#we hate lip blam

[kuyanh]

lol

related u u

I rlly don't like lip gloss or balm. It feels weird on my lips, and I like licking better. It leaves marks on my water bottle's straw and feels terrible when I taste it while drinking water. But they keep forcing me too :( it feels bad

[sanjisboyfie]

๑ keep safe : prologue (1)

one piece x male reader

i get this feeling

like it all could happen

that's why i'm leaving you for the moment,

you for the moment

+ a/n @ the end <3

in the heights of their shared treehouse, there was a single one that was awake whilst the other two were slumbering away.

he sighed, taking the hair tie that was resting on one of the branches and put it between his teeth. he gathered up his locks, his signature low-ponytail being tied in security. finally, he grabbed the sword that was leaning against one of their walls and used the strap connected on its ends to be thrown over his shoulder.

then he looked over his shoulder and smiled at the sleeping boys. the ones he loved more than anything and grew up with, walking over and gently petting their heads.

“i’ll see you boys soon,” he whispered, standing upright and walking to their entrance and exit of their treehouse and freely jumped down, safely landing on the floor many ways down.

he took a short walk over to the actual house they were supposed to be staying in, not bothering to knock as he entered the front door. he was not at all shocked to see that they were all already awake, notably dadan was standing there with a rolled up newspaper in her hands as if she were about to beat someone with it. the cigarette in her mouth dropped ash into the eye of one of the members of their house, making her even more angered at his sudden flinching movement.

the only reason why the attention was drawn to him was because of him loudly clearing his throat.

“[name]-”

“see! i told you, he’s already awake and now he’s ready to leave and nothing that we wanted has been prepared! i blam-”

“dadan, i’m leaving. i hope to see you all soon, truly,” [name] said calmly, opposite to all of the other people in the room’s expression.

they sombered up quite quickly at his declaration, turning themselves into silent mimes as all they could do was open their mouths and then close them, repeating it at least three times before he grinned and turned around. he was about to leave, but then there was a sudden uproar and ruckus.

“[name]! we’re going to miss you so much! please don’t leave us with those two troublemakers! we can’t deal with them alone! they only listen to you, please-” dadan cries continued on, those were the words that were heard almost throughout the entire island.

“ace and luffy?” [name] questioned, chuckling as he felt the woman’s tears fall onto his shoulder, “you’re gonna be fine taking care of them,” he whispered, gently rubbing up and down her back to calm her down. “you took care of me,”

“you guys took care of yourselves! and now you’re all grown up and i hate it!”

[name] blinked slowly, nodding his head as he processed her words.

“i’ll miss you, dadan,” and that was all he said as he left her, an appreciative smile on his lips as he sobbed away into her hands.

she was a sweetheart even though she had trouble actually saying or conveying those sentimental emotions.

he was slightly biased, however, because she always did favor him a little bit opposed to the other two troublesome boys.

[name] continued on his trek down to the main village, knowing that his small boat was waiting for him. but he knew he had one more stop to make before he could even think about leaving.

makino’s bar. he smiled fondly at the worn down doors, gently pushing them so that he could go inside. the bartender with green hair looked at his figure, squinting a bit so that she could get a clear view of his face. the sunlight behind him was slightly blinding, but as he walked further into the bar, she was able to recognize him just by his figure.

“[name]-kun!” she said in joy, running around the counter and into his arms. without a second thought, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. the warmest hugs always came from people like makino.

he let his eyes shut in peace, enjoying this moment and trying to savor it for as long as possible.

“oh dear, i’m going to miss you so much,” she whispered and he already could hear the wavering in her voice.

“please, don’t cry you’re going to make me cry!” he said jokingly, tightening his hold on her to comfort her.

“i know you’re going to be fine, it’s just that i’m going to miss you so much! and you’re going so far, and i’m not trying to stop you, it’s just, i won’t know for certain you’ll be safe-”

“i’ll be safe, maki-san,” he comforted her, humming as she continued to cry into his chest.

“you’re too reckless to think about safety for even a moment,” she said, making herself chuckle at her teasing comment. she pulled away from his chest, wiping her tears away and then lifting her hand up to his scarred cheeks.

she gently traced the lines that were very slightly protruding up from his skin.

“i know you’ll be fine, just call it a mother’s worry then,” she whispered, making him nod his head.

“we can call it that,” he said with a close-eyed smile. the two weren’t related at all biologically, far from it, but still the comfort of calling her his mother, and him her son, was something the both of them needed in that moment. “i’ll be sure to write at least, to calm your nerves.”

“just promise to be safe now and i’ll be able to be at peace for at least a month?”

“not even half a year? maki-san, you’re killing me,” he joked, pulling away so that they weren’t chest to chest anymore.

she pinched his cheek, making him wince, “i’m killing you? suree,” she sarcastically said, pinching his cheeks even harder until he was almost folding in himself. she finally let up her hold, knowing that the boy was just playing for her own entertainment.

“i’ll miss you too, maki-san,” [name] said, “but you’ll hear about me enough in the newspapers!”

a mischievous wink left little to what he exactly meant by that. she pulled away from him and walked to her position behind the counter.

“you’re going to kill garp-san, too,” she said, wiping down some of the freshly washed glasses.

“he deserves it, old man’s been alive for too long,” he yawned, putting his hands in his pockets.

she sighed at his rude words, knowing that there was really nothing she could say that could make him change his thoughts on his “grandfather.”

“well, i think you should get going before either of those two wake up,” she commented, looking over at the sun that was getting higher and higher in the air, “their minds might recognize your presence as gone before they’re even awake.”

“they always were creepy in that sense,” he sweatdropped, knowing that she did have a point. “until next time!” he called out, jogging out of her bar and shooting her the widest smile possible.

they weren’t going to see each other for a long time and he wanted her to remember him smiling if anything.

and when his back was turned to her, he wasn’t able to see the stray tear that was falling from her cheek. she was going to miss him more than he could ever know.

when [name] finally made it to his raggedy boat, he untied the rope from the port and pushed it off with his foot. that gentle push was enough for the boat to get into motion, the wind pushing through the sails and furthering his distance from his home.

he sat down and leaned against the post, kicking his feet up on the sides of the boat. a relaxed sigh left his mouth and he looked up at the sky.

“man it’s a beautiful day-”

“[name]!!!”

he jolted where he sat, getting up form his reclining position to look at the island. a smirk climbed onto his face as he realized just who exactly was calling out to him. there was a dust cloud behind them, the distinguishable strawhat held in his hands.

“[name]!!! wait for me out at sea!!” he shouted, almost falling into the sea water below as his stopping was rough and uncalculated.

[name] stood up on his rocky grounding, cupping the sides of his mouth so that his voice was amplified, “i’ll wait for you, luffy!!! we’ll meet again!”

he put his hands on his hips, smiling gently as he saw the energetic boy jump up and down at immeasurable heights just so he could be seen.

“you’re my captain, afterall,” he said, this time only for his own ears to hear.

—

Pirate Rookie, [Name], has been officially dubbed ‘The Cursed Orphan’ by the government as a wanted pirate! If handed over to any local government facility, ALIVE ONLY, you will be granted a prize of 200,000,000 BERI.

His powers are unknown, so proceed with caution if you so choose to pursue him. Their most notable strength, however, is the famed sword that is wrapped in protective cloth and scabbard that was once used by one of the Yonko, “Red Hair” Shanks.

—

a certain ravenette threw his head back in laughter, the hat on his head almost falling off. his boots were kicked up on a bar table and his chest was moving rapidly with his laughs filling the air.

“[name]! man, i wish i knew where you were, i’d sail over in an instant,” he said, a soft look in his eyes as he looked at the man’s wanted poster, “oi! you better keep an eye out for me too because i won’t be falling behind!”

the people in the bar were looking at him weird for having a conversation with a piece of paper, looking borderline crazy as he did so. his freckled cheeks were so high due to how wide his smile was, showcasing his pearly whites.

“i miss you, but it’s relieving to know that you’re fine,” he sipped his drink and wiped the excess at the side of his mouth with the back of his hand, “who am i kidding?! you were the most tame out of the four of us! bahaha!”

more people began whispering about his strange actions, the owner of the bar looking a bit fearful and hesitant on stopping his disruptive actions.

“someone! quick get me a knife! i’m keeping this picture in my pocket!” he called out, his thumb gently brushing up and down the pictured person’s cheek. he yelled with such passion his wavy hair was no longer shielding his eyes, shifting around with how aggressive his movements were.

yeah, he was definitely crazy, the people all concluded.

—

luffy laughed his head off seeing [name]’s wanted poster.

“he looks so badass, wow! hehe, [name]’s got a bounty, [name]’s got a bounty!” he danced in a circle, kicking his feet up high to show his excitement, his laughter filling the entire house of bandits. “come on, let’s frame it as soon as possible, i’ll keep it safe in my room!”

“there will be no such thing happening in this household! your idolization of him should have stopped long ago!” dadan scolded, the cigarette in her mouth threatening to fall out. luffy didn’t seem to pay attention to her, though, as he continued to run around the house, holding [name]’s wanted poster up as if it were a sacred piece of meat.

there was silence amongst the mountain bandits, nothing but luffy’s shouts resonating in the entire house. that was until dadan abruptly stood up, looking at the subordinates around her as if they were crazy.

“what do you all think you’re doing!? get up and find me the finest frame in town, i don’t care if you have to steal it! hurry up, you bunch of lazy asses!”

“hey! this posters mine, get your own!” luffy shouted defensively, holding the paper close to his chest.

“and grab another wanted poster of [name] while you’re in town!” dadan added in, knowing that stubborn look in luffy’s eyes. how territorial his behavior was was ridiculous, in dadan’s opinion.

—

the low ponytail of h/c hair gently swayed in the wind, the man of the hour looking at his own poster with a childish grin. he just finished reading the article that was next to his wanted poster, boosting his ego a little bit as he did so.

“i haven’t even made it to the grand line yet,”

a/n: i don't think .. .. . long fanfictions/series get that much attention on tumblr, but i just felt the need to publish my ff on here bc I JUST FELT LIKE THERE WAS A GENUINE DROUGHT OF MALE READER SHIT ON HERE !! i dont know how to explain it beyond that. i would like for this to be successful on here, but at the same time . .. .. i don't really care ??? for getting high number of notes, follows, etc. because as long as it reaches my target audience - that's all i really care about. like of course, i would like for this to grow successful on this platform as well, but to me that looks like engagement and interactions from those that this story applies to (male readers, basically)

ー

『 next 』

[sunkty]

March 2th. A day that many times Sanji would rather forget than celebrate.

He never really got excited for his birthday, if you ask him. In Germa 66, his biological family didn't actually care about it — "waste of time", his 'father' declared. However, it was different in the Baratie. Zeff wasn't one to outright show the kid any affection like that, maybe some praises, but in Sanji's birthday he gathered the entire restaurant to celebrate.

—— Nowadays, on the Going Merry...

With a sigh, Sanji puffed out some smoke, releasing it in the breezy and salty wind of the sea. Usopp was sat next to him, yapping like there was no tomorrow coming. It wasn’t so bad, but Sanji couldn't really hear him anymore. Was he really worth all of this? He doesn’t think so. This is all so weird, in the very least.

"..Sanji?" The sniper waved a calloused hand in front of the cook's eyes. "Earth to Mars?? You listening?" The simple words snapped him out of it, un-hunching his posture and turning over to Usopp.

"Um. Yeah, sorry, Usopp. It's nothing." his gaze trailed off, but he quickly reminded himself to maintain eye contact to try and not think too much about this. Try and not think much about everything. "What were you talking about?"

"Your special day, of course! What else?" Sanji simply shrugged, and that already made Usopp quirk an eyebrow. "Dude. You don’t even care about your own birthday?" It wasn't hard to see that the sniper was quite shocked with that. Rising up from his seat he dramatically placed his hands on his waist, a determined look on his face. "The great captain Usopp shall make this birthday be the best birthday ever!! And you, you should rest."

"Usopp, no-" but he quickly got interrupted.

"Usopp, yes!" Raising an arm to the air and then pointing his thumb to himself, the sniper smirked, "I won't let you do anything today. Breakfast's on me!" With that, Usopp began running over to the kitchen — stupid little sniper! Sanji tried to catch up and run after him, but got met with a big SLAM! from the kitchen's door. The smallest sound of the Strawhats' voices could be heard.

—— Some time later...

The warm, cozy rays of sunshine agressively hit on Sanji's face, making him stir and wake up from a small nap he had. The sky was painted so beautifully. Mixes of pinks and oranges that one could admire all da–

Wait. What's this smell? Oh, it's kinda nice. Cake, maybe? It seems to be a little bit burned, though. The smell follows loud and confusing chattering, plus some screams. "What the hell..?" The cook sits up, trying to see what's going on in the kitchen.

BLAM! The door brutely opens, slapping Sanji right in the face. The Strawhats step out of the kitchen with Usopp holding a cake, holding it up while arguing with Luffy. Sanji, massaging his own nose, tilts his head at the view, raising a curly brow.

When the crew spots Sanji, almost everybody jumps up to him and engulf him in a big, full of limbs mess of a hug, making the poor cook so very confused. His ears flare up and he looks down at them. "Guys.. What is this?" at that, they all scream:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SANJI!"

And even if he hates this day, March 2th, he couldn't help but feel his eyes begin to burn, tears threatening to spill out in that split second.

Usopp walks up to him, holding the cake — a birthday cake, decorated oh-so-sloppily. There was a failed attempt of writing "Happy Birthday" in the cake, but that wasn't any problem.. Sanji could see it was with so, so much love from his crew. And he couldn't be more grateful.

"Shishishi~! Can we eat now?!" The captain exclaims, almost throwing himself to eat everything, but holding back.

"Of course. Thank you guys, so much. This truly is the best birthday ever!.." A beaming grin escaped the cook's lips. Sanji knew that, maybe, he didn't need to hate the day he was born from now on.

________________________

guys i procastinated writing this the entire day. I hate writing that's why ok. This was just for Sanji's bday but never again 😋😋

[cosmicarchivist692]

Radiorose Week Day 7: Falling Together

Wow, I can't believe it's day 7 already. I had so much fun writing these and just building this universe. I hope you enjoyed seeing it develop too! Thanks for tuning in!

He kept to the shadows until the man stumbled a little too close to the woods. Alastor swooped out and grabbed him, quickly binding his hands with rope. It wasn't difficult, he had one too many drinks after all. Alastor led him deep into the woods and then, when no one could hear him, fired a shot and killed him.

Alastor had been watching this man for a while. He had started following him as he left the speakeasy. Alastor had seen him slap that woman and it reminded him of his dad and mom. He was going to kill him, the world would be better off without him anyways.

Then a woman released a quick gasp.

Alastor quickly turned and saw a tall woman with full eyes, a long dress, and a sunhat looking at the dead man on the ground. Sighing he cocked the revolver again and turned towards her, it really was a shame what he was going to have to do.

"Hm, do you want him, or can I have him?" A smile appeared on her face as she walked closer to the body. Alastor looked confused and lowered his gun. "What do you mean?"

The woman licked her lips and said, "His muscles look tasty, I'll take care of the body if you don't want to." Alastor cocked his head. "Darling, are you a cannibal?"

"Already calling me darling, hmm?" The woman laughed, "The name's Rosie, and yours?" "Alastor." "Alastor dear, are you the one who keeps leaving corpses out in these woods?"

Alastor blinked, "Yes, that would be me." "Ah! Well it truly is a pleasure to meet you then. Before, I found the occasional corpse you left, and I'm quite glad you left them. I always felt guilty putting down my meals."

"So you're why I haven't been caught and no-one has found any bodies yet? I must say thank you, even if I don't quite agree with your disposal method." Alastor had a bit of a disgusted looking on his face as Rosie knelt close and started to calculate the yield she would get.

"Perhaps you'll come around to it later. I do believe we could work out a bit of an arrangement too." Rosie stood up and dusted her hands off. "You continue your hunting, let me know where to find them, and I'll dispose of them. What do you say dear?"

Alastor stuck a hand out and Rosie shook it. "Deal."

It was a couple years later. They had to move towns a couple times and find new hunting grounds, but they had only been here a couple weeks, they had about 2 months or so before they would have to skip town again.

Rosie was enjoying a meal when Al rushed in the door. Al glanced at her plate before quickly looking away, he had tried it once, but it made him very sick. There was a hint of panic on his face and so Rosie asked, "What's wrong dear?"

"I was trying to take out another target, when gunshots rang out and almost hit me. I ran, but the person survived, they know where we live. The police will be here sooner rather than later." Alastor was slightly worried. "It might be in your best interest to skip town, I'd hate to drag you down in my mistake."

Rosie sighed and hid her panic, "It's alright, we will deal with this and I'll just have leftovers while we skip town again." Rosie knew this was a big deal and wasn't sure if Al would make it by himself.

Al nodded and went to the backroom where they stored extra bullets and he reloaded his revolver. He didn't truly realize how big of a deal this was.

A couple hours later, Rosie looked out the window and chief and his deputy trying to sneak their ways up to the house. She whisper yelled, "Alastor! They're here, prepare for a scrap."

Alastor quickly ran up and hid by the backdoor. They both stood there for 5 minutes before all of a sudden-

Both doors were slammed open and the two police officers entered the building. Rosie got the drop on the chief and their struggle began. The back door hit Alastor and he dropped his gun as the deputy saw him.

BLAM!

The deputy quickly kicked the gun away and charged Alastor. He slammed into the wall and he responded by punching the deputy a couple times in the side. The fight continued.

Meanwhile, Rosie was kicking the chief's butt. She kicked him to the floor and grabbed her cleaver, slowly walking up to him with a smile on her face. She swung at him a couple times, before finally managing to hit him in the shoulder. She pulled it out and prepared to deal a finishing blow when-

Rosie, hearing the gun shot. looked over and charged the deputy. He grabbed a decoration off the table and bashed her in the head with it. Two parts were at the perfect distance apart to hit both of her eyes. She was instantly blinded but kept swinging anyways. The deputy cocked the gun again and shot her to the right of her heart. She slowly bled to death as the deputy made sure the chief would live.

The deputy brought Alastor to the floor and quickly ran for the gun. Alastor grabbed his ankle and brought him to the ground. He held on with all his strength, but he was still overpowered by the deputy. The deputy grabbed the gun and-

BOOM!

Shot Alastor point blank between his eyes.

Alastor had blinked, one moment he was fighting the deputy and the next he was here in... well, wherever here was. He was in the middle of an open field with blood red grass. The sky was gross smoky red and the sun has rings circling it. He only had a moment to look around when Rosie materialized beside him.

Or at least, he thought it was Rosie. She looked different. Her wide eyes were now fully black and almost soulless, her skin had become a gray tint, and her canines had grown. He held a hand out to help her up when he saw his own arm. It was dark gray and... furry?

He quickly pulled back his arm and Rosie just sat up, rubbing her eyes. She was content not standing yet. "Rosie look at me, describe me, what do I look like?"

Rosie stared at Alastor and her eyes widened. "Dear.... you have antlers... um, your hair is red, you have massive ears on the top of your head, and... to put it simply, you look like a deer."

Alastor became dizzy and sat on the ground. He looked around and saw the sign, 'Welcome to Hell.' He turned to Rosie and said, "Rosie look, we're in Hell..."

Rosie simply tilted her head and shrugged, she knew she was going there anyways. Alastor, on the other hand, was in complete disarray.

"Rosie... this is all my fault, if I was more careful, if I had beaten the deputy, I- I- I-" Alastor started rambling, a filter suddenly starting to layer on his voice. Rosie stopped him, "Alastor, I would have left if I didn't want to die. I expected it to happen, but I wanted to try and help you anyways."

"Rosie... I'm so so sorry." Alastor started crying, he didn't want this to happen. He just sat there while tears streamed down his face. Rosie was stunned, she didn't realize Alastor could cry.

She pulled Alastor close and he cried on her shoulder. He wouldn't let anything like this happen again, he would be more careful, more deliberate, stronger. He would become the most powerful demon in Hell and no-one, no-one, would get the better of him again. If they did, maybe then he truly deserved to die.

Author's Note:

Yup, this was late. I got tired last night and fell asleep before I finished. Oops.

@radioroseweek

This one alone, went through so many revisions and so many different plans, it's ridiculous! But I got it done! I'm glad I started working on all of these early, I would not have made it if I wrote each the night before. In good news, I got a custom desk from IKEA! I've been moving (so I'm quite busy lol) and now I finally have a desk I can use an office chair for! (Instead of a stool and a kids table I used to use lol (horribly uncomfortable, do not recommend))

[Previous] [Next] [Masterlist]

[doyelikehaggis]

"You wrote me a song?" for Blam!

TW: mentions of "Shooting Star"

Blaine isn't surprised when he finds Sam alone in the auditorium at lunch. He's been steering clear of the cafeteria nearly all week, and he's pretty sure it's for the same reason that he's been claiming to have an identical twin.

Sam lifts his head when he hears the side door close, and Blaine smiles. He walks over and pulls himself up to sit beside him on the edge of the stage, guitar in his lap. Blaine offers him a muffin that he snagged from the cafeteria after doing a sweep of it and realizing that Sam wasn't there. Unsurprisingly, Sam shakes his head.

"Okay," Blaine says gently, and he places it in the small gap between their thighs. Just in case. He then nods at the guitar. "Am I interrupting...?"

"No, no, it's cool," Sam says, running a hand through his hair. "I was just messing around. Marley talking about doing original songs for Sectionals just got me thinking, which I've been trying not to do a lot of, but I thought that working on a song might help clear my head a bit."

"That makes sense," Blaine says, watching him stare blankly at the empty seats. "Did you come up with anything?"

Sam just shrugs. "Not really. I started trying to write down everything I was thinking, but then it all got jumbled, so I started writing something else instead." He meets his eyes, finally. "I kinda wrote it for you."

Blaine is taken aback. "You wrote me a song?"

"Yeah, you know, like that song that Bernie wrote for Elton," he says, resting his arm on his guitar with a shrug. "Except I obviously can't call it 'Your Song' because that's probably got some copyright infrigement or something. But, basically... last week was terrifying, and it made me realize how important everything is, especially people. You're my best friend and like the most important person in my life, and I guess I just wanted to make sure you know that."

He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't even know if he can speak and he's afraid to try in case all that comes out is the wave of emotions flooding him and threatening to drag him under. He presses his lips together then parts them again to give it a go as his eyes sting.

"That's... the nicest thing anyone has done for me," he breathes out, and his voice betrays him with a quiver. He tries to laugh it off, but for some reason that only brings another wave of emotion crashing down on him. "Thank you."

Sam sets his guitar aside and pulls him in; Blaine crumbles as he wraps his arms around him and holds on for dear life. He can feel Sam doing the same as he inhales a sharp, halting breath before burying his face in his shoulder and hugging him tighter. He could squeeze all the air out of his lungs (and he nearly does) and Blaine wouldn't care.

"I love you, Sam."

His heart squeezes, and he knows he shouldn't have said it. They both know he means it in a way he shouldn't. But he doesn't care, because he needs to say it, and he needs him to hear it.

After a second, Sam sniffles, then he murmurs, "I love you, too."

It doesn't matter in what way. It doesn't. Blaine hears those words and has never felt them so sincerely, and that's all that matters. He knows he is truly loved, and that's more important than anything.

He tightens his arms just a little more, and Sam does, too.

When they know they should probably let go, Sam breaks the heavy silence between them and says, "You haven't even heard the song yet. You might hate it."

Blaine chuckles as he pulls back; there are still tears shining in his eyes, blurring the lights of the auditorium but he blinks enough to keep Sam's face in focus.

"That's true," he jokes. "Maybe you should play it, then."

"What, now?"

"Well, yeah. We still have about ten minutes, we're in the auditorium and you have your guitar, so, I don't see why not." Widening his smile, he tilts his head and says, "Come on, Bernie."

"Okay, but it's not completely done yet, so..."

He picks his guitar back up, throws him a hesitant glance, and then he takes a quick breath before begining to play. Blaine sits and watches, and he listens as he starts singing. His heart follows along, but with every word and glance, he falls even further.

Send me a glee ship and a prompt <3

[joseatta11]

I think to much

I've been seeing a lot of posts talking about whether or not Will Byers have a gun. My personal take-I know no one asked- is that Will has a gun, and can use it just fine. When the demodogs come charging? BLAM! If he cries that night because he killed a living thing? I don't see how that's anybody's business. Well, except for Mike. Mike heard. If Will falls asleep with Mike's long arms wrapped around him? That's a secret nobody needs to know. When they fight Vecna though, all Will hears is the screams of those being ripped apart by the demodogs. All he sees are the demodogs knocking Bob to the ground, his dead body and blood soaked scrubs on the ground moments later. All he smells is the disgusting, putrid smell of the dead. All he tastes is that toxic snow of the Upside Down. All he feels is the gun is his hand. The safety off.

"Do it. Become the man your father always wanted you to be." Vecna goads him. He can't be his father's son though. He won't leave bruises on anyone's back. He won't come back for the money. He-

"Will!" Mike's voice tore him from his thoughts. Will looked up and his heart shattered as he saw Mike, vines wrapped around his throat, pinning him to the tree. The love of his life. Mike goddamned Wheeler. He still feels the ghost of his kiss against his lips. He'll die if he doesn't do this. Everyone'll die if he doesn't do this. He lifts the gun, hand shaking, and aims it.

"It's okay! You don't have to do this!" Mike shouted, giving him that small perfect smile.

"Do it. Do it. Do it." Vecna chanted, smiling. He knew he won. Poor little William Byers was much too weak to pull the trigger. He was a fairy. A queer. A gay. A fag. Will took a glance around. Surely this couldn't be it. They couldn't come all this way just to lose. El's eyes were closed, trying to use what remained of her powers. Max was cursing out Vecna, despite not being able to see him and barely able to talk because of the vines. Lucas and Dustin were hiding somewhere, keeping off the demodogs, completely unaware of the troubling situation. Vecna has caused all this pain and suffering for what? He was different? Yeah, well join the club.

"Fuck you!" Will spat.

"Yeah! Go Will!" Mike cheered as Max whooped. Will aimed the gun, finger settling on the trigger.

"Kill that Motherfucker!" Max whooped.

"We love you!" El yelled. Those three simple words were enough. More than enough. Will pulled the trigger. It struck Vecna right in the chest. He stumbled back in surprise. The world dulled around him. He thought he would be ready for this. His world turned fuzzy as Vecna's blood splattering on the ground.

"Will!" Mike's words echoed before he landed hard on the floor.

23 years later Will Byers still has nightmares about pulling the trigger. About the blood splatter and the deafening BLAM! It's not all bad stuff though. 23 years later Will Byers is now Will Wheeler-Byers. 23 years later El and Dustin have been happily married for ten years and Lucas and Max have been married for fifteen. 23 years later Mike and Will made the best selling comics Stranger Things. 23 years later Will is happy.

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I didn't mean to make it that long, I'm really sorry. I kind of want to make a fanfic now. All in all, what I'm saying is that Will would pull the trigger but he would hate it.

[transias]

Don't Knock It Till' You've Tried It.

Pairings: Steven Meeks x Gender Neutral Reader

Warnings: None! Only if you count Meeks being an adorable bastard a warning :)

Summary: The reader has been having difficulties with Latin, Meeks offers to tutor them and one thing leads to them sharing a kiss.

〰️

I had a love/hate relationship with Latin. I thought it was a beautiful and majestic language. But at the same time, I wanted to throw my Latin books off of a cliff.

I groan silently, not wanting to disturb any of the Poets' conversation. I only manage to catch the attention to Meeks, who looks over at me with a somewhat worried look on his face.

"Everything okay, (y/n)?"

I shake my head, "Latin is kicking my ass. So far, i've managed to get my work in but i'm extremely worried for this Thursday's test."

Meeks nods, "Well, if you'd like, I can tutor you this afternoon. If you'd like of course."

I glance at him and raise my eyebrow, "You would do that for me?" He nods once again, "Yes, we're friends! It's what we do, help each other."

Right... friends.

Lunch is over soon and we stand up, "Meet me at the library at four o'clock. Okay?" He asks. I nod at him before we start walking towards our next class.

〰️

Four o'clock rolled around soon and I was waiting for Meeks in the library, lightly tapping my foot.

"Hey, sorry i'm a bit late. Cameron fell in the mud and he didn't take too kindly to Charlie's jokes." Meeks chuckled.

"Aww, damn! I always miss the good things." I mumble.

The two of us began studying soon, Meeks seemed a little more fluent in Latin than I did. A thought crosses my mind and I let out a small laugh.

He glances over at me, "What?" I shake my head quickly, "Oh uh- nothing, just a silly thought I had, that's it."

"What was it about?" Meeks asks. I sigh, "You won't make fun of me, will you?" Meeks shakes his head, "Of course not!"

"You know, in these comics I read, there's this alien princess, right? Well, when she comes down to Earth, she basically learns English and other languages by kissing the people who can speak that language. I just thought how much easier it'd be if you and I kissed and blam! I suddenly know your level of Latin." I chuckle nervously.

Meeks smiles softly, a rosy color rising in his cheeks. "I uhh- yeah, that would be easier."

I tilt my head a little, "You wouldn't- wanna kiss, would you?" I tease. Steven slowly sits up straight, his cheeks now turning into tomatoes basically.

"Ye- I mean, you still wouldn't be able to speak Latin." He replies.

I chuckle and shake my head, "Hey, don't knock it 'till you've tried it."

I move slightly closer to him, "This is okay with you, right?" I ask. Steven nods, leaning in a little.

We sat in silence, waiting for one of us to make a move on each other. 'Come on, (y/n)! You've thought about kissing him all the ti-'

My thoughts pause as soon as I feel Steven's soft lips on mine. I kiss him back and all I can think of is him, all I feel are butterflies paralyzing my entire body from head to toe.

We pull away and he looks at me, "Quid agis?" He asks. "Excuse me?" I ask.

"Oh, that means 'how do you do?" in Latin. So I guess your little alien princess kiss thing didn't work out." Meeks replies, a playful smirk resting on his lips.

"Shut up, dork."

〰️

After a few more minutes of studying and swooning over each other, the tutoring session was over.

We walked out to the hallway and before we parted ways, Meeks stopped me, placing his hand gently on my arm. "I uhh- I was wondering if you'd like to hang out with me sometime? Just the two of us without the rest of the guys."

I raise an eyebrow, "Mr. Meeks, are you asking me out on a date?" He nervously chuckles and nods, "Y-yeah, I just didn't want to seem too straight forward incase it freaked you out."

I smile at him and nod, "Don't worry, I would love to go out on a date with you."

[unprofessional-bard]

Chapter 12 - The Development, Pt. III

Unprofessional Bard's Masterlist

Losing My Religion Series Masterlist

Previous Chapter • Next Chapter

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female!Reader/OC

Warnings: nightmares, patrol action, detailed description of bloodshed/violence, jealousy, hurt/comfort-ish.

Summary: A patrol gone wrong.

Word Count: 6.030

Author's Note: It's been almost a month since I updated I think I'm so sorry y'all 😭 I'll be done with language school in the following days so I'll update a lot more often and catch up with requests!!

Enjoy!

"Look, there!" Kiki whispered and pointed at a bush at the edge of a cliff. You, her and your husbands were hunting anything you could find for the town, and it was apparently going to be a rather large looking hare.

You looked around quickly for signs of movement and asked, bow at the ready: "Where?"

"I think it's hiding in the bush," She spoke quietly as you and Joel went towards the edge with quiet steps– you from the left and him from the right. He was quick with a pistol, but bullets were a last resort for hunting as it ruined the carcass and the meat, plus it was too loud.

"You see it?" You asked Joel and drew your arm back as far as it went and held your breath, looking for the animal desperately.

"I don't think it's–"

Blam!

The arrow sprang at the unexpected, loud sound of the pistol from behind you going off and something piercing your back. You heard Joel shout your name as you fell on your side, the bow slipping from your hands. As soon as you raised your eyes up at him, a second shot rang out in the air and a scream left your lips at the sight of Joel collapsing across you with a hole on the side of his head.

"Joel!"

You woke up with a loud gasp and sweat trickling down the sides of your face. Panting heavily, you couldn't speak for a while, sitting and trying to catch your breath. As soon as you snapped out of it, your hand went to look for Joel, where he was supposed to be in bed next to you, but he wasn't there.

"Joel?!" You called for him, running a hand through your hair and launching yourself out of bed and downstairs in the meantime. It was noon, the weather was a tad bit more hotter than usual. You practically ran downstairs as soon as you heard chatter coming from the dining room.

With the pounding in your ear and the fear that struck your heart, you couldn't hear who it was, but your jaw clenched and the blood flow in your veins came to a stop when you saw it was none other than Kiki and Joel sitting at the table, laughing.

"Oh, hey (Y/N)," Joel took notice of your abrupt entrance, but didn't seem bothered by your tense expression. "We were just talking about you."

"... Were you now?" You murmured.

"Come sit," Joel pointed at your usual seat at the head of the table, where you proceeded to walk towards. You entered the room with a dry mouth and slumped shoulders, your eyes never leaving Kiki's evil looking ones despite her smile.

"Yeah, she brought you these flowers and a letter," Joel extended them over to you with a curious, unusual smile spread across his lips. You were utterly dumbfounded as well as fuming, glaring daggers at him, then slowly took the said items from his hand.

Another thing that irked you was how Kiki was sitting in Joel's usual place across the other head of the table, while your husband was sat to your left. You looked at the flower for a while, but couldn't identify it, so you impatiently ripped through the neat package of the letter in question– giving hostile stares to them both as you did.

The paper was folded a few times to resemble a gift card. On the outside, it read Congratulations!

A nervous glance was sent Joel's way, who was flashing his teeth at you. Something he hadn't done in a long while. You then sent a nasty glare to Kiki, then it lowered down to the card in front of you, and with slow movements, you opened it: You don't have to worry about a thing anymore!

Before you could even think what the hell, the cocking of a gun from across you had you looking up at the speed of sound. Wide, bewildered eyes meeting the muzzle of a pistol held by Kiki, who now stood up across you.

You weren't given a moment to form a single word, when the gun went off and you felt it go through your skull, sending your body backwards. The force of it sent you falling with the chair, a horrified and confused expression painted across your face as the back of your head hit the floor.

You saw Joel walk over to you and kneel down with a blank expression on his face, saying your name...

Over... and over... and over again.

"(Y/N)?!" A sharp voice and a firm hand shaking you by the shoulder was what you heard for a brief second before your eyes shot open and a scream rippled through you.

You couldn't see who it was, but you'd know who the arms wrapped around you belonged to anyway.

"(Y/N), it's okay!" Ellie's worried voice somehow matched the grip she had around your body. You must've fallen asleep on the couch, where you had laid down to kill some time before the sweep. You held onto her tightly and pushed yourself back into her embrace as you let out a wail after a deep breath. "It's okay, I got you Dolly..."

You felt her hand caressing your back soothingly as she sat behind you and didn't let her hold weaken around your trembling form. Leaning down, you turned around and pressed your face into her shoulder, and she managed to hug you more properly.

It took a moment, but your attack turned into just hyperventilating, and that came to a stop eventually as well– Ellie just murmured assurances and made sure her grip around you never failed.

You pulled back when you felt yourself calm down: "I'm sorry–"

"It's okay," Ellie rubbed your back in a comforting motion, which made you feel a little better somehow. "You've nothing to apologise for... I hate bad dreams."

"Oh, I hate this one specifically," You chuckled and sniffed. "You think, after a long time of dealing with them, you'll get used to them, but you never really do."

She nodded: "Yeah... You want some water? Tommy sent me to grab you for the sweep."

You groaned and rubbed your temples: "I'd like that, I just neeed a moment to collect myself."

While Ellie was in the kitchen, you put your elbows on your thighs and held the back of your neck, trying but failing miserably to remove the images from your mind. At that moment, you felt the fear in your heart slowly turn into disdain and anger. Your breathing was heavy, and the beginnings of a terrible headache made its presence known.

"Here," Ellie's soft steps made you look up and take the glass from her with a quiet thank you. "You... wanna talk about it?"

You shook your head sideways as you took a big gulp: "Not now... Thank you though."

Twenty minutes later, you arrived at the stables to find Tommy and Joel. The sight of your husband almost made you run up, jump on and kiss him like a child, but you were a woman nearing her fifties, and Joel was a man alreadt in his fifties. Plus, you didn't want to worry him.

"Sorry, I fell asleep," You couldn't help the smallest relieved smile on your face as you approached them with quick steps. Joel didn't look very amused while Tommy urged you both to get going.

Since you were late, which wasn't a common occurrence, Joel had sent the others beforehand and decided to wait for you: "You okay?"

"Sure," You shrugged once you got on your horses.

"You look very pale," He observed, but when the doors opened, you both rode off. You rode fast, so you didn't talk more until you arrived at the meeting point.

The both of you were still a little tense from the previous day, and it hurt you –him too no doubt– but you both knew things could quickly escalate into a fight, and that you both needed to cool your heads before you could sit down and talk.

"We'll talk, okay? After we're done with the patrols altogether," You spoke softly before you both reached the others, to which he nodded with an expression devoid of tension.

"They're here," Bruce tilted his head your way as you waved briefly.

"Right." Joel said after the short greetings. "Kiki and I will search the houses, starting from the one beside the library. (Y/N) and Ward– You two'll search the library while Walt and Bruce will go for that little grocery store on the corner. Anything you can't handle? Holler and come back here."

Everyone gave a single nod as he explained how the sweep was going to go. You shared a brief look with Joel, then tilted your head at the library with a quiet come on to Ward. He nodded and followed you around to the sides of the building to find an opening– a window did the trick, and there were spores inside, but no movement: "Masks on."

After putting them on, you quietly jumped in and Ward followed; you then went back to the entry to open the doors in case you needed an emergency exit, then grabbed your rifle tightly and nodded at him to start moving; your mind raced with thoughts about the amount of fungal growth on the walls, how Ward was going to react if you got into trouble– if he was going to be the reason you'd get into trouble, and at the back, Kiki and Joel.

It wasn't long before you started hearing whimpers and gasps of runners inside. You whispered to him to follow you into the section behind the register, pulling out your knives and starting to clear the infected one by one. If Ward didn't grunt or groan too loudly, you imagined things would go more smoothly with patrols as he drew too much attention. He fought very angrily, like a Berserker, all the time; but he had it under control a lot more comparing to his first times.

It went well for the most part, carefully clearing the whole floor took as long as Kiki and Joel to get out of the house they were searching. When you were looking for a way to the second floor that wasn't barricaded, Joel stepped inside the library with his mask on: "Everything going okay?"

"Yup, this floor is cleared," You started walking towards him, Ward following suite. "I can still hear some infected upstairs though, but all the stairways are closed off–"

You suddenly stopped, the abruptness making Ward halt as well. Suddenly realising how unstable the ground was, you looked down very slowly, the squeaking of rotten wood beneath your feet making you tense up.

"Dolly?" Joel took a step towards you.

"Wait, no!" Your head and hands shot up to stop him. He stood right on the line where the wood and concrete connected: "Oh, fuck."

"What?!" Ward looked around.

"We're gonna fall if we're not careful," You spoke, on edge, alerting everyone and suddenly wondering where Kiki was. "Ward, you're closer to that counter, right?"

"Yeah," He turned around without moving his feet.

"Okay," You carefully put a foot forward and felt the wood shift unnervingly. "At the count of three, we jump."

"What's going on?" Kiki suddenly appeared out of nowhere and walked in, startling all of you.

"Stay back!" You cried out when she stepped right on the edge of the wooden surface, a step ahead of Joel.

As if she was doing it on purpose, with an ugly expression on her face, she took a particularly harsh step forward: "I don't understand, what's–"

A loud crack made your head shoot up, bewildered eyes meeting Kiki's at first, then Joel's panicked ones. Now or never! your brain screamed as you extended an arm out for Joel, and jumped forward.

————

Joel extended his arm out the same time you did, quickly kneeling down and leaning forward to grab you, but the wood was quicker. The distance between you two was too far, so the rotten ground swallowed you before your fingers could brush against Joel's.

"(Y/N)!" Joel shouted when a fearful shriek left your throat, watching you fall into the darkness. He quickly raised his head with great fear only to see Ward hanging on the edge of the counter, struggling grunts spilling from his lips. He tried to climb, but his hands slipped, and it caused him to fall in with you.

"Ward!" Kiki screamed. She had stepped back, but did nothing as she watched you both fall. Joel was too out of it to pay attention to either of them, he yelled your name desperately into the hole on the ground when it got quiet, the insufficient amount of light frustrating him. The dust and spores which rose with the commotion made it harder for him to see, even with his flashlight.

You were gone.

Slipped out of his touch the last second.

————

Your soul left your body when the makeshift floor gave out and you felt yourself fall. You couldn't reach Joel in time, and the look of terror on his face got branded onto your memory with hot iron at that exact moment.

"Oof!" Your chest hit what you assumed to be a bookshelf after you fell some distance. It gave out and two shelves broke under your ribs, which knocked the breath out of you, then you felt the slow collapsing of the bookshelf backwards. You panicked, then fell a second time on your arm. A pained, howl-like sound left you when you did, a few books falling on top of you. A particularly thin but open book's pages cut your bare shoulder as you shielded your face to protect your mask while everything fell, and fell, and fell.

Then, suddenly, there was another loud crash with a painful shout, which let you know Ward couldn't make it out and fell with you.

Then, there was silence.

You heard Joel shout your name once, then twice. Your head was spinning, and there was an irritating ringing in your ear which mostly cancelled out every other noise around. When you realised your consciousness remained, by some miracle, you checked your mask for any cracks before trying to move out of the fetal position you were in.

An all glass mask still intact, you didn't seem to have broken any bones (except for a few ribs probably) and you were still conscious– Some luck, huh.

Still kicking.

"I'm okay!" You shouted once you made sure everything was in place, but you were, in fact, not okay.

"Oh Christ," you heard Joel cry out and realised you were trapped under the collapsed bookshelf, but you were able to drag yourself out of there and stand up. Suddenly, you began hearing the growling and gasping of infected, but you couldn't see them.

"Where's Ward?!" Kiki shouted and you immediately began searching for him, turning on your flashlight.

"Here–" You heard a growl from a few feet away from you. From the sound of it, he was struggling as if he was being crushed. Your head was spinning, but you still tried to locate him.

"There's infected down here," You spoke. "We need to get out of here ASAP, where are you Ward?"

"Under– Here–" He coughed and you saw a fallen bookshelf move to your left. As quietly as possible, you skipped over to him and helped him lift the shelf off his back.

"Shit!" You immediately pulled out your pistol when you saw a stalker spring free, and fired two shots into it's face before it could reach Ward.

"(Y/N)?!" You heard Joel again. "That's it, we're coming down there, hang on!"

"No!" You walked back to where he was kneeling and a small wave of relief washed over you when you saw his face. "Stay there, we'll find a way to get out of here."

"No (Y/N)–!"

"She's right!" Kiki suddenly tugged at Joel's arm and it took all of your might to yell at her to back off, so you bit your tongue: "We're making too much noise, we don't know what's down there."

It became quiet again, which was when a door across the place you were in crashed open with the obnoxious clicking noises, followed by drawn out chokes and gasps.

You and Ward stood very still at the sudden intrusion, one hand going to your knife and the other to your pistol, trying to breathe as quietly as possible.

————

"We're going to cover for them if anything goes wrong, ready yourself," Joel growled at the woman beside her and got in position, his rifle at the ready, aiming it at the clicker closest to the his wife and Ward.

Kiki did as he told and aimed her pistol at a runner. They quietly watched as the pair sneaked around, but it was proving to be very hard because of the pieces of wood and books everywhere. Joel watched you motion Ward to go around the other way, no doubt to cover more ground.

Soon, a runner spotted you mid-takedown, and launched itself in your direction. Joel's rifle went off without hesitation, while Kiki was keeping an eye on her husband. It all went to chaos in a matter of seconds.

After a few torturous minutes, the infected in the area were cleared, you stepped out to the light and spoke: "Okay, I think I see the light from the other side of the door they came in, maybe there's a way that'll lead us out of here."

Joel sighed, and gulped: "Are you okay– Clean? How hurt are you?"

"I'm fine, Joel, we're clean," You looked back at Ward briefly. "You should go and warn Walt and Bruce... we'll come back with a full sweep team another day."

"Okay, just be–" Joel spoke worriedly, only to be cut off by a loud, monstrous growl from below.

"Shit!" He saw you turn your head away and at that moment, a bloater put a hole through where the door was.

His heart dropped at the sight: "Be careful!" He immediately got up and started firing at the bloater, drawing its attention to him while the both of you hid and ran. Kiki followed suit and fired a little more, but Joel stopped her: "Save your bullets, let's go grab Walt and Bruce."

They ran out — the sun had almost disappeared by the time they made it to the street of the grocery store.

————

The fire Joel and Kiki opened drew the bloater's attention enough for you and Ward to sneak behind it, but it didn't take the bloater too long to hear your footsteps.

You desperately looked for a place to hide, or a higher ground– anything that would buy you some time to prepare a molotov or two. As you did, you also found a an extra bottle and some cloth lying around: It was mandatory to carry a bottle of mixed gasoline and oil in case people were stuck in situations similar to yours, and you'd never been more thankful for the rule.

The bloater came through the hole just when you'd grabbed the bottle, so before you could prepare anything, you started running again. Ward was aimlessly firing behind you two, so you stopped him: "Save your bullets!"

He did as you asked and followed you through an L shaped, long corridor: "What the hell is that?!"

"It's a bloater!" You turned the corner, tucking a rag into the bottle you found and began taping the cloth in place. It was hard, but it was also second nature to you. "These things are fucking hard to kill— You gotta make each bullet count, you hear me?!"

A soft exploding sound made you gasp, watching in slow motion as Ward ducked the spores launched at him. The bloater had stopped at the corner as you both ran to the other end where there were dual doors.

"Don't stop running, we gotta knock those doors down!" You yelled and braced yourself, Ward doing the same. Your eyes quickly darted around the door to see if it had any locks that would prevent your launch, and it didn't, but you knew then that the door was locked from the other side.

Before you could stop yourself, not realising you were too close to the door, you slammed into it and fell back with much force– as you had predicted.

Ward met the same fate, but he just stumbled backwards. You realised the bloater was getting closer: "We can't let it corner us, check that door!"

There was a wooden door to the left, which Ward opened without effort, and you rolled inside right before a spore bomb hit you. He quickly closed the door behind you and pushed a vending machine in front of it as you instantly collected yourself and poured the mix through the small hole on the neck of the bottle with shaky hands.

Not long later, the bloater walked through the wall next to the door as if it were nothing, making Ward curse. You immediately pulled out your lighter and set the rag on fire, and with a cry, threw it against its chest. While it was distracted you started firing into its head, not realising what Ward was doing– With incredible power, he pushed the vending machine towards the bloater and overthrew it. The bloater stumbled backwards and growled, Ward's actions making you panic.

"There!" He yelled when he turned towards you and pointed at a big hole on the wall behind you– he quickly boosted you through and jumped to the other side while the bloater was still recovering from the fire.

"You need to cover me so I can make more molotoves," You said and started making another while looking around. You were in a bigger and more spacious area, and you saw a way out immediately: A small drawer shelf and another vending machine next to it – a makeshift stair which led to an upper floor, where light came in.

But before you could even point at the place, the bloater came crushing through the wall, making you both jump and run away.

"Over here, you ugly bitch!" Ward hollered and drew the bloater's attention while you made quick work of a second molotov. Too focused on it, you almost didn't hear Ward shout: "(Y/N) look out!"

You quickly rolled to the side as the bloater ran towards you, trying to grab you. The bottle you had prepared got crushed, which made you curse, but you still had one more bottle left. It was already prepared, but you had to be careful. You started firing again, until Ward shouted: "There's a door!"

You kept the bloater distracted as you dodged the spores, while Ward opened the door and motioned for you to get in. You ran past it as fast as your legs allowed, and threw yourself inside.

Ward cried as he pushed something heavy in front of the door– you couldn't tell what it was in the dim lighting but it did a good job stopping the bloater from going through, which let you take a deep breath.

"God dammit," You growled quietly and held the side of your ribcage. "We're trapped, we gotta move quickly– we've only one shot at this. You saw the way up, right?"

"Yeah, I did," Ward panted.

"Right, I'm guessing that this corridor leads us to the door on the other corner of the area," You tilted your head towards the L shaped corridor behind you. "I'm gonna make another molotov– The moment it spots us, I'll throw it. It'll buy us some time for us to climb out of here."

Ward listened and watched as you made another molotov with hands shakier than before: "You okay?"

"I will be once I see the moonlight," You groaned and pulled out your lighter. "Let's go!"

————

Blam!

"Looks like we got here just in time," Joel grunted, wiped his forehead, then extended Walt a hand to lift him off the floor after shooting a stalker –which was on top of the redhead– in the head. "Y'all okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Walt nodded and fixed his posture. "Why are you here, somethin' wrong?"

"(Y/N) and Ward are trapped below the library with a bloater, we gotta move quick; come back here some other time with a bigger crew." Joel started sprinting back the way they came after he made sure everyone was ready to go.

"What's up with all the infected?" Bruce chimed in, out of breath. "I mean, all these other infected I get, but a bloater?"

"We need to come back with a full sweep team," Walt agreed. "Let's get (Y/N) and Ward."

————

"Go, go, go!" You whisper yelled at Ward after checking and making sure from the other door that the bloater was still trying to break down the door you two escaped from. As soon as you both stepped out, the bloater heard Ward's heavy footsteps and started charging at the both of you. Following the plan one by one, you threw the molotov and set the bloater on fire again, slowing down it's movements.

Your mistake was to think it was beginning to die after its movements slowed down.

You fired at the bloater, emptying what little ammo you had left, all the while Ward climbed his way up: "(Y/N) come on! There's the exit, this way!"

The horrifying realisation of the bloater not being dead poured down on you like iced water, which made you run towards the makeshift stairs like hell. The abomination chased after you with a disgusting noise, which made your fear level rise all the more. You practically threw yourself on the drawer, but miscalculated your steps and slipped, almost falling off the vending machine.

Trying to get up allowed the bloater to catch up with you and before you could jump towards Ward, it grabbed your ankle. A shriek left you as he caught you by the wrists: "Hold on!"

————

"You know a way around to the back? They went through there—" Joel pointed at the huge gap on the wall down where you and Ward fell, but suddenly heard the echo of your shriek from far away. He tensed up, turning towards Walt and shouting: "Do you?!"

"I think I do, come on!" Bruce exclaimed and led the group of four out.

————

You desperately stomped on the bloater's head with your free foot as its big, fungi covered hand gripped your ankle tighter and pulled. Ward was doing everything in his power to pull you up, and for a second you thought his grip was stronger than the bloater's– that your wrists were going to come off.

The man suddenly grabbed you from under your armpits, partly hugging you as he leaned forward and emptied his pistol into the bloater's face. With a final kick from you, the bloater let you go. The sudden move sent you flying with Ward, his back hitting the floor, hard. You rolled over him and landed facedown, the both of you letting out cries and grunts at the impact. You groaned, realising that your mask finally broke when you landed on your face, but thankfully there were no spores around.

You remained in the same position as you breathed heavily, Ward panting beside you, groaning as he also remained on his back. The noises from the bloater started to fade away. You couldn't move, the shock of everything tied your tongue and a knot to your stomach– you felt as if you looked Medusa straight in the eyes just a second ago.

————

"Look through there," Bruce pointed at the backdoor of the storage of the library, Joel sprinting towards it with Kiki behind him. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw your rigid form on the floor. You were on your side, one hand supporting to keep you up, your left  arm resting on the curve of your hip. Right then, Ward got up in the same position from behind you, and equally confused and tired look on his face.

The sight was quick to send a shiver down his spine: The bridge of your nose was bleeding, your mask was broken, and Ward laying behind you unintentionally reminded him of the time he had accidentally walked in on Tommy and his then girlfriend before the outbreak. The memory was funny, but for some wicked reason Joel himself didn't understand, it didn't help the scenery in front of him.

He never said it, but he never liked the amount of patrol time Maria had assigned you and Ward (and him and Kiki). The reason he didn't speak up was because how he got off on the wrong foot with his sister-in-law all those years ago when he tried to get Tommy to leave with Ellie.

He wouldn't admit but Joel was a jealous man. There never were any fights between you and him because of his jealousies –or between him and some other person– and he also never thought badly of you. The years you spent together and the things that occured in the past few weeks... he was more than assured that you loved him and that you'd do anything for him: He hadn't felt like how he felt with you alnost his whole life.

It wasn't you that made him angry – when he took your words about Kiki and the couple in general into consideration, it was Ward's presence behind you and so close to you that got him angry.

But it wasn't the first thought that came to his mind.

Your mask's glass was broken.

After you slipped out of his grip... thinking you may have died and that he might have had to collect your body from down there, seeing you alive and in one piece made him run towards you without a second thought.

————

The heavy footsteps from outside made you panic and turn to the left onto your side, Ward repeating your move but to the right, rising his upper body up to see past you. Ward had a hard time figuring out who that was with the dim lighting, but you immediately knew who that was.

As soon as his eyes landed on you, he ran towards you with incredible urgency. You instinctively reached an arm out to him and he (unintentionally) harshly grabbed you and pulled you into a rib crushing embrace, also dragging you slightly away from Ward with the suddenness of the move. You hugged him back immediately with one arm and took your mask off with the other, tears finally strolling down your face as soon as your chin met his shoulder. You inhaled his scent– your chest hurted a little from how tight he was hugging you, but you didn't stop him: not a single sound of protest from you was heard.

"Ward... Ward!" Kiki called out and ran past you both towards her husband, who pushed her away. Walt and Bruce walked in last and their hearts warmed at the sight of you and Joel. People outside your inner circle rarely saw you cry or be overcome with negative emotions, so this was a little new for them.

"Joel..." A whimper left your lips.

"I know– I know baby," He rubbed the side of his face against your hair, his own tears warm against your bare shoulder. He finally pulled back after a moment, cupping your cheek and taking a proper look at you: "Are you– your mask–?"

"It broke just now," You nodded and gulped. "Landed face first after Ward pulled me out of there."

Joel gave the man in question a look of sympathy and thankfulness: "You saved her."

It was more a statement than a question, but Ward still replied: "She saved me too, y'know, she's–"

You turned around with a smile, getting up with Joel's help: "If it weren't for you just a few minutes ago I would've died, Ward. You pulled me out," You extended a hand over to him: "Thank you."

He looked between your face and hand, then grabbed it, pushing himself up with an awkward but genuine smile, Kiki completely forgotten: "I thank you too."

You hugged Joel's side after giving Ward's shoulder a pat, you husband's arm wrapping around your waist: "You did good today. We did good."

Ward smiled a bit more fully this time, appreciative of your comment but completely beaten. Joel placed a kiss on your temple after he turned the both of you around to leave, and you pressed yourself even more to his side.

"Let's get y'all out of here," Walt tilted his head towards the door after looking down the area you both climbed out of before, the bloater making it's way back to the hole on the wall to the right.

"Will there be a long period of time where I won't be seeing you in here, (Y/N)?" Katherine smirked when you and Joel entered the examination room.

"Perhaps when I'm as old as Eugene, but that's not stopping him, so..." You both chuckled as Joel helped you sit down.

"What was it this time?" Katherine put her gloves and medical mask on, taking a seat across your bed.

"A bloater, a dozen other infected," You squinted when she lit a flashlight into your eye. "Oh, and, I fell through the floor and onto a bunch of bookshelves. My–"

"Ribs are probably broken. I guessed," She chuckled, then pointed at your nose: "And this?"

"My mask shattered when I– don't worry, there were no spores," You said immediately when her eyes went wide.

"And your ankle?"

"The bloater tugged on it."

"It what?" Katherine and Joel blurted out spontaneously. You proceeded to tell the whole story from your fall to Ward dragging you out as the doctor finished her examination.

"I don't know how you do it, but you're damn lucky you got outta this with two broken ribs, a grade one concussion and a few cuts." Katherine threw her gloves and mask away after she completed treating your nose and other cuts. "Take some painkillers for sleep and you'll be on your feet tomorrow, but you already knew that. Try not to lean on your ankle for a few days and take it easy with your ribs."

"Thanks Katherine," You smiled sincerely, which she returned as you grabbed the box of painkillers from her.

As soon as you reached home, Joel prepared a nice hot bath for you and washed the dirt off, kissing you everywhere he could and being extra gentle with your wounds like he always did. He was lightly scrubbing your back when he murmured: "I hope we're not calling them over for dinner again."

You turned your head to the side, looking at him over your shoulder with a brow up: "I hope you're not. It wasn't my idea."

He tsked, a phantom of something near embarrassment present across his face: "Yeah, you're right."

"Why the change of heart?" You grinned lightly, with a hint of bitterness to your tone. "You're finally listening to your wife?"

He stopped scrubbing altogether, leaning back a little. You turned to your side with a serious expression and watched his face morph into shame and guilt. He huffed and lowered his head: "I'm sorry (Y/N). I–"

"I know you are," You said casually. "I just wanna know why the change of heart." He blinked at you: "It can't be Ward– the man saved my life and hasn't been really trying to send us subliminal messages, so I'm assuming it was something Kiki did."

Both of them, Joel wanted to reply but you were right, mostly it was Kiki, so he just nodded.

He went back to scrubbing where he left off and you turned to the side again, putting your chin on your knee: "One more patrol, Joel. Then we're done with them for good. Then, we will talk."

[lokis-little-kitten]

Teaching Assistant 4

Title: Teaching Assistant Writer: Lokis-Little-Kitten Pairing: LokixReader Rating: Mid Warning: spankings, mentioning of masturbation, ED, college, teacherxstudent Summary: You get a job as a teaching assistant for you professor Loki Laufeyson. Quickly the relationship takes a turn when Loki offers to teach you the robes of BDSM.

Class is over after a  long time of listening and angry glares from your professor. You pack up your stuff and wait for everyone to be gone. When the last student closes the door Loki leans against his desk with another cross glare at you. 

‘’I’m sorry about being on the phone. I should have listened to your lecture,’’ you start out silently. ‘’Get your ass to my office, now pet!’’ Loki is absolutely cross, more than you have ever seen him in the three years before. 

Quickly you get up and start walking. When you arrive Loki throws his door open and points at the inside. ‘’March it.’’ Quickly you duck down and run in. When inside he slams the door closed and locks it. 

You turn around to him biting your lip. ‘’So you thought it funny to disobey and then to ignore me?’’ Quickly you shake your head. ‘’No master! I’m sorry but my phone died,’’ you lie. You’re already on the brink of tears and his intense glare doesn’t make it any better. Why did you do this to yourself again? You should have known Loki would react something like this. 

You fidget with some wounds on your finger and pull on loose skin around your nails. ‘’Were you home,’’ he asks folding his arms together. He looks even bigger in the small office in front of the wooden door. ‘’Well, yes?’’ What is he planning? 

‘’You could plug it in and let me know as soon as you were able, couldn’t you?’’ You look down at the dark carpet and fidget some more. ‘’I ehm…’’ You don’t know what to say. It was a dumb excuse. You could have seen it coming… 

‘’Well, I-’’ ‘’Lied?’’ No point of denying it now. He takes a step towards you towering over you even more. ‘’Yes, master… I’m sorry.’’ You give a quick glance up but don’t like your view. Loki his piercing green eyes fuming with anger. ‘’Do you know why I asked you to that?’’ 

You slightly shake your head.’’No…’’ ‘’Because food, little one, is important for you and I was scared you would be too much into your head to remember to eat. Quite frankly I was right!’’ 

The first tear now rolls down your cheek. You hate it when he is cross with you, you decided. It’s no fun! You quickly wipe away the tear but two take its place. ‘’Stop crying,’’ is all he offers you. He grabs your arm and pulls you towards the chair in the corner. He sits down still holding onto you. 

‘’What are you-’’ he cuts you off by pulling you over his knees. He pulls up your skirt- you stupidly decided to wear this morning- and lays his hand on your ass. ‘’I will spank you for a total of twenty times. Five for ignoring me. Five for lying to me and ten for not eating. Understood?’’ ‘’Yes master.’’ A tear rolls down your nose onto the carpet. ‘’And you will count!’’

Then all of the sudden and without notice Loki his hand slams down on your ass. He lays his fingers on the new bruise. ‘’Darling, count for me.’’ ‘’One…’’ ‘’Good girl.’’ Another spank comes down hard. ‘’What did you do wrong,’’ he asks you. ‘’Two...I ignored you.’’ ‘’Good.’’ 

Wham!

‘’Three…’’ ‘’How could you have prevented this from happening?’’ ‘’I should have answered you.’’ ‘’Good girl.’’ 

Spank!

‘’Four,’’ you say while your voice cracks. ‘’Now apologize to your master.’’ ‘’I’m sorry master! I won’t do it again.’’ ‘’There you go.’’

Blam!

‘’Five.’’ Your body is shaking by now while Loki caresses your bruised ass. ‘’Good job.’’ He just continues his torture makes you answer the same questions as before. 

When it is finally done he pulls you up and onto his lap. He cuddles you close to his chest and hushes you a bit. ‘’Sh, you did so well darling. You didn’t complain or be rude. You did very very well.’’ You nuzzle your face in his neck hearing the praising. 

Loki wipes away some tears and kisses your forehead. Loki then stands up with you still in his arms. He gently puts you in the chair. ‘’I’m just going to get you a snack, okay little one? I will be back in a little.’’ You give him a pair of large doe eyes as to beg him not to go. 

‘’Don’t worry I’ll be back in five.’’ He kisses your forehead again and walks out of the room then. You take your shoes off and pull your knees to your chest. Maybe you did need this second alone. 

You don’t get any time, however, because your phone buzzes. You take it from your bag and look at it. 

Dimitri. Are you okay, was it bad?

You. I’m fine. He thought he punished me enough already in class, so he let me go off easy. Thanks

Dimitri Good to hear. Wanna meet up tonight?

You. I have work and kind of need a night for myself. Another time maybe?

When you see Dimitri is typing something back someone knocks on the door. ‘’Loki?’’ You recognize the dean's voice. Oh no… Quickly you send Loki a text that the dean is in while rushing to the door. 

Quickly you open it for professor Allfather. He frowns deeply when he sees you instead of his son. ‘’I’m sorry but I’m afraid professor Laufeyson is out, professor,’’ you softly speak. ‘’Hm, I’ll wait then.’’ The older man sits down in Loki his office chair. ‘’Okay…’’ You sit down pulling your skirt down as much as possible. 

You feel your phone buzz and hope with your whole heart it is Loki, you just can’t get your phone because it would be rude. ‘’Professor Laufeyson will be back any time now. He was just getting something,’’ you softly speak. ‘’Thank you. You’re his teaching assistant?’’ ‘’Yes… I am.’’ Among other things… 

The room goes quiet once again until Loki walks back in. He hands you some papers without even looking at you. ‘’Grade those.’’ 

There is that stern and rude professor you know again… Nice knowing you kind master Loki. You get yourself one of his red markers and starts grading some papers. Loki and his father discuss some important letters and other things.

It is all very… courteous. Not like a father and son should be, you suppose. 

When his father finally leaves Loki turns back to you. ‘’I’m sorry about that, little one. Are you okay,’’ Loki asks searching in his pockets. He takes out a package of biscuits and water for you. ‘’There,’’ he smiles and kisses your hair. 

You open the water to take a sip. The biscuits are harder, however. When you open the package you play with the plastic for a second and then break off a piece. You don’t want to eat it. 

He doesn’t want you to eat it. 

‘’How much,’’ you ask Loki carefully. ‘’Four,’’ he replies absently studying one of the letters he just got. You put away the drink and snack to grab your wallet. You take out a five-pound bill and walk to his desk. 

‘’Pet, I’ll pay attention to you again in one moment. Just let me… do this.’’ He reads and crosses things out until finally signing and putting it away. ‘’Now then,’’ he smiles and looks up at you. 

‘’What is it?’’ You try to give him the five pounds but he simply stares at it before chuckling. ‘’Want me to get you something else? Coffee?’’ Loki already stands up to go but you stop him. ‘’No, it’s for the biscuits.’’ 

He frowns and chuckles a bit before walking up to you. ‘’No need to pay me for that, besides you gave way to much. It’s only two pounds fifty.’’ He lays his hands on your hips and smiles at your confused form. 

‘’But you said four a minute ago!’’ He now laughs and takes the five pounds. ‘’I meant four biscuits.’’ His hand slides under your skirt until he finds your pants. He hooks the piece of paper under your strap and then pulls back. ‘’There we go. Now I would like you to go and eat.’’ You walk back to the chair and sit. 

The package of cookies is reopened while this time you also push him far into the back of your mind. No reason not to enjoy this. You take a good bite from it and relish at the taste. ‘’Thank you.’’ ‘’No problem, dear.’’ 

[evanthenerd83]

“Holly And The Demon Practice Self Defense”

1

“Why do I have to drive?”

The demon rolled Its window down, nail pressing on the button. It then lifted the pressure.

Its window rolled back up.

“Will you please stop doing that?”

The demon chuckled. Its eyes were wide, glinting. Curiosity had gotten the better of It.

Down went the window. Wind came inside.

Holly growled.

“LISTEN TO ME, DAMN IT!”

She hit the brake. And she hit it hard.

The camper jolted, sending the demon forward. It was wearing a seatbelt.

Unfortunately, said seatbelt was pretty slack. It didn’t fit. At that moment, Its weight caused it to extend.

A claw went up. A shocked gasp from chapped lips.

Blam.

A head slammed into the dashboard.

“Hell’s Bells,” It cursed.

Holly smirked. Satisfaction. Pleasure.

A van sped past, a blue blur. It honked. Her smirk immediately fell. A different look came over her, a different kind of smile.

A sneer of rage. She pressed a button.

The demon glared at her, rubbing at Its left horn with a trembling claw. “The heck was that for?!”

Holly didn’t hear It.

She had thrust her torso—head, arms, chest—through her window. Her curls bounced in the wind.

She raised both hands into the air.

The demon found that particular gesture quite familiar.

“#$@& YOU, FATHER#$@&ERS!”

It glanced at the windshield. The back of the van was disappearing, and disappearing fast; growing indistinct. Heat made everything look so… fuzzy.

Everything except for the faces peering through the back windshield.

There were children in the car. Two young boys.

It could see their sandy blond hair. Their wide, sky blue eyes.

Even the glare from their father, who was driving the van, in the rear view mirror.

“U-uh… Holly?”

She still wasn’t listening.

“Go suck a maggot-infested dick! Drown in demon jizz! Eat Lilith’s stinking, rotting, toothy—“

The demon quickly undid Its seatbelt.

It grabbed her skirt, tugging her back inside. It slapped her.

“HOLLY, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT UP!”

She froze.

She blinked.

It suddenly felt something warm—burning—run down Its legs. Her face was slack. It looked like a piece of paper—utterly, uncomprehendingly empty.

Her hand slipped into a pocket.

“D-did you just slap me?

The demon blanched.

Holly glanced down at Its crotch. Her lips curled.

The sneer was back.

“And did you just… pissed yourself?”

It sat down, claw gripping the seatbelt. It pulled. It refused to stretch.

It tugged even harder.

Why now?

Why… now?!

The demon chuckled nervously.

It felt the burning sensation thicken. Yes, It had peed Itself.

And they could both smell it. Like melted plastic. Like lemon distilled, turned liquid.

Holly’s nose wrinkled. Disgust. Hatred.

“Dem…”

She suddenly slumped in the driver’s seat. She grabbed the wheel. Her foot hit the gas pedal.

The camper jolted to life.

“… you #$@&ing nerd.”

…

It apologized.

It rested Its head on the dashboard. It clasped both hands in prayer.

And It apologized.

“Dem,” Holly rolled her eyes. Something went under a tire, making them jolt. “I don’t care if it was an accident.”

The demon chewed on Its tongue.

What came out didn’t sound like English. Or Spanish. Or Latin. Or Japanese. Or Russian. Or Chinese. Or Swedish. Or anything Holly had ever heard.

Nor was it spelled like any fictional language, either. A lonely, depressed college student—even after consuming cans of Blue Raven, then taking an entire bottle of Adderall—couldn’t have come up with it.

Holly had learned fairly quickly.

Demontongue was nonsense. Pure and simple.

A jumble of contradictory consonants and vowels, bearing no resemblance, intentional or not, to any language assembled by any physical mind.

Just hearing it made Holly’s brain sting.

Like a thousand bees were suddenly trapped inside her head.

She scoffed. “Dem. You know I can’t understand that dumbass language. Speak American.”

The demon lifted Its head. It stared at her with wide, shocked eyes.

A flash of horror shimmered within them. Not physical terror. Holly could tell it apart from moral terror.

“A-American?!”

Holly gripped the wheel tighter. Her nails dug into the rubber skin.

“Oh, Jesus. Dem. I was joking.”

It blinked. One eye at a time. The horror dulled a bit, but didn’t fade away.

“J-Joking?”

Holly did what she did best. She reviewed her notes.

Whenever she was around people, or demons, she watched. She also listened. A budding serial killer needed to observe her victims. To know their individual weaknesses.

And not just her victims. Her friends as well.

She’d watched Dem a lot. When It thought she was sleeping, she was actually listening to It. It would mutter and whisper.

It revealed such sweet, sweet secrets.

Secrets that she could use.

Holly used one such secret—a kernel of power—then.

She didn’t want to. She really didn’t. If she did, then It would expect her to keep her word. And Holly hated keeping her word.

Despised it.

But she also found Its groveling… quite annoying. Distracting.

She had no choice.

“Dem.”

The demon sniffled, looking up.

Jesus Halibut Christ. Tears were streaming down Its face. Opaque and glimmering, searing a trail into Its skin.

Holly restrained herself. If she hadn’t, she would have bashed Its head in with her shoe.

Not that it would have actually hurt It. Well. It would hurt.

But the demon could always regenerate.

She sighed.

“Dem, when we—if we find you a change of clothes, then… we could… possibly get something to eat.”

The demon wiped a tear away. Its fingertip absorbed it.

It blinked.

“L-like fast food?”

Holly let herself smile. It was a token of honesty. It represented her attempt at passing, playing the part.

She’d been forced to smile. At her old school. If she hadn’t, then they would have suspected something. Her cover would’ve been blown.

She liked it there.

Of course, she had to wear a uniform.

And hang out with a bunch of mouth breathers.

Not to mention all those nuns who were horrified—positively gutted—by the sight of bare knees.

But she enjoyed the part. How everyone else had liked her, had thought she was a perfect little student, a perfect little Christian. They treated her like a human being.

It made her feel… like someone else. Someone nicer. Someone who didn’t have the Need.

She’d always wanted to feel like a human being.

She hated being Holly. Holly was a monster in the making. Holly would be on the news someday, and her name would be accompanied by the caption:

SERIAL KILLER

That warm, squishy feeling didn’t last, though.

It’d ended.

Would this last?

Holly’s smile faltered. For just a second. A pang flared inside her chest, a little spark of doubt.

Of worry.

Of horror.

But then, she smiled wide.

“May-be.”

[glamrock-jre]

detour

chapter 3: premliminaries

1:00 PM

Location: A Random Forest

Now Playing: Be Okay by Jordan Fisher

“i didn’t think that you would be this flexible, rubae.”

“ow! be delicate with my body, you stupid bird.”

“you were the one who told me to bend you over, pretty boy.”

“don’t say it like that-ow! i hate you so fuckin much yo.” rubae growled in pain as his quick and heavy breathing was making it worse. keigo laughed softly as he lied his weight on rubae.

rubae is currently in a middle split with keigo resting on his back. rubae’s chest caressed the grass below him right along with his stomach.

“get off me.” keigo sat up on the grass, smirking. rubae slowly brought himself to sit up on the grass, his back resting against keigo’s. he took a few deep breaths.

“seriously...fuck you.”

“you wanted to stretch and i just wanted to get this preliminary shit over with since it’s so ‘necessary’.” keigo shrugged as he stood up, holding his hand out to rubae. rubae looked at keigo’s hand and pushed it away, standing up beside keigo.

“i really shouldn’t have called you..”

*Flashback*

Thirty Minutes Earlier

12:30 PM

riiiing

riiiing

riiii-

“heyo~” keigo answered as he finished his last chicken wing, discarding the bone into the trash.

“train with me.” rubae’s smoky voice boomed softly through the other end of the phone. keigo smirked softly as he spoke softly.

“jeez you’re calling me first already? i feel honored that you miss me.” keigo teased as he could visualize rubae rolling his eyes after he said that.

“hell no. im only callin cause’ it’s strictly business. i really couldn’t give a damn about you.” rubae scoffed as keigo let out a dramatic breath as he gripped his heart.

“oh please you’re gonna hurt my feelings.” keigo let out a soft laugh.

“whatever. anyways, train with me.” keigo grabbed a toothpick to get any food from between his teeth.

“hmm i don’t know. i’ll have to see if-”

“i wasn’t askin.” keigo raised an eyebrow in amusement as he smirked a little, tossing the toothpick in the trash.

“i see you’re feisty today...” keigo emphasized as he chuckled softly.

“im not feisty.”

“you are hella bossy then.” keigo smirked as he heard rubae let out an agitated sigh.

“you already bein a pain in my ass...”

“you’re just so cute when you’re pissed.” rubae sighed deeply as he let out a slightly irritated growl.

“just...meet me at the forest. it’s your natural habitat so you shouldn’t have a hard time findin it.” the phone hung up before keigo could even speak again. he put his phone in his pocket as he went outside on the balcony, climbing onto the fence.

‘you’re really giving me a run for my fucking money.’ a thought that slipped into his mind as he took a deep breath. he closed his eyes shut as he sighed softly.

his bold red wings flared from behind his body as he soared at light speed through the sky. he smiled a little, enjoying the air that flowed through his hair and through his fingers.

after aimlessly flying around the sky for about 15 minutes, keigo finally spotted big, luscious, green trees that stretched across land below it, some being crowded together and some having distance.

keigo’s golden eyes fixated on a small figure wandering through the maze of the trees. he flew down and perched on a tree branch behind the silhouette to get a closer look at who it was. he smirked when he saw that it was rubae.

rubae walked with his hands in his pockets and his hip length hair swayed with each step he took, his black, sleeveless turtleneck fitting snug around his neck and torso. small mumbles came from rubae, slightly piquing keigo’s interest.

keigo smiled a little when rubae halted his steps and mumbles as he looked around.

“you can come out now, bird” keigo hopped off of the tree branch and landed on the ground softly, shining his usual smug grin.

“you talkin to yourself now, rubae?” keigo announced as he caught up to rubae.

“no. im not.” rubae answered in a sharp deadpan tone. keigo’s head tilted slightly as if he wasn’t expecting for rubae to reply so...bland.

“well you were mumbling a little so i didn’t wanna assume that you were mental or anything.”

“i don’t need to hear that comin from someone like you.” keigo raised an eyebrow slightly as he gave a side glance towards rubae.

‘someone like me?’ keigo took notice that rubae’s aura betrays his usual one, which is usually him being an observant shit-talker. this aura, however, resonated...purposeful brusqueness.

almost like he was a completely different person...

“somebody’s harsh today....” rubae took a deep breath, holding it in and closing his eyes.

‘switchbackswitchbackswitchback...’ rubae chants in his mind repeatedly, squeezing his head tightly with his hands. keigo noticed rubae’s face contorted in discomfort.

“you good man?” rubae let out a heavy shaky breath as he opened his eyes.

“yeah...” rubae shook his limbs as he cracked his neck softly.

“you sure? your nose is bleeding.” rubae quickly turned away and touched his nose, blood marking his fingertips. he quickly wiped it away as he sped up his pace.

“i said yeah. we got training to do so hurry up.” keigo raised an eyebrow once again, slowly following after rubae.

‘i’ve never seen a man be so bossy...’ keigo shook the thought from his mind as he went beside rubae, masking his perplexity with a smirk.

“so where are we going that gives me the privilege of being alone with an exquisite individual like yourself?” rubae rolled his eyes slightly, scoffing a little.

they both prodded into an open, empty space surrounded by big trees. the low cut grass dancing with the soft breeze that occasionally blew.

“this is where im gone be beatin your ass.” rubae stretched his body upwards, balancing on his toes. keigo chuckled softly as his wings flared involuntarily.

“oh really? we’ll just have to fucking see then, right?” rubae smirked as he kicked his shoes off of his feet into the air and kicked them towards keigo. keigo dodged one and caught the other with ease.

“good to know that you have your guard up.” keigo dropped the shoe and let out a soft laugh.

“why did you kick your shoes at me? your feet may stink or something.” an exaggerated, sarcastic laugh came from rubae.

“you got jokes. help me stretch.”

“you askin?”

“no.”

“let’s bend you over then.”

“don’t ever say that shit again.”

*Flash Forward*

Present Time

Now Playing: Pico by Kawaii Sprite

“but you did anyways. speaking of that, why did you call me?” rubae rolled his eyes as he faced keigo.

“you must have short-term memory loss or somethin.” keigo let out a little chuckle as he hummed.

“...” rubae sighed, throwing a small glance at keigo, taking notice that he remained silent as if he was waiting for rubae to answer the question.

“to train for our mission, dumbass.

“oh i know. i just wanted to hear that nice voice of yours again.” rubae rolled his eyes softly, shaking his head slightly.

rubae pulled his hair back into a ponytail, getting into a fighting stance. keigo smirks as two of his feathers slipped into his hands.

“don’t hold back. when you attack me, attack to kill.” a small smirk slid onto rubae’s face, his two toned eyes shining brightly for a second.

“you sure?” rubae let out an impish, fruity chuckle as he dug his feet into the ground, stabilizing himself.

“hell yeah. if you don’t attack with the intent to kill me...i sure as hell will when i attack you.” keigo let out a cocky chuckle as he hummed.

“as long as it’s fair.”

a short silence overtook the two men. their breaths inhaling and exhaling in rhythm with the wind that cascaded through the negative space of the forest.

“motte kite.”(“bring it.”) the men zipped towards each other, both of them inflicting an attack on the other and dodging them swiftly.

grunts came from each of the men’s mouths as they both continued to attack each other, some of their attacks hitting successfully and some attacks being evaded.

the same process went on for a few minutes before the two men retreated from each other, both of their uneven breaths falling from their mouths.

“gonna be honest here...i underestimated you.” keigo admitted as rubae let out a soft, breathy laugh.

“i did too. that’s the fun of it .” rubae confessed as he licked his lip a little.

“oh really?” rubae sped towards keigo and threw an axe kick, causing keigo’s quick instincts to kick in as he barely blocked rubae’s attack.

“it’s fun not knowin what to expect from your opponent. it’s...thrilling to say the least.” keigo let out a strained chuckle as pushed rubae back from him, rubae quickly stabilizing his balance.

keigo zoomed at rubae as he threw combos of slashes towards rubae. rubae’s quick reflexes kicked in as he dodged most of them until he felt a deep cut on his cheek, almost cutting his mouth open.

rubae yelped in pain, flipping keigo onto his back. keigo grunted as he quickly rolled away from rubae, seeing that he was about to stomp his face into the ground.

“sore wa watashi ga hanashite iru kotodesu...” (“that’s what im talkin bout..”) rubae smirked as he quickly followed after keigo, delivering low kick attacks and causing keigo to struggle to dodge the attacks.

damn he’s quicker than before...’ keigo flew into the air to get some distance between him and rubae. rubae let out a soft laugh as he peered up at keigo.

“you lose your nerve, little bird?”

Now Playing: Blammed by Kawaii Sprite

“not at all. sorry for injuring that handsome little face of yours.” keigo smirked cockily.

rubae hummed as he dug his nails into his deep cut cheek, starting to rip the rest of the skin in half, his mandibles disconnecting from each other slowly and showing the insides of his mouth. keigo seemed surprised as he flew down towards rubae.

“what the hell are you doing, rubae?” rubae let out a distorted laugh as he quickly grabbed at keigo, only for the other man to dodge.

deep, maniacal laughter struck from rubae’s disfigured tone. blood bled out from his severed face as it molded into many small, sharp daggers. rubae casted his hand forward towards keigo, the daggers zipping towards him at an unrealistically, quick pace.

luckily enough, keigo nearly dodged them as one them grazed his ear slightly. however, rubae redirected the daggers to trail after keigo.

“furairitorubādo...furai..” (“fly little bird...FLY...”) rubae spoke in a low voice as his pupils zoomed smaller.

‘what the fuck is happening to him?’ keigo thought as he zoomed down towards rubae. another sinister laugh fell from rubae’s throat as he caught keigo by his throat in mid-air.

“ā, bakageta bakageta tori...” (“aww you silly silly bird...”) keigo grunted as he felt his collum starting to crush painfully slow. he quickly stabbed at rubae’s forearm and hand in attempt to get him to loosen his grip.

rubae then slammed him onto the ground, making keigo grunt in pain. keigo continued to stab at rubae’s arm as he got more desperate for air.

“you’re taking....t-this very seriously-“ rubae slammed keigo against the ground repeatedly as he laughed maniacally once more. each slam took more and more breath out of keigo, making his eyes roll back and causing him to spit up saliva.

just when keigo thought that he couldn’t take anymore, rubae growled as he let go of his neck. rubae stumbled back and gripped his head roughly.

“yamete...yamete...kuso yamete!!” (“stop it...stop...fuckin stop!!”) rubae shrieked as he coughed up blood onto the green grass as he fell to his knees.

keigo sat up quickly, gasping for air as he peered at rubae. he distanced himself from rubae cautiously. rubae’s shrieking stopped suddenly as he gripped the ground, breathing heavily.

“hah...hah....” rubae’s body shook violently as he fell on the ground, turning onto his back. keigo stood up and gazed at rubae, looking at his now unconscious body. he cautiously approached him as he rested on one of his knees.

suddenly, rubae’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, squeezing it in a deadly grip. it felt like there were small painful needles stabbing his wrist. keigo tried to yank his wrist out of the man’s iron grip but he suddenly felt his body get heavy right along with his eyes.

“rubae...what the fuck is...” darkness overtook the blond man’s eyes as he fell unconscious. the last thing he saw was blood coming out of rubae’s mismatched, glowing eyes.

__________________________________________

Two Hours Later

3:00PM

Now Playing: Hope You Do by Chris Brown

keigo stirred awake, slipping out of his slumber slowly. he rubbed his eyes gently and looked around with his slightly blurred vision .

the only thing that he could make out of his surroundings was that he was definitely in the same place. he tried to go into a sitting only to be restricted by something pressing down on his chest.

“wha...” keigo casted his gaze down at his chest, reaching for the pressure on his chest. smoothness and soft vibrations was what he felt, gripping whatever the object is softly.

“you’re awake...” rubae’s husky voice rung in keigo’s ears softly. keigo looked over at rubae only seeing his side profile, noticing that his cheek was reattached just like it was before the sparring session.

“what’s going on rubae?” keigo tried to sit up again only from rubae to push him down onto his back again.

“don’t move...” rubae’s mismatched eyes closed as keigo suddenly felt something warm rush through his body, which made him feel relaxed and strangely elated.

the feeling was a warm and fuzzy one. the type of feeling when you lied under a really warm quilt in a cool tempered room.

“i know it may feel a lil weird at first but you’ll get used to it...” rubae shivered after he spoke those words as the atmosphere went silent again.

after a few minutes, the feeling that went through keigo’s body simmered down. rubae took his hand off of the blond male’s chest as he had slightly ragged breathing and half lidded eyes. keigo sat up and shook his body, shaking the numb feeling off of his limbs.

“what did you do?” rubae took a deep breath as he threw a side glance at keigo, rubbing his arm apprehensively.

“i...healed you.” keigo tilted his head slightly as he let out a sound of puzzlement.

“how?”

“with my blood...” keigo raised an eyebrow.

“i have a combination quirk...voice and blood manipulation...” rubae casted his gaze down to the ground, his hair hiding his face. keigo smirked as he let out a soft laugh.

“that’s really fucking cool.” underneath his hair, rubae’s face shown bashfulness along with his body language.

“it’s not actually...nobody likes blood these days..” rubae spoke softly. keigo decided to stay quiet just in case rubae had more to say.

“i prefer not to use this part of my quirk...”

“why not?” keigo inquired with an inquisitive voice. rubae’s body visibly tensed up as he remained quiet. keigo took notice as he hummed.

“i didn’t mean to upset you-” a soft sigh left from rubae’s mouth.

“just...don’t say nothin about it no more.” keigo gazed at rubae softly, realizing that the melanin male relaxed a bit after that statement. a stiff silence coated the atmosphere of the two men for a moment.

“well-“/“anyways-“

“go ahead.”/“you can go first.” both of them let out gentle laughs before keigo urged rubae to say what he was going to say.

“how you feelin? like physically...” rubae asked gently as his distinct eyes peered at keigo through his kinky hair.

“my neck feels like it’s gonna fucking fall apart but overall im fine-”

“im sorry.” rubae blurted out, digging his nails into his arms slightly.

“for what?” keigo didn’t even notice that rubae’s body curled up in a ball until he glanced over at him.

“for goin overboard. i ain’t mean to break your neck o-or cause a concussion or probably even-“ keigo’s hands gently grabbed at the hair that rested in front of rubae’s face, pushing the luscious hair out of his face.

“hmm...this handsome little face shouldn’t have a frown on it.” keigo raised rubae’s face up to look at him in his ill-assorted eyes. rubae tensed at keigo’s touch as he froze like a deer in headlights, his mouth agape as he couldn’t say anything.

“it’s fine rubae. i shouldn’t have been holding back but if i didn’t...” keigo paused for a moment as he tilted rubae’s head slightly to talk in his ear.

“watashi wa ima anata no chikaku ni inaideshou...”(“i wouldn’t be this close to you right now...”) rubae let out a noise of bashfulness as keigo’s lips brushed against one of his piercings. he scooted away from keigo quickly, looking away from him.

“i just knew i shouldn’t have healed yo broke neck ass...” keigo let out a soft laugh as rubae quickly stood up on his feet, dusting himself off. keigo smirked as he stood up and walked beside him.

“you’re cute when you’re all flustered like that.”

“shut the fuck up. anyways, you can leave if you want. i’ll train by myself if you don’t want to.” keigo smiled slightly as he delivered a kick to the back of his knee. rubae yelped as he fell in one knee, scowling.

“you should have your guard up, sweetheart.” rubae scoffed as he stood up.

“you just caught me slippin a lil bit.”

“‘you heroes are supposed to have your guard up even if you think the situation is safe’. i remember you saying that when i said that i was caught off guard.” rubae rolled his eyes while pulling his hair back into a bun.

“i know what the fuck i said, bird...” keigo chuckled softly, biting his lip softly.

“you should watch that mouth of yours.” rubae raised an eyebrow, tsking and rolled his eyes once again.

“you supposed to be my daddy or somethin?”

“if you want me to be, just say that...” rubae threw a glare at keigo, noticing his usual cocky smirk on his face.

“don’t play with me yo.” keigo snickered, collecting two red feathers from his wings as he got in a defensive stance.

“you shouldn’t be such a brat.”

“if you weren’t bein a bitch, i wouldn’t have to be a brat.” rubae got in a defensive stance, grabbing a sharp rock. he dug the rock into the palms of both of his hands, causing them to bleed profusely.

“your sassy act is getting dull.” keigo smirked softly, seeing rubae’s usual eye roll again.

“shut up and fight me already.”

__________________________________________

One Hour Later

4:00PM

At the Hotel

Now Playing: Touch Me by Victoria Monét feat. Kehlani [Remix]

“okay but....what makes you think that dinosaurs don’t have feathers?”

“i don’t think that dinosaurs don’t have feathers. i know they don’t.”

“it’s many reports talkin about how almost all dinosaurs were most likely covered in feathers though...” keigo chuckled softly as he shook his head slightly, leaning against the bathroom door and adjusting his black, leather jacket.

“they say ‘most likely’. not ‘they were’. there’s a difference.” rubae let out a soft laugh as he was on the inside of the bathroom, putting on some jewelry and eyeliner.

“listen...we been arguin bout this shit for five minutes straight and im basically repeating myself. so all im ‘bout to say is that you can look it up and read some articles about it. even though i know im right about this, you can keep makin yourself look like a dumbass.” keigo laughed as he looked at his watch, shaking his head.

“you always find some way to insult me.”

“you very much deserve.” rubae fixed his outfit after he put his hair into a high ponytail, letting some strands fall from it. his luscious kinky hair cascaded down his back, stopping mid-back length.

“we probably wouldn’t have argued for five minutes if you hurried up.” keigo went to lean against the opposite wall of the bathroom door, crossing his arms and looking down at his feet.

“aye now. you know i showered and my hair is not that easy to manage.”

“are you done now though? we’re supposed to be going somewhere.” A few seconds passed when the bathroom door opened, steam flowing from it due to the hot shower rubae took.

keigo glanced up to see rubae emerge from the steamy room, noticing that he was tapering with an earring. he quickly observed the rest of his body before he averted his gaze back up to rubae’s face.

“you’re so damn whiny yo.” rubae went to the full-body mirror that accompanied the wall from the bathroom. he observed his outfit and took a deep breath as he adjusted it slightly.

keigo took notice to when rubae sighed softly, realizing that his ill-assorted eyes revealed a look of disapproval when he looked at his stomach. rubae closed his trench coat to hide his stomach as he glanced over at keigo, connecting their eyes together.

“stop starin at me.” keigo averted his eyes as he let out a soft chuckle, standing up and sliding his hands into his pockets.

“my bad. you look really nice.” rubae rolled his eyes slightly as he turned away from keigo.

“you’re like a broken record...” keigo smirked softly.

“you know instead of a smart remark, you can just simply say thank you.” rubae hummed as he stretched slightly.

“whatever. you ready?” keigo gave a small nod as rubae opened the hotel door, walking out of his hotel room with keigo following shortly after.

“are you...a vampire, rubae?” the sudden question caught the chocolate male by surprise. rubae glanced over at keigo slightly, seeing that he was gazing at him.

“you think just because i manipulate blood and have sharp teeth...that im some type of blood sucker?” keigo shook his head, softly snickering.

“no. i was asking out of pure curiosity.” rubae rolled his eyes and scoffed, crossing his arms. keigo waited until rubae decided to say something.

“no im not a vampire...though i do need blood to live.” keigo quirked an eyebrow slightly as he smirked lightly.

“so you are a vampire?” rubae rolled his eyes again with a small smile.

“no, i just have a-“ rubae stopped himself as he rubbed his arm apprehensively, casting his gaze to the ground.

“have a what?” rubae shook his head softly as he put his hands in his pockets.

“nothin...anyways why you ask that all of a sudden?” keigo straightened his posture as he took a deep breath. rubae slowly gazed towards keigo, waiting for his answer.

“it was just a thought really..” keigo’s tone wasn’t convincing in the least but rubae decided to leave him be for now. he unwrapped a blue lollipop and stuck it in his mouth.

“you like lollipops a lot..” rubae let out a small noise as he chuckled softly.

“indeed i do...i guess that’s just what trauma does to you..” he whispered the last part under his breath though keigo still heard it. he decided not to comment as rubae spoke again.

“lets just say i took a huge liking to ‘em when i was a kid..and then it became an unhealthy obsession ever since.” rubae exhaled softly, seeming to be deep in thought.

“how cute.” rubae raised an eyebrow and frowned slightly.

“it’s not cute. it’s actually pretty dumb for a grown man to be obsessed over lollipops. it’s pretty fuckin childish..” keigo shrugged softly as spoke again.

“hmm...the way i see it is that you like what you like. anybody who thinks that it’s ‘childish’ or if you need to ‘grow up’, they can mind their fucking business because you can do whatever the fuck you want to.” keigo finished, glancing over at rubae.

‘damn...that was a lil- shut the fuck up! don’t say or think that shit!’ rubae slapped his face with his hands, wincing softly at the force.

“you alright?” rubae paused as he glanced at keigo, seeing his usual smug smirk. rubae rolled his eyes slightly as he crossed him arms.

“yeah im fine. that was some nice advice...or whatever.” keigo smirked got wider as rubae switched to a different subject.

after a while of talking about random topics, they didn’t even realize that they arrived at the hotel until keigo noticed the automatic sliding doors leading to a hotel lobby.

“i believe this is the hotel you are housed in.” rubae looked and then he nodded a little.

“yeah. i ain even know we made it this fast.” keigo chuckled softly, observing as rubae walked ahead of him.

“crazy how time passes by fast, doesn’t it?” rubae hummed in agreement as he looked down at his feet, swirling his lollipop around in his mouth.

Now Playing: Crush by Yuna feat. Usher

“well i guess imma leave now. see ya later, bird.” rubae walked away into the hotel’s lobby. something fell from his pocket onto the ground in front of keigo. keigo quickly picked it up and observed the object. it was rubae’s hotel room keycard.

keigo looked to see if he could find rubae but to no avail. he walked inside of the hotel lobby, shuffling through the crowd of people to get to the elevator. he made it to the elevator as he glanced at the keycard again.

“floor five, room nineteen...” keigo pressed the floor number as he leaned against the wall of the elevator door. the elevator doors closed as the elevator travelled to the fifth floor.

keigo was deep in thought without noticing. he crossed his arms tightly, biting his lip softly.

‘was that even rubae? he- i mean—/they/ said ‘we’...who are they if they’re not rubae?..’ questions and thoughts kept flooding keigo’s mind until the elevator chimed through his ears.

he looked up to see rubae standing in front of the elevator, discarding his lollipop stick away in a trash can. their eyes connected for a moment before keigo walked out of the elevator in front of him.

“what you-“

“i...came to give you your keycard. it fell out of your pocket when you walked inside.” keigo put the keycard out towards rubae. rubae slowly took the keycard from keigo, their hands brushed against each other.

a shiver cascades through their bodies as they nudged away from each bashfully.

“my bad./sorry about that.”

“nah you good./it’s fine.” both of the men chuckled softly as they took deep breaths.

“i appreciate you for bringin this to me.” keigo gave a soft nod as he smiled a little.

“i couldn’t let a beautiful individual like yourself be stuck out in this hallway, desperately trying to get in your hotel room without knowing that you don’t have-“

“and this is where i leave before you say anymore crazy shit.” rubae rolled his eyes slightly as he smiled softly, turning around to unlock his hotel door.

“i want to ask you something..” rubae turned around to look at keigo, nodding his head slightly.

“can i...get a lollipop?” rubae’s face painted with surprise as he tilted his head slightly. he reached into his jacket pocket, searching for one.

“you think you deserve it?” keigo smirked softly as he put his hands in his pockets.

“well i did pay for your ice cream and i made sure that you had your keycard. you know i could have just left it on the ground where anybody could step all over it and/or steal it.” rubae chuckled softly as he rolled his eyes. he hesitatingly pulled a lollipop out of his pocket, giving it to keigo. keigo grabbed it with slight surprise.

“i guess that’s good enough...don’t think imma just be sharin my lollipops though.” keigo let out a soft chuckle, running his fingers through his hair.

“i hear you. before you go though...” rubae let out an agitated sigh as he did his signature eye roll. keigo smirked, unwrapping the lollipop that rubae gave to him.

“what now?” keigo smirked and put the lollipop on rubae’s lips. rubae froze for a moment as he slowly pulled the lollipop in his mouth. keigo rested his hand against the wall and whispered in rubae’s ear.

“don’t ever let fucking anybody tell you what you can like or obsess over. i find that little obsession of yours cute.” they both connected their eyes with each other, deeply staring. their faces were close, both of them not moving forward or retreating.

rubae broke eye contact bashfully, a small smile coating his lips. a frowl painted itself on rubae’s face as a vein popped out of his forehead.

“get away from me.” rubae threw a glare at keigo, turning to unlock his hotel door. keigo let out a low hum and turned to walk to the elevator.

“see you tomorrow, rue. maybe greet me with that beautiful smile of yours instead of a pout?” rubae growled softly as he glared back at keigo, who had just put a lollipop in his mouth before the elevator doors closed with him inside.

rubae let out a deep sigh while rolling his eyes, walking into his hotel room. he closed the door and leaned against it.

‘he so irritating...’ rubae reached into his pocket to realize that his last lollipop was gone. he frantically checked his other pockets but he still didn’t find anything. until he suddenly hit his head softly against the door.

“he stole my last damn lollipop. and it was my favorite flavor...” rubae mumbled as he grabbed a piece of paper which conveniently was the wrapper to the lollipop that keigo stole.

“...you really stole my fuckin lollipop..”

__________________________________________

A/N: i was meaning to get this chapter out early february but shit happens. anyways, this chapter wasn’t really much, i know, but keibae was just prepping and stuff and decided to go get some ice cream and be cute and shit. also, since the chapter was so long, i had to screenshot some of it for y’all. i hope you enjoyed the chapter <33 peace ✌🏾 ✨

[zuffer-weird-girl]

Not again...

The car didn't even had stopped, and Chisaki already had burst the door and started to run the faster he could manage towards the place Mimic had trackened.

"Overhaul they say they are in a building!" Chrono shouted as he loaded his gun in the middle of his running while Mimic tried to mantain his balance on Rappa's shoulders while he followed his boss.

Chisaki didn't shouted back a response, legs hurting already from how much force and speed he was putting on himself to reach that cursed place.

~

"Kai!" He lifted his gaze from his papers only to smirk at seing you pouting on the door frame "Is been like hours you're there!"

"How pleasing it is to know that you've been tracking time to tell me this dearest." He sighed sarcastically before deciding to put a end on his work for today.

The way you smiled bringed the warmth he missed and didn't even knew he needed after all of his years of... coldness and loneliness.

"Well, I don't want you passing out on your desk like the other ti-"

"I thought we weren't going to talk anymore about this." He growled in embarrassment, making you laugh immediately.

The worst is that he wasn't embarrassed by sleeping on his desk accidentally, but actually flustered at remembering the way you had appeared and left a kiss on his forehead, making him let out a 'I love you' without even thinking.

After you stopped laughing he only scoffed, eyes growing worried while his gloved hand went to your cheek to stroke lovingly and carefully.

"Any better?" Your face immediately fell, the one bright with laughter turned into a sad and hopeless smile.

"Y'know..." You sighed, bringing your own hand to his to hold right against your cheek for a bit longer "I am already used to it."

He glared and grabbed your wrist with his free hand, squezing a bit.

"But I am certainly not." He growled, while you still remained with that lost of hope expression while you sighed.

"Is just... life Kai. We don't choose those things."

He brought you to his chest as he crushed you on a hug, holding your scalp and waist on his firm grip as he glared daggers at the ground.

He was working to find a cure. He couldn't just take this. Why such a beautiful and pure soul like yourself have to had this curse?

The experiments were still being done. He couldn't use you to test, if something went wrong he wouldn't forgive himself.

He was first going to tell Pops about it, the moment the real bullets come out... you would be cured.

~

His lungs hurted from the way he breathed in and out desperately.

His commurates, woth certain difficulty, followed him. The group stopping by a building as he finally got his breath back.

Yet he didn't spared a second before taking his glove out and placing it on the building... onpy to see that his quirl wasn't working.

"A fucking barrier. They plannned this Overhaul." Chrono cursed under his breath.

Chisaki punched with all his force the wall... surprisingly making it crack.

"DAMMIT!" He shouted at the tops of his lungs, making the three man widen their eyes at seing the anger and force on only that scream that even scared the birds from the florest away.

~

"Dont you know the meaning of the word 'wait' woman?!" He shouted right behind you, growling in defeat at again failing on grabbing on your hand and forearm.

You giggled at his irritated and annoyed expression as you continued running.

"Maybe if you didn't depend it on your quirk so much you would be able to- SHIT!" you accidentally tripped on your own foot and prepared for the impact... only to feel a pair of those strong arms you absolutely loved around you, preventing your fall.

"You see, this is called karma, brat." He pinched your cheek rather painfully, making you whine in protest. "What if you got hurt huh? You could have gotten a bruised knee or arm, allowing some filth germs and bacterias to enter."

"Dramaaaaatic!" You singed in mockeness before yelping a bit at the discret pinch on your butt before he lifted you guys up.

He only arched a dissaproving eyebrow at you when you smiled back a him... The sun even seemed to make you shine even brighter.

"You know that I always will come back to you, even if hell itself tries to tear me away." You chirped with a smile, making his frown go deeper.

He absolutely despised the double sense on that sentence...

~

In less than minutes Rikiya appeared and aling with Rappa, both had breaked the wall, Chisaki jumped through the rest of the broken concrete before looking around with wide and hateful eyes.

"(Y/N)!" he shouted, coughing a bit at sieng how dirty this place was, but his mysophobia was weak compared to his wish of getting you back "(Y/N)!" He shouted again.

"Nothing in here!" He heard Chrono and Mimic's yells from behind him as he scowled even more, hives appearing in huge amount on his skin.

"LOOK FOR HER!" He commanded as he runned through that rather giant place, apparently it was once one of those basements of farms things or similiar, due to the big constructure and the akount of open and broken rooms.

He went to shout your name again before he froze.. seing the villain who had announced your kidnapping... in front of a stabbed and bruised... you.

"Where's that yakusa of yours now huh? No where right?" He say it sadistically while he wiped his knife on his clothing.

Chisaki almost throwed himself on that bastard, but he mrely gave him a punch so hard on his jaw from behind that even heard the cracking and sended the man towards the wall.

No no NO NO GOD PLEASE NO-!

"Don't... worry..." you said between choked breaths, eyes teared but yet so relieved at seing gim in your front, wide and watery golden eyes staring at you as he tried to heal you back with his quirk... but didn't work it.

It never did...

"Angel please hang on I-" he said desperately but choked back a sob as he felt your hand cupping his cheek lovingly.

"Stop this... we will see each.. o-other soon... remember..?" He clenched his jaw tightly under his plague mask, holding your hand that was becoming colder and colder each second that passes.

Not again... not again!

~

25... twenty five times he saw that happening again and again.

He hated your quirk more than heroes themselfes... Evertime some accident happened, even the minors ones... you would die. No matter the quirk or someone that tried to stop it... you would always die.

25 times he saw the love of his life dying in front of his eyes... and returning it back for a few days as the form as a child... with no memories until you recuperated them.

Sometimes it took weeks for you to regain your memories... and when you did, it took at least three days for you to come back to your original form.

"Chisaki!" Your childish voice ranged and he forced himself to smile a bit, seing you unharmed was a at least the good part...

He crouched down with a sigh, accepting the small sakura flower you had handed it to him.

Normally he would keep himself far away from a child... he didn't felt comfortable neither happy being near them... Eri was a pure example of that.

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to despise the little girl that was his lover, blushed cheeks and a pure smile on her lips as she giggled in embarrassment and glee at seing that he had accepted her gift... even despite knowing his... not liking of touching.

Though how on earth he could be repulsed by you? He only found out what it meant to be happy and... loved because you teached him, because you showed him...

He also noticed that comparing from the first times you were in this form, right now you were way more comfortable with him... just like him.

But god, how difficult it was for to pretend to not be disgusted or consumed by hate at you having such a cruel quirk. Allowing you to die many times and returning it back...

You turned around to pick more flowers before you stopped... completely frozen in your place.

"Something wrong brat?" He sighed in false annoyance, before his breath caught on his throat when he saw the look you gave to him right after.

Hopeless... sad and hopeless look.

"It happened again, didn't it?" Your child like voice manifested in pure sadness as he felt his eyes burning.

Those bullets. He needed them. His angel needed them badly.

"Yes..." he sighed in defeat, letting the flower of sakura fall from his gloved hand before he felt your tiny arms circle around his neck "It was my fault angel..." he lifted you up and clinged your small form to him "Im so-"

"You weren't responsible for that building falling Kai. Stop blamming yourself." You frowned more seing the hives slowly appearing on the side of his neck.

"I swear on my grave. I am making a cure for you, just you wait. You will be free from your sickness my angel. I promise."

You giggled bitterly, clearly not believing his words.

He was. You weren't going to suffer anymore... he promised.

~

He felt the hives appearing in a hige amount of quantity as he brought your cold body to his, letting his tears drip down form his face to your chest as he rested your head on his shoulder and squezzed your body to his... not caring about the blood coaxing his clothes.

"Not again..!" He sobbed, holding your body with one strong arm while the other was subsconciously touching the ground as he holded your legs on his forearm.

His chest hurted, his skin was burning hot and he somehow catched the voices of his commurates and the fucker who had just done this.

"Overhaul!" Chrono shouted, noticing the small bits of concrete starting to float around his childhood friend k eeling on the ground with his dead lover.

"NOT AGAIN!" he let out a bloody, long and loud shout that everyone on that room swore every person on Japan had hearded it... the building started to crack and broke in many pieces forming sharp spikes going into all directions while plataforms formed. Chisaki's quirk was absolutely out of control, yet some spikes of metal had pierced the villain's chest, blood spreading through the room as Chisaki's shout only continued.

"EVeRYOnE OuT oF ThE FuCkInG BUilDinG NoW We RE GonNa FuCkIng DIe!" Mimic sgouted as Rappa and Rikiya quickly made their way out as Chrono tried to get closer to you and Chisaki.

"CHISAKI-!" He cursed out loud when more spikes and ataforms formed, not having any more choices than getting out of the crashing building before he got injured.

The mans got out of the that place intacted... Overhaul's hatred and painful shout only coming to an end when the building was completly destroyed.

"Is Overjerk still alive after that?!" Rappa shouted before getting punched by a very angry Mimic.

Chrono widened his eyes and took of his mask in respect and sorrow at seing the scene he saw his friend going through many times as Mimic only muttered a lainful curse in sympathy.

Chisaki, blood dripping down from the right side of his face, walking slowly out of the scrubs with heart broken eyes but hateful gaze as he stared at the ground... on his arms he carried a little sleeping girl, that seemed to have 4 years at maximun by her appearance, enveloped by his oconic green jacket.

Only Pops, Mimic and Chrono knew about your quirk... so when Rikiya and Rappa saw the badass and cruel boss of them holding a child ok his arms was slightly shocking.

"Boss what is-" Chisaki passed thorugh them without a word, walking numbly towards the car, Chrono noticing how he tighten his grip on the little one as his eyes darkened a bit.

"What the hell is Overhaul doing with a brat?" Rappa mumbled more in disbelief than shock.

"Is his chick's quirk. Can't exactly die." Mimic muttered.

"The more (Y/n) dies, the longer it takes for her to recover her memories of Overhaul and goes back to her original form..." Chrono completed, following Chisaki but giving him his privacy and distance.

He knew that the moment the first bullet came out, Chisaki at this point was going to force that thing into your system... after all, you were indeed one of the few persons he cared for more than anything.

His plan was for to retribuit Pops and free you from your curse after all.

[doyelikehaggis]

i’d love some blam + marley friendship with maybe prompt number 15

"I hate this."

It's the first thing any of them have said in an hour. They were going about it silently, packing all of Marley's things into suitcases. Blaine and Sam had spotted her emptying out her locker at school earlier and when they asked about it, she just burst into tears and explained the whole hellish nightmare.

So, they volunteered to come over and take some of the pressure off by at least helping her get everything organized before the move tomorrow morning. But her room is now practically empty and it's all starting to feel too real.

Marley looks down and swallows when Sam breaks the silence. She shakes her head silently to herself like she might say something, Blaine notices, but she just keeps folding the pink sweater in her hands.

"We all do," Blaine says gently, slowly placing the last of her scented candles into the box. "If there was anything we could do..."

"It's fine," Marley says, shaking her head a little more vigorously, with that sweet smile that could make even the most cynical person believe in the most ridiculous things.

She puts the pink sweater into the suitcase. Her hands linger on top of it, and Blaine and Sam exchange a concerned glance.

"Actually, it's not." She straightens up and her smile is gone. Replaced by shining eyes as her voice cracks and her bottom lips quivers. "It's not fine. None of this is fine."

She drops onto the bottom of her bed and her head hangs forward, her hair hiding her face from view. Her fingers grip her covers until her knuckles turn white.

Sam is all wide eyes and instant panic - not that Blaine is much better. They barely just got over consoling Tina for weeks on end.

Sam curses under his breath while Blaine moves quickly to kneel in front of her. He rests a comforting hand on her knee as he tries to soothe her, plastering on a smile.

"Hey, come on! It is fine. It's going to be fine. It's not like you're moving to another state!"

"But I... am moving to another school," Marley chokes out, rubbing roughly at her eyes with the heel of her hand. "All of my friends were here, and I - I'm not going to know anyone, and my mom can't find another job. We only have another house because Sue arranged it just to get us out!"

She buries her face in her hands as her shoulders shake with a sob. Blaine squeezes her knee lightly but he doesn't know what to say. His eyes slide to Sam and he shrugs helplessly.

"God, we can't afford this. Literally!" Marley rakes her fingers through her hair, and Sam sinks down beside her on the bed. "We were already struggling to keep the power on. We're barely able to eat, and there's no way we can get the new books for a new school. I don't know what we're gonna do."

She stares blankly at the wall behind Blaine. He hadn't realized things were so bad for her and her mom. If he had, he would've tried to help before now.

"Then we'll figure it out," Sam speaks up.

Marley turns her head to look at him. A crease forms between her eyebrows and she sniffles, wiping pointlessly at her eyes.

"What?" Her voice is so small and soft in comparison to how it was just a few seconds ago.

"We're your friends - actually, we're family," Sam says. "And once you join this weird, kinda messed up family, you don't just stop being part of it when you leave. I didn't. When I had to pack up and leave, it was Finn and Rachel who came searching for me to bring me back. They gave me somewhere to live. Because we take care of the people we care about."

He glances at Blaine, and he's reminded of how Sam came to bring him back when he considered rejoining the Warblers. The thought of ever leaving the people he met at McKinley now feels so terrible and ridiculous that a pit opens up in his stomach.

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"So, yeah, you're moving an hour or two out of town," Sam cuts off Marley's beginnings of a protest. "That's fine. Most of us have cars anyway, and even though we're going to be in New York, you can bet we're going to come back to annoy the hell out of you like all of the time.

"And I get the money thing," he continues, taking on a more serious note, speaking softly, "more than you might think. My mom can help your mom with the whole job thing - she knows all the good places to go for help with that sorta thing after doing it more than once."

Marley starts to shake her head and say, "No, we couldn't-"

"You can," Sam says. "Trust me, I had the same pride. My parents, too. But then some people made me see that accepting help didn't - didn't mean that we were weak or something. We just all need help sometimes. And I'll always be there for you - we all will. So just... let us help in whatever way we can."

She takes a shaking breath, crying even more than before. But she's smiling. She gazes at Sam like she can't believe he's even real. Which Blaine totally understands.

"Yeah, you're never getting rid of us," Blaine says like a promise. And he means it. "It's like Sam said. We're family."

She turns that adoring look on him, and he isn't prepared for her to fling an arm around them both, dragging him up to hug them both. She repeats some chant of thank you so much and I love you over and over while they repeat their promises that it's going to be okay.

When she's finally smiling more than she's crying, they finish packing until her room is finally empty save for the bigger pieces of furniture that will be getting picked up by the delivery drivers the next morning. They spend the rest of the evening sitting in the living room with Marley's mom, eating the bag of snacks that Sam thought to bring over to cheer them up.

[krizaland]

Conflict is fun when it's not real. Headcanons for the Tallest becoming interested in Zim's s/o?

I am so HYPED  for this ask! I recently just saw the play Wicked and I have been dying to write a drabble where Zim and the reader sing “For good” together. I never had the proper inspiration. Until now! Thank you so much, Anon! Now strap in! This is gonna be a long, bumpy feels trip!

You and Zim had been dating for over two Earth years now! It’s truly amazing how much time could change.  Zim had recently revealed himself as an alien to you and he couldn’t be happier that you didn’t run away. You thought his true alien self was waay cuter than his human facade anyway.

However, it seemed that Zim had gone missing! 

He hadn’t been at skool in over three days and won’t answer any of your calls on the communicator bracelet he made for you.

Terrified that something might have happened to your boyfriend, you rushed to his base as fast as your legs could take you!

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

You pounded your hand against Zim’s front door.

“Zim?! It’s me, Y/N! Please open up! I need to make sure you’re ok!” You begged as your hand slid down the door.

Thankfully, the door opened but Zim was nowhere to be found.

Instead you found GIR and Minimoose sitting on the couch next to the largest pile of nachos you’ve ever seen.

“GIR? Minimoose? Have either of you seen Zim? He hasn’t been to skool and he won’t answer my calls!” You were almost on the verge of tears as you spoke.

“I don’t know where he is either! I worry about that boy so much! YOU WANT SOME NACHOS?!” GIR chirped as he shoved a gooey handful of nachos in your face.

“No thanks. I just want to see Zim right now.” You sighed as you tried to hold back your tears.

“Hey, keep it down out there. I’m trying to be miserable in my cheesy cocoon of misery.” Zim slurred as he poked his head out of the pile of nachos.

“Zim?! Oh thank goodness you’re alright! I thought something terrible had happened to you!” You cheered.

“Y/N? Is that you? Don’t worry, I’m still alive and stuff. Something terrible did happen to me though.” Zim grumbled as he sunk into the nacho pile.

“What happened, Zim? And why did you turn into a plate of nachos?” You asked nervously.

Zim let out a dramatic groan and flopped out of his cheesy fortress.

He peeled himself off the floor and pulled out an Irken remote.

BLOOP!

Zim pressed a button and a blue holographic map appeared.

“This is the flight path of the Irken Armada. And there, shmillions of lightyears away from that path, is Urth. Do you know what this means, my sweet human?” Zim blubbered as he gestured to the map.

“Your leaders only fly in a straight line?”

“The Tallest aren’t coming!” Zim whimpered as he flopped back onto the ground.

“Oh Zim…I’m so sorry.” You bit your lip as you sat down beside him.

“I’ve lost the respect of my Tallest!” Zim wailed as he climbed onto your lap.

You pulled Zim into a tight hug and gently stroked his antennas. Zim clung to you for dear life as he bawled his ruby eyes out.

When Zim ran out of tears to shed, you gently turned his face to look at you.

“Hey, it’s gonna be alright, Zim. You still have my respect.” You reassured softly.

“Really? You still respect me? Even though I’m a..failure?” Zim choked out.

“Zim, you’re not a failure! You’re literally one of the strongest people I know! I don’t care what your leaders think! You’ll always be my favorite Invader!” You insisted.

Zim let out a gasp as his ruby eyes gazed deeply into your E/C ones.

“I love you, Zim. Your leaders may not be coming but I’ll always be here for you. No matter what.” You declared.

“Promise?”

“I promise, Zim.” You whispered as you kissed his forehead.

In that very moment, Zim’s PAK sparked like crazy.

All you felt was a light buzzing sensation but Zim? Zim felt something he never thought he’d feel.

Zim was feeling rebellious.

Every last shred of respect and loyalty for the Irken Empire was erased form his PAK. The only thing Zim had any respect for now was you.

“Y/N. I am honored to be your love pig. No longer shall I continue to serve an Empire that doesn’t appreciate my incredible genius! From this day forth, the only one I shall serve is you, My human.” Zim announced as he sat upright.

“Yeah! That’s the spirit! Wait! What?” You were excited that Zim no longer wanted to serve the Irken Empire but were caught off guard by the last part.

“My human, you have given me the respect I so truly deserve. You have proven yourself to be far more superior than the so called ‘almighty Tallest’. Therefore I shall pledge my life to serving you and only you.” Zim climbed off your lap and gave you a salute.

Before you had a chance to respond, Zim cupped your face and pulled you into a passionate kiss.

You blushed as your eyelids slowly closed. You let Zim taste every last inch of your mouth as you tasted his. 

The two of you didn’t part until you were out of breath.

Once the kiss stopped your mouth remained wide open. That wasn’t supposed to happen. You didn’t quite know how to react at first. However, after a few moments of sitting in shock, you figured out that this was Zim’s way of saying he loved you.

“Wow, Zim! I-I’m so honored!” You stuttered as you slowly stood up.

“As you rightfully should be, My human! Now I will need to cleanse all that I own of any FLITH from that FILTHY EMPIRE!” Zim announced as he put his hands on his hips.

“I shall start with shutting off any long distance communications to The Massive. I can’t have the Tallest find out I’ve rebelled against the Empire! I’ll be deleted on the spot!” Zim explained as he begun to tinker away at the TV monitor.

Unfortunately, Zim had accidentally called the Tallest in the process.

The Tallest groaned as they begrudgingly answered the call.

“What do you want now, Zim?” Red grumbled.

Zim let out a scream the moment the Tallest appeared on screen. He may have rejected the Irken Empire, but he still didn’t want to invoke the wrath of the Tallest.

“Yeah, can’t you see we’re- Hey! Who’s that behind you?” Purple squeaked as he gestured to you. 

His PAK sparked a bit as he spoke.

 Sweat begun to pour down Zim’s face. This was not good!  Not only will the Tallest find out he had betrayed the Empire but they will also find out he had chosen to serve you instead.

To make matters worse, Red had also turned to look at you and his PAK sparked too.

Oh no. Oh no! No! No! No!

This was not good at all! All Zim could do was scream and try to hide you away.

“Hey! Don’t hide them from us!” Purple snapped as he shoved some donuts into his mouth.

“Yeah! Just answer the question, Zim.” Red commanded as he folded his arms.

“This human is simply just one of my experiments! Now I must continue my duties at once! Zim ou-”

“Woah! Woah! Wait! We actually could use that human for uh.. something.” Red stuttered.

“Man, they’re pretty..” Purple sighed.

“Pretty…useful! They seem like a useful asset to the Empire! Just let us beam them aboard the ship and we’ll promote you!” Red lied as he clasped his hands together.

You let out a gasp. As much as you would’ve loved to chew out Zim’s shitty excuses for leaders, you didn’t want them to kill him. All you could do was stand there in shock.

Zim wasn’t feeling much better either.

Zim felt his squeedilyspooch churn. Normally, Zim would be thrilled at the offer of a promotion but now that he no longer wanted to serve the Empire, Red’s offer was worthless to him. However, Zim couldn’t just simply deny a request from the Tallest. Even though he was no longer loyal to them, he didn’t want to be deleted! However, he didn’t even want to think about what horrors those monsters had in store for you.

“Computer! Put the Tallest on hold!” Zim hissed as he pointed to the ceiling.

“Tallest put on hold!” The computer bellowed as the screen paused.

 “Are you sure they’re on hold this time?” Zim asked as he narrowed his eyes.

“Yes. Tallest have been put on hold. I double checked.” The computer conformed.

“Good! At least I managed to buy us some time.” Zim sighed as he turned to face you.

“I need to think of a way out of this mess! C’mon, Zim! Think! Think! THINK!” Zim ranted as he paced back and forth.

You let out a deep sigh and looked down at your feet. You didn’t want to be sent to those bastards! Your fear of what they might do to you aside, you wanted to stay by Zim’s side. You didn’t want to abandon him like they did!

However, you had a feeling that the Tallest wouldn’t be too happy if Zim denied their request. As much as you didn’t want to abandon Zim, you also didn’t want him to die.

You knew what you had to do.

“Zim!” 

Zim stopped his pacing for a moment and looked at you.

“Send me to the Tallest!” You commanded as tears begun to form in your eyes.

“WHAT?! YOU WISH TO BE SENT TO THE TALLEST?! HAVE YOU THE BRAIN WORMS?!” Zim roared as he grabbed you by the shoulders and shook you.

“Zim! Please understand! I hate them with every fiber of my being but they might kill you if you don’t give me to them! I can’t let you die, Zim! I love you too much!” You sobbed.

“AND I CAN’T LET YOU DIE EITHER! WHO KNOWS WHAT THOSE DIABOLICAL MONSTERS HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU?!” Zim wailed.

“Zim. That’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’d do anything for you.” You insisted.

“But-”

“Anything.”

“You would really risk your life…For mine?” Zim’s voice quivered as he spoke.

“Of course I would! I love you, Zim. You mean everything to me.” 

Zim let go of your shoulders as more tears fell from his eyes.

“I love you too, Y/N. As much as I can’t bare to lose you, you make a good point. I guess I don’t really have a choice do I?” Zim’s voice shrank as he spoke.

“No. I guess not.” You sighed as you rubbed your arm,

“So, I guess this is goodbye?” Zim choked out as more tears begun to stream down his cheeks.

You took a deep breath and nodded.

“I’ve heard it said, that people come into our lives for a reason. Bringing something we must learn. And we are led to those… Who help us most to grow if we let them. And we help them in return.

Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s trueBut I know I’m who I am todayBecause I knew you… 

Like a comet pulled from orbit

As it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder

Halfway through the wood

Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?

But because I knew you…

I have been changed for good” Your voice quivered as you sang.

Zim sniffled and cleared his throat.

“It well may be…That we will never meet again inn this lifetime. So let me say before we part, So much of me is made of what I learned from you.

You’ll be with me. No matter how near or far.And now whatever way our stories end. I know you have re-written mine

By being my friend…” Zim gently took your hands in his.

“Like a ship blown from it’s course

By a solar wind

Like a seed dropped by a spacebird

On a distant world

Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?

But because I knew you…” Zim gave your hands a gentle squeeze.

“Because I knew you..” You sniffled.

“I have been changed for good.” You both sang.

“And just to clear the air, I ask forgiveness. For all the things I’ve done you blame me for.” Zim let go of your hands and bowed before you.

“But then, I guess we know that there’s blame to share.” You helped Zim to his feet.

“And none of it seems to matter anymore!” You and Zim’s voices melted together as the song continued.

“Like a comet pulled from orbit

As it passes a sun

Like a stream that meets a boulder

Halfway through the wood”

“Like a ship blown from it’s courseBy a solar windLike a seed dropped by a spacebirdOn a distant world”

“Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better? 

I do believe I have been changed for the better.” 

“And because I knew you…” Tears streamed down your cheeks

“Because I… knew you” Zim sniffled.

“I have been changed…. 

For good…” You both sang as you pulled each other into a tight hug.

“Y/N…Oh how I’ll miss you so…” Zim whispered as he clung to you for dear life.

“I’ll miss you too, Zim.” You sniffled as you returned the hug.

After a few more minutes, Zim released you from the hug.

“Goodbye, my love.” Zim choked out as he reluctantly loaded you into the teleporter.

Zim took the Tallest off hold and dried his tears.

“Very well, my Tallest. I will send you the human.” Zim tried to sound sincere but every word came out dripping with venom.

and with that, Zim cut the call and sent you to The Massive.

Next

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Two Hundred Nineteen: Genius ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

Why is it she’s surrounded by geniuses?

Sure, one of them...isn’t exactly her best friend. Hinata knows why Neji hates her. All she can do is hope that when she gets older, she’ll have a chance to change things for him. For all of the branch Hyūga clan. But, for now...she’s powerless. Stripped of her title and abandoned to her genin team by her father, having been deemed a failure. She can no more help Neji than she can help herself.

...she’ll never bear the title of genius, she tells herself. She’s just the quiet little nobody dragging her new team down. Naruto will never benefit from her few and far between talents. All she wants is to be recognized by him...but what can she do?

And then, there’s the third member of their new triad. Uchiha Sasuke, another proclaimed genius. Quiet, almost aloof...and hyper focused on his own goals.

Their team feels so...disjointed. Naruto and Sasuke are almost always arguing, and Hinata’s quiet, soft attempts to try to bring peace are almost always ignored. Their first training session with Kakashi was...disastrous. Naruto went in with no sense of planning or teamwork, and almost immediately was put out of commission by Kakashi. Sasuke, though highly skilled, also went at it alone, using Naruto’s antics as a distraction. And Hinata’s attempts to free Naruto landed her in a one-on-one with Kakashi, her feeble attempts at Jūken holding up for a few seconds before she, too, was incapacitated.

Overall...it wasn’t pretty. And yet, after realizing what they were missing, he allowed them to pass...if only by the skin of their teeth.

And now, they’ve been buried in D-rank missions to their ears. Hinata’s prior hinting that maybe more actual training than just slaving away on assignments might help has finally been taken seriously. Their entire week has been nothing but hours spent at the training grounds, trying to find some semblance of strategy to work together.

So far...there hasn’t been much progress.

Sasuke’s attempts to make himself the unspoken team leader have gotten Naruto all in a tizzy, insisting that he should lead. The constant arguing has made them sloppy, too busy correcting each other and nitpicking to spend time actually running through drills.

As yet another fight breaks out, Hinata sighs, shoulders wilting as she stands beside Kakashi. He, too, looks rather unimpressed. “Boys,” he then cuts in, drawing their looks as they each grasp one another’s shirt fronts. “I think you’re forgetting something.”

“...what?”

“Neither of you are team leader. That title would fall to me. As it stands...neither of you are anywhere near qualified to lead a squad. Hence you being little genin, and not chūnin.”

Both then stiffen and puff up, vying their case for being second in command.

“I don’t think so. You’re both far too busy giving each other a hard time to even pay your task any attention. If anything...Hinata is the most qualified for me to turn to.”

...that shuts them up.

Jolting in surprise, she stutters, “M...me? B-but I -?”

“Have a level head, listen when the squad leader speaks, and do your best to follow through the drills. The only reason you ever stop is because these two keep getting in your way. I can’t even judge your abilities yet because you’ve had no time to show them off. There might be a genius just under the surface, but these knuckleheads keep wasting time.”

Kakashi folds his arms, giving the boys a pointed look. “If it were just you two putting yourselves out, I’d just leave you to it. But you seem to be forgetting something very important: this team isn’t just about you. You have to form a cohesive unit. Your arguing is bad enough between the two of you...but you’re dragging Hinata down. Both of you.”

Eyes wide, Hinata just...stares. She’s...never had anyone speak about her like that before. She has always been the burden. The slow one. The person inhibiting the progress of others. Hearing Kakashi praise her - even so indirectly - brings a small flutter to her chest.

At their sensei’s chiding, Sasuke and Naruto give each other cool, appraising looks. While it’s clear they haven’t exactly resolved things between them...they seem to take Kakashi’s words to heart. “...so what are we supposed to do?” Sasuke asks. “How can we just magically get along?”

“Well, I was hoping some missions would help with that. Give you all the same goal, and see how you worked to meet it. But even then you were too busy nagging each other to really get the work done as well as you could have.” Kakashi rubs his chin thoughtfully. “...I think we need to go over our strengths and weaknesses. A good team has a balance. Where one person might be lacking, another steps up to cover it.”

His arms fold. “Sasuke, you have a good eye for detail, and a mind for strategizing...decent techniques and power. But you’re also too absorbed in yourself to pay attention to the movements and needs of your teammates. Hinata’s mindfulness might help you learn to keep tabs on the rest of your squad. Naruto, you’ve got decent power...but you don’t think ahead. You need to slow down and examine your surroundings first. You might not like it, but you need to listen when Sasuke comes up with a strategy. His strength will help cover your weakness. And Hinata.”

“Y...yes?”

“You have the greatest powers of observation. Even if your Byakugan is still in its beginning stages with distance, you can see what your team can’t. You’re their eyes. You can tell Sasuke what you see, so he can plan, and Naruto can help execute. But you’re not putting your best foot forward. You’re hesitating. You take a step back when you should take a step forward.”

At that, the little Hyūga flinches. That’s...exactly what her father always chided her for. Being indecisive. Lacking conviction. Initiative.

...but his constant beratement only made her less sure of herself. Less apt to take risks, or be assertive.

Eyeing her carefully as the boys do the same, Kakashi suggests, “...in order to help cover you...Naruto and Sasuke need to do something for you.”

“We do?” Naruto blurts, earning a sock in the shoulder by his rival.

“You two...need to work on Hinata’s confidence.”

“...how do we do that?” Sasuke asks, a brow perked.

“Encouragement. Help. Advice. Hinata’s skittish for a reason. Reach out! Find the reason behind it! And start to counteract it.”

Confusion crosses both boys’ faces. Across from them, Hinata wilts. “T...that’s not -?”

“You haven’t been given a chance to show your true potential,” Kakashi cuts in, waving a hand. “I think...you’ve been so concerned about measuring up to someone else, you haven’t done so with yourself, hm?”

...she doesn’t have a rebuke for that.

“...all right. I’m going to go bring my precious little students some lunch,” Kakashi then announces. “While I’m gone...why don’t you three discuss what we learned today, hm?”

None of them answer as he disappears. For once...all three are quiet, mulling things over.

Naruto folds his arms, seated on the ground and pursing his lips. “...guess I do kinda rush into things, huh?”

“Yeah, you do,” Sasuke agrees, earning a glower. “...and...I try to take the reins too much. I guess...I just feel like I have ideas we should use.”

“But you don’t, um...communicate them to us,” Hinata offers softly. “You always g-go at things alone.”

“Well...Naruto ruins things with his rushing, and you…” He gestures vaguely. “Every time I turn around, you’re flinching.”

“S...sorry.”

“See? That’s what I mean. Don’t apologize for it, Hinata.”

“Don’t mind him, he’s just a jerk,” Naruto offers behind a hand, getting socked again. “Ow! Hey!”

“I’m trying to be serious! Look...you don’t have to be so timid, Hinata. We’re not gonna yell at you if you do something wrong. Mistakes in training aren’t fatal. You just have to try again until you get it right.”

Her head ducks. “...I...g-guess you’re right. I just, um…” She glances aside. “...that’s not...how we do things at - a-at home. It’s very...strict.”

“Well...this isn’t the Hyūga compound. If you need help with something, just ask us. Or Kakashi. The point of training is to work on what you need to improve. Why would we try to make it harder for you? If we’re gonna be a team...then we have to work together. That means in training, too.”

Sparing a glance up, Hinata dares to meet Sasuke’s eyes. Unlike her father’s, there’s no disappointment in them. No malice. Just a hint of exasperation as she hesitates. “O...okay.”

“Besides, you’ve got some really cool abilities, Hinata-chan!” Naruto pipes up with a grin. “The way your eyes can see through stuff! And behind you! Even Sasuke can’t do that!”

A hint of a cool pout overcomes Sasuke’s face, but he doesn’t comment.

“And that taijutsu stuff you were doing with Kakashi-sensei - with the chakra? That was so cool! Does it really make somebody unable to use chakra?”

“Um...y-yes, for a little while. That’s the Jūken style of the Hyūga clan.”

“If you get better at that, imagine what that’d mean! You’d just have to hit ‘em like ‘blam blam blam’! And then they’d be at your mercy! How badass is that?!”

Color floods her cheeks. “I...I-I still need more p-practice, though…”

“Well, that’s what we’re here to do,” Sasuke offers. A grin curls his lips. “I’d like to spar with the Jūken sometime. My taijutsu needs a little work...and that way there’d be more risk for me to work on my blocking and dodging.”

“Me too, me too!” Naruto insists. “I wanna see it!”

“Having a Hyūga on our team should be pretty useful. Even beyond the Jūken, like Kakashi said...your eyes might be almost as good as mine,” Sasuke offers with a hint of a grin as he lightly teases her.

“You never even use the Sharingan!” Naruto cuts in squinting.

“Not yet. I haven’t needed to,” the Uchiha evades.

“All right, all right...I think that’s enough talking for now.”

The trio turn to see their sensei behind them, holding out three bento boxes. “Sensei!”

“Sounds to me like you made some good progress...so consider these your reward. I’ll give you the rest of the day to think on it...then we’ll see how things go tomorrow, hm?”

“O...okay.”

Rather than leave, the three just sit and open their lunches. “Hey, hey! Hinata-chan, can I trade you some fish for my vegetables?”

“I know you don’t like them, b-but you really should eat them Naruto-kun,” she chides in reply. Looking to Sasuke, she then offers, “Sasuke-kun, do you want my tomatoes?”

He blinks. “...how’d you know I like tomatoes?”

“Cuz Hinata-chan pays attention! Duh! And I thought you were a genius, teme - maybe Hinata’s smarter than you!”

Smiling softly, she adds, “L-like you said, maybe my eyes are as good as yours, ne?”

Still looking surprised, Sasuke hesitates a moment. “...yeah, sure. Here, you can have my plum jelly...I don’t like sweet stuff.”

“O-okay!”

...maybe they’ll get this whole ‘teamwork’ thing figured out.

                                                       .oOo.

     More team seven!Hinata. I'm really starting to like this AU, as cliche as it is lol - though trying to figure out how to get things to fully mesh is a little difficult...hence them talking it out this time!      In all honesty, team seven in canon doesn't really seem to have much, uh...balance? Just three mostly physical attackers. Team eight, by comparison, has a lot more...variety. They're all trackers, sure...but you've got Kiba with medium range attacking, Shino with recon and subversive attacking, and Hinata with her Byakugan and close-up taijutsu for chakra blocking. I dunno. Team seven just seems very weighted to me, but then again I'm very poor at writing combat so maybe I have no room to talk xD So envisioning how to have these three work as a unit is a little tough too, tbh.      Aaanyway...it's super late so I better go - thanks for reading!

[thebeethathums]

Observers - 39

Pairing: Sherlock Holmes x Reader

A/n: I got really into this case guys... You don't even know. It was so trivial in my head and then all the sudden blam it turned into a really complex interconnected thing. Anyways... the two paintings are actually from the Musee d'Orsay have some links if you'd like:

Rouen Cathedral in Morning Light  and La Seine à Port-Villez

John couldn’t help but grin as you literally danced into The National Gallery, giving a little twirl before letting out the most content sigh. You were a hard and incredibly devoted worker but he knew you hated that type of work, it made you feel boxed in, bored, and dull. For you, this was not only a moment of excitement but of much-needed freedom as well. Sherlock set a hand on your shoulder to reign you in before you wandered off down some hall and got lost. He got the feeling it would be hours before they found you again if that happened and a grateful look from John confirmed it as you wiggled a little under his hand.

They’d briefed you in the cab on the way over, explaining that they had identified the three people that were murdered as leading art experts all focused in the field of impressionism. Once they had done that, the note left with the bodies made sense and led them to a set of paintings by Monet on loan to The National Gallery by the Musée d'Orsay in Paris that included two newly discovered paintings that had been unveiled just months before. That’s where they were now- one of the five paintings was a fake, it was just a matter of determining which. You had protested to Sherlock that you were hardly an expert, sure Monet was one of your favorite artists and you were a painter but that didn’t mean you’d be able to spot the difference between a fake and the real deal, but for some reason, he insisted you look at them. Lestrade and the curator looked up when the three of you walked in, your eyes going wide as you looked around the room with a gleeful grin- so much better than being stuck in the café. Sherlock released you and you gave Lestrade a small, distracted wave as you moved past him to stand in front a painting you knew well, ignoring the conversation that had begun behind you. You tilted your head, letting your eyes wander over the pale blues and yellows of one of Monet’s many paintings of Rouen Cathedral, this particular one depicting the soft light of morning. It was one of your favorites. You would need to go over every inch of each painting to be absolutely certain of which was the fake so why not start here?

It had only been a few minutes when you were pulled from your study by raised voices behind you, the curator arguing loudly with Sherlock and Lestrade over your qualifications, or lack thereof, and without turning you snapped, “Either shut it or get the sod out. You’re messing with my concentration.” They fell silent and you went back to what you were doing before you were so rudely interrupted as John snickered, “I told you she’d notice.” Time passed slowly for Sherlock and the others as you spent hours in front of each painting, night slowly creeping in while you shifted from painting to painting, sometimes sitting on the floor but mostly just standing. By the time you got to the last two paintings, the curator had left, Lestrade had stepped out to get coffee and stretch his legs, and John was sitting against a wall, napping, next to Sherlock who was deep in thought with his hands folded under his chin. You gave a soft yawn and stretched your arms above your head as you moved to the last painting, the noise making both of their eyes snap open and Sherlock gestured for John to go get him some coffee. John opened his mouth to tell him to get it himself but Sherlock pressed a finger to his lips, his eyes flicking to you and back as John narrowed his own eyes at him in annoyance. He decided he could use some air anyways and got up to do as Sherlock wanted, leaving the two of you alone in the room. Sherlock went to you, wrapping his arms around your middle and resting his chin on your shoulder causing you to tense slightly but you didn’t push him away. The last week had been surprisingly hard on Sherlock, even when he was distracted by the case he found himself missing you. At first, it was just that he’d grown used to your presence and it threw him off a little that you were gone but as the week wore on he began to miss little things that he had never really thought about before. The sound of you humming as you made tea, the way your tongue peeked out of your mouth when your sketches got more detailed, the quick sarcastic comments that so easily mingled with his own- he missed it all. As annoying as it was, he found it interesting that he’d spent his entire life without you and now, after only a week of you being gone, he was miserable. Love was turning out to be a more complex emotion than he’d originally thought. You suddenly let out a sigh and your hand came up to tangle in his hair as you turned your head to press a gentle kiss to his cheek. He kept his arms around you but stood straight to let you turn and lean into his chest with another soft yawn as he thrummed, “What do you see?” A wave of disappointment washed over him when you pulled away and moved back to the third painting, The Seine at Port-Villez, standing in front of it for a moment before stating, “The logical choice would have been one of the two new pieces as they would be much easier to duplicate and switch out without someone noticing yet from what I can see there is nothing wrong with either of them. So that leaves the older pieces- I have seen these three works a number of times over the years, enough to know them well, and there’s something about this one that’s off... also, the more I think about it the more it’s the perfect piece for someone to switch out with a fake.” “Explain.” he murmured as he wound around you from behind again, this time with his cheek against the top of your head. “It’s well known but not as popular as say... his lily pads, medium sized so not as carefully scrutinized as something smaller or as time-consuming as something bigger, and conservatively worth over ten million on the black market.” You stepped away from him again, moving so you were just inches from the canvas before giving a soft hum, “This one is a fake and... I know who painted it.” “You do?” John’s voice rang out behind the two of you as he walked in, just in time to hear your statement but miss the moment of affection from Sherlock, and you spun to nod, “I almost missed it… it’s been a while since I’ve seen one of his paintings, but hidden in one of the trees in a clever shade of muted green is his signature, just two letters-TA for Timothy Ares.” “Timothy Ares…” Sherlock said the name as if he was trying to deduce something about its owner simply from what he was called and John came over to press a very welcome cup of tea into your hands, “How do you know him, Squeak?” You plopped down cross-legged on the floor, giving your legs a rest as you sipped at your tea, “He was one of my flatmates when I first moved to Montmartre, we shared a studio for a bit too. You met him when you came to visit once… kind of a lanky bloke with a shock of chestnut hair that flopped over one eye- if memory serves it was flecked with streaks of white when you saw him.” John was looking to the ceiling in thought and then nodded with a chuckle, “Oh! I remember him… he’s the one who got caught by the authorities in only his pink pants when you broke into that pool in the middle of the night.” “That would be the one,” you confirmed, giving a little laugh at the memory.

After a moment of thought, you looked up at Sherlock, who was standing with his eyes closed, and firmly stated, “He wouldn’t do this. Not unprovoked. He has great respect for the work of others.”

“Do you still have contact with him?” John wondered aloud.

“I do.”

“Call him.” Sherlock demanded and you shook your head, “I can do you one better. He’s in London. Phoned me two days ago to see if we could meet up but I was busy so he told me where he was staying in case I had some free time.”

Sherlock abruptly stalked out and you and John exchanged a glance, scrambling to catch up with him after he poked his head back in and called, “Don’t laze about.”

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