#kind of a reverse two birds with one stone there

[rosymiel]

scratch that about getting a job, i rescinded my acceptance of the job offer because it wasn’t enough hours. now two days later i just secured an interview with something relevant to my field, is full time, and pays $10 more an hour

[terresdebrume]

I've written a couple of scenes of Charles' having an emotional breakdown and Edwin comforting him, I felt is was time for the reverse. Set in the I'm down on my knees universe at like. Some point, IG.

Warning for mentions of racist behavior throughout and also implied ableism via the Paynes vs Edwin. Hurt comfort. Sorta.

Edwin's fists start mashing together the second his hands come off the steering wheel, which Charles knows very well is the the top one sign of a stress spiral. It's pretty much the default position for Edwin's hands whenever they go to a social thing he hasn't got the hang on yet, and the morning before all his business law exams. It feels wrong to see them like that now, sitting in front of a rustic looking restaurant where his parents are waiting for them.

"We can still leave you know," he tells Edwin. "Tell them I tested positive for COVID and you don't want to risk giving it to them or something."

Edwin doesn't quite laugh, but the corners of his mouth lift up, and the creak of his leather driving gloves subsides for a moment. He makes a face like when he's trying to figure out how to say something he's not sure how to handle. Charles, one hand on his still buckled seatbelt and the other on the door handle, waits him out. Eventually, Edwin speaks.

"I should have said earlier," he says, sounding for all the world like the words are taffy stuck in his teeth, "but my parents are sort of... Well. They have a certain idea of how the world should work and be divided—"

"Yeah, I figured," Charles says. He grins when Edwin blinks at him. "Everyone else, when we've got plans, you say shit like 'Oh, Charles is making curry tonight'—"

"I do not sound like that," Edwin protests, but Charles snorts.

"You sound exactly like that, you big toff," he says, grin widening despite himself.

Edwin rolls his eyes and calls him ridiculous, fists softening against one another. Grinning to the point his cheeks ache, Charles gives Edwin's knee a light knock with his knuckles. It makes Edwin click his tongue, but Charles doesn't lose his smile.

"My point is, with you're parents it's always like 'Charles is making dinner' and stuff. Like you're playing the pronouns game with food."

Charles suppresses a wince when. Edwin's eyes widen and his fists tighten together again, like tectonic plates gearing up for an earthquake. Of course Edwin was going to take it the wrong way. Charles should have bloody well known better.

"I'm sorry," Edwin says, I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine," Charles shrugs. "I mean they know what I look like, right?"

"Yes!" Edwin promises, hands so tight together it looks like they're going to merge. "Of course. I made sure they couldn't pretend they'd misunderstood, too, I just—"

"Then I'm fine," Charles says, making sure his smile looks easier than it feels. "I was friends with racist gits for years, I can handle your parents for an hour."

Plus, they'll be in public. What are the Paynes gonna do, try to make him join the staff? Calling him the P slur over dessert? They might think it but Charles suspects they're too interested in seeming proper to be that crassly racist where they can be heard. Probably they'll just make some noise about certain types of people and NHS fraud and jobs being stolen away from the homeless people they have no intention to help. Maybe something about Islam—there people tend to assume Charles is a Muslim a lot. He chalks it up to two birds one stone mentality, and the appeal of unlocking two rants over a single guy.

"Alright," Edwin says, looking relieved but not guilt free yet. "But if you wish to leave early, please pretend you just remembered a favour you promised Jenny, will you? I will drive us back immediately."

"Sure, I'll do that," Charles promises. He genuinely doesn't think it'll be that bad, but if he's wrong he'll be glad have the out anyway.

Reassured, Edwin takes a deep breath, and nods, and in they go. Everything is very posh in that very 'bling is for lesser people' kind of way. The menu predictably shows no prices. Edwin's parents make the usual thinly veiled remarks about Charles and Indians and brown people in general, and it's not the most comfortable but Charles could deal with it if not for the Issue.

It starts when they approach the table, Edwin's parents standing next to it with spines so straight Charles half worries he's hunched down again. Edwin places his hands in his mother's to kiss the air around each of her cheek, but then when he goes to press his fists together again, she takes his wrists and pulls his hands apart. Charles's entire back goes rigid at the sight, but he manages to push it aside and smile as he extends a hand for Mrs. Payne to shake. He said he'd do his best to make the dinner a success, and he meant it.

They sit down, Edwin and Charles on one side of the rectangular table, Edwin's parents on the other. Edwin's hands are very flat on the white tablecloth, gloves pulled away and fingers carefully aligned together. They stay there while Edwin answers increasingly invasive questions about his studies and his life, but they drift together again when the Paynes' attention turns to Charles.

"Stop that," Mr. Payne says with a stern look, cutting himself off in the middle of a sanctimonious explanation of why Charles is not being ambitious enough in life.

It's such a complete contrast to the polite, vaguely affable air he took one when speaking to Charles, and he goes back to it so quickly, Charles barely has time to react. The only thing he can think of is to press his knee against Edwin's in comfort. He should have thought of a signal for Edwin, too. Or at least asked if he wanted one.

The entree's arrival provokes some surprised praise over how their brown waiter is surprisingly well trained and articulate, and Charles takes it in stride. They're not actually saying anything to the waiter, and when they do speak he's out of earshot. He's had worse, and Edwin doesn't quite seem to be ready to throw the towel in, so he'll stick it out a bit longer. Even if Edwin's going pinker and pinker with every minute that passes.

They're about halfway through their main dishes and another rant from Mr. Payne—augmented by his wife's approving noise and not much else, Edwin having fallen silent somewhere around the time his gaspacho touched the table. Charles hates to see him like this: Edwin has always had a big personality, a larger than average presence in any room. He should be leading the conversation, or at least insisting on being heard through it, not looking down at the tablecloth with his mouth shut.

Charles is halfway through opening his mouth to pretend Jenny just texted him about plumbing issues, when Edwin's dad speaks again. He has the kind of articulation they promote on the BBC, yet Charles doesn't register any of what he says, only the fact that Edwin's fists fly together without him even noticing, and then Mr. Payne's hand darts from the other side of the table to slap Edwin's closed hands.

Now, see, the thing about Charles, is he's got excellent reflexes. Between dodging his dad's many and varied projectiles over the years, a decade of cricket, and countless hours of playing shooting games, he's pretty much primed for it. Add to that the fact that he's been getting angrier and angrier on Edwin's behalf throughout the meal, and really Charles doesn't think he can be blamed for dropping his knife, reaching out, and slapping Mr. Payne's hands.

"How dare you?" The man hisses in the deadly silence that falls over the room after the exchange.

The whole restaurant seems to hold its breath, the way Charles and mum used to do whenever dad stopped and asked 'What did you just say?'. In the corner of Charles' vision, Edwin's mouth hangs partially open in shock even as Charles hisses:

"How dare you?"

"The way I discipline my son," Mr. Payne starts, and Charles snarls.

"Your son is twenty-five," he says raising his voice on purpose. "You don't get to treat him like a bloody toddler."

"You little—" Payne senior starts, but before Edwin even has the time to react to his dangerous tone, Charles stands up with a loud scrape of his chair against the floor.

"And another thing," he says, loudly speaking over the fast purpling man in front of him, "there's nothing wrong with Edwin. That thing with the hand? You're making a mountain out of a bloody molehill! And if you didn't spend so much time worrying about it, maybe you'd realize Edwin is really bloody mint, actually, and if you can't appreciate him, then I don't see why we should bother staying here at all." Charles pushes his chair back against the table with another loud scrape, and turns to Edwin. "Come on, let's go."

Edwin's parents protest, mildly at first and then more loudly, but Charles doesn't care. He's too furious at them, at the way they filled their son with a sort of guilty shame Charles had never seen until the, at the way they somehow managed to stop him from even wanting to answer.

He waits until Edwin stands up, and then he takes hold of Edwin's wrist and drags the both of them outside. Edwin has to tug hard on his arm to remind him they used a car to come in, actually, and they can't leave it there. He sounds—well he sounds strained, is what he does. The sort of voice that means there's an emotion somewhere he's not letting out, and this time Charles knows exactly where it's going.

"I'm so sorry," he says, "I ruined dinner!"

"Oh," Charles, Edwin sighs.

His eyes are wide and wet and his grin ks kind of wobbly, but he steps up and engulfs Charles in hug anyway, hands tightly clasped around Charles waist. Charles responds in kind, putting as much love as he can into the embrace, into the pressure of his arms around Edwin.

"Thank you," Edwin mumbles against Charles' neck. "No one ever stood up for me line that."

"They bloody well should have," Charles says, gentling his tone when he realizes something warm dripping down his neck.

Edwin, too busy controlling his crying the best he can, doesn't answer, but it doesn't matter. Charles holds him tight until he's done crying anyway.

[theamityelf]

Descendants Characters: What Type of ASMR They Make

(This post was supposed to be a fun joke and then I just kept adding to it. Make it stop.)

Uma: A lot of cooking and dishwashing content. She's not setting aside time in her day just for recording; she's knocking out two birds with one stone, recording while doing her chores. Her early videos are very much in the realm of "Teaching You to Cook", and "You Didn't Wash the Dishes". Always positioning herself as an authority over the listener, stern but never cruel. The vibe is usually, "You did something wrong, but I'll show you how to fix it." (It's probably cathartic for her, since her mom is not forgiving of mistakes and she herself has to be pretty firm with people a lot of the time.)

The sound effects, obviously, are things like chopping ingredients, scrubbing dishes, etc. She talks intermittently, usually to give instructions, occasionally making small observations. She shows her face on-camera pretty matter-of-factly, and the lighting isn't good. (This causes commenters to frequently have the exchange, "STOP, you're so pretty!" "We literally can't see her." "Adjust your brightness.")

When she gains a following, she starts to do lightly-scripted videos where she pretends the listener has come to her with a problem and she talks them through it. Still in the context of doing her kitchen work while talking. And maybe some sleep aid, but people really like it when she's telling them what to do. A lot of them comment that they genuinely learned something. But also, because she's very opinionated and makes no attempts to tone that down for her audience, there are a lot of ethical debates in her comment sections. But it pretty quickly gets to the point where people who complain about her beliefs get responses like "You must be new here," from her fans.

Harry: "Nemesis Shows You His Knives Roleplay", "Villain's Ransom Call to Your Parents Roleplay," just really indulging in the theatre of villainy and raking in listeners who find it hot. It's all talking; no sound effects, really, except incidental sounds from his props. Improvised/unscripted. And he's also the kind of ASMRist who shows his face, though he never dresses in any special way for it. His hair isn't even combed.

His ASMR persona is very dom, which is a big reason people love seeing his comments on Uma's ASMR, where he's just jarringly subby. (If his viewers reply to his comments on Uma's videos, he's immediately dom again. Like, "Hush up, pet.")

Gil: His focus is on a diverse range of sounds and quiet rambling. He'll be talking at length about anything and everything while gently shaking a glass full of ice cubes. A lot of the stuff he talks about are incorrect things his dad told him, which get a lot of comments from his fans. He might have an accidental catchphrase, because he keeps saying, "Is that true?" or "My dad's kinda wrong a lot..."

Mal: "Making a _ Potion ASMR". "Reversing a _ Curse ASMR". She deliberately does not use real potion instructions. She'll describe a few real ingredients, in passing, but never accurately dictate the ingredients and steps for an existing potion. Also, her videos are faceless; she draws the art for them herself. And she frequently gets comments about that. "Who drew the art??" "I did." "Oh my gods, you're so talented!!"

She's emotionally detached from the listener, both in and out of her videos. Probably the thing she feels most strongly about, regarding her platform, is faerie culture; while she's not giving accurate information about how particular potions or spells are performed (except maybe the curse reversals), she often goes out of her way to debunk myths about how faeries interact with nature and magic. People learn things from her.

Evie: Studying/going over notes roleplay, where she just reads her actual notes from school, talking them over like she's in a study group with the listener. (A lot of rustling paper and pencil tapping sounds.) She's playing a character version of herself, though; she'll ask questions and then answer herself as if the listener has explained something to her, or she'll explain things to the listener. Much like Uma and Mal, she gets comments saying how she genuinely taught them something.

She also does arts and crafts ASMR. Sewing, cutting fabric, ribbon stuff. Sometimes she peppers in politics, but always very subtly.

She does a lot of collabs. She's probably the only person who everyone is willing to collab with.

She shows her face, and early on she always makes sure that her hair and makeup are "perfect". Maybe as she grows more worldly and self-possessed, that won't be as much of a priority for her. Or maybe it will.

Jay: A lot of boyfriend roleplay, a lot of crush roleplay, some big brother stuff. A lot of him teasing the listener. Some villain roleplay, but more in the realm of "lovable scamp" than "arch-nemesis". He and Harry occasionally throw references/jabs at each other, in their videos and comments. It's all in good fun, but the question of which of them a person listens to basically becomes a personality test.

They both have very devoted followings.

Carlos: He uses ASMR as a way to infodump about stuff he likes, so it'll be "Explaining Different Types of Circuits ASMR", or "Deciding on a Dog Breed ASMR". He isn't trying to build a rapport with his listeners, particularly; it just happens because his intelligence and interest in each subject really shines.

He appears on camera, but either he wears a mask or he only films from the mouth down. Very much because he's scared of his mother finding his channel, at first.

Ben: Oh boy, maybe he doesn't get an ASMR channel, lol.

Audrey: "Helping You Through Your Breakup." "Helping You Through Your Parents' Divorce." "Bad Grades Comfort." "Doing Each Others' Nails." Just a lot of positioning herself as the benevolent friend. The kind of friend a princess is expected to be. Mostly scripted, but she ad-libs when it feels natural. Sometimes on-camera, sometimes faceless; she keeps to an upload schedule, so it really just depends on whether she feels she looks camera ready. When she has time, she'll record a bunch of on-camera videos in one day, but when she doesn't have time, she'll just record faceless ones. In the faceless videos, her background is a thematically-relevant stock photo that she has purchased and added ambient filters to.

After a few collabs with Evie, she starts branching out to different kinds of roleplay, tentatively taking on less friendly roles. She finds she really enjoys doing "Mean Girl ASMR", and Evie gladly joins her. They try to convince others to get in on it with them, and sometimes they do, but the series is really an Audrevie-specific collab that sometimes features other people. It's very popular.

Jane: Pretty much just tapping and brushing and other sound effects. When her voice comes in, it's just to introduce the next sound. Her hands are on camera, but her face isn't.

Chad: He finds boyfriend roleplay scripts on Reddit. Faceless, because he only wants people to know he's doing this if his channel blows up.

Doug: He might do sound editing for the others.

[sevenwishesonshootingstars]

The Stars in the Sky and Sunsettias on the Ground

Ok so this is just a little thing I wrote based on a post by @arn9tails. The basic idea is that somehow you ended up in Teyvat (because I’m not sure how I’d write something reverse isekai right now), but instead of everything being about your size like you’d expect, it’s all on a much larger scale. The reader character can be any age, but I’m going for late teens or early twenties, either about to finish high school or college. They’ll be around 5’5 so if you’re shorter than that (me core), congrats on getting a few inches taller. If you’re taller than that, don’t worry because everything else still would have been taller than you anyway. I don’t think there are any content warnings except that this might be a little cringe if you’re not into this kind of thing, and I’m an amateur writer, which I expect will show a lot. It also hasn’t been beta read or edited much. Oh, and some swearing.

Unfamiliar Happenings in Oddly Familiar Places

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

You didn’t even do anything. No, really. You just took a break from your research paper for a little. Yes, you were technically supposed to be typing up an overview of the results, but you’d been doing that all morning. I’ll work better after stepping away for a bit, you told yourself. So you grabbed a snack and plopped onto the couch to play a little bit of genshin. 

With your favorite character finally about to rerun, you wanted to save up as many primos as you could get before the banners switched. While it was embarrassing to admit, you had never finished Mondstadt exploration. Figuring you’d kill two birds with one stone, you decided to try to finish it up and get any primos you could from it. 

As you checked in every bush and space between the rocks, you couldn’t help feeling a little guilty for doing this instead of completing your stupid research paper. You were on break, yet you couldn’t even enjoy it thanks to that word doc waiting impatiently for you to come back. You’d never been the kind of person who could just enjoy your down time, not when you knew you weren’t being productive, not when your responsibilities were always hanging over your head like the sword of Damocles.

You opened a common chest and stared at your screen for a moment. Maybe it was immature, but you almost felt a sense of longing. You wished you could have a more simple life. I wish I could be an adventurer in Teyvat, camping out each night and searching for treasure, you thought as you resumed your search. Of course, it’s not like you didn’t realize that being an adventurer was realistically much harder than having to write an essay, but you also knew it wasn’t just the essay. It was everything. The essay, the uncertain future, the struggle to stay afloat in waters full of broken boats, and the world changing around you in ways you both couldn’t ignore and couldn’t fully process. 

Instead of acknowledging any of that, though, you simply took another bite of your snack and went to look for another chest or seelie. You were pretty sure you’d found everything in Mondstadt’s main city, or everything that you could find without a fresh pair of eyes, and decided to go to the statue that started it all. Thunder cracked outside as you selected the statue of the seven, making you jump.

The room was dark now, and it took you embarrassingly long to realize the power had gone out. The only light left in the room was the faint glow of your screen. You pulled open a curtain just enough to peek out. The rain had been sudden, so sudden that when you checked the weather app, it still claimed the sun was shining. You took a deep breath and turned away from the window. 

Looking back at your screen, you realized that somehow the internet hadn’t been affected. Sure, it was a little slow, but you were no stranger to the almost spitefully long load time for the geo symbol. Frowning, you leaned a little closer to the screen.

Bad idea, [Name]. 

At that moment, the loading screen was brighter than you’d ever seen it. You recoiled, shutting your eyes in the hopes of protecting yourself from the blinding light, but it seemed to burn through your eyelids. “What the hell?” you blurted out as you lost feeling in your body and, not even a second later, consciousness. 

A light gust of wind brushed against you, drawing you out of the depths of your sleep. You turned to your side, reaching for your blanket and grasping at nothing. Confused, you tried again. After another failed attempt, you groaned and blinked your eyes open. Seeing green leaves oh so high above you, you jolted upright. Clearly this was not your room.

You took a deep breath, trying not to panic. Was I kidnapped? Or… am I dreaming? What is going on!? Lifting yourself onto your trembling legs, you surveyed the area. You were under a huge tree, surrounded by tall grass. On the ground next to you was a large, pear shaped fruit with yellow and orange skin. In the distance you could see a familiar looking statue, glowing a light blue. 

You stumbled back, bumping into the tree. “Is that… is that one of Venti’s statues?” you mumbled to yourself, picking at your sleeve. Taking another deep breath, you slid down to sit against the tree. “Am I at Starfell Lake?” The idea was absurd, yet hard to dismiss. It was a dream come true, yet you felt like you might vomit. 

“Oh my—I’m at Starfell Lake!” you whisper-shouted to yourself in a mix of excitement and anxiety. “I’m in Mondstadt! In Genshin fucking Impact!” Hands on your face, you looked around with a new sense of awe. You were glad you were alone because you might have looked silly with your mouth open like this. But you couldn’t help it. You know you’d have to eventually figure out a way home, but for now you were going to enjoy this opportunity. Even if it was just a dream.

Even if you had to make yourself. 

You turned to the fruit next to you, a sunsettia, wanting to try it. This was when it finally hit you. In your mix of panic and excitement, you hadn’t realized that the sunsettia was as big as you were. Your mouth fell open slightly, and you stood frozen in place. “Huh?”

Sure, the fruit in the game had always been a bit.. swollen looking compared to fruit you were used to, but it was never this extreme! You walked up to it, holding your hand to the top of your head and then to the top of the fruit. Hello? This thing was huge! 

You looked around again, now realizing that the grass was all taller than you. You pinched yourself, deciding that you were ready to wake up. But all it did was make your arm hurt a little. “Oh god…” 

This wasn’t right. It wasn’t right at all. You weren’t going to pretend you hadn’t imagined this scenario a thousand times. You were literally doing it earlier! But whenever you imagined finding yourself in Teyvat, you’d always imagined everything being your size! Why wouldn’t you? What reason would you even have to think that the world would be on a completely different scale!?

But then again… what reason did you have to assume it was on the same scale either? If whole different worlds could exist, what made you so sure that they wouldn’t be on different scales from each other? You put your head in your hands and groaned. What were you supposed to do now?

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That’s it for now, but I’ll probably continue this because I also have an idea about a language barrier in this au. I'm not sure how this will tie in to a reverse isekai thing yet, but I do want to try something with that aspect at some point. I think the reactions of characters to one of our cities for the first time, especially with this au, would be very interesting. I also might do a version of this somewhere like in the city itself or in Fontaine where it'd be a lot harder to not be noticed quickly because of how many people there are.

Here's a height chart thing I made real quick so it might not be 100% accurate. I thought this was bigger because of how big sunsettias are, but for a person that's very, very small. So yeah, this is how big us Earthlings are in Teyvat in this au sorry guys

little nightmares ahh heights

illustration

[zombryz]

: ̗̀➛ Sparks and Cursed Shadows

˗ˏˋ I HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A GREAT DAY DEAR READERˎˊ˗ 

Chapter Two

masterlist | Previous Chapter 1 | Next Chapter 3  | ao3

Pairings: Satoru Gojo x afab!reader x Suguru Geto

A/N: I am sad for what's to come but also excited for more Suguru Geto *eyes emoji*. I loved the build-up of both relationships to see how they played out to where they are now.

Summary: Years had passed since you last saw him—the formidable sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, with his innate six eyes, your old classmate, and first love. When Suguru Geto decided to part ways with Jujutsu High and abandon sorcery altogether, you went with him, both of you unintentionally breaking Satoru's heart. Now, after years and years, your heart aches as Suguru, your now lover, succumbs to the ancient curse of Kenjaku. Suguru—no—Kenjaku threatens to kill Suguru inside of his own mind if you do not confront your once-beloved Satoru Gojo, killing him to bring balance back to the world of curses.

Warnings: (current, may change throughout the story - I will try to add them to each chapter) **Possible Anime/Manga spoilers throughout** PSTD, Death, depression, angst, possessiveness, jealousy, uneven power dynamics (obviously because Gojo is the strongest), eventual lemon/smut, slowburn, right person wrong time, friends to lovers to enemies to lovers again, touch starved, unprotected first time, virgin!reader, virgin!gojo, betrayal, switch!gojo, switch!reader, dom!suguru, porn with plot, possible pregnancy ending (undecided but will make it cute, not annoying), fuckboy!gojo, kind of poly!reader (she loves them both at the same time), gore/blood/violence scenes that will be graphic

Word Count: 14.5k

Wanna listen to what I listened to while writing this?:

Start of Tokyo Jujutsu High School Year - 2005 - First Year

You had been at the school for a few days now. No one else seemed to arrive as early as you did so you got first dibs on your bedroom as well as all the good snacks in the communal kitchen. It was quiet and you knew there weren’t going to be a lot of students so you wondered if it would always be like this. You picked the room with a sliding back door that led out to a small cherry blossom tree with a little stone bench underneath. The tree was in full bloom and you found yourself sitting out there for all hours of the day, just listening to the birds sing while you read some old books you found about reversed cursed techniques. Sadly, your family never really taught you this stuff; you were the only ‘cursed’ child and they couldn’t wait to send you off as a jujutsu sorcerer. If you were being honest with yourself you didn’t mind, it was better than being invisible to a family who wanted nothing to do with the child who obtained your great-great-great grandfather’s cursed ability. They treated him like a god and you couldn’t understand why you were shunned away. Maybe you just couldn’t fill his shoes.

The day before school started you found yourself once again sitting out at the little stone bench under the cherry blossom tree. You were reading from your book when you saw something move in front of you and that's when you first noticed that there were more rooms connected to the courtyard garden. Someone was moving behind a window directly across from your room. Your eyes curiously watched as a boy about your age walked out of his room and into the courtyard. You weren’t sure if you should say something or just keep reading. He was most likely one of your classmates and he hadn’t noticed you yet. You decided to peek over your book to get a better look at him. He was tall and lean and was dressed in all-black clothes that were not his school uniform. His pants were slightly baggy at the calves and he had shoulder-length dark brown hair that was pushed behind his ears. His eyes were dark but kind from what you could tell and he sported black circular earrings. He walked over to a small water fountain at the edge of the garden and crouched down before it. He reached his hands out to gather the water into a small pool in his palms before splashing it on his face and running the leftover water through his hair.

“What are you reading?” He speaks up now and you quickly divert your eyes to hyperfocus on the page, worried that he probably caught you staring.

“Uh-um, it’s a book about reversed cursed techniques. It’s quite interesting, I think.” You try to sound as nonchalant as possible.

“It sounds interesting.” After running his hands through the water and into his hair a couple more times he rises to his full height and makes his way over to you. As he gets closer you notice his angular jawline and perfectly straight nose. His hair was now dripping wet and you couldn’t help but think about how beautiful he was. You were suddenly very nervous in his presence. He wipes his palms on his pants to dry them and you watch as his large hand starts reaching for your book. You give it to him without even saving your page.

He scans over the back quickly before handing it back to you, his finger staying on your page to hold your spot for you. When you grab it from him your hand brushes against his making you lock eyes. His eyes were dark and borderline sensual, you were looking up at him with big doe ones. He clears his throat making you look away.

“I’m Suguru Geto, I believe we are classmates,” He takes a seat next to you on the concrete bench. You can feel his body heat surrounding you as he gets closer.

“I-I’m Y/N Kashimo, nice to meet you,” you reach your hand out for him to shake making him chuckle in response, his laugh is the most calming sound in the world. When he smiles his mouth curls up forming a small dimple to the right of his lips. You can’t help but stare at it. He then happily takes your hand and shakes it gently. His hand was cold from the fountain but you could feel the warmth of his body heat coming through.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kashimo,” he smiles politely, still holding your hand.

“Oh, you can just call me Y/N,” you realize you’re still holding his hand so you pull away first, “Most people don’t think I deserve to go by my family name.” you drift off sadly and stare at your hands in your lap.

“Well,” he goes to stand up, “in that case, you can just call me Suguru.” You suddenly feel small beneath him. He starts walking back to his room and before he walks through his door he turns around to you once more, “And we’ll see about that, I think you could make that name your own if you wanted.” He pauses before testing out your name on his lips, “See you tomorrow, Y/N.” Then he is gone as fast as he appeared. There are butterflies in your stomach that won't go away and you know you won’t be able to go back to reading so you just sigh.

Later that night

Your first-day jitters were starting to get the best of you as you lay awake in bed unable to sleep. It was about midnight when you decided to grab your robe off the back of your door and go to the communal kitchen for a glass of water. You walked down the dark halls quietly hoping not to wake anyone else. When you arrived at the kitchen on the other side of the building you avoided turning on any lights so that if someone was awake you wouldn’t have to talk to them. You quietly took out a glass from one of the cabinets and filled your cup with the water from the fridge. You shut the refrigerator and turn the corner of the kitchen to dart back to your room as quickly as you possibly can. To your surprise, you come to an abrupt and painful stop when you walk directly into what you thought was a wall causing your glass of water to go all over you. The impact causes you to fall backwards but before you hit the ground you feel a strong arm snake around your lower back to catch you.

“Hey, I’m so sorry,” He questions worriedly. You strain your eyes to see who saved you but the hallway is too dark, only the moonlight pours into the room but it is not enough to see the dark figure hovering over you. You maybe thought it was Suguru until you heard a voice coated in honey. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m the one who should be sorry, I really should've brought a flashlight.” You laugh light-heartedly.

“It’s okay, I should’ve seen you coming with my technique, you just surprised me is all.” He is still holding on to the small of your back making sure to steady you before letting go. “Oh no, you’re soaking wet, come on I’ll help you dry off” He adds in an apologetic tone leading you back to the kitchen where you were just moments ago.

He turns on some soft lighting in the kitchen instead of the bright overhead light and you finally get a good look at him. He was Satoru Gojo, you know this because your family never shuts up about him and the Gojo clan he belongs to. He supposedly carried the innate gift of the six eyes and your family had been in discussions in the past with the Gojo clan about marrying you off to him. You wonder if he knows about that. You had never met him before this very moment, he was tall and lean and his hair was white as snow. He was wearing striped pajama pants and a black t-shirt that revealed his arm muscles. You had heard that he usually wears glasses to hide his eyes but right now he wasn’t, maybe because you both were supposed to be asleep and it was late. You watched him curiously as he frantically searched for a towel of some kind. He went through several cabinets and drawers before finding the right one and pulled out a couple of towels.

“Here we go,” He turned to walk over to you. You took off your robe and were in just your big t-shirt and silk shorts that you usually sleep in. You were awkwardly leaning against the counter and were starting to get cold from being wet so you hopped on the counter to get your bare feet off the cold tile. When he got closer he took you all in just as you did with him moments ago while he was searching for something to dry you with. He hesitantly walks closer but once he’s completely invaded your space he reaches out to pull your shirt towards him, rubbing the towel into the fabric to soak up the water. “I-I’m sorry again.” He sighs.

“It’s okay, I promise,” You swung your feet next to his legs and there was an awkward but comfortable silence that fell over you as he continued to dry you off. “I-’m-” You decide that maybe you should just introduce yourself to make this whole situation less intimate.

“You’re the Kashimo girl, right?” He continues to pat the towel on your shirt, not looking at you. With you sitting on the counter you were almost the same height as him.

You huff, so he did know who you were. Your family always claims to be embarrassed of you but if you were being honest with yourself, you were embarrassed of them. Being part of the Kashimo family felt like a curse in itself. You wondered if he could relate seeing as that's how most sorcerer clans were.

“Yeah, but you can just call me Y/N. No one calls me Kashimo.” You watch the way his long fingers move the towel up and down your shirt. Your eyes travel up and to his face while he works. His lips were supple and his cheeks were a little flushed. You couldn’t help but stare at his beautiful bottom lashes that were snow white just like his hair. After a moment or two of you practically drooling over the poor boy, he looks up at you and you are finally looking into those angelic, ice-blue eyes everyone talks about. The eyes that made him so powerful. He was considered a special grade before even joining Jujutsu Tech. You bet he could snap you like a twig in this very kitchen if he so wanted. The thought made you breathless and sent a chill down your spine.

The two of you stayed like this for a while, just staring into each other's eyes. Until he finally spoke up, “I’m Satoru Gojo by the way,” he practically yelled in excitement until he realized that other people were sleeping just down the hall. You could’ve sworn that his smile was even brighter than his eyes. You couldn’t help but giggle at him and his face became even more flush than before. “Seeing how I spilled water all over you, I think it's only fair that you call me by my first name as well.” He lowers his voice and naturally closes the space even more to be quiet. Your breath hitches in your throat.

“Hmmm, Satoru,” you hum his name and his ears perk up. “I think I might’ve spilled water on you too.” You point at his abdomen where there is water all over his nice black shirt. You slowly take the towel from his hand and hop off the counter. “Here, let me.” You twist under his arm and face now he is the one leaning against the counter. He turns towards you slightly and allows you to dab his shirt the same way he dried yours.

“So, uh, is it true you’re like,” he makes a funny little gesture with his hands and makes a weird noise to mimic an electricity zap, “Sparky?” He asks, making a silly face; almost like he is embarrassed by the way he just said that.

“Uh, yeah, you could say that.” You giggle and your eyes meet his once more making your heart skip a beat with how he was looking down at you. “I-Is it true you can fly?” You were only half serious, after learning about reversed cursed techniques and the capabilities that Satoru has, you wouldn’t be surprised if he could fly. Plus, that was one of the reasons why your family liked him so much, because he was a very very strong ally to have. How much closer than being married into the family could he get?

Satoru laughs and brings his hand up to his face to cover his smile so he wouldn’t be too loud. “Is that what they’re saying about me nowadays?” You stopped drying his shirt but didn’t pull away from how close you were to him. “I gotta give it to the other clan members, they’re usually right about what I can and can’t do. If they believe I can fly, I should probably start training.”

Your voice was quiet now that he struck something in common with you, “D-Do you always listen to your clan elders?” You begin messing with the fabric on his shirt mindlessly.

“Nah, fuck that.” He says gaining a sudden sort of confidence on the subject. His muscles tense beneath you causing you to let go of his shirt. “Why, do you?”

“They once told me that I was to be married to you.” Your voice is barely above a whisper and you look at him once more to gauge his reaction. For some reason, you wanted to know if he had been told that too.

“Oh?” He scoffs. “Sorry,” he pauses for a lot longer than you thought he would, “it’s just, you’re not the first girl my family has tried to marry off to me.” His voice lowers as he says this.

“Oh, I see,” Your chest tightens and you’re not sure why. So there were other powerful girls his family wanted him to be with? You suppose it made sense.

“N-Not that I wouldn’t, I’m just not too keen on marrying a total stranger,” he pedals back after seeing what he thinks is disappointment on your face.

“Oh, no, don’t worry, me either!” You step back a little trying to signal that you weren’t trying to come off upset about his reaction. You weren’t even sure if you wanted to marry a sorcerer. You’re only here to become greater than your great-great-great grandfather to prove to your family that you’re not a disappointment and then leave sorcery behind and live a normal life.

“I just feel like we should have a choice.” He fixes his posture and stares at you once more with his achingly blue eyes.

“I agree, we should.” You realize it has to be getting late now and your mind starts racing about your family and how you officially start training tomorrow and want to surpass your great-great-great grandfather as soon as possible, “Let’s not get married then. Just to spite our families.” You hold out your pinky to him and he looks at you with furrowed brows and a small frown but you don’t read into it. He hesitates but ends up intertwining his pinky with yours anyway, ultimately making a pinky promise he doesn’t fully want to make. “I really should be going to sleep now. Goodnight Satoru!” You grab your robe off the counter and leave him in at the kitchen island, alone.

“Goodnight, Sparky.” He looks down at his pinky after you are gone and his lips form a tight line. Why did he just do that?

Later in the year

During your first year, you became closer to both Suguru and Satoru and learned they had met during the summer and had already become very close friends. You also met your other classmate, Shoko, whom you adored. She was always offering you cigarettes or a swig out of her flask. You gave in every once and a while making Satoru get on to you, Suguru never did though; he would partake most of the time, unlike you and Satoru. It was the four of you, always together. You received your uniform which had been customized by your family, it was the lady's version of the uniform just all white to match. You were sent on your first mission together. You learned to fight cursed spirits together and you were sometimes even given lower grade missions with just a single partner. There were multiple instances where you were partnered up with Satoru, Suguru, or sometimes Shoko. They had become your best friends.

After a while, you realize that to everyone else Satoru was just a spoiled rich boy who was full of himself but everyone loved him anyway. Suguru was kind-hearted but stern and came from a broken family of non-sorcerers, he had been scouted to come to Jujutsu Tech. Lastly, Shoko was kind of a mystery, no one knew where she came from or about her past since she didn’t talk about it much. You didn’t mind really, the less you had to talk about your family the better. She was very similar to you in that sense.

During most of the school year, you would meet up with Suguru after school in the courtyard garden between your rooms. It was mostly to vent about your day or just to read to him. You weren’t sure why, but when you read to him on the concrete bench beneath the cherry blossom tree, he liked it. You enjoyed it too. Sometimes even Satoru and Shoko would join you and you would read to all of them, sharing your findings. Both you and Shoko tried to explain the reversed cursed technique to them but you don’t think it registered.

One day, when the seasons started to change you remember reading a romantic novel about a princess and a knight in shining armor. Suguru would never admit it but you knew he liked it because he kept coming back to hear the rest of the story. Suguru was sitting on the bench above you staring at the way the wind flowed through the trees making all the little leaves dance and sway to the rhythm. You sat on the ground beneath him reading the final chapters of the romance novel. His hair was starting to grow out and you liked it when he wore it down instead of his normal bun look. A couple of sakura leaves kept falling on your book obstructing the writing on the pages so you kept running your fingers over it to push them off and continue reading. It was as if he could tell you were getting frustrated because he caught one of the leaves and leaned over to gently place it behind your ear. You stopped reading and reached behind your ear to feel for the flower. You then turned to him smiling, your cheeks as pink as the tree, “What was that for?” you hum in a sweet but questioning voice.

“Come here, dance with me.” He suddenly gets up and extends his arm out to help you up. The sun was starting to set, soon you wouldn’t have any more light to read anyway.

“There isn’t any music playing,” You raise your eyebrow at him, place the book down on the bench, but reach for his hand anyway. He helps you to your feet and places a hand on the small of your back. You position your feet and then he leads with a slow ballroom dance.

“We don’t need music, the trees are singing to us, you just have to listen,” He looks up at the tree and you don’t immediately follow his line of sight, instead you watch his Adam's apple move up as your eyes follow the shape of his jaw. He was so beautiful. After a moment you look up and watch the trees with him. You’re giggling now which makes him pick up the pace causing you both to dance extremely fast.

“Suguru! Slow down, you’re going too fast I can’t keep up.” You laugh hysterically and your hair flows in the wind as he releases you into a quick spin while holding your hand. He then spins you right back into his body and leads you into a low dip with his large hand supporting your lower back. You let your head hang with your arms stretched behind you. Suddenly you feel so free like you didn’t have a care in the world. You were smiling ear to ear and it was Suguru’s turn to look at you, his eyes following your smile to your chin, your neckline, your collar bones, and then down to the way your uniform hugs around your chest perfectly supporting your breasts -- He shakes his thoughts and lifts you back up. You were so beautiful to him.

You’re smiling as you lay your head on his chest and you both fall into a slow sway that matches the pace of his slowing heartbeat. When you looked up at him he was already looking down at you, his deep brown eyes were heavy, and stared at you with a sort of longing that you hadn’t seen on him before.

“Thanks,” You rest your chin on his chest to look up at him through your dark eyelashes. You move your arms around his hips and hug him tightly, “I needed that after all these really dark missions.” He was looking down at you and because he was taller than you, his arms were resting just underneath your shoulders.

He brings his arms up slowly and cups your face gently caressing your cheek on the same side he had placed the flower on. Your heart begins to race in anticipation. What was he doing? He lowers his head as slow as he possibly could allowing you to push him away if he had the wrong idea. His bangs fell to the sides of his face and his lips were now hovering over yours. You could feel every little breath he took. You were practically begging him to crash his lips into yours. Finally, after a few moments of harmless teasing, his lips were on yours. They were warm and his kisses were slow and sensual. You kissed him back harder and hungrier. After you both fell into a comfortable pace, you began to nip at his bottom lip while he ran his tongue over yours. You moved your hands from the small of his back and used one to steady yourself using his hip while the other one started playing with the fabric of his shirt. His lips moved down your cheek while your face fell limp into his hand he kissed down your neck and nipped at your collar bone eliciting a small gasp from you. He must’ve liked it because you could feel him smiling into your neck. You finally gave in to your hand's curiosity and placed a palm underneath his shirt. You ran your hand up his abs and could feel the chills you were causing him. He moved his mouth off your neck and crashed his lips into yours once again, this time he was the hungry one. He ran his fingers through your hair as he cupped your cheeks again.

“Y/N Kashimo and Satoru Gojo, please come to my office.” Principal Yaga’s voice comes through a loudspeaker making you jump into Suguru’s arms. He wrapped himself around you in a protective motion.

After the loudspeaker shuts off you both just laugh loudly. The awkwardness of the moment finally settled in, “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was the book?” Suguru rubs the back of his neck and you let go of him.

“That’s okay, I guess I should go see what Principal Yaga wants…” You grab the book before turning to face him, “We uh, don’t have to talk about what just happened if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, okay.” Suguru detests silently. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow Sugu!” You smile sweetly at him and wave before stepping back into your room.

--

In Principal Yaga’s office

“I’ve asked you both here because you have been invited to join the Gojo clan's annual holiday dinner with the clan elders.” Principal Yaga explains causing you to look at Satoru with furrowed brows questioning across the room whether or not he knew about this. His eyes said no. “They are hoping to convince you both to get married next spring for the sake of the clans. I’m so sorry.” He sighs and holds his hands together, “You both leave for the countryside tomorrow morning. If neither of you have anything to say then you’re dismissed.”

You and Satoru stand up to leave, walking back to your rooms on the other side of the school. You walk together in silence for a minute or two before finally speaking up.

“There's no way to get out of this is there?” You sigh and run your fingers through your hair. You bring your fingers to your lips, the feeling of Suguru still fresh.

“Nope, I don’t think so.” He stops in the middle of the hallway making you come to a stop to turn around and face him.

“What’s wrong Satoru?” You ask sadly closing the distance between you a bit.

“I’m just sorry this is happening, for what it’s worth…” He pauses shaking his head before deciding not to say the second part. “Never mind.”

“No, C’mon, now you have to say it.” you playfully nudge him with your elbow. You’re smiling at him but his mind is somewhere else. You walk closer to him and nudge him again playfully, “Satoru?” You were beginning to worry now.

He is suddenly knocked out of his trance, “I-I was just going to say, for what it's worth if I have to marry someone I’m glad it’s you and not some stranger.” He sends you a pitiful smile and rubs the back of his head.

“Heyyy,” you start with a giggle, “what about our pinky promise, huh?” You hold out your pinky as if that would help jog his memory. You made that promise months ago now.

He’s almost inclined to say ‘What promise?’ but he doesn’t, instead he stays silent.

“Okay fine, our promise can be annulled but only if we make another promise to each other.” You start walking again casually skipping before turning around to see if he is following and he is. He follows behind like a little puppy. His eyes are covered with his dark circular glasses but you know he was looking at you as he trails behind with his hands in his pockets.

“Oh yeah, what promise?” He was intrigued now. Did this mean you wouldn’t mind marrying him if it came down to it?

You invade his space by shoving your pinky back in his face. You’re shorter than him by a little over a foot so he towers over you. He tilts his head down allowing you to see his eyes which flicker to your lips before looking up at your pinky finger. You suddenly feel nervous under his gaze. “We have to promise to each other that we will never marry someone we don’t want to marry.” You gulp when he doesn’t immediately respond. It was always like this, you would approach him with a certain confidence but he always managed to squash it and make you feel smaller than you were. Maybe it was just his dominating energy, you weren’t sure. He just really managed to bring out your submissive side. Now you were the little puppy.

“Okay deal.” He flashes his signature Satoru Gojo smirk before he intertwines his pinky with yours and you notice that his hands have gotten a little bigger since the last time he touched you like this. The year was almost over and you both had been through so many tough missions together as first years. You were extremely lucky to have been partnered up with him and Suguru most of the time. They both guarded you but you always tried to stay on their level.

“Wait! I have an idea that could get us out of this!” You let go of his pinky and jump a little in excitement, “What if we tell the elders that I’m with Suguru? You could tell them I’m off limits.” You clap a little and spin around as you both continue walking back to your rooms. You were both now standing where you first met, in front of the communal kitchen.

“A-Are you with Suguru?” His chest tightens. He remembers only hours ago - no, could it be? When did that happen? Why didn’t Suguru tell him he liked you? Why didn’t he tell Suguru he liked you first?

“N-No, well, not really, I don’t think so.” You answer truthfully. You haven’t had a chance to process what happened earlier. You remember what you said about not having to talk about it and Suguru agreed so, “No.” You solidify your answer.

Satoru releases the breath he was holding but his heart sinks a little not sure how to understand your response so he decides to poke at you for clarity. He doesn’t know why he’s doing this, after all, it’s just hurting him, “Do you like him?”

“Um, I’m not sure…” You put your arms behind your back and walk slower pondering the idea of you and Suguru. “I think we just got carried away listening to the romance story in my book.” You finally analyze it and conclude that that's all it was. All it had to be.

“I see, well I’m always here if you want to talk. We can try your idea with the elders if you want…” Satoru brings his hand to the top of your head and roughs up your hair, he just likes seeing the sparks your cursed energy creates. You shoo him away and he laughs, “I just want you to be happy, okay?” He sighs sweetly.

“Okay.” You smile up at him with his hand still on your head. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Satoru.” You notice you’re close to your room now.

“See you tomorrow, Sparky!” He gives you a silly salute and turns on his heel to leave you.

“You know I hate when you call me that.” You frown at him before opening your door.

“Yeah, I know.” He puts his hands back into his pockets and continues walking down the hall to his room.

The next day

You and Satoru left first thing in the morning when the winter air was finally setting in. You looked out your window at the cherry blossom tree you and Suguru had shared a kiss at the night before and noticed a lot of the leaves were gone now. When you looked over at his window, part of you had hoped he would come out and say goodbye but sadly, he didn’t. The air looked a little grey but you didn’t mind. You put on your ‘out of school clothes’ which consisted of a brown knitted sweater, warm leggings, and black boots. Today was your travel day after all, you packed nice attire for the rest of the week.

You met with Satoru at the entrance to the school where a car would bring you both to the train station. When you saw him standing under the school’s torii your heart skipped a beat. He was dressed in a white hoodie paired with a jean jacket and black sweats. His hair was messy and he looked like he had just rolled out of bed. You could see your breath as you called out to him. Your nose was turning pink from the crispy cool air. The wind was making it even chillier.

“Good morning, Y/N.” His morning voice was sleepy and raspy and you weren’t expecting it. “Ready to go?” His voice comes out even deeper than before making your heart flutter.

“Mhm,” You didn’t know how to respond and your words weren’t quite working. He then took your suitcase from you, lifting it as if it were nothing, and handed it to the driver.

The drive to the train station was long and boring. The only entertainment you had was watching Satoru sleep against the car window. It was the most peaceful you’d ever seen him and his nose exhales fogged up the window. You couldn’t help but think how cute he was.

The train ride was even longer than the car ride. You both alternated falling asleep on each other's shoulders. At one point your head was on Satoru’s shoulder while his head laid on yours. When someone coughed you both jumped apologizing that you were so close to one another only to fall asleep on each other once again.

When you had arrived at the Gojo manor you were blown away by how big it was. You knew it would be but for some reason you were still shocked. It was mostly laid out in traditional Japanese and was surrounded by gardens on either side. The winter air started killing most of the plants but you could tell it was probably a magical sight during the summer. It was gorgeous and you couldn’t believe that Satoru grew up here, part of you was jealous. Flurries were starting to fall in Tokyo and the Gojo clan had already started setting up for the annual winter dinner. There were warm string lights all over the main house and anywhere you looked there were poinsettia flowers. Everything about the Gojo manor was elegant and it made you feel a little underwhelming, especially since they wanted you to be married into the family. You were starting to regret your choice in lying to them about being with Suguru.

“You two will be sharing Satoru’s old room.” The butler who was carrying both yours and Satoru’s suitcases announced once you entered the main corridor of the house.

“W-we’re sharing a room?” Your voice cracks a little. Why were you suddenly very anxious?

“Why?” Satoru chimed in, his voice coming out much more stern than yours.

“It was your grandmother who insisted, sir. She said a couple to be wed should bed together.’” The butler replied without looking back at the two of you. You shot Satoru a worried glance and he went to speak up once more in your defense.

“Doesn’t that seem like… bad luck? Please tell grand-moth-” Saturo begins with an awkward scoff but the butler cuts him off.

“She was very insistent, sir, if you wish to go against her please leave me out of it. Plus, if you must know, all the guest rooms were taken by other clan members who are traveling in for the occasion.” He guides you both into what you assume is Satoru’s bedroom and lays your suitcases on a long entryway table before bowing and leaving you both alone.

“Umm,” You try to say something but you’re too nervous to look up at him or look around the room.

“I am so sorry, I don’t know why they’re being like this.” He walks over to you to urge you to look up at him and you do. He reaches up to take his glasses off, he must take them off when he’s home. You know he's usually very sensitive to the light but his room was dark, the walls painted black for that very reason. His eyes look genuine and your breath calms. “Tonight we’ll tell them about you and Suguru and demand they give you a different room. If they don’t I’ll sleep in the grand living room.” You appreciate how sincere he is being, you have to giggle a little at just how rich he is.

You finally look around the room. His bedroom was very sleek and fit his personality perfectly. He had a silk, all-black king bed in the back of the room across from a white-bricked fireplace with a red and black seating area. There was a huge white tiled bathroom connected to the front of the room. When your eyes followed the wall you noticed a grand, partially stained glass window with long curtains that wrapped around a cozy little circular day bed tucked into it. His room felt about the size of the communal kitchen back at Jujutsu Tech.

“It’s okay Satoru, if they don’t listen to us about me being with Suguru then I can just sleep on the day bed.” You smile up at him sweetly and point over to the window.

“I wouldn’t make you do that, you can take my bed and I’ll sleep over there.” He huffs and walks over to the daybed, plopping right onto it as if he is trying to become acquainted with it already. He was being such a sweetheart, it was very out of character for his goofy self.

“Are you kidding? You’re so big your feet would just hang off.” You laugh into your hand before he shoots you an offended look.

“What? No, I’m not! Look!” He scoots up onto the bed and it’s exactly what you thought would happen, his feet were dangling off at the end. The sight just makes you laugh even harder.

“S‘toru it’s okay, really.” You wipe a stray tear from your eye from the scene laid out before you. His goofiness mixed with your exhaustedness was starting to get to you. You walk over to him slowly and lay your purse on the bed next to him. He shifts beneath you, manspreading a little while staring up at you with those gorgeous cerulean eyes of his. The air shifts and you’re almost tempted to crawl on top of him. God, what was going on with you lately? First Suguru, now Satoru? You weren’t even sure if Satoru liked you like that. You weren’t even sure if you liked him like that. While you’re at it, you weren’t even sure if Suguru liked you like that. Was there just something in the air? Plus, this was exactly how you shouldn’t be acting at the Gojo manor, or else they might want you two together even more.

“Okay fine, you’re lucky you have short legs, Sparky.” Satoru leans back on his palms while you stand above him. His eyes rake over your body, stopping on your hips. You wondered if he forgot he wasn’t wearing his glasses. Did he always look at you like this? You would usually call him out for the terrible nickname but this time you allow it. You’re suddenly very shy under his gaze, this has become a normal occurrence for you lately. You instinctively move your arms behind your back as if to show him more of your body. Your eyes flick from his eyes down to his soft, pink lips making you lick yours a little. The tension was causing heat to bubble up inside you. One more second of him looking at you like that and ---

Suddenly there was a knock at the door making you both jump out of whatever trance you were in. It was a different butler than before. God, how many butlers did they have?

“The sun is beginning to set. Dinner is in an hour, sir.”

You both acknowledge the butler and you step back from Satoru disregarding whatever was just happening between you before.

“Okay, I guess I’ll get ready now.” You push your hair behind your ear and face away from him walking toward your suitcase. When you bend over to grab it you hear Satoru jump up.

“Same here, I call the shower first!” Satoru yells and rushes over to the bathroom making your eyebrows furrow in confusion, he must’ve really wanted to shower. You giggle.

Later that evening - Dinner

It was dark outside now and you could hear the wind blow against the windows. There was soft jazz playing from somewhere in the house and you and Satoru were waiting outside the dining hall waiting to be allowed to enter. A butler was standing near the door and you two have been the only two on this side for a couple of minutes now.

“Satoru, I’m nervous.” You rub your clammy palms on your nice, fancy dress. Your family made sure that you brought it. Somehow you felt set up. You didn’t mind, the dress was a burgundy velvet off-the-shoulder maxi dress with a slit in your thigh. You paired it with black heels that brought your height a little closer to Satoru’s, which of course he commented on. You pulled your hair back in a tight low pony and put on some dark red lipstick. Satoru watched you silently the whole time you put on your makeup since he was the first one to be ready.

“Don’t be, you look beautiful.” Satoru’s eyes trail down your body for the second time that night and this time you feel a little more confident. He brings his hand up to your head and you flinch, ducking away from him. You know exactly what he is trying to do.

“Don’t you dare ruin my hair Satoru Gojo, or you will feel my wrath.” You point your finger at him playfully and threaten to shock him with your cursed energy but as he tries his best to avoid your fingertips he almost knocks over a vase that looks like it could buy the entire Jujutsu High School building. His smile grows bigger and he bites his lip playfully. He loved getting under your skin.

You started to chase him down with your hand reaching out for him, small bursts of electricity were escaping your fingertips. Both of you were laughing like crazy and then suddenly Satoru turned around and started chasing you to reverse the roles. Oh shit, you were in trouble now. You tried to run in your heels but you kept tripping which only made you both laugh harder. You knew that once he does a flicking motion you were fucking done for. He would hollow purple your ass. He finally caught up to you and you were already so defeated, leaning over with your hands on your knees and out of breath. He then playfully flicks you on the forehead and helps you to your feet. You were both turned around when you heard a woman clear her throat behind you. Satoru turns around first and you have a feeling you already knew who it was.

“Well, it seems you two were a good match after all.” An older woman who you assume is Satoru’s grandmother says bluntly. She is very short and has solid white hair just like Satoru’s. She appeared to be blind and carried a walking stick. How did she even see you together? Maybe she heard you and Satoru goofing around?

“Good evening, Grandmother.” Satoru suddenly became very formal and hurried over to hug her. Her face lit up with a smile as he bent over to her level and you couldn’t help but think their interaction was precious.

“And you must be the Kashimo girl, Y/N, was it?” She slowly waddles over to you and you flash her a big pearly smile. She grabs your hand and looks directly at you. When you glance into her eyes you notice only one of her eyes was glazed over. So she wasn’t blind like you originally thought.

“Yes ma’am.” You smile and cradle her small hand in both of yours. She was cold and you felt the need to warm her up.

“Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” She says as she slips her hand from your grasp, making her way toward the big wooden door. The butler leaves his position to open the door for the lady of the house. “Let’s eat, shall we?” She says giddily.

Your face was flushed, you had noticed Satoru was staring at you the whole time you were speaking to his grandmother. When you look over at him his head is bowed and his cheeks are crimson. It was quite the contrast to his colder features. He gestures for you to walk in first and so you do. His grandmother has you both take a seat across from each other. The table seated twelve and you were placed right next to his grandmother. After a couple of minutes, more and more white-haired clan members poured in until all twelve had been seated. It dawned on you that you were the only non-gojo clan member there. Why did the Gojo clan want to marry off their strongest member? What did they gain from that? Maybe even stronger sorcerers? You were finally starting to question their motives.

Dinner was served as a five-course meal. It started with sakizuke or rather, one-bite appetizers. Then went into plum wine and palate-cleaning soup. Next was otsukuri with a special dipping sauce followed by traditional Japanese rice and vegetables.

You were starting to think the conversation about you and Satoru getting married would never come and part of you was relieved. You had caught Satoru staring at you multiple times throughout dinner. His eyelids were heavy and you knew he was probably just really tired from traveling and moving non-stop, it had been a very long day. At one point he even gave you a worried look to which you smiled sweetly at him and you could visibly see his relief as he went to drink his water. It was easy for you both to communicate with each other with just your eyes. You wished he wouldn’t wear his glasses back at school as much as he did. However, whenever he wanted to speak to you from across the room at school he would usually lower them for you to see him. Somehow you felt closer to him here, away from everything else.

The staff doors open knocking you out of your thoughts. The kitchen staff went around the table placing a little dessert dish in front of everyone. Finally, the dinner was almost over. You took your spoon to dive into the little chocolate dish and --

“Oh, Satoru,” His grandmother requests his attention in a sing-song voice and your heart sinks to the floor. Here we go. He hums in response, his mouth full of chocolate. His hair was messily swept back and starting to get a little unruly. He looked quite handsome tonight in his all-black suit. His eyes dart to you before they return to his grandmother. “As you know, the Gojo clan and the Kashimo clan have agreed to an alliance through a wedding of both of their strongest members.” She gestures to you and then back to him. “This would mean the two of you would be wed spring of next year.” A silence fell over everyone as she spoke directly to you and her grandson. “Then Y/N will be expected to bear a child within two years of the agreed marriage as to solidify the alliance with a child of Gojo and Kashimo blood.” You nearly spit out your water coughing a bit at her bluntness. You find it extremely hard to look at either of them.

“Grandmother, about that,” Satoru removes his dinner napkin from his lap and clears his throat, “Y/N is in a relationship with my closest friend, Suguru Geto.” The light in his eyes disappears and he doesn’t look at you when he says this. Your chest tightens and your eyebrows knit together with a bit of sadness. But you didn’t know why.

“I see.” His grandmother replies calmly. “Well, I don’t know about you but believe it or not I do believe in love.” She pauses before speaking again, everyone at the dinner table falls into conversations among each other again making this a little more bearable. “I saw you two together earlier, and you have never once behaved this well at a family event Satoru.” She chuckles a bit. Your eyes shoot Satoru a questioning look and he looks at you equally confused. “Whether you see it or not, this girl calms you.” She grabs your hand this time, “It’s decided then. We’ll give you both an additional year. The spring after next is when you are to be wed. I do not think this relationship of hers will last the year.” She smiles at you in a weird condescending way, pleased with her decision. You, however, were not sure how to feel. What if you were in a relationship with Suguru? Your lips were parted and you were fidgeting with your dress.

After dinner, everyone shuffled out of the dining room and you were still sitting in your dinner seat. You grabbed the bottle of sake on the table and took two shots of it before Satoru walked over to you.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I know this isn’t what you want.” Satoru’s voice is soft as he kneels in front of you and grabs the sake bottle from your hand, his knuckles running over yours gently. He then proceeds to take a shot himself. Surprisingly, you had never seen him drink before, not even all the times Shoko offered him something from her flask. “Don’t worry, I’ll never allow the wedding to go through.” He clenches his jaw. You wonder if he would really defy the Gojo clan just for your happiness.

“Are you okay?” You take the sake back from him and place it on the table so that way you both would be done drinking. He doesn’t answer you right away so you ruffle his hair like he always does to you trying to lighten the mood. His signature smile peaks through and your heart skips a beat.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” He answers honestly. His eyes were even heavier than earlier.

“Let’s go to bed then.” You run your hand down your thigh slowly to grab his hand which was a mere inches away from you. When you stand up you pull him with you and he groans. “You’re going to have to lead though, I don’t remember where your room is.” You giggle sweetly, feeling the sake shots you had hit you all at once.

Satoru groans again and stares up at the ceiling before spinning and laughing as he sweeps you off your feet one-handed, dragging you down the hallway with him. You were laughing as your heels kept falling off and he had to keep picking them up for you. He was so strong. He had the reputation for being the strongest but you didn’t know that came with physical strength too. You almost felt weightless as he carried you down the hallway. You stared at the beautifully designed ceiling and let your arms fall back a little in his embrace.

Once you both arrived at his room he let you change first. You removed your makeup, took down your hair, and brushed it before bed. You then changed into a button-up silk pajama set that your family also conveniently packed for you. By the time Satoru was out of the bathroom you were already fast asleep in the day bed next to the window. He scoffs a little and contemplates moving you to his bed so you’d be more comfortable but he doesn’t. He watches your face curiously before he gets in bed himself. Your lips were parted sweetly and you looked so innocent. Your hair was splayed out on the pillow behind you and you used one of your hands as an extension of your pillow. He watched as your abdomen rose and fell to the pace of your breath. His eyes shift to your belly button which is only being shown because the last button on your shirt came undone. He moves your blanket up a little to cover you and he diverts his eyes as his face turns beat red for the millionth time that night. He imagines how soft you are and wants more than anything to hold you in his arms and to coo you to sleep. Instead, he walks over to his bed and tries his hardest to not think about you being in his childhood bedroom.

---

A loud crashing sound jolts you awake. Your heart is racing and when you look around it takes you a second to remember you’re at the Gojo estate and in Satoru’s room. You look over and see him lying in his giant bed, literally fit for a king. There is a tuft of white hair sticking out of the blankets and you wonder if the thunder woke him up too.

“S-Satoru?” You whisper yell across the room, suddenly you were a little worried to be sleeping next to a window during a storm.

“What is it sparky?” He grumbles, his voice raspier than ever.

“U-um, I-” Why were you even calling out to him? You had no idea and now you didn’t know what to say. “Nothing, I’m sorry.” You lay your head back on the pillow, heart still racing.

Satoru doesn’t say anything, instead you hear the blankets shuffling beneath him. He then lifts the black feather comforter from his body and approaches you slowly and quietly. The lightning from the storm illuminates his room for a brief moment and you watch him get closer and closer to you. You were splayed out on the bed and staring up at his dark figure. Once he was close enough, he sat on the ground next to you and laid his head on the mattress next to your arm. It was dark but you could still see the contrast of his hair and his bright eyes. Between the lightning and the courtyard lights outside, you were still able to see parts of his face.

“What’s wrong? I can hear your heart racing from over there.” He whispers gently and you tilt your head to look at him more. He can hear you from that far away? Maybe it was his six eyes.

“Nothing, It’s stupid, I’m just afraid of storms.” You tug the blanket up a little and turn your body towards him to lay on your side.

“Y/N, the great-great-great granddaughter of the god of lightning is afraid of storms?” Satoru’s normal voice is coming back a bit as he sits up to tease you. You watch as his Adam’s apple rises when he laughs.

“Hey it’s not the lightning, it’s the thunder that scares me.” You pout a little and he digresses by shooting his arms up in surrender.

“Okay, okay.” Satoru hums as he lays his head back down, this time much closer to your hand. You take the opportunity to play with the ends of his hair. The strands between your fingers were so soft.

“Can you distract me?” Your eyes land on his and your heart finally calms. It felt like he was staring into your soul, as its protector. There was that dominant way about him.

There is a comfortable silence as he thinks of something to talk about. He shifts his body to face away from you as he asks this. His back is against the bed and he wraps his arms around his knees.

“If you ever did decide to get married, on your own accord of course,” He almost instantly regrets asking but he continues anyway, “What kind of man do you want to marry?”

You look up at the ceiling, the question is a good one but very complicated, “I’ve never really thought about it before.” You took a deep breath before continuing, “I suppose if I had the choice, I would marry a nice ordinary man who loved me unconditionally and we would get a small farmhouse far enough away from the sorcerer life that was chosen for me. We would have two, no, three kids and they would all get the choice that I didn’t get. They would be able to choose what they did with their cursed techniques.” You smiled, “Oh, and when there are storms like these my husband would hold me close and cover my ears for me, his only power being able to close me off from the world around me when it gets too scary.”

Satoru fiddles with his thumbs and his mind repeats the words ‘ordinary man’ over and over again. He had never been so jealous of a non-jujutsu sorcerer in his entire life, until now. He was the strongest and now he wished more than anything that he wasn’t. “But,” He pauses, “Suguru isn’t an ordinary man,” He starts and you freeze, finally thinking about what happened last time you saw Suguru. It was hard to think about with the storm.

“Yeah, I know.” You huff out, not sure what he’s getting at. “I-”

Satoru cuts you off, “I saw you two dancing, under the cherry tree.” His chest tightens as he says this.

You’re not sure how much he saw so you tread carefully. “He was just trying to cheer me up. I was… frustrated.”

“Frustrated?” Satoru repeats questioningly, finally looking at you again. He wasn’t asking but he wondered what you meant by that, his mind could only go to one thing. Sexually. He looks away with a tight lip, his fists balling a little.

Satoru goes silent and you watch as if you could see the gears in his head spin. He thinks about Suguru. What if Suguru wasn’t just being friendly? He only saw you both dancing, he walked away a few minutes before the announcement to go to Principal Yaga’s office. It could’ve been friendly but what if it wasn’t? Is he unintentionally ruining something the two of you have? He worries about whether or not he is being a bad friend to Suguru. How could he deny you though, if you asked Satoru to, he would take you right now. You were so sweet and in his childhood bedroom. How could he not? Does that make him an asshole? He doesn’t know. What if --

“Satoruuu,” You practically pur out his name. He finally gives you his full attention, laying his head back on the mattress, his achingly beautiful eyes laced with a pang of sadness you’re starting to understand. “Your distraction didn’t work.” You were shaking a little as another crack of thunder shook the estate. Satoru’s heart is now the one racing. He knew exactly what to do but something was keeping him from doing it. Maybe it was the possibility that his best friend liked you too, even though he never told him that he did. Fuck it.

Satoru raises to his full height and hovers above you for what seems like hours before he finally makes his decision.

“Scoot over, Sparky.” He takes the edge of the blanket and lifts it just enough for him to slide in. You obey and slide closer to the window. “Here, let me take the window side so you’re not next to the storm.” He holds himself up to crawl over you and for half a second you are pinned beneath him, both of you holding your breath and looking away as soon as your eyes meet. His head hits the other pillow and now you’re both facing each other. “Okay, come here.” He situates himself in a comfortable position and reaches his arms out to you. You scoot closer to him and his right arm slides under you to grab your waist and to pull you even closer. His left hand wraps around your head, shielding your ears from the storm as he pulls you into his chest. You’re face to face with his neck so you give in and rest your forehead between his collarbones. You feel his chin take its place on top of your head. It was so comfortable being in his arms, he was warm and his steady breathing made your eyes get heavier with sleep. You were fading out until a loud crack made you stiffen your body again.

“Hey, it’s okay.” He shushes you, whispering into your hair. You could feel the vibration of his voice through his chest and it was oddly even more comforting. He smelled so good, fresh, like berry sake and expensive cologne. The hand around your ear started scrunching into your temples as he scratched your head softly, running his fingers through your hair. You felt his chin move down so that both his lips and nose were now on the top of your head. He inhaled deeply and the fingers in your hair got tighter, he was nearly pulling the strands of hair behind your ears, the motion felt… desperate.

“Satoru,” still in his embrace you lift your head to look at him, shooting him your doe-eyed look he always managed to get out of you. His eyebrows knit together in question as his eyes meet with yours, curious as to what was bothering you now. Your head was still cupped in his big hand, his cheeks were flushed and looked so soft. You wanted to kiss him, badly, anywhere you could. Your eyes flicker to his lips and then back to his cerulean eyes that you loved the moment you first saw him. He looked so innocent and sweet like this, not like the dangerous sorcerer everyone made him out to be. It was the most vulnerable either of you had ever been with one another. You moved up a little so that you are now face to face with him. You lean in closer and he closes his eyes once the tip of your noses touche. His breath hitches and so does yours. Your right hand finds his jaw and you gently rub your thumb over his cheek, it is so soft and warm to the touch. Your foreheads touch and you’re so close to kissing him that you start to rub your thighs together in desperation. He moves his hand from cupping your cheek to gently rubbing his thumb over your bottom lip. You squirm a little as you’re itching to get even closer but both of you are too nervous to make the first move. You’re practically breathing each other in, your lips a mere inch away. Satoru uses his thumb on your bottom lip to guide your lips to his slowly. As soon as your lips meet his, he moves his hand back to cupping your face. His kisses were very soft and gentle but turned to fervent and needy as soon as he heard the first noise escape from your mouth. His lips left yours to kiss the corner of your mouth then your jaw and then your neck before meeting with them again. He hesitantly shifts on top of you. As soon as his lips started to make another round of plastering kisses down your jaw you took the opportunity to speak up. “I-I’ve never,”

“Me either,” Satoru removes his lips from you completely, lifting himself to look at you. You looked a little surprised to hear that it would be his first time too. He was trying to gauge whether or not you wanted to stop. Your face was completely flushed and your hair was splayed out beneath you messily. You brought your hands above your head and bit your lip a little in submission. God, you were so beautiful to him. Especially now, in this lighting, and his childhood bedroom, laid out beneath him like this. “W-we don’t have to,”

“N-no, I want to. I promise.” You bring up your pinky to him and a huge, goofy, Satoru Gojo smile spreads across his face before he takes your pinky in his and kisses it. He sits up and you spread your legs for him, allowing him to move in closer. He takes your face in his hands once more and kisses you passionately. He tests how far he can go by biting your bottom lip a little to which you respond with a cute little whine. He wants to hear more. He wants to hear all the noises you can make. He kisses down your jaw again and when he reaches your collar bone he can’t go any further because of your button-up nightshirt. He sits up on his knees and pulls his black t-shirt above his head, you can’t help but wonder if it's the same one you spilled water on months ago. You stare at his toned chest in awe, running your fingers down the ripples of his abs making him shudder above you. There was a sense of longing as you looked at each other, almost like you both had been waiting a long time for this.

“It’s your turn princess,” You flutter beneath him at the new nickname. You stare into his eyes while teasing him by unbuttoning your silk night shirt slowly. He grows impatient but doesn’t rip it off like he wants to, you were both new to this. Instead, he takes over and unbuttoned them for you. At the bottom of the shirt he rubs his thumb over your lower stomach where he saw your belly button earlier in the night, you are soft, just like he thought you were. The action made you shiver. You just wanted him to touch you. He couldn’t believe he was about to feel all of you. He was so unbelievably lucky.

Your shirt falls to the sides exposing your bare chest to him, your nipples already hard from the way he’s been so gentle with you. His eyes widen with lust and your face burns up even more. Your body was practically begging, you could feel how soaked you were getting just from him staring at you.

“Satoru, baby,” You whine making his ears perk up at your new nickname for him. You were his baby? He could die a happy man now. “Please.” You beg. “Touch me.” It was like music to his ears.

“Your wish is my command, sweetheart,” He was getting cockier with you underneath him like this. He brought his lips to yours one last time before aggressively kissing down your neck, your clavicle, and finally to your chest, leaving love bites as he went. He lays on top of you and in between your legs. You were breathing heavily beneath him as he worshipped your body. He slowly kissed each bud before grabbing a handful of your breasts in each one of his hands. If he wasn’t careful he would finish himself before he even got started. He couldn’t help it, he was such a boob guy especially since these were yours. Finally, he brought his face down to one of your breasts and gently rubbed the tip of his nose over it before licking your nipple and sucking to his hearts' content. He must’ve realized he was being stingy with one part of your body because he could feel your hips buck up into his stomach, begging for attention. He brought his hand down to your hips to play with the band of your shorts. Your whines and moans flushed out the noise of the end of the storm entirely. His fingers dipped into your shorts and snapped the waistband of your panties against your skin. Satoru’s eyebrows were bunched together in pleasure and you felt him trying his hardest not to grind against your leg. He was hard and you just wanted to touch him, to make him feel good too.

“‘Toru” You hum in pleasure and Satoru slowly looks up at you in acknowledgment, one of your nipples still in his mouth. You pull away from him and he frowns. “C’mere, sit.” You position him against the wall and he does exactly what you tell him to. You climb on him, straddling his hips. You move your hair behind your back and move your chest closer to his face, allowing him to continue. He cups both of your breasts in his hands and rubs his face between them, taking turns sucking each one. You on the other hand were rubbing your clothed cunt against his sweatpants, giving him the friction you both were lacking before. He groans loudly into your chest and you kiss his forehead while you ride him slowly. Everything felt way too good, now you were the one about to cum from foreplay alone.

“Y/N,” He removes his mouth from your breast and pulls your head down close to his before kissing you sweetly. You knew he was serious, he never calls you by your name. “I need you to cum for me first.” He was almost comically way too big for this bed. He picks you up and lays you down beneath him once more making you lose whatever sense of yourself you had left. His dominant side was coming out and you submitted. You would always submit to him you thought, for as long as you live. He was still holding back, maybe because it was your first time and he didn’t want to hurt you. His lustful gaze was something you’d never thought you’d get to see. His eyes were locked on yours as he wrapped his fingers around the waistband of your shorts and panties to wiggle them off your body. You were completely naked now. You felt very exposed but you were ready for him. You wanted him so badly, that you would do anything for him. You wrap your arms around his shoulders and kiss him while his fingers find your soft, wet pussy. He didn’t even have to touch you for you to be dripping like this. He spreads you lightly and you open your legs as far apart as you can as he runs his middle and ring finger down your slick and rubs big circles around your lips and clit. His moves were novice but he was so gentle and sensual that everything he was doing felt good anyway.

“Do you like that?” He breathes into your mouth, “Let’s see how tight you are.” He smirks into your mouth as you give him open-mouthed kisses filled with moans. All you could manage was a nod, your forehead hitting his softly.

He slides his longest finger inside you as he moans out your name. It was torture how slow he was going, you arch your back as he bottoms out. Then with a flicking motion, he kisses you again, practically eating your moans for him. He fingers you in and out a few times before adding another. This was your current limit with your own, although he was already much bigger and longer than yours. He makes a scissoring motion to stretch you out and you moan into his neck, biting him a little.

“Satoru,” You whine up at him with watery eyes, “It’s too much” You don’t mean that, you don’t think.

“Does my pretty girl want me to stop?” He asks in a condescending and cocky way while slowly pumping in and out of you, his eyes were heavy-lidded and filled with lust. His hair was the messiest it's ever been and you just wanted him to be inside of you already.

“No, please, I want more,” You breathlessly whimper and he happily obliges. Your lewd noises go straight to the bulge in his pants making him twitch beneath you. He disappears from your mouth, his lips trail down your body again until they stop to meet his fingers buried inside you. He kisses your inner thighs and positions you closer to him. You were suddenly nervous again, having him this close to such an intimate part of your body. He kisses your pussy and watches his fingers slide in your sweet hole to spread you open again. He had never done this before and he was a little overwhelmed with everything he could do to make you feel good. He decides to tongue your clit, making you wiggle beneath him. He felt so good, you couldn’t believe this was his first time. You felt a pressure build up inside of you and you bucked your hips into his tongue harder and faster as you chased the familiar feeling you’ve only ever achieved by yourself. “Satoru, I think I’m going to cum.”

Satoru wraps both of his arms around your legs and attaches his face to your pussy, letting you ride out your orgasm on his face. You moan his name and grip his hair, tugging at the white strands between your legs. He grips your thighs even tighter as he unconsciously rides the edge of the bed to your moans. He was also chasing his high with just your lewd noises and the sounds of your wet slick meeting his tongue. It was so too much and when you came on his face he came in his pants without even meaning to.

You fell back in bed and Satoru wiped his mouth with his shirt that was lying on the side of his bed. He looked so good like this, sweaty and covered in you. You moved closer to him and cupped his face before kissing him gently. You climbed into his lap naked, not giving him a chance to do anything else. He falls back and his hair lands around his head and he looks like an angel, he was just missing a halo. You want to kiss him all over and make him feel as good as he just made you feel. You were also naive though and didn’t know how to express how thankful you were sexually. You decided to mimic what he did to you by kissing down his jaw, his neck, his chest, and down his hips. You put your fingers in his waistband to pull down his pants before he grabs your wrist.

“I, um, kind of came already.” He adverts his eyes shyly and you couldn’t help but kiss him with how cute he was. Did he cream his pants from eating you out?

“Do you think you could cum again?” You ask innocently and his eyes widen, not even considering that that was something he could do.

He nods and you help lift the pants off his hips. Your eyes blink slowly at the sight laid out before you. He was even more beautiful from the hips down. You’d never seen one before aside from the one time you tried to watch porn but you had a feeling if you had to gauge it to the one you had seen you would say Satoru was about the same size, maybe a little bigger. He was not disappointing and if anything you were a little intimidated about how it would fit. He was super pale and in the moonlight, you could see the cum glisten from his tip and somehow even his cock looked angelic. He must’ve felt insecure because he grabbed his shaft and started running his hand up and down causing you to look up at him. Somehow the sight of him touching himself to you was even hotter than anything you had done with him up until now.

You pull your hair back behind your shoulders and bring your face down to him, he continues to pump into his hand so you decide to give him your mouth to help. You run your tongue over the head of his cock and clean whatever slick was from before. He shivers beneath you and you suck, keeping pace with his hand. When you tilt your head to look at him your eyes are heavy with lust and he removes his hand from his shaft to run it through your hair. He bunches it up at the top and you bring your mouth down onto him, attempting to take him all in. You choke a little causing your mouth to salivate even more. He doesn’t push your head down like he wants to, instead, he is very gentle with you and allows you to set your own pace, and ignores his urges. He throws his head back and moans your name making your pussy flutter again. After a few more minutes he pulls you off and you whine from the loss of physical touch. He pulls you towards his chest and kisses you hard.

“I want to be inside you so bad.” He whines into your mouth sexually frustrated.

You kiss him and smile into his neck before guiding him on top of you. “Promise me you’ll pull out?” He shoots his pinky in front of your face and you giggle before taking it in your hand, you couldn’t help but giggle at this little ‘thing’ you had going on with the pinky promises. It was cute.

“I promise,” He breathlessly replies, suddenly very impatient. He kisses your hand before looking down at his cock, lining it up with your entrance. He rubs himself along your folds collecting all the slick that was just pouring out of you at this point. You couldn’t help how turned on you were.

“Satoru, go slow, please,” You beg as you feel his tip kiss the soft lips of your pussy. He brings one of his hands to the side of your face and runs his fingers through your hair again. He rubs a circle on your cheek as he pushes himself in slowly. You bite your lip at the sting and he kisses your nose.

“I would never hurt you… unless you wanted me to.” There are butterflies in your stomach as he slides into you inch by inch. He pulls out to slick more of himself each time to make it easier. He kisses the corner of your lip and your cheek as he bottoms out inside of you. “You’re so tight, I don’t think I’m going to last very long.”

You moan and grip the sheets beside you. “Satoruuu,” You pur his name into his ear and he wraps his arm around your head, cradling you in place. His arm muscles seemed even bigger as they caged you beneath him. Your hands are running down his back. He places his forehead on yours as he pumps in and out of you slowly, then quickens his pace when you get louder. The only sounds are quiet rumbles of passing thunder and the lewd noises his cock makes each time he bottoms out in your pussy.

“Say it again, say my name,” You say his name three more times, each one more breathless than the last. You feel him twitch inside you and you’re so close you can feel you’re teetering on the edge of cumming again.

“Y/N,” He moans into your ear and your face is hot, you’re silently wishing he would’ve called you ‘sparky’ instead. You’re not sure you can handle him calling you by your name. You open your eyes and he’s looking at you. His eyes flicker to your lips and he kisses you tenderly. “Can you cum for me? I can’t go much longer.”

You can’t say anything so you just nod. Your eyebrows bunched together in pleasure. You feel yourself tighten around him and his head shoots up and you have a clear view of his neck, his collar bone and his adam’s apple. He was so hot like this, panting heavily above you.

“Good girl,” His voice is raspy and he pulls you closer to him once more. That was it, that was all he had to say for you to cum around his cock. You can’t even warn him, instead you just moan and arch your back ultimately clenching around him, milking him for all he has. Your arms were wrapped around his shoulders and your legs were wrapped around his hips. You had him locked inside you. “I’m gonna,” His moves started getting staggered and messy. He was about to cum. “Y/N, y-you have to let go or I’m going to c-cum inside you-u.” He struggled to get out, his movements were sloppy now. He felt too good but you let go at the last second. Satoru pulled out just in time to cum all over your pretty belly button.

After a few minutes of laying next to each other breathing heavily, Satoru gets up to get a warm wash cloth and uses it to clean you off. You lock eyes and both of your faces turn beat red. You just slept together but you immediately felt shy again. What do you do now? Return to school like normal? You were starting to get stuck in your head again.

“Hey,” Satoru reaches out to cup your jaw. “Do you feel any better?”

“Yeah,” You smile at him sweetly. “Thank you.” You jump into his arms and hug him. He is thrown off at first but eventually wraps his arms around you. You were still naked and your breasts were against his bare chest. You could feel his heart beat beneath you. It was slowing and you felt calm again. You pull away first and he pushes your hair behind your ear. He moves the blanket allowing you to get under.

“Should we move to my bed?” He asks, gesturing his head across the room.

“I don’t know, I kinda like it over here.” You laugh and move over allowing him to get in with you.

“You’re lucky I like you, Sparky,” He gets under the blanket and rests his head on your chest, your heartbeat lulling him. He wraps his arms around your stomach and you gently play with his hair as he falls asleep in your arms. His breathing steadies like how it did on the car window. You never imagined he’d be lying against you in the same way. You let the rain sway you to sleep.

----- You were at the Gojo estate for three more days. Each day was filled with glorious meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It felt like a vacation that you never wanted to leave. You and Satoru had become very playful with each other and would sit together during every meal. He would carry you all around the house, whether on his back or in his arms, your laughs filling the otherwise empty halls. You were extremely giggly and tried to hide it from Satoru’s grandmother whenever she was around, but as soon as you and Satoru were behind closed doors you were immediately on each other's lips, jumping each other's bones. You couldn’t keep your hands off each other. You had honestly lost count of how many times he was inside you.

“Toruuu, I’m going to cum.” You ride out your orgasm while staring up at the ceiling. You were both on his king bed and you felt like you were in heaven sitting on a cloud wrapped in his silk sheets. You were on top of him and his hands were cupping both of your breasts as he massaged them roughly. He was finally getting a little more confident with you. He was too focused on how beautiful you looked using him as a toy to cum. He was honestly content not cumming himself because just before this you were between his legs sucking him into oblivion. He came in two minutes, he couldn’t help it. You looked so good looking up at him the way you did. How could he not?

Or so he thought, you were just too hot. “Y/N, I’m going to cum.” His eyebrows scrunched together and you bit your lip getting cockier with your movements. You pushed yourself down harder and rode him until he was practically whimpering and begging you to get off so he wouldn’t come inside you. “P-Please,” He begs. You liked it when he let you dominate him sometimes. You knew how strong he was and you knew he picks and chooses when to be submissive so you take advantage of the times he is. At the last second you allow him to pull you off of him and you roll over giggling. You were sticky with sweat and felt euphoric. When your head hit the pillow you turn to look at him as he used his hand to make sure he managed to cum on his stomach and not to get it everywhere. You lay on your side and watched him as he finally turned his head to look at you. Both of your cheeks turn red again, it was like every time you slept together you both immediately returned to the way you acted before coming to the Gojo estate.

“We leave tomorrow.” You look at him with a bittersweet look in your eyes. You wanted to live in this moment for as long as you could. You didn’t want to go back to fighting curses, attending school, or even figuring out what happened with Suguru before you left. It was all too much. You hadn’t thought about anything the whole time you were here and it was nice.

As if Satoru could see your mind racing, he reached out and gently rubbed your cheek. You smiled sweetly at him and ran your fingers over his before intertwining your hand in his. “The year is almost over, you won’t have to be a sorcerer for much longer.” He gives you an empathetic smile and you close your eyes, cuddling up to him as he holds you against him. “And in a year from now, you can just tell Grandmother you’re still with Suguru so we don’t have to get married.” He says in an almost monotone voice before he separates from you to clean himself off. You furrow your brows and your heart sinks a little.

[dcfanfictioncatalogue]

barbara gordon OCT 2023 fic awards

woof, it's been a second, but don't worry! I am here yet again to give you yet another list of babs fics that I personally think you will enjoy. this is cherry's fic awards, where I comb through every fic posted/updated in a character tag for a specific month and find my favorites.

-> Action & Plot <-

you, my shooting star, by theragingstorm. 23.5k, M, dickbabs. 3/3. my summary: a star wars au following babs, a rebel commander with a secret, and dick, a mandalorian she's having a clandestine affair with from planet to planet. my notes: AAAAA okay I'm not even normally that much of a dickbabs fan but this is EVERYTHING. babs' backstory, dick's gentleness, her FORCE SENSITIVITY, the fact that the rest of her rebel group is BOP, STEPH!!!!!!!! this AU is everything I could've wanted from a star wars AU and it's written beautifully, as well. no notes

&&

the nicest of the damned, by lux_et_astra. 5.5k, G, gen. my summary: the batgirls collide with a figure from babs' past they've never met, and struggle to cope with the shifting dynamics. my notes: CHARLIE!!!!!! the lack of fic with her in it is CRIMINAL and I appreciate the sympathetic view of the way babs struggled with mentoring her. I always love discussion about the batgirl mantle/legacy and what it means.

-> Whumptober <-

Heartbeat, Hearts Beat, by Ashynarr. 900, T, gen. my summary: reverse robins au. gordon is in a coma. babs sits beside his bed and spirals. bruce reaches out. my notes: I appreciate the view of babs' mental state. this is only a very short fic, part of a larger series, but this one fic is a moment to breathe in a way that is painful to the character, who doesn't want to keep waiting for something to happen. deeply poignant.

&&

two birds, one stone, by adelfie (@adelfie). 5.4k, T, gen. my summary: babs, suffering from a fever, is the only one to overhear tim and steph being kidnapped by the red hood. my notes: this one's fun! it's kind of a clever take on the traditional titan's tower au, given that there's no titan's tower here. the timeline is also a lot more coherent -- clever references to tim's fake uncle, steph's canon typical recklessness, and jason not knowing who babs is made this a fic that I really enjoyed, given that I enjoy the canon of dc comics more often that not

send me an ask for fic rec lists ++ to find a fic lost to the sands of time

[oraclepop]

Hi!!!! I hope you're doing well. could you do a reading on how zhang hao and hanbin perceive the fans' reactions toward haobin and what they think about it?

how zhang hao and hanbin (ZEROBASEONE) feel about the fans reaction towards “haobin” - tarot reading

(DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A TAROT READING. I DO NOT CLAIM IT AS FACT. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION!!)

zhang hao

the world, the high priestess (reversed), the empress, knight of wands, seven of swords

he could feel like the fans’ reaction towards the ship has brought him a lot of success, achievement, made him feel a sense of belonging. he might feel like the way the fans react has allowed him to come to terms with some things about himself. but he could feel like the fans are a little too invasive sometimes, that they pretend to know things they don’t. sometimes he could feel like they’re trying to dig too deep into the things that he wants to keep hidden or private. he might understand that the ship has brought them a lot of success and that fans could use it almost as a way to help them cope or nurture themselves something like that(i find it so hard to put into words). like fans are deeply emotionally connected to the ship - he acknowledges that. he might be impulsive or bold when it comes to feeding the ship because he finds the the fans reactions amusing or exciting, but when it goes too far he gets annoyed. he could be prone to being strategic or deceptive when it comes to this ship - like saying certain things for a certain reaction or withholding certain things as well. he might feel like fans sometimes twist his words to fit their own narrative.

hanbin

queen of pentacles, six of pentacles, three of wands, six of swords, eight of cups

at his core, he finds comfort in the ship and the fans reactions, it’s not something that throws him off or feels unfamiliar, it feels stable and comfortable. he enjoys feeding the ship too, just because he knows that the fans will want it, if that makes sense? it gives off a more “kind” “generous” energy than zh - zh seems to feed the ship because of this mischievous, bold energy but hanbin just feeds the ship because he enjoys seeing the fans happy and it makes him happy to share these moments. he might also see it as mutually beneficial between him and zhang hao, “if we give them this, we can receive that, and so on”. and don’t get me wrong, this is not to say they have moments BECAUSE they want to gain fans, it’s more like… “killing two birds with one stone”. does that make sense? he sees the bigger picture though, maybe he’s kinda wondering how this ship will hold up in the future, how fans will think about them as individuals. he might feel like he needs to leave this ship behind or fans need to leave this ship behind in the future, just because, he wants to establish more of a solo identity.

[zalblitzar]

Reverse: 1999 is whump ridden in many aspects. There are some cases where characters show concern towards other characters, even though they are the unlikliest kind to do so.

Take the Laplace scientists for example. They normally focus far more on research than the wellbeing of others. But during the event where Ezra travels to an icy mountain on a research expedition, three specific scientists talk about him and even display signs of care towards him despite having their own self centred personalities.

Mesmer is usually strict and stern all the time, a person who strictly goes by the rules and follows orders with military pricision. She despises any form of rulebreaking and often talks down on literally everyone else. But she does have the heart to think of others, only with that constant stone expression. She speaks alongside her other two colleagues about Ezra and the impact the mountain trek has had on his health.

When Ezra visits X in his laboratory, X treats him with kindness and offers him supplies for his exhibition (in the form of his bizarre inventions) Ezra sits down and chats with him a while, but then, when he tries to get up he suddenly staggers, forced to sit back down again as a sudden dizziness and headache hits him. Ezra took an antidote for a poison he consumed, X mentions that this is a common symptom of the antidote.

While on Exhibition, a blizzard hit and Ezra consumed a poisonus mushroom to keep him warm. The mushroom caused fevers which may have been his intention of keeping warm for a while before taking the antidote.

X knew about the antidote and that Ezra would be feeling dizzy so he planned ahead and brewed a special tea to help him feel better, plus to be an overall good host. "Two birds with one stone" as he says. X treats Ezra like a teacher caring for a child, advising him to rest for a while and even gently nudged him back into the corner of the sofa. X is caring towards others despite how most of the time he constantly tries to get people to either partake in his odd experiments or show them what he's made, which he takes huge pride of despite how absurdly useless they mostly are.

But there's also a dark side to X... he's actually a talented lier when it comes to the things he wants to hide most from others, a hitman and murderer who can use his Goldberg devices to kill. He's kind on the outside but he hides his past in a very protective manor. If anyone asks him questions regarding it or the case of a certain murder at the orphanage then he will force a change in subject. Making it impossible to get any answers from him.

Lastly we have Med. The non binery mad scientist with an attitude that can come accross as very aggressive, they are easy to annoy and do things their own way, even when it goes against rules and regulations. They don't give a shit about lab rules or what anyone thinks of them. They see themselves as experienced because of their skills in science, focused on their abilities to gain reputation and respect from the science community, they take too much pride in themselves, to the point where they see themselves as too important. They are very cocky at times and are known to throw comments at everyone with no filter, they have no sense in manners when it comes to conversation most of the time, be it namecalling other characters disrespectfully, picking arguments with superiors, and shouting their unwelcome snide remarks across the room. They are known to pull faces, audibly grunt in annoyance and curl their upper lip when being snide.

Another thing about them is that they are very destructive. Having no respect for the property within laplace as much as the people, at times they've kicked doors wide open to the point of damage.

I think that beneath this attitude and behaviours (some very strange, like their constant need of dog chew toys and other traits related to dogs, in fact their suitcase standby form is a dog) they portray actually hides their real personality. We know barely anything about them. Just that they are a well respected scientist who has earned credit for their inventions and research.

Regarding Ezra, Med invites themselves to hang around him, but they are actually more interested in encouraging Ezra to give them his mushrooms for their experiments. It's unknown if they do actually see him as a friend or is just trying to persuade him.

But one surprising thing they did was that they called for help when Ezra didn't come back for a worryingly long time. This could actually just be because they wanted him safe so that they could use him for the mushrooms. They mentioned that he hadn't come back all night so it was about time for someone to fetch him (remember their dog traits and how they used *fetch* in that sentence)

It turned out that Ezra was in a very bad state and ended up in hospital. Missing out on his exhibit display.

It's interesting how these three talked about him like this. If they really didn't care then the conversation would have been pointless. Med in particular is known for locking themselves in their laboratory, focused on their experiments and rarely has anything to do with other characters.

Perhaps deep down, they do long for companionship, that would make sense if their dog form fused with their humanoid one, possibly causing their brain to retain the characteristics and thoughts of a canine despite being in their humanoid form.

Who knows? It's interesting seeing these relationships with these characters. After all, these arcanists end up having to get used to each other as they are requits that can join Vertin's team.

[g0blinwitch]

Okay I need to talk about The Princess's Jewels for a hot minute

The Princess's Jewels by JYUN and Hong Cha is a webtoon that has garnered plenty of criticism over the past two years, and while I agree that it should be criticized, I don't agree with most of the current criticisms aimed towards it. Namely, the main character, Ariana. But before we get into the meat of the discussion you may be wondering what the hell the webcomic's even about. The Princess's Jewels follows Princess Ariana as she tries to become the ruler of her kingdom, partly because she doesn't want her aunt to rule it and partly because she wants to marry multiple men who she calls her "Jewels", who she also uses to help her gain more political power(she also thinks they're super hot). It's basically a reverse harem mixed in with a political drama.

The main criticisms I see most often lodged at the comic are as follows:

Ariana's a Mary Sue

Ariana is manipulative/a creep/pervert/slut

Ariana's boobs are too big(yes I'm serious)

The "Jewels" are Ariana's sex slaves

Now I feel as though these critiques are mainly rooted in misogyny(with the exception of 4, but we'll get to that in a minute) Yes, Ariana is horny, but I really don't see a problem with that?

Like yeah, a woman is horny, but these people are acting like she's insufferable for it. This leads us into the next criticism, that Ariana's a Mary Sue. Now yes, I'll admit, Ariana, by most people's definition, falls into the category of "Mary Sue". She strong, she's beautiful, everyone loves her and those who don't are the villains. Again, to that I say "okay, and?" There are much bigger criticisms(which we'll get into later) and this is the one you're talking the most about? Who cares if she has big tits and everyone loves her. Good for her, I hope she happily breasts boobily throughout the story. Moving onto the "Jewels are slaves" thing, that's just straight up a lie. Now assuming that they're using this first definition; "The condition in which one person is owned as property by another and is under the owner's control, especially in involuntary servitude."

I genuinely don't know that the fuck these people are talking about. You can maybe argue it for 2/5 Jewels, Huan Baek and Jade Melda(side note why the fuck is the blue character named after a green stone this will never not being annoying to me)

While the other three Jewels agree right away to be Ariana's "Jewel"(essentially her consort) in exchange for political power/protection, these two don't. Huan Baek out of a sense of loyality to the kingdom/its rulers who raised him, and Jade because he just straight up doesn't like Ariana at first. People use this as an example of them being slaves/Ariana seeing them as property but I don't see it. Is it because of the chokers? Is it because she calls them her "Jewels"?

The chokers, to me, feels like her giving her boyfriend a bracelet and telling him to wear it for her, and the Jewels thing is just an affectionate pet name. Again, would we seriously be having this conversation if a male character was calling a female character his Jewel?

As I mentioned before, there are plenty of other(more weighty in my opinion) criticisms to be had about this webcomic that I didn't really see being brought up as much. The darker skinned characters(namely Nell Phantom and Efrit Karsia) can both turn into/shapeshift into animals while the lighter skinned characters can't, which kind of comes across as a bit odd to me, especially when it seems to be a trait that only the darker POC characters have.

(Efrit also has a bird form but I can't find an image of him in it :/ )

There's also really gross fatphobia which I have yet to see a single person talk about

And(most importantly I'd argue) the artist HONGCHA is a pedophile.(Since the original google doc with the evidence from the og reddit post doesn't seem to be working, you can also watch it here, starting at the 15:10 mark.)

I'm not trying to say that the Princess's Jewels is this perfect webtoon, but I'd at least like to bring attention to the rampant misogyny I feel as though is dominating the criticism of this webcomic.

[acourtofthought]

In ACOWAR and at the start of ACOMAF, there were many hints that Feyre was always destined for the Night Court, regardless of her simultaneously falling for and nearly marrying someone in Spring.

I’d painted around the knobs of Elain’s drawer, the crackling flames I’d painted around Nesta’s, and the night sky—whorls of yellow stars standing in for white—around mine

And above that, perched in a frozen mountainous spread of darkness and stars, the sprawling, massive territory of the Night Court. There were things in the shadows between those mountains—little eyes, gleaming teeth. A land of lethal beauty. The hair on my arms rose.

Behind me, a shadow lurked—no, watched. I didn’t dare turn to look at it, to see who might be within that shadow, observing, not as the wolf stared at me across the clearing.

I looked at the pool of glittering starlight and let out a heavy breath. I needed to change the subject. “What would happen if I were to drink the water?” Tamlin straightened a bit—then relaxed, as if glad to release that old sadness. “Legend claims you’d be happy until your last breath.”

Up and up, building to a palace in the sky, a hall of alabaster and moonstone, where all that was lovely and kind and fantastic dwelled in peace. I wept—wept to be so close to that palace, wept from the need to be there. Everything I wanted was there—the one I loved was there—

Celebrating a winter holiday in a place that was permanently entrenched in spring hadn’t done much to improve my general lack of festive cheer.

A night breeze floated through the open windows, ruffling my hair, drying the cold sweat on me. The dark sky beckoned, the stars so dim and small, like speckles of frost.

“Welcome to the Night Court,” was all Rhys said. It was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.

So why is that same setup, only in reverse starting in Night Court yet hinting at Spring, being ignored for Elain?

“I painted flowers for Elain on her drawer,” I said, sawing and sawing. “Little roses and begonias and irises.

Nesta hid the devastation well. The frustration. “What can I get you, Elain?” Only with Elain did she use that voice. But Elain shook her head once more. “Sunshine.”

She was a rose bloom in a mud field. Filled with galloping horses. “Don’t be afraid of them,” Nesta said beneath lowered brows. If Elain was a blooming flower in this army camp, then Nesta … she was a freshly forged sword, waiting to draw blood.

I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. THE ONLY bridge of connection … that knife.

Elain would love this place. So many flowers, all in bloom, so much green—the light, vibrant green of new grass—so many birds singing and such warm, buttery sunshine

But Elain … The Spring Court had been made for someone like her. Too bad her sister refused to see her. Nesta would have told Elain to visit this place.

Her sister’s delicate scent of jasmine and honey lingered in the red-stoned hall like a promise of spring, a sparkling river that she followed to the open doors of the chamber.

In ACOTAR, once Tamlin allows her to see, hear and smell what he does, the first scent of Springs magic that Feyre notes is jasmine.

Elain in black was ridiculous

the cruelty of the Hewn City troubled her.

but wearing black, no matter how much she claimed to be part of this court … It sucked the life from her.

Gone was the ill-suited black dress from the ball,

Thanks to @acourtdelaluna for inspiring this post ❤️

[tiressian]

riposte

Fandom: Jujutsu Kaisen Pairing: Satoru x Shoko Notes: established relationship, fluff and humor, extended drabble Rated T for language and some mature themes (?)

Read on Ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49076245

Gales and heavy rain were battering Satoru’s cushy apartment in the heart of Shinjuku. He had another in Hokkaido—“owned by the clan!” Satoru liked to point out to anyone who cared for the distinction (which, for anyone who still cared to listen at this point, was a population of exactly nil). The weather and the Gojo clan’s unfathomable wealth was the least of his and Shoko’s concerns however. Both of them were sat side by side on his couch in their pyjamas in front of Satoru’s sixty inch TV, Satoru’s intensely concentrated countenance a direct contrast to Shoko’s almost bored one. 

They were on their tenth round of Street Fighter 6. It was five matches per round, Shoko’s Ken against Satoru’s Cammy. If Shoko lost, she would have to cosplay Cammy during his Halloween party; if Satoru lost, he would be hosting said Halloween party in a maid outfit. 

Their schedules had finally aligned in that neither of them had work that couldn’t wait until the storm had passed—kind of. Shoko, by virtue of being Shoko, was still on call regardless of the severe weather watch, but Satoru remedied this by redirecting all her calls to Yuta. He figured Yuta needed the practice in Reversed Cursed Technique, plus it would score Yuta points in Maki’s eyes. (What? Yuta was always advocating for more responsibility anyway.)

Bam. Bird, meet two stones. 

Or maybe it was two birds. No, maybe it was three and there was a hawk; Satoru never could grasp the hang of western idioms anyw—

“SHORYUKEN!” 

“Fuck!” 

Satoru scrambled to counter but it was too late: Ken’s uppercut landed, taking out the last of Cammy’s hit points. As K.O. flashed onscreen and Cammy’s limp body floated to the ground, Shoko smirked. 

“I’m looking forward to Halloween this year,” she said. 

Satoru scowled at her. “You hustled me.”

“That’s a heavy accusation.” Shoko smiled, twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers. 

Satoru hated when she did that. Outside of the current circumstances he found the gesture cute and flirtatious; her patience seemingly on a par with the unlimited ways he managed to test it. It was one of his favourite things about her.  

Now that same patience was grating. And hot. And Satoru was losing, which admittedly made it twice as hot because it wasn’t often anyone pulled out the rug from under him—but that wasn’t the point. The point was he had a dream: he had a Cammy costume with her name on it and she was obliterating said dream with her suspiciously well-timed combos: a far cry from the button mashing one typically expected from a newbie. Money Satoru had in spades, but the heart wanted what the heart wanted and his heart happened to be attached to the heart of someone who could not be bought. He relished the challenge in getting Shoko to do things that benefited him more than her; it was stimulating for his creativity. It was also stimulating for a base part of his anatomy.  

Which led to him being here, trying and failing miserably to eke out a win, because his horny heart was keenly aware he couldn’t enforce his will—even if he had the power of God at his fingertips. Women tended to stop talking to you if you tried that. He wanted very much for Shoko to never want to stop talking to him. And doing that other spicier thing that didn’t involve much talking. 

“You said you didn’t know how to play this game,” Satoru accused. Curses tended to scatter in the opposite direction when he glared daggers; Shoko simply yawned.  

“You said, and I quote,” she said, purposely deepening her voice, “‘Shoko, I got Street Fighter 6’ and I said, ‘Oh, never played that one.’” 

“Hmph. Both a hustler and a liar—” 

Shoko held up her phone, replaying the fifteen second conversation exactly as described. 

There followed a pause while Satoru collected his jaw off of the ground, a strange mixture of both terrified and impressed that she’d known him well enough to take measures in preempting the accusation. He watched her calmly set her phone facedown onto the coffee table then raised her gaze back to him, expectant. 

“Dafuq—”

“‘Never played that one’ is not the same as ‘never played in my life.’” 

“Yeah, well ‘Shoko, I got Street Fighter 6, have you ever played it or any of its previous installments in your life?’ doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?” Satoru snapped, extremely put out and majorly inconvenienced. 

“Oh, I don’t know; I thought you managed that perfectly,” Shoko replied amusedly. 

Satoru’s mouth twitched, teeth grinding behind his lips as he fought a smile. 

Outmanoeuvred and outgunned. 

No matter which way the situation was approached, he looked bad. No, worse than bad, bumbling. Because what should have been an easy swindle—ahem, super fun bonding activity while stuck indoors, had turned into an exercise in hubris. 

“Let’s not forget that you seemed to have no problem holding back when you made that bet and assumption an hour ago,” Shoko said, still ever so smug. “So you tell me who the real hustler here is.”

“What? You never played when we were kids!” 

“Still doesn’t mean I hustled you. Satoru,” she added pointedly.

“You never played with me n’ Suguru!”

“Because when I wanted to play, you two losers were already ditching me to cause trouble in some other part of the mall or chase girls.”

“So…”

“So I played with other people.” Shoko shrugged. The lackadaisical way in which she did it set off every alarm bell in Satoru’s head. 

Other people, she’d said. Not kids. 

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Who?” 

“Whom,” Shoko corrected. She smirked. “Then again, you always did suck at English.” 

Satoru’s eye twitched. Half of him wanted to toss away the controller and haul her over his shoulder so they could spend the rest of the afternoon in bed. The other half of him still stubbornly clinging onto the dream for dear life insisted he hadn’t exhausted all his options just yet. 

The stubborn half won out. Satoru stayed where he was, massaging his temples. “Names please.”

“It’s been so long—”

Satoru swatted her with a cushion and Shoko snorted, curling into a ball under the onslaught. “You’re so full of shit,” he laughed in between swats. “I know you remember their names, fuckin’ hustler. Tell me.”

Shoko, now lying on her back, touched a finger to her lips and pretended to ponder on it. Satoru rolled his eyes. 

And she had the nerve to call him dramatic. 

“Hmm… let’s see, well there was Onuki-san, Umehara-san and—”

“Fuck!” Satoru mussed his hair in frustration. Two of the biggest names in the game. Shoko sat up and patted him consolingly on the leg while he dragged a hand down his face. “Aww fuck, that’s so cool! How come I never knew that? How come you never said?” 

“Because, loser, you never asked.” Shoko twirled her hair between her fingers and tilted her head, smiling at him. 

“What,” Satoru muttered, side-eyeing her as he reached for his controller, now thinking of viable Ken counters. 

“I saw you had arcade sticks in the TV cabinet,” Shoko said. “Maybe you’ll have better luck with those?”

Satoru tossed away his controller and tackled Shoko into the couch, kissing her. 

“Fuckin’ hustler,” he grumbled in between kisses, one of his hands slithering under her shirt. 

“You promise?” Shoko teased, curling a leg over his hip. 

And the storm continued to rage outside, still very much the least of their concerns. 

[zyrenity]

I've had more ideas with their Akuma versions.

Do they get Akumatized here? Yes. Hawkmoth reading his victim's minds is utter BS, that doesn't happen.

I'm thinking of Evillustrator as Kim's debut as Roi Singe/King Monkey, where Nath manages to take the Goat Miraculous off, having Ziggy return to Fu to inform him that Caprikid won't be available. Of course RB won't realize this until an unknown number (Fu) messages him that Caprikid is sick. Somehow Kim unintentionally does the test (like in Party Crasher) and gets gifted the Monkey Miraculous temporarily.

with this, Fu gets introduced early to the heroes and more miraculous holders since Volpina happens here really differently

Okay Reverser. This one's a tough cookie, though it'll happen definitely earlier. This EP will be where Kim becomes permanently RS/KM and also fixes an early ending that includes the Season 3 Finale.

The same happens with Marc here, Oriiko gets the ring off and goes to Fu. Reverser as an akuma is already bad enough since RB is more combative from the two of them, leaving Caprikid defenseless until KM arrives. Then there's kind of a plot hole from there on, since I've mostly thought of RB using Sublimation as 'the ability to fix everything that the akuma dealt' -ish(This abides by Oriiko's rules, cuz I doubt there's a Kwami of Restoration), so I've decided to hit two birds with one stone and had Caprikid unify with Tikki, and keeping her from then onward, fixing the ending for the S3 finale as, if Fu was captured, Hawkmoth would get both of them, so having the Ladybug Miraculous with Nath would fix that.

Whoa that's alot. I don't think this makes alot of sense but I hope it does 🙏

If I'm rewriting MLB, first order of business, Adrienette? making them irrelevant, Marcaniel/Capribold is now the main couple and instead of giving them Ladybug and Cat miraculous they keep their miraculous cuz they're OP as fuck and I want Hawkmoth to whine about not having the LB and BC miraculous active because what he gets is an impulsive & shy goat and a rooster with too much confidence & pride.

Bonus, Kim gets more time to shine because the monkey miraculous is so OP that the writers had to sideline him everytime. He gets screentime. Fuck Derision, it was just a mass hallucination made to trick all of you to like Adrienette more

[tetsunabouquet]

My mom and I just went to sit 2 hours straight at the local riverside. The water hasn't been warmed enough by the sun to swim but it was nice enough to sit and tan for a bit. There was a couple of coots and their two babies, and the male constantly camr to see us. At our spot, the grass was pretty loose so you could easily get to the little bugs crawling at the stones. We decided to call the couple Dino and Dina as prior to learning they were called coots we always called them dino-birds because they have these dino-like paws and Dino kept getting to our spot because of the bugs. But whilst usually they avoid humans like the plague Dino was actually not afraid to get near us and even dared to climb upwards on the grass for a bit. It was still a little bit too shy to get next to us, but it was way tamer then we've ever seen a coot. Because their nest is located at a spot where there was a nest previous year and birds do typically return to their own breeding spot, we figured Dino was one of the chicks of last year and that he's less skittish around us then a coot normally would be because he recognizes us. I think it's so cute! I have made it no secret that I am frightened of birds except for ducks and sparrows (I'm kind of like a reverse Herondale in that department), but instances like these make me slowly warm up to coots too. I swear, by the end of the summer Dino will be chilling next to us on our beach towels.

[jodilin65]

Saw a headline about a movie about whites being the most dangerous thing bombing in box offices, and I was kind of surprised it bombed since that’s so typical of modern times and everyone’s obsessed with hating and blaming whites for the world’s problems. Of course, if it had targeted any other race, there would be lawsuits flying like crazy. Reverse discrimination is alive and well in America!

Yesterday was awful because I was so damn tired to the point that it was frustrating and even a bit depressing. I just couldn’t wake up no matter what. I’m thinking I might go back on children’s vitamins because they not only taste good and I don’t have any pills to swallow, but that way I also get a little bit of everything on the days I may be lacking certain vitamins. But then on days I get those vitamins from food, I’m not overloaded on certain vitamins either.

On days I have energy, I’m going to use the treadmill for at least 10 minutes. I’m hoping increasing my cardio, stamina, and endurance will increase my overall energy levels.

I’m now actually glad we don’t have money because it would be frustrating to have money I didn’t have the energy to spend. I’m at the point where I can’t imagine ever going on vacation again.

I’m not doing it today, but I have a new writing system where I record a Swellcast of what’s going on, then I let speech-to-text transcribe it into Word and edit from there. That way I’m hitting two birds with one stone.

Oh, the things I wrote way back when! When we were getting close to moving out of Jesse’s trailer, I said that the loud engine and motorcycle days should be nearing their end. Little did I know that they were just getting started and would never end.

You can now get Mia a pet cat which is cute but of course, the greedy bastards want 500 gems for them.

[starks-hero]

The Truth is Rarely Kind

Pairing: Marc Spector x Reader x Steven Grant

Summary: By the grace of a begrudged god, you are resurrected. But before you can return to Marc and Steven, there is something Khonshu believes you need to see.

Word Count: 5.4k

Warnings: angsty angst, episode 5 spoilers, slight claustrophobia, child abuse, depictions of blood and injury, canon-divergence, Khonshu is Khonshu but he cares in his own way

a/n: Here's the long overdue part two of smoke and mirrors! I tried my best to combine my original idea for a second part with the events of episode 5 and voilà. Hope you enjoy!

Read part one here! or Read part three here!

It didn't feel as though you had woken up. Rather, you had shifted from one dream to another.

The artificially white walls of a physiatric hospital had vanished in whisps of thin smoke and been replaced with polished, aged stone. The hieroglyphics that marked the walls as well as the strong musky scent that clung to all things ancient gave you a clear understanding of where you stood. You glanced around the temple in awe, the sand soft beneath your feet as you turned to take in its true magnitude.

The statue that stood in the temple's centre towered over you. Basked in fresh moonlight, it grasped a crescent staff in one hand and wore a tight expression carved by the most expert hand. Power and authority seemed to radiate from the stone. The sculpture's stance demanded respect and your knees almost buckled under its intimidation. Despite its lifelessness, it still succeeded in filling you with a sense of unease.

A towering shadow appeared before you, swallowing you up and when you turned to face its owner you were met with the skeletal form of a lunar god.

“You surprised me today, little one.” His voice rattled, filling the temple and leaving no room for you to reply. He continued.

“There are things that you must know. To reverse something as permanent as death is to invite the judgement of the gods and I am afriad that I have angered them for the final time.”

“You? Afraid?” There was an attempt at amusement in your voice. In the face of your current predicament, you decided humour was far more favourable than insanity. Khonshu didn't falter.

“I will no longer be capable of protecting Marc. That task I must now pass to you until I can be freed.”

You cautiously stepped towards the deity. “I don't understand...”

Khonshu lowered himself to his knees, crouching before you and seeing such a powerful god in a pose that diminished so much of his authority was uncomfortable. You were almost face to face with him now and you were fairly certain that this was the first time the god was looking at you and not down on you; both figuratively and literally.

“I shall send you back to the realm of the living. But first, there are shadows that haunt Marc's past, shadows he has yet to expose to you from fear of rejection. These are secrets you must know if you are to keep him alive until my return.”

“What kind of secrets?”

Khonshu's skeletal head fell forward in a silent sigh, his beak almost gracing the sand. “That is for you to discover.”

The sand was suddenly kicked up around you as a door, seemingly carved from the thin desert air, appeared at your back.

“Hurry along, little one. We do not have long.”

With hesitance, you approached the doorway. Your feet grew heavier with each step and your fingers numbed as they wrapped around the handle. Your morality shunned you, berating you for willingly stepping into Marc's past and exposing his secrets without his knowledge. But your rationality overruled your moral judgement.

You glanced over your shoulder to Khonshu, like a young child seeking guidance from their elder. But the god was gone. With a deep breath and a thundering heart, you opened the door.

You were unsure of what you were expecting to find on the other side, but this certainly wasn't it. You stood in the middle of a garden, surrounded by bird song and the nostalgic smell of a summer barbecue; everything you'd expect to find in a precious childhood memory. A golden filter of warmth seemed to envelop you and your surroundings and despite your earlier peril, you were suddenly overcome with a sense of calm.

“Food’s ready!”

A woman stood at the grill, grinning as she turned the golden meat over the fire. Two boys sat at the wooden table to your right and the striking resemblance and teasing words shared between them told you they were brothers.

They stood to leave and you followed.

“Hey, hey Marc,” the woman called the older boy and your heart ceased to beat for a moment. “ Keep an eye on your brother. Okay?”

The eldest boy, who possessed a familiar pair of brown eyes, only filled with so much more innocence than the ones you knew, nodded as he left. You hurried after them.

As both brothers made their way through a small grove of trees and overgrown grass, you remained a few paces behind. Playful banter and childish ideas were exchanged between the boys and an odd combination of confusion and unease settled in your stomach at the mention of a character in their make-believe game named ‘doctor grant’. 

The sky darkened, menacing storm clouds swelling in the sky and your pace quickened.

A large, rugged body of stone emerged from the tree line before you, its gaping mouth taking the form of a cave entrance. Your body came to a halt, your feet freezing to the earth beneath you. You couldn’t pinpoint the feeling, it was almost instinctual, something screaming in the back of your mind ‘don’t go in there!’ You tried to take a step forward but gravity itself seemed to deny the action. It was almost as if Marc’s subconscious was trying to stir you from the memory. There was something inside the cave he really didn’t want you to see.

A booming roar of thunder sounded and proved enough to get you moving again. The boys, ahead of you now, were engulfed by the cave's darkness and you found yourself hesitating at the entrance. The rain had begun to come down harsh and heavy, its droplets dampening your clothes and chilling your skin.

“Tick tock, Y/N. We do not have time to spare.” The god's voice rung inside your head.

You cautiously stepped inside the caves gaping mouth. Your feet failed to find purchase on the wet surface of the rock and you clung to the ragged edges of the walls for support. Three steps further and an incline in the rock sent you into two feet of rising water.

“Boys!” Your voice rose with fear. “The water's rising, you need to get out of here!”

You inched forward, your feet no longer visible beneath the water. “Boys!” The gaps between the rock grew narrower and narrower and you felt the jagged stones bite into your skin as you continued. The water was rising fast, drenching your knees now. “Boys, we really need to leave!”

The trail you followed came to a sudden end, a small opening at your feet the only path left. Your heart sank. You immediately got to your knees and tried to enter where you knew the two brothers were trapped. But the unforgiving stone bit into your shoulders and held you back, trapping you between two slabs of rock.

Desperate cries for help rung out ahead of you.

“Marc! Marc, I'm here just– follow my voice!” Your voice was drowned out by the rising water. The cries for help seemed to only grow louder. No, no, no. You clawed at the rock beneath you, trying to pull yourself further into the hollow in the cave's wall but you were lodged so tightly your chest was struggling to rise against the stone. The water had reached your chin, and the boy's cries for help had grown quieter and quieter before they stopped altogether. “Marc! Marc!”

You blinked and it was all gone. The cave, the water, everything but the fear.

Now you stood in a living room, filled with mourners wearing black. A heavy sense of grief hung in the air. You quietly passed the people in the room, surprised that no one commented on the mess your wet clothes were leaving on the polished floor. An indescribable sense of pain and loss settled against your chest when your eyes landed on a table in the middle of the room. A candle of remembrance had been lit and placed beside a photograph of a young boy, his smile childish and bright. He had his brother's eyes.

Your hands shook as you picked up the photo frame, guilt weighing heavily on your mind. You became so swept up in your failure to save his life you forgot that this tragedy was nothing more than a memory you were reliving. And someone else's memory at that.

The weight of footsteps on old stairs sounded and you glanced up in unison with the congregation to find a boy standing idly on the steps. He wore a suit far too big for him and an expression too heavy for such a young face.

“What are you doing here?”

The question was so sudden for a moment you feared it was directed at you. But you turned to find the owner of the voice, the woman from the garden, staring at the boy on the stairs with a look so venomous it made you feel ill.

“You were supposed to keep him safe! You let him drown. This is all your fault!”

The boy, Marc you reminded yourself firmly, retreated upstairs in an attempt to escape his mother's words and you followed almost instinctually.

The sight you were met with should have been a happier one. The image of a boy sitting before his cake, candles bright with a birthday promise, should have been one of joy. But the absence of Marc's brother and mother meant you watched through a lens tinted with heavy sadness.

Your feet were leading you to Marc's side before you even realised it. He was just a child. He should have been jovial and carefree, covered in dirt from childhood adventures. Instead, he sat before you burdened by a sibling's death and an accusation pushed on him by a grieving mother. He didn't deserve this–

“Marc...” your hand reached out to brush his shoulder but the memory turned to smoke between your fingers.

The next memory to form wasn't all that different. The decorations remained, as did the cake. But Marc seemed... happier. You watched him decorate the cake with numbered candles with enthusiasm.

12.

Marc's mother appeared behind him and you felt the air grow cold as if a shadow had engulfed the room and swallowed up all the joy. A glass and bottle of liquor were held heavily in her hands and you watched with a feeling of unease as she seated herself at the table.

“You were always jealous of him, from the day he was born.”

You swallowed your anger.

“I should have known you would do something like this,” she continued, voice filled with so much contempt for her son you felt your rage pull at the bars of its confinement. Marc stood and ran from the room and with him went your composure. Your anger contorted into something ugly and dark; something that would lead you to say something you'd regret. Yet you were beginning to believe there was nothing you could do to the women before you that would evoke any sense of remorse.

“He's just a child.” It had been more of a thought, one so heavy it had materialised into words with little intent on your part. “How can you sit there and put this on him? He's just a little boy.”

Your words seemed to be swallowed up by the silence before they could reach Marc's mother.

“You are nothing more than a shadow in these memories,” came Khonshu's voice. “You cannot change what has already been. Stop wasting time.”

You bit down on the inside of your cheek so harshly a metallic taste filled your mouth. Tears of anger welled in the corners of your eyes. You waited for your composure to return before you turned your back on the woman sat at the table.

Climbing the stairs was a perilous task. You felt plagued by the horrid feeling that every step took you closer to a memory so much more awful than the last.

The door handle seemed to burn your palm as you entered the unmistakable room of a little boy. Posters and childish paintings covered the walls and the floor was dominated by toys and puzzles. The room's untidiness personified the carefree nature of a child. And there, looking so very out of place, was Marc.

You approached him with quiet steps. Marc’s hands were placed over his ears and his eyes were scrunched shut with the innocent childlike belief that not seeing something meant it did not exist.

The door began to shake violently on its hinges. Marc grew more panicked until his eyes rolled back and you were left looking at a very different little boy. One with good manners and a gentle British accent.

The wood of the bedroom door creaked and splintered behind you and you felt your blood run cold. It froze entirely when the door gave in and Marc's mother entered the room, bringing with her the stench of whiskey.

You took an involuntary step back.

“You're going to learn to listen.” Her words grew to have a far darker meaning as she grabbed hold of the belt hanging on the closet.

Your mind blanked as you stepped in between Marc and his mother, the only thing you could comprehend was the need to protect the little boy behind you. You raised your hands but the harsh sting of leather across your cheek caused you to stumble. You tried to stand but another harsh blow landed and you felt the belt's buckle bite into the crown of your head.

“You disgusting human.”

You couldn't tell who the insult was targeted at, but it was filled with such malevolent malice you cowered all the same. Your vision blurred and yet through the tears, you saw Marc's mother raise her arm, belt in hand. The sound that followed made you sick.

In the light of something so horrible, something you were powerless to stop you found yourself repeating what a young Marc had done just moments earlier when faced with the unbearable. You closed your eyes.

Everything after that was blurred. At first, you thought you'd lost consciousness but you supposed you couldn't exactly fall asleep when you weren't awake to begin with. When you finally found the strength to open your eyes, you stood in the middle of a neat avenue, a vista of trees decorating the sides of the street.

Your head still ached but when you laid a hand to the injury you pulled it away free of blood. Slowly, you took in your surroundings.

The house before you was familiar, one you felt you'd visited but never bothered to commit to memory. Your hands fell against the window sill as you peered through the glass. You were met with the familiar sight of a congregation dressed in black mourning the death of a loved one and you felt a surge of sadness at the realisation of just how much Marc's life had been plagued with loss.

The windowpane, which seemed to have almost been excessively cleaned, was clear enough for you to make out the black-framed photo of a woman placed between two lit candles. She was smiling and the expression seemed unnatural on a face you'd seen portray such hatred. As disgusted as it made you feel, you couldn't find it in you to feel any remorse for her passing.

A man, aged and saddened, approached the window and you stepped back fearing you'd been noticed. But his stare pierced right through you as if you were air. You turned to follow his gaze.

Marc stood on the other side of the street. Everything about him told you he was tired. His eyes were red and glass-like, his brows knit together in a pained expression and his hair looked as though he'd been endlessly pulling at its roots. He took a swig from his flask before turning his back on his family home.

You caught up with him quickly. His sorrow slowed him and he stumbled as he walked. Broken, somewhat incoherent words fell from his trembling lips. He looked so much like the young boy you'd seen moments earlier. Pained, abandoned and deserving of so much better.

Your hands ached to reach out to him. To hold him and comfort him with gentle and kind words. The knowledge that what you were witnessing had already come to pass and that he had experienced such grief alone left you feeling hollow.

He fell to his knees on the cobblestones and you followed him down. Silently kneeling before him, you watched the man you'd grown to care so much for fall apart. And the one thing that hurt more than the heavy sobs that shook his shoulders was your inability to comfort him.

Marc suddenly raised his head and for a moment you felt overcome with the relief that he could see you. But just as his name passed your lips and your hand reached out to touch him, his eyes shifted and you realised it had just been a cruel coincidence.

You watched as his eyes suddenly rolled back in his head, the muscles in his neck flexing almost painfully. When he opened his eyes and straightened himself, you were left looking at a different man. His eyes were softer and the accent you'd grown so fond of shaped his words of confusion as he took in his surroundings.

“Steven.” Your voice was weak as you said his name. Soft, kind, loving Steven. Your Steven. The human personification of all things good and warm and kind. All this time, Steven had been a wall, a silent protector that shielded Marc from a harsh reality. And seeing him unknowingly carry out that role caused your heart to ache.

Your eyes grew misty as Steven appeared to speak to his mother on his phone. You caught sight of the phone screen, blank and with no sign of any caller on the other end of the line.

You didn't follow him as he stood and walked away, you couldn't. Your heart felt too heavy to allow your body to move.

“Your paths crossed for the first time later this day,” Khonshu's voice echoed in your mind. You shook your head and ran your hand along your damp cheeks.

“Please, no more. I don't want to see any more of this. Please, I–”

“There is one more thing you must see.”

The street fell away before you, the buildings giving way to a vast night sky and the cobblestone beneath you dissolving into thousands of fine grains of sand.

Bodies were strewn out at your feet, blood stained the ground and a deserted truck burned to your left, painting the scene of a merciless massacre. Stretched out before you and half-buried in the sand was a familiar temple.

A dark trail of blood guided you towards its entrance. Had you not already seen such horrid things the sight of Marc, bloodied and dying, holding a gun to his head, may have evoked a stronger reaction.

The statue above him, basked in beams of moonlight, held an undoubtable likeness to the god of the moon. The cogs began to turn in your head.

You listened intently to the words exchanged between the deity and Marc.

“Your mind, I feel it. Fractured. Broken.” Khonshu drawled. “Most fascinating.”

You glared at the monument of stone.

“In exchange for your life, do you swear to protect the travellers of the night and bring my vengeance to those who would do them harm?”

The shifting of sand sounded from behind you. “You were manipulating him,” you said, refusing to turn and face the god. “From the very start.”

“I did what had to be done.”

You scoffed. “You did what was best for you.”

“I did not make him do anything he did not wish to. He agreed.”

He was dying!” You turned harshly. “You took advantage of a dying man. You do not 'protect the travellers of the night'–” you jabbed an accusing finger towards the god. “You're a self-satisfied coward.”

Khonshu lowered his head, in shame or exhaustion you couldn't tell; although your intuition told you it was the latter.

“Marc and Steven would have been far better off without you.”

Silence settled and for a moment you entertained the possibility that you may have just put an ancient deity in his place. Then a hollow, unnerving noise sounded. It took you a moment to realise the god was laughing.

“You think you know him so well.” The amusement in Khonshu's voice made you uneasy. “And yet you don't even know about the other one.”

His words threw you off-kilter. You were unsure if what he was saying came from a place of candour or trickery. “What are you talking about?”

The god ignored you and looked skywards. The world around you began to pale, fading away. A feeling of finality hit you.

Khonshu began to, for lack of better words, disappear, fragments of his skeletal form chipping away and vanishing into nothing.

“See how well the four of you fare without me,” the god managed and then he was gone.

You tried to call after him but a sudden rush of water flooded past your parted lips. Your sight darkened and the world shifted around you. Your body jolted and you sat up, rasping coughs tearing from your throat. A hand on your back kept you upright and when your vision finally cleared you were met with a familiar pair of brown eyes.

“Marc?”

“Oh, thank god.” He pulled you to his chest. His heart thumped violently against your ear. You almost got caught up in the torrent of emotion but you allowed yourself to simply relish in the fact that you were not dead. Marc's hold on you didn't lessen as he craned his head enough to look at you.

“You're alright? You're okay?” his hand pawed at the side of your face, brushing away the damp hair that clung to your skin. You answered with a meek nod electing to ignore the metallic taste of blood still heavy in your mouth.

Layla knelt at your side, head in her hands and posture slumped with relief.

As you settled further into consciousness you recalled the dire situation you had just been in, both the getting shot and the time travelling with an ancient god.

“M– Marc...”

“Look at you, you're trembling.” He wasn't wrong. You had no idea how long you'd been lying in the shallow pool of water whilst Khonshu decided whether or not you were worth saving. Your lips trembled and the ends of your fingers felt numb. You felt as though the water had seeped into your very bones. “Here. We've gotta get you warm... gotta get you warm.”

You'd never seen him like this. So distraught and numbed with worry. All his composure had dissolved and it seemed he was talking more to himself than you as he pulled off his white jacket and wrapped it around your shaking form.

“Marc, where's Khonshu?” you tried. Your voice still trembled. “Marc.”

He finally looked at you and it seemed as though he was hearing you for the first time. “Gone,” he answered and left it at that.

“The ushabti...” you slurred. You could feel your mind growing weary. The initial adrenaline had worn off leaving your body feeling heavy and your mind distraught due to what it had bore witness to. Your eyes felt heavy; desperate for rest.

You wanted to ask more, to seek out answers to the abundance of questions still whizzing around your aching head. But you were too cold to speak and a sharp, throbbing pain persisted in your chest.

“You're okay,” Marc said and again you couldn't tell if he was talking to you or himself. “You're okay.”

You were lifted from the chilling water, your damp clothes clinging to your body. The rhythmic movements of Marc's steps as he walked lulled you gently and your eyes refused to open despite how much you tried to command them. Soon the chilling shadows of the tomb were replaced with the warming beams of the sun against your skin. Everything else came in fragments after that.

The revving of a car engine, Marc's voice in your ear and the feel of car tires biting over the sands of the desert. The jacket, heavy with the scent of ash, coffee and all things you associated with the boys was wrapped tighter around your body.

Your head lulled drearily against Marc's shoulder and you felt him readjust his hold on you so that you were nestled against his neck. Taking his eyes off you for possibly the first time since the bullet hit your chest, Marc looked out the tainted window of the van, glancing over the rolling dunes of sand. He caught sight of his reflection in the rear mirror, although it held the expression of a different person; brows creased with worry and eyes glossy.

“It's alright,” Marc comforted Steven. “She's okay.” His nails dug into the coat bunched at your shoulders, his hold on you firm. It didn't loosen until he'd gotten you back to the safety of the Cairo hotel room.

He brushed aside the shattered glass on the floor with his foot, (residue of an earlier outburst,) before he laid you on the bed. He knelt at your side and gently grasped your hand with his own. His fingers dragged over your knuckles and occasionally traced your pulse. He caught sight of Steven in the mirror off to his right, looking utterly distraught.

He remained unmoving as the sky darkened, the monumental shape of the Giza's pyramids fading into the night. It was only after he'd changed your bloody clothes and patched up the mostly healed bullet wound in the centre of your chest did you begin to stir.

“Hey,” he brushed his hands over your forehead. He was smiling, but it was saddened and forced. “You gave us a real scare.”

You pushed yourself up to sit against the headboard. His hand was still holding yours, a comforting weight. Marc looked dishevelled at best. There was a heaviness and a weariness to his posture and his eyes were still rimmed red.

“I thought I'd lost you.”

Your hand tightened around his own. You were reminded of just how many people Marc had lost in his life and felt an odd sense of guilt consume you for almost adding to that list. For almost becoming another burden he'd have to carry.

“What happened after –” you vaguely motioned to your chest where the angry swelling around your bullet wound was visible between the undone buttons of your shirt. Marc's fingers had been shaking too much to button them properly.

He sat up a little straighter at your question. “It–uh, it was Khonshu.” You hoped he didn't notice how your jaw set angrily at the mention of the god. “He brought you back. Took a bit of convincing but you're here so I guess he turned out to be good for something after all.”

“And the ushabti?”

“Safe.” Marc's voice was tender with reassurance. “Layla's taken it to one of her Cairo safe houses. It couldn't be anywhere safer.”

You nodded and then fell silent.

Marc watched you carefully. It felt unnatural, how reserved you were being with him, and your inability to look him in the eye was making his skin crawl. You seemed burdened, weighed down. Even ignoring the fact that you had danced with death just hours earlier, you still looked off.

“You alright?” he asked carefully. He tightened his hold on your hand.

“I'm fine.” The lie was so unconvincing you winced and bit down on your tongue. If Marc had noticed your dishonesty, which he most definitely had, he decided against commenting on it. He knew the irritation that came with being pressed to talk about something you'd made clear wasn't on the cards and he wasn't going to inflict it on you; certainly not a mere half-hour after he'd fished two steel bullets out of your chest.

There was a large, more morally commendable part of you that wanted so badly to tell Marc that you knew. But for the first time in a while, you chose self-preservation. There was a tenderness in the way he was looking at you now, softer than he had before and you didn't want to jeopardise it by saying the morally right thing at the very wrong time.

The mattress dipped and you didn't raise your head to meet his eyes as Marc settled beside you. His own body was stiff, his legs moving out along the bed rigidly. Even his breathing was strained.

A heavy stillness filled the air between you. You were so grateful to be laying there beside him then, both of you alive and breathing. But that joy was lessened by the bubble of guilt still expanding in your chest.

“Is Steven alright?” You asked. You couldn't get his frightened expression out of your mind.

“He's pretty shaken,” Marc answered honestly. “You should talk to him.”

Your head fell forward in a nod and before Marc left you you gently reached out your hand to cradle his cheek. He leaned into the touch with a surprising eagerness. His eyes were devoid of their usual hardness, not seeking out the reason behind your sudden display of intimacy. He just relished in the fact that you were there with him.

Gently tracing your thumb along his stubble, your hand curled around the nape of his neck.

“It wasn't your fault.”

You could tell by Marc's reaction that he didn't catch on to the true magnitude of your words. He assumed you were talking about the bullets and the gun, about Harrow and that fact that he shouldn't blame himself for the wound on your chest just inches from your heart. Not the death of his brother or the abuse he endured.

A smile that walked the line between saddened and grateful graced Marc's lips and then he was gone.

There were tears in Steven's eyes within seconds of him fronting. His arms were around you in an instant.

“You're alright, oh thank god–” His voice was thick with emotion and he held you so tightly his nails dug almost uncomfortably into your shoulders. “I was so worried. I saw the gun and what he did to you and– and there was so much blood... oh god– I thought... I thought you were–”

A heavy sob crawled up his throat. Your hands wound into his curls and you comforted him as best you could with the reminder that you were alright.

“I should have never left you alone. Marc wouldn't have,” he managed. “I– darling, I am so so sorry.”

“It wasn't your fault, love.” You held him tighter. “I'm here now, I've got you. Just focus on that, yeah?”

His sobs eventually wore down into silent tears and you continued to placate him with tender reassurances. It took a while for him to calm, and you understood why. Where Marc had the time to somewhat digest everything that had occurred in the past few hours, Steven had been thrown off the deep end and then left in the dark until now.

“You shouldn't compare yourself to Marc,” you said softly. “I don't think you realise how much you do, how much you protect Marc and I from. You are so good, Steven.”

Much like with Marc, there was no way Steven could truly understand the depth of your words, not without knowing what you knew.

He teared up again all the same.

It soon grew quiet and you both welcomed the peace. You inched down the bed and Steven shifted so that you could lay against his chest. There was still an unspoken sense of concern between you both, just as there had been with Marc. The realisation that the events of the day could have been far more dire had Khonshu not intervened continued to roll over you both in waves.

You dispersed the thought of it, along with everything Khonshu had shown you, with a sharp inhale.

“You should get some rest, love.” Steven's voice was soft. “You look knackered.”

And as tired as you were, you couldn't find sleep.

Rather, you focused entirely on Steven and the slow rising of his chest. It calmed you to know he was safe.

You looked out the open window, the untied blinds moved in whisps with the night wind. You watched the moon as it travelled against the sky and wondered how long it would be before its god returned in search of a debt to be paid.

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thank you for reading!

[queentheweeb]

Shouta Aizawa X Autistic Female Reader

A/N: Your quirk is time reverse meaning you can revert an event or de-age a person

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You were always told that you weren't going to be a mother. At first, it started once you were diagnosed with autism at 18 months old. You didn't understand what Autism has to do with your ability to be a proper mother or parent. You could have easily googled it, ask your therapist for help as well as checked out books at the library as well. Everything would have worked out fine. Once you made that reasoning to your parents that's when they told you that no one would want to be with you so how do you plan on having children? Well, you can always adopt or even go to a sperm bank - at least that's what you found out on google you're not sure how true or safe that might be. Your parents stopped bringing up the talk of you having children since apparently you had an answer for everything. It wasn't your fault they were being difficult and you had solutions for their difficulty. You had other things to worry about. You wanted to work an office job inputting data into a computer. You always loved numbers and anything that had to do with electronics. You weren't good at writing and reading since there were too many confusing sayings. 

"stop pulling my leg"

"cat got your tongue"

"I guess the cat's out of the bag now"

"killing two birds with one stone"

You didn't understand what any of those sayings meant. Your speech therapist and special education teacher explained to you that those were forms of figures of speech. Well, it was a good thing you didn't have to focus so much on those things. Your job here at U.A didn't require for you to grade essays and create lectures and power-points based on readings. You would have lost your job within the first week and that was giving yourself too much credit. You would leave that kind of thing to your husband Shouta. You met Shouta here actually when you first got the job 5 years ago working for the Guidance Counselor Hound Dog creating spreadsheets and putting in names and numbers of students and their guardians for him. You remember the first conversation -you think it was anyway- you had with Shouta 

"Hey, Mr. Ryo is it okay if you can see I did it right? I don't want to mess up or make you angry." You had confided in him that you had autism and you made a lot of mess ups. He checked it over for you and with a couple of spelling errors that he fixed you were good to go. 

"Here you go, I'm going to print this out. I have some papers I need you to bring to Shouta Aizawa. He will be in the teacher's lounge." You nodded your head waiting for him to pass the papers he was talking about to you. In 2 minutes he gave you a folder with Shouta Aizawa on it. "Come back here once you gave him the folder. Thank you." You nodded your head and left his office heading straight for the teacher's lounge. You didn't know who he was so calling his name was your best bet. Once at the lounge you entered and saw two people inside. A quiet black-haired man sitting in the corner grading papers and a loud blonde-haired man sitting across from him. 

"U-Um excuse me, I'm looking for Shouta Aizawa." The dark-haired man raised his head to look at you. 

"That would be me." You went right up to him, handed the papers to him, bowed, and made a beeline out the door. You absolutely refused to do something silly in front of the pretty man. He was pretty. 

Since then, you had more interactions with him and it led to outings, dates, doing a couple of things and eventually him popping the question to marry you 15 months ago. The two of you have been married for almost a year and a half already. You were wondering when he was going to mention having children. You were 28 and he was 30, the two of you were at the perfect age to have children. 

"Hey Y/N! How are you?" You turned to Hizashi. He was always loud but, when he found out that you don't like loud noises he tries his best to keep his voice and actions to a minimum. It was both appreciated and made you sad because you didn't want him to stop being himself because of you. He never made a fuss about it though. 

"I'm doing fine, how are you?" This is how the two of you always started a conversation and, you loved it. It was routine and you were glad he never tried to change it. One time he did and when you freaked out because it threw you off the whole day, he made sure to stick to the routine which made you feel better. The two of you talked until Shouta came in looking frantic capture weapon in hand. 

"The League is here. Y/N stays here and guides the children far away from the front of the school. Come Present Mic." Hero names meant this was serious. You took a minute to take a few steadying breaths trying not to panic. Once you calmed down enough you left the safety of your office and looked up and down the quiet hallways. You checked all the classrooms towards the front of the school only to see that no one was there. That was good that meant they were informed already along with other teachers to move to the front. That meant the heroes were fighting them if the loud explosion and blue fire you can see from the window were any indications. You decided to hide in the Guidance Counselor room for now once you checked to make sure the children were in fact in the farthest training ground in the back of the school. You were nervous and when scared you liked to check facts. The weirdest and worst time in the world to do that but, that's what you did. You pulled up as much information as you can about the League and read over it all. Maybe you can help somehow. 

"Tenko Shimura known as Tomura Shigaraki was the grandson of former pro hero Nina Shimura" 

That was a shock to you. Intrigued you read everything you could about Tenko and he was a normal kid at first. When his quirk first appeared he accidentally killed his family dog and then the rest of the family. That was horrible. He was later found by Japan's most notorious villain All for One and he's the reason why Tomura was born. Once you finished his file you read Toga and there wasn't much. Her parents hated her for her quirk and in middle school, she attacked a student for his blood and she disappeared after. You rubbed your face realizing you were crying. Life was so unfair for the two of them. If only they can get a redo at life. 

"That's it!" That's it! You can use your quirk on them and turn them back to children. You can give them another chance at life. If you can get them together and touch them with your quirk activated at the same time the nosebleed and headache will be worth it. The only problem was that you were frightened and hiding while they were fighting in front of the school. You were trying to think of something to do when you felt the wind. You turned with wide eyes to see a purple vortex appear on the other side of the room nearest to the door. 

"So this is where Eraserhead keeps you." You blinked. Tomura was in front of you. He was standing right there in front of you. With Toga. Right behind him. When you said you wanted a plan you didn't mean this. "He has good taste." You had no idea what that meant but, you didn't like the way Toga looked at you. 

"Do you think she tastes as good as she looks?" She was blushing holding a bloody knife. You didn't want to think about who she stabbed. "I'm going to find out." The girl was fast and, you were barely able to avoid her throwing yourself across the desk. You were going to have to ask Shouta for lessons if you survived this. You kept dodging as she threw herself at you. 

"Stop trying to stab me!" You weren't going to say how you want to help. That'll make them angry and you might really die. It seemed they were toying with you right now. You continued dodging Toga not noticing Tomura who was inching forward.

"We need to take her alive." Did he want to kidnap you? Not on your watch! You were still scared. Frightened but, you wanted to live and help too. You pushed Toga away momentarily only to practically bump into Tenko. He grabbed your wrist fast with four fingers making you freeze and panic. You felt Toga pressing herself to you holding a knife to your neck.

"Oh, she's so pretty Tomura! Can I cut her? Just a little bit?" You were already bleeding so why did asking matter? You were stuck. You had them both here in front of you and your quirk at your fingertips. You had to be quick enough to grab both of their hands. Your quirk will work in a second if you can pull this off. 

"Forgive me Tenko Shimura" His eyes widen jerking back at the name but, you didn't let him. You grabbed his pinky while grabbing Toga's free hand at the same time. Your quirk activated and before they can decay you or stab you there was a bright light and nothing. The only reason you knew the quirk worked was the painful headache and nosebleed you had. It was hard to focus but, you looked down at the feel of tiny hands on you. You looked down to see a baby Tenko and a baby Himiko. You did it. Your crazy plan worked. "It worked."

"A-are you an h-hero?" Were you a hero? That was funny. You fell down to your knees and opened your arms. The two of them looked at you scared so you waited. In two minutes they both went in for a hug. You thought it was awkward but, they snuggled into both sides of your neck. 

"Are you my new mommy?" It was Himiko who asked. That brought tears to your eyes as you hugged her closer.

"I could be. I could be your mommy and his mommy." You know nothing in life is this easy and there was going to be a lot of legal problems and other stuff but, it will be worth it. You just hoped Shouta wouldn't leave you once he sees what you did.

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