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knightjpg · 1 year ago

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analgesia

It's not the first time he's got himself skunk drunk when back home on leave, and part of you resents his decision for joining the military. Clearly that has to be the reason for him living it up like it's his last goddamn night on Earth at every opportunity, right? You're more familiar with his sloppy cheek kisses and wandering hands while you get him home than you'd like, but such are the burdens of best friend privileges. It's Johnny—harmless, familiar. A little stupid and a lot sweet.

tags: dubcon, johnny/reader, alcohol mention, unprotected piv (wrap it up kids)

“Fuck's sake, Johnny, keep your feet—!”

Johnny just laughs and leans all of his weight on your shoulder again, making you squeak and scramble for balance.

“Le's dance, bonnie, c'mon, we gotta go dancin’,” he slurs in your ear.

A laugh bubbles up your throat before you can help it. You're tired and annoyed and exasperated, but it's just so damn hard to stay angry at Johnny with his big blue puppy eyes and the way he's always smiling like a little boy caught doing something he shouldn't have.

Dancing... Ridiculous. He can't even walk in a straight line.

“No,” and you try to sound firm through your smile. “We're going home, and we're getting you a glass of water. You stink.”

Johnny answers you with a full-on whine, burying his nose in your shoulder and scratching against your skin with his stubble. “Why're you s'mean. Why d’ye hate me.”

"If I hated you I’d dump your ass at a bus stop and leave you to sober up by yourself.” You hoist his arm more securely around your shoulder while you walk, thanking every higher being you can think of for wearing sensible sneakers tonight. Johnny's leaning into you so hard you have to lean back an almost equal amount just to stay upright and keep shuffling forward.

And so when he suddenly stops you almost fall face-first on the hard stone pavement. “What—”

You can see Johnny turn pale even under the dim lantern light, and he presses a hand to his mouth before doubling over—

“No no no please don't throw up—”

...and retching his guts out in the gutter. You allow yourself a deep sigh and watch your breath turn into a puff of cloud while listening to Johnny heave the alcohol out of his system. It's so dark out you can even make out the flicker of some stars when you look up, winking in and out of existence as the opaque curtains of cloud drift by.

When he's done you look down and wince at the stains on his shoes. He's shivering, and pity has you rubbing a hand over his shoulder.

“Ah dinnea feel s’good,” he mumbles.

“I can see that. C'mon, big boy. It's gonna be okay.”

He unsteadily lets you help him to his feet again. He's been feeling off all night, and you watch him with a mixture of worry and sadness.

You're more familiar with his sloppy cheek kisses and wandering hands while you get him home than you'd like, but such are the burdens of best friend privileges. It's Johnny—harmless, familiar. A little stupid and a lot sweet.

But it's never quite felt like this. He was all smiles tonight until...

Until when?

You don't know what set him off. You were with the usual crew, old friends. Everything seemed fine—Johnny'd been playing darts with some of the other lads and you'd been with the girls, gossiping over dates and breakups and relationship advice.

You'd shyly told them the bloke you'd gone out with last week called you back asking for another date, and were hounded afterwards for details. You'd been having fun until you weren't. Or rather, until you were too distracted by Johnny slamming back drink after drink with tense shoulders and tight eyes.

You sigh again when you reach your apartment. You had plans for tomorrow, but... You glance at Johnny. His head's slumping forward till his chin is almost touching his chest. You don't want to leave him feeling sick by himself.

Johnny's drunkenly mumbling to himself while you fish around your bag for your keys with one hand. One of his arms curls around your waist, making it harder, and then his hand wanders high enough to grope at your breast.

“Chrissake, Johnny,” you smack his arm. “Play nice. I'm trying to—”

“Love ye s’much, bonnie,” he mumbles against your neck, hand not moving an inch even with your nails digging into his skin. If anything it makes him cling to you more tightly, and you're worried he'll fall and break his thick stupid head if you push him off you with more force.

“Yes, yes, love you too. Idiot. Now let go, I want to get out of the cold...”

Somehow you manage to move around his iron grip and click open the door. You put up with his slobbering against your neck because it makes him a lot easier to deal with getting up the stairs and then, fucking finally, you're in your apartment where it's warm and cosy.

You shuffle over to the bedroom because it's closest and there's just absolutely no way Johnny's going to fit on your couch. You've tried. It's not worth putting up with the complaining about back pain the next morning.

Johnny flops onto the mattress and just when you think the finish line is in sight, his hand snatches yours so quick it's a blur.

“Dinnea leave...”

“Have to get you a glass of water,” you tell him gently, trying and failing to pry his fingers off your wrist.

“Dinnea want ye t’fuckin’ leave...” his voice breaks in the middle and you stop short for a second—is he crying?

God, how drunk is he...? You'd hoped throwing up would have counted towards sobering up, but apparently not.

“Shush, it's okay, it's okay. We'll get you some water and you'll sleep it off, alright?”

Johnny slurs something you don't catch and you take the opportunity to slip away and get him a glass. You make him drink it all, even manage to get him to rinse his mouth. He does as you say without fuss, wavering between stubborn as a rock and pliantly obedient as always.

“You're a handful and a half,” you say, but without any real heat to it. You brush back strands of brown hair—his mohawk's been growing out. He'll probably ask you to cut it again before he returns to base...

When he starts to slump over again you quickly take the glass from him and set it on the bedside table, and push against his shoulder to get him to lie on his back. “Christ, what are they feeding you,” you mumble to yourself. He's got to be bigger every time you see him—you don't think you could fit two hands around his arm.

When you pull back to get Johnny a blanket he grabs at you again, and this time you're too caught off guard to keep your balance. You fall half on top of him with an ‘oomf!’ and narrowly avoid kneeing him in the groin.

“Give me a fucking break,” you huff when he takes this as the go-ahead for a nice cuddle. Those thick arms immediately wrap around your waist, pulling you flush against him.

“Love ye s’much,” he slurs again, mouth tucked just below your ear. Every time he moves his lips it's like he's kissing you, and despite everything you have to suppress a few shudders. “So fuckin’ bonnie. Was lookin’ at ye all night. Wanted t’go dancin’ with my girl, take ye home...”

You flush. It always takes you by surprise, the drunk ‘my girl’s, to the point where you asked him about it one time. Johnny just laughed and shrugged. “You are my girl. Known you the longest since forever, aye?”

You pointed out that's not quite what it means, and the only reply you got was that he wouldn't call you that if it bothered you. It's a promise he forgets every time he goes out, though...

“You're drunk,” you tell him.

“M'not,” he says, breath hot against your neck. It's followed by something wet, and you jolt in his arms.

“What’re you—Johnny, gross, what the hell!”

He licks at you again, and the twitch that follows is involuntary. Your neck is sensitive and, well, so what if it's been a while? The guy you're planning to see next week was going to fix that. Not Johnny. He's not... He's not supposed to be—

“Taste s’fuckin’ good,” Johnny groans against your neck. The bed shifts and creaks, and this time there's a graze of teeth.

“Wait,” you gasp, voice suddenly thin and airy and so distracted by Johnny biting at your skin it takes more than a few minutes for you to realise the bed is creaking because he's humping your thigh.

An embarrassed heat zaps through you right to your core, and the intensity of it makes you break out into a sweat.

“Johnny, Johnny, wait—”

He outright moans when you say his name, hands squeezing your waist before sliding down to cup your ass and angling your hips to slot his own into. “Make it so good for you, kitty, need ye s’bad...”

Jesus Christ. Mortifyingly you can feel yourself getting wet. Just—the proximity, the heat, the electricity running up your spine every time his big hands slide over your thighs. You feel trapped, suffocated, almost, and unfortunately the fact that you can't get away from him even if you try makes the dizzy feeling in your stomach spin harder.

When Johnny sucks at your neck and roughly tugs up your shirt to knead your chest through your bra there's a few seconds of white-out bliss, and you seriously consider giving in and just—

No. He's drunk. Probably barely has any idea what he's doing—never remembers what he said or did the next morning. You can already imagine the apologetic hugs, the huge pleading eyes. He'd feel terrible.

“You're drunk—you're drunk, c'mon, Johnny, we can't, we gotta...” you cut yourself off to muffle the moan that threatens to slip when Johnny ducks his head down and starts giving your chest open-mouthed kisses.

“No,” you protest weakly, unsure if you're telling him or yourself, because despite your good intentions you really don't want him to stop. Would it be so bad? Would it be so bad if you let Johnny make you feel good? He won't remember, will honestly probably pass out before anything actually happens, and... and...

“We gotta be—gotta be smart, Johnny, oh—” his name comes out as a sob when he flicks your nipple with his tongue, and you squeeze your eyes shut.

“Say my name, bonnie, sound s’fuckin’ pretty for me... Gonna make ye sing, make ye feel so good,” Johnny pants against your skin. One of his hands worms its way down, almost rips the buttons off your pants, cups your core right through panties. You shake from just that, back arching, hips stuttering away and then back towards him because this is unfair. Isn't drunk sex supposed to be shite? Why is he making it work? What's wrong with you?

Johnny moans loudly, unlike you completely unashamed and uninhibited and very happy to let you know that you're “So fuckin’ wet for me—tha's for me, aye? All mine? Fuck, tha's good—Sweet little cunt...”

You push at his shoulders with less and less conviction. You try tugging at his mohawk to get his attention, desperate not to have to be the voice of reason here, but all that does is make him shudder and bite at your tits.

And neither gets him to take his hands out of your pants, though he very quickly decides just feeling you soak your panties isn't good enough. With a lot more alacrity than you should reasonably expect of him he pushes aside your underwear, starts flicking your clit, and sticks his tongue down your throat to eagerly drink down your sounds of pleasure.

“Missed ye so much, miss my girl all the time,” he whines into your mouth. You can feel his cock thick and erect through his jeans, still rubbing against your hip, and you shiver, because Johnny's stupid big fingers are working you to completion at a rollercoaster pace. But when you start to tremble, breaths coming short and quick and needy—

He stops.

“No!” you whimper, sounding as pathetic and desperate as you feel. If he falls asleep now you're going to kill him.

But Johnny hasn't fallen asleep. When you crack your eyes open you look right into his, glittering in the half-dark of your room. When he speaks his voice is husky, low and tight with desire coating the edges.

“Tell me y’need me, aye? Wee lil’ cunt need me so bad?”

To punctuate his question he flicks at your clit again, and when your hips jolt in response his free hand presses them down into the mattress. Keeping still.

There's a split second of doubt, the voice of reason rearing its head in the back of your mind. This isn't right—he's drunk. You've just started seeing someone, kind of, not quite dating yet, but it wouldn't be fair—right?

You can't quite catch Johnny's expression in the low light, but the edges of him seem to sharpen when you don't answer right away. In one fluid motion he pushes himself up to hover over you, knee nudging your legs open wider, and presses his forehead against yours before starting excruciatingly slow circles on your clit.

You gasp and pant and can't do anything except lie there and let the weight of both his body and his gaze pin you to the bed, helpless and mortified at your own body's response. Because even though it's slow you are soaking him, him and yourself. Your jeans are ruined; your underwear is a joke. You're pretty sure if Johnny pulled away now his hand would be wet up to the wrist.

And you don't want him to pull away. You almost cry in relief when he speeds up his rhythm, so glad you don't have to make a decision after all and can simply receive whatever the alcohol in Johnny wants to give you...

Until he stops. Right on the edge, mean fucker, and this time tears slip past your lashes. “No, no, please, please, you can't—please, Johnny...”

“Tha's better,” he says roughly, the hand on your hip travelling up to pinch at your nipple until you try to wriggle away from him. “Love ye so much, kitty. Tell me you love me, c'mon.”

“I—” you swallow, mouth feeling dry despite all of Johnny's slobber. This feels like more than it should be. You love your friends. You love Johnny. But—

“Y’want it?” One of his thick fingers prods at your entrance without ever really entering, and the promise of relief so close is what breaks you.

“Yes,” you whimper. “I want it. Please. Please...”

Your reward is one thick finger slowly entering you, and you squeeze your eyes shut and sob at the sensation. It's almost—almost—everything you've ever needed. Johnny's breath has gone ragged above you, eyes glued onto your every expression.

“Y’need me, aye? Say it. Say you need me.”

“I need you,” you manage to stutter out, the last vowel of which transforms into a drawn-out moan when it gets you a slow crook of his finger inside you. It's so fucking slow, Jesus H., but it's something. If he stops now you're going to lose your mind.

Your desperation along with your evident arousal softens Johnny, and he coos at you while he fingers you. “Don't hav’ta go anywhere, jus’ stay right here with me, give you everythin’ you need...”

It'd almost be sweet if you could think straight, and you should be, you're supposed to be the one keeping a clear head, but it's really hard to think anything at all when Johnny's messily kissing you again.

“Pretty girl,” he groans when you squeeze around his finger. “My pretty girl. Ye love me? D’ye love me, bonnie?”

Your stomach is tightening and with a spike of panic you rush to answer this time:

“Yes, yes, Johnny, love you—”

How unfair that that makes him stop. He looks at you, eyes big and wild, cheeks flushed, like a kid opening a Christmas present he was told his parents didn't have the money for. And then he pulls away entirely to rip your jeans off. By the time it catches up to you, you barely have the wherewithal to raise your hips to help him.

His own clothes follow suit so quickly you fear for the fabric, and then realise it's yourself you should be worried for. You had an inkling of Johnny's size, have woken up to it pressing against your ass too many times to count, but...

That's not going to fit, you think wildly, and Johnny must see some of the panic on your face, because while he lines his thick leaking tip up to your soaking cunt his other hand pets at your cheeks, lingers on your throat. “Doing so good, bonnie, gonna make ye feel so good, fill you up so nice...”

His moan fills the room when he slides in another few inches, bounces off the walls and ricochets inside your head. It doesn't hurt, thank God—you're drenched and desperate and at this point frankly impatient.

Johnny slides in deeper and tugs your legs around his waist, makes you keep them there when he bottoms out and lets out a wild groan from somewhere deep in his chest. You can feel it in your own, pressed against you as he is.

“Perfect girl,” he gasps, slowly pulling his hips back and then slamming them back into yours. “Fuckin’ mine—all f’r me.”

This time you're not sure who leans in for the kiss first. It doesn't matter anymore. Your moans and whimpers steadily grow in volume until you're crying under Johnny, clinging to him while he fucks you following a rhythm too quick and wild to try to meet.

When he presses his thumb to your clit again it barely takes anything to ignite the fire again, wild and hot and ready to boil over. Johnny coos at you again when your mouth drops open in long, silent cry, cunt clenching around him hungrily. “Tha's it, bonnie, feel so good, aye? Pretty kitty feelin’ so good? Fuckin’ made for me, gonna fuck ye so full—”

It doesn't take long for him to do exactly that. You can feel his cum filling you, hot and heavy, long spurts accompanied by Johnny's desperate moans and whimpers.

You whine when he collapses on top of you to give you more lazy, open-mouthed kisses—“You're heavy, Johnny, get off”—and try to catch your breath in the two seconds of reprieve you get before he's pulling you into his chest.

You're spent. Sweaty, flushed, and boneless. The sheets are no doubt disgusting, but it's so late and you're too fucked-out to care. You file it away for tomorrow, just like the hundred other things you're going to have to talk about somehow...

Johnny lets out a deep, contented sigh, tucking you under his chin and pulling your leg over his waist like he's rearranging a doll. You don't have the strength in you to protest. It's only when you feel his cock prodding at you again that you jolt away from him and try to remove your leg, but Johnny frowns, clicking his tongue like he would at a disobedient pet.

“I want to sleep, Johnny, 'm tired...”

Johnny tuts softly, keeping you still with a firm grip while he enters you again. “’S just for keepin’ it all in, bonnie, dinnea fuss. See? ‘S nice all full like this, aye? Wake ye up all nice ‘n proper tomorrow.”

You wriggle in his grasp with a soft whine—Johnny's cock is girthier than any other you've had before and you're sore from being used like a battering ram, even if it felt mind-numbingly good. But Johnny's arms are iron, and the more you try to move around the tighter he holds you to him.

Eventually you give up and give in. Sleep is tugging at you insistently, and when you relax around him it's not so bad. Johnny kisses you when he feels you settle, his hand running soothingly over your bare skin.

It's enough for you to be lulled into sleep. Before you drift off one last thought surfaces:

Isn't Johnny supposed to be good at holding his liqueur...?

#cod mw2 #cod x reader #soap cod #john soap mactavish #soap mw2 #soap mactavish #soap x reader #soap/reader #john soap mactavish x reader #x reader

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daryl-dixon-daydreams · 1 year ago

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It was still dark out when you heard Daryl moving softly about your little camp. You shifted on your bedroll and smiled when his poncho slipped down off you as your propped yourself up on your palm. You rubbed at the sleep still keeping your eyelids heavy. "Daryl?" you called softly.

"Yeah, 'm righ' here," he drawled quietly, materializing in the low glow of the coals.

"Is everything okay?" you asked, your breath rising in a translucent cloud in the cold air.

He nodded. "Yeah. I heard somethin'. S'just a deer. Go back to sleep."

You studied his broad shoulders for a moment and a flame of heat wicked up suddenly in your chest. "Are you?"

"Uhh—" he shrugged. "I dunno. Not sure if I can. I ain't much good at goin' back to sleep once 'm up."

"Mmmm," you hummed, nodding. "Well," you went on, sitting up, "we can get warm again now and maybe that will help." You leaned forward and Daryl watched you throw some small sticks on the coals and stir them around, blowing the ash away. The sticks caught and soon you had fed the fire back to life.

Daryl sunk down a short distance away from you, chewing on his bottom lip. It was a nervous habit of his that you knew well. "Are you alright? Something on your mind?" you asked.

His blue eyes shot up to land on your face again. "Yeah... kinda..."

"You wanna talk about it or no?"

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and ducked his head for a moment, trying to heave up some courage like an anchor from the depths. "Could—" he gulped, "—could you be happy... here with me? I mean," he suddenly became very interested in a loose string on his pants, "if I asked ya to—to stay? I know that would mean ya can't go back to Hilltop with Maggie. I know that... ya can't be in two places at once. But—"

Your face suddenly grew into an elated smile, and you seemed to brighten with a glow as it did. When Daryl hazarded a glance at you again, he couldn't look away. "Are you asking me to?"

He gulped again, but nodded. "Yeah. I am. I just—" his brow furrowed for a moment as he tried to figure out how to voice his feelings, "—I feel like part of me is missin' when ya ain't here."

Your expression softened and Daryl's heart raced. "I feel the same way. Exactly the same."

A cool rush of relief passed over Daryl. "Ya do?"

"I do," you said, nodding again.

Daryl thought he was about to burst he was so happy.

Prompt: "Could you be happy here with me?"

#soft!daryl #l #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon twd #the walking dead #twd fanfics #daryl dixon drabbles #daryl imagines #daryl x y/n #fanfics #writers of tumblr #twd drabbles

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lillian-gallows · 10 months ago

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Kinktober Day 3: High sex with Wade Wilson/Deadpool

Pairing: Wade Wilson/Deadpool X Fem!Reader Word Count: 1462 Warnings: recreational drug use, Shotgunning, P in V sex, These two are so soft I love it.

Kinktober 2024 Master(sub)list.

Minors DNI

It happened. You've died and gone to Heaven.

That's the only explanation for how perfect this day is.

It was another sesh day for you and Wade, and when you'd woken up that morning it was to the sound of soft pitter-patters as rain landed on your window, the sky dark and grey with the occasional break to let just enough light through to make the water droplets everywhere look like little diamonds.

The weed was hitting especially nicely, making your head feel light and drifty, your limbs both buzzing and leaden as you lounged back against Wade's chest, feeling it rise and fall with his steady breaths, his strong legs caging you in on either side.

There was a half-eaten bag of cheesy crackers on the table next to you, and in the back of your mind you remembered that there was a melty tuna casserole in the kitchen for later.

Wade himself was trailing his hand up and down your arm absentmindedly as he watched the T.V. playing some trashy daytime show. He had his mask on, still not quite ready to go without it around you, but you were happy to wait, as long as he was still there you were happy.

As you watched him, he turned and looked down at you. "Sup, Smiley?" He asked, poking your flushed cheek with a finger, which made you puff them out jokingly in response, pulling stoned giggles from both of you.

"Nothin', just really happy." You answered once you'd caught your breath, reaching up for the blunt hanging from the fingers of his other hand, plucking it from his hold and taking a long slow drag, holding the smoke for a moment before letting it curl slowly from between your lips.

You could feel Wade's gaze on you as your half lidden eyes watched the sunshine through the silver cloud moving slowly up, forming abstract shapes. "Well, ain't that a sight..." He murmured and you half expected there to be some dirty conclusion to that sentence, but there wasn't, he just kept watching you.

Tilting your head back you turned your gaze away from the smoke cloud to look up at him, a lazy smile warming your face. "Who? Me?" You asked coyly, suddenly feeling a different kind of buzz under your skin. "Can we do the thing?" You asked sweetly, knowing he couldn't say no to your cute face.

You could see his smile through the mask, and he nodded, plucking the joint from your fingers and holding away at a safe distance so you could change positions.

His free hand helped you stay steady as you shifted till you were straddling his lap, you could feel the press of the slowly forming erecting, not even at half-mast yet but already well on its way.

As you settled, his hands came to rest on your lower back, pulling you slowly closer, you naturally arched into his touch, pressing your chest to his as your faces hovered an inch from each other, desperate to press your lips to his but parted by his mask.

"Can I...?" You asked softly, voice thin as the smoke still floating in the air. He knew exactly what you were asking, and he felt his chest swell as he watched you wait for his answer, obviously itching to hear a yes, but so ready to accept a no.

"Yeah, Sweets. Go ahead." He said it lightly, like he didn't actually care that much, but you felt his heart skip a beat, you felt the hitch in his breath. It always made him a little nervous, even though he knew you didn’t care how he looked.

So, with that in mind, you moved slow as you lifted a hand, fingers slipping under the hem and brushing the soft scarred skin of his neck. His breath hitched again, but for a different reason as you felt the stirring pressed against your center.

You pulled the mask up to his nose, giving you just enough exposure to get to his lips.

He brought the blunt to his lips and took a slow drag, and you were sure he was watching you watch him, his lips pursing as he inhaled, face lit up slightly more by the cherry.

You were hypnotized by him.

The hit was held for half the time he normally would before his free hand took hold of your jaw, guiding your lips till they hovered so close you could feel his heat but somehow not touching.

You had to remind yourself to inhale the smoke and not just stare at him as he exhaled slowly.

You tried to picture his expression under the mask, eyes half lidden and a little red and watery, pupils dilated as arousal started to trickle into his veins.

You were pretty sure he didn't have any hair, given that there hasn't been any to be found on the rest of his body, of it that you've seen in the light, so you were willing to bet he didn't have eyelashes, but your brain supplied you with the mental image of them fluttering as his eyes closed.

The faint brush of the smoke passing from him to you suddenly consumed all your attention, pulling it in to hold for but a moment, an ultimately useless moment given how high you already are, before tilting your head back, giving Wade a nice view of the collum of your neck.

If you were to ask Wade why he did what he did next, he'd probably hit you with a dirty quip or joke, but the truth is it was pure instinct for him to wrap his hand around your neck, hand curving around so his fingertips rested over your pulse points.

His skin was so hot against yours, the callouses on his fingers left a tingling sensation. If all he did was hold you like this, you'd have been happy, but instead he gave a gentle squeeze, testing the waters, finding the boundary of Just Right and Too Much.

And he knows he's found it when you're wiggling on his lap, your cunt grinding against his cock with the irritating barriers of your clothes.

Wade likes a good long tease before getting to the meat and potatoes of fucking, loves the sweet torture of getting edged a good few (dozen) times.

But right now, he wanted to bask in you. In how you made him feel high as much as the actual drug.

It was a slow and lazy process, getting both your pants off or pushed down enough to get the job done, hands moving slow, pawing gently at each other.

But once your leggings and panties are hanging from one of your ankles and his own sweats and boxers are shoved down, you're right back to grinding against him, coating his thick length in the abundant wetness that's accumulated between your thighs.

Your hands gripped at his shoulders for stability as you rocked against him. "Wade..." You breathed against his lips, skin brushing ever so slightly. You're not sure what you're trying to draw his attention to, or even if that's what you were doing at all. Maybe you were just saying his name to taste it.

"I gotcha, Sweets." He said softer than you've ever heard him be.

Suddenly you needed him inside you yesterday, so with a tilt of your hips and a guiding hand you sank down on his cock, a high whine escaping your lips at the full feeling.

You felt rather than heard the low moan that rumbled in Wade's chest as you settled all the way down, taking his full length. "Fucking fuck you feel incredible...Fuck..." He muttered against your neck as he trailed lips and teeth, undoubtedly leaving marks in his wake as he nipped and bit.

The slow rock of your hips was every bit as lazy as the removal of your clothes had been. As was the kiss you two shared, all slow messy tongues and playful teeth. Hands roamed, kneading and squeezing here and there as they went but never staying in one spot for long.

Your orgasm snuck up on you, and unlike the crashing waves of pleasure, it was more like a gentle lapping of heat in your belly.

The flutter of your pussy pulled a groan from Wade, but he never stopped moving. His own hips picking up where your left off as you rode out your orgasm. "That's it, Baby." He encouraged as one of his hands moved from where it had been gripping your hip down to rub slow lazy circles on your clit as he began to roll his hips up into your in earnest.

"I'm far from done with you."

God, you hoped so.

#kinktober #kinktober 2024 #deadpool x reader #wade wilson x reader #deadpool

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sharkwidow · 3 months ago

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Silence and Arrows | Clint Barton x teenage reader!

🏹⁀➴Summary: A mission in Sokovia goes wrong, and the reader finds themselves caught in the wreckage. As the chaos unfolds, Clint Barton, the calm and caring mentor, helps them navigate the dangers. Through everything, their bond grows stronger, and in the quiet aftermath, there's a sense of belonging.

🏹⁀➴Content warning: Violence, destruction, injury, trauma, emotional distress.

🏹⁀➴Word count: 3,100

🏹⁀➴Note: In this fic, the reader is mute and communicates through gestures and writing.

It was a stormy night when he found you for the first time. You, staring blankly, as if you weren’t really there. As if the world had forgotten you. You were alone, soaked to the bone, curled up in the corner of an abandoned building in a forgotten part of Eastern Europe. Clint Barton had been on difficult missions before, but this one… this one felt different from the start.

He saw you before you saw him. His training kept him sharp. He approached silently, like a ghost. He didn’t want to scare you, though he knew it was unavoidable. When he was close enough, he noticed your trembling lips and wide-open eyes. You didn’t say anything. You just looked at him.

“What are you doing here, kid?” he murmured, voice low and calm. His tone wasn’t sweet. Clint wasn’t sweet. But he was… careful. Like he was afraid to break something that was already shattered.

You didn’t say anything. You couldn’t. But you didn’t move away either, and that was enough.

“Are you alone?”

Again, silence.

Clint crouched slowly, keeping his distance. He raised his hands, knowing you might not understand, but he did it anyway.

«Safe. I’m here.»

«I won’t hurt you.»

That was enough for you to lower your guard just a little. Not much, but Clint knew how to read the small signs. He stayed by your side, under the rain, until you stopped trembling enough to move. He didn’t force you. He didn’t push you. He just stayed there.

And that was the first time anyone had done that for you.

Over time, Clint brought you to a safe base. You didn’t ask questions. You didn’t speak. But you adapted. Fast, silent, lethal. He didn’t need long explanations. He just gave you what you needed: space, patience, and a bow.

He trained you. You learned. Your hands, steady. Your gaze, focused. You didn’t need words. He raised an eyebrow, you knew what he meant. He made a gesture, you followed. And when you made one back… well, Clint always responded.

Things didn’t get easier, but they became more… manageable.

The mission was a disaster from the start. You knew it. Clint did too. The city was at war. Ultron’s robots in the streets, enemies in sight, and the sound of destruction all around us.

“Everything ready?” Clint asked me, with his usual calm tone.

I nodded, adjusting the bow, feeling the weight of the situation on my shoulders. The tension in the air was thick, and even though I couldn’t speak, my nerves showed in my trembling hands.

“Good. You cover the east flank. I’ll take the west. If anything goes wrong, we meet at the extraction point. Got it?” Clint looked at me with that usual mix of firmness and care.

I nodded again, knowing the mission wouldn’t be easy. No matter how much you train, war is never something you can fully control. But still, you felt ready, like everything you had learned had led you to this moment.

The city was a chaotic battlefield, buildings destroyed, air thick with dust and smoke. Clint moved beside you, and your synchronization was perfect, like you had trained for this your whole life. Every arrow, every movement, calculated. But nothing could prepare you for what was coming.

Suddenly, the roar of an explosion made the ground shake beneath your feet. Debris fell from nearby buildings, and chaos broke loose.

“Watch out!” Clint yelled, but it was already too late.

The impact of the rubble hit you, and before you could react, you were trapped beneath the remains of a collapsed building. Darkness and dust clouded your vision, and the air became unbreathable. The sound of gunfire and battle cries faded from your mind, drowned out by the crushing weight of destruction.

You curled against a broken wall, hands covering your ears. Everything became noise, an unbearable mix of screams, metal, and your own pounding heart. You couldn’t move. You couldn’t think.

And fear… fear completely froze you.

You didn’t know how much time passed until you saw him. Clint, covered in dust, with a bleeding gash on his brow, knelt in front of you.

He said nothing.

He just raised his hands.

«Breathe.»

«I’m here.»

It’s me. Clint.

«You can do this. You’re strong.»

«Look at me.»

His fingers moved slowly, firmly, as if the world wasn’t falling apart around you. And it worked. Because with him, it always worked.

You started to breathe again. First slowly, then deeper. Your hands stopped trembling. And when you sat up, Clint simply nodded.

“Good job,” he said with a small smile. “I knew you’d get through this.”

The trip back was long. Not much was said. It didn’t have to be. He drove the jeep while you stared out the window, letting the blurry trees wash away the sounds of Sokovia.

The farm appeared like a sigh. That patch of land in Missouri that seemed to exist in another world. Surrounded by open fields, quiet and calm. The open sky. The tall grass. Home.

Laura was already on the porch. She smiled when she saw the jeep, a cup of coffee in hand. Lila and Cooper ran out, hugging you as soon as you stepped out. You, who rarely reacted, held onto their arms in return. You clung a little longer than you expected.

“Everything okay, honey?” Laura asked softly.

You nodded. Clint was unloading the gear in the back.

“She’s alright,” he said with a faint smile. “Just needs time. Like all of us.”

Nathaniel came out onto the porch with a mischievous smile, the little one jumping to hug you too.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he hugged you, so sure of what he said, like he had always known you would be.

You smiled slightly. You didn’t say anything, but just having him there, with his warm hug, was what you needed.

The night was simple. Warm dinner, kids’ laughter, you sitting on the porch with a blanket over your legs and a notebook in your hands. Clint sat beside you, a beer in his. He glanced at you.

He said nothing.

He didn’t have to.

You wrote slowly in the notebook.

«Thank you for not letting me fall.»

You showed him the page. He read it, swallowed hard, and then, with his hands, answered:

«Always.»

And for the first time in a long time, you knew you belonged somewhere.

#clint barton x reader #avengers x teen!reader #marvel x you #marvel moodboard #marvel x reader #marvel masterlist #black widow x reader #marvel mcu #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x you #maria hill x reader #kate bishop x reader #avengers x y/n #avengers x fem!reader #avengers x reader #avengers x you #clint barton #avengers imagine #hawkeye x reader

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teshadraws · 1 year ago

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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 59]

<< First | < Previous | Next >

Tobias and Nia head to Kaleido Bay to find Dismas.

Toby dips his fingers into cold yellow paint, taking a moment to wiggle them around and savor the sensation. He smiles. It’s not often that they get paint from the market instead of their homemade stuff, but there was a sale when Mama dropped in at the market yesterday to drop off the mail. This yellow is brighter than the kind they make at home, and thicker too.

Carefully, Toby lifts his fingers and smears paint on the rough rock wall of the cave, right where the sunlight shining from the entrance stops in a hard line of light. He’s working small right now, trying to put the finishing touches on the picture he’s been working on for forever.

Or an hour. Same difference, really.

Chipper humming accompanies him as he works, from his left. Vivi’s piece is a lot more…what was the word Papa used? Abstract. A lot more abstract than his. She seems to be working totally on instinct, barely pausing to wipe off her hands before jamming them into a different color to slap onto the wall. He can hear her tiny claws catch against the gritty rock every once in a while.

Toby uses careful fingers to paint the next part of his picture, one of the most important parts: the fire. He starts at the base and winds his fingers up to make trails of flames. Then he does it again, to thicken the yellow and help it stand out.

He leans back, hands tacky with drying paint, and tilts his head to consider his work so far.

Four charizard fly across the cave wall, close together in a diamond formation, their wings spread wide. Some of them look a little…lumpy. But the orange paint Papa made by mixing red and yellow stands out bright and warm against the tan of the rock, and he still thinks it looks nice. He even got the right eye colors. Blue for him and Mama, and green for Vivi and Papa.

“That looks good,” their papa says from behind them, where he’s been chipping away at a new instrument for someone, alternating between using his tools and his own sharp claws.

Toby turns his head. “Really? We don’t look too…lumpy?”

Papa rumbles a quiet laugh. “I am kind of lumpy, so I think it looks great. Why are my eyes blue?”

Toby frowns, looking back at the picture. “That’s me!”

“You’re going to be even bigger than me and Mom?”

“Well yeah,” Toby says. He crouches to dip a claw into the red paint, then adds it to the center of the flames at the charizards’ tail tips. Perfect. “Mama says we have to eat all our berries and veggies to get big and strong and you don’t eat all of yours.”

Toby can feel his father’s dry look on his back. He refuses to turn around, biting back a smile.

“Yeah,” Vivi chimes in, eyes still locked onto her colorful, blobby mess. “Why do we have to eat our greens if you don’t?”

“Because I’m already big and strong,” Papa says, laughter in his voice.

“But did you eat your veggies when you were a charmander?”

“…Yes.”

“Are you lying?” Vivi asks, turning with a suspicious expression. Her hands and arms are caked in different colors of paint, some dry and some fresh. She’s not wearing her oversized red scarf, for once. Papa convinced her to take it off earlier so she wouldn’t get paint on it.

“…No.”

“You are!” She says with an accusatory point, delighted.

Toby laughs, then sing-songs, “Mama says it’s bad to lie, Papa!”

Nobody answers Toby. The cave is suddenly silent. Somehow, the space feels emptier than it should.

Confused, Tobias turns. Papa is…gone. And so is Vivi.

Panicked, Tobias turns around, but no one else is here. Instead, the cave is dark, heavy clouds and distant rain dimming the light of the sky.

He’s alone.

Tobias backs up and trips over one of the paint bowls, catching himself on the wall. He freezes when he sees the hand that caught him, covered in red. He…he didn’t get that much red on his hand, he knows he didn’t. He was careful. But it has to be paint. It can’t be anything else.

Where is his family? Vivi? Papa? Mama?

Why is he the only one left?

Tobias jerks awake, nearly falling right out of the shelf he’s sleeping in. He stops himself just in time, and stares at the hand that he caught himself with. Dry and its usual orange color.

It takes him a few moments to recognize where he is once he looks up, panting.

It’s a quiet, dim room. Fairly spacious. Gray dawn light is just starting to leak in through the closed curtains. A fire pit sits in the middle of the space, only a few embers still glowing from the fire last night. Most of the alcoves set into the opposite wall are dark and empty.

Right, he’s…at the inn. At the human settlement. In one of the sleeping alcoves.

Tobias glances to his side, used to Nia sleeping right next to him. But they’d taken separate, smaller shelves when they first arrived here. Junie is probably snuggled up next to her still fast asleep. The room is silent, so it doesn’t seem like he woke anyone else up, either.

Tobias takes a deep breath, heart still fluttering in his chest, and rubs at his eyes, damp with tears. Ugh.

Tobias slips out of the alcove, glancing over his shoulder as he makes his way to the door. Nia is indeed curled up beneath a blanket in her own shelf, pointed ears just barely visible as they poke out of her cocoon. Junie is likely close by. Clara the innkeeper and a togedemaru who came in late last night are also sound asleep in their own little recesses.

Relieved, Tobias goes outside and closes the door softly behind him. Then he moves to the wall surrounding the town, standing atop the step at its foot so he can see over the barrier and into the valley below. The town is quiet at such an early hour.

Tobias closes his eyes and takes another shuddering breath, bending to press his forehead against the stone. He hasn’t had a nightmare like that in…a while. They do tend to surface more when he’s thinking a lot about the outlaw trio, though, so it makes sense.

Doesn’t mean he doesn’t hate it. He can still smell blood and rain.

Tobias hears the quiet flutter of the inn’s curtains behind him, then an equally quiet flutter of wings. He turns his head just enough to give Junie a tired glare.

The rookidee settles on the wall by his arm.

“Is Nia awake?” Tobias asks.

“Ha. No. She sleeps like a rock. I, uh…heard you.”

Tobias stays silent.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

Tobias grunts an affirmative, too tired to feel embarrassed. He looks out over the trees in the canyon instead. The sky is slowly lightening from black to gray, bringing definition back into the world.

“Do you want to, uh. Talk about it?”

Tobias snorts. “No. Do you?”

“Not really, but I thought I’d check.”

They both fall quiet again. The breeze carries voices their way from farther into the settlement. Tobias can faintly hear someone calling to the baker to put the next batch of rolls in the oven.

“Hey,” Junie finally says, hesitant. “Are you gonna be okay, today? Talking to that jerk in the jail cell?”

“Probably not,” Tobias admits. “But I don’t really have another option. I need answers, and he has them.”

“Fair. Just…good luck, then.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?”

“Nah. I think I’m gonna stay here until you guys get back.”

Tobias frowns, finally looking at the rookidee head-on. “Why?”

Junie shifts on her tiny feet. “Well…this seems like an important thing. To you. A, uh. Private thing. I didn’t think you’d actually want me there.”

Tobias is surprised she’s being so thoughtful. And for a moment he wants to agree. He remembers—vaguely—what he did at the crobat’s grave in the desert. He can’t imagine this will be much better.

But then he remembers what Junie said yesterday while talking about her parents, voice light with forced levity:

“They think I’m too annoying.”

“You can come,” Tobias grumbles, pillowing his chin on his arms again. “Just can’t promise it’ll be a fun trip.”

Junie doesn’t answer for a long moment. “Actually, I was thinking I’d stick around here anyways. You still don’t trust Will, right?”

Tobias frowns, looking at her from the corner of his eye. “…Right.”

“I could be your little spy on the inside. Hang around to make sure him and Rosalind don’t do anything suspicious while you’re gone.”

“You think Will’s suspicious?”

“Well…not as much as you do. But if Rosalind is so cautious, that’s kind of a red flag, isn’t it? And no one would suspect me of all people to be doing a little espionage. Might be good to see if I can notice anything weird going on.”

That’s…a surprisingly good idea. “Wish Nia thought the same.”

“Yeah. She’s not dumb, but she can be pretty dumb about this kind of stuff, huh?”

“Desperate is more like it,” Tobias mumbles. “She wants to go back to the human world so badly that it’s like she’s blind to anything that’ll get in the way of that.”

“We’ll just have to be her eyes, then.”

Tobias makes a vague sound of agreement. He admittedly likes the idea of having someone here to keep an eye on things while they’re gone, but…

“Just be careful. I don’t think Will would do anything obvious, but…”

“Aww, is the big bad lizard worried about me?”

Tobias fights the urge to shove her off the wall again, rolling his eyes. “Nia would be upset if you mysteriously disappeared.”

“Suuurrre,” Junie laughs. She nudges his arm with her whole body, and he barely feels it, light as she is. “I’ll be careful. I’m pretty good at acting oblivious and talking my way out of problems.”

“More like you are oblivious and don’t know when to shut up.”

“Eh, same difference.”

Tobias’ mouth twitches as he fights off a smile. “Well. Thanks, I guess. Don’t die.”

“Same to you, Toby.”

Junie stays strangely quiet after that. Slowly, the sun rises and light starts to paint the valley, color creeping over the land. After a while, more doors open and close. More voices greet each other as the settlement wakes and begins the day.

Tobias peeks again at Junie. The rookidee is a puddle of blue and black and yellow on the warming stone, eyes closed and feathers blowing softly in the breeze. For just the briefest of moments, he thinks of his dream, of little hands covered in paint and a grinning orange face, so much like his own, next to him instead. His heart clenches.

Tobias takes a deep breath and looks back out at the canyon. He needs to wake Nia soon. She got to sleep in yesterday, but he wants to make it to Kaleido Bay by a decent time today.

They’d geared up already the evening before, packing enough food, hydration berries, and water for the short trip south. Nia had clearly been reluctant to leave the little settlement behind before getting to explore it fully, staring longingly at the tailor’s shop in particular. Maybe they could stop by there on their way back through, before heading back to the Haven.

They’d also bumped into Fidel in the evening, and had let him know about their plans. The zoroark had seemed concerned, probably guessing that their journey south had something to do with Rosalind’s private chat, but he’d simply wished them safe travels, letting them know that there would be a place for them to rest when they returned.

Tobias turns, looking back at the inn. “We should get going. You sure you want to stay?”

“Yup! I’ll wake Nia if you wanna grab breakfast. It’s funny seeing her flail around in her blankets.”

Tobias huffs a laugh, agreeing and heading towards the little bakery a few buildings down. Their front door is propped open, the smell of fresh bread wafting out, so Tobias hesitates for only a moment before going inside.

Luckily, the simisear and chansey running the place don’t seem irritated to see someone so early. They’re actually apologetic for not having more to offer, only honeyed rolls and toasted nuts finished and ready for the day. Tobias quietly assures them that the food smells delicious before accepting three servings, each wrapped in cloth.

Tobias skirts past a scizor as he leaves, then heads back to the wall in front of the inn. He’s about to lean against it to eat when a flash of color he hadn’t noticed the day before catches his eye. It’s…a mural, painted onto the side of one of the buildings.

Tobias hesitates, glancing around at the mostly empty walkway before grabbing the food and moving to get a better look. He doesn’t leave the wall, but stops when he gets a better vantage point, food momentarily forgotten.

The mural is…interesting. It’s a happy scene, with a group of what Tobias presumes are humans gathered in front of a strange-looking building. A house, maybe, though it seems rather large. The humans look like the drawings he saw at the convention in Ghatha: tall, lanky creatures wearing lots of clothing, with fur atop their heads. The fur color is different depending on the human, as are their eyes and even their skin tone. Some are larger than others, and some are clearly older or younger. Tobias looks at them with fascination, scanning their smiling, laughing faces and body language.

What did Nia look like, as a human? None of these humans have blue fur, but it’s hard to think about her in any other color. Were her eyes still red? What did she like to wear?

“Finally got her up!” Junie’s voice says from behind him.

Tobias jumps, holding the food closer to himself as he turns.

Junie is flying circles around Nia. The riolu is rubbing her eyes as she walks, clearly still half-asleep. Their satchel is looped over her shoulder, though, prepped and ready to go for the day.

“‘Morning,” Nia mumbles. Wordlessly, she holds her red scarf out to Tobias.

Tobias sets their food down to follow the unspoken request, and ties the scarf around his partner’s upper arm. Nia waits patiently, sniffing the air, as Junie watches with a smug grin that Tobias doesn’t feel like investigating.

“Here,” Tobias says when he’s done, shoving one bundle of food into Nia’s arms. The other he sets on the wall, untying it with a tug of his claw so the sides fall open. Junie trills a happy noise and digs in immediately.

“Oh,” Nia says, perking up as she unravels her own meal, plopping down right on the stone to eat. “This smells delicious! Thank you, Tobias.”

Tobias grunts, joining her on the ground and taking a bite of his own food. The rolls are delicious, warm and soft with a thin layer of honey coating the top. The nuts are smoky, satisfyingly crunchy between his teeth. He makes short work of the meal, hungrier than he realized.

When he looks up again Nia is finishing up her own roll, but her head is tilted to the side, gaze focused on the mural.

“Which kind did you look like?” Tobias finds himself asking.

Nia blinks, focusing on him. “Hm?”

He gestures vaguely in the direction of the painting. “Those are humans, right? Which one did you look like?”

Junie titters above them, which means he said something stupid. Whatever. He ignores her.

Nia giggles, much gentler. “Well…all of them, I guess? But also none of them.”

Tobias scowls at that vague, cryptic answer.

Nia laughs again. “Really! We all look kind of similar, at least in general shape. There aren’t any differences as big as, say…a riolu and a rookidee. But we all look a little different from each other, too. In the human world, I have glasses, and long hair. Otherwise, I’m just kind of average, I guess?”

Tobias frowns, glancing between Nia and the mural. “What color fur did you have?”

Junie chokes on her food.

Nia smiles. “My hair? It’s brown. My eyes are too.”

Tobias has a tough time imagining that. He’s so used to looking at Nia and seeing blue and black fur and bright ruby red eyes. It’s hard to think about her as anything other than a riolu. He tries for a moment to imagine what she’d look like as a human, but can’t quite pull it together, even as he glances again at the mural for help.

Before Tobias can say anything else, a high voice interrupts. “You’re up early today!”

Tobias blinks, looking past Nia. A lillipup is bounding over to them. It takes a moment for Tobias to place the young voice.

“Asher!” Junie cries, peering over the wall, clearly delighted. “Hey, little dude!”

Asher morphs back into his zorua self, sticking his tongue out at Junie. “I’m not little! I’m bigger than you!”

“Everyone is bigger than me, kid. It’s not a high bar.”

Asher growls up at her, playful, before getting distracted and sniffing the air, much like Nia had minutes before. “Ooh, they made honey rolls?! Those are my favorite!”

“They’re really good,” Nia agrees.

“If they have honey, they’ll probably use it for dessert tonight too,” Asher muses, tail wagging. Then he blinks, looking over the three of them with new eyes. “Wait, are you leaving already?”

“Nia and I are heading south to Kaleido for a day,” Tobias says.

Nia opens her mouth, then pauses, blinking first at him and then at Junie in question.

“I’m gonna stay here until you guys get back,” Junie says, much more confident than when she’d suggested the idea to Tobias earlier. “Someone’s gotta keep an eye on things around here while you’re gone.”

Nia frowns, clearly catching on to what Junie is implying. She looks at Tobias. He holds up his hands in return. “Don’t look at me. It wasn’t my idea.”

“As funny as it is to see you glare daggers at him, he’s right. I brought it up.”

Nia seems confused by that, but she doesn’t push, glancing at Asher’s curious gaze. “W-Well…all right. If you’re sure?”

“Yup! Just stay out of trouble since I won’t be there to bail you out, okay?”

“That’s our line,” Tobias snorts.

Junie kicks a nut at his head.

“If you’re gonna stay here, can we play?” Asher asks, bouncing in place.

“Sure, little man,” Junie says, grabbing her food’s empty cloth in a foot and fluttering over to drop it on Tobias’ head. He brushes it off with a glare. “I’ll even help you set up some sweet pranks if you want.”

Asher’s golden eyes shine. “Yes! I’m gonna go get breakfast, but then we’ve gotta plan, okay?”

The zorua takes off towards the bakery without waiting for an answer. They watch him go, amused.

Nia sits up, looking at Tobias. “Well, should we get going?”

The contentment in Tobias’ gut curdles as he remembers exactly where they’re going today. He takes a breath, then nods and stands. “Yeah.”

Nia gives him an encouraging smile, then turns to Junie, expression turning stern. “We’ll be back in a day or two. Do not give Will any trouble, okay?”

“Only if he gives me trouble first,” Junie says with a wink. She hops into the air, flapping to grab their food cloths like tiny flags. “You two be safe! Make sure you send a letter if you’re gonna be late.”

And with that, Junie is gone, following Asher towards the smell of delicious food.

Tobias leads the way out of the settlement right after. Slate the nidoking is on guard duty again at the front gate, and Tobias gives the scarred sentry a wide berth as they leave, picking their way down the rocky trail. He can feel the poison type’s eyes on the back of his neck until they’re out of sight.

The path is less treacherous when they can actually see where they’re setting their feet, but it still isn’t exactly smooth. Wiry roots snake in and out of the dirt, and rocks act like staggered steps, ready to trip them up. Scratchy, prickly plants edge into the path and grab at their ankles. The trail leads up and down and around, winding down the mesa like a great serpent. Overhead, the rising sun warms the world. There’s little shade to speak of, with the bulk of the trees sprouting away from the path.

It takes an hour for them to reach the bottom of the mesa, already breathing hard. They stop for a moment to eat some hydration berries and drink some water, then move on.

The journey is relatively quiet, both of them wanting to conserve their energy and likely thinking about the destination ahead. Tobias is, at least.

They take the same trail back through long grasses that they’d taken on the way into Will’s settlement, until they hit the wider, smoother dirt path of the main road.

It’s here that Nia speaks up.

“So…what’s the plan, when we get to Kaleido? Are we going straight to the prison?”

Tobias’ mouth twists. “I think so. We want to make sure we don’t miss visitation hours, and we can always check anything else out afterwards.”

Nia doesn’t answer for a long moment. The silence feels heavy.

“And do you…want me there? When you talk to him?”

Tobias stops and looks at Nia in surprise. “Yeah? Do you…not want to be there?”

Nia did have to physically hold him back last time they found out anything substantial about Team Zenith. And he can’t promise he’ll be any more composed during this meeting. He wouldn’t blame her for not wanting to witness that again.

Nia shakes her head, eyes wide. “N-No, I do! If you want me there. I just…didn’t know if you’d want to keep it private? I wanted to make sure.”

Tobias shakes his head. His face feels hot. The Tobias from a few months ago would be absolutely baffled by him willingly—gladly—sharing anything about his past. But this is Nia. The Tobias from a few months ago barely had a friend, let alone a best friend. “No, I’d…I’d like for you to be there.”

It’s easier to face something this terrifying with his partner at his side.

Nia smiles, something in her shoulders relaxing. Like she feels the same. He hopes she feels the same. He hopes he can calm her storms like she calms his.

Filled with renewed determination, the two of them continue down the path south, to Kaleido Bay.

To Dismas, and the answers he holds.

_____________________________________________________________

It’s mid-afternoon when they spot Kaleido Bay in the distance. They see the tops of the buildings first, white with rounded points like seashells, and it’s not long before they can see the city in its entirety. It’s a shimmering thing, sparkling white and silver with pops of bright color against the blue of the ocean.

“Whoa,” Nia says, stopping to take in the sight. “I thought Rosalind was joking. Is it really floating?”

Tobias squints, holding a hand over his eyes against the sun overhead. “Maybe?”

He hopes not—a city built on an island is bad enough as a fire type, but a floating one seems even worse.

Tobias grimaces, but moves forward again.

As they get closer to the city, they also approach the white sands of the beach itself. It’s a nice area even this late in the year. There are a few Pokemon walking along the shore or camped out for a picnic. A large group of younger ‘mon are chasing a ball down the beach, shouting to each other and making a game of it.

Despite the weight that has followed them since waking up this morning, Nia perks up, tail wagging slowly as she watches the scene. When they finally step off craggy rock and tough grass and onto soft, warm sand, the riolu takes a moment to wiggle her toes in it. Tobias waits for her to get her fill, silently following her lead. It’s a…strange sensation. But not awful.

The waves crash loudly this close to the sea, a constant and rhythmic shhSHHHshh…shhSHHHshh…shhSHHHshh. If they weren’t here for the reasons they are, it’d be soothing, Tobias thinks. He closes his eyes for a moment to let the cool, salty breeze wash over his skin and tries to let it soothe some of the tension in his gut.

Eventually, they get moving again. While there are ferry ‘mon carrying visitors to the city over the water, there’s also a single bridge leading there from the shore, for those poor enough to have to walk. Tobias heads for that.

As they get closer, Tobias sees that it’s a more complex design than he realized at first, white stone—concrete?—intertwined with some kind of shiny metal. Steel, maybe. Both substances are uncommon as building materials, at least in Tobias’ limited experience, but maybe it’s important for the infrastructure of this kind of place. As they take the steps up and start the walk across the long bridge, frothy white foam crashes into the bridge’s tall supports. Tobias is just glad that it feels stable underfoot.

The way to the city is long, farther out than Tobias would prefer, the blue-green hue of the ocean getting deeper beneath them as they go. The wind picks up, too.

They pass a surprising amount of Pokemon on the way, mostly locals and workers from the looks of them. Tobias spots a few raised brows and hushed conversations once they see him. Since the majority of Pokemon they pass are water types, Tobias guesses that they probably don’t see many fire types out here. He tries to ignore them, forcing himself to look straight ahead.

Posh tourists ride by in the water below, providing some distraction. They’re either sitting in boats or atop other Pokemon instead of walking on their own feet, with lapras, blastoise, wailmer, and dondozo ferrying them to and from the city. Nia quietly counts how many parasols she sees under her breath.

As they get closer to the island, it becomes clearer that the city is indeed floating. It’s not a natural island, a protrusion from the earth below, so much as…giant chunks of artificial land, linked close together somehow beneath the waves. The gaps between almost look like canals, with water types and canoes traversing them like little roads.

While the city is much too large for Tobias and Nia’s weight to make it bob, he does notice the slightest sway underfoot when they finally reach the end of the bridge. It unbalances him almost immediately, making him stumble like he just stepped onto the Aqua Jet again.

Nia offers him her arm, but he shakes his head, flushing. He’s already getting enough looks from curious passersby. He doesn’t need to be leaning on Nia like a crutch, too.

Tobias takes a minute to regain his bearings, then leads them into the city proper. Considering it’s apparently a hotspot for tourists, it’s unsurprisingly busy, with crowds of Pokemon chatting and laughing as they pass by. Most are holding wrapped cloth packages or paper bags, surely full of treasures from a bountiful shopping trip.

Nia is predictably looking this way and that as she tries to take everything in, nearly bumping into a few of the ‘mon they pass.

Tobias supposes he can understand why. The city is interesting, if nothing else, with its tall, rounded buildings of gleaming white and silver and seams of ocean water separating out different neighborhoods. The pieces shift in subtle ripples along the waves, the unusually large gaps between buildings—nothing like Ghatha and the human settlement’s close-crowded architecture—making them overlap in his vision in dizzying ways. It doesn’t help that most of the buildings also have their first floors hollowed out, open on three sides rather than enclosed with four walls. Those spaces seem to be dedicated to sitting areas, with water-resistant tables and chairs, or just as a place to store larger statues or toys.

The city is also surprisingly colorful. Shops and stalls have tented areas overhead for shade, and they tend to use bright colors and patterns in the fabric. Tropical, well-tended flowers grow everywhere in little plots of dirt, on building corners and under windows and bordering the canals. Some of the concrete buildings are inlaid with chunks of coral or painted with accents of color. Occasional mosaics pop up underfoot too, sprawling art pieces larger than a wailmer that depict flowers and water type Pokemon. And of course, the crowds of Pokemon wandering the streets only add to the vivid mix of colors.

Rosalind did mention that this place is known for its shops, but Tobias is still astonished by the sheer variety of merchants they pass. They’re all selling different things, from food to exploration items to non-necessities that call to the rich tourists around them. One stall is selling dried berry strips, while the one next to it is selling some kind of kelp, according to the sign below it. Apparently it’s grown right here in the city, underneath the ocean. A shop selling orbs and seeds “for protection in dungeons and natural disasters” is a tempting find, but Tobias knows better than to spend his cash when they don’t need to.

Useful shops like those are far outnumbered, though, by stalls that sell nothing but knickknacks and decorations, souvenirs from the city decorated with colorful shells and coral and gems. There are even one or two shops dedicated solely to fabric and clothing, some of which reminds Tobias of what he saw Pokemon wearing at the human settlement. Lots of jewelry shops, too, which is usually a rarity in Metreja.

There are cafés and bakeries and spas. A few ferry businesses. Artists selling their wares, ceramics and paintings and drawings.

It’s something else that captures Nia’s attention, though.

“Oh, Tobias! Look!”

It’s a little glass shop. Colorful wares cover the countertop: vases and dishware, platters and trinkets, statues and jewelry. Every piece is beautiful and well-crafted, delicate but sturdy. Patterns and gradients paint them in a rainbow of hues, some shiny and some frosted. Nia’s eyes skim over them, a wondrous expression on her face.

Just visible inside the open door of the build building, a monferno glassblower is sitting at a bench, hard at work. Across his lap, he turns a long, metal rod with a confident hand. At the end of it, a green bulb of glass is being spun. The fire type uses his free hand to pinch and pull at the probably-scalding glass, creating delicate curls and wisps. It takes a moment for Tobias to notice a smaller Pokemon, a blue panpour who’s the spitting image of the simipour running the counter out front, working too. She’s blowing at the other end of the metal pole—a pipe?—with her cheeks puffed. The two Pokemon look completely absorbed in their work, focused and totally at ease with the process, as if they’ve done it millions of times before.

Tobias wonders if this glass shop is the only one here in town. Glass is rare in his experience, but here it seems to be used more commonly. A few of the shops actually have large pieces of glass covering long windows to show off the wares inside, which Tobias hasn’t ever seen done before. There’s glass elsewhere, too, smaller panes on house windows and used in decorations like windchimes.

It’s interesting. If they weren’t here for a specific reason, if they didn’t have a world to save and outlaws to interrogate, Tobias wouldn’t mind learning more about the practice.

But the reminder of what they are here for pulls Tobias back to reality, and his chest tightens. He steps off to the side to watch as Nia picks up one of the glass statues, tracing a finger over its thin, pointed horns.

Right. They aren’t here to shop. They’re here for the pangoro held somewhere below the city. Dismas.

Tobias expected to feel ready for this, after so long. Instead, he isn’t really sure how to feel. He’s wanted answers for nearly a decade now. He’s been actively chasing Team Zenith for months. And yet now that some of his goals are within reach, everything doesn’t feel quite…real.

The anger Tobias holds for the outlaws is still there, of course. As always. It’s a quiet, seething sort of hatred, a low ember that only flares on occasion nowadays but that’s always, always lit.

But aside from that?

The vindictive part of him is actually a little disappointed. Upset that some other Seeker brought the pangoro in instead of him. But he doesn’t know how well he’d fare in a fight with one of his literal nightmares, so maybe that was for the best. He’d be useless if he panicked in the middle of a deadly brawl.

Even now, he’s anxious. Even if he doesn’t want to admit it. Both to just see one of the outlaws again, and to ask Dismas the question that’s been haunting him for eight years now.

Why did Team Zenith do what they did? Why kill his family? Why kill innocent children?

Why?

That single word makes him feel a tangle of emotions so thick he could never hope to unravel it. It feels a bit like nerves in his stomach. A bit like desperation choking his throat. He hates it. But he needs to know.

Every time Tobias tries to think back to that night, tries to think of anything that could explain why the arcanine and his crew suddenly turned on them, it’s like his mind can’t handle it and cuts the memory short. He’s gotten vague glimpses of the incident over the years, but most of them come at the cost of a panic attack that sends him spiraling before he can recall the night in its entirety. So since his own brain refuses to give him the answers he needs, he just has to ask someone else who was there. As much as he doesn’t want to.

“Would you happen to know how to get to the prison from here?”

Nia’s voice, directed at the simipour shopkeeper, yanks Tobias back to the present. He looks up.

The water type seems startled by the question, but then her eyes flick over their bag and the scarf tied around Nia’s arm. Hesitantly, she nods and points right, further into the city.

“If you follow this canal to the heart of the city and straight through to the other side, the entrance to the prison is near the edge of the island. Look for red coral out front.”

Nia thanks the shopkeeper, but the riolu’s smile fades as she turns to him. He can only imagine what expression he’s wearing.

“Are you ready? We can always wait until later tonight, or tomorrow, or…”

Tobias shakes his head and straightens up, ready to move. Nia seems to get the message. It’s now or never. Waiting will only delay the inevitable.

Tobias leads the way across the city, following the large canal the shopkeeper had pointed out. They have to cross a few of the city’s segmented islands to do so, and Tobias quickly decides that he hates the floating bridges that are used to cross the smaller canals. They wobble and sink underfoot and feel much more unstable than the city itself.

Kaleido Bay is beautiful, but it’s just too ingrained with the sea for Tobias to really feel comfortable. Nia clearly loves the place—as she does most places—pointing out something new and exciting to look at every few minutes. Whether that be a particularly elaborate tourist boat pulled through the canals, or a saltwater fountain in a little plaza where children scream and play, or a building that Nia says looks like a “church,” built with stunning glass windows that depict images of Pokemon in the ocean. Tobias doesn’t recognize them all, but he knows he spots Kyrogre, Lugia, and Manaphy.

As they near the edge of the city, where homes and less flashy businesses reside, they see more areas under repair, likely from the natural disasters that Rosalind had mentioned. Either this area got hit harder, being without a buffer against the open ocean, or it’s just the last to be fixed since it isn’t where the tourists go to spend their money.

The Pokemon on the streets here are more casual, too, and there are almost no ferry ‘mon swimming in the canals. No fancy accessories or shopping bags in sight. Likely locals rather than tourists. One or two give them curious looks, probably wondering if they’re lost, before spotting their scarves and looking away again to go about their business.

At one point, Nia nudges Tobias to catch his attention, nodding her head across the canal. He follows her gaze, finding a large group of Pokemon gathered around the wooden remains of a building that was nearly ripped off its foundations. The Pokemon in the group are talking quietly to one another, sharing sad smiles and hugs. A small seel is crying with his flippers covering his eyes, his sobs loud enough to echo across the water as a poliwhirl tries in vain to comfort him.

Tobias spots a pile of items—bright shells and coral, food and flowers and letters—stacked together neatly at the foot of the building. A lump rises in his throat.

“Is that..?” Nia murmurs.

“Funeral,” Tobias confirms, looking away.

“D-Do you think it was a natural disaster?”

“Probably,” Tobias answers. “I’d guess the newer buildings are made with the natural disasters in mind, but that one looked older.”

Nia glances back one more time at the decimated home, grief obvious in her slanted ears and limp tail. Tobias can imagine what she’s thinking about. That she’s feeling that desperation, that weight of the world, on her shoulders once more.

“We’ll fix it,” She murmurs. “Everything.”

Tobias nods but doesn’t offer his own reassurance. As cold as it sounds, he can’t focus on the rest of the world right now. Not when the pangoro they’re about to talk to is dominating every thought and every cell in his body.

They finally find the prison, a small building close to the edge of the city. The bulk of the exterior is white concrete and gleaming metal, but two pieces of tall red coral stand on either side of the door, framing it.

Tobias doesn’t realize he’s stopped in the doorway until Nia steps closer to his side, arms brushing. She’s watching him, and when he looks at her, she tilts her head. As if to ask if he’s sure about this.

He nods, ignoring the way his heart is pounding against his ribs. He takes a deep breath, then leads the way inside.

The interior is surprisingly small, with little more than a front desk and some shelves full of books and files. A large metal door dominates the back wall, so Tobias guesses that probably leads to the prison itself.

A smoochum is at the desk in front of them, sitting on what must be an unreasonably tall stool. She’s writing something on a document. When she finishes, she adds the sheet to a stack of paper to her right, which is already taller than she is. Then she grabs a paper from the stack to her left and starts writing again, only glancing up when the door clicks shut behind them.

“Can I help you?”

Tobias steps up to the desk, ignoring her impatient tone.

“We’re here to see prisoner D22.”

The smoochum lifts a brow, giving them an unimpressed once-over. “…Rank?”

Tobias considers lying, for a moment, before deciding that she’ll probably request to see their badges anyways if he aims too high. “D-Rank.”

“You must be at least B-rank for clearance to visit high-security prisoners,” the smoochum drones, going back to her papers.

“We have to see him,” Tobias says, slapping his hand onto the edge of the desk. He desperately wishes he was taller so he didn’t have to look up for this. “Let us talk to Jude. He works here, right?”

“Please,” Nia adds, pulling Tobias back with a hand on his arm. “It’s really important.”

The smoochum still seems unconvinced, but sighs. “Badges?”

Nia digs their badges out of their bag, handing them over the counter. The smoochum flips them over, giving them an idle examination before sliding them back.

“If Jude says you leave, then you leave. Got it?”

“Y-Yes,” Nia says.

“Tell him Rosie sent us,” Tobias adds.

The smoochum waves them off. She leans back to tug on a chain leading into the wall. The faint sound of a bell follows, then the click of a slat opening.

“Send Jude up. He has Seekers here looking to talk to a prisoner. They say ‘Rosie’ sent them.”

The slat clicks closed again. The smoochum doesn’t wait for an affirmative, wordlessly going back to her paperwork.

Tobias glances at Nia. The riolu shrugs, looking as uncertain as he feels.

After a few minutes of quiet, interrupted only by the scratch and flutter of the smoochum’s papers and Tobias’ restless pacing, the metal door on the back wall finally opens with a heavy grating sound. A large Pokemon, not much taller than them but long and wide, enters the room with slow steps. His blue-green plates look more like rock than skin, as do the craggy yellow points of his spiked shell. Beady eyes perch just above a jagged mouth, glancing at Tobias and Nia before turning to the smoochum.

He must be Jude.

“A turtle?” Nia whispers to Tobias.

“A drednaw,” Tobias whispers back, studying the water type’s surly expression.

Jude is saying something to the smoochum that makes her frown. She shakes her head. The drednaw makes another comment, too quiet to hear, and the smoochum hisses a response. The conversation gets more heated, until the smoochum finally just flaps a dismissive arm at him and returns to her work. Jude huffs, but finally walks over to them.

He leans in a little closer than is comfortable, voice hushed. “You said Rosie sent you?”

Tobias nods. “We’re Seekers. She said you can get us in to talk to a prisoner.”

The drednaw grinds his jaws with obvious irritation. “…Who do you want to see?”

“D22,” Tobias answers. “A pangoro named Dismas.”

“That’s just about the highest security prisoner we’ve got here. Why d’you want to see him?”

“Does it matter?”

“I can’t let just anyone in to see him.”

“B-But—!” Nia stutters.

“Rosalind said to remind you of Sahara City,” Tobias cuts in, silently praying this will work. “If that changes your mind.”

Tobias didn’t think it was possible for a Pokemon with such thick scales to visibly pale, but Jude does. He glances over his shoulder at the smoochum, as if afraid she’d heard. When she doesn’t pause in her writing, Jude breathes again, turning a glare onto Tobias. Tobias glares back.

After a tense moment, without looking away, Jude calls, “They’re clear. Get Miro and Toko to escort ‘em. They’re on duty right now.”

The smoochum actually looks up at that, visibly surprised. But after a moment she turns back to the bell and rings it again, passing along Jude’s request.

“Make sure you tell Rosie that I held up my end of the deal,” Jude rumbles, low. Then he lumbers past them, shouldering the door open to go outside.

Tobias is once again reminded that they should never, ever cross Rosalind. He exchanges an uncomfortable look with Nia.

Within a few short minutes, the metal door behind the front desk opens again, and a malamar and quagsire walk through. The malamar’s sharp yellow eyes skim over Nia and Tobias, move past them to empty air, then focus back on the smoochum at the front desk with a questioning look.

“That’s them,” the smoochum says, annoyed. “Got Jude’s approval and everything. Go on.”

While the quagsire seems unphased by this information, the malamar is clearly taken aback. Still, he doesn’t argue, instead stepping forwards to speak to them.

“We’re taking you to see D22, right?” The malamar checks. He’s expressive despite the rigid beak on his face. His tentacles make up for it, the ones on his head waving as if caught in an undercurrent and occasionally lifting like perked ears.

The quagsire stays silent, studying them with unblinking eyes. Despite her casual posture, Tobias gets the distinct feeling that she’s on-guard, and stronger than she looks.

“Y-Yes please,” Nia answers. “We, um. Need to talk to him.”

“We won’t be able to leave you alone with him,” the malamar warns. “Safety protocol. But we can give you half an hour of supervised visitation.”

Tobias isn’t thrilled about that—having two strangers in the room for such an emotionally vulnerable conversation. And only half an hour?

Still, he knows better than to argue. This could very well be Tobias’ only chance to get some answers about Team Zenith. About his family.

Tobias nods.

The malamar nods in return and gestures for them to follow him back through the doorway, stepping into the lead. The quagsire moves to trail behind Nia and Tobias, boxing them in.

Wordlessly, they’re lead past the front desk and out of the lobby.

Tobias is kind of surprised that they didn’t ask to check their bag. Maybe they trust Seekers not to bring in anything dangerous? Or maybe Jude or the overworked smoochum was supposed to check it. Whatever. Tobias isn’t going to bring it up. He feels better having their meager supply of items close by, anyways.

Instead, Tobias focuses on where they’re heading. The floor here is set at an angle, sloping downward, and the long hallway they’re in is dim as the door shuts behind them, the metal walls windowless. The only reason they can see at all is the light from Tobias’ tail flame, the yellow glow of the malamar’s spotted markings, and the soft green glow of…moss? Algae, maybe. It grows in impressive mounds out of little planters protruding from the walls every few feet. Like little balconies of light.

Below the algae, the hallways are also lined with well-maintained plants growing from water-filled basins in the floor. Tobias can’t tell what kind of plants they are in the darkness, the silhouette of them foreign, but the smell of saltwater is thick in the air under the lush greenery, so they’re probably ocean-based.

The hallway they’re traveling down goes on and on, curving slightly. A strange sensation builds in Tobias’ ears, and it takes him a moment to realize what it must be.

Pressure. They’re going under the waves. It’s getting colder, too.

A jolt of fear lances through Tobias’ gut, completely separate from his nerves regarding Dismas. He reaches over and fumbles Nia’s paw into his own, squeezing it. She glances at him, then tightens her own grip in return. He’s grateful she doesn’t say anything about it.

They walk for a few minutes longer, the quiet echo of their steps a soothing rhythm. The pressure gets stronger, Nia slowly cringing under its weight in her sensitive ears.

“Try equalizing,” the malamar says, breaking the silence. He glances back at Nia, then gestures with a tentacle at his face. “It helps with the pressure. Pinch your nose shut and swallow a few times. Or wiggle your jaw.”

Nia hesitantly follows the psychic type’s directions, trying first one technique and then the other. After alternating between the two once or twice, she perks up, tense shoulders dropping. “That helped a lot! Thank you.”

“No problem. It’s tough when you aren’t used to the pressure change.”

Tobias tries to subtly follow Nia’s lead, wiggling his own jaw and blowing air out of his nose. It does relieve some of the pressure that had built up in his ears and head.

“So are you two here on official Seeker business?” The malamar asks. Tobias can’t tell if he’s genuinely curious, if he’s just being friendly, or if he’s suspicious about why they want to talk to Dismas. Maybe all three.

Nia looks to Tobias for an answer, which is fair. Once again, he considers lying, but if they really won’t be allowed to talk to the pangoro alone, then they’re bound to find out why they’re here anyways.

“Personal matter,” Tobias settles on.

Thankfully, the malamar accepts that with nothing more than a nod. “In that case, I hope you get what you’re looking for from this conversation. Dismas is usually pretty straightforward.”

“That’s one word to describe him,” the quagsire says from behind them, voice soft. Both Tobias and Nia jump. “I would use the word cruel.”

“What was he arrested for?” Nia asks, hesitant.

The malamar glances back at them, lingering on whatever expression Tobias is wearing. He looks forward again. “Take your pick. Theft, destruction of property, murder. It’s the last one that shot him and his teammates to the top of every guild’s priority list.”

Murder. Tobias isn’t sure if the charge is even related to his own family. He’d managed to tell Maggie about the Pokemon who attacked his family, eventually, and he’s sure they put out some kind of warning around the mountains where he used to live, but he doubts that the years-late testimony of a traumatized child would be enough on its own for a solid murder charge. At least not without calling Tobias in to talk to an official guild member first.

Then again, Tobias supposes the crime would be pretty obvious when an entire family all but disappeared from their home. He doubts they ever found their bodies. He vaguely remembers Maggie murmuring questions to the medical ‘mon in the village, after some townspeople went to make sure there weren’t any other survivors. He remembers the way the doctor shook their head, how Maggie’s expression fell even further. Tobias doesn’t know if Team Zenith simply sealed off the cave to create a tomb, or burned everything until it was unrecognizable, or what. He doesn’t really want to know.

If there were bodies to bury, Maggie would’ve asked if he wanted to visit their graves before they left for Bethoc’s Haven. But she didn’t.

Tobias’ legs suddenly feel pathetically weak. Like they’ve been replaced with jelly. Some part of him, something small and young and scared, desperately wants to turn and run. Leave now before the truth is revealed. Before he has to face Dismas again.

He shoves that part of himself away, holding tighter to Nia’s paw.

“Well. Multiple charges of murder,” the malamar adds, quieter. “Merchants. A few Seekers. Suspected one-offs. He and his crew have built quite the reputation for themselves.”

Tobias feels nauseous. Somehow this has always felt so personal, Team Zenith’s crime against his family. But Tobias isn’t the only one they’ve hurt. Somewhere out there, there are others they’ve done the same to. Other families and friends and partners who are missing loved ones. Who are weighed down by a similar grief.

That familiar old rage surges through Tobias’ chest like magma. It makes it hard to breathe, makes it hard for him to think about anything aside from hurting Dismas like Dismas hurt him.

But Tobias can feel Nia’s fingers squeeze his, briefly. Can feel her gaze burning into the side of his head. So he closes his eyes, trusting her to lead them, and takes a deep breath. Another. Another. He won’t be allowed to fight a prisoner. He has to be civil, to a degree. He has to keep his head enough to speak, or this whole thing amounts to nothing.

He can’t waste this opportunity.

Tobias only opens his eyes when the darkness behind his eyelids shifts. Their footsteps sound different suddenly, less contained.

They’ve finally reached the end of the long ramp leading down. Ahead of them lies a metal hallway with multiple other hallways branching off of it. To different cells, maybe.

The floor is lit by the same green moss as the hallway they just left, but there’s an even fainter light coming from the walls as well, from tall, thin…windows? It takes Tobias a moment to register what he’s seeing through them.

The ocean is dark this far down, the water inky black, but more moss lights the environment surrounding the prison, growing atop silhouettes of rocky outcroppings. It creates a surreal effect, a gradient of soft green light and harsh black shapes.

Before he looks away, Tobias also catches a glimpse of brighter light streaking by outside. It comes from a lanturn, the lures dangling from the water type’s head glowing a warm yellow. A few seconds later, a vague shape carrying what looks like a moss-fueled lamp swims by as well, too quick to identify. Guards, maybe. Making sure the prisoners stay in or that any curious water types stay out?

Either way, Tobias can’t help wondering why the windows are here at all. He’s not very familiar with glass, but he didn’t think it would be strong enough to withstand the pressure of the ocean.

Just as he’s thinking that, the light catches oddly on one of the windows they pass. Ah, there it is—the unique shimmer of a move. Light screen, maybe, or reflect, reinforcing the glass panes. If he squints, he thinks he can even see the pale green hue of light clay acting as caulk, simultaneously sealing the windows in place and strengthening the effects of the protective moves.

He’s still not a fan.

“How do they get air down here?” Nia asks, distracting Tobias from his staredown with the windows. She’s quiet enough that Tobias isn’t sure if she’s asking him or just talking to herself.

“Vents,” the malamar answers. He motions up with a lift of his head tentacles. Tobias follows the gesture to see a slatted vent laid into the ceiling as they pass by. “Pipes lead up to the surface, and the greenery down here helps with oxygen generation.”

“And the windows?” Tobias can’t help asking. “Seems like a dangerous design choice for an underwater prison.”

“That’s by design,” the malamar says. “Don’t worry, they’re maintained daily. But they can be helpful, if we have an escape attempt. There’s a reason we don’t take water type prisoners here.”

Oh. So the windows are an emergency stop measure. If a prisoner tries to escape, they flood the room they’re in to slow them down?

Or maybe they just drown them.

Tobias shivers at the idea. Nia seems equally perturbed, falling silent again.

Tobias glances down the hallways they pass, expecting to hear jeering voices and see hulking shadows through jail bars. Instead, the cells seem to be individual rooms, each sealed shut by a heavy steel door with a crank in place to open it. A placard rests above each door with a letter-number combo etched into it.

Tobias watches with trepidation as the numbers rise as they walk, from D01 up to D05, then D10 to D15. Do they really need this many prison cells? Maybe they house more prisoners here than he realized.

Finally, they stop in front of a room. D22 is etched into the placard above the door.

Tobias feels lightheaded. He knows he’s holding onto Nia a little tighter than he should, but he can’t seem to relax his grip. The malamar says something, but it’s not until the quagsire steps in front of them that Tobias realizes they’ve been trying to give him a command.

“We’ve gotta step back for a sec,” Nia murmurs, tugging Tobias away from the door.

Tobias nods, barely hearing her as the quagsire puts their whole body into rolling the crank beside the door. With a low groan, the metal slowly lifts. The inside is a weakly lit green like the halls, but Tobias can’t see past the malamar’s twitching tentacles.

The malamar waits until the door is high enough, then slips inside with a quiet, authoritative, “Wait here.”

Tobias does so, heart roaring in his ears. When the door finishes opening and clicks into place, the quagsire steps into the malamar’s spot, guarding the doorway so they can’t enter.

Tobias can hear the rattle of chains and the muted tones of conversation from inside. Nothing discernible, but the deep rumble of a new voice stands out against the malamar’s higher tones.

Tobias’ stomach turns.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” Nia whispers, just loud enough for him to hear.

Even then, even knowing there’s no possible way the pangoro could’ve heard, Tobias nods his head instead of answering, desperately wanting her to stop talking. He can’t be weak here. He can’t let the pangoro know that just the hint of his voice has Tobias on the edge of panic.

All too soon, the malamar calls out, “All right. We’re ready.”

The quagsire steps aside to usher them in.

Tobias steps inside. The interior looks just like the rest of the floor, lit faintly green by moss. Two windows, tall but slim, are all that offer a respite from the steely metallic walls and floor. There’s a flattened nest of dry, dark green moss in the corner of the room, large enough to easily fit Nia, Tobias, and all of Team Shellshock inside of it.

Tobias only has a moment to take all of that in before he focuses on the Pokemon sitting in the center of the room.

Tobias has always thought he must’ve exaggerated the pangoro’s size in his nightmares, but Dismas is just as big as he remembers. Even sitting cross-legged on the floor, the pangoro is easily three times their height, and just as wide. Coarse black and white fur does little to hide the muscles in his arms and legs, his limbs as thick as tree trunks. He looks like he could punch through the metal walls of his cell with no trouble if he really wanted to.

Which is probably what the heavy shackles on the pangoro’s wrists, ankles, and neck are there to prevent. Their chains, thicker than Tobias’ arm, lead down through gaps in the floor. They’ve been pulled taut, keeping the pangoro forcibly low to the ground.

Finally, Tobias looks at the pangoro’s face. Dismas looks…bored, almost. Tobias imagines he’d be sitting with his elbow resting on crossed knees and his chin planted in the palm of his paw if he had the range of motion to do so. His shadowed eyes are hardly visible.

Tobias swallows. He wishes Mom was here. Or Dad. Or Maggie. Even with Dismas tied down, Tobias still feels so small. He hates how vulnerable he feels as he steps forward, stopping a few feet away from the outlaw. Nia hovers at his side.

He feels like he’s nine years old again.

“You’re free to talk,” the malamar says. He moves past Tobias to stand guard at the door, Releasing the crank and closing the door with a flash of yellow psychic energy and a loud clang.

The quagsire waddles over to stand at the pangoro’s side, keeping a close eye on the criminal.

And then it’s quiet, and all that’s left to do is to find the truth.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd seekers of soul #pokemon #charizard #charmander #tesha draws #tesha writes #teshamerkel

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huffelpuff210 · 1 month ago

Text

You belong to me now part 8

Warnings: forced relationship, forced marriage

We approached the men, the first to introduce himself was a man with dark hair and eyes,

"Well Barnes this certainly is a surprise. Tony Stark." Tony says grasping my hand I remembered him from the fundraising party,

"I know I met you before at the fundraising party." I says

"Ah that's right, I barely recognized you." He says kissing my knuckles

"Stark." Bucky growls

Tony lets go of my hand,

"Since you met Tony before I will introduce you to some of my associates." Bucky says

"Andy Barber, he's the best of the best as defense lawyers go." Bucky says

"Nice to meet you." He says with a million dollar smile

I smile back, not a real one one of my fake ones,

"You as well." I say

"Thor, he one of my muscles when it comes to guards." Bucky says

"It is a pleasure my lady." He says bowing,

I smile

"Nice to meet you all." I say

We sit down, that's when I start to feel it.... the blurred vision, the dizziness. I needed sugar and I needed it fast.

I whispered in James's ear,

"Can I get some some..." I was having a hard time concentrating,

He arched an eyebrow and looked at me,

"Some soda or beer something." I mumbled

I think he seen the panic in my face that took him off guard ,

"Excuse us." He says helping me out of the booth,

"What's wrong?" He asked

"Low..." I began my legs almost giving out, but he caught me,

"Whoa, easy." He says

"Blood sugar.." He nodded understanding,

He motioned for Steve saying something to him and helping me back to the booth.

"You okay?" Thor asked concerned,

I nodded

"long day." I mumbled

They all chuckled

"Mixed drink for the lady." Bucky says

I nodded taking a few sips and feeling better slowly,

"So how did you manage to wrangle this one in?" Tony asked nodding to Bucky who sat next to me in the booth his arm draped over the back of the booth behind me,

"Must be my charm." I mumbled taking a sip,

Bucky chuckled I narrow my eyes at him,

"How did the two of you meet?" Andy asked

"I met her having a dinner with a new recruit." Bucky says smiling as he takes a sip of his drink,

"Really?" Tony asked

"Peter Parker." Bucky says

Tony nearly choked on his drink

"You know him?" Tony asked

I take a sip of my drink,

"All my life." I say

"Really?" Bucky asked intrigued

I nodded

"We've been friends since before my mother died." I say

"hmmm." Andy says scratching his chin,

I arched my brow.

"Your father worked from Rumlow's crew?" Andy asked out of the blue I stiffen, how in the hell did they know that, did they dig into my past.

I hope they didn't figure out that I-" I thought but brushed it off I can feel them all staring,

"Yes, I'm surprised you know that.." I say taking another sip of my drink,

"What can I say I'm an attorney it's my business." Andy says

Everyone chuckles probably from the look on my face.

What else do they know?

"Well fellas we better get going." Bucky says yanking me to my feet.

"Already, what past your bed time barnes?" Tony says

Bucky just shakes his head, and leads us out of the club, Sam opens the back door of the SUV , We both step in and sit down, Steve isn't with us this time,

"Where's Steve?" I asked

"He's got some business to attend to." Bucky says

His arm around me playing with my hair,

I look over at him, He's smirking,

"What?" I asked

"Oh nothing, just can't believe I've got you now." He says

"Don't get cocky, we're not married yet." I say

He chuckled

suddenly I am pinned between him and the seat,

"Yes, but it won't be long sweetheart.." He says capturing my lips, I tried pushing on his chest but it was like moving a brick wall, I didn't realize until now how solid.... and muscular.....

I try to pull my head out of the damn clouds and he parts the kiss smiling down at me,

"You can have my sister's old room until the wedding don't want to scare you off now do I?' He says smirking at me as he sits up,

"Your going to make me regret this aren't you?" I asked narrowing my eyes at him as I sat up,

He chuckled

"Not at all princess." He says winking at me

I roll my eyes.

His hands started coasting down and quickly I grabbed his wrist, this surprised him, and during that surprised I rolled us using his weight against him, we were on the floor and I was straddling him, he looked surprised but then amused, I still had his wrist in my grasp,

"Let's get one thing straight Barnes, I only agreed to this because you threatened my friend.I am only humoring you until you get bored." I say

He chuckled his one hand on my hip, while he to the other out of my grasp, his thumb pulling my bottom lip down lightly,

"Trust me princess this is set and sealed and I most certainly won't get bored of you." He says smirking

#avengers fic #mcu smut #bucky barnes fic #dark avengers #bucky barnes fanfiction #obsessive bucky barnes #dark marvel #bucky barnes imagine #dark mafia boss bucky barnes #mob boss bucky barnes #dark bucky smut #dark threats #dark bucky barnes #mafia boss bucky barnes #dark mob boss #past abuse #forced relationship #forced marriage #passion

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cirilla-fiona-riannon · 1 month ago

Text

Ranmaru Main Story Chapter 4

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies.

Chapter 4 Part 1

Ranmaru: "I ended up bringing misfortune to the very people who chose to stay by my side."

Mai: "Ranmaru…"

(Those who chose to stay by his side?)

His choice of words caught my attention, but I couldn't bring myself to question him about it.

(When someone looks like that, it feels wrong to ask them to put their pain into words.)

His eyes were cast downward, and a faint smile tugged at his lips.

It was almost as if he were laughing at his own foolishness, condemning himself.

(So the darkness clouding Ranmaru's face was pain all along.)

I looked up at the sky, searching for the right words, and saw the stars stretching endlessly overhead.

Mai: "I was looking up at the sky from the castle corridor earlier, but out here—with no lights—you can see so many more stars."

Mai: "It's quiet, beautiful, and so peaceful."

Ranmaru: "Yeah."

Ranmaru: "I think it would be nice if the afterlife could be like this."

Ranmaru: "If there's peace, there wouldn't be hate or conflict."

Mai: "Yeah."

(For his sake, I hope so too.)

Beside me, he gazed quietly up at the sky.

Ranmaru: "For those of us left behind, all we can really do is hope that the people we've lost have ended up somewhere good."

Ranmaru: "It might just be self-satisfaction, but still."

(What a kind, gentle wish.)

He fell silent, and so did I.

Only the stars—so beautiful, yet tinged with loneliness—twinkled in the vast darkness that seemed ready to swallow the world whole.

(They really are alike.)

Mai: "You're like a star."

Ranmaru: "A star?"

Mai: "Yeah. You shine so brightly, catching everyone's attention and never letting go."

Mai: "You have so many different sides, and each one is kind and beautiful."

Ranmaru: ".........."

(That kind of sounded like a pickup line.)

Feeling embarrassed, I quickly waved my hand to break the awkward silence.

Mai: "Sorry! Just forget I said that! That was kind of weird and random, huh?"

As I kept waving frantically, he let out a quiet laugh.

Ranmaru: "You really do see me clearly, don't you?"

Ranmaru: "But you know, I'm not gonna lose to you."

(Huh?)

He pointed to the night sky and looked straight at me.

Ranmaru: "You're like the moon."

Ranmaru: "You're always beside the stars, gently lighting up the night."

Mai: "Thank you. If that's how you see me, I'm happy to hear it."

(I feel like that's giving me a little too much credit.)

Even so, I wanted to accept the words he gave me.

Ranmaru: "We should head back to the castle."

Ranmaru: "Looks like the clouds are starting to roll in."

Ranmaru took my hand—just like he did when we first arrived.

(His hand is so warm.)

That warmth felt comforting somehow. For the first time, it felt like I had touched a small part of his heart.

A perfect man—and perhaps a dear friend—I was lucky to meet in this era.

After Mai and Ranmaru left, a shadowy figure visited the flower field.

The moonlight was hidden behind clouds, cloaking the visitor in darkness.

???: "Forgive me."

A single flower was placed on the freshly dug earth, and the sound of a bell echoed mournfully.

With the events of that night locked away in our hearts, Ranmaru and I returned to our everyday lives.

One day, while I was working as usual—

(Let's see... this box goes… ah.)

I looked up and saw Mitsuhide approaching from the other end of the hallway.

(This is the first time I've seen him since I got caught eavesdropping.)

(I'm not sure what to say. Maybe I'll just nod and walk past.)

That was my plan—until…

Mitsuhide: "Oh? Fancy running into you here, Mai."

(He talked to me!)

Mitsuhide: "Have you gotten used to your duties?"

Mai: "Y-Yes, I'm managing… somehow."

(And now he's trying to keep the conversation going.)

While I nodded awkwardly at his question, Mitsuhide suddenly gave a faint smile.

Mitsuhide: "By the way, you seem to have gotten quite close to someone."

Mai: "Huh? Close to who?"

Mitsuhide: "Who do you think I mean?"

That unreadable smile of his shifted into something more knowing.

Mitsuhide: "I've heard rumors that you're unusually close. If you're involved, I imagine you already know who."

(Is he talking about Ranmaru?)

(But we work together, so of course we spend a lot of time around each other.)

Ranmaru, who had kept my secret, said he'd already explained everything to the Oda army in a way that wouldn't raise suspicion.

(Is Mitsuhide still trying to fish something out of me?)

(Either way, I'd better not say anything reckless.)

Mitsuhide: "So? What is it then?"

Mai: "Of course, we're close. We're friends!"

I flashed him a smile and walked past him.

Before I knew it, nearly two months had passed since I'd arrived in this era.

(I just have to hold out a little longer—just one more month and I'll be able to go back.)

But that chance came sooner than I expected.

(What was that sound?)

I woke up to an unexpected noise in the middle of the night.

There was no one beyond the shoji screen. Even after lighting the lantern and scanning the room, I was completely alone.

(That means…)

Mai: "It's okay, Sasuke."

I whispered—and a moment later, the ceiling panel slid open.

Sasuke: "As expected of you, Mai. Sharp as ever."

Mai: "Says the guy who made that noise on purpose just to get my attention."

Sasuke: "Maybe."

Sasuke: "Anyway, enough chit-chat."

Sasuke: "I came here because there's something urgent I need to tell you."

(Something he needs to tell me?)

Feeling a sinking sense of unease, I straightened up as Sasuke removed his mask.

Sasuke: "There's been a distortion in the data I've been monitoring."

Sasuke: "Long story short—the timing of the wormhole has shifted drastically."

(What?!)

Mai: "Then… when is it going to open?"

Sasuke: "The night after tomorrow. The same place you arrived at when you came to this era."

Mai: "So, Honnoji."

The sudden revelation almost threw me into a panic, but I forced myself to stay calm and think it through.

(Which means—)

Mai: "If I don't leave right away, I won't make it in time."

Sasuke: "Yeah. I've already arranged a horse, so once you're ready, we'll head out."

Mai: "Got it. Thanks—I'll get ready right away."

(If I miss this chance, I might not get another.)

I told myself that as I stood up.

(Okay, stay calm. First, think.)

(I can't bring the kimono I borrowed, so I'll change back into the clothes I wore when I first arrived. And then… oh!)

As I pulled my bag closer, the travel guide slipped out.

(Right. It's time to say goodbye.)

(To Ranmaru, too.)

It hadn't been long, but he'd done so much for me.

(He helped me when I was in trouble, kept my secret, and stayed by my side the whole time.)

(I'm going to miss him... because Ranmaru and I…)

This really would be a farewell—possibly forever.

(Since I'm going to disappear without a word, maybe I can at least leave him a letter?)

(But what should I write? There's so much I want to say.)

Sasuke: "Mai."

Mai: "----!"

When I turned around, Sasuke had a finger pressed to his lips, signaling me to be silent. His eyes were locked on something beyond the shoji screen.

(Is someone there?)

Sasuke: ".........."

Our eyes met, and we exchanged a silent nod.

I watched him slip soundlessly back into the ceiling. Then, I slid open the shoji screen.

Ranmaru: "Good evening, Lady Mai."

(Ranmaru?!)

Mai: "Ah…"

Ranmaru gently placed a finger on my lips.

Ranmaru: "I sensed someone moving around this late at night, so I followed it and ended up outside your room. I overheard everything."

Mai: "What?"

Ranmaru: "It's okay. I think I got the gist of the situation."

(Wait—what?!)

Mai: "Hold on, I—um—"

Ranmaru: "When the candle in that lantern burns down to about halfway, leave your room and follow the path to the castle gate."

Ranmaru: "Oh, and keep the kimono on."

Ranmaru: "If you wear something that doesn't belong in this era while you're out, you'll definitely draw attention."

He laid everything out so quickly, then disappeared just as quietly as he had arrived.

(Too much is happening all at once—I can't keep up.)

Still dazed, I slid the door shut—right as Sasuke dropped back into the room.

Sasuke: "Mai, I've got a lot of questions, but first—who was that guy?"

Mai: "You're going to be shocked. Think of the famously brilliant page who served Nobunaga."

Sasuke: "Ranmaru Mori!"

Sasuke's eyes lit up with delight.

Ranmaru: "Lady Mai, over here!"

Mai: "Ranmaru!"

I ran toward Ranmaru, who was waving at me.

Ranmaru: "Here—this is for you."

Mai: "Huh?"

What he handed me was a small bundle.

(This is…)

Ranmaru: "If you're heading to Kyoto, you'll need proper travel supplies."

Ranmaru: "It's just a few simple things I put together for you."

(He did all that in such a short amount of time?)

Mai: "Thank you, Ranmaru."

Ranmaru: "Hehe, you're welcome."

Sasuke: "………"

Ranmaru: "Now it's your turn."

Ranmaru: "Let's skip the formal introductions for now. As for what comes next—"

Ranmaru began listing the number and locations of guards inside the castle.

Ranmaru: "There are a few more than usual, but you can handle it, right?"

Sasuke: "And why would you think that?"

Ranmaru: "Well, I only caught you by chance, but the fact that you snuck into the castle so easily means you're a pretty skilled ninja."

Sasuke: "-----!"

Ranmaru: "Judging by that reaction, I think I hit the mark."

(His observational skills really are sharp.)

Sasuke: "I'm impressed. If you already know, that actually makes things easier for me."

Sasuke took something from inside his robe.

Mai: "What's that?"

Sasuke: "Put simply, it's a smoke bomb. Once lit, it gives off a loud bang and releases a cloud of smoke."

Sasuke: "If I throw this into a hidden spot away from the castle gate..."

Ranmaru: "Then the guards will be distracted by the noise and leave the gate unattended."

Ranmaru: "I see. Let me make that plan even more effective."

(Huh?)

Ranmaru took the smoke bomb from Sasuke, hooked a kunai onto the wall, and climbed up effortlessly.

Sasuke: "Whoa."

Mai: "Wow!"

(He's just as nimble as Sasuke—maybe even more so.)

He looked down at us with a bold, confident smile.

Ranmaru: "I'll shout 'Intruder!' and draw everyone's attention."

Ranmaru: "Some guards might stay at their posts, but I'm sure you can slip past them easily."

Sasuke: "Yeah, leave it to me."

(This duo is unstoppable!)

With a highly skilled ninja and an overly competent page working together, we slipped out of Azuchi Castle without a single soul noticing us.

The next day.

Two horses trotted along a peaceful country road, far from Azuchi.

Riding beside Sasuke, holding the reins in my place since I couldn't ride on my own, was—

Mai: "Um, Ranmaru, are you sure it's okay that you came along with us?"

Ranmaru: "Of course."

Mai: "I see. Thank you. I know you've got your own things going on, too."

Ranmaru: "Don't worry about it. Just being able to stay with you until the end is more than enough for me."

Mai: "-----!"

His words almost made me smile uncontrollably.

(I was honestly feeling a bit sad about parting with him so suddenly, so I'm really glad he's still here.)

Ranmaru: "Besides, I promised I'd make sure you got back to the future safely."

(Oh yeah.)

Ranmaru really did say that to me.

(Still, I can't believe he kept his promise, even with such a sudden departure. He really is reliable to the very end.)

Sasuke: "Ranmaru, mind if I cut into your little chat?"

Ranmaru: "Well, I guess I can't say no. What's up?"

Ranmaru had quickly become friendly with Sasuke, chatting with him cheerfully.

(They actually make a pretty good team.)

(Come to think of it, they hit it off right from the start—even just yesterday.)

After leaving Azuchi, we stayed the night in a nearby town. Ranmaru had arranged separate rooms for men and women, and once we'd settled in, we all gathered in the men's room.

------------Flashback-----------

Sasuke: "So, what exactly is going on between you and Mai?"

Ranmaru: "Hmm… I guess we're secret-sharing buddies?"

Mai: "Ranmaru helped me out a lot back at Azuchi Castle."

Mai: "And from there, I ended up telling him about the whole time-slip thing."

Sasuke: "I see. That explains why things went so smoothly."

Ranmaru: "And what about you, Sasuke? What's your relationship with her?"

Mai: "You probably figured it out from the time-slip talk, but he's from the same era as me."

Mai: "And then..."

Sasuke: "Right now, I'm serving as a ninja under Kenshin Uesugi."

Mai: "What?!"

Ranmaru: "Judging from your reaction, you didn't know either?"

Mai: "Nope. I did see him with Kenshin, though."

Ranmaru: "Huh. So the ninja serving the real-life Kenshin Uesugi is someone from your time, too."

Ranmaru: "Lady Mai, you're really in a complicated position."

Ranmaru: "Still, I never would've guessed there was another person from the future in the Uesugi army."

Sasuke: "Can't blame you for being surprised. Honestly, I'm still shocked myself."

Sasuke: "I mean, I never expected to have a pajama party with Ranmaru Mori. This is a history nerd's dream come true."

Ranmaru: "Pajama… party?"

---------Flashback Ends--------

(We really did end up chatting late into the night after that.)

As I recalled last night with a fond smile—

Ranmaru: "Alright then, it's decided."

(Huh?)

They apparently had agreed on something.

Ranmaru: "Lady Mai, I'm going to speed things up a bit, so hold on tight."

Mai: "Wait—speed things up?!"

Sasuke: "We've had a few people tailing us for a while now. Probably bandits."

Ranmaru: "We could fight back, but it's faster to just shake them off."

Ranmaru: "Alright, here we go!"

Mai: "Wah!"

I clung to Ranmaru in a hurry, just as he and Sasuke spurred their horses forward.

(They really are perfectly in sync!)

Thanks to the two of them, we arrived at our destination just as planned.

(This might be the last time I see a night sky like this.)

I soaked in the footbath the innkeeper recommended, gazing up at the sky alone.

(Tomorrow, I'm finally going back to the world 500 years in the future.)

I wondered what the stars looked like back home, hidden behind all the artificial lights.

(It's only been two months, and I've already forgotten what they looked like.)

(Will I also end up forgetting this view?)

Lost in thought, I lightly splashed the water with my toes.

Ranmaru: "How's the water?"

Previous Part ╎ Next Part

#ikemen sengoku #ikesen translations #ikesen jp #ikesen #ikesen ranmaru #ranmaru mori #cybird

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aishangotome · 1 year ago

Text

Yves Kloss: Even If Misfortune Stands in My Way Again and Again...

From A Hidden Oath: King of the BEAST (2024 Election) - Collection Event

—

It was one of those days when I was out on a date with Emma––

A sudden shower.

The city, covered in thick rain clouds, was as dark as night, and a rumbling, earth-shattering sound echoed from afar.

Emma: It started raining.

Yves: Yes, it did.

Caught in the rain during our date, we hurriedly took shelter under the eaves of an alleyway, but we couldn't escape the downpour, and both of us were completely drenched.

(Of all days...)

(No. It's because of days like this, isn't it?)

I carefully wiped Emma's face and hair with a handkerchief.

I had protected her from the rain by putting her inside my jacket, but she was still quite wet.

Yves: I thought it had been lying low lately, but I was naive.

Emma: What are you talking about?

Yves: My bad luck.

Lately, I've been falling into Clavis' pitfalls and bumping into people, and there have been a series of events that can only be described as unlucky.

It's been a while since I've been reminded of the phrase "unlucky constitution abandoned by God."

(If it were the old days, I would probably be feeling like it's the end of the world.)

(If I told my past self that I would one day be able to enjoy bad luck, I wonder what kind of face he would make.)

(Well, he wouldn't believe it. I can hardly believe it myself, even now.)

(...Huh?)

Looking closely, I saw that Emma was smiling happily as I wiped her hair.

Yves: Why are you smiling?

Emma: Doesn't it make you a little excited to be drenched and taking shelter from the rain together?

Yves: You're the only person in the world who would say something like that.

Emma: You're not excited, Yves?

Yves: Huh? Well... a little, but...

Emma: See?

Yves: Look, if you could act a little more disappointed, it would make things a lot easier for me!

Yves: Your hair is all messed up, even though you woke up early and tied it up so nicely!

Emma: It's okay, Yves will fix it for me.

Yves: ...

(Why does Emma have to say such cute things even at a time like this?)

(No. There's a part of me that thinks "maybe it's a good thing it rained"...)

As I tried to maintain my composure and fix Emma's hair--

Emma: Yves, your hands are cold.

Emma suddenly turned around and gently took my hand.

Yves: Are they?

Emma: Yeah. They feel colder than usual.

(Now that you mention it, they are cold. But it's not that big of a deal...)

Emma: Hey, can I hug you?

Yves: Huh?

Emma: I want to hug you right now.

I gently pushed Emma away as she turned to me and leaned closer.

Yves: Wait until we get back to the castle.

Yves: I want to hug you too, but if you hug me now, you'll get wet--woah!

Despite my attempt to stop her, Emma hugged me tightly.

Yves: Oh no! You really are...

Yves: ......

(When you look at me with such a happy face, I can't say anything.)

I gently hugged Emma back, her wet body against mine.

(Emma, you're warm.)

(Maybe my body was colder than I thought.)

The sound of the rain drowned out everything else, and the only sound I could hear was the beating of Emma's heart.

(It was the same before. I put a lid on my cold heart and looked away from my wounded chest.)

(I kept myself together by putting on a brave face.)

(I thought I would live my whole life unlucky and pitiful.)

(But, Emma jumped into my life without hesitation and hugged me like this, and that's why I changed.)

(No, Emma changed me.)

Yves: ...Emma, are you cold?

Emma: Not at all. I'm warm.

Yves: I see. That's good.

Emma: What about you, Yves?

Yves: There's no way I could be cold when I'm being hugged by you.

I wanted to feel Emma's warmth deep inside my heart, and my grip on her tightened.

Our wet clothes made a squishing sound, but I couldn't hold back the overflowing emotions.

Emma: Hey, Yves.

Yves: Hmm?

Emma: I want to kiss you.

Yves: ...Why do you always say what I'm thinking before I do?

Emma: Hehe, I wonder why. Maybe it's because our hearts are connected?

Even the slight quickening of Emma's heartbeat felt endearing.

As our eyes met, our lips met as if drawn to each other.

(I can live because you're here. As long as I have you, I can face anything.)

(Even if misfortune stands in my way again and again, I swear I will follow through with my love for you.)

I parted my lips and gazed at Emma's beloved face.

Just then, the rain suddenly let up.

(Ah...)

Before I knew it, the only sound left was the pitter-patter of raindrops, and light was flooding into the alley.

Emma: Yves, it stopped!

Yves: Hey, Emma...!

Emma pulled my arm and we stepped out from under the eaves.

Looking up at the sky as we left the alley, we saw a clear blue expanse stretching out before us.

FIN

#ikemen series #cybird #cybird otome #cybird ikemen #yves kloss #2024 ikemen prince collection event #yves kloss short story #yves kloss collection event story #yves kloss ikepri

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perceivedregret · 8 months ago

Text

Caitlyn bites her lip, brows pulling together. “You didn't have to do that, you know,” she mutters, fingers reaching to tug at the front of Vi’s shirt, eyes downcast.

“I wanted to,” Vi admits, this swelling in her chest telling her that she means it.

“Why?”

Vi takes a breath as she lifts a hand to brush back a loose strand of hair. She shrugs a shoulder. “Would you believe me if I said I don't know?”

“No, but I can pretend to, if you'd like,” Caitlyn says around a chuckle. Caitlyn’s knees suddenly tighten around Vi’s hips so she staggers forward, her hands automatically pulling Caitlyn closer, her hands hooking underneath her knees to pull her closer to the edge, earning her a gasp. Her hands trail up her legs, and Vi’s stomach swoops as Caitlyn’s eyes flicker to her lips, Caitlyn’s hands settling on her hips, her thumbs hooking underneath the bands of her shorts.

Okay, maybe we can be friends, Vi thinks, a breath getting caught in her throat as she leans forward.

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

the rest of the fic can be found on my ao3, but for now have a snippet of the beginning of what is part 2 of my caitvi soccer au under the cut (it's smut). click the link for tags and rating

Vi is laying in her bed, half asleep when she feels it. Cold hands trace up her thighs, warm kisses left in their wake. A confused but intrigued hum escapes her. She opens bleary eyes as she lifts her head off her pillow to investigate, finds a blue crown and pale skin. Vi closes her eyes again and tangles her fingers in the long blue hair, blunt nails scratching at the nape as a shiver runs up her spine. She spreads her legs, Caitlyn’s hands pushing them apart. She huffs a breath as those cold fingers make their way towards the edge of her boxers, floating just underneath the hem, asking.

Vi arches her back as Caitlyn mouths over her clothed clit, spreading spit along the front of her underwear, mixing with the dripping slick that slowly spreads around her folds. A moan escapes her as fingers trail further up until they’re right where she needs them, playing in the slick she leaves behind.

“You’re so wet,” Caitlyn hums around a giggle, the phrase familiar.

Vi feels heat crawl up her chest and over her cheeks, her knees pulling up to nearly trap Caitlyn’s head, pulsating want begging to be sated. “I said you moan pretty, didn’t I,” Vi says automatically, without her permission. Her brows pull together at the familiarity.

She slowly opens her eyes and suddenly Caitlyn is hovering over her, hands on either side of Vi’s head, honey and lavender clouding Vi’s senses. “Vi,” she whispers.

“Yeah, cupcake,” Vi mutters, confused, squeezing her legs together to relieve the pressure Caitlyn built up. She pulls her hand up and tries to take Caitlyn’s face in her palm but as she’s about to make contact she disappears. Vi stares at her hand for a moment before sitting up, sheets tangled around her feet.

“Caitlyn?” Vi looks around her dark room, still half asleep.

“Vi!” Caitlyn nearly screams.

Vi is suddenly on her stomach, her arms tucked underneath a cold wet pillow. With a frown Vi lifts her head, wiping away drool from the corner of her mouth. “What the fuck,” she mutters, flipping the pillow over as she gets up on her hands and knees before settling on her heels. She looks around herself as she places her hands on her thighs, tracing where cold fingers were touching them not even a minute ago.

She looks around, but finds herself alone in her room, the clock on her nightstand blinking three-fourteen in neon red. Her eyebrows pull together as her hands trail farther up her thighs, then over her core. She presses down, feels the warm dampness collected there, the shadow of need just underneath the surface. Vi huffs a disappointed sigh as it dawns on her, falling face first into her pillow with a groan.

It was just a dream.

She looks over at the time again, annoyed with what it reads, so she reaches out and knocks it over. She settles in again, ready to let sleep take her down when she squeezes her legs together and she’s reminded why she was woken up in the first place.

With a frustrated sigh Vi trails a hand down her abdomen until she reaches trimmed coarse hairs, her middle and ring finger slipping through the folds. Another sigh escapes her as she collects the slick there and she presses down on her clit, soft. She can get off like this, doesn’t need to get fingers deep to come, so she presses down again, chasing that want, that need that Caitlyn left behind.

Vi lifts a knee to spread herself, her hips rolling into her fingers. She exhales forcefully out of her nose as that feeling starts to build, slick sliding down her folds and running over her moving fingers. She feels it in her toes, in her spine before she feels it everywhere, that light buzzing that tells her she’s about to come. Vi bites her lip, not wanting to make noise, the walls of this damn mobile home thinner than paper.

Her lips part as she ruts into her fingers, rubbing over her pulsating clit until it happens, until her core squeezes around nothing and she comes with Caitlyn’s face at the forefront of her mind. Her moan gets caught in her throat, until all she can do is breath out like she’d been punched in the gut, her face buried in her pillow.

With a final exhale she falls into her bed, spent. “Fuck. Fuck,” she mutters, pulling her slick wet fingers out from her underwear, wiping them on the sheets. She rolls over, the sheets tangling around her waist as she catches her breath. She throws an arm over her eyes with a frustrated groan as something else dawns on her.

She’s got it bad for Kiramman.

#caitvi #vi x caitlyn #violyn #caitlyn kiramman #vi #caitvi fic #caitvi smut #explict #wlw smut #caitvi soccer au #my writing #my work #ao3 link

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lynetianya · 2 years ago

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Chocolate Kiss [ Karina X Reader ]

In the midst of a chilly day, Y/N finds herself shivering in inadequate clothing. Her caring girlfriend, Karina, notices your discomfort and offers a warm embrace

GENRE : Fluff

TYPE : One Shot, All Gender

The day had started with bright sunshine, but as the afternoon wore on, the weather took an unexpected turn. Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and the wind began to howl, carrying with it a chilly bite. You found yourself regretting your choice of attire for the day. Shorts and a light sweater had seemed like a great idea when you left your apartment in the morning, but now, you were feeling cold as the harsh gusts of wind slashed against your skin.

Karina, your girlfriend, noticed your discomfort as you wrapped your arms tightly around your waist in a futile attempt to keep warm. Her keen eyes caught every detail, and she couldn't help but worry about you. With a soft smile, she decided to intervene. She walked over to you, her steps graceful even in the face of the biting cold, and gently placed her arms around your waist, pulling you closer into her comforting warmth.

"Why are you wearing such light clothes in this weather?" she whispered against your ear, her warm breath sending shivers down your spine as it caressed your skin.

You turned to face her, her arms still securely wrapped around you. "I didn't know that today would be this cold," you admitted, pouting adorably, your eyes meeting hers.

Karina's heart melted at the sight of your cute pout. She pulled you even closer, hugging you tightly as she laid her head on top of your shoulder. "But now you're cold, Y/N, and I don't like that," she said softly, her words tinged with genuine concern.

Her presence was a balm to your chilly soul, and you couldn't help but smile. "Thank you love. You're always so sweet."

With that, she leaned in, her lips meeting yours in a passionate kiss. The world seemed to fade away as you both lost yourselves in each other's warmth, forgetting about the cold winds that had brought you together. Your lips moved in perfect harmony, and the taste of her kiss was like a promise of comfort and love.

As your lips finally parted, you both found yourselves breathless and gazing into each other's eyes. In that moment, the world felt right, and the cold was nothing but a distant memory.

The weather might have been cold, but your love with Karina had always been warm and comforting. You had known each other for years, and your bond had only grown stronger over time. Karina was the kind of friend who was always there for you, whether it was to offer a listening ear during tough times or to share joyous moments together.

After your impromptu make-out session in the cold, you and Karina decided to seek shelter in a nearby café. The warmth inside was a stark contrast to the cold outside, and you both ordered hot beverages to thaw yourselves out.

The conversation flowed effortlessly as you talked about everything and nothing. You reminisced about the adventures you'd had together, the laughter you'd shared, and the challenges you'd faced side by side. It was moments like these that made your friendship with Karina so special.

As the evening turned into night, you realized that you didn't want the day to end. The café was closing, and you had to part ways, but the idea of being apart from Karina was suddenly unbearable. You couldn't help but blurt out, "Would you like to come over to my place? We can continue hanging out there."

Karina's eyes lit up with excitement. "I'd love to, Y/N. That sounds wonderful."

Back at your apartment, the two of you settled in comfortably. You made some hot chocolate, complete with marshmallows and whipped cream, and snuggled up on the couch under a cozy blanket. The atmosphere was filled with warmth and contentment.

Karina leaned her head on your shoulder as you both sipped your hot chocolate.

You couldn't help but notice the way Karina's gaze lingered on your lips. It was a subtle, yet unmistakable signal. The unspoken question hung in the air, and you knew that the connection between you two was stronger than ever.

Without a word, you set your mug of hot chocolate aside and turned to face Karina. Your lips met once more, but this time it was different. It was a slow, tender kiss filled with all the emotions you had shared over the years – friendship, love, and the promise of something more.

The kiss deepened, and your hands found their way to Karina's hair, fingers gently threading through the soft locks. Karina's arms wrapped around you, pulling you closer until there was no space left between you. The world outside your cozy apartment ceased to exist as you lost yourselves in each other.

you both pulled back slightly, your faces flushed with a mixture of desire and warmth. Your eyes met, and you couldn't help but smile.

"That kiss," Karina whispered, her voice filled with affection, "it's as sweet and warm as the hot chocolate we just had."

You chuckled softly, your heart fluttering at her words. "I was just about to say the same thing. It's like kissing a cup of rich, creamy chocolate."

Karina's eyes sparkled with happiness as she leaned in for another sweet kiss, sealing the unspoken promise of their love with the taste of hot chocolate lingering on their lips.

And so, your love story continued, a testament to the power of warmth and love in the face of life's cold challenges.

END

My Masterlist

#karina x reader #karina fanfic #aespa oneshot #aespa imagines #aespa fanfic #aespa karina #karina aespa #karina #kpop imagines #kpop oneshots #oneshot #karina imagines #kpop fanfic #kpop fluff #aespa fluff

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odetofirstkisses · 11 days ago

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Closing Walls & Ticking Clocks

The Pitt x Inception AU

Dropping next weekend! Aug 1 & 2.

Part 1: The Destroying of Frank Langdon

Part 2 The Defining of Samira Mohan

Melissa King is defined by the idea that our reality is constructed by our will. Here is her recurring dream.

I’m sitting on my parents’ bed, listening to my dad tell me a bedtime story. The story changes every time. I’m sure the stories mean something. His words feel important when he’s speaking, there is a weight to them that tells me he is trying to send me a message or a warning or a sign. But when I wake up, I can never remember what was said. I can only remember that he wanted me to know something. Umm… anyways. I’m sitting on my parents’ bed, and my dad is telling me a story. My mom is in her favorite chair in the corner, braiding Becca’s hair. It’s strange because Becca hates having her hair brushed, and she especially could not stand the way our mom pulled too tightly when braiding but in the dream, Becca is calm. She is docile, almost like she is sedated by our mom’s touch, like our mom’s hands are the medicine she has been missing this whole time.

Becca has a serene look on her face, and when I make eye contact with her she looks too awake like I’ve caught her doing something she should not be doing. She winks and grins, and it makes me think that maybe this is not my dream, that it is both of us dreaming together, meeting in our shared mind to visit with our parents and be kids.

I look back at my dad, and he hasn’t stopped talking. His hands are flying around as he continues his story, and he’s doing character voices. I can never remember his stories, but I know he is doing voices because he always did voices. He always wanted to make me laugh. He makes one hand take flight, making it weave around the air like an airplane. Then his hand nosedives onto the comforter, the plane is crashing and he’s making the sound effects and the strangest thing occurs- smoke rises from his bed, a cloud of black smoke as though a tiny plane really has crashed onto his bed. A ripple of debris makes its way across the bed from him to me, and I watch as the pink, floral bedspread shifts from blush to ash like it’s dying before me. I run my hands over the bedspread, trying to wipe away the darkness that is spreading but I can’t and before I know it my hands are turning gray. I rub harder and harder, trying to scrub away the infection, but I rub too hard and suddenly the bedspread is not a blanket but a bed of dirt and the bed beneath me is the ground and I am staring at my parents’ graves.

I am in the cemetery where we buried our parents. I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here, but it feels like I have been here for too long. I look around and notice the other gravestones have cracks in them and are starting to disintegrate. I notice the weeds have gotten unruly, and it crosses my mind that the dead have been abandoned and I am the only one who still visits with them. I suddenly remember the darkness, so I look down at my hands to see if it’s still spreading up my body but my hands are clean. My hands are clean, but they are not the color they should be. They are faded and wrinkled and make me think of my grandma. That’s when Becca shows up. She just appears sitting next to me, me in front of our dad’s grave, her in front of our mom’s. She giggles, “Mel, you’re an old lady now.” And I can’t understand how it is that I am old and she is still young. I want to correct her, but I can’t deny what I see when I look at my hands. So I touch my face to see if I’m old everywhere. I feel my jowls hanging, chains of wrinkles sagging down my forehead, bags stacking up under my eyes and I know that Becca is right. I am an old lady now.

“How did this happen?” I ask her, but she won’t answer me. She keeps giggling, waiting for me to figure out the secret she’s keeping. I turn back to my dad’s grave because I think that his stories have the answer I need to understand what has happened. But when I look at his grave, it morphs into a mirror. And trapped in the mirror is me. I am twelve years old, banging on the glass and shouting something. I can’t hear what I’m shouting. My ears are too old, everything is too muffled. All I hear is the faint noise of Becca giggling. I look at Becca and she shakes her head. She won’t tell me anything. The twelve year old in the mirror breathes on the glass, lifts her finger to write a message. Just as she writes the first letter- and it changes every time- I wake up.

#the pitt #melissa king #mel king #the Pitt au #inception #dreams #my wip fic #my wips #becca king #the pitt inception au

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ohmful · 2 years ago

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been having the craziest sugawara brain rot. wrote a new year scenario too…

didn’t really proofread this!! mainly wrote it for my enjoyment some parts might be a bit goofy but have fun reading

————————- (pure fluff :)

non gender specific

New years with Suga

to think you’ve spent an entire year again

it was definitely worth the investment

the night sky ever so clearly in your vision, not a single cloud in sight. you can feel the chilly breeze, breath of the air, hugging your body, emitting chills up your arms. gosh how you’d wish you brought a jacket with you. with all your might, you continued walking down the street hoping to find a great spot to watch the fireworks. trailing the scent of fresh yet smokey aurora that these colourful explosion leave behind, you found yourself at a half empty bench, the other occupied by a fairly tall, yet familiar figure. though you weren’t made to socialise, at least not at this time, the seat looked like it was missing its other half so you politely asked the person sitting alone.

regardless of how dark it was or how you were unable to see the face of that person, you soon realise by the soft spoken nature, teasing tone voice that it was suga.

“of course you may! you don’t have to ask when it’s with me” he replied, beaming the warmest smile ever.

as you two caught up, and reflected on the years you’ve spent together as friends and more.

“it’s pretty cold right now, isn’t it?”

“yeah…” you mumbled, hoping that he wouldn’t take notice of your sniffling nose and bare arms.

but koushi sugawara is a man that does not get fool easily. you underestimated him because god what he did next gave you a sanctuary of butterflies, roaming free in your stomach.

before you realised it, he inches closer toward you and threw his jacket onto your shoulders. the warmth from his jacket gave you a sense of physical relief, but thay didn’t matter in that moment, because him being there made you feel so at ease. the cold didn’t seem so bad, you let all else, even your thoughts dropped and enjoyed the present with suga . he has always been the type of person you’d like to talk to, someone to listen to you and someone of comfort.

as all your energy dispensed rapidly, you felt heaviness in your eyelids as they begin to droop, suga took notice of this and let you rest on his shoulder. you can smell the life all around you, the sound of sugas heartbeat, palpating so strongly. it felt very safe and you let a few of your thoughts slip out….

“you know suga, i liked you for a really long time, you’re a great friend to me and I’m glad we were able to have this friendship, whether you may like me or not doesn’t matter, thank you for being here”

you let it all out, all of those years, an abundant of stress, heavy weight lifted off your shoulders.

suddenly you felt a strange, speeding pace of heartbeats. then followed by nervous sweating and then finally sugas stuttering voice.

you looked up to realise that, oh my god- he’s RED. and it’s bad, he tried covering his face with his hands but his ear sticks out like fresh cherries ready to be picked. even you felt the nervousness suga was experiencing and then you finally realised what you just said, you basically confessed?

now you both have two, quite bright tomatoes unsure of what to do next as you got up to create some distance for yourselves.

“oh god oh god, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to say it now- Youndont have to response it’s okay, okay? I’ll give you some time, get back to me when you can-“

your legs coiled right up, your cheeks dusted with pink as you tried to get back home.

“WAIT -“

His hand interlocked into yours as he tried to get you to stay. Instead of forcing you to sit down, he got up for you.

Sugawara’s mouth ajar as you wait for the words to come spilling out of his mouth. But nothing came out.

His gaze, his eyes focused on you. A silent acceptance, or perhaps rejection, you thought.

As fireworks erupt in the background, the light painted your face within the darkness as a sparkle in his eye formed.

He pulled you in closer before whispering if he could have permission to do whatever he was going to do next, unsure of what it was but trusting your guts, you allowed him to.

his hands, cupped your cold face as he stared lovingly at you. he moved closer and exchanged his lips with yours. it was cozy, snug, or whatever adjective that can describe how beautiful it was, how comforting it felt.

he made sure to pull you in gently, making sure you can stand and let you enjoy this exact moment as much as he is, you placed your hands on his chest and the feeling of his heart, beating intensely was surely a new felt. your two body hugged, as you opened your eyes to immerse yourself in his perfectly sculpted face, relaxed eyebrows, slightly longer lashes, the beauty mark on his left eye.

remembering the tale that where your moles or beauty marks are placed, was where your past lover kissed you, you wanted to do one more thing before leaving his soft lips.

you pulled away, grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his beauty mark, hoping that your love will continue to exist, hoping that his new life he will still have that amazing face, that one exact beauty mark.

even in the far distance, your ears can pick up on the fireworks, igniting ever so strongly in manu places. and the bench, the bench with two people, were lucky enough to be able to witness their own fireworks, their hearts igniting too.

here’s a drawing as well, have a happy new year!

#sugawara koushi #sugawara x reader #haikyuu sugawara #hq sugawara #haikyuu #haikyu x reader #sugawara kōshi #sugawara x you #sugawara x y/n #sugawara fluff #he’s so baby i love him #fanfic #oneshot #anime #fanart #new years

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the-ace-with-spades · 2 years ago

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(I don't have the energy to make some cover tiles for this chapter but here it is for the people who read it on tumblr)

5 times Jake crossed paths with Fire Lieutenant Bradshaw and 1 time he met Maverick's son

Part Four | read on ao3

The Officer's Son | 1.6k

Jake is walking down the corridor, steps fast — he’s already late to the pre-flight briefing and Maverick seems laid back but he’s sure even he had limits.

He is marching through the whole building, passing an intersecting corridor and does a double take when he glances to the right. He is sure he’s imagined him, but he still stops mid-step and turns back around, takes a deep breath and he swears he hears Javy’s voice as he struts to his goal, suddenly disinterested in impressing Maverick. Act normal.

Because Bradshaw is standing in the middle of a corridor of NAS North Island.

If this ain’t fate, he doesn’t know what is.

“Didn’t know we had a fire inspection today,” he speaks out and instantly wants to hit his head on the nearby wall.

“Lieutenant,” he says only and then quirks an eyebrow at him, looking at the patch over his heart. “Or should I say Hangman?”

Bradshaw puts his hand on his hip, cocking it to the side, and Jake bits down on his tongue.

He is wearing the uniform, that’s how Jake’s attention got caught in the first place, the dark blue pants and button up long-sleeved shirt. His broad shoulders are perfectly shaped in the tight fabric, straining to be confined, and the front where the buttons are is so form-fitting Jake could trace his abs with his fingertips.

His ass, finally clearly visible, is nice and round, and he bet he’d fit in Jake’s palm perfectly. The turnouts were sexy but god, he definitely prefers Bradshaw like this — coated in the uniform, buttons fighting on his chest, the SDFD patch on his huge bicep, and B. BRADSHAW in a bright white thread stretched out on his chest.

“Just Jake, for you,” he remarks, sending him a wink.

“Thought it was Jacob,” he says, eyes sparkling innocently, and mentally, Jake swears — he probably knows his middle name, too, just because he saw his driving licence. He needs to make him forget, somehow. “No inspections planned. That’s not my department, anyway.”

“Don’t know about that, you can inspect me any day,” he says and it’s cheesy and not his best shot but Bradshaw is smiling, the apples of his cheeks rounding up as he bites down on his lip.

Sounding amused, he asks, “Has that ever worked for you?”

“I don’t meet that many firefighters — you tell me,” he says as he takes a step closer. He needs to lift his chin to look him in the eyes but it’s so worth it.

The sun from outside, where the planes are standing in neat rows, shines through the window wall, and turns Bradhshaw’s eyes into dark amber, sprinkles of gold shining. He looks at Bradley and he locks their gazes, eyebrows raised lazily as he gives Jake a once over — his eyes go up and down his body and Jake straightens his back, cursing how unflattering the flight suit is.

Bradshaw's gaze is unreadable and Jake feels hot in the face as he clears his throat, every move so smooth, like he's doing all with the purpose of getting Jake more flustered.

It's working, if anything, because Jake's mind is somewhere in the clouds with his jet wash.

“Not much luck then,” Bradshaw tells him, finally, turning to face the elevator, giving his a good view of his side profile, the way his jaw twitches and the curve of his nose not letting Jake look away.

The light is stuck on level three, has been for a while now.

“It probably broke again,” he remarks, just because he doesn’t know how to keep the conversation going.

“Yeah,” Bradshaw sighs, but the soft quirk of his lips is still there. “I know this model.”

Vaguely, Jake remembers him and his crew being called to elevator rescue right after Jake asked him for his number — which, even the memory makes him cringe.

“Thought taking the stairs would be more of your thing,” he remarks.

It's a bit cliche but Bradshaw is a firefighter after all and he's goddamn fit. Jake would gladly follow him on the way up the stairs and enjoy every step and curves that would flash in front of him as those tight navy blue pants would stretch in all the right places.

“I only have clearance to go to level four, I can’t open the stairwell."

Jake bites down on the inside of his cheek, curious who Bradshaw is going to — they don’t often have civilians on base, even rarer ones that are allowed into venturing to level four, where most of the admiralty residents. “You have an officer waiting for you?”

“My dad forgot his lunch,” he says, raising up his right arm — Jake hasn’t noticed, but he’s got a thermal bag in his hand, neatly folded between his long fingers. “I’m bringing it in.”

“A bit out of your way,” he notes — Bradshaw’s station is in the north west of San Diego. “I could escort you up.”

“I think I’ll wait.”

At this point, Jake is sure he’s just playing hard to get. Well, two can play the game — Jake’s never had anything easy in his life so be it.

“Or I could escort you outside,” he offers, voice turning low, thumb pointing behind himself, vaguely towards the rows of jets in the window behind his back. “My jet is right there, ready to be taken for a joyride.”

He doesn't know how he'd actually manage that — he's pretty sure Maverick is laid back enough to not dishonourably discharge him on the spot but he isn't sure he's big enough of Jake's fan to fight his case with Cyclone.

Well, to hell with it.

Bradshaw puts his arm back on his hip and he must be doing it on purpose — his arm looks so huge and his chest is puffed up, like he tries to hover over Jake with all the two inches he has on him. His bicep is so big Jake just wants to drape himself all over it and then maybe get it wrapped all over himself next.

Jake takes a step closer, meeting him headfirst, the dryness of his mouth suddenly so prominent as he can't clear his throat without making a ragged sound.

“Did Nat not tell you?” Bradshaw asks.

His cheeks warm up, feeling as stupid as the moment when Tasha told him Bradshaw’s a commercial pilot in his free time. He tries to not show it — it was a dumb thing but how could he have known? — and instead pretends he doesn’t get what Bradshaw’s getting at. “Tell me what?”

“That I can fly on my own, Lieutenant,” he says, the lazy, smooth voice is back, smudging the vowels on his tongue.

“Not in a fighter jet,” he counters. “I bet you’ve never seen one up close, not to mention sit in one in action.”

The elevator opens.

Bradshaw turns to him, just a little, and shuffles closer on his feet, just a bit, enough that he can feel the warmth of his breath, before he swivels again, gracefully stepping into the elevator compartment as he says, that slow, unbothered voice penetrating Jake's lungs, “You’d be surprised."

Jake makes himself breathe again, blinking the tension out of his body. Tries to play cool, tries to cock his hips out and give him a look from behind his eyelashes, but it all feels so clumsy.

“Hey, the offer is still on. Maybe I’ll even let you pull the stick.”

Bradshaw raises an eyebrow, slowly and pointedly as he licks his lips, and swaps his visitor pass on the key panel. “Which kind?”

Bradley closes the elevator before Jake can step in.

He could catch up with him, take the stairs and meet him on level four, probably, but that is starting to sound stalkerish and obtrusive, even for Jake's asshole methods. Not to mention that he could easily run into Maverick up there or worse — into whichever senior officer that's Bradshaw's father. He doesn't remember seeing Admiral Bradshaw anywhere in the commanding list but he isn't stretching his luck when there's not much of it in the first place.

He goes to the ready room, sits down next to Javy and tries to pretend everything is alright.

Thankfully, Maverick isn’t there yet.

Javy raises his eyebrow, awaiting some explanation.

“So,” Jake says when Javy doesn’t stop staring at him like that. “Bradshaw—”

“Your firefighter?”

“He’s not—” Javy raises his eyebrow higher. “I saw him, like, ten minutes ago.”

“On base?”

“Yeah,” he confirms, only now encoding what has happened. What he’s learned about Bradshaw. “His dad is an officer, apparently.”

“What? How do you know?”

“He was bringing lunch to someone on level four,” he explains.

Javy’s eyes widen and he whistles under his breath, looking like Jake’s situation is making his day. Amused, he remarks what Jake is mentally panicking about, “So at least senior, maybe flag officer.”

“Yeah.”

“Oof,” is all Javy adds. “Good luck.”

"It's not like I'm going to meet him again, right?" he says, but he doesn't sound so sure even to his own ears.

Javy doesn't answer anything because Maverick finally walks in and they both stand up at attention.

Maybe it's fate, after all, that he sees Bradshaw everywhere, even here, but even fate runs out of ideas at some point.

#hangster #tgm

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grandesteartherquakedreamer · 2 months ago

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Project: Fate Bounded (Aurora) A Cute High Earth Defense Club Love Fanfiction

Episode 1: Arise Aroura! (1/3)

At long last, I can get to post what I've been work on for weeks! I worked really, really hard on this! This is one part 1 of 3 parts, and boy this will be a long one. BEFORE Reading this Fanfic, carefully read the following below first:

(DISCLAIMER: The following fanfiction is created based on the Polybox.AI Chat Box, Magical Boys RPG. This retelling of events of this fanfic is made 100% by a real human. Any fictional characters or other series mentioned (Those already created or Original Characters) belong to their respectful owners.)

"The Banners also belong to their respectful owners."

Without a further, please enjoy part 1!

———————————

The scene opens up on the rooftops. The night sky is covered by dark clouds as my body is completely immobilized by dark tendrils. A group of boys who were near the entrance saw me suspended helplessly, but they found themselves blocked by a wall of a “dark force field” of sorts. I come face to face with the Mage as they taunt me.

“Well Well, …it seems that we’ve caught up after all.~ I knew you would be the perfect vessel for my dark magic.”

I moved to the town of Binan from “the West” when I was in middle school and adjusted to my new life well enough while I was there. By some chance encounter, I was selected to be the only girl in an all-boys high school. After giving my consent to this opportunity, it became so. Boy, was I the talk of the school since the first day I arrived.

After readjusting to my new school and surroundings, the time came to join some clubs. One teacher in particular asked me to join one specific club. They insisted that I join because they saw a “loving potential with a happy soul.” A weird way of phrasing, but ultimately, I agreed with the proposal.

It came to be one Friday afternoon as the other students were bustling to and fro as most of them left to return home, while others gathered at their clubrooms. Meanwhile, I was to join the… what the heck was it called? The “Earth Defense” Club?

I reached for the door handle to the room, but hesitated. After taking a deep breath, I slowly, quietly opened the door. Peeking my head into the room is where I saw a group of six boys who were having their usual after-school meetings. The atmosphere is lively as they discuss many different matters. The majority of them talked about…magical encounters? What? These boys were chatting amongst themselves about these kinds of topics.

With this one blonde kid, Yumoto Hakone, waving a red wand enthusiastically. The scent of flowers lingers in the air from one of the desks. I was unaware of what on earth they could be going on about. Like seriously, why did the teacher insist that I join them?!

The boy’s chatter suddenly came to a halt when they noticed my presence. Yumoto, with his characteristic sparkle, is the first to rush over and greet me with an eager smile.

“Welcome Jennsuki!” He says. “Welcome to our club, so you must be the new exchange student we've heard so much about!”

I was shocked that he knew my name. Being encircled by this group of handsome and energetic boys, the clubroom seems to be more warmed up already as they all try to make me feel welcome.

“H-Hello?” I said, waving nervously.

“Aww, don't be shy!” Said Yumoto. “Come join us!” Then he pats on an empty chair. “We were just about to plan our next mission!”

While the other members exchange friendly glances, Atsushi with the glasses approaches me next with a welcoming smile. Though my nervousness is eminent.

“We're the Earth Defense Club. Well, it's our ‘magical’ division," he says. “It is quite… unique.”

“Magical?” I asked.

Another one of the boys, Io, leans down with a smirk. “That's right!” He says. “Though most people wouldn't believe it. We have to keep the school safe from evil forces and protect Earth's beauty.”

The pink-haired boy with the headband, Ryu, gestures dramatically while En, Kyoutaro and the others agree to show off their bracelets. Five out of the six bracelets’ designs match with different colors.

“Five of them have their True Love Bracelets…” said Kyoutaro. “While I have my HappyBrace with my team. They will help with our mission.”

“You're safe with all of us, Jennsuki.” Said En. “Oh…okay,” I responded.

“Don't worry, we can explain everything!” Said Yumoto excitedly. While Atsushi takes charge of the situation and tries to contain him, he explains calmly… “We too are still adjusting ourselves to you as our new member. But I promise that we'll make you feel more comfortable.”

Then I started to giggle like I couldn't believe what's going on.

“What is this club?” I asked. “Is this some ‘real’ magical girls’ anime? How childish, grow up for goodness’ sake~”

The boys gave each other a surprise glance at my response until Yumoto stepped up to defend them.

“Hey! It's not ‘childish’ he said. “We really are magical boys, and we can prove it to you! Check out Ryu’s transformation!” Yumoto turns to the pink-haired boy.

Ryu was surprised at first, so he then turned to a pink wombat and a bright yellow otter who were both sitting at a table to ask for permission. Yeah… I don't remember seeing those animals in “those” colors.

The two creatures glanced at me, and then back at Ryu whose approval was granted with a silent nod. Even En, Atsushi and Io looked out the school hallways to see no other students walking by. The three of them also gave him the okay. I honestly didn't believe them, but I was in for a colossal surprise!

Ryu demonstrates as he loudly announces. “LOVE MAKING! Chu~”

Kissing on his True Love Bracelet as he starts to TRANSFORM RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME?!

Why are some of these boys chuckling at me?! I was… I was aghast. Astonished. I almost stumbled over if not for the newly transformed Ryu catching me.

“...what?” I said weakly. I examined his white and pink costume as it sparkled and shone from the afternoon light. The other boys were pleased with my reaction as I was struggling to process what just happened.

“Are you seeing this? My costume is VERY real. Do you believe us now, Jennsuki?” Ryu asked. I'm sorry, but according to his roll call, he goes by “Vesta” now. Meanwhile, Yumoto was bouncing with excitement, while the other boys remained steadfast. After a minute of digesting what I witnessed, I finally had the words I was searching for.

“This…this is…”

“It's thrilling! Ohh, I am so thrilled!”

“This is everything I dreamed it would be as a child!”

The others softened as they heard my words, especially Ryu.

“Was that your childhood dream? That's beautiful,” said Atsushi. “We all take our duty seriously here, but we can make room to have our fun moments.”

Io walks up to join Ryu as he is still holding me steady. The gentle atmosphere returns to the clubroom as the sun starts to set outside. As I stood up again, I joyfully exclaimed…

“For real?! Watching Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure is my EVERYTHING! Oh, this is spectacular! It’s amazing you guys!”

The boys exchanged relieved smiles. They must be as glad as I get to be a part of their world. Yumoto twirls as he speaks to me again.

“Well then, now we have a fellow magical girl anime fan, how about we all be friends from today onwards?” He asked. Ryu chuckled in his enthusiasm, and Kyoutaro offered me a seat.

“Me? With you guys?!” I asked, stunned and flushing.

Atsushi smiled. “But of course! It would be such an honor for you to join us, Jennsuki. We can discuss all the magical strategies and share our favorite anime episodes.” He says.

“Though I have to warn you about Yumoto, he could get a bit too excited when you bring up ‘prince charming’ topics,” said Io. The boys nod in agreement, while Yumoto brings out some snacks from his desk.

“That sounds…good?” I answered. It was enough for these boys to beam with happiness.

“Right! First order of business," said Ryu. “We need to get your own transformation device!”

Yumoto proceeds to explain about magical girls’ transformation, Kyoutarou starts sketching magical girl designs in his notebook, and Atsushi flips through his planning notebook with various ideas.

“Before we get started, please sign here,” said Io, as he handed me a club contract with a knowing smile.

“Oh. Okay”… I picked up the pen and was about to sign my name. My hands start to tremble above the paper. Noticing my nervous hesitation, Kyoutaro takes the pen away.

“Perhaps we should let her get used to the idea first, we need her to inspire confidence.”

All the boys agreed as it wasn’t a great idea to be rushing with contracts. Until I heard new voices from across the room.

“Jennsuki! We have your special bracelet ready and waiting for you,” ~

I looked around frantically, trying desperately to find the source of the voice. With the help of one of the boys, my eyes are now on the wombat and the otter. No… They didn’t…

“I know it’s stereotypical at this point, but ‘of course’ we can talk!" said the yellow otter.

“Wait, no no no. Before you have time to have your jaw drop…” He paused as he leapt off the table and turned into a whole human being?!

“Tada!” he exclaims. “Apologise for our late introduction. I am the Prince of Honyala Land, Kalulus! But you can also call me Karls.” He added with a wink.

“He and I will be your guides, my dear.” said the pink wombat. His voice and Karls' voice have never sounded so differently. The prince walks up to me with my very own bracelet, grabs my hand and places it over my palm.

“I know this could be intense, but it is a very normal reaction princess ~”

“Eventually, you shall one day become the latest Battle Lover!” said the Wombat.

“You ‘could’ be a Battle Lover, or you can become the newest magic Knight of Happiness!” Karls added. “Either way, all of us will be here to support you, Jennsuki!”

I looked around the room before my eyes fell on my bracelet. The main jewel is the shape of a heart. The main color is a deep purple with white wings and gold highlights, while the actual wristband is silver. It was a combination of the five True Love Bracelets and the single HappyBrace.

“Remember Jennsuki,” said the Wombat. “This is not just your transformation device, it is the personification of your love. When your time comes, you too will ‘Love Making!’ to truly become a Battle Lover.” My face contorted with disgust until I quickly remembered those were the exact words that Ryu said earlier.

“It's more than that, to become a knight or a warrior is to awaken your magical potential that lays dormant within you.” Said Karls. “This bracelet we created was made with your magic in mind.”

My guess is this will only get myself emotionally warmed up on what's ahead of me, and my origin story is only the beginning.

We agreed to meet up at a “training area” behind the school so the boys could demonstrate their magical powers. I was worried that we'd be caught, but they assured me that no one else could find this place. One of the first techniques they want to train me is basic magical defenses. Atsushi, Kyoutaro, and the others observed from the side, while Yumoto brought his tips to the forefront. Ryu's the one who supervises me.

“Jennsuki, try to focus on your natural energy and manifest the shield. This should make you feel more comfortable with your abilities.” He said.

I turned to him worryingly. “Are you sure about this? I never used real magic before, and I never used magic up until this point!”

“I understand your concerns,” said Ryu. “I truly believe that with this kind of training, we can help by… awakening your magic bit by bit. We'll be here if something goes wrong.”

I nodded and soon turned my head to the evening sky. Slowly I raised both my arms above my head. Focusing on whatever I have. Then it happens, my bracelet lights up for the first time. Everyone was already intrigued. Little sparks of purple light are flickering out of my fingertips like a lighter trying to ignite.

“You're doing it!” Said Ryu. “Just focus on yourself, and try to breathe steadily alright?”

My purple sparks gradually get brighter until finally, I summon a deep purple shield. The boys and the critters gasp in awe. Ryu's eyes widened with surprise.

“You've done it, Jennsuki!” Ryu sang in praise. Yumoto bounced as he went to have a closer look. “Wow! Your shield looks the coolest!” He exclaims excitedly.

My purple shield vanishes as I lower my arms to acknowledge him. “Oh yeah? Thanks. Not even I could think I'd do this so easily.” I said. “I'm getting used to this is all.”

“Well let us not push ourselves on you.” Said Atsushi, his analytical nature caught up. “Perhaps we can work on breathing techniques to improve your stability?”

Meanwhile, Kyoutaro walks with a tea set while Io and the others set up magical targets. “Okay…” I answered. “Just remember, the more practice means the higher chance you'd grow stronger,” Ryu added, taking the teacup from the tray. “If we're lucky, you might unlock new abilities you have not had previously.”

I took a teacup from Kyoutaro's tea tray. The gentle breeze carried by the tea was so soothing. Taking a small sip or two, and all my unease melted away. I exhaled with a smile, as both the tea and my first use of my magic created a whimsical moment of growth.

“How about we meet up this weekend?” Yumoto asked. “We can meet up here every afternoon! I'll bring more snacks, as training can be more fun with friends.” He added.

Io and the others walk up to us with their items packed up.

“Speaking of which,” Io says. “We should head back soon. It's getting late…”

“Alright,” I answered. So, the boys and I began to head out together, with Kyoutaro and Ryu walking close to me as if I were magically exhausted. I wouldn't call it that myself, but it was the thought that counts.

“Between you and us,” said Kyoutaro, whispering. “We should keep your new powers under wraps for the time being. We don't want any unwanted attention. Does that make sense?”

“Your secret is safe with us, Jennsuki!” Yumoto added with a reassuring smile. “No one will mess with a new member of our magical family.”

I turned my head away. Shy and embarrassed, I couldn't contain myself from chuckling with my hand over my mouth. The boys also exchange chuckles at my reaction.

After all of what's happened today, I'm still trying to wrap my head around how new and unfamiliar this has been. As we reached the school gates, Atsushi spoke up.

“No need to be embarrassed.” He said. “We promise to help you with everything.”

Ryu ruffles my hair gently as Io whispers in a tease. “Can't wait until Yumoto plans our first proper magical activities with you. That'll be interesting...” Kyoutaro turns to Io, raising an eyebrow.

“Join you guys for the weekend? Nah, I'm meeting up with my friends at the bathhouse…” He says. Then he looks at me with a little smirk. “Hope to see you again soon, Jensuki.” He added. He bid farewell to me and the other boys as he parted ways from the group. As we crossed through the school gates, I suddenly bumped into Ryu's back who froze. The other boys halt abruptly as well.

“Huh?” I said.

“Guys, look!” Said Yumoto, “Someone new is at the gate!” A tall figure with deep purple hair stood there, looking out of place with their uniform. I can feel their gaze directly at me. Ryu and the others form a protective circle around me. Until this newcomer finally broke the silence.

“You there - Jennsuki, yes?” They asked. “I was hoping to find you.”

“What? What’s happening? Who are you?!” I asked. The figure steps forward and hands out a black business card to the boys, ignoring the protective stance.

He calls himself Agent Kurenai, a representative of an organization that specializes in “helping” magical girls with newly developed powers and controlling them. Io scans the card, his and the others’ skepticism is justified here.

“How did you know about her abilities, and why would WE trust you?” Io demanded.

Kurenai’s dark eyes fixated back at me.

“The magical powers within you are quite rare, and powerful. My organization can help you understand them better, without endangering your… friends.” He said. Ryu glances back at me, silently asking if I wanted to speak up. So, I did just that.

“But I wouldn’t dare hurt anyone, not even my friends!” I pleaded. Until my tone shifts into something that made me equally suspicious as the boys.

“Hold up… all I did earlier was pull out a magic shield. A SHIELD! That’s literally all I’ve done!”

“That was only barely scratching the surface.” Said Kurenai. “Your determination is commendable, but even a single magical surge can lead to serious consequences.”

Atsushi, Yumoto and the others whispered among themselves. Until finally, I stepped forward with one arm wrapped around Ryu’s waist as I stood my ground.

“Listen up Mr. Kurenai!” I announced, “I’m not going ANYWHERE but sticking with my friends. No organization or otherwise will keep us apart!” Ryu gently pats my head, impressed while keeping his serious expression to Kurenai. He sighed, defeated.

“Hm… Interesting. Most magical girls would jump into this opportunity for proper training. But your bond with these gentlemen is stronger that I thought.” He paused thoughtfully. Then he hands out an envelope before he turns to leave.

“Think about the offer, Jennsuki. We’ll be monitoring your growth carefully.” Said Kurenai, as he walks away and disappears in the shadows. The six of us gave a sigh of relief.

“Are you okay?!” Ryu asked me with concern in his tone, while Yumoto started bouncing with excitement again.

“Jennsuki! You were amazing standing your ground!” He says, “Now we can definitely have a group training session!” I chuckled nervously as I scratched the back of my head.

“I just.. I just did what felt right,” I answered. “Thank you for protecting me you guys.” The boys surround me warmly, their energy removing any remaining tension.

“That’s exactly what a good magical girl does. Trusting your instinct.” Said Atsushi.

“Yeah, and our first priority is to keep you safe.” Io added with a small smile.

So, it came to be that we split up from the school gate so we can meet up again soon. I kept looking towards the spot where Kurenai appeared.

“Don’t worry about him, they can’t do anything without proof.” Said Yumoto reassuringly. I sighed reluctantly, but felt comfortable as he, Ryu and I headed home. Both of them were kind enough to walk me home, until we can meet again soon.

"To be continued."

#cute high earth defense club love #fanfic #fanfiction #part 1 #Project: Fatebounded #magical boys #magical girl oc #precure #pretty cure #magical boy #cute high earth defense club love happy kiss #cute high earth defense club

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