense of security.

Touya scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Fuckin’ hell," he cursed, taking a step forward before grabbing your face and pulling your lips to his.

He kissed you just as passionately as the time before, but this time the kiss felt more confident, more assured.

He was less gentle as well, grabbing your waist and pulling you flush against him as he continued to kiss you with everything he had, smirking against your lips when you let out a gasp in response to his actions.

For once, Touya was dropping the mask and allowing you to see his feelings for you in all their messy, stupid, lovesick glory. And for once, he felt confident about one thing…

He’d never lose you.

You’d already seen this much of him, and you hadn’t so much as flinched at the sight. Instead, you were diving right in, clinging to him for more.

He’d be damned if he were to ever let you slip away.

Your lips chased after his when he pulled back, eliciting a light chuckle from Touya as his eyes met yours again.

"Does that answer your question?" he spoke softly, so as not to disturb the delicate moment.

You nodded, still unable to speak. The way you pulled at his shirt told him all he needed to know as he leaned in again to press his lips against yours.

With his heart laid bare before you, he felt terrified, yet more free than he'd ever felt before. Knowing he had you to himself, your lips, your touch, your love, soothed any fears that managed to come up. He was melting into you, becoming softer for you, and he didn't regret it one bit.

“Are you guys making out yet?!” Toga’s voice rang from behind the door.

Touya groaned as he pulled away from you slightly, turning to yell at the door.

“What did I tell you about privacy, brat?!”

A girlish giggle, followed by the quick patters of her footsteps echoed down the hall.

He turned to find you giggling too.

“Look what you’ve encouraged!” he playfully scolded.

You laughed harder in response, grasping onto his shirt once you began to grow dizzy.

Touya clicked his tongue and shook his head, his hold growing tighter around you to protect you from falling over.

“Alright, that’s enough.”

He lifted you up before you could say a word and carefully placed you back into bed, letting out a sigh as he pulled away.

"You better hurry up and get un-concussed soon,” he said.

Holding a hand on one side of your aching head, you looked up at him with a pout. "Why?"

Touya smirked, leaning in to press his forehead against yours, blue eyes sparkling with affection as he looked into yours.

"So I can take you out on a real date."

Touya/Dabi Masterlist Main Masterlist

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#dabi #touya todoroki #todoroki touya #toya todoroki #todoroki toya #dabi x reader #touya x reader #touya todoroki x reader #todoroki touya x reader #dabi fanfiction #touya todoroki fanfiction #my hero academia #mha fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #kalistawrites

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yourcryptidwendi · 1 year ago

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Dude as a fellow Cecil enjoyer, I would love to hear your Cecil ideas

Yes! Okay so for one I think if Cecil ever let his guard down enough to become enamored with an s/o he would definitely become obsessed with them. This man would do anything and sacrifice anything for earth. So for you to be the exception? Oh he wouldn’t let you go anytime soon. Maybe he found you in the office, a sweet little assistant that always brought him coffee. Do you know how stressful it is preventing homicidal aliens from destroying the earth? Of course he needs the relief! You’re just so sweet he can’t help but spill all of his thoughts to you. It’s likely that you double as his therapist (not that you’re getting paid extra for that, not like you can complain either.) His concern for you would be cute if he didn’t know about things you never mentioned. Like how you got mugged the day before, when did you tell him about that? He offered to take you home one day and now it’s become a routine. He worries about you when you go home. What if something happens? Someone could break in and hurt you! And when you tell him how you live in a dangerous neighborhood? Well it wasn’t like it was intentional but when he drove you home again he took a few detours, you questioned him about it and he said don’t worry but now you’re at his house and he’s insisting that you stay over “it’s safer here, I can protect you.” well he’s still the one writing your paycheck and you do feel safer. Sometimes you can’t help but feel like someone is watching you.

I like to think Cecil would never let his s/o out of his sight, he's seen too much shit and knows that anything can and will happen so he can’t take any chances. He would never admit that though. You would never know it was him giving you that chill down your back. He's always so busy, where would he even find the time? He may act like a asshole sometimes and you may not agree with everything he does but you would be a liar to say he doesn't care for you. In his own twisted little way.

Um I guess this is my first ask?? That's kind of crazy! I really enjoyed that haha :>

#wendimayhavedivulgedabit..#cecil stedman x reader #invincible #yandere cecil stedman #obsessive love

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theaawalker · 3 months ago

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the last snow to fall ❆ peeta mellark

Pairing: Peeta Mellark x fem!oc Song Inspo: Tethered by Sleeping at Last Word Count: 2,348 Summary: Snow is dead, but his heiress still lives. Does she deserve to be executed? Coin is dead, but her successors still want to have the Capitol Games. How can Peeta Mallark, still recovering from the loss of Katniss, stop it and save her? Warnings: mentions of family death, mentions of whipping, mentions of public executions, mentions of massacres Masterlist: see fandoms (pc-friendly)

"They found the girl," said the nurse.

"What girl?" asked Peeta. He didn't really care, what he wanted was news of Katniss. But he wanted to be polite, and the nurse was careful to keep him up to date on the news while he was stuck in the hospital.

"President Snow's grand-daughter. She disappeared the day of the Slaughter of the Innocents. Turns out that her nanny was hiding her. I hear, that they're both going to be whipped, at the least."

"WHIPPED?" echoed Peeta, his attention suddenly caught.

Peeta frequently thought in visual images, an advantage to a painter. The word WHIP evoked the horrible day in District 12 when Thread was torturing Gale at the whipping post, and Katniss accidentally got hit in the face by the lash trying to rescue her friend. Now take the image of Gale's bleeding back, and imagine a frail Primrose-like girl being tortured instead, and you got an image of utter horror. "Why would they whip them?"

"I don't know," said the nurse. She seemed nonchalant. Maybe she was from a District where beatings were common. Or, more likely, she was numbed by all the recent events: the invasion of the Capitol by the Districts, the Pods that didn't seem to care if they shot innocent bystanders along with the invaders, the Slaughter of the Innocents, the announcement of new Games, the assassination of Coin, dying within minutes of her defeated enemy. But the nurse had promised to bring Peeta news: Peeta was her patient and a Victor and she wanted to keep him happy. "Do you want me to ask?"

Peeta thought about it. It was likely that the city was still in chaos, there was still no reliable news service, and it would be impossible for the nurse to get a credible story.

"No. But please send a message to Plutarch Heavensbee, and tell him that I need to talk to him."

Her eyes opened wide. "HEAVENSBEE? He's involved in all sorts of government business – probably impossible to pull away –"

"Please. Just send the message and I'll see what happens."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, you're being very helpful." It wasn't her fault that civilization was crashing around them.

After she went out Peeta sank back in the hospital bed, feeling helpless. The last coherent thing he remembered was preventing Katniss from taking the suicide pill, after the assassination of Coin. He had thought that he was saving her life, but had he just saved her for a worse fate?

He had blacked out frequently since then. It was a combination of the pain medicine that he was taking to soothe his burns, and the residual effects of his hijacking. "At least now you're going catatonic instead of flying into homicidal rages," Dr, Aurelius had observed. "I suppose that's an improvement."

Whenever he got coherent and asked about Katniss, he was told that she was still in prison, and seemed to having severe psychological problems of her own. Peeta wanted to help her, but how? And now he had a new worry.

To the nurse's astonishment, Plutarch came the next day – and what's more, made no complaint of being dragged away from important tasks.

"I know that you want to know about Katniss," said Plutarch, "but there's been no change in her legal situation, though basically the debaters have formed two factions. Irene Gold was one of Coin's most trusted assistants, and she wants Katniss executed as an assassin. Paylor claims that Katniss was a hero who cracked under the strain, and can't be held responsible. Popular opinion seems to be on Paylor's side, but nobody has enough power to override the other side."

Peeta was careful not to ask what "side" Plutarch was on. He knew that the old schemer was trying to play one faction against another and try to remain on top. But as far as Katniss was concerned, Peeta knew that Plutarch wanted to save the Mockingjay, even if it required some political chicanery, and Peeta would simply have to trust him.

"There's something else that I wanted to ask. I heard that Snow's grand-daughter has been found and they want to whip her for committing a crime. What's that about?"

"It has to do with the proposed Hunger Games. Gold insists on carrying out Coin's wishes and having a Games with tributes from the Capitol. The rules for the Capitol tributes have not been drawn up yet, but the grand-daughter is an obvious target, and Gold says that she was trying to flee getting reaped into the Games. It's a powerful accusation. What happened in the Districts when somebody eligible for reaping didn't show up?"

"It never happened in 12 – nobody dared," replied Peeta. "But I suppose something nasty would happen to them."

"It's happened occasionally in other districts, and yes, it could be pretty nasty. So now that the shoe is on the other foot, Gold is saying that the Snow girl should be treated equally badly. It's a popular stand, in the Districts."

"But the girl did nothing. She's just a scapegoat."

"So were you. The Hunger Games was always about scapegoats."

Peeta thought it over. "What's Paylor's take on this?"

"She challenges the validity of the vote that you Victors made. She interprets it like this: if Katniss's sanity is in question, her YES vote should be thrown out. Heymitch said he was following Katniss's choice, so his YES vote should also be thrown out. That leaves a 3-2 vote AGAINST the Games. But it's rather legalistic, and popular opinion in the Districts favor the Games. The Capitol doesn't get a choice, of course."

"What's your stand?"

"I don't think I can stop the Games, so I don't think I'll try," Plutarch said frankly. "But until they're set up, you can't accuse the girl of trying to escape them. I tell people that it was perfectly natural for an innocent girl to want to disappear when her grand-father was about to be publicly executed. But I'm not getting many takers. Too much hate going around."

Peeta thought through it. Why was he so concerned about Snow's grand-daughter, of whom he knew nothing? For all he knew, she could be a spoiled brat. But that very lack of knowledge enabled Peeta to think of her as a symbol. She was a child caught up in somebody else's vicious quarrel, just like Rue, like Prim, like -

An idea started forming in his head.

"Plutarch, could you arrange for me to make a speech to the whole nation?"

"A speech? Yes, I'm in the communications ministry, and since you're one of the few remaining Victors, people will be curious about what you have to say. But I don't think you should get involved in the fray at this point. You don't want to make an enemy of Irene Gold."

"I'm not going to challenge Ms. Gold. I'm not even going to talk about Snow's grand-daughter."

"Then what DO you want to say?"

Peeta told him.

"People of Panem, I'm Peeta Mallark, co-Victor of the 74th Hunger Games, and I want to talk to you about those games." It was a weak beginning from the narrative-hook point of view, but Peeta was counting on the public curiosity about Hunger Games Victors, and the 74th Games in particular.

"I'm not going to talk about me, or about Katniss, but about another tribute. Katniss and I didn't even know her name; we called her Foxface, because she was red-headed and smart as a fox. She was the girl from District 5."

"Foxface had high ethical principles. She never touched a weapon during the Games, never tried to hurt anybody. Sheer hunger drove her to pilfer food, but she took only what she needed to survive, and left the rest to the "owner". But as the Games wound down, the food supplies dwindled, and she started to starve. Eventually she became so desperate that she ate some unfamiliar berries, and died."

"Later, stopping at District 5 on our Victory Tour, I tried to learn more about her." That was hard to do, because Snow was trying to make it difficult for the pair to contact fellow Victors, or rebels in general, but Foxface was unimportant enough that Snow didn't mind Peeta's inquiries. "Her real name was Finch. She was studying engineering, so that she could get a job in District 5's power industries when she grew up. Her teachers told me that she was one of their best students, even working on a new battery that would store energy better. But before she could finish her work, she was reaped into the Hunger Games and spent her last days dodging murderous tributes in a forest arena and dying of hunger when she could have been advancing science. What did the inventive, decent girl do to deserve such a horrible fate? Nothing. She was the descendant of a generation and district who had rebelled against the Capitol, and that was enough to make her life worthless in the eyes of the Capitol."

"So once more we talking once more about having a Hunger Games. About declaring a group of children worthless and throwing their lives away. Is that how we want to start the new Panem, slaughtering innocents again? Think about it."

"Your speech worked," said Plutarch. "The Council responded to the new public mood, and abandoned the planned Games. Gold eventually gave in, but only after losing a lot of support. Paylor's more powerful now, and maybe she can protect Katniss. And from a much broader view, I think you've persuaded the empire not to stick to Panem's bloody path, but to try to transcend them."

"Good. But I can't claim all the credit. I just encouraged people to think it through."

"Whatever. Now, I've brought a guest who wants to meet you." Plutarch went to the door of the hospital room and brought in a young blonde girl who was wearing her hair in a one-sided braid like Katniss's.

"Hello, Mr. Mellark," she said respectfully. "I'm Jan Snow. I wanted to thank you for saving me and the other Capitol kids. Mr. Heavensbee said all this started because you were shocked about the threat to me, so I owe you special thanks."

"You're welcome."

"There are a couple of things I think you should know. My mother was assassinated when I was a baby, you know. Just recently I was able to get hold of some letters she wrote to friends. She told them that she hated the carnage of the Games, and that she would try to reform them if she became President. I think somebody learned about her views, and murdered her to keep the Games going. It – it might even have been Grandpa."

"Sounds like your mother is a hero, then."

"There's another thing. I'm grateful for your attempts to protect me from punishment, but I've decided to let them w-whip me." She shuddered.

"WHAT? You were innocent!"

"Am I? I've heard a lot about the suffering out in the Districts. Children dying in infancy, or being malnourished, or killed in the Games, or beaten for not following orders, all so that Capitol kids like me could be spoiled rotten. People hate the Capitol, and particularly my Grandpa, for a reason. I ought to pay for it."

"No, no, no. If you've done something wrong and feel guilty, that's one thing. But you – you're acting like Katniss. She keeps feeling guilty about killing tributes in the Games, or encouraging fighting in the rebellion, and supposedly provoking Snow into bombing District 12. Katniss can't see the big picture, that she was caught up in a worldwide crisis. It's healthy to feel responsibility, but not to seek out punishment for stuff that was far beyond your control."

"But—"

Peeta felt sorry for the girl. Katniss had been guided by the inspiring memory of her dead father. Jan Show had had no moral guidance at all but an evil grandfather. She was now learning horrid stuff that she had probably been hidden from her during most of her life, and was trying to figure the right thing to do. Maybe Peeta could give her that guideance.

"I saw a friend tied to a whipping post and flogged. Nothing moral or redeeming about it. It just HURT him, a lot. It was part of a Panem that doesn't exist anymore. The nightmare is OVER. No more Games. We're going to build a new Panem now. You want to do penance for something? Help build it!"

A month later Paylor was elected President of Panem, defeating her rival Irene Gold. She confirmed the abolition of the Games, banned the use of whips for punishment, and commuted Katniss Everdeen's sentence to exile on the grounds of diminished mental capacity. And along with some supporters, she is hailed in history books for leading Panem into a new enlightened age.

THE END

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themculibrary · 7 months ago

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Sub!Steve Masterlist

Deep End (ao3) - FestiveFerret steve/tony E, 61k

Summary: SHIELD has found a way to make Project Rebirth work - something Tony's father was never able to accomplish. An unexpected side effect has Fury begging Tony for some rather unusual help: the painful procedure has put their volunteer, a sub called Steve Rogers, so deep into subspace he can't come up on his own.

Dolly (ao3) - Ruquas steve/tony E, 34k

Summary: Steve and Tony have a happy relationship, practising a total power exchange for quite a long time now. And usually, Steve would say that nothing could be done to make it better, except maybe have SHIELD bothering them less.

At least not until Tony compares him to a doll Steve never heard of. Or, more likely, until Steve fell down the rabbid hole the internet could be.

Now he not only found a few new kinks, but also a new obsession - which he only has to admit to Tony.

Well, who could've known that a normal Ken Doll could open up so many options?

Dressed in White Noise (ao3) - CryptoHomoRocker sam/steve, past peggy/steve E, 4k

Summary: "Sam finds out by accident, but when he does, he can’t say he’s really shocked."

Sam likes taking care of people, and Steve needs to be taken care of.

Innocent Until (ao3) - L1av steve/bucky, background clint/steve E, 136k

Summary: Bucky Barnes made a name for himself as the attorney who could get anyone off, but he still lives by the saying, "Innocent until proven guilty." Steve Rogers finds himself on trial for multiple homicides but he swears he was only trying to protect a girl. Bucky's been in this business long enough to know when someone's innocent, and Steve is innocent. Steve already feels like a monster and Bucky's worried this guy's going to lay himself on the sword come his trial. So Bucky offers up another course for punishment:

Turns out, chains and whips really excite Steve.

It's Always Been You, Stevie (ao3) - orphan_account steve/bucky E, 3k

Summary: : Bucky smirked, his blue eyes light in the evening darkness, his short, dark hair lighting up whenever the streetlights fell upon them, “told ya, punk. Now, spill.”

“This really isn’t the time to –

“Steve, fuckin’ tell me,” Bucky demanded, cupping Steve’s face now, all humour gone, replaced by worry and fear, “what’s wrong?”

“I’veneverhadsexbefore!” Steve said, all in one go and managed to slip out of Bucky’s hold, as he went slack, just staring at him.

“There, are you happy?” Steve huffed, his voice was shaking, eyes wide and fearful, worried that Bucky would turn and run, “that’s what’s been botherin’ me. ‘Cause, I-I, you know what, forget it.”

I won’t leave you falling (ao3) - BlossomsintheMist steve/tony E, 14k

Summary: Tony doms for Steve, which involves some specially enhanced red rope, cock rings, two vibrators, and a lot of orgasm control. It works out. Bottom Steve, trembling and desperate to come, loving dom Tony, plenty of aftercare.

no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions (ao3) - BlossomsintheMist steve/tony E, 93k

Summary: He let his hands rest, warmly, on Steve’s shoulders, against his neck. “I just want you to fuck me, soldier,” he managed to get out, breathy. “I want you to fuck me, yes, in my ass, and not stop. Again and again, until it’s out of your system.”

Steve and Tony and a marathon sex encounter. That’s it, that’s the fic.

no grave can hold my body down, i’ll crawl home to him (ao3) - ara_the_jedi (orphan_account) steve/bucky E, 32k

Summary: 1917; James "Bucky" Barnes is born. 1918; Steve Rogers is born. 1936; Bucky Barnes bonds Steve Rogers. 1941; Bucky Barnes is drafted. 1943; Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. 1945; Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers die separately. 1972; the Winter Soldier is recovered by SHIELD. 2011; Captain America is recovered by SHIELD.

2012. The Winter Soldier is asked to care for Captain America during subdrop.

Protection Like a Wheel (ao3) - samalander steve/sam, steve/natasha/sam E, 5k

Summary: Steve misses the sensation of being overpowered in bed, so he and Sam ask Natasha to help him find it again.

Raise Your Glass (ao3) - minkeys steve/bucky E, 10k

Summary: Bucky knows Steve in ways that his 21st century friends could never even begin to imagine. Or at least, they couldn't until tonight. It's about time somebody corrected all those historians that painted Steve as a straight-laced, God-fearing soldier, and what better way to do it than over a harmless game of "Never Have I Ever." What's the worst that could be said?

Rhapsody in Pink (ao3) - the1918 steve/bucky E, 28k

Summary: After being chemically castrated for the entirety of his time as Hydra’s Winter Soldier, Bucky is attempting to recover his life—with the help of his oldest and best friend—when seventy years of a denied libido suddenly comes raging back in a series of graphic hallucinations. Steve is there to help.

(Or: Bucky Barnes’s dick wakes up after a seven-decade nap. It is very interested in Steve Rogers.)

* * * Post-CA:TWS / AOU canon divergence, set at the Avengers up-state facility.

Semaphore (ao3) - mtothedestiel steve/bucky E, 6k

Summary: Sometimes Steve can't move on from the day's mission. Bucky is the only one who can help him. They've worked out a system.

Slow Like Honey (ao3) - Dira Sudis (dsudis) steve/bucky E, 2k

Summary: "Come on now." Bucky sat back and let his thighs splay out wide, crowding against Steve. "Be a good girl for me and sit on my knee."

The Care & Feeding of Steven G. Rogers (ao3) - greenbergsays steve/bucky E, 8k

Summary: Bucky takes care of Steve.

the Kept Boy (ao3) - Neutralchaos steve/bucky M, 235k

Summary: Here is James Barnes, the most dangerous Alpha in New York. Rich, powerful, cocky and short-tempered, his only skill greater than his persuasion or intimidation is his marksmanship. Head of the Seyrbakov crime family, inherited over the heads of the late Aleksei Seyrbakov’s own sons, who he had deported when they attempted to murder him. Top of Interpol and the FBI and the CIA and probably the NSA’s most wanted lists, but there’s never enough evidence to bring even a parking ticket against him, as it has been for New York’s Bratva since the late 1910s. His company smuggles weapons, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, exotic animals, you name it, but you’ll never find a shred of proof. If land barons still existed, then Barnes – owning property in all the five boroughs, the state, the country, even on other continents – would easily be one. When you think of the Russian mafia, you think of Barnes. Here is James Barnes, gracing the scum and lowlifes of Brooklyn with his presence, and here is Steve Rogers, not-so-cheap yet consistently broke hooker, sitting on his lap like he belongs there.

Very rapidly, that makes him the most dangerous Omega in New York.

To See Its Truth (ao3) - BlossomsintheMist steve/tony E, 5k

Summary: “There’ll be time for me after this,” Tony told him. The heavy ache, the drag and fullness and wet, was making his cock hard again, so that he could feel it bobbing under his shirt. The fabric felt sweaty, sticking to his back and chest and nipples. “I’ll probably only come once, after all. Just let me make you feel good, champ.”

you got me so high (ao3) - orphan_account steve/bucky E, 1k

Summary: Steve hadn’t known pleasure like this.

Being fed and looked after so well, being doted on and loved like this. It almost brings him to tears, sometimes it does. Sometimes, with the love that Bucky gives him, he can’t handle it. It’s always so much and so good and he just melts for it. Makes those little whimpers Bucky loves to hear. Clings onto him like he might shake apart, begs for Bucky to stay in him, to keep him safe and warm. He loves it, he loves the feeling of Bucky’s cock inside him, the feeling of Bucky’s fingers and tongue. The way he opens him up so sweetly, takes his time and makes him see stars.

He’s never felt love this.

Never felt so good, so high.

You’re My Medicine (ao3) - BlossomsintheMist steve/tony E, 11k

Summary: It was just that Steve liked harder kinks, and it seemed like the kind of thing that would appeal to the intense sensation play side of him, always pushing himself and looking for something to send him flying higher. It wasn’t the same as a flogger stinging over his back, but it was more intimate, more invasive, Tony figured—the same intensity, but in a totally different way, and maybe … gentler, softer. Something it would be easier for Tony to give him the way he wanted it, even the way he liked it.

#themculibrary #marvel #mcu #masterlists #smut #sex tw #steve rogers #sub!steve #sub!steve masterlist #domsub #au

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avalonia320 · 4 months ago

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Claudia's Revenge

It's officially October in 13 minutes here so I'm posting an excerpt from the next upcoming chapter of my IWTV fic, Darkest Before the Dawn. The Ghost Claudia storyline is starting to rev up and I'm getting excited to write it. Plus bonus Daniel!

***

Louis du Lac! You there?

Daniel, he smiled as he opened the door. It’s about time. He hesitated a moment, taking a deep breath. Actually, it’s sooner than I expected. I thought your research would take longer. What have you found?

He could feel the hesitation before Daniel spoke. Louis, we need to do this in person. Why the fuck are you still in New Orleans?

Louis could feel himself tensing as he walked inside. What did you find, Daniel?

Let’s talk about it when you get here. I’m in L.A. You could be here before dawn if you head to the airport now.

I can’t. I have…things going on. Tell me what you found.

Daniel sighed extra heavily for his benefit. It seems you may have been right.

Louis closed his eyes. How many?

Dammit Louis, I’m worried about you.

How many, Daniel?

A resigned groan. 196 deaths that I could verify. There’s probably more, but the records are gone, or families didn’t want the stigma associated with their loved ones death.

You found almost 200 deaths that you could connect to the Theater des Vampires over 70 years ago in a three day period? While you’re on a press tour?

Daniel snorted. Don’t underestimate my investigative abilities.

Oh, I’ve learned the folly of that already. Nor would I doubt your connections at the Talamasca. Louis smiled despite himself. I thought they were trying to cut you off. Something about you prying where they didn’t want you to.

Yes but my source is not above a little bribery. Which was not cheap, by the way. Turns out the Talamasca had the same thought you did, but only about fifty years earlier. They had a whole file.

I see. What was the common denominator?

The deaths are all within a year after the trial. They’re also all eerily similar. A rash of suicides or homicides, depending on whatever conclusions the local investigators came up with. Same MO for each one. Each victim had slashing wounds and died from severe burns. Only ones that were different were an Army transport carrier that crashed upon takeoff with 15 soldiers returning to the US from Paris. It was confirmed the troop had visited the Theater des Vampires the week before. It was covered up, of course, blamed on a mechanical failure, but the truth is, the bodies that were recognizable enough to be examined all had severed Achilles tendons. The plane caught fire on impact. Coroner concluded most of them lived through the crash, and some could have survived if they had tried to get out of the plane. They didn’t. They sat there and burned to death. Internal reports blamed severe PTSD that caused some kind of mass psychosis.

Claudia, Louis whispered.

Claudia, Daniel confirmed. I’ve got to be honest, Louis. This is freaking me the fuck out.

She told them she’d kill them all, Louis was still whispering more to himself than anyone else.

Yeah, well there’s certainly the argument that they all had it coming.

I knew it was real. I knew she was still here, Louis stood up and began to pace the room. I think I’ve found a way to talk to her.

Talk to her? Why the hell would you want to do that? Louis, I’m serious. Let this go. If it’s been 70+ years and she hasn’t shown up in your bathroom mirror yet, I think you’re safe. Maybe it’s just what she needed to do to rest in peace. My suggestion is you let her continue to do so.

She’s not resting. I’ve seen her.

Fuck me, Daniel groaned even more loudly. Every time I think you couldn’t possibly say something more horrifying, I’m sadly proven wrong. What the fuck do you mean, you’ve seen her?

Exactly that. She’s here in New Orleans. She led me to someone who can help.

Please tell me it’s an exorcist.

Not exactly. She’s a waitress. Her name is Lillie. She can see ghosts.

A waitress named Lillie that can see ghosts. There was a thumping noise and Louis was pretty certain Daniel was banging his head into something. I hate this for you. No, you know what? I hate this for ME. The girl was scary enough when she was only a vampire. Slap ‘vengeful ghost with mind control powers’ on top of that and it gets exponentially more terrifying. You’re gonna unleash her and somehow manage to survive the fallout just like you do everything else and I’m the one who’s gonna get Bloody Mary’d by Ghost Claudia.

Nothing’s going to happen to you, I promise.

Yeah, I distinctly remember you saying that to me several times before. If Claudia kills me, bet I’m coming back to haunt your ass.

#iwtv #iwtv fanfiction #ghost claudia #louis de pointe du lac #daniel molloy #the vampire claudia #my writing #darkest before the dawn

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whole-circus · 2 years ago

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i luv your account aesthetic or wtv its called!! it’s rlly cool, mmm i wanted to request for smth!

could you write homicidal liu and jeff tk with a selective mute male or gender neutral reader? if u write for only one then jeff would be ok! and if you don’t know how to write for a mute reader, feel free to ignore this!!

the reader doesn’t communicate at all with words, and only use nods and stuff 4 answers. thank u sm !! <3

Jeff the Killer and Homicidal Liu x gn. reader with selective mutism!

➥ Ah thank you so much, you are so sweet!! T^T No problem! I tried my best to educate myself, but please free to correct me! :) Im at your service! And also - please take care of yourself!

.•┈••✦ 🖤 ✦••┈•.

Jeff the Killer

☆ He can be a bit tease at moments, but he has good intentions - i mean, only he can do that?? Also no worries, he is a bit of a talker - leave him with someone he likes and he will talk and talk for hours.. For that he doesn't need any words, just small gestures showing that you are listening to him! Like the way you look at him..ah he just love that! <3

☆ He is like this scary dog privilege, wouldn't let talk shit about you! Pretty agressive from me huh? Good! He is so, so protective of you! He knows people can be terrible and he doesn't tolerate meanies. Any person that makes you sad will land on his black list. That doesn't mean that he doesn't trust you, Jeff knows that you are able to manage..but he want to help you if you would need that! (plus you would spend even more time together!).

☆ This man doesn't except a lot, deep down he is just a softie who wants someone to love. Oh? And what is that? His precious partner? He would jump from joy, if he didn't had this cool persona to hold up! I promise your selective mutism its not a big deal for him, after all he is killer, come on..everyone have imperfections huh? You do you, you are still amazing! You are still his sweet S/O, and he loves you the way you are! But the same as Liu - he wants the best for you, and would love you to get professional help (only if you are comfortable tho, its a big and hard step).

☆I think he would like to do stuff with you that helps you express yourself. Listen, he would love to learn you how to play guitar - unless you are this cool person who can do that. But maybe writing poems? Okay, this is just straight sweet. Photography? Hell yes, you could even make some journal together? You know, to never forgot your shared moments? Or even an art! Like painting, sculpting, drawing..he is up to anything, as long as he gets to spend time with you!

Homicidal Liu

☆ He doesn't mind in the slightest! I think he is pretty observant person, so nonverbal communication would be his thing. And if there is something, that would help you communicate better then he is right by your side - no matter if you would like to learn sign language, or maybe start using communication cards! Would do anything to help, if you would feel better then he would go with you to places, and if needed - react.

☆ Liu is a patient partner and just a sweetheart! That means that he would never pressure you over something, with what you wouldn't feel comfortable. Of course, he wants you to feel better, but it doesn't matter if you speak or not. Your well being is the most important. But! If you would be open to therapy, then he is your number one supporter!

☆ Loves spending time with you..- just you both relaxing in home. The choice is yours - games, movies, baking. Man, he would also love to slow dance with you (I bet he is a good dancer with his long ass legs). You are his safe place and he hopes he is yours..!

☆ He would do anything for you, he loves you so much! You are his favorite person and he wants you to remember, that even if mutism is part of you, then it isn't everything you are! You are your favorite drink, your favorite sweater or the way you walk.. you are this little things that makes you you..! And also! The relationship is supposed to be for good and bad times, so its perfectly normal for partners to feel vurnable and safe around eachother, just the way they are!

.•┈••✦ 🖤 ✦••┈•.

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flying-thing · 1 year ago

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Kiss Me in the Rain

This is a SoapGhost fic for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. No one requested this, but my heart yearns for more angst, and as such, here we are. This is all based on the new Ghost skin in the war zone part of the game that I've never touched.

I'm not typing out Soap's accent.

..............................................................................................

Playlist:

Work Song - Hozier

My Love Mine All Mine - Mitski

So My Darling - Rachel Chinouriri

Atlantis - Seafret

Here With Me - D4vd

Romantic Homicide - D4vd

Dark Red - Steve Lacy

Advice - Alex G

The View Between Villages - Noah Kohan

..............................................................................................

CW: major character death, broken promises, gore, unreliable narrator, angst, domestic fluff, zombies

Word Count: 3457 (Unfinished and not edited!!)

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

It was no surprise when Price told Simon and John that it was close to the time in which they needed more supplies. They were the scouts, after all, and it was their job to go scavenging. They still had a few days before they needed to leave, and as per usual, the two were enjoying their time together until they needed to leave.

Simon walked out to the garden the team had started a few days ago, and he found John watering the plants. It was a lot easier for sprouts to come out when there weren't birds and squirrels to steal the seeds from the soil. It has become oddly peaceful since the outbreak, nobody to disturb your slumber, no wars to fight, and barely anything to worry about. Recently, the 141 have been looking for any type of farm animal so that they can fully sustain themselves without needing to leave every month or so for supplies. Everyone has taken to reading books, whether it be to pass the time or to learn how to do certain things. Price has figured out how to build buildings— after some much needed practice. Gaz has learned to make soap and cook delightful food (when there was actual food to cook), and Soap has put his demolition skills to good use in that he can make things that create electricity and even plumbing. Simon has become very interested in gardening, interestingly enough.

Everyone had a place, and the routine worked. The rest of the world was plagued, but here in their little home? It was perfect. Most of the soldiers left when the outbreak happened so they could protect their families. The rest died when the undead broke in. Simon wonders sometimes what it would be like to be dead. He fantasized about it a lot when he was younger, but now that there was little to live for, life was everything to him.

Before he got too lost in his thoughts, John walked over to him. "What's happening in that brain of yours, Simon?" He asks. Simon snaps out of whatever trance held him, and he shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it, but it's nothing exciting. What are you doing out here?" He counters, earning a grin from the scot's face.

"Just trying to find out why you enjoy this so much, and I think I've just about figured it out."

Simon looks at him amused. "And what is the reason?"

"I said 'just about,' not completely," he jokes, making Simon laugh. He did that more often now that he barely wore a mask anymore. John was fascinated with how expressive he was. Crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, the barely-there blush on his cheeks, the corners of his mouth lifting. Apparently, when he called Simon gorgeous in his mind, he said it outloud, and it made the taller man smile more.

"You flatter me too much, Johnny. Do you want to know the reason I enjoy it?"

"Would you tell me if I said yes?"

"Probably not."

John scoffed playfully and shook his head, his eyes closed with the gesture. "Has Gaz made dinner yet?"

"He's about to, I think. He's excited for everything to start growing so we don't need to live off unseasoned and almost expired canned food."

"I'm in the same boat with him. Cannot stand what we're surviving off. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose." John said solemnly.

Simon quirked an eyebrow. "Did you learn that phrase from Price?"

The comment earned him a punch to the shoulder, and Simon just chuckled again. "I've been around you English folk longer than you think, bastard." His words held no venom, and Simon rolled his eyes. "Thanks for watering everything, even if you didn't find answers to your questions."

John looked up at him and nodded. "I'm glad you found something you enjoy. I don't need to understand it."

It was always a change of pace from when Simon was tearing himself apart to find out the answers to unspoken questions he had about himself to John wholeheartedly accepting him, no questions asked. He'd slowly started adopting the mindset of not needing to know everything for there to be understanding. Johnny really rubbed off on him, he supposed.

"Price wants us to leave tomorrow. We need more food and blankets. Winter might be harsh, and we still don't have a heater that works," Simon said, changing the subject.

The shorter man nodded before chuckling. "Can you imagine us bringing back mattresses? That'd be feat."

"We would probably need to bring the four of us for proper backup. There's a mattress store in the mall we go into sometimes," Simon said. John thought for a moment before nodding his head. "Project for another day."

---

Simon got his and John's clothes while the latter got the shower ready. The routine was comforting for Simon after their 'normal' was all discombobulated. He had folded the clothes as neatly as he could before walking into the shared restroom that was slowly fogging up the broken mirror. He set the clothes on top of the closed toilet seat and made sure their towels were still where they were supposed to be.

"The water's just how you like it, Si," Johnny said, peaking his head out of the curtain. He had always looked at him like he was the most precious thing he'd ever seen, and it was sometimes overwhelming for Simon. He didn't deserve this. But he had it, and so he would enjoy it until the world decided it was time to tear them apart.

Simon only smiled as he undressed and put his clothes next to the pile Johnny had already made before getting inside the shower with him. John made room for Simon to feel the warmth of the water. His eyes closed for a moment as he basked in it. When his eyes opened, Johnny had some of the homemade shampoo in his hand and Simon leaned down so he could wash his hair.

Soft moments like this made him feel all warm inside, and he never could resist melting into his lover's hands when he'd held him. They took their time in washing each other, not wanting to waste a single moment together. The water was still hot when they finished and they dried off and got dressed. They spent the time in a comfortable silence, both having acknowledged that no words needed to be shared.

After they climbed into bed, Simon wrapped himself around John. He wanted to tell him about the feeling of dread he felt but got lost to the sound of John's heartbeat. John rubbed Simon's shoulder with his thumb as they laid there.

"I have a bad feeling about tomorrow," Simon said. John hummed. "Do you know why?"

Simon shook his head. "Just feels like something is going to go wrong."

"We haven't had an incident in a while. We cleared out most of the hoard that went through the city," John said, trying to clear the other's worries.

"Maybe that's the problem," Simon said. He'd never been scared to go out on a mission. The zombies were no more a threat to him than a soldier would have been. A little less if he thought about it.

"Promise me you'll be the one to kill me if I get bitten."

"What are you talking about? You're not going to get eaten. Stop talking like that," John said.

"Johnny, I need you to promise me. I don't know what I'd do if I was the one who hurt you in the end," Simon says, sitting up to look at him.

"I will protect you, Simon. I promise that if push comes to shove, I'll kill you. I'm not going to lose you to a damn biter though, you hear?" John said, pulling Simon in for a light kiss.

John sat up with him and cradled Simon's face in his hands, his thumbs gently wiping away tears that Simon hadn't even realized were falling.

"Don't cry, my love. It's okay."

"I don't understand why I'm so upset," Simon said. "But I just can't stand the thought of hurting you. You're so dear to me."

"Don't get too sappy on me," John chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "I love you, Simon."

"I love you too, Johnny."

John's eyes widened, and Simon didn't think he'd ever seen his face get so bright.

"Well, you can't die now. Not when you're finding your voice. I'm so proud of you, Simon."

"It's all because of you."

---

Beep beep be- click.

John clicked off the alarm clock with a sigh. He sat up and rubbed his face before turning to look at Simon sleeping peacefully. His light brown hair is laid across the pillow, and his mouth is slightly agape. His hair had gotten longer as he had not cut it in a while. It looked so soft and John couldn't help but carefully run his fingers through the other's locks. The action woke him up and he opened his glossy eyes to see that it was only Johnny there.

"Good morning," he said, his voice gravelly with sleep. "Morning," the other responded. John removed his hand and allowed Simon to do a full body stretch and yawn before sitting up as well. He leaned on John's shoulder, his cheek smushing up against it.

"You're like a cat, Simon. It's sweet," John said endearingly.

"I blame you for making me soft, Johnny," Simon mumbled, making him chuckle.

"We should get up soon. Gaz ought to be making breakfast by now."

"Let me go to the bathroom first," Simon said, getting up and stretching again, yawning as he scratches his stomach.

John followed behind him and then to the cafeteria after, sure enough hearing Gaz making noise in the kitchen.

They walked up to the window in the wall and watched the man do his thing. "Good morning, Gaz," John says loudly so he hears him. He looked over and grinned. "Morning, boys. How'd you sleep?"

"I slept well enough. Simon's still waking up, if you couldn't tell," John answered. Gaz nodded.

"Breakfast is almost done, if you two want to sit down. I'll bring it out to you."

"Make enough for me too," Price said, his voice carrying through the room. Gaz rolled his eyes. "No, I think I'll let you make your own food," he said sarcastically. It made Simon laugh and he covered his mouth with one of his hands.

"Don't think you'd want me messing up your space. You'd probably kill me if I set the kitchen on fire."

"Damn right, I would."

They all laugh and after a couple minutes, Gaz walked out with two trays with two plates on each tray. He sat them down on the table they routinely sat at.

"I found a hen in the woods yesterday, so I went and grabbed it. I need you to make a pen for it," Gaz said to Price. The three of them grinned. "So we get eggs more often?" John asked, earning an excited nod.

"Yes!" John exclaimed, doing a little happy dance. Simon laughed and shook his head. "Eat your food. We should leave soon."

"Aye, you're right, but we still need a list of what we need to find. You're also not even dressed yet," John said amusedly. "Neither are you," Simon quipped.

John rolled his eyes and grinned, eating what was on his plate. The four of them conversated for a while even after they'd all finished their food. It was calm; exactly what Simon needed after stressing all last night.

When they finally got dressed, it was about noon. Simon slipped on his vest and grabbed his knives and backpack. He waited for John to finish putting his boots on before walking out to Price's office. John knocked, and Price called them in.

"I've got your list here. It's the normal stuff with a few additions," the older man said, looking between the two.

Simon nodded and took the list from Price's outstretched hand. He looked it over before handing it to John, who put it in his bag. "We'll be back in a couple days then," Simon said, putting on his mask.

"Be safe, boys. We'll be waiting for you."

"Of course, sir," John said, putting on a mask of his own. They walked out of the room and saw Gaz waiting for them at the door. He hugged both of them when they got close enough. "Don't get lost, got it? We'll come find you if you don't check in properly, so don't leave us hanging."

John grins and fist bumps the man, holding their fists together. "We'll come back. Don't miss us too much, yeah?" Gaz nodded and looked at Simon.

"I'll keep him kicking," he said with a grin. "Good man," Gaz responded, giving him a fist bump too. He opened the door and watched them head out and down the road.

"How long do you think we'll be out this time?" John asked, his head slightly elevated to look at the tops of the trees. Simon hummed in consideration. "Four days. Only because we have a lot to get and ground to cover."

"I'll say a week then. Factoring in anything potential issues," John said in consideration. Simon nodded, "Makes sense. I don't think we will though. It's been a while since we've seen so much as a group."

"Better safe than sorry, hm?" John said playfully. Simon chuckled and shook his head. "Learned that from Gaz? Picking up all sorts of things, I see."

"What do you expect? I'm around you guys all the time. Bound to happen," John said, amused.

"We'll be at the city soon. I can see it ahead," Simon said, changing the subject. Since they left so late, they wouldn't make it in daylight and would need to set up camp and get there the next day. Walking give miles takes longer than one would originally expect. They were pretty close by the time the moon was a quarter of the way up in the sky and decided to make their border so they could sleep.

Simon threaded three lines of barbed wire around the trees where their camp would be; one close to the ground, one about torso level, and one in front of his face. After that, he pushed leaves closer to the wire so it would be easier to hear if anything on through. John made a small upside down fire in the meantime, putting down their sleeping bags and using their bags as pillows.

"Did you remember the spoons, Johnny?" Simon asked as he watched him pull out a couple cans of food. John looked around as he thought about it before grimacing. "I'll take that as a no. Good thing I remembered for you," he said, pulling a couple out of his own bag.

"I can't go anywhere without you, Simon," John said playfully, knowing full well that he would forget his sleeping bag if Simon wasn't there to remind him or grab it for him. "I know," the other responded, handing him a spoon.

They ate in a comfortable silence and watched the fire. When they finished eating, Simon took the cans and put them in a spare bag he had brought, putting the spoons in with them to wash them when they got to the stream on their way back. They sat next to each other, their shoulders touching.

"We should sleep soon," Simon said as John leaned his head on his shoulder. "You won't sleep, so I won't either," John said in determination. Simon chuckled and shook his head. "Sleep, Johnny. I'll watch over you."

The man was already asleep, much to Simon's amusement. He never could stay up like Simon could. He fell asleep a little after, laying them both down to get comfortable. Simon layed on the sleeping bag while John was sprawled out on top of him, his head on his chest.

Simon woke up to rustling and at first thought it was John moving. He soon realized that he would have felt the man move and opened his eyes to see a walker fallen over the wire. It was quickly crawling towards them and Simon grabbed the knife from his side pocket and slipped out from under John. He met the zombie halfway and he stabbed into its ear. It was a clean kill, if he did say so himself. The sun was decently up and thought it would be good to get up and go before it was super bright. Sunglasses are hard to put on over the hard shell of a mask.

John woke up from the commotion and shot up when he saw the dead zombie slumped at Simon's feet, thinking it was still alive. "It's alright, Johnny. Took care of it," Simon said, easing John's worries. "We should go soon, so get ready to leave."

He nodded and stretched before getting up and taking deep breaths to calm his adrenaline. He always feared Simon would get bit protecting him. He rolled up the unused sleeping bags and put them away while Simon undid the wiring. They both took a whiz before continuing their trek to the city.

They took their knives out just in case something came at them. Every now and then, they would encounter a runner and they were the worst of them. John opened the makeshift fence they'd made to keep the area contained. Ammo had been exhausted at the beginning of the outbreak and they didn't have much left. As such, guns were rarely used.

They'd never found other survivors. It was hard to live in a world like this and not many had good survival instincts. It really was a wonder the military fell so soon when they were supposed to be trained for it. Oh well, Simon supposed. More resources for my group.

Closing the fence, they ventured further in. "What store should we hit first?" John asked, his eyes scanning the area in front of them. "Necessities first. Probably the chicken feed since the store is farther away. We can work our way to the front."

"Makes sense. It would keep us out here longer though. I don't remember where the store is exactly."

"Neither do I. But if we want eggs, we need to hope we find it quickly and that it's even there."

John nodded, and they kept walking. "We should stock up on toilet paper as well. Maybe grab a thing of water until we get the well pumping properly."

"Should get some for our vacation."

"While this isn't a vacation I would want, it's funny," Simon mused. John stifled a laugh.

They spent most of the day walking down the streets until it got dark enough that they would need to find a building. They found one without a bunch of broken windows and it looked secure enough. They went to the door and carefully opened it, hoping it didn't squeak too much.

The windows let in enough light that they could see well enough. Simon walked over to the wall and banged on it a few times. The door was still open in case a crowd came and they could easily leave. The downside was that the noise could have attracted some outside. It would do them no good to be cornered. When nothing came and no sound was made, John closed the door. They scouted the room and found nothing. The windows were stable and the door leading upstairs was barricaded. As long as they secured the door leading out and stayed out of sight, they would be just fine.

They were unable to make a fire, much to John's dismay, but they did have an electric lantern still. Price was able to fix a solar panel onto it and now they could test to see if it worked. Simon desperately hoped that it would work like this, although he would never admit it. He wanted to be able to see everything if anything happened. That would have been his explanation. The real reason, however, is that he wants to be able to watch John. He didn't know how much time they had left and he wanted to see as much of him as possible.

It's not creepy. It's endearing, Simon thought. How many times will I see him before our inevitable deaths?

He broke free from his slightly morbid thoughts after seeing John grin at him with his teeth showing. It meant that he was pleased. That's good. It was moments like this that made him feel the urge to commit whatever crime he needed to just to see him smile all the time. Not that there was any structure anymore, but his point still stood.

With confirmation that it works, they turned it off. No use in wasting electricity when there was still light outside.

"Hungry, Simon?" John asked as he rifled through his bag for food. Simon nodded when he looked at him. “These are so much better when they're hot, but here you go.”

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