#'so i wrote her a letter that just said GET OUT OF MY MANSION'

[romans-art]

"Für mich gibt es auf dieser Welt nur eine Mrs. de Winter."

[slayfics]

oh my GOD im absolutely enjoying ur muichiro oneshots and chapters. You really are a talented writer making my heart flutter everytime 🥺❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 and i thought it would be really adorable if u wrote a oneshot similar to the raining scenario where muichiro gets sick because he lets u train under the shade while he stands outside to watch out for any demons. how would the reader react to a sleepy and sick muichiro 😦😦

You look after a sick Muichiro.

You read the letter from Shinobu over three times just to make sure you got the instructions right before walking back to Muichiro’s room. Muichiro was laying down in his bed with his eyes closed. You were afraid to wake him but sensing your presence he opened his eyes slightly and looked over at you. 

“Miss Kocho has written back. She said that if your fever doesn’t break by tomorrow morning we should go to the Butterfly Mansion to have you looked after. She also gave me a few instructions to help until then.” 

“What was her advice?” He asked. 

“Oh right! I’ll be right back!” You said and hurried off. Shinobu had said to make sure Muichiro drank a lot of water and to place a damp washcloth on his forehead.

You quickly grabbed a washcloth and ran it under some water then rung it out to make sure it wasn’t too wet. Then you filled a glass of water and came back to his room. Muichiro had closed his eyes again. Seeing him this way was painful. If he hadn’t made it a big deal to stay out training you while the weather was bad he wouldn’t be this sick. Hearing you approaching he opened his eyes slightly again.  

“She said to put this on your forehead and to make sure you drank a lot of water.”  

“Very well.” Muichiro said grabbing the damp washcloth and placing it on his forehead but over his hair. You weren’t an expert at tending to any sicknesses, but you were pretty sure the washcloth was supposed to go directly on his forehead, not on top of his hair.  

“Umm... mind if I help you?” 

“Go ahead.” He said. You carefully picked up the washcloth then moved his hair off of his forehead then placed the washcloth back on. 

“Oh, that does feel better.” He said.  

“Make sure you drink all of this too when you can.” You said placing the water next to his bed. 

“Ok.” He said then closed his eyes again. You started to walk out of the room when you heard him rustle in bed. You turned around to see him staring at you. “Do you need something else?” You asked. 

“Where are you going?” 

“Back to my room, you need to rest.” 

“Yes, but you can stay.” He said. 

“Oh... Ok.” You said walking back into the room. Muichiro closed his eyes again and you weren't sure what to make of the situation. Did he just not want to be alone? You weren't sure what to do so you stood by the bed for a bit. 

“You don’t have to just stand there.” He said after a few moments passed. You looked around the room unsure of what he wanted you to do.

Muichiro’s room was painfully simple. Just a bed and a big window that looked over the always foggy mountain. Did he mean for you to sit on the bed then?

You awkwardly sat on the other end of the bed while Muichiro sat up and drank some water.  You watched him to see his reaction to you sitting on the bed, as you were still unsure if this is what he wanted you to do.

“It’s late you should rest too.” He said as he laid back down. 

“You... want me to rest here?” You asked him to clarify. Muichiro did not speak but nodded his head slightly and watched you carefully with big eyes. You had never seen him look so vulnerable before. Seeing him with the damp washcloth on his head and pale completion made you want to care for him as best as you could, and if that meant keeping him company while he didn’t feel well you didn’t mind. You slowly laid down next to him. Muichiro closed his eyes and seemed to be more at ease.  

“Goodnight” He finally said with his eyes still closed. 

“Goodnight Tokito.” You responded, as you watched his breathing slow and deepen as he fell asleep. 

Thank you so much for your support and kind words. I hope this is what you were looking for, or at the very least gives you a smile! I had fun writing it, thank you for the request~

[pynkgothicka]

Ａｌｗａｙｓ Ｆｏｒｅｖｅｒ ＭＹＧ

Pairing - Yandere! Dark! Min Yoongi x Frankenstein! AFAB! Reader

Featuring - Sarah Paulson (HELP THE KILLER IS ESCAPING HELP ME)

Tags and Warnings - death, sex, yandere tendencies, grotesque descriptions, gaslighting

Authors Note - this counts as my Halloween fic since I be lazy, but I promise to write more! First I'll finish the monster series then the reqs! Then I'll write what I wanna write yada yada probably do a non bts series or fic

A friendly reminder that all my works are dark fanfiction! Please if you do not like that do not read them! These depictions don't pertain to reality.This is your final warning before hitting the keep reading button!!

He needed something, anything.

Staring at he conglomerate of body parts he stole from previously dead people of the outskirts of the village he found himself by.

Yoongi shook his head as he looked at the body parts. He wanted to focus on the task at hand, even if it was considered testing death itself.

He was meticulous, finding different shades of her skin tone to fit his new creation. All to top it off was her head.

The head of his dead wife, you.

He looked at it, running his finger down it's cheek. It was cold, too cold. He missed seeing you alive, having any ounce of warmth from your body. It was such a loss when he had to take and cut off your rotten body parts. He wanted you to be perfect.

Yoongi planted a kiss on the top of your severed head, a stray tear going down his face. “I'll get you back my love, I need you back.”

🪡

You blinked, seeing as you were covered in a sheet. Taking a deep breath you breathed in the scent of fresh linen. A shadow came over you, peering at your covered body. Your head was uncovered as you looked into a man's face. Blonde hair and dark eyes that sparkled once seeing you.

His hand trembled as he ran his shaking thumb on the side of your face. “Y- You're alive… you… you're beautiful.” His lips came to the top of your head, as he kissed it. You tried to speak but all that came out was a small squeak.

But the man found this amusing. “It seems like you forgot everything… Seems as if I didn't have my science all down.” He adds smiling. He held your hand helping you to move off the lab table. You almost immediately fall, the man taking your arm and holding you up. “Don't fall now come on let's get you to the wheel chair.”

He placed you down gently, running his hand over your stitches. He pulled at a few and securing them. “Okay, it's all in place… I'm so happy you're back. Well not all the way back I just have to do some reteaching. Like me, I’m Yoongi. Min Yoongi your husband.”

Yoongi made faces to help you pronounce his name correctly. “Y-You. Yoon-gi.” You finally muttered out in which Yoongi smiled and kissed your head.

“See look how easy it is for my brilliant wife to learn. I'm going to reteach it all to you my love…That and so much more…”

🪡

Having to be retaught everything wasn't the most normal feeling. But Yoongi, was more than helpful in making you remember who you were and the basics of living.

Yet he pushed for your captivity within the walls of his mansion. You stay at his feet most of the time while he worked and wrote letters.

He even constantly reminded you of your beauty and how you were the most beautiful girl hes ever seen. It was sweet in your eyes yet you were surrounded by so many depictions of beauty that weren't what you looked like. Different shades and natural movement you've yet to nail down.

But still you wondered about what existed past the mansions walls. Especially the village in the distance. You wondered about the women there and if they looked and aced like you. Your mind was busy and it could be shown on your face.

Snap!

You blinked as Yoongi snapped his fingers in front of your face. “Sorry, I was thinking.” You said quietly looking back towards Yoongi as he read a book.

“Thinking? About what?”

“I don't… look like. The paintings. Or the films.” You were able to piece together to form a sentence. It was degrading yes but true.

“Well who told you that?” Yoongi inquires while raising a brow at you. Gulping at the sternness in his voice, you speak up against him.

“No one told me that. I… I don't look like them. I don't, look like any of the women you've shown me.” You say getting up from your spot besides Yoongi. You look out the window in his study at the town in the far off distance. “I bet the village has-”

Yoongi gets up and grabs your hand gently. He runs his hand down the side of your face and leads you to turn away from the window. “Is that what this is about? Going into town?” He mumbles leaning into your neck. He peppered kisses along a stitch that tickled in particular. You giggled and looked at Yoongi your mind going blank at what you were mad at. “Is that better my love?”

“Mhmm. Yes Yoongi…”

“Good let's continue reading.”

🪡

Of course the thought came back.

The lights and the sounds of joy and fun. It haunts you, the time known as Halloween the same night as tonight. Yet here you were with Yoongi, his body over your own.

His thrusts increased in speed as he pounded into you. It was weird how full he made you feel. But you didn't mind it, you enjoyed it actually. Yoongi wrapped a hand around your stitched throat, pinning you to the bed. You let out a groan as Yoongi filled up your cunt, his cum spilling from inside of you. He pulled out and laid on top of you, peppering more kisses along your face.

“That was amazing…” Yoongi mumbles as he rolls over from on top of you. He wraps a arm around your naked form. You feel his lips against the middle of your neck, and soon the silent breathing known as sleep.

Tonight was the night.

No matter what you were getting out of here.

You hobble out of bed, limping towards the wardrobe. You grabbed a sweater he made for you and a long white skirt. Throwing both of them on you sneak out of the bedroom. You head to the bathroom and wipe your legs, making sure you were clean. You quietly make your way down the stairs to the front door. You look back making sure Yoongi wasn't behind you.

Nothing.

So you kept moving. Walking along the side of the road, dirt and rocks digging into the bottom of your feet. Your limp was soon gone as the pain dulled. It was a long walk and you made it eventually. Finally you see orange light shining on your face.

The village was full of people. Children dressed up as well as adults. Peering into windows you saw fashion portrayed in paintings and jewelry Yoongi only showed you from books of art. You ran a hand down the window but was pulled from it as you felt a touch on your shoulder.

There was a woman, her face framed by brown hair pulled into a bun. Stray hairs fell down her face. She was a tad bit older, but not too old. “Hi, were you looking at the jewelry in there?” She asked smiling. You nodded and she nodded with you giggling. “You don't talk much huh? It's alright, I was asking because I was going to buy it for you.”

Clearing your throat you finally spoke up, “Really?” You exclaimed excitedly. She nodded and pulled you into the shop.

“Choose anything I don't mind.” She says looking at the wall of fancy jewelry. “I have no one to spend it on so why not you…” Finally you choose one silver necklace with a diamond pendant in the center. Your plan was to give it to Yoongi, as a sort of thank you. It would also double as a apology for leaving when you eventually did come back. e woman purchased it and smiled taking you out of the store.

A gush of wind made you shiver and the woman gasped. “You're freezing, come on. I'll give you something to eat and get you warmed up.” You didn't know why but you followed behind the woman as she led you to her small quaint home in the village. You enter and are welcomed by a fireplace.

It was something you never felt nor seen your entire life, even if it was as small as it was. “Go sit by the fire while I go heat up some soup.” The woman says ushering you to go sit by the fire. You do, the warmth making everything feel better. It was bright and brilliant as Yoongi would've said.

You were passed a bowl of chicken noodle soup. It had vegetables and overall smelled delicious. The woman passed you a spoon and draped a blanket over you. Yoongi taught you to how use utensils, so you were familiar as you began to eat. “Good isn't it? I'm Sarah by the way, Sarah Paulson, the towns widow or whatever they want to fucking call me.” Sarah said making you gasp. Her language made you laugh yet also made you amused. Yoongi usually only spoke like that during sex or under his breath.

Was never for you to pay attention to nor recite

“What's a widow?” You ask eating more. Sarah seemed more than happy to have someone to talk too. She sat down on the couch, becoming even more comfortable.

“Well, a widow is someone whose husband or lover has died. It's mainly the villages women trying to make fun of me. But I say hey, if I'm a widow than I'm a widow.” Sarah exclaimed. “What about you? What's your name and slash or title?”

That made you think. You knew your name but what were you. After telling you your name, you went quiet. “I don't think I have a title. Except for what Yoongi calls me.”

“Wait like Min Yoongi? The one that lives in the mansion out of town?” Sarah asks looking at you with a inquisitive eye. You nod slowly and she looks away looking out the window. “Oh you poor thing. You don't even know the half of it do you?”

You shake your head no looking at Sarah. “W-What? You have to tell me.”

“Yoongi he… he stopped coming into town a while ago. He was caught digging up corpses, he went to me as he lost his lover and wanted some common ground with someone who understood him.” Sarah started but you cut her off.

“But, I'm his lover. He told me I was his one and only…” You say frantically.

“He had another, no one saw her though. He kept her in that mansion for fucks sake. He wanted to try and revive my husband, Mr Paulson. But I told him no…” Sarah trailed off and took a look at your neck and arms. She let out a quiet gasp as she moved to sit next to you. She ran a thumb over one of the stitches. “You're her… his creation.”

You furrowed your brows and looked at Sarah with concerned eyes. “I- What? What are you talking about? I'm his love, no I'm not-”

“You're a bunch of body parts… God I'm so sorry… your brain. He must've had to throw out your old one… he kept going at it. He kept running the experiment to revive Mrs Min.” Sarah said bringing you in for a hug. You quickly hugged her back crying into her shoulder. But she pulled away so you could look at her. “He's going to come looking… and I don't want you to get hurt. Yoongi is crazy… and you need to hide.”

A loud set of bangs were heard from her front door. Sarah covered you in the blanket and bent down to whisper. “Lay down and don't move, I'm going to try and save you.” Sarah said and you listened. You trusted her, but you couldn't see Yoongi as a violent man. But finding out all you now knew you couldn't risk it.

You heard the door open and feet moving into the home further. “Where did you put her?” You heard a voice that was similar to Yoongis speak up.

“Put who? Don't tell me you've found a new lover. Did you remarry Mr. Min?” Sarah said, keeping her tone respectful. She kept away from the living room where you laid on the ground.

“Don't play dumb. You are the only one I told about her.” Yoongis voice raised and you heard more steps being took away from you and towards where the first set stopped. You started to slowly move, one limb at a time, to under the couch.

“Well yes, but I didn't even know you succeeded in your experiment. Congratulations on that but you'd trust the people who rat you out about the body snatching?” Sarah came back stepping away and moving in a circle to the front of the couch. “Besides quiet rude entering my house this way, don't you think?”

“Rude my ass, I know she's in here. If there's anything those people want is to get me away from them. So they'll lead me in a direction to where I don't have to talk to them and I'm not going to be mad with them. So that leads to you.” Yoongis voice raised as he stood in front of the couch towering over Sarah. “So I'll ask one final time, where is she?”

“Get out of my ho-”

BANG!

You covered your mouth as the sound of a revolver echoed from within the home. You felt your cheeks grow wet.

“Where are you my love? I'm not mad I promise, it's okay I knew this would happen.” There it was, that sweet voice that was always coated in honey to coax you successfully. You moved from under the couch and let the blanket fall from your head. Yoongis face was covered in Sarah's blood as he gasped pulling you in for a hug. He kissed your head and lips, hands on your cheeks. “I was worried sick!”

“W- I'm… what ju-” You were cut off as you felt the necklace you brought earlier being pulled from your hand.

“Is this for me?” You nodded. “Thank you baby… this is beautiful my love.” He put it on and smiled at you keeping his thumb on your cheek. You kept stuttering though, confused and unaware of what just happened to you. “Shhh, it's okay just stay with me from now on okay? I can keep you safe, forever.” Yoongi said keeping your head faced away from the half bloodied mess that he made of Sarah's head.

[heyiwrotesomethings]

Hello! I wanna request Shinobu with a s/o (She/Her) that sends her letters very often like every single day as she is on a mission. But one day she just stops writing, Shinobu panics and just sets off to find her to find out she was injured and just treats her while chatting with her because they don’t hang out alot.

On the way back to the Butterfly Mansion, S/O just says ‘I love you’ to Shinobu while she was unconscious. (Note: they are just friends) And S/O didn’t know she said that the next day. Shinobu remembers it and confront S/O.

S/O gets flustered and just ran away and tries to avoid Shinobu which was soon a fail. Shinobu thought she did something wrong and Aoi just had to set them up and S/O finally confess to Shinobu consciously.

(Aoi and the girls are watching from a bush!)

I love your writing so much and have a great day! ❤️

You Were Not Supposed to Hear That

Shinobu Kochou x She/Her Reader

A/N: On Friday I took a really spectacular running fall into some gravel and have just tore myself into shreds. From chin to knees I have fucked myself up🥲. I’m okay, but just thought you all would like to know. But amidst the stinging and aching pains, I was like, it’s been two weeks, I got to get something done so here you go! (Again… don’t really have the energy for editing right now. Hope there aren’t any errors that are too distracting.) Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading! Word Count: 3,066

“Still nothing?”

En fluttered her wings and shook her head at Shinobu, confirming that yet another busy day went by without a letter finding its way into her hands.

“This is starting to become troubling…” Shinobu murmured to herself, looking out the window up at the darkening sky.

(Y/n) was a sayer she had treated a couple of years ago, nothing life-threatening, but she had been out of commission for long enough for her and Shinobu to develop a rapport and parted on friendly terms. (Y/n) would visit on occasion, but more frequently, she would send Shinobu letters. Usually once or twice every two weeks. But now they were approaching the end of the third week without a word and Shinobu was growing concerned for her friend.

“I suppose I should try sending her another letter of my own then. No offense to the poor bird, but her crow is not as reliable as you, En. Will you go looking for her and ensure my letter reaches her once I finish drafting it?”

En assured Shinobu that the letter would be safe with her, then waited patiently on Shinobu’s windowsill, giving Shinobu privacy as she wrote. The Hashira never wrote anything scandalous of course, but En always made sure to give her the opportunity to if she ever saw fit. (Y/n) was one of the very few people Shinobu exchanged letters with regularly after all and given how the letters she received often made her smile so, En thought there was a good chance their relationship could lead to something more and En liked (Y/n), she gave her extra berries and peanuts. The more letters sent between Shinobu and (Y/n) the better, En would say.

As soon as Shinobu secured the parchment to En’s leg, the crow was gone on the breeze of the cool, evening air. Unfortunately, (Y/n) had been a little tougher to find this time around, but she was found nonetheless. Shinobu would not be happy when she heard what kind of shape the slayer was in, however.

“Injured?” Shinobu frowned worriedly while scanning the letter En brought back to her further. She had hoped (Y/n) would tell her more about how badly she was injured, but she hadn’t, instead going into lighter topics such as how nice the Wisteria House that she had taken refuge within. Shinobu sighed and put the letter down on her desk. “Well, you saw her, En. How was she?”

“Broken hand, bruised ribs. A smattering of scratches and bruises, but nothing that won’t heal in due time.” The crow helpfully provided.

“Hmm, I see... Thank you.” Shinobu seemed to go deep into thought then, the concern not leaving her expression. In fact, it seemed to grow into anxiety despite En’s assurances that the other slayer would be just fine. “I think I will pay her a visit then. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen her anyway. Besides, it’s not a bad idea to make sure whoever checked her over caught everything…”

A glint appeared in En’s eye. A promising sign if Shinobu felt compelled to travel all that way just to check on what was essentially just a few bumps and bruises as far as the usual demon slayer injuries go. Shinobu was showing (Y/n) special treatment, but En wouldn’t judge. Knowing how much of herself Shinobu gave others, En figured she deserved to be a little selfish from time to time. Even if that selfishness was still technically for someone else’s benefit.

And so, Shinobu packed a light bag, jaunted over to the closest train station and hopped on a train that would go through the city (Y/n) was recuperating in. The look of elated surprised on (Y/n)’s face when she looked up from her book to see her standing there and knocking on her doorframe made Shinobu’s mood brighten substantially.

“Shinobu! What are you doing here?” (Y/n) asked excitedly, quickly closing the book and shoving it aside.

“Oh, you know,” Shinobu moved to sit on the edge of the bed, “I was in the area so I thought I’d drop by, see how you’re healing up.” She gently took hold of (Y/n)’s casted hand, scrutinizing it to make sure it put together with care. “So, how are you?”

“I’m doing alright. Kind of achy and sore, a little tired, but otherwise fine. How about you, how have you been?” (Y/n) seemed excited to know, she always appeared to hang on to Shinobu’s every word. Shinobu was no stranger to such things, but having (Y/n)’s undivided attention felt especially good.

“I’m doing quite well, especially now that I get to have a visit with you.” Shinobu teased. She always loved to see just how flustered she could make (Y/n). It was one of her favorite activities.

“Yeah?” (Y/n) laughed awkwardly, her free hand bunched up in the blankets to serve as a distraction from the sudden uptick of her heartbeat “I’m glad to hear it.”

“Mhm!” Shinobu tilted her head to the side, smiling all the while. She gave (Y/n)’s casted hand a soft pat when the bandaging cleared her inspection. “In fact, you should take the train back home with me. Complete the rest of your recovery with me so we can catch up on all that was too wordy for the letters. What do you say?”

“Really? I wouldn’t want to impose. I’d just be more work for you, having to check my injuries and whatnot.”

“Injuries like yours are like treating paper cuts and grazed knees to me. It’ll be no trouble at all. Come on, I’ll buy your ticket~”

(Y/n) bit her inner cheek, well, far be it from her to miss out on extra time with Shinobu. Especially a direct invitation. Hell, she’d buy her own ticket and Shinobu’s if the Hashira asked her to.

“If you’re certain, then I’d love to come along.”

“Wonderful,” Shinobu patted (Y/n)’s shoulder and then slid off of the bed. “Let’s get you packed up then.”

Before (Y/n) knew it, she was all packed up and on the next train to the station closest to Shinobu’s home. It didn’t take much time or exertion at all, but she did find herself drifting off once they were settled in their booth. After maybe the fifth or sixth nodding off and then jolting awake, Shinobu chuckled.

“You can rest. I don’t mind. I know how to keep myself entertained.” She said, taking a book from her own bag and waving it back and forth.

“Sorry, I really wish I could stay awake.” (Y/n) yawned.

“It’s no trouble. Rest, you need it.”

“Thanks…”

It didn’t take long before her head to find itself against the booth’s edge. She was out like a light. Shinobu hummed in amusement and then flipped open her book. Before she could even make it to the bottom of the first page, (Y/n)’s head tilted the opposite way and ended up on her shoulder, a nonsensical mumbling falling from her lips as she pressed in a little closer.

“This is unusual.” Shinobu chose to rest her head atop (Y/n)’s and poked the sleeping girl’s cheek gently. “I can’t wait to tease you about this later.”

(Y/n)’s face twitched and she unconsciously rubbed the spot Shinobu had poked with a tired grumble. She hid her face after that, almost between Shinobu and the booth. A quiet sigh of Shinobu’s name left her, and then,

“I love you.”

Shinobu blinked. Had she heard that right? Of course she did. Compared to the other mumblings, that utterance was clear as day.

What a sweet sentiment, even if it was said unconsciously. Shinobu’s expression softened, but only for a moment before a glint of mischief shone through.

“Oh the ammunition you’re giving me, (Y/n) and you don’t even realize it.” She smiled. “Sleep well for now, while you can.”

***

The train rolled to a stop and the steam hissed, jerking (Y/n) awake. She straightened out and swung her head to the right and then to the left, almost bumping noses with Shinobu.

“Ah!” (Y/n) pulled back, almost falling off of the seat and into the aisle. “Sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for, (Y/n).” Shinobu assured. “Let’s go home then, shall we?”

“Sure.”

They left the busy station together and began their walk back the the Butterfly Mansion. When they noise of the crowd died down, (Y/n) spoke.

“Sorry for sleeping through the whole trip. I hope you weren’t bored.”

“Trust me when I say I was thoroughly entertained, (Y/n).” Shinobu assured with a smile that was a tad too mischievous. “Did you know you talk in your sleep?”

(Y/n) felt her stomach drop. Oh god… what had she said? Something embarrassing no doubt from the look Shinobu was sporting. How mortifying!

“And you were quite cuddly too. You were hugging my arm at one point even.”

Agh! Could it get any worse?!

“Well—! It’s pretty normal for people to do things like that in their sleep. It’s all dumb and meaningless stuff you know.”

“Dumb and meaningless? (Y/n), you wound me.” Shinobu rested the back of her hand against her forehead. “Is that how you really feel?”

“Well, yeah!” (Y/n) doubled-down. “It’s not like I know what I’m saying while I’m asleep. Whatever I said didn’t mean anything and you shouldn’t hold it against me.”

“Oh, so when you said you loved me, there wasn’t any truth in that sentiment? You didn’t mean it?” Shinobu carried on as usual, she didn’t seem hurt. She still found the incident funny. She didn’t need (Y/n) to be in love with her, all she needed to know was that they were friends. That was good enough for her.

(Y/n) felt the sudden urge to scream out of sheer embarrassment, but she held it in. Obviously based on Shinobu’s demeanor she was still only playing around, but what was she supposed to say to that? She was a terrible liar!

“Well—!” She fumbled a bit, trying to find the words she needed, “That’s not anything groundbreaking! You know I love you like… a normal amount.”

So inconspicuous! What a wordsmith! Brava!

“Is that right?” Shinobu smirked, a quiet laugh leaving her lips. “What exactly is a normal amount to you, (Y/n)? Please, I’d love to hear all about it.”

(Y/n) felt uncomfortably warm, nervous, like she was going to throw up if she tried to say anything else. Shinobu noticed this and was going to let (Y/n) off the hook right away, but then voices from a little further down the path made both of their heads turn.

“Oh! Shinobu-sama, (Y/n)-san, hello!”

A butterfly girl brigade soon appeared from further up the path, all five carrying baskets of various vegetation.

“Hello, girls thank you for your hard work.” Shinobu thanked the girls sincerely for holding down the fort while she was on her impromptu journey. She was then caught up on all the notable things that happened while she was away and at some point during the midst of that…

“Hey, where did (Y/n)-san go?”

Six heads swiveled around to look at their immediate surroundings to find that (Y/n) had inexplicably vanished from the group. They all called out for her and searched the nearby woods, concerned that she would up and leave without a word.

When their search yielded no result, they went back to the mansion to form a search party out of Kakushi, but fortunately, Goto told them they had nothing to worry about.

“Oh, I saw (Y/n)-san arrive not too long ago.” He said, Shinobu’s body relaxed, a quiet sigh of relief left her.

“That girl,” Aoi huffed, “Where is she now? I’d like to give her a piece of my mind.”

“Ah, well,” Goto rubbed the back of his neck, “she’s around… I may or may not have been asked not to tell anyone where she is within the mansion for now.”

“What?!” Aoi through her arms up in exasperation. “Of all the childish— we just spent half an hour combing the the nearby woods for her when she vanished suddenly. She has some explaining to do, because making us all worry like that is unacceptable!”

“It’s my fault.” Shinobu sighed, making all eyes turn on her, “I pushed her too far, teasing her over something she had no control over. She must have slinked off while I was distracted because she knew she’d never be able to avoid me otherwise.” She guessed a bit contritely.

“Shinobu-sama, what could you have possibly been teasing her about to cause this mess?” Aoi asked, arms crossed.

Shinobu shook her head. “I don’t believe it’s my place to say. I promise I shall apologize to her the first chance I get. But for now, let (Y/n) have some time to herself, and please don’t be too upset with her for running off.”

Shinobu caught sight of the time, telling the girls that for the time being she’d be in her lab. She thanked them again for their hard work, and apologized for their wasted search before walking away.

“I wonder why this happened.” Sumi pondered.

“Oh, I’ll tell you what happened.” Aoi said confidently, “I bet (Y/n) finally said something unintentionally to let Shinobu-sama know how much she actually likes her and in true Shinobu-sama fashion, she fumbled the moment of vulnerability for a joke. Well, I’m not letting this foolishness carry on for a minute more. Will you all help me find (Y/n) so we can get this all sorted out before it gets even more awkward between them?“

All of the girls agreed with a round of exclamations and nods. Soon they were combing through the estate. After some time, Kanao was the one to bring back word that (Y/n) was sitting under Victory, watching the cherry blossoms flutter around her wistfully.

“Thank you, Kanao, I’ll take it from here.” Aoi said, already walking briskly towards the tree, startling (Y/n) from her gloomy thoughts. “Don’t you dare try running away from me, (Y/n).” She warned.

“I-I’m not.” (Y/n) put her hands up defensively. “…Did Shinobu send you? Did she tell you what I said?!” She added hastily.

“No,” Aoi sat down beside (Y/n) with a harsh exhale, “She didn’t need to tell me anything because it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how in love you are (Y/n)-san, so just accept the help I’m trying to provide you, alright? Shinobu-sama seems content to give you space for now, but I know once you two decide to make up, you’re just going to pretend nothing happened, so you better confess properly when I get her to come out here, okay?”

“W-what?! No, I couldn’t—“

“Yes you could! Are you really going to let this go on forever? That would just be sad and annoying considering everyone knows you two love each other. Be a woman and ask her out!”

It took some convincing, but Aoi had finally gotten (Y/n) to a place where the idea of honestly telling Shinobu she had romantic feelings for her wasn’t going to immediately make her throw-up from nerves and so now all Aoi had to do was get Shinobu out there as soon as she could before (Y/n) got cold feet and ran off again. Some people enjoyed playing matchmaker, but Aoi found the whole process rather annoying.

She all but shoved Shinobu out of her lab and pointed her in the right direction, making sure the Hashira was heading that way before quickly working around the mansion to join the other girls watching excitedly from the bushes to witness the fruit of her labor.

She arrived just in time to see Shinobu sit beside (Y/n) beneath Victory’s vibrant petal-laden branches. What a beautiful place for a confession of love. The mood was set.

“(Y/n),” Shinobu spoke softly, “I’m sorry I—“

“You don’t have to apologize,” (Y/n) cut her off, “I know you didn’t mean to make me uncomfortable.”

“But I did. Definitely not to the degree that I did, but I wanted to see you squirm a little. I didn’t mean to cause you anxiety and I do apologize for that. But please,” Shinobu moved to rest her hand atop (Y/n)’s, “if the time comes that I overstep again, please tell me that you would like some time to yourself instead of leaving without telling anyone. I was worried when I couldn’t find you.”

“I will, I promise. I’m sorry for worrying you.” (Y/n) looked down at their hands in the bed of fallen petals and took a deep breath, “Shinobu, can I tell you something?”

“Of course.”

“I… I really do love you, but… it’s um…”

“Not a normal amount?” Shinobu couldn’t help but tease.

“Right,” (Y/n) flustered, “but it might be less than a normal amount if you keep that up.”

“Sorry, dear,” Shinobu didn’t look sorry in the least, “please continue, I’m all ears.”

(Y/n) sighed quietly, “I like you a lot more than I’ve ever liked anyone so would you maybe be interested in going on a date with me sometime? Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I know how busy you are and I don’t expect you to agree even if you aren’t busy. I’m happy being friends. Friends is just as good—

A range of gasps and squeals came from the bushes as Shinobu leaned in and planted a bit quite chaste kiss on the corner of (Y/n)’s mouth. She barely pulled away before speaking, keeping their bodies close.

“I’m sure I can carve out some time soon. I did shrink off some duties to hop on a train to see you once already after all.”

“I, I thought you said you just happened to be in the area…” (Y/n) murmured, still light headed from the near head-on kiss.

“I lied!” Shinobu smiled, not an ounce of shame detectable.

“You jerk!” (Y/n) threw caution to the wind and tackled Shinobu completely to the ground, “Just how many of those coincidental run-ins were actually coincidental?”

“Very few.”

“Shinobu!”

An amused exhale left Aoi as she watched the two women laugh together.

“Alright, I think we’ve seen what we needed to see. Come on everyone, back to work.”

Some of the girls seemed a little disappointed to be leaving, but hearing the sounds of joy still lighting up the courtyard as they made their way back inside brought smiles to their faces.

[zhounauts]

crown prince!lee heeseung x f!reader // warnings: cursing, fainting (?) part two series masterlist

a/n got inspo for this after rereading this reincarnation webtoon i used to like a lot, these reincarnation stories are lwk a guitly pleasure of mine so i was like why not write one

+ is this even considered an x reader??? like heeseung hates u oopsie lolz

anyways enjoy (hopefully)

YOU WOKE UP WITH AN EPIPHANY , to give the two leads their happy ending. despite the fact that you had woken up in a stereotypical reincarnation manhwa, the author was far from stereotypical. not only did she have a strange almost concerning obsession with her two main leads, but she was also a goody-two shoes rule follower who told you that the original plot of the story and every single event must be followed and copied to perfection.

unfortunately for her, you said fuck that, had knights take her away and put her in a mansion on the outskirts of the kingdom where she wouldn't be able to reach you. so now, instead of scheming devious, nefarious acts against the female protagonist you now took advantage of your personal chef who worked relentlessly at your constant requests to try all the fancy dishes you could've never afforded in your previous life.

"the audacity!" rina, your maid suddenly exclaims, holding a letter.

"i can't believe this! my lady, this is outrageous! how can saintess sora write and send something so shameless!? " faye your second maid exclaims.

"hm?" you ask, focusing on the blueberry cheesecake in front of you, "what happened faye?"

"the saintess sent an invitation for her tea party! she wrote, 'countess i know we are not on good terms because of the crown prince, but the other ladies and i hope that you will join our humble tea party, and put aside your grudge'" you chew on the cake.

"oh, okay,"

"OKAY!?" the two scream.

"m-my lady! how does this not bother you? she is being disrespectful and using the fact that she has the crown prince's affections despite you are his soon-to-be wife!"

"oh, that's true," you shrug, "what can i do about it? if he likes her better okay then, i don't want to marry him anyways," rina collapses into faye's arms.

"my lady! rina are you--"

"with all due respect, but my lady, back then you would've done something! why the change of heart now?"

"well. . .he doesn't like me?? like it's pretty obvious, and i was just naive and uhm, craving for male validation back then or something like that i guess. it doesn't matter to me anymore,"

". . ."

"besides, his highness prince jay is more my type ,"

"MY LADY-"

"I MIGHT FAINT-"

after calming down your fainting maids, you had reassured them that you would go to the tea party and give the female protagonist, saintess sora, a taste of her own medicine for the disrespect she had sown you. (you were not planning this at all)

so now here you were, a week later getting dressed for the pain-in-the-ass tea party. "my lady we will dress you up to be the most beautiful at the party!" your maids exclaim.

"that's really. . .not necessary you know? i'll wear one of the dresses i usually wear," rina starts to lecture you, before a knock interrupts. faye rushes out of the dressing area, to open the door.

"your highness!" she exclaims, bowing. you peek out from behind the dressing area and head out.

"my lady you are not ready--"

"your highness, a pleasure to have you here," you say, bowing.

"y/n," heeseung addresses coldly, "are you attending sora's tea party?"

"yes, your highness,"

"she was telling me she was worried you would reject her request, due to your dislike for her," he says, narrowing his eyes at you bitterly. you stare at him unimpressed.

"my apologies, your highness, if i offend you by saying this. however you and saintess sora seem to be mistaken,"

"my lady don't--"

"i literally don't give a shit,"

"oh dear gods," rina mutters, and she collapses.

a/n lemme know how it was 😋😋

[lillythecoolest]

Veneer x Reader In an Indie Band!

Warnings: None

Who would’ve guessed, Veneer, The pop singer that could buy 3 mansions, he’s a fan of your indie band? Yep! Even he doesn’t know how he found you, but the minute he heard you he knew he needed every single album. And of course, you’re his favorite member, your voice, your style, even the way you look in the music videos, he KNOWS he’s fallen. HARD. But he’d never go to a concert! He knows what Velvet would do.

He’d freak out if he knew you felt the same. You weren’t a big fan of pop at all, the bright colors and loud energy made your head hurt. But Veneer…He was different. His voice made your head woozy. Your members know how you feel, teasing and prodding at you to go to a concert! But you could never. He’d hate an indie artist, wouldn’t he?

“Cmon y/n, him and Velvet having a show next month at the rage dome! They actually need an opening artist, could we please?” Your member, Bea asked. “But…They’re probably looking for a pop artist. Do we look like pop?” You asked. “But they’ll even sell our albums there dude! I’m sure some people there would like us. Maybe even Veneer.” Your other member, Ezra told you. They held up the audition papers. “ACCEPTING ANY GENRE!” It wrote out in big letters. “I’ll…Let me think about it, okay?” You take the papers and walk back to your room, then you look at the picture of Veneer.

“N-Next!” Crimp called from the audition room. “Alright dude, you can do this! Just don’t look at Veneer. Or listen to his voice. Or even breathe.” Ezra said. “Get serious! It’s okay Y/N, we’ll do fine.” Bea says, patting you on the back. “I…I don’t want to do fine, I want to be the opening act.” you smiled. “That’s the spirit!” They both yelled. “Next!” Crimp called again. You all walk out and greet Velvet, then turn to Veneer, with his jaw to the floor. “Ohmygod, you’re here! I’ve loved your band for the longest time probably since it started!” He said. You pause, staring into nothingness. “YOU KNOW US!? DUUUDE, SICK! Just wait until your hear about Y/N-” Ezra continues. You look over at Velvet, who is visibly mad. After everything calms down, you finally start your song, giving it your best as the lead singer.

(just think sex bob omb /j)

Once you finish, you look down at your feet, then wipe the sweat of both nervousness and how hard you sang off your forehead. You finally look up at Veneer, who’s jaw was somehow lower then before. Then Velvet, who looked pleasingly surprised. “How was it?” Bea asked, looking pretty nervous, unlike Ezra, who had that stupid smile still on his face. “Fine. Better than I thought, actually. But no guarantee.” Velvet replied, her cocky “famous” demeanor sort of gone. “NO GUARANTEE?!” Veneer screamed, and you swear you can see him blush. “They’re preforming, no question. See you tomorrow for practice!” Veneer said as he ran off. Velvet ran after him, leaving you two with their assistant, Crimp. “Oh goodness, I don’t have a time yet…Uh, tomorrow at 9:00 next morning?” She said. But the two also left you with no words. “I think he likes you dude…” Ezra said.

8:50 the next morning, you show up at the place they said, sitting outside on the curb. “Are you sure we can do this? It’s just overwhelming knowing how many people are gonna see us.” Bea said, tuning her guitar. “I feel ya dude, I broke a drumstick from practicing so hard last night” Ezra followed up with. Soon enough, Crimp pops out, welcoming you all in. “Hello my little superstarssss! We are NAWT waisting any time!” Velvet says, obviously putting on a fake persona. She points at Bea and Ezra, looking at them with a sweet look, almost too sweet. “Too the back room with me!” “What about… What about me?” You ask. “Oh- Uh, Velvs thought it would be good for us to train together since we know each other.” He replies, obviously flustered.

After a while on training, you two start to work on stage presence. “You have to make your audience feel the song, like what emotion it gives! Try moving in a way that the song makes you feel.” He says. The song you’ve picked is bittersweet, something that doesn’t go with pop AT ALL, but it’s so different people might like it. You close your eyes and sway a bit, and then start singing. You walk around a bit, then accidentally bump into Veneer. Your eyes shoot open, and then you see. You see how close you are. Veneer smiles, making it even worse. “You’re- You’re very pretty…” you blurt out, immediately jumping off of him and running out of the room, leaving Veneer by himself, probably overheating from the intensity.

After a month of training, you guys are finally ready to do the opening performance. “Don’t worry about ANYTHING, you’ll do fine!” Veneer says, zipping up the back of your stage outfit. When you turn around to face him, his eyes light up. “Y…You look great in that…” “1 minute til you’re on guys!” Crimp says, seeing you two. “Oh! I’m so sorry, I’ll uh…Let you two have your moment…” “You got this! Break a leg!” He says, suddenly kissing your cheek. You pause. This isn’t happening, is it? You see Veneer run off, and see your friends run on. “Read- Woah, are you okay? You’re flushed, are you nauseous?” Bea says. “Ya can’t be sick now dude, I didn’t waste a month for you to be sick.” Ezra follows up with. “It’s- It’s nothing, I- I’m fine.” You stumble around, finally balancing. You breathe in and walk out.

The music ends, and you look to the audience. They start cheering so loud you can’t even hear yourself think. But one thing you can hear is Veneers distinct scream. After everything is said and done, you meet Veneer at his house. “Listen, I-I know I shouldn’t have done that so fast, but I bottled the feeling up for so long I didn’t want it to affect my performance. But I should’ve been more concerned about you.” Veneer says. “Hey- no I get that. And also…I have something to give you.” You say. “Oh- Oh yeah? What?” He says, perking up as soon as you even mention a gift. You softly kiss him on the cheek, looking at him like he looked at you.

hello! sorry I’ve been gone for over a week, I’ve been sortve burnt out, gaining and dropping hobbies n stuff, so uh here’s this :3 consider it for me being gone and my 100 follower special even though I’m at 118 followers, tysm!🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

[adasknife]

i have been checking more of john and ada (john is ada's 'boyfriend' from re1) anyways, i don't know how real this is but further on. because i haven't played the original re2 game (don't judge. i read things), it said that ada does carry a photo of john with her. john wrote her a letter (in re1) to expose all the stuff of umbrella but she never had the chance to read because she was never in raccoon city. ada discovered that john turned into a zombie in the spencer mansion thanks to annette birkin (?). in old comics (not sure if still canon), john was investigating the t virus hoping it will be the cure for cancer. he wanted ada's help but they never allowed it. he seemed like a nice guy... he wanted to help people and umbrella have him the money and he accepted. he was the couple of first people to realized what is happening; people are getting sick and the upper people of umbrella were acting strange. and we know what happens.

according to little there is to read of john, i prefer his relationship with ada and than with leon and ada. i as well wonder how the story will change if linda never changed to ada. OH! if you know more of the original games please correct me because i am... too lazy to check the tiny details.

and finally the letter re2:

Dear Ada ,

Ada, by the time you read this, I'll be something... different. Today's test turned out to be positive, just as I expected. I feel like going crazy when I think about becoming one of them.

Ada, you are not infected and I hope you never will be. In case you're the last one left, take the material in the Visual Data Room and go to the Power Room to operate the Triggering System before you escape.

If everything is in order, all the locks can be opened by the security system. You can access the system if you log in with my name from the terminal in the small lab and enter the password. The password is your name. To unlock the door at B2 where the Visual Data Room is located, you'll need to access with our name first and then enter another password.

I've written the code below. I'm sure you'll understand it easily.

And this is my last hope - if you find me completely changed, please kill me yourself.

Yours, John

and the other letter re1 remake:

My dearest Ada,

By the time you read this letter, I will no longer be the person you once knew. The results of my test came out today and I suspected, it came positive.

I feel like I am teetering on the edge of reason just thinking about my impending doom. I would give anything not to have to become one of them.

As far as I know, you are not infected. I sincerely hope things do not reach such a desperate pass, but if it has turned out that you are now the last person alive. I want you to get the material from the Visual Data room.

Then, activate the Self-Destruct System in the power room and escape from here. Please do everything in your power to make this whole accident public.

If everything is still running normally, you should be able release all the locks using the Security System.

I have set up the terminal in a small security room so that you can log in to the system using my name and your name as password.

You will need need another password to release the lock of the door of the basement Level Two where the Visual Date Room is located.

As a safety measure I have coded that password into an X-ray picture: a roentgenogram. I know you, and I'm sure you will be able to work it out without any trouble.

There is just one more thing... and it is my last request. I hope you never have to lay eyes on me in this state, but if you do happen to run into this hideous form, I beg you to put me out of my misery. I hope you understand.

Thank you, Ada

Yours truly, John

[little-waterfly]

The Curse Of Being The Weakest.

Demon!Shinobu AU.

Type of fic: Drabble, prologue.

Trigger Warnings: Content not suitable for everyone. Descriptions of violence, mentions of blood, injections, death, implied self-harm, mental illness.

Author notes:

This is one of the first times writing something on my own. The idea came from a Demon Event I did on my Shinobu RP account, so I wrote a solo explaining how she decided to turn into a demon in order to get stronger and successfully defeat Douma.

Kinda an AU where she decides to use demon blood instead of you know..

If I get motivated, I might write a multi-chapter short fic where I can include interactions with Kanao, Giyu (coughs Giyushino) and her fighting Douma in her demon form.

I also gotta credit my friend Awesome for some of the ideas and being my beta reader, mwah ~

Enjoy and let me know your thoughts if you liked it ~ !

Kocho Shinobu's office, Butterfly Mansion.

Looking at the demon blood reserve she has been collecting from lower rank demons in her past missions as Hashira, Shinobu made sure she got it stored in a secret and safe place.

Getting stronger has always been challenging for her, feeling too weak to accomplish her goal of avenging her late sister, Kanae. That was the reason why Shinobu decided to try a different approach, becoming more and more interested in how the demon blood worked.

Being a breathing user would take a lot of demon blood for her to transform, still, she didn't give up and calculated the minimum she needed.

With her own medical knowledge, she separated the blood's components, only keeping the necessary to make a demon blood concentrated serum that she could get into her body by her own.

Days, weeks, months went by. The demon blood couldn't be taken in small portions like poison, it had to be done all at once.

She also knew that for her level of breathing concentration, it would almost be impossible to become a demon, so everything had to be meticulously calculated.

Once she reached more than the minimum volume of the liquid in her storage, Shinobu stopped going to her missions, using the excuse of focusing more on the butterfly mansion to treat the injured people and also training more nurses and doctors to help out with that labor.

Despite the hard work in the mansion, the real reason was to stop using her breathing style and make the transformation effective.

She marked a specific day in her calendar. No one else knew or suspected what she was planning but, for her, it was a risk that had to be made in order to get stronger and be able to fight other demons by becoming one of them herself.

Three bags of concentrated blood were hanging in her locked office at night.

A catheter in her forearm connected her own blood with the demon blood bags. Muzzling herself she took a piece of paper to start writing a letter before she let the serum drop into her body.

ㅤㅤ" Kanae, I'm sorry.

ㅤㅤKanao, people in the Butterfly Mansion, the rest of the Hashira, the kids who has lost their families to the demons, slayers in training. . .

ㅤㅤI won't go after you. . . But you're allowed to go after me, I know I deserve it and you would do as the rules said so. . . Still, I have to deeply apologize. . . because this is something I had to do.

ㅤㅤAs the weakest Hashira, trying to avenge my sister against an Upper Moon sounds like a failed mission or just a suicide attempt. I won't allow that, they all need to die, and probably I will too, but I will only rest in peace once I realize that I could give all of myself to the cause. . . Even if it meant becoming a demon myself.

ㅤㅤI won't ask you to understand, but I hope you do.

- Kocho, Shinobu . "

After putting the letter in a safe place, she let the concentrated thick liquid drop at a medium pace, quick enough to make it effective and slow enough to prevent a heart attack. She was a doctor after all and knew the correct way to do it.

Keeping her look in the ceiling, she felt every drop of blood getting inside her veins. It felt cold, painful, she felt herself dying inside little by little.

Those felt like the longest hours in her whole life, glad she muzzled herself because she let go screams of pain once in a while.

Tears ran down her face, but she was determined to get to the end of this. A pain killer would only make the process longer or ineffective, she calculated until the last detail of this.

After three hours, she changed to the next bag, keeping one more left, so she had to go all night through the same painful process.

Once the last blood bag was dripping in her veins, she was used to that pain, letting herself faint until the process was complete.

Waking up by some knocks on her door, she saw that the last bag was empty, quickly putting everything away.

When everything was clean, she left the letter on the surface of her desk, jumping off from the window and running to hide in the darkness of the woods in case she had a side effect, not sure if anyone would find ever her, but Shinobu wasn't a human anymore. . .

She was now a demon.

[jianghuchild]

In The Wind

I wrote this story a couple years ago, as a response to my anxieties about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the pandemic, and the idea that lifelong separation often disguises itself as something much more trivial.

I was angry with you that night, the last night we would ever see each other. You’d forgotten to take out the trash again. The house was a mess, and the twins were bouncing off the walls.

“How many times do I have to say this?” I told you, voice stringent. “I can’t put my foot down anywhere. Look at this.” I picked up the papers strewn across the dining table and slapped them back down. I kicked at the cardboard boxes blocking the hallway. “And this. Malachi, take that out of your mouth. Mara, watch your brother.”

“Gonna see gramma, gonna see gramma,” the kids chanted, either gleefully oblivious to my ire or purposefully ignorant.

“It’s fine,” you said, flapping a hand at me. “I’ll clean it when we get back.”

My annoyance simmered all night and flared to new life the next morning. The wind was so strong it almost blew us apart and I just managed to wrangle the kids into the airport’s stillness. I watched you pat your jacket, a look of infuriating innocence on your face.

“Where’s my passport…” you mumbled. The PA system chimed and announced that our flight was boarding. And here we were, stuck at check-in. You looked up, apology in your eyes. “You take the kids. I’ll catch the next flight.”

Looking back, I imagine that I felt a prickle of unease go down my spine. But maybe it was just the last vestiges of my frustration. Should I have stayed?

No, I would have said, It’s alright. We’ll go home together.

But the kids twisted in my sweaty hands and annoyance made tangled knots of my thoughts and if truth be shamefully told I wanted to punish you. And, not so shamefully, I am glad for my selfishness because it took the kids with me.

“Let’s go,” was what I really said, tugging on their hands. “Your father will catch up.” Mara turned to look back at you curiously. I gave her a gentle tug. “Come on. Time to go see gramma.”

Did you know what would happen? Sometimes, when I am desperate for poetry, when I am hungry for some sense to the closed borders and gas shortages, I imagine that you must have. I imagine that you knew the airlines would shut down and we could no longer stay in the country and that you made some great sacrifice to push us to safety. I imagine I am the ill-fated heroine in a tragic play, watching the threads unravel into my inevitable epilogue.

But I am weaving story where it doesn’t exist. Because of course you didn’t know. How could any of us know, if even the presidents and prime ministers did not?

You’ll be glad to know I watch the news now. I don’t do it like you did, with a rice bowl in your left hand and a foot propped up on the edge of your chair. I do it sitting straight, fingers stilled on my chopsticks and a mug half-raised to my lips.

And sometimes I don’t, because sometimes a man with blue eyes in a windless mansion drools false sympathy into the TV.

“I hear what you’re saying, Sarah, I do,” he lies, and says words like “collateral damage” and “economic recession.”

Malachi asked me when we could go home, some months or weeks after we left. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that this was home. I stroked his nose with my knuckle and smiled.

“Well, the airplanes are very tired.” He swung his legs in his seat. I glanced at his clumsy letters. “But planes like boys who work hard, so if you do well in school maybe they’ll make you an exception.”

I refused to feel guilty for the lie. We all need some false hope.

My mother and I watch the news together, sometimes. That man, Jared Thompson or Karl Cobbler or whatever his name is. (I know the news anchor’s name, but I am trying to make a point.) The blue-eyed man smiles genially from his tall ivory office.

“He reminds me of someone,” says my mother. “We didn’t have TV back then.”

She takes my hand in hers. I trace her finger, slightly bent at the same angle as mine. I’m startled to find I have callouses in the same places she does. The air is heavy, so I grab a cracked banana leaf fan and fan us both. The weight in my chest does not lift.

Mara lost her temper once. (More than once, but I am telling this story so it makes sense. At least in my head, I need this to make sense.) I took her to get the E string on her half-size violin replaced, and she wouldn’t get out of the car.

“Dad will fix it,” she said.

No, he won’t, I tried to say, but the words stuck like a fishbone in my throat.

“Of course he will,” I said instead, “but in the meantime you still want to play it, don’t you?” I perched on the cracked leather of the backseat and reached for her hand. She jerked it away, tucking her toy into her armpit.

“Dad will fix it,” she said again.

My own string snapped with a sting. I grabbed Mara’s tiny elbow and tugged. She shrieked. I yanked harder, but she scrabbled against the flaking leather and kicked her Skechers in my face.

“Fine!” I snapped, red face and wind-tossed hair giving the impression of a smoking fire. I slammed the back door and jerked myself into the driver’s seat, muttering all the way. “You want to play with a broken toy, you do that. I drive all this way, waste precious gas, you little ingrate—” The seatbelt jerked to a stop in my impatient hands and I resisted the urge to tear it to shreds.

Mara cradled her broken violin in her skinny arms. When we got home, I rested my forehead against the steering wheel until my mother coaxed me out of the car.

I’m a light sleeper. I bar the windows so the night wind will not wake me. I always got annoyed with you for opening the bedroom windows. Now, alone in my bed, the air stagnant as a dead summer, I pretend I am arguing with you. In my mind you slide the windows open and I grumble as the draft slides cold fingers down my arms.

“You’ll swallow the sky and float away in your sleep,” I mumble.

“A little breeze is good,” you say. You wrap your furnace of a body around mine. “The wind will carry me to you.”

My eyes snap open. The sheets are cold and the air is still. I turn on my side. The windows in this house aren’t the sliding glass kind like we used to have. They’re shutters that swing open like doors, bolted from the inside.

Eventually I tire of watching the news. When the blue-eyed man says words like “our heroes” and “liberation,” I stand at the door and watch the dirt road like a forlorn girl in one of those romances. Your silhouette never breaks through the dust. The road throws up eddies of dirt but the wind is aimless and smells of spider lilies. (I don’t know what spider lilies smell like.)

Malachi graduates middle school at the top of his class. Mara plays the cello and learns to change her own strings. They track airlines and ticket prices on our beat-up desktop computer and close the tab when they catch me watching. Some borders open, but not all, not yet.

Maybe not ever, no one says.

The night you return is the night I know you will never return. Papers are strewn across the table and cardboard boxes clutter the cramped halls. I startle awake on the worn couch with Malachi’s jacket around my shoulders. Mara is playing a rendition of Baikal Lake, but that isn’t what woke me. I sit up. Malachi’s jacket slides into my lap. I turn around. 

A wind has blown the window open, warm despite the autumn night.

[demonslayedher]

It would have been nice if the little siblings interacted more in kny besides Muichiro and Genya.I feel like that was a missed opportunity. What kind of interactions do you think should have happened between them (Nezuko, Senjuro, Genya, Muichiro, etc)

I'll preface by saying that while I think "oldest sibling" has a lot of consistency in how it shapes people and fictional characters (and thereby make for more direct comparison of foil characters), "younger/little siblilngs" is much, much wider depending on where they fall in the birth order, and how much of a birth order there is. There's s different dynamics between small sibling groups and large sibling groups, so while I can see Nezuko and Genya is a very similar light, it's harder for me to see Nezuko and Senjuro in the same light, as Nezuko was just as much shaped by being an oldest sister and Senjuro saw himself as the last link in a chain, of sorts.

Rather than see them interact purely as younger siblings, I'd be more interested in other commonalities that draw them closer together. I can see Nezuko and Senjuro getting along just fine as politle acquaintances, but she was more of a witness to Tanjiro mourning Rengoku than having felt it super deeply herself; there was a more direct and natural bond established between Tanjiro and Senjuro. Furthermore, Tanjiro inserted himself into the dynamic between Senjuro and Shinjuro. Nezuko has been known to tell off adults for bullying children, but I feel like Shinjuro would have shrugged her off instead of gone at it with her like he did with Tanjiro, which I think kick-started the friendship between Tanjiro and Senjuro with more oomph than just being sad together over the same person. They shared that experience first.

That having been said, I had Nezuko be a Flame Breath student under Shinjuro in my serious canon divergent AU, in which she takes to Senjuro like a little brother due to proximity, and due to missing Tanjiro together and only have letters he wrote to them left. I also had Senjuro and Kotetsu become penpals in that fic, first due to Corp related research, but then because they have a lot of earnest respect for each other and relate on pressures to retain the family craft and just genuinely enjoy correspondence with each other. (I know Kotetsu doesn't belong in this post as a younger sibling, but there he goes anyway, I feel like he fits.)

I've also seen a handful of fanarts proposing that Senjuro and Genya would enjoy hanging out, especially because they are both of naturally shy personalities (even though Genya is quicker to push others away), and they could relate on having Pillar Brothers whom they admire while they themselves are miles less talented, despite all their hard work. Specifically, there was a fanart of Senjuro as a nurse at the Butterfly Mansion where they meet and start this conversation (if anyone knows the comic I'm talking about, please remind me where it was so I can link it here with credit??), and I saw it and was like, "yes, they could totally relate on that point, couldn't they?" and accepted it and never felt the need to make my own Senjuro and Genya interactions because I was satisfied. XD

Senjuro and Muichiro, though, I don't think we ever saw that! And now I want to imagine Rengoku-Aniki bringing Muichiro over for dinner a bunch and Senjuro getting to know him through that, and then seeing the change in him and being surprised by happy for him. He and Kotetsu and Muichiro should all hang out! But also I'm picturing Senjuro getting rudely blunt swordsmanship pointers from Muichiro, and just standing there, stunned, and trying to hold back tears as he politely thanks him.

Muichiro and Genya... those two bond fast in the heat of battle and I loved seeing how naturally they took to each other. I gotta wonder how much they might had actually interacted in the Swordsmith Village, though? They were both there a long time before the Upper Moons attacked, after all, but I feel like they'd have ignored each other, but then maybe would have had more of an interesting dynamic immediately afterward if they had Tanjiro in the middle of their interactions too. But, like, what if one day during training Muichiro wandered around and got lost in the woods (not lost, just forgot what he was doing), and Genya led him back like a stray puppy, only to later be shocked that he was a Pillar the whole time and Genya was treating him like his junior? Poor Genya would be shook.

In the aforementioned post, I mentioned that I just don't see much romantic pairing potential for Nezuko and Muichiro, but as friends, I see him much more inclined to find little demon Nezuko and her silly antics fun than to find polite human Nezuko an especially engaging person. Not to say they wouldn't get along, I just don't have a spark of inspiration at this time for how they'd hit it off.

But you know what interaction I always like!? Daki/Ume and Nezuko!! I will take all of those, especially the bad interactions!!

What other young sibling characters can we through in here...? Shinobu and Giyuu, they are pretty affected by being second children. Himejima was also a second child, though he grew up as an orphan so maybe he doesn't belong in this club. Iguro and Kanao were both lower middle children but they don't belong either, sorry, kids.

Oh! Yoriichi was a second born. I'll be bet he'd appreciate having friends here. He'd probably be especially touched to meet Senjuro and Nezuko, the progeny of people whom he considered friends, and I'll bet he'd have a desire for familial closeness with Muichiro, but he wouldn't know how to express that, especially after how things went with Michikatsu. He might attempt to teach Bretah technique to Genya, and either that would be what it takes for Genya to get it, or Yoriichi would assure him that he's fine being the best version of himself. He might find Shinobu a bit intimidating, but I'll bet he'd most enjoy spending silent time with Giyuu, just eating silently together or something (but also, now that I'm picturing it, I'll bet they'd pair really well side-by-side in battle). EDIT: After writing this Ask response, I wrote this Ask response, which gave me the right AU to make Genya, Muichiro, and Nezuko found family, which interactions with Senjuro too. What do you know, it does work as long as you kill Kamado Tanjiro first.

[coolgirl32]

Adventure 15 Milo x my OC Jacqulyn

so yeah I'm sorry if I haven't wrote any of these adventures in a while it's just hard to find the right words to right here anyway let's get on with the story

Jacqulyn woke up to find herself in the Atlantis movie where the movie was set in 1914 in Washington DC she was very excited even though she's never been to Washington DC she has watched the movie with her family a lot of times. while she was in her train of thought Sarah appeared Jacqulyn hugged Sarah she asks Sarah why was she in the Atlantis movie Sarah told her that her next adventure was here and then guy she was supposed to fall in love is Milo Jacqulyn's cheeks started getting red she always had a crush on Milo ever since she was a little kid. so as her and Sarah made a plan all the way across town to the museum Milo was speaking to the directors Milo was trying to convince the directors that Atlantis was real but the directors didn't want to believe him because they told him his uncle was crazy even though his uncle wasn't crazy so as the directors drove off Milo was upset while he was walking he accidentally bumped into someone when he went to apologize to that person he realized that person was a beautiful woman Milo has never seen such a beautiful woman as this one beautiful blue eyes like the beautiful ocean sea cute curly hair when he snapped out of it he realized he was staring he apologized to her she forgave him they then began to have a conversation the conversation led to a date. Jacqulyn and Milo then talked about the city of Atlantis Milo was relieved that someone believed him so when they went to his place they saw a woman was there the woman told Milo that there was a man who knew his uncle and she asked Milo to come with her when they went to the mansion the woman asked Milo is Jacqulyn with him or not Milo said yes she is with him when Milo and Jacqulyn talk to Milo's uncle's friend he told Milo that Milo and Jacqulyn have to go on this adventure to go find Atlantis Milo was hesitant for a little bit until Jacqulyn convince him to go that it'd be great to go on an adventure and to prove those directors wrong. Milo accepted

Time skip

Jacqulyn and Milo are now at the docks where they saw a huge submarine and a bunch of people that's when they saw the same woman that broke into Milo's house when Jacqulyn went to ask what they would be looking for in Atlantis the woman answered with that's classified. Jacqulyn was very confused and very curious but also very happy that she got to join the mission. As everybody settled in Jacqulyn was thinking about all the adventures she had and all the Disney guys she married and left because she had to go on the next adventures she felt really bad about it but she knew she had to do this for adventures. That's when an alarm went off everyone ran to where the alarm was set off Jacqulyn went with everybody and it turned out to be a meeting Jacqulyn was relieved but also thought it was something bad so when Milo told everybody about the plans for Atlantis his plans were soon cut short because there was a creature everybody fought the creature but didn't know what it was until Milo told everybody that it might have been an old prehistoric creature older than the dinosaurs everybody rolled their eyes and moved on with their day to go see Atlantis.

Time skip

After Milo and everyone found Atlantis and then saved Atlantis Milo and Jacqulyn started dating then after more time skipped they got married and went on their honeymoon one night Jacqulyn was writing a letter from Milo when she got done with her letter Sarah appeared and asked Jacqulyn if she is ready to go she said yes and the portal was opened Jacqulyn then put the letter next to Milo when Milo woke up he found the letter he read it and thought he was crazy but no he wasn't he then wrote a letter to all his friends telling them that they weren't crazy they were correct about Jacqulyn Milo was a little upset but understood that Jacqulyn had to go on these adventures and he's hoping that she will be safe and that the next guy will love her and appreciate her

To be continued

I really hope everybody enjoyed this sorry that this took long there will be more but I don't know when also please do enjoy and no copywriting

[f1-disaster-bi]

I dreamed about my ex tonight. It's been months since I last dreamed about him we split for 4 years ago. I kinda feel my dream would fit into maybe the single dad Lando au as a dream that makes Lando insecure and Dan has to reassure him.

The dream went like this:

I was in some huge mansion, idk why, and was searching for my dog. I found him eventually but somehow my ex was there as well. He came onto me, kissed my neck and tried to pull me towards a bed. He said it's his birthday and that it could be my present to him. I felt so irritated and bad because I'm talking to a guy and maybe we can work. I felt so disgusted with him and told him no but he wouldn't listen and in one moment I managed to get up and walk away so fast and kicked him out. He was irritated because I never been so rash with him and he gave in. He even cried but I didn't care. He than proceeded to take out a letter that I apparently wrote, I never have written him a letter, and burned it and then drove away.

Maybe the ex tried to take Eloise with them and that makes Lando so distressed and Dan holds him close and reassures him that the ex can't do anything to get Eloise and that he will protect their little family.

This type of dream and fear would definitely fit in qith the angst of her mother coming back

Eloise's mother showing up at first and she just shows herself to Lando, not to Eloise. She threatens Lando, demanding that they go to court because she wants full custody of Eloise. That Lando has been a terrible father and that by exposing her to his 'sin' (Daniel) he's abusing her. That the courts always side with the mother and it'd be easier if Lando just gave Eloise to her

It terrifies Lando, especially after she shows up at the park where he is with Daniel and Eloise. Lando is so distressed when he's trying to hold Eloise while her mother is screaming at them and trying to talk to Eloise while Daniel is trying to protect them.

He tries to get a no contact order against her but she hasn't done anything bad enough to warrant one is what he's told

And that when the nightmares start.

Nightmares of her taking Eloise. Ones of Eloise telling him that she hates him and Daniel, that they're disgusting and her mother is right. Ones where courts decide he has no access to his won child

Lando always wakes up scared and trembling but Daniel is always there. Strong arms wrapped around him, kisses pressed to his face and reassuring words. Promising he isn't going to let anything happen to Lando or Eloise, that no one will take their little one from them

Sometimes Eloise wakes up because she hears her daddy crying or has a bad dream about the 'angry lady' and she crawls into bed with them and Lando gets to hold his family and know they're still there

[druidx]

The Frustrated Writer

Universe: One-shot Context: I was really angry. I was struggling to complete a correspondence course assignment and getting nowhere. So I wrote this. I'm... not very proud of this one, but it has some good imagery. CW: Swearing, derisive self-thought Words: 853 Date: Feb 2005

You know, sometimes I think there ought to be a 'Writers Anonymous'. Like the one for drunks, but for writers. I bet you're wondering why I'm going on about this, well, Hi! My name is Alexis, and I'm having problems writing. Ah, I can see it now: "And what is your problem, dear?" a 60ish woman would ask me from the front row. Her hair would be white and she'd be dressed in a turquoise skirt-suit and a complementary coloured silk scarf draped loosely around her neck. I bet she writes soppy romance crap, I would think. "I can't think of any ideas." I would reply, and embarrassedly glance down at my clasped hands. "At least," I continue. "Not good ones and never through to the end." "Well, now dear. It's nothing to be ashamed of. We all have some problem or other, or we wouldn't be here!" She would give a little titter and glance round at the others. And I would stand there, my shame and embarrassment burning holes in the ground, and I would think, Yeah, thanks a lot lady.

But, of course, there is no Writers Anonymous, and I'm still stuck with my problem. For possibly the hundredth time today I huff in despair and hit my keyboard in disgust. My mug's empty I notice, so I rise to flick the kettle on. 'Relax' they'd said, 'Quit stressing so much. Just free your mind!' So I tried, I really did, and what was the net result? A lot of clean laundry, a super tidy apartment [not a dust mote in sight], one complete cross-stitch and a slightly more toned body.

Yeah. It didn't work. Last time I listen to them. Fuckers.

Okay, so this attitude isn't really getting me anywhere, so I sit down again to type the plot for my next assignment: Amanda Schroeder, a single 20-something German-American female journalist, receives a mysterious letter. It asks her to meet the author [the ever elusive 'Anon'] in a local graveyard, as they have something they believe she would be interested in. Intrigued and against her better judgement, she goes. She arrives in the dead of night, to find a man waiting for her-

I erase the whole passage. What the hell was I thinking! What's he going to show her, his dick? Yeah, really clever. Godsdamnit! I put my head in my hands. I'm so close to tears right now it's not true. Why why why can't I think of anything decent? How am I supposed to get rid of this mental block? God, I'm so pathetic.

And again, for what feels like the thousandth time, I give myself a mental slap. I won't get anywhere in this state. I rise to the sound of the kettle boiling and make tea. The mundane activities of pouring water, adding milk and sugar, and stirring, help bring me back from the edge of despair.

I take my tea out onto the balcony and look out over the world. Wait, that makes me sound rich, like I live in a mansion by the sea or something. Let me rephrase that. I take my tea out onto the rickety balconette thing and look out over the scummy corner of the world I, and the local chavs, call home. Ah! The sweet smell of vomit and aerosol and piss; the heavenly tones of screeching harpies and bad hip-hop; the sultry lines of broken and decaying concrete. I turn back inside. God, what a hell hole.

The computer leers at me as I sit before it once more. I stare at the blank page before me, willing words to come to mind, willing an idea to form a plot. Nothing comes. What a fucking surprise. I turn in my chair and flick on the TV, a news channel. Nothing like a good tragedy to get the imagination fired.

By now I expect you're probably thinking: She shouldn't be so cynical of those who gave advice. You're thinking: She is pushing herself too hard. You're thinking: God, what a whiny brat. Well, you are in my head, so you'll just have to put up with the whining. But, the other stuff? Yeah, maybe I am pushing myself, and yeah, it probably is good advice, but... this place is a hell hole, and I want out so much. I've put myself under enormous pressure, I know, but I hate this place. No, wait... I loathe this place, I despise its inhabitants, I abhor everything about it. Now maybe you understand a little better?

Something on the TV has caught my attention. It's showing a story about a missing little girl. The pictures show a snowy scene; now a graphic of some Eastern European country; the reporter is saying something about a psychic...

I can feel the cogs of my mind casting off the rust of disuse. An idea is starting to blossom like the first daffodil of spring. Brain going full tilt, I turn back to my now cowering machine, and begin to type...

[heavenbykvar]

Luseram, California 

Hana sat next to Annika, by the opened windows. It was a nearly-perfect summer day, and not a single cloud in the skies. The breeze was not so cold. Annika found Hana’s nearness comforting, as if she was giving her more strength, and she knew Hana too was praying for her, for their princess Areum, and for the survival of their kingdom.

They indeed had been through so much. So many ups and so many downs.

Annika’s bronze eyes met Hana’s charcoal eyes and while sick with worry, they were filled with hope. 

Physically, Annika was sitting in that house in Luseram, but mentally, she was standing above a great fire, flames about to reach her short legs, and was attempting to grab her Areum, her Heaven, to lift her up over this orange blaze.

 

John had left them after he had sent his new letter to Heaven in Richmond. His plan was to meet Heaven and Eunmi halfways, in Kansas. When Heaven would receive the letter, he knew she would pack what little she had with Eunmi and make the trip to reunite with him.

Annika tried to make him change his mind. 

“Stay here until she received your letter and sends another,” she pleaded. 

John shook his head. He couldn’t just sit around in that house, still seemingly so miserable, and wait in it. 

“Do you trust me?” He asked the mother of his beloved.

One side of Annika indeed trusted him. But the other half of her did not. Annika had not trust him so fully as to remove the weight of the situation and leave it at his feet. She did not learn to know how. Her very heart longed to trust exactly like that. 

Right before leaving the house, Annika handed him a handgun. He was speechless. 

“It’s for protecting yourself if you get into some kind of trouble,” said Annika quietly. She had carried that gun for that reason. He was reluctant for a moment, and she caught that look. John seeing the gun made him remember that day at Ford’s Theatre. He thought of Heaven, pushing away that memory. He came back to himself, grabbed it and tucked it into his coat. 

“Miss Eunmi is with her,” said Hana. “She is not alone.” 

“I will be fretful until she is in my arms again.”

Heaven’s letter had calmed Annika, but it had wore off and she found herself anxious again. John leaving to meet Heaven halfways did little to Annika’s unease.

“And she will be.”

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼ 

Raleigh, North Carolina 

Mr. Jackson was sitting in his bedroom, about to open another bottle of whiskey that had been sitting on his side table. After Heaven escaped, alcohol had become his love. A knock on his door was heard. 

“I give you the permission to come in,” stated Mr. Jackson, putting down the unopened bottle. 

“I have a letter from Richmond that is addressed to you,” said the female newly-hired Irish servant, handing the letter to her employer. 

Mr. Jackson opened the package and began to read. It was from a Miss Emma Dixon. A woman wrote and sent this letter, peaking his interest more.

”Dear sir, with reassurance I believe the disappearance of the person you put in the newspapers has been solved, for there is a girl with a description that matches, here in the city of Richmond. She stays exactly where, I don’t know, but she is with an older woman with dark hair. The women had been seen together around town. 

Sir, please come to Richmond immediately. My home is located by the Confederate Executive Mansion. I truly want to help you reunite with said loved one

Emma Dixon.” 

Mr. Jackson’s heart leapt, those sparks of hope coming back to him. He jumped out of his chair and pushed his servant out of his way to pack up. He was going to get his girl back.

”Richmond, here I come!”

✼ •• ┈┈┈┈๑⋅⋯ ୨˚୧ ⋯⋅๑┈┈┈┈ •• ✼ 

Richmond, Virginia 

Again weeks had passed. Heaven was getting over that incident fully with Emma when again she recoiled seeing the blonde woman in their hotel lobby. It looked like Emma was looking for her, but Heaven saw her first.

“She knows where we are now, how is that?” Heaven whispered to Eunmi. 

“Curse that woman,” thought a disgusted Eunmi. “What antic is she going to do now?”

Emma saw the two women, and began to walk towards them. Heaven stiffened. 

Eunmi gently grabbed ahold of Heaven’s arm. 

“Hello, Miss Heaven.” Emma smiled.

The petite redhead looked up to the taller blonde. Heaven thought Emma looked like an angel herself, with her golden locks of hair and eyes as blue as a cloudless bright sky. Heaven thought of that incident at the mail office, when Emma looked like she had been expelled from heaven, a fallen angel. In other words, diabolic. 

Heaven couldn’t help but force a smile. 

“I came to apologize for my behaviour and for inflicting discomfort and pain. I am truly sorry.” Emma looked down as she “apologized.” 

Heaven recognized her tone. It was not genuine. She had met many women, young and old, in the Aeworan capitol of Hyocheon before war had come. A large amount of them were envious of the Princess and acted nicer in her presence. Heaven was not fooled for one second.

Heaven wanted terribly to forgive Emma, though. She aimed to be like her king grandfather, always so forgiving towards his enemies, even when they were not being genuine. 

“How does he do that?” thought Heaven. Not one person had waited for her forgiveness, until now. She forgave Mr. Jackson a little while ago. She thought of him a lonely and misunderstood man who did horrible things but was not horrible himself.

Heaven found herself stunned at the realization.

“Oh, it is quite alright,” Heaven managed to say and continued to smile–forcibly. 

Eunmi saw through Emma’s act as well, quietly asking herself what is she up to. 

“And I ask you to come to dinner at the once-grand home of my family. It’s by the unforgettable Executive Mansion of the Confederacy, you can’t miss it.” 

Eunmi wanted Heaven to reject the offer. She said it in her own eyes when Heaven turned to look at her. “Say no, no, no, Areum.” Eunmi pleaded in her mind.

Heaven looked at Emma again. “How kind of you, Miss Emma. We will be there. Thank you,” 

“We? I asked specifically for you, Miss Heaven.” Emma insisted.

”She won’t go unless I come with her,” Eunmi demanded.

Heaven nodded. Emma was about to scoff, but controlled herself. “Ah, well you can come, too, I suppose. The more, the merrier.”

This displeased Eunmi very much. What will Heaven gain from this? What will Emma gain from this?

”I cannot wait to see you two there. And especially you, Miss Heaven. Goodbye, for now!” exclaimed Emma, with a smile. 

Eunmi saw and recognized that smile. It was not a delighted smile, not the friendly kind. It was a dark smile, as if Emma was pleased with herself about something she did. 

“I can’t see why you accepted her offer.” said Eunmi to Heaven as they walked to the mail office. 

“I just want to see if she’ll have a change of heart, I suppose,” Heaven bit her lip. 

“I saw that she wasn’t being truthful. She was putting on an act. Clear as day,” muttered Eunmi. “And what if she hurts you at the dinner, somehow? Why risk it?”

The little redhead sighed. “I know, no one can miss that. But I want to see how she is at the dinner, and she can’t hurt me if her family is around with us.” 

Then suddenly Heaven shuddered. She is going to meet John’s daughter. The little girl, the life he left for her.

Unbeknownst to the pair, a certain man was waiting for Heaven at the Dixon residence. A man she forgave, but wanted to forget.

[anastasiaskarsgard]

A/n;So someone asked for smut for the perfect girl that decides she’s gonna have some fun before she dies. I’m A bit rusty. TW: sex, cursing, choking, 18+ NSFW

If you wanna read the first part it’s called perfect problem and is the last thing I wrote on here and posted...

“So where are we going?” Bethany asked as they got into some ridiculously expensive sports car. Adjusting her clothing and hair, she glanced over at Roman to find him just watching her.

Smirking his signature smirk, he turned the car on and raced out of the parking lot like he has stolen the car. “It’s a surprise.” Roman said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

“Eyes on the road Speed Racer! Ok well at least tell me what we are going to go do.” She whined.

“Nope. No can do princess. You’re just going to have to have a little faith.” He grinned.

“Your reputation doesn’t exactly inspire trust. No offense.” She felt bad as soon as she looked over. He looked almost sad. “I’m just giving you a hard time. I’m not serious.” She lied.

“I thought you were supposed to be smart...”

“Oh ho ho! Someone bounces back quick.”she jibed as she turned to look out the window. She wasn’t exactly familiar with the area so she wasn’t sure what she was looking for. There was trees, and then some houses, and then businesses so there’s no way to tell if they were going somewhere Residential or commercial.

Grabbing her phone to send out some emails, she wasn’t paying attention when she noticed the car had stopped. Looking up from her phone she made an incredulous face at Roman when she noticed that they were in front of a large mansion.

“Really?” She quipped.

“Hey Before you jump to conclusions, I’m just coming here to get into some more comfortable clothes. I can’t exactly have fun in a suit, now can I?” He got out of the car and walked around it to open her door. “You can look around or grab a drink or whatever you like while I change.”

Stepping out of The car, Bethany followed roman inside his home. “ not even gonna try that old give me a tour excuse?”

Scoffing, he shook his head no, and made a crossing motion over his heart. “Scouts honor.”

“What if that’s exactly what I wanted to do?” She breathed out as she made her best attempt at sexy. Licking her lips, and winking, she nearly cried out when all of a sudden he was only inches away from her. “You’re very fast. I hope that’s not true for everything though.”

Smirking, he lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Pulling back to look at his face, she bit her bottom lip thoughtfully, as he walked them up to his room. Seeing the insecurity creeping in, He kept an eye open to watch where he was going but smashed his mouth back into hers, in a passionate, breathtaking kiss. Completely losing herself, she was startled when he dropped her on the bed and crawled over her body, pressing himself into her, making his intentions clear.

Sitting up as he straddled her waist, he ripped his shirt off, sending buttons flying, before aggressively attacking her mouth once more. Her nails dug into his bare back and he groaned into her mouth, before kissing down her neck and onto her chest.

Abruptly, he jumped off her and stood over her a moment longer than she assumed it took to take off his pants, so she lifted her head, cocking a brow at him curiously.

“Dress off.” He ordered, his smile fading.

Smiling a Cheshire grin, she shook her head no and looked up at the ceiling. Not letting curiosity get the best of her, she refused to look at him when he huffed impatiently. Even when he had stormed out of the room, and returned a few minutes later, looming over her, she refused to award his bratty behavior.

“Please take your dress off.” He finally bit out.

For a moment She pondered denying him-- and in turn denying herself. But the fact remained, she wanted him, whether contrived or genuine, She did. And She was done not doing what She wanted.

“Stand up.” His voice shocked her out of her head and She found herself standing at the side of the bed. “Good girl.” He purred, his hand brushing her back as he walked behind her and She shivered, as she turned her head to look at him. “Head forward.”

She did so, waiting for him to come back into view and see how far he’d take this little game. When she heard the bed sheets move, she fought the urge to turn around until She felt his fingers on her back, drawing letters or shapes; she wasn’t sure. Roman hummed quietly, lulling her into a peaceful calm, when suddenly he pulled her back into him. He was sitting on the bed, his long legs slightly spread and he spun her around, and placed her straddling over his one naked leg. Somewhere, somehow He’d removed his pants.

Gently he traced up her chest and wrapped one hand in her hair, pulling her forward so he could kiss her neck. Surprisingly, he bit her ... hard. Instead of pain, her senses exploded, causing her to moan wantonly, as she ground her core against his bare thigh.

When his other hand slid down her stomach, She Was almost embarrassed by how wet she had become.

“Stay still…” He said playfully in her ear as he slipped his fingers past the lace covering his goal. Plunging them within her, coating his fingers with her wetness, He gazed into her eyes lustily, as he Brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean. “So ready for me.”

She nodded dumbly, lost in the sinful way his tongue worked around his fingers. Biting her lip, she must of looked pitiful, because Roman dropped character a moment to chuckle and move a piece of hair behind her ear affectionately. Almost lovingly.

Unfortunately she was way too far gone to contemplate what these gestures might mean. She wanted to fuck and she wanted those fingers to go back down there, but this was Roman Godfrey. The man Was unpredictable at best, and uncooperative the rest of the time.

Roman was a predator, and predators like to chase. As much as she wanted to just throw herself at him and demand to fuck her into oblivion, she Still had enough pride to play the game.

“I knew I was right.” He growled, Standing, releasing her hair, so he could wrap his hand around her throat. She grinned, not really caring what he meant. “Now, Im going to fuck you. I’m not going to be gentle, but I’m going to make sure you come so hard that you forget your fucking name.” He smirked cockily, still holding her by the throat. “I can see it in your eyes, that you’re a fucking freak under all that polite perfection. You’ve never fucked up or disappointed anyone ever. You’re loved and respected. Americas sweetheart.... I wonder what they’d all say if they saw you right now, ready to be my little fuck doll, cuz that’s exactly what you are.” Two of his fingers dragged across her cheek, Forcing their way in her mouth. She could taste herself on him and it made her nearly mad with need. She’d never been this turned on in her life. “You have the most perfect lips.” He said as he examined the way they wrapped around his fingers, “I’m going to put so many things in your mouth.”

She sucked briefly, before humming around his digits, lightly biting them. Swiftly, he removed them for a moment, before getting a mischievous look on his face and shoving them in as deep as he could, choking her slightly. Slightly panicked, she reached for his hand, but he just tsked and Tightened his grip on her throat, before ripping his fingers out of her mouth and plunging his tongue in their place.

She really needed to breathe, but eventhough she could feel her limbs growing weak, She didn’t fight him. Completely surrendering to the most arousing experience in her life.

“That’s why I’m going to keep you.” Before She could comment or recover, he removed her dress and threw her down on the bed, standing over her a moment to look her over.

He yanked her underwear down and dove two fingers into her roughly, making her arch her back. His expert fingers were moving faster and faster, getting her closer and closer to the edge of orgasm. It’d been a long time since a man made her orgasm, and she was certain, she’d never come close to this intensity. He reached down and pulled her up by the back of her neck, holding her against him like a rag doll, as he brought her closer. , his thumb brushed over her clit and She opened her mouth, trying not to scream. Her limbs started to shake, as her pelvis started thrusting into his hand, flailing about as Her vision began to blur. She closed her eyes tight, ready for the climax.

“Look at me. Look at who is making you feel this way,” he said seductively.

She breathed, looking into his gorgeous green eyes, as He quickened his pace again and added a third finger, making her buck, as she grabbed his rock hard erection, causing him to hiss, and roll on top of her.

“Patience.” He teased, pushing her legs apart. She looked in between his to see his cock standing hard and long against his stomach, a new need screamed within her, demanding him inside her right fucking now.

“What do you want?” He asked innocently, three fingers diving into her again. She closed her eyes from all the sensations, trying to get control, but she was past the point of pride now.

“Please--” She gasped. “Please.”

“Please what?” He pressed down on her clit and She wanted to kill him, but first had to fuck him. His other hand came down and pinched her nipple, twisting it and making her cry out.

“Fuck!” She screamed as he did the same to the other. “Fuck! Fuck me Roman! Fucking fuck me now or I’m going to kill you!”

He didn’t need to be told twice and She felt the large head of his cock against her entrance, before he just forced it inside her with one powerful thrust.

He was big and it took her body a moment to adjust to him, the burn slowly fading as he gave her a moment to breathe and relax herself to accommodate by far the largest cock she’d ever seen, let alone was inside of her.

Somehow it felt divine when he began to move again, and she moaned loudly, his body pressing down into her as he started to move his hips back and forth. She could feel him driving into her with solid, sure strokes as She clenched around him. His lips crashed into hers again as he pushed his hand under her ass and pulled her hips up, sitting back so he could move at a quicker pace. Setting her nerves on fire. Every inch of her body sang in extreme pleasure. His thrusts massaged her inner walls, the tension roaring through her, as he bottomed out and touched a place she’d never felt before, but the intensity made her screech.

She could feel the tell tale signs of an orgasm swelling through her but She held it back, making it feel sweeter and richer with each passing moment. His fingers dug into hips hard enough to break her bones as he closed his eyes, focusing on his own pleasure. His pace turned more erratic and She gripped him around his torso, desperately trying to hang on so they could both orgasm at the same time. Pulling him down and attempting to hide her face in his throat, he stopped and leaned back looking at her beautiful flushed face.

“Ah--ah-- ah--” He held still. “Look at me.”

She did, letting herself melt into his gaze as he started again, harder and faster than before. Noises came from her, she didn’t know She could make and his hand wrapped around her throat, squeezing possessively. Each thrust sent shockwaves through her until She was right back to nearly cumming.

“Please--” It took effort to speak through his grip, but She was so close, she didn’t care if she had to beg. “Please, I’m so close--”

“Tell me how badly you want it.” He ordered, his own breath ragged.

“I need it-- please! Please, Roman!” She screamed like a desperate, shameless whore, before she exploded, tightening around him as his grip turned to a vice around her neck and somehow the lack of oxygen intensified the sensory overload to a new height. She drowned in the relentless, all encompassing sensations, that lasted far longer than She thought possible-- causing herself to completely release control for the first time in her life.

As the shocks rocked through her, she felt him stiffen and press into her as deep as possible, spending himself inside her. She couldn’t help but trip out a little about being so full of him. She’d never allowed anyone to finish inside her before.

“You really are good at everything,” he said playfully, as he rubbed his nose along hers, and held her a moment, before pulling out, and flopping down beside her. Brushing his fingers along her tight stomach, and full breasts, he decided she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

His mother was going to fucking hate her...

Perfect.

[randomshyperson]

The Scarlet Witch Prophecy - The Fourth Year (Part I) - Chapter 04

Series Masterlist ||  Read on AO3 || All Works Masterlist

Summary: As the youngest daughter of Howard Stark, you have ordinary expectations for your years at Hogwarts. Little do you know what adventures await you when your destiny is intertwined with the legendary Scarlet Witch.

Warnings: +16. Adaptation of the Harry Potter Saga, Magical Thematic, Prophecies, Mentions of Violence, Torture and dark magic, Language (swearing and minor/major offenses), manipulation of will, Underage kissing, insinuation of smut with minors, Smut (overage), descriptions of death, aggression, obscurity, angst, fluffy, soulmates analogies.

Chapter Words:  9.832K

Authors note: In this one I start to explore more of the magical bond between reader and wanda, and well, it will be very much about that from this one on. I need to know if you all prefer longer (and more detailed) chapters about the reader's years at hogwarts like this one (which has been divided into three parts) or if you prefer the pace of the first three chapters (with only the relevant events of the whole year). Enjoy your reading.

//-// x //-// //-// x //-//

It's very different having Nebula and Gamora at home. 

You were used to having only Tony and Jarvis, and occasionally your father, but now that you have your friends sleeping in the next two rooms, you always have someone your own age to talk to and laugh about the same things.

It took a while for things to normalize, especially the first week. Thanos was furious about the letter that Gamora sent him, saying that they would live with you now. He showed up in the yard of your house the next day, and you have never seen your father so enraged.

They talked for many minutes, and then Thanos demanded to speak to his daughters. Nebula was trembling as she walked out the door, but your father stayed by their side during the entire conversation.

When they went back inside, Thanos left. Two days later, your father signed the adoption papers.

You were surprised when you discovered that Nebula was as passionate about magical mechanics as Tony, so it didn't take long for it to become commonplace for her to disappear into the basement of the house along with your brother, both of them wrapped up in some strange invention. You and Gamora usually spent most of your time in the backyard, she reading some Arithmanian stuff you didn't understand, while you played quidditch, or the two of you tended the garden. Mantis also came to visit you in the summer, and Groot was the size of a small dog now.

You exchanged many letters with Wanda during the vacations. And when Iron brought another one of them a little after dinner, on the antepenultimate week of vacation while you and Gamora were in your room talking about the coming year, she acquired a mischievous look on her face.

"What do you guys talk about so much?" She teased as you took the letter from Iron's beak. You shrugged, feeling your face heat up, and thought it better to look at the paper in your hands than Gamora's face.

“I don’t know,. Everything i think”. You answer.

Gamora is silent as you read the letter. You smile, because it is as if you hear Wanda's voice in the words you read. 

"Can I ask you something?" Gamora speaks next, you make a noise with the little one in agreement, without taking your eyes off the paper. "Have you ever kissed anyone?

"What?" you ask in surprise, raising your eyes to her. "N-no."

Gamora's arms are crossed and she's sitting on the bed, and she raises her eyebrow in disbelief.

"Is that so?" She asks and you swallow dryly, confirming. Her expression softens. "I'm only saying that because a lot of people start dating in third grade."

You close the letter in your hands, placing it on the shelf beside you. Ignoring how the subject makes your stomach flip with nervousness, you rest your hands on your knee.

"Do you think we'll start dating too?" You ask shyly, and Gamora smiles, shrugging.

"Who knows?" She retorts. "I never thought about that either. But I do know that Pietro kissed Monica on the mouth after our leave vacation inside a cabin on the Hogwarts express."

"Are you for real?" You asked in surprise. "How did you find out about that?"

"Quill wrote to me last night." She says. "I forgot to tell you."

"Wow." You say. 

"Yeah." She agrees. "Peter told me that Pietro turned red as a tomato, but kept smiling. I thought Wanda would tell you that."

You bit your tongue to avoid mentioning that you and Wanda don't talk about such things, and cleared your throat before shrugging.

"Maybe Pietro didn't say anything to her." You say. "I probably won't tell Tony when I have my first kiss."

"You're probably right." Gamora said casually. "But you're going to tell me, right? When you kiss someone, you need to tell me how to do it."

You laughed, walking over to Gamora.

"I promise I will." You say extending your pinky to her. She looks at you confused, "It's a pinky promise, haven't you ever sworn like that?"

"That's muggles' stuff." She comments with a smile, and you laugh.

"Yeah, my dad probably learned it from my mom." You say using your other hand to take Gamora's hand. "Come on, you put your finger like this, and then we swear."

Gamora laughed as she followed your commands, and then you repeated the promise. After you yawned, she bade you goodnight and went to her room.

You fought the urge to reread Wanda's letter, and threw yourself on the bed, not understanding why your brain was replaying Gamora's questions in your mind and you kept thinking of Wanda afterwards.

//-//

The Quidditch World Cup is happening this year, and you can hardly contain yourself with excitement.

You had been to the event a few times when you were younger, but now that you actually played quidditch it was a very different feeling.

Your favorite team was the Guardians of the Galaxy, who had played for England for many years, and were also your father's favorite team. Tony stopped liking them the first year, saying that they were losing too many games, but you knew it was because Steve Rogers was rooting for the Brooklyn Soldiers team and Tony was trying to impress him.

All your friends will be at the event, including many thousands of other witches from all over the world. 

You have to wake up at dawn in order not to miss the time of the portal keys that have been scattered around the country by the Ministry of Magic, to prevent wizards from being seen disappearing into inappropriate places that could expose the magical world.

When you came down to the kitchen, everyone was already having breakfast. Your father kissed your forehead as he walked past you, a mug of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other.

"Finally awake, sleepyhead." Teased Tony when he saw you, you just yawned. 

"Are we leaving already?" You asked sleepily, grabbing some toast.

"Yes, dear." Her father replied looking at his watch. "Get ready soon, or we'll miss the schedule."

You grumble in agreement, hurrying to get back to your room and take a shower. 

When you are ready, and stretching as you walk to the outside of the house, Gamora joins you, a backpack on her back resembling yours.

"I can't wait to see the foreign wizards." She comments excitedly making you smile. Gamora didn't like the sport, and was far more excited to see the witches from the rest of the world than to watch the match.

"I bet there's going to be some Ilvermorny people's stall." You say as you catch up with your father, who was waiting next to Tony and Nebula. Jarvis waves goodbye to you from the doorway, and you begin walking toward the trail beyond the mansion grounds. "They are so show-offy."

Gamora laughs.

"I've never met anyone from the United States." She counters. "But some witches from Japan have been to my house."

You know that the mention of home or Thanos makes Gamora very uncomfortable, so you try to skirt around the subject.

"I guess Nurse Cho was from Mahoutokoro, huh?" You comment, and Gamora shrugs. "Thor had mentioned that during a class, I think."

"I wonder if the other schools are cool like Hogwarts?" She asks, and you smile.

"No place is like Hogwarts."

Gamora laughs, but agrees. You walk in silence for a few more minutes, and it is only when you reach an empty area that you stop.

"Here we are, people." Your father says next, slightly tired from the exercise. He waves for everyone to form a circle as he checks his watch. "Two minutes to go, children. Stand in position please."

There is a small cloth boot in the center of the circle, and you are not the least bit surprised because you know that portal keys are usually the most mundane things you can think of.

You all reach down and touch the boot with your fingertips. You smile at Tony who looks up at you. Two minutes later, you feel a tug, and everything spins around you. Taking a deep breath, you focus on controlling yourself as you are falling into the portal key. And then you land on the ground.

"Here we are." Your father says smiling beside you. You look to the side to see Gamora helping Nebula to stand up properly, as she had remarked that she gets a little queasy with this kind of magic. Tony throws an arm around your shoulders next.

"Ready to see the guardians lose, kid?" He teases causing you to let out a humorless laugh.

"You wish." You grumble pushing Tony lightly, who lets go as he laughs.

And then you start walking again, until you come to a place considerably noisier than where you were before.

The ministry seemed to have bypassed an area with low chains, and you notice the magical aura around the metal, signaling that everything was magically hidden.

There is a wizard in uniform at the entrance, and he collects the tickets before letting you pass into the hut area. 

There are many tents of the most varied characteristics. You laugh in surprise when your gaze catches a conjuration exactly like a vacation castle, but much smaller in size. As you walk through the crowd, your father asks everyone to hold hands so as not to get lost as he guides you to the area where you would be staying.

Your father has rented a tent in a more private area of the place, and there are hardly any witches where you are. You like the silence, but you miss how much more fun the other place seems.

"The Rogers and the Barnes should be here by now I imagine." Your father comments as he waves his wand to open the cabin. You enter the room next, it is like a small winter home inside, very cozy.

"Yes, dad." Tony replies throwing his backpack on one of the couches. "I wrote Steve last night."

Howard grumbles in agreement, walking to the kitchen. You place your backpack on the floor next.

"Daddy, can I go look for Wanda and Pietro?" You ask and your father laughs, denying it.

"You didn't eat anything before you left, honey." He says turning around. "Eat something and then you can go look for them."

You grumble, but agree. While you are making some eggs, Steve's family arrives.

"Howard, you outdo yourself every year, my friend." Joseph Rogers comments as he enters the cabin. Your father smiles cheerfully as he hugs him in greeting, then greets Sarah, Steve's mother, with a kiss on the cheek. He ruffles Steve's hair and pats his arm, repeating the same gesture to Bucky, who follows behind.

" Is your father not here, James?" Howard asks next, and Bucky clears his throat.

"No, sir." He replies. "Since my sisters can't come, he took them to a music event in the muggle world. If you want my opinion, rock concerts are as cool as quidditch."

The comment makes Howard laugh in agreement, but Steve's family doesn't seem to understand very well.

Soon they were all around the room, talking animatedly about the most varied subjects. You exchanged a complicit look with Gamora and Nebula, and you took advantage of your father being involved in a conversation with Joseph to leave the cabin.

"Do you have any idea where Professor Lehnsherr has placed the tents?" Gamora asks you once you are outside and you look around.

"No." You reply. "Wanda just wrote that she and Pietro were going to be here too, but I don't even know if it's Magneto that's bringing them."

"We're just left to look then." Nebula concludes and you nod in agreement, starting to walk.

You walk back to the common tent area, looking around.

Gamora and Nebula are easily distracted by the amount of interesting things to see, and almost lose track of you when some witches from the Salem Institute hand them some exchange pamphlets. 

It is only at the food stall that you finally find who you were looking for.

"My god, is that...?" You hear Gamora exclaim next to you in surprise. You know she was talking about Professor Lehnsherr, who is wearing jeans and a T-shirt and sunglasses and looks very well, and has a completely different posture than he usually has in class, but you are not looking at him anymore. 

Your stomach is restless because you are looking at Wanda, wearing a black skirt with knee socks and boots, and a red jacket. She looks beautiful, and you are blushing.

Gamora waves to them from a distance, and it is Pietro who notices you guys first, waving back cheerfully while nudging Wanda on the shoulder. She blinks in confusion and then smiles when she sees you.

You think your legs have turned to jelly, but you continue walking toward her. 

"It's so good to see you girls" Pietro exclaims happily as he hugs Gamora. 

"Hi, Wanda." You greet with a half-hearted smile, but Wanda's face lights up and she jumps at you, hugging you tight, and making your heart soar. "It's good to see you too." You whisper humorously against her hair, and Wanda releases you with a reddened face, smiling widely.

"I missed you." She says to you shyly making you look away clumsily, but before you can add anything else, Pietro is greeting you as well, and Wanda does the same with your sisters.

"Hello everyone." Said a male voice next, and you stared at Professor Erik awkwardly. He didn't seem bothered by being approached by any of you, however, a hot dog in his hands. 

"Hello, Professor Lehnsherr." You and your sisters said in unison, but the man had an almost friendly expression. 

"Don't worry about being formal while we're here, girls." He says. "We're just sorcerers in here, looking for a little cheap entertainment."

You and Gamora exchange a look, not knowing exactly what to say next. Professor Erik sighs, and then looks at his children.

"You can go spend some time with the Starks, twins." He says making his kids let out excited exclamations. "Be back by the start time of the match, please. I don't want to lose sight of you in a place with so many people of unreliable origin."

You don't quite understand what "unreliable origin" means, but you don't question it, excited to spend some time with the Maximoffs.

After Erik gives them a few galleons to buy whatever snacks they want, you walk back to the cabin.

//-//

You spent the whole afternoon with all your friends in the cabin, playing magical games, practicing simple spells, and trying to guess the outcome of the match. When the first warning alarm sounded, you all let out a chorus of excitement.

You ran to your room, looking for the cheerleader accessories you had obtained, while ignoring the teasing Tony was throwing at you about the opponent team's sure victory.

He and the Rogers were all wearing blue and white scarves, bracelets and hats, which represented the colors of the Brooklyn Soldiers.

Your father was wearing a big red jacket with the symbol of a gold star, the team's mark. You gave him one of the buttons you brought.

Pietro was also rooting for the Soldiers, along with Nebula and Bucky, so you didn't try to lend any of your accessories to them.

Wanda was in the room when you put a blue scarf with gold accents around her neck.

"For you to support the team." You commented excitedly, without any idea that Wanda's flushed face was because the scarf smelled like you.

"Thanks." She said shyly, and you just nodded, holding some bottons on her shirt.

Gamora borrowed one of the hats you brought.

When you walked towards the stadium area, all the other spectators were leaving their tents and tents and going in the same direction, so the crowd was even bigger. You did your best not to get lost.

Once inside the iron structure, you felt someone nudge your shoulder.

"Pietro and I need to find Dad." Wanda said and you waved, but then frowned, nodding back.

"I think he found you first." You comment while watching Erik look at you as he enters the same iron corridor. He looks at your family and friends next for a moment, his expression serious. "See you after the game, right?"

"Of course." Wanda smiles before touching your arm lightly. You still feel the touch many moments later.

//-//

The match is absolutely incredible. It is even better because the guardians win with a remarkable difference when catcher Jean Gray captures the Snitch after the second half, the stadium vibrating in celebration.

It's a complete mess after that. There are fireworks, and a lot of noise. Even though they lost the match, all the Brooklyn Soldiers fans are so impressed with the incredible match that they join the celebrations.

You stumble out of the stadium between laughter, Gamora's arm around your shoulders as she laughs at the dance that your father and Joseph are doing on the way back.

Fans of the Guardians continued to light the celebratory fireworks, and there was a huge fireworks scarlet dragon streaking through the skies above your heads.

Your dad and the Rogers family go back to the cabin while you stay outside with Bucky and your friends, wanting to enjoy the rest of the fireworks display. You also want to see Wanda again.

"The Guardians are very excited, aren't they?" Bucky comments with a laugh, noticing an increase in the volume of the crowd's screams. You laugh and you look at the sky again.

When you blink, there is an explosion noise in the distance, so muffled by the other sounds that it makes you confused. Your friends don't seem to have heard, and you step forward, watching the crowd closely.

You see a lot of people laughing, and dancing, and it takes a minute for you to also notice those who are running.

"Guys." You call in confusion, and Gamora who was closest to you turns around with curiosity. "I think there is something wrong."

Another explosion occurs and this time everyone listens. The crowd in front seems to gradually realize that there is something wrong going on. And then the firework dragon in the sky is fading, considerably dimming the lighting.

Your father came out of the hut the next moment, a concerned look on his face, and the wand in his hands.

You feel a panic rising in the pit of your stomach when people start running and screaming, and you notice spells being cast from a distance. You were thinking it might be some kind of cheering team fight, but the possibility is completely ruled out when you notice the masked men in the crowd.

"Get your things now." Order your father out loud and then you are all moving back to the cabin, picking up all your belongings quickly. You hold the backpack tightly against your shoulders when you go out again, complete chaos around you. Your father, Joseph and Sarah lead you among the people, shouting that you need to get back to the portkey. You gasp in surprise when you feel a twinge behind your eyes, and you are struck by a vision of a forest. This little delay is enough to make you stay behind and lose sight of your family.

But you are not looking for them anyway. Your feet are spinning in the opposite position, and you are pushing people to run. You need to find Wanda.

//-//

You end up at the end of the camp, the tents far behind you. The sound of confusion drowned out by the distance. Feeling a new stab of pain in the head, your knees give way and your body lowers, while you raise your hands to your face, immediately being hit by a vision. This time you see a shadow of a tall figure, perhaps a man, standing in front of you. There is a metallic taste of blood in your mouth, and you want to get away, but there is something holding you back. When you blink, you're back the end of the camp.

You don't understand what's going on, and there is a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness in your chest, but you keep walking, crossing the magical chain and moving into the forest. You fall to the ground on your knees a moment later, intense pain all over your body. Gasping, you look up, only to see a green light form in the sky.

At first you thought it might be fireworks, but it was magic. The symbol of a hydra conjured in the clouds was beginning to move, and your entire body weighed.

You looked down, and your eyes caught a figure in the woods. It was a man, but he was too far away and you couldn't see his face. He had his wand raised to the sky, clearly being responsible for conjuring it up. Your head started to spin in pain, and you rested your hands on the ground to try to normalize your breathing, and then the man looked at you.

You felt your heart race when he started walking towards you, but then there were screams and footsteps, and he ran. A moment later, your father was kneeling beside you.

"Darling! Are you okay?" He asked worriedly raising his hands to your face looking for bruises. You sighed, still in pain. Only when the aurors of the ministry of magic raised their wands to the sky and made the mark disappear,  you feel your body relieve immediately.

"I saw a man." You confessed breathlessly, and your father looked at you with confusion. But the wizards of the ministries seemed quite interested.

"Where, child?" Asked one of the aurors, you gasped slightly, feeling your body tremble a little.

"He went in that direction." You say pointing. "He was the one who conjured."

The woman nodded in understanding, and left after whistling for the rest of the Aurors to follow her. Your father helped you to stand.

"Honey, listen to me carefully." He said in a mixture of concern and seriousness. "Don't tell anyone about this."

“What, daddy? I don't.."

"Honey, please." He interrupts by stroking your cheeks with his thumb. “I will explain everything to you, I promise. But this needs to stay between us. You can't tell anyone what you saw in the sky.”

You swallow dry, but agree. Your dad doesn't let go of your hand all the way back to the portkey, and when you rejoin your friends again, you lie and say you just got lost in the food stall area after he gives a little grip on your fingers.

//-//

Your father doesn't explain anything to you.

When you return home, he receives urgent howlers from the ministry, and then he returns to the ministry of magic.

You are walking around the kitchen, outraged that you were prevented from looking for Wanda on your way out of the stadium and you have no idea if she is okay.

"What if the Maximoffs have a phone?" You grumble to yourself, but then you remember that you don't even have the number. You press your hands to your face, trying to calm yourself down. Wanda was fine. She had to be.

Gamora and Nebula are sitting on the couch, discussing something with each other, looking concerned. Tony locked himself in the room after Howard refused to tell him what was going on.

You don't understand why you have this horrible feeling in your chest, and you can't stop wondering if Wanda is okay, and then you support your hands on the table, trying to normalize your breathing and stop yourself from crying.

"Hey, breathe." You are almost startled by the voice at your side. Gamora touches your back tenderly, and you shake your head, feeling the tears flow. "She's fine, you need to breathe."

"You don't know that." You snap out of breath, and then Gamora puts her hand on your shoulder, asking you to look at her.

“We met Erik on the way out while you got lost. They left before you came back. ” She tells and you blink confused. “Wanda is safe. Breathe."

You gasp, and then your body relaxes as if a weight has been lifted off your back. Gamora looks at you with a mixture of concern and confusion, but you sigh, hugging her in appreciation.

"Thank you." You whisper against her hair. "I should have asked."

When you let go, she still looks at you with concern.

"Yeah, I know." She says assessing her face. "You should have asked how anyone else would do it."

You frown, not understanding what she is saying. But she still looks at you, suspicious.

“It looks like you were barely listening to us when your dad brought you back. And then I find you like that, and one word is enough to get you back to normal. ”

"What do you mean, Gamora?"

"I'm worried about you." She says. "I don't know what it is, but there is something strange about the way Wanda affects you."

You change the weight of your feet, uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation.

"What are you talking about?"

"She's talking about you not being able to bewitch Wanda." Nebula adds by getting up and walking over to you. You blink confused, ready to say that story was too old, but the girl is not intimidated. "She's talking about the way you behave around her."

"I don `t…"

"It's not just about liking someone." Nebula interrupts and you feel your cheeks heat up. "Gamora thought it was because you are in love, but that seems like something else."

Something in your stomach falls. You gasp in surprise.

"I'm not i-in love!" You exclaim with a racing heart. "I'm not…"

Gamora sighs impatiently, messing with hair. And trying to calm you down, she puts her hands on your shoulders next.

"Listen to me, okay?" She asks. "There's something weird about the way you care about Wanda. We don't know what it is, but you need to admit that you can see that too."

Facing your friend back, it takes a moment while you think of your words, for you to speak again.

"I saw a mark in the sky." You confess, deciding to disobey your father. Gamora blinks in confusion, and you clear your throat before you clear up everything that happened. Her hands fall off your shoulders when she opens her eyes wide for your confessions.

"Are you sure it was a hydra?" Nebula asks seriously and you wave.

"Do you know what that means?" You ask, and the girls exchange a look, but before they say it, you hear another voice.

"It is the Mephisto mark."

You get scared of Tony coming down the stairs, his gaze on you as he walks over to where you are. He folds his arms when he reaches you.

"Which means death walkers are back."

"Tony ..."

"You said you saw a wizard." He interrupts seriously. "Do you have any idea who it is?"

"No." You embarrassingly deny it, feeling your stomach sink with the look Tony is giving you. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You are the one who's been weird." He replies. "I'm just trying to understand what's going on."

"What did you mean by that?"

"What did you see in your head?" He counters with another question and you start to get angry at the way he is behaving, but tell him anyway. Tony sighs impatiently, turning in the opposite direction. He circles the room for a few moments before speaking again. “Daddy is never going to let us get involved in this. Especially now that you are having visions in your head. ”

"I still haven't told him about it." You grumble and Tony looks at you in surprise.

"Then don't say anything."

"What?" You exclaim with a frown in confusion. "What you mean? I need to say. I have to find out what it is. ”

Tony laughed incredulously.

"You still don't get it, do you?" he retorted. "Dad won't tell us anything. He didn't tell us about being an Auror, or about being friends with Professor Lehnsherr. He didn't even bother to try to understand why you can't bewitch Wanda!" Tony squirms angrily, and you shrink your body to the pitch of his voice. But he sighs, running his hands through his hair, and softening his expression. "I'm sorry, I'm not angry with you. It's just... I don't like being lied to."

You looked away, feeling tired. All this talk was making your head hurt, and the previous events had affected you more than you would like to admit.

"I don't know what we can do about this." You say. "I don't understand what's going on, and Dad would be the first person I would ask something, but he's not willing to help us. I feel like I'm at a dead end."

Tony lifts his arm to your shoulder, trying to reassure you.

"Hey, don't be so concerned about it." He says. "I'll find out what I can, and well, we're going back to Hogwarts next week. You and Wanda can try to figure out what this connection is about, while I try to figure out what's going on at the ministry."

You nod in agreement and Tony smiles, hugging you briefly. You hope that despite everything, you will have a quiet year at Hogwarts.

//-//

The Maximoffs are not on board the Hogwarts express.

You are in the same cabin as your friends, squeezed in because not everyone can fit in there, and you take several turns with Peter and Darcy in turn to sit down, while you are spread out in the corridor. 

"No sign of Wanda, huh?" Gamora asked as she saw you looking around the hallway for the tenth time while you were standing outside the cabin, listening to Mantis tell you about her summer from inside.

"No." You reply. "I talked to her Slytherin colleagues, but none of them were very happy to tell me anything. Wanda didn't say anything in her last letter."

"Maybe she will arrive in a flying car, I hear they are popular." She jokes, making you laugh briefly. You can't ignore the nervous feeling in your stomach, and you sigh. Gamora places her hands on your shoulders. "Let's find something to distract you, okay? How about some explosive snap?"

//-//

Laughing at Quill's joke about the last statement in the Daily Prophet, as you walked off the train with the rest of your friends toward the castle.

A chorus of excitement coming from some students ahead of you caught your and your friends' attention, who looked in the direction curiously.

"Is that a ship?" You heard someone ask as they pointed in the direction of the lake.

There was a large old ship, right in the center, coming toward the castle. Everyone looked on excitedly.

"Students, please continue toward the castle!" Drax loudly commanded the crowd, and the students exchanged nervous whispers, all extremely curious to know who was coming to the castle. You swapped a glance with Gamora before following the crowd.

//-//

Already seated at the Hufflepuff table, you startled slightly when Mantis touched your hand.

"Calm down, you're making it snow." She asked gently. You shook your head, realizing the cloud you had accidentally conjured up above you. You had been so nervous the last few minutes, which only got worse when your gaze failed to find Wanda at the Slytherin table, and to no avail was the look of reassurance Gamora threw at you when she said she would ask her colleagues about her over dinner. As soon as you sat down at the Hufflepuff table, you played with your wand between your fingers, and before you knew it, it was snowing.

"Sorry about that." You mumble clumsily, putting your wand back away. Mantis is not angry, her look is one of concern.

"I'm sure everything is fine with Wanda." Mantis says to you, and you sigh, running your hand through your hair.

"I think so too." You say. "I just don't know why I can't stop thinking about it."

"Y/N..."

You lost your attention completely on Mantis as your gaze reached the door of the hall just as you noticed the figures entering. Wanda and Pietro, walking hurriedly to the Slytherin table, being two of the last students to enter the hall before the door closed. You made mention of getting up, but Mantis held you by the shoulders. 

You were about to complain, but she pointed in the direction of the teachers' table, and you rolled your eyes, because the welcoming speech was about to begin. Your gaze remained on Wanda, but she was looking straight ahead. The only good thing was that the feeling of worry in you diminished considerably now that you were seeing her.

"[...] and I am proud to tell you that a very special event will take place at Hogwarts this year: the Triwizard Tournament!"

You are startled slightly when Headmistress Harkness' words reach your ears at the same moment that the main hall explodes in hubbub. You lose sight of Wanda because people are moving excitedly, and Mantis is nudging you to look forward.

It is only now that you notice the large stone globet and the blue flame displayed in front of the bench. You blink in surprise, feeling your face flush because you spent all the minutes of the speech staring at Wanda without realizing it.

Then the principal speaks again.

"Of course, the ministry has determined rules for the safety of the students." She recounts. "No student under the age of seventeen will be allowed to participate in the tournament, in addition to the dueling rules..."

The principal's speech was drowned out by the chorus of protests from the younger students, especially those in the fifth and sixth grades. You raised your eyebrow slightly, because you noticed that your brother was one of the boys who was shouting in annoyance. 

Agatha then made a stern expression, clearly annoyed at having been interrupted, and it took only a few moments for the hall to become completely silent, and for her to smile again.

"Note that the other participating schools will be staying with us this year." She continues her speech. "Please welcome the students from Durmstrang Institute."

The doors to the main hall opened again, and a small crowd of students wearing thick winter coats entered. A tall, shabby-looking man with a scar over his right eye was at the front, guiding the students.

"Agatha!" Greeted the man with open arms as he reached the headmistress. Agatha smiled as she hugged him, and you tried to get a look at the new folks, as did the rest of the school, who were looking excitedly at the crowd. You let out a surprised exclamation when you recognized one of the faces. Your classmates also seemed to realize who it was, because many whistles and comments were heard. 

"That's Jean Grey, isn't it?" Peter Parker asked sitting next to you. When you confirmed it, he widened his eyes. "Wow, I didn't know she was still in school."

"She's the youngest catcher of the century, Parker." You commented with a smile. 

"She's very pretty, isn't she?" He retorted, and you made a noise of agreement.

The students reached the front of the hall next.

"It's good to have you here, Yondu." Said the headmistress. "How was the trip?"

"Wet and noisy, woman!" Rebutted the man humorously. He didn't seem too excited to greet any other teachers, focused only on the woman in front of him. Agatha looked at the students next.

"Please feel free to join any of the empty seats, all the houses were honored to accommodate you." She warned the students, but they only moved after Yondu waved lightly at them.

You bit the inside of your cheek, noting that almost everyone sat down at the Slytherin table. Yondu joined the students next, not failing to take a good look at the goblet before sitting down.

Agatha looked down the hall again.

"Let us also welcome our honored guests from Beauxbatons."

The students at Beauxbatons' institute seemed nicer the first moment you saw them, but as soon as you noticed the way their cloaks were bewitched to land gracefully on the floor as they moved, you figured they must be the kind of people who wouldn't be happy with Hogwarts' cleaning schedule.

The principal of Beauxbatons was a tall, stout woman, very beautiful. She had a crown on her head, and you wondered if the people of Beauxbatons were royalty in some way. 

"Ovette, it is an honor to have you with us." She greeted Principal Agatha, but unlike before, her smile was cold, almost fake. The other woman didn't seem happy to be there either, but returned the greeting in the same formality.

The Beauxbatons students sat down at Gryffindor's table, and you giggled when Quill grimaced at you from his table as one of the boys sat down next to him.

Suddenly you felt very hungry. And dinner didn't disappoint. 

"I think you'd better wait to talk to Wanda tomorrow," Mantis remarked next to you as soon as you finished eating. You frowned, looking at her.

"Why?"

"Professor Lehnsherr has been staring at the Slytherin table like he's going to cast a good behavior spell at them the entire dinner." She counters as she looks at the teachers' table. You look just in time to catch Erik with a stern look toward the students who were talking loudly on the end before he went back to eating his potato salad. 

"Maybe he just expects better behavior while we have guests here." You comments, glancing back to the Slytherin table. Wanda's gaze has not searched for yours all dinner, and you are starting to get annoyed by this.

"If you're going to risk it, I suggest you do it before curfew." Mantis quips as she looks down at her own lap. Groot is trying to steal her piece of chicken, and she smiles as she hands him a loaf of bread.

You look around. All the students are sitting at their respective house tables, and despite the loud buzz of conversation, no one is standing. You know that if you stood up, and walked to the other side of the room, everyone would look at you. Sighing in annoyance, you rest your face on your hand and your elbow on the table, giving up on talking to Wanda during dinner.

When dessert arrives, you become distracted.

//-//

Your best idea is to catch up with Wanda at the end of dinner, but you frown when she doesn't get up from the table along with the other students. The next moment, Professor Erik is joining her, and the crowd of Hufflepuff students pushing you out makes you lose sight of her.

You mumble softly to yourself when you have to go back to the dormitory, and Mantis gives you a short smile, equally annoyed by your nervousness.

//=//

You tried to sleep. Maybe at some point you did.

After you went back to the dorm with everyone else, put on your pajamas and turned off the lights, you think you fell asleep almost immediately. But there was no rest.

The minute you fell asleep, you were somewhere else, fully conscious.

It looked like a graveyard, and there was a lot of smog. You turned over, feeling breathless, and saw a red light, maybe it was a spell. The next moment you woke up, panting, opening your eyes and immediately sitting up in bed. Surprised at the amount of sweat on your shirt, you frowned.

The dormitory was completely dark, and everyone was sleeping around you. You felt thirsty, and as you tried to understand exactly what you had dreamed, you left the room.

The rest of the common room was also empty, and you sighed as an idea crossed your mind. Biting your lips, you shook your head. No, you were not going to sneak through the dormitory into the Slytherin hall, because that was absolutely against all the rules, and more importantly, it would be weird.

Ignoring the sudden urgency you felt to follow your idea, you forced yourself back to your dormitory, hoping that you would be able to sleep again.

//-//

The next day, you had no need to look for Wanda, because she found you first.

As soon as you left for breakfast, accompanied by Mantis, you gasped in surprise as you felt some jump on you just before the entrance to the main hall.

"I missed you." Wanda sighed as she wrapped her arms around your neck. Some students looked at you curiously, but you didn't mind, circling Wanda's waist to return the hug. 

"I missed you too." You retorted by hiding your face in her neck, feeling your whole body relax with the scent of her perfume.

But a sound of someone clearing their throat broke the moment, and Wanda turned away from you, her cheeks flushed.

"You saw each other last week." Pietro teased with a slight frown on his forehead. He didn't press the matter, however, greeting you afterwards.

You made your way to the Slytherin table, your newly awakened friends looking sleepy as they lazily enjoyed their breakfast.

After greeting everyone, you sat down next to Gamora, who was looking at the daily prophet.

"Not a word about what happened in the Quidditch world cup" She commented indignantly. The group shared the same reaction. "All the news is about the triwizard tournament being held at Hogwarts."

"Maybe they don't want to cause a panic." Quill then reasoned. You knew that he, as well as Mantis, only knew about what happened in the cup because of the letters you and Gamora sent. 

"It just seems like they are hiding the truth." Gamora retorts without taking her gaze off the paper. You glance at the figures moving around before turning your attention back to your coffee.

"Clearly corrupt wizarding ministry matters aside, is anyone here going to try to sign up for the tournament?" Quill asked next, causing you to frown as Nebula and Gamora gave a giggle.

"No one here is of age." You comment with confusion, but Quill gives a wry chuckle.

"You Hufflepuff people are adorable." He teases making you laugh. He stretches his arms out to Pietro and Monica's shoulders next as he is sitting between them. "My Gryffindor buddies have found the perfect solution to solve this problem."

You look at the three of them curiously. Gamora rolls her eyes, and turns her attention back to the cereal.

"Let me guess, aging potion?" Nebula then suggests, and Quill lets out an impressed exclamation.

"Look at you Nebula, who would have guessed?  I'll make a troublemaker out of you yet." He jokes, but Nebula just raises her middle finger at him, making the rest of the table laugh.

You are slightly distracted because Wanda asked you to pass the jelly to her and your fingers brushed against each other, and you had to keep it together, unaware because the sensation spread a tingle across your skin, so you are startled when Quill lets out an excited exclamation next.

"I just remembered!" He says. "I didn't complain enough about the cancellation of the Quidditch cup between the houses. I was sure Gryffindor would win this year."

Wanda lets out a wry chuckle, and Quill makes a mocking face at her, tossing a piece of bread in her direction. 

You like to see your friends like that, playing with each other. The next moment, Mantis asks how Quill intends to get past the goblet spells to put his name on it, and the boy spends the next few minutes arguing that the aging spell is enough to break the enchantment, and your friends seem happy to argue with him about it.

//-//

You're not sure how you're going to tell Wanda that you need to talk to her about the events of the vacations, and the cup, and well, your connection to her, so you ignore the suggestive look Gamora throws at you after coffee and decide to put it off for as long as you can.

Your classes seem to have gotten even harder and more boring, but you struggle. It's even trickier to pay attention when the whole school is excited about the triwizard tournament, and there' a lot of noise between and during the classes, after a while, the teachers give up on calming the moods.

Without Quidditch, you have free periods, and you use this time to spend with your friends, either playing witch chess or explosive snap, or even getting some practice with your broom.

The foreign students get more comfortable as time goes on. You would think that they would be sleeping in one of the dormitories, but they are staying on the ships and in the carriages that they have come on.

The only times you got a glimpse of Beauxbatons' carriages was on the way to the class on the Tract of Magical Creatures, and you weren't the only one trying to get a better look, but the guardian Drax was quick to scare off any curious people who got too close.

With three weeks of classes, the atmosphere at Hogwarts had changed a lot. You knew it was because the date for choosing champions was approaching, and everyone seemed to be holding their breath about it. 

Pietro and Quill actually proceeded with the idea of trying to fool the goblet with an aging potion. You and the girls joined them in the room where the magic object had been placed, and witnessed them try. And fail miserably. Wanda was worried that Pietro had been hurt when he was thrown across the room trying to get through the protective circle, but as soon as she saw his aged face, she laughed, and all the girls followed her.

Pietro and Quill were annoyed for three seconds before they began to laugh as well.

You fell silent the next moment, however, because Jean Grey entered the room accompanied by Headmaster Youndu, both of whom looked at you all reproachfully.

Jean placed a piece of parchment in the flame, and you all watched with some admiration as the goblet accepted her inscription.

The small admiring smile you had on your lip completely disappeared when Jean looked at Wanda on her way out, her gaze flashing in a way that made your stomach turn the wrong way.

When Pietro started talking about how amazing it was to have a famous player at school, you didn't feel excited about the idea anymore.

//-//

After your double period of potions on Thursday the last week of September, you could practically catch the anxious tension of your classmates in the air.

At dinner that night, the school champions would be chosen and even you, who were more concerned about the lack of news from home and the way Tony was clearly avoiding your presence, were curious to know who would be chosen.

The Goblet of Fire had been moved to the center of the main hall and you joined the Hufflepuff table with Mantis, noticing the warning look that Headmistress Okoye cast at anyone who was not behaving in the most chivalrous manner possible, but you didn't remark on it, noticing the wizards wearing formal attire at the teachers' table, probably being employees of the Ministry of Magic and reporters for the Daily Prophet.

A characteristic buzz was going on among the students, but the room fell silent as the students from the other schools entered the hall together with their principals.

When Headmistress Agatha began the selection ceremony, everyone seemed to hold their breath.

"[...] Tonight the goblet will choose the one who is worthy to represent their schools in the triwizard tournament. The ceremony of choice begins now." She gracefully presents, wand in hand. Agatha touches the tip of the goblet next, and the flame on the top changes to red briefly, expelling a piece of parchment through the air. Agatha catches the item between her fingers. "The champion of Durmstrang is Jean Grey."

The room erupts in applause and tears of celebration. You clap happily too, completely forgetting about that day in the hall. You knew that Jean had become quite popular among the Hogwarts gossips, especially since she is already a celebrity, so the reaction of your classmates was not a surprise to you.

You and the rest of the students watched as she accepted the parchment from Agatha before greeting the ministry wizards, and then walked into the small door behind the teachers' desk. As she left, everyone was silent again.

Principal Harkness repeated the wand movement on the goblet, and the flames turned blue again. She paused briefly before announcing the next champion.

"Beauxbatons' champion is Maria Hill!" 

You watch a very elegant girl get up from one of the front seats and walk in the same direction as Jean amidst the applause. The commotion is a little less than Grey's, but you know that it is only because Grey was famous.

A moment later it is the turn of the Hogwarts champion, and you are much more excited for this.

Agatha also seems more excited about this, a small smile escaping her lips before she repeats the wand movement.

When the parchment falls into her hands, she reads it aloud.

"The champion of Hogwarts..." She begins and her expression falls, her frown frowning. The brief suspense only makes everyone even more anxious. "Wanda Maximoff."

The crowd's reaction is remarkably different from the other champions; the hall explodes into a buzz of accusations of cheating, pointing out that Wanda was underage, and even snide remarks about a Slytherin representing the school, but you were barely listening. A wave of preoccupation takes over your body completely, and you look around the table for Wanda, but she is already standing up, her chin held high despite all the negative comments. She accepts the parchment Agatha hands her and heads in the same direction as the other champions. 

Harkness makes another movement with her wand and the flame from the goblet goes out. In the next second she is leaving the room, being escorted by the other directors and the ministry officials to the Hall of Champions. As soon as the door closes, the hall explodes in agitated hubbub, and many people stand up.

As the teachers call for calm, especially for the Gryffindor students who accuse the Slytherin of cheating, you and Mantis stand up and join your friends.

"I can't believe that just happened." Gamora comments as soon as you reach her, as impressed as she is concerned.

Your gaze searches for Pietro however, and he looks upset.

"Comrade, your sister is the champion of Hogwarts! She managed to do what we were trying to! Why the long face?" Quill asked his friend excited and confused, but when he went to hug Pietro, he pulled away, an angry grimace on his face.

"I can't believe Wanda kept this from me." He grumbled, you and your friends looked at him in surprise. 

"Come on Pietro, maybe she didn't think it would work and didn't want to say anything." Quill suggested but the boy shook his head.

"No you don't get it." He retorts. "She absolutely could not have risked doing something like that."

And then he turns away, and heads for the teachers' table. You and your friends are left with puzzled expressions, but upon noticing that he looked like he was going to be talking to his father for quite some time, you return to your conversation.

"I can't believe Wanda didn't tell anyone about putting in the name on the goblet, that's incredible." Quill adds. Nebula begins to argue how dangerous it was for someone without enough magical acquaintance to be in such an ordeal, and your stomach does a turn. You walk away from the conversation, heading toward the group of Tony's friends who were standing a few feet away from you.

"Hey, your friend just caused a stir around here." Tony jokes as soon as you reach him.

"I noticed it." You retort as you spot Professor Strange separating with a spell a student who jumped on top of another. "Everyone is talking about how dangerous it is for her to participate, can you tell me anything good about it?"

Tony laughs at the desperation in your voice. 

"I figure eternal glory and the thousand-gallon prize is the good part." He teases, and you run your hands through your hair, trying to ignore the urge to go into that little room and find out if Wanda is okay. Tony assumes a serious expression next, and lowers his tone, not that it was necessary, since everyone seems wrapped up in their own conversations. "You also find it strange that this happens after what happened at the cup, don't you?" He asks and you nod. Tony sighs. "Maybe this is a good time for you to talk to Wanda, little sis. About how you feel about her. And well, maybe as you help her practice for the tournament, you guys can figure out what that connection means."

You nod, feeling your cheeks warm. It was still strange how all your friends knew about the way you cared for Wanda.

You wanted to ask Tony if he had found out anything since you last talked properly, but Professor Strange ordered everyone back to their dormitories the next moment, and after Tony messed up your hair, you turned and headed toward the Hufflepuff students who were leaving the hall.

//-//

There was no way you could sleep without talking to Wanda, so you risked an detention by sneaking out of the dorm after curfew. Mantis grumbled at you to be careful before turning over in her sleepy state, making you laugh softly.

You used a simple invisibility spell on yourself, not so strong that you were completely invisible, but enough to blend into the shadows of the castle as you descended back into the dungeons. Hogwarts was, yes, very scary at that time.

The board at the entrance was sleeping, and after removing the invisibility spell, you poked it with your wand to wake it up.

"What, what is that?" Complained the irritated painting, looking around and acquiring an angry expression when he noticed you.

"I'm sorry. Keep your voice down please." You asked. "I need to get inside."

The painting looked at you suspiciously.

"I have seen you here before, but you are not from the honorable house of Slytherin."

"That is not your problem, Mr. Talos." You retort impatiently. "Just let me in. The password is Polyjuice Potion."

"Your friends will get in trouble if they keep sharing their password with you." Warned the painting before moving, giving you passage to enter.

"Thank you, Mr.Talos." You said with slight irony, walking into the dormitory.

You bit the inside of your cheek as you looked around at the empty environment. You were used to the place, but it was still creepy when poorly lit like this.

"We don't like intruders." Spoke a voice in the corner of the room, making you jump in fright.

"Damn, Nat, you scared the hell out of me." You complained, putting your hand to your chest and feeling your heart racing. The girl giggled, closing the book in her hand and standing up in your direction.

"Why are you here?" she asked with her arms crossed.

You gave her a lopsided smile.

"I came to check on Wanda, of course."

Nat narrowed her eyes at you.

"Why?"

"Why?" you retort after a short laugh. "Because she has just been chosen for the deadliest competition in the wizarding world, and everyone in this place wants to remind me of it!" You exclaim, and can't stop yourself. "I heard a girl say in the hallway that the tournament was banned for the number of deaths! Did you know that? Yeah, neither did I. And well, I can't sleep, because I keep thinking that something like that might happen to Wanda. And when I think about it, I can't breathe and I..."

"Stark, breathe!" Natasha interrupts you with concern, placing her hands on your shoulders. You gasp slightly, realizing that your eyes are filled with tears as you notice your vision blurring. You sigh, trying to normalize your breathing as you force a smile and wipe your face. "God, what was that all about?"

"It was nothing." You grumble. "I'm just worried."

Natasha doesn't buy your excuse, though.

"Tony told me about what happened in the cup." She says as she lowers her arms. You look at her in surprise. "He also told me about how connected to Wanda you have been feeling. I just didn't imagine that you would almost have a little tantrum at the possibility of her getting hurt."

You feel your cheeks flush, looking away to your shoes.

"I didn't have a tantrum."

"Nearly." She teases, but you don't laugh, feeling your stomach churn. Nat looks at you seriously next. "Wanda's not here."

You raise your head in surprise.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know." She replies. "Believe me, you weren't the only one who tried to talk to her. The whole dorm was wanting to know how she tricked the goblet, but no one has seen her since the selection."

You feel your heart soar, and seeing the way you react, Nat raises a hand to your arm again.

"Hey, try not to think about it so much." She says. "Maybe she's with her father. I imagine it's been quite a commotion that a minor has swindled the goblet, and the ministry must be trying to decide what to do. She must be in the teachers' dormitory, she is still a child after all."

"Wanda is already fifteen." You grumble.

"Yes, and I'm sixteen. We're all kids, Y/N." She retorts. "I don't think Professor Lehnsherr was going to leave his daughter alone at such a time."

You sigh, nodding in agreement.

"Try to get some sleep, will you?" Nat asks next. "I'm sure Wanda will talk to you tomorrow. And well, I think she's going to need her best friend to not sleep through the conversation."

"Wanda said I'm her best friend?" 

Nat laughs at the way you talk, probably sounding like a lovesick puppy. 

"God, you two are a disaster." She comments before waving you toward the exit. You bid her goodnight and thank her before walking back to your dorm.

//-//