#AND NOW IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE THAT CRACK PATCHING UP. OR CRY OVER IT SOME MORE (WHICH I LOVE DOING) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

twistsandtwizzles · 1 year

Text

Stars on Mars: Episode 11

Previously, on Stars on Mars: Paul beat Ariel in the vote for Base Commander, Ariel struggled in the mission and eliminated herself, and there are now just six celebrities remaining in the competition to become the “Brightest Star in the Galaxy.”

Only two episodes left. Let’s do this.

“It is sol day 16,” Adam says, over footage of Cat teaching him how to hold a golf club. “You know, I never thought I’d be playing golf with Cat Cora in a space suit. Now that I think about it . . . it is weird.”

Porsha and Marshawn are in the kitchen. Marshawn marvels that Porsha has made an entire life and career out of being on reality TV. “Why?” he asks her.

“Well, let me ask you this,” she says. “You’ve been here under the same surveillance. How’s it been for you?” We get a shot of two cameras that are mounted in the kitchen doorway, swiveling to follow Marshawn’s movements around the room.

“Terrible,” he replies. “I can’t dig in my nose when I want to, you know what I mean?”

Porsha laughs and tells him he has been doing that. And farting, and burping.

Marshawn tells us in a talking head that he likes Porsha - “she’s like my bougie auntie.” Back in the kitchen, Porsha points out the area behind the kitchen sink where the cameraman sits. “When it’s not open like that, they can’t see you,” she tells Marshawn confidently. As she turns back around, the cameraman waves his hand at Marshawn (and us) to show that he can, in fact, see them. Marshawn cracks up.

All six of the crew are cleaning their space helmets and talking about how they’ve nearly made it to the end of the competition. Adam explains in VO that Porsha and Tinashe are his good friends, and they have each other’s backs, but “I came here to be the BRIGHTEST star. I mean, people are in it to win it. And I am people.”

Lady AI reminds the team that today is not only Sol Day 16, it is also Mother’s Day. Porsha is both shocked and sad to realize that it is Mother’s Day and that she won’t be seeing her daughter. “Because this experiment has the competition aspect, I just don’t really want to show weakness,” she tells us, as we get a shot of her in Base Commander quarters, crying. “This has taken true dedication. This is bringing out the fighter in me. Moms just get it done, you know? We go in the closet. We cry it out. We have a breakdown, and honey, you would never know.”

The crew is called into the kitchen for “a special briefing.”

“There are now four sol days left in the experiment,” Lady AI tells them. “There will no longer be Base Commanders. You will all compete in every mission going forward. From now on every mission will help determine who will be the Brightest Star in the Galaxy.” We get a close up of the “Brightest Star” mission patch.

This announcement is met with surprise and some concern from the crew. Cat says that this is great news for her and Paul, since it takes away some of the power of the alliances that had formed. Paul says that he’s going to do everything he can not to lose.

Cat volunteers to read out the day’s duties - it’s show and tell time! Each crew member has been told to bring a personal item that they will leave behind on Mars, like a time capsule.

The group moves to the living room couches and shows each other what they have chosen to represent them in the hab after they depart. “Marshawn, are you going to leave an empty bottle?” Adam asks, gesturing to the glass liquor bottle Marshawn is holding.

“No, I’m leaving a swallow,” Marshawn answers, holding up the bottle to show a tiny bit of amber liquid still inside of it.

Cat is leaving one of her cookbooks. Paul is leaving his dominoes: “A great representation of who I am and what I do with my friends.” Porsha is leaving a framed ultrasound of her daughter. Adam is leaving a photo of him, his husband, and his dog (it’s a cute shot - appears to be the one from their wedding day). Tinashe is leaving some of the art that she painted while she was on Mars. (Did we know she was painting? I feel like this is the first we’ve heard of it.)

Adam gives a talking head about how things are truly getting real - only one person can win. “As a competitive athlete, the goals were so clear cut. Become a National champion. Get to the Olympics. Doing this experiment, I have that same mindset. I want to win! Hello!!”

Later that day, or maybe the next (hard to tell), Porsha is wondering aloud how one becomes the Brightest Star. “Do you just say it?”

The emergency alarms blare. “Here we go, guys!” Adam exclaims. “This is, like, it!”

Shatner appears on the screens and congratulates the crew on making it this far, then introduces this week’s mission. A weak distress signal has been detected and all crew needs to go investigate immediately. The signal is coming from two separate locations, so they will have to split into two teams to complete the task. And, Shatner adds: “This is a rescue mission.” A “knowledge” mission patch is on the line.

Lady AI expands that the distress signals are too weak to get a location lock on, so phase one of the mission will be arranging the satellites to boost the signal.

“I’m not the Base Commander or anything,” Tinashe says, “But I feel like we should split up the teams into, like, type -”

“Me, Marshawn, and Tinashe,” Porsha says immediately. Adam does not appear especially thrilled by this.

“So me, you, Paul, then,” Cat says to him, and he doesn’t have many options other than agreeing.

Cat says she likes this team because Adam is very fast - “he’s an athlete” - and Paul is her “ride or die” (which Lance was like two days ago but whatever).

Tinashe also does not seem thrilled by these arrangements, but like Adam, knows that it’s not worth picking a fight over.

“I would have loved to have been on a team with Porsha and Tinashe,” Adam tells us. “But that’s not how it goes, so I have to remember that the team that I am on right now is going to decide my future.”

As we return from commercials, the two groups are out on their two separate rovers, driving across the Martian(Australian) terrain. Marshawn is behind the wheel for Team A, Cat for Team B. Tinashe says she thinks she has a strong team, but is really nervous. Lady AI informs us that the team who wins the first part of this challenge will be deemed Mission Critical, and the members of the losing team will be at risk of extraction.

Adam gives his friends on Team A a sad wave from his rover.

The group arrives at their satellites and discovers that each one is labeled with the name of a planet. The teams have to rearrange the satellites in the correct planet order - closest to the sun to farthest - and then race back to the starting point, where a light will turn green if they are correct. The first team with a green light wins.

Tinashe asks Marshawn and Porsha if they know the order of the planets, and they say no. She tells us that she learned the order of the planets when she was a kid from a song on Blues Clues. Adam then informs us that he and Tinashe had a conversation about this song earlier in the experiment, and we get flashback footage of the two of them singing it together. Adam says that as soon as he found out what the mission was all he could think was: “I know that she knows it. It’s a race.”

Tinashe says that knowing that Adam knew the order also made her really, really want to win, even though he’s her buddy. “We’re all very competitive here.”

Lady AI counts down from three, and the race is on. Tinashe and Adam become the captains of their teams, directing their other team members where to take each planet. Adam’s team takes an early lead, but it’s extremely close. Team A closes the gap and squeaks ahead for a second, and then both teams place Neptune in its place within seconds of each other. All six people start to sprint back to their light.

Adam reaches the light first, and it turns green. Team B is victorious, and Mission Critical. High fives all around, and we get a cute soundless talking head from Adam as he throws up some victory “v”s for the camera.

Tinashe admits that all three members of her team were surprised: “I think we all thought we had it in the bag.” They do look pretty shell shocked. Marshawn curses. Porsha is pissed. Tinashe tells them that they tried their best.

Lady AI informs Adam, Cat, and Paul that they are the winning team and they can now track the distress signal to its source. They climb back into their rover and take off into the desert. “Let’s go see who this is,” Adam says.

Team A is told that even though their signal is still weak, they still need to go investigate what it might be. “You are the losing team,” Lady AI reminds them, “and one of you is at risk of extraction.”

As they drive, Team B celebrates and tries to guess what they are going to find. From an overhead shot, we can see a lone figure walking slowly toward the rover.

“Oh my god!!!!” Adam explains, as the figure slowly comes into focus. And honestly, that reaction is justified, because it is WILLIAM SHATNER IN THE FLESH!

Shatner - who, by the way, is NINETY TWO YEARS OLD - is standing in the middle of the desert, wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses (no spacesuit required for the OG Captain Kirk, I guess), stoically watching the rover approach. Flies keep landing on his face and he doesn’t lift a finger to shoo them away and honestly I think he earned his salary for this show in this moment alone.

Paul, Cat, and Adam are positively GIDDY. I think that they (like me) had come to the conclusion that they would never actually meet Shatner over the course of this series. “I almost wrecked the rover,” Cat says with a laugh.

“Where’s your helmet??” is the first thing Adam says to Shatner, which is kind of hilarious.

Cat begins to take off her helmet and Shatner says, “DON’T YOU’LL DIE!!” and everyone is laughing except for Shatner who is still one hundred percent committed to this bit and I guess this is why you hire William Shatner. “I crashed landed!” he tells the group. “It was awful.”

Cat tells the camera, sometime later: “I guess he’s been in space so much and he’s so badass that he doesn’t even need a suit on.” Heh.

Adam moves to the back of the rover so that Shatner can ride shotgun and Adam marvels, “Wow, William Shatner is in better shape than me.” Cat is still so excited about this turn of events that she stalls the rover twice before they start moving again.

“This is so fucking wild,” Adam says, as the camera pans back and triumphant music plays.

Back at the hab, the group takes off their space gear and officially introduce themselves to Shatner. Shatner shakes each of their hands, telling Paul that he’s taller than he expected, and Adam that he’s smaller than expected. “And you are just right,” he tells Cat, and okay, this man is a charmer. Also it’s so funny seeing how starstruck these three are.

Shatner gets his first look at the hab and hands out their mission badges. He tells them to be proud of those patches: “If I were you, I’d put them on my forehead.”

“I’m gluing it,” Adam promises.

With that excitement over, we return to Team A, still out in the desert, more than an hour and a half away from the hab. Lady AI informs them that their oxygen supply is depleting. They find the source of their signal, which is an empty escape pod. (I’m sure it’s supposed to be Shatner’s but this group does not yet know who Team B has found on their mission.) “No life forms detected,” Lady AI says. “Rescue unnecessary.”

She goes on to inform them that they do not have enough oxygen to get back to the hab, so they will have to stay the night here at the site of Shatner’s crash. “The supply pod contains all essentials necessary for survival. Use them wisely.”

The trio realizes that they have to inflate a “pod” (aka set up a tent) where they will have to sleep. “If realizing that I had to sleep in a bunk at the hab was bad . . . this was infinitely worse,” Porsha says.

After a bit of trial and error, the group gets the tent up. Eventually they all get inside and turn on their “oxygen” and FINALLY get to take their space helmets off. “The family that gets dirty together stays together,” Marshawn says, as they prepare to hunker down for the night.

Back at the hab, Shatner tells Cat, Paul, and Adam that only one patch remains: the Brightest Star. We get a closeup of it, sitting on the top shelf. Shatner asks them if they all want to win it, and the answer is an enthusiastic yes. Cat has not stopped beaming at Shatner since they got back from their mission.

“Is Cat sucking up to William Shatner?” Adam asks. “Yes. Is she doing it because he’s going to have a huge say in who is the champion of this? Absolutely.”

“It’s a team game here,” Shatner says. “Until . . .”

“Until there’s one winner,” Adam finishes.

Shatner laughs and tells them they are all going to start throwing elbows soon. The group heads to the kitchen and toasts to a successful mission, and you can tell that all three of them are thinking “holy shit I just had a beer with William Shatner.”

“It’s such a pleasure to meet the three of you,” Shatner says. “You’ve done so well, I’m surprised.” (Ha!) Then Shatner says he’s going to bed and saunters off into the Base Commander’s suite.

Back in the middle of the desert, Marshawn, Tinashe, and Porsha get a message. Shatner shows up on video and informs them that there is only enough oxygen in their little pod for two of them. So they have to choose one member of their group to get on the rover and drive through the dark back to the hab. Whoever they choose . . . will be safe from elimination.

Before cutting to commercials, we get a talking head from all three of the stranded crewmembers. Porsha said she didn’t come all this way to lose. Marshawn says he’s trying to prove he’s mission critical. And Tinashe, rightly, says that she was the MVP of her team today: “I was the only person on my team who knew the order of the planets in the solar system. I don’t think they could have done it without me.”

When we return, the group is staring at each other. Marshawn says he’s going to do it, but makes no attempt to move. Porsha asks who can run the fastest, and Marshawn, former NFL running back, says, “Duh.” They laugh. Porsha says that she’s going to go and Marshawn tells her that she’s bluffing. There is some banter about how far the trip is and getting lost and Marshawn eating Porsha’s tacos.

“Seriously though,” Marshawn says. “Whoever leaves is mission critical. Who is it going to be?”

Porsha and Marshawn volley the role back and forth between each other for a bit - you go, no YOU go, no you - while Tinashe looks on silently. Finally Marshawn says, “Tinashe, go do your thing.”

And my girl Tinashe says, “I did know the order of the planets,” and is immediately on her feet and putting her helmet on and I seriously love her for this. No playing games - she knows she was the most mission critical of the three of them and she is not letting this opportunity go by.

“Tinashe, you didn’t have to get packed up that fast!” Porsha says, and both she and Marshawn seem a little stunned that Tinashe did not even blink at taking the rover when it was offered. Tinashe’s out of the tent with barely a goodbye.

In the hab, Adam and Cat are in the kitchen making dinner and Adam says, “I’m starting to think that they aren’t coming back.” Cat agrees and says everything seems really unclear.

“It feels too abrupt,” Adam tells us. “To just lose three of our crew members right now. But . . . they’re not here. And William Shatner’s already gone to bed!”

The emergency sirens blare, and Lady AI informs them that there is crew arriving in the airlock. Paul, Adam, and Cat lineup in front of the airlock doors to greet their teammates - and are surprised when only Tinashe appears.

“I’m back, baby!” she says.

“What happened???” the group asks.

Tinashe looks EXHAUSTED. “It’s a long story,” she tells them. “Let me put my stuff down.”

Adam grabs her helmet from her and walks with her to her locker. “Who did you save?” she asks him.

“William. Shatner,” he replies, still sounding like he’s in disbelief.

We don’t hear all of Adam and Tinashe convo as she takes off her suit, but she does tell him, “I did know all of the planets. Only one. Child of Blues Clues!” They both laugh and give each other a first bump.

The next morning - Sol 17. We return to Porsha and Marshawn in the pod, and Porsha is APPALLED that no one came to get them all night. “I ain’t come this far to lay here and die,” Porsha says.

“Then do something about it,” Marshawn says. Porsha says they should walk. Marshawn says to call an uber. She rolls her eyes and starts packing up.

“Come and face your elimination like a man,” Porsha tells him. “I should have never befriended you. That’s why I’m stuck out here with you!”

They banter and bicker the entire way back to the hab. Porsha’s talking head says that she doesn’t think it’s fair that new people are going to be deciding their fate. “That doesn’t sit well with me at all.”

Inside the hab, the group - plus Shatner - is ready to meet the bottom two crew members and decide which one of them will join them in the top five. Shatner opens up the comms and greets Marshawn and Porsha.

“Wait, is that really William Shatner?!” Porsha asks.

Shatner asks them both to come to the airlock, and we’re treated to a highlight reel for both Marshawn and Porsha as their voiceovers share what they gained from the experience and why they are mission critical. Some of these old clips are wild - like, I totally forgot that Tallulah Willis was on this show.

Both Porsha and Marshawn make their appeals to Shatner plus the crew, in typical Porsha and Marshawn fashions. Shatner asks the four crew members inside for their thoughts. “What is mission critical?”

Tinashe says that to her, mission critical encompasses leadership, trust, and hard work, and that she personally feels like Porsha checks off more of those boxes than Marshawn. Adam agrees, saying that Porsha has contributed more to life in the hab than Marshawn has, and that Porsha has also been very strong on the missions. Two votes for Porsha.

Cat asks for more time to think about it, so Shatner turns to Paul. Paul says that when he thinks about mission critical, he’s thinking about who he would turn to if his life was on the line, and that would be Marshawn.

Back out in the airlock, Porsha tells Marshawn that she wishes that she could hear every word of the discussion going on inside, “so that I can run them down one by one.”

Finally, Cat makes up her mind. “I’m going to strategically set this up for whatever works for me,” she tells the camera. “Because I want to win this.” To Shatner, she says that she is voting for Porsha.

Adam and Tinashe both smile in relief. I find this choice very interesting because if the final winner comes down to a vote, Cat has just let in someone who is part of an alliance with two of her competitors. But if Cat is banking on a physical challenge being part of the end game, then it makes sense to get rid of Marshawn, one of the most physically strong players, before the finale.

Shatner calls Porsha inside. She gives Marshawn a big hug. The group says goodbye to Marshawn and he heads back outside. In his exit interview, he says that he doesn’t know how to be anyone but himself so that’s what he did, and that he had a good time, and now it’s time for him to go.

Inside, Porsha asks Tinashe how they came to their decision. “You deserved it more,” Tinashe says, as the two of them join Adam and they all hug. “You love me!” Porsha laughs.

“The OG Three definitely have a bond,” Tinashe tells us, over footage of her, Adam, and Porsha talking. “We have spent 17 days in this hab together, and I genuinely feel like no one deserves to win this more than we do.”

Cat and Paul are in the kitchen, and Cat tells us that she knows that they are outnumbered by the other group. But, “I’ll do what it takes to get to the finish line.”

Next Week: THE FINALE! Thank god. See you then.

#adam rippon #recaps #stars on mars

1 note · View note

gatheryourpearls · 2 years

Text

I often think of Luna, and how often she must think of you.

I wonder if she misses you, and if you miss her too.

You were the yin to her yang, never one without the other…with the exception of before you two met.

Once you met, you were inseparable. It didn’t take long for you to see her as one of your own. If she barked, you followed. If she marched forward in defense, so did you. If she excitedly jumped at pawps or me, you did too, knowing there was good snacks to be had.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, this first holiday season without you is going to be so hard. It already is so unbearably difficult. Thankfully, I feel like I’ve cried all my tears out. Not much left. But the love I have for you and the amount of missing you that’s left to be expressed can’t be measured by the tears I have left.

We miss you, my Boo..our Boo. Your floppy little ears. Your wide eyes. Your calm demeanor. Your feisty self. We miss it all. Your uncle John paid you a compliment earlier tonight. We were talking about how Luna isn’t destructive when left alone and he said it’s because she learned it from you, on how to be a good dog…and I think he’s right. She learned a lot from you. As much as you took cue from her, she learned alot of her mannerisms from you. We have you to thank for that. We have had two great dogs. You turned many non-dog lovers into at least dog-likers. That’s a big feat. And I’m proud of you, always.

Today is your pawps birthday. We just finished singing happy birthday and he just blew the candle out. We all thought of you. This is his first birthday since maybe 14 (?) years old that you haven’t been there. He’s had you in his life longer than he has had without you. So, as you can imagine…he misses you deeply and longs for you always. Can you please watch over him? Make sure he’s ok? Let him know you’re not gone for good, just gone for now..that you’ve gone ahead to prepare an epic home and feast for him…we will likely celebrate many birthdays without you from here on out…and it’s going to be tough…but please know we won’t forget you…and know that if we could, we’d have you physically here with us. We love you so much, Boo. Thank you for being…just the BEST dog ever…the BEST MOST LOVING AND KIND friend anyone could ask for.

Soon, we will be packing up some of your things…clearing out the room where we spent your last moments with us…and it’s deeply painful. It feels like betrayal to lock away the things that are yours…as though we are discarding you…letting you go, for a second time…I’m sorry for that. The truth is, I don’t want to have to lose any of these precious Knick knacks…and instead of having your things strewn about, it just seems more respectful to you to have them neatly stored away…where they can be kept safely.

I told myself that I would make note of things that I want to remember about you…so since I’m already crying, here goes the start of that list:

1) your Doritos shaped ears and how when you laid on your back they’d flop open like the wings of an airplane preparing for ascent.

2) the fact that whenever I motioned a headscratch, you’d coming trotting. We should have known at that point that you were in fact an affectionate dog. I’m sorry it took us so long to realize that.

3) how your nose was patterned like a cracked desert plain.

4) how you were shorter than your sister but you had such “manly” paws as I’d often tell you LOL. You had hefty paws and I’ll always miss the soft patch of fur in the center of your paw

5) how when you’d play tug with your pawps and he would say “OW!” You would know to automatically let go. I never told you but I think that’s one of your coolest tricks ever.

6) how you were able to learn the trick Bang at the age of 15(?)

7) how you’d do zoomies from the room to your pawps’ apartment living room. Just back and forth, drifting with your overgrown nails. Lol. Sorry we didn’t take you to get groomed as often as we should have.

8) how you were so effective at sitting. You looked like a little standing log. Just the cutest

9) how you had exactly 1 hartz chew toy your whole life and you cherished it so much even when there was nothing but plastic left

10) the puperoni treats I got you that you loved (but let’s be honest, what treat DIDNT you love? Lolol). That was the first treat I had ever gotten you. I guess it was my peace treaty for taking away your pawps all those years ago. I’m sorry we didn’t make more time to spend with you. I hope you understood that we were young, dumb, and too in love to know any better.

11) how effective you are at swaddling yourself. You. Were. SO. Effective. Whenever I’d find you swaddled it looked like someone had done it for you. Our good boy.

12) how you slept and slept and slept. How you never judged me when my depression got too bad to actually get up and live. You just let me be and let me rest. Thank you for that and thank you for teaching your sister that. I appreciate you.

13) how chocolatey brown you were from 8-13 yrs old.

14) how when we’d get out of the shower, you would be first in line to lick the water off our legs. LOL it was so annoying but you had a fascination with licking.

15) how you would get episodes of fixation where you’d lick one specific spot of a bed or blanket until it was soaking wet. Again, gross but it was a very Boo thing to do.

16) your green striped bed that you loved SO much and that we were never able to replace. The reasons why you loved it? Well, let’s just say you played with it in the biblical sense as your pawps would say. LOL iykyk

17) how you’d curl up into a little toasty cinnamon roll

18) how you’d get cold so easily, just like me! So there was a tug o war between Luna and pawps versus you and me. We usually won. ;-)

19) how you somehow would coordinate GI issues with me. TMI, I know. But when we would go traveling, if I was backed up, so were you. Lol it was weird and comforting all at the same time.

20) how you’d done so well using the restroom in concrete jungles like Chicago and NY. Good job and thank you for being such a good boy.

21) how when we first took you to Ohio we made the rookie mistake of not bringing you any water or snacks aboard the flight. We resorted to feeding you a few pieces of chips. You didn’t seem to mind LOL.

22) how when you would see squirrels you’d charge so fast you’d end up choking yourself and coughing. Lol I’d tell you to knock it off but it never worked.

23) how you’d try chasing squirrels, we’d let the leash go for you to do so but you’d never catch up to them…and they’d climb up the tree already if you were remotely close. surprise surprise lolol.

24) how we had to teach you how to go up and down a flight of stairs because you were initially scared of them. It was adorable.

25) how when we traveled your face would squish up against the bag and make funny faces for you. Again, that was our fault for not getting you registered as an ESA. Even though we found the largest bag we could for you, you were a long dog and it didn’t seem long enough. I’m sorry if you were uncomfortable.

26) how when you play fight with your sister you would pretend to bite her by holding your open mouth near her..you would then turn this energy into a very enthusiastic yawn. It was always very cute to see.

27) seeing you and Luna share a bed. You would always sleep the opposite of your sister. If she was sleeping left to right, you were sleeping right to left. Truly a yin Yang situation.

28) the way you loved Luna and us. Just the sweetest. You defended your pawps honor against grandpa…just like Luna tried defending your honor at the very end…I hope you saw that and know how much she loved you…I know she misses you often…when we go into the room, she will still smell your things. I’ve had unkind thoughts come to mind about the grief we will experience all over again when we have to move out of this apartment and into a place of our own…the memories associated with that room..will remain…but I’ll take heart in knowing that you are in my heart, and that will be with me always.

29) how we would fill your ears with toilet paper to keep them dry when we bathed you and you hated it. LOL! you were very effective at shaking those pieces of toilet paper out.

30) when we took you to the beach in Canada and you had fun but were over it in .5 seconds LOL. Then pawps had to shower you with no soap because you had sand all over you. LOL fun times. Remember the little side bed I made for you out of that love seat? LOL

31) how after I had spent a month in Ohio with you, you proceeded to approach any dark haired female who looked remotely Asian. Lolol, I missed you then as well.

32) how all it took for you to eat was pawps pretend eating your food, smacking his lips, and you were convinced whatever he had was what you would have too. You were just the most convenient dog. Thank you for always putting us first.

33) how you know the word “tedur” for sleep.

34) how you used to wait for us to finish eating and then realize you wouldn’t get scraps…so you would give in and eat your kibble…but you’d get mouthfuls at a time and bring it to us then eat it. Cute boy.

35) how towards right before the end…perhaps the few months or half year before you left us, you were my work buddy…any time I got up to use the restroom or get water, you got up…as though you were protecting me…you just wanted to see where I was going and that I was okay. Once you determined I was safe, you’d go back to your bed and curl up, awaiting my return. My sweet boy, I miss you.

For now, good night or good day, Boo. I’ll miss you for always. I hope your having a great time in heaven and I hope the snack buffet is to be envied. I love you my sweet boy. You’re so kind. You’re so handsome. You’re so smart. I love you. Good night…I’ll see you, when I see you.

#poem #poetry #original poem #prose #taylor swift #dogs #grief #pet loss #original poetry

1 note · View note

misomilk · 5 years

Photo

Good day, fellow shippers!

Akusai month starts tomorrow! I’m so excited for all of your entries! Let’s have another lovely akusaimonth this year.

For more info, please see: http://bit.ly/akusaimonth2019 (contains prompts, ask summaries, etc).

--Secret Report: Saïx: Day 356-- What were you really after, Lea? We joined the Organization at the same time, and formulated our plan. At this point, it's just an idle fantasy. Everything changed. You, and me.

#akusaimonth #akusai #leaisa #kingdom hearts #i tried to NOT include a quote related to my most fave akusai scene ever (youve changed) but i couldnt so HERE.#i fucking love Days for being a bottomless glass of akusai angst -wipes tear- you can see how their friendship degrades. how they've fueled #themselves on NOTHING over the years they spent as nobodies and showed how easily that glass can crack #AND NOW IT'S TIME TO CELEBRATE THAT CRACK PATCHING UP. OR CRY OVER IT SOME MORE (WHICH I LOVE DOING)#SO EXCITES FOR ALL THE STUFF YAYYYYYY

1 note · View note

theowritesstuff · 2 years

Text

I Care About You

Adrian Chase x gn!reader

Summary: You have an argument with Adrian that ends in him saying some harsh words

Warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of injury, gunshots, gunshot wounds, blood, angst with a happy ending

A/N: Yeah, this kind of paints the rest of the team in a bad light, but they need to be nicer to Adrian

Adrian Chase Taglist: @bb-skyrunner @rishlurh

General Taglist: @neptuneswritingwork @violetrainbow412-blog

This was starting to happen way too often. Much more often than you’d liked.

Here Adrian sat at HQ, the top half of his Vigilante suit discarded on the floor, a large gash cut through his torso. He was leaning against someone’s desk, Adebayo’s probably, as you worked to stitch him up.

The mission was supposed to be easy. A simple get in, kill the enemy, then get out ordeal. What neither Harcourt nor Economos had accounted for was unexpected backup that your target had.

People with guns and knives ran out from every direction, attacking you all. You had all ended up with some minor scrapes and bruises, that comes with the territory, but Adrian had ended up injured. Again.

He was trying to to someone from getting to Chris, but you guess he didn’t see the knife they had. At least not until it dragged through his skin.

Adrian winced as you stitched his wound. You apologized, then continued working silently.

You’d taken over the role of team nurse after Economos complained endlessly about having to deal with everyone’s injuries. He was now with the rest of the group at a local bar Harcourt had found.

Chris claimed they all needed to celebrate after a successful mission, seemingly uninterested in his injured friend. He took them all to the bar, leaving you with Adrian.

“This can’t keep happening Adrian.” You told him after finishing up. You started to put the supplies back in the first aid kit.

“What?” He asked.

“Them, just ignoring you.” You said. “They didn’t even check to see if you were okay.”

“It’s fine, they know I’m okay. Trust me, I’ve been through worse.” He said, pulling his shirt back on.

“Yeah, when your dick was electrocuted and half your toe was cut off? And what did they do then?” You ask.

Adrian looks down, clearly afraid to answer your question, even if it was rhetorical.

“C’mon Adrian, they’re never there for you, and when they are they’re always mean to you.” You looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He had to have noticed the way the team treats him.

“Adrian, I’m the only one who’s ever here for you, who helps patch you up, who helps care for you-” You try to tell him, but your voice it cut off by his outburst.

“I never asked you to do that! I never said ‘Gee I wish Y/n would help me out today’” He’s getting frustrated, you can tell.

“That’s not what I’m saying-”

“And they are there for me! We hang out all the time outside of work! And where are you? How come you’re never there? Just because they aren’t there for you, doesn’t mean they aren’t there for me!”

You start to shrink back at his words.

“Yeah, I do have people that care about me, because I don’t push people away like you do! You’re just jealous because you don’t have anyone who cares about you!”

Silence fills the space between you. Tears are on the verge of falling from your eyes. Adrian waits for your response, for you to shout at him like he was shouting at you. Instead what he gets is your voice, soft, and broken, cracking a little bit at the beginning.

“Fuck you Adrian.”

Then you leave. You leave him standing there, wide eyed and shocked. He could see the tears in your eyes, and he was honestly more scared of your silence than he would’ve been if you’d yelled at him.

Adrian was used to people getting mad at him, yelling at him for doing something wrong, getting snarky at him for talking too much. But when you left nearly crying because of him, he didn’t know how to react?

Should he chase after you and apologize? Should he give you some space? He spent way too long trying to figure out what to do, so long that you were definitely at home by the time he finished. Eventually he just gave up. He figured he’d see you tomorrow and think of something then.

He put the rest of his armor back on, then headed out to his car. He decided that he was going to go straight home, to just forgo the bar. He winced as the seatbelt brushed against where his shirt covered his stitches. He drove home, changed out of the Vigilante suit, then attempted to get some sleep.

You on the other hand were mad. Well, after you cried a little in your car, you got mad. You were angry at him for saying you didn’t have anyone that cared about you.

So what if you didn’t really hang out with the group outside of work? If you were being honest, Adrian was the only one you had gotten close with. You still liked to think you were a valued part of the team. Maybe you were, but were you just expendable?

You thought long and hard about it, and decided that after this mission, you’d leave. You’d go somewhere else, and do your job there. Gotham, maybe?

The next day Adrian headed to HQ early. Well, early for him. Usually he was stumbling in with Chris just a few minutes before the scheduled mission briefing or head out time.

“Chase? You’re early.” Harcourt said.

Adrian was sitting at the piano bench, eyes glued to the door, waiting for you to come in.

“Yeah.” Was all he said to Harcourt.

Eventually everyone was at HQ, everyone but you.

“Y/n texted me this morning, said they didn’t feel well. I texted them the info about our next target, so they’ll join us when we leave.” Harcourt told the group.

Adrian deflated. Did he make you feel sick? He could feel his heart drop to the pit of his stomach.

Adrian didn’t mean anything he’d said to you last night. He was just frustrated with what you were saying. Everyone knew he had trouble dealing with emotions, and it was difficult for him to find the right words to say.

Adrian had a hard time focusing on meetings when you were there, so your absence was even more of a distraction to him now. He sat at the table, his foot tapping the floor. His eyes were on the screen, but anyone could see they were unfocused. He didn’t even try to interrupt with any comments.

After the meeting he pulled Chris aside. If anyone had good advice for him, it’d be his best friend, right?

He told Chris about what happened and asked what he thought he should do. Chris responded with a shrug of his shoulders, and told him to give you some space. People liked to have space when they were upset.

When Adrian went out on patrol that night, he was quicker to kill. Maybe he was just trying to get out his anger. He was angry at you, sure, you had insinuated that the team didn’t care about him, but he was also angry at himself. He hurt you. Flashes of your tear-stained face came to mind as he took down the criminals of Evergreen that night.

“Fuck!” He winced when he felt his stitches pull under his shirt after using swinging his sword a little too hard.

On any normal night, Adrian would go to your house. He’d tell you what happened, and you’d bring him to your bathroom to help him. He’d admire you as you took care of him. But he couldn’t do that now. You probably didn’t want to see him, and Chris said he should give you space.

He went back to his own house, his own bathroom, and searched for his first aid kit. He hadn’t needed to use it much since you joined the team. You were always there for him, there to take care of him. He felt a wave of guilt wash over himself.

He eventually found his first aid kit, and set it down on the counter. He took his armor off, then slowly pulled his shirt away from his cut. He could feel the fabric already wet, either blood or sweat covering the black fabric. After pulling the shirt off, he looked at himself in the mirror. Sure enough, he’d opened his stitches.

He sighed, then opened his first aid kit to search for the suture kit. He slowly stitched himself back up. It was a much sloppier job than you had done, his hands weren’t as steady as yours. He wrapped some gauze around himself for good measure, then collapsed on his bed. He didn’t even bother finishing changing. He fell asleep that night with the bottom half of his suit still on, thoughts of you floating around his head.

When he woke up, he groaned, thinking about having to put the suit back on. Today was the day you were back in the office though. Today was the day he was going to talk to you and apologize.

He showered, got dressed, then drove to HQ. He sat in his car for a second, staring at himself in the rear view mirror. He hoped to god that he would be able to find the words to say to you. To be able to tell you how bad he felt, and what he actually felt for you. He wanted to tell you that he was grateful for everything you do for him.

He took a deep breath, shook his hands out, then got out of the car. He grabbed his bag from the passenger seat, then walked into the office.

You were already there, leaning against Economos’ desk, gathering your weapons. Adrian walked over to you, and dropped his bag on the ground.

Adrian knew he wasn’t the best at reading emotions, but he definitely knew something was wrong. When you looked up at him he expected to see something like anger? Maybe even sadness? But your eyes looked blank. It was almost like you were looking right through him.

“Hey Y/n, uh, can we talk?” He nodded in the direction of the hallway that led to a backroom.

You shrugged your shoulders and turned back to your weapons. “I don’t know what we need to talk about.” Your voice was even, but void of any specific tone, at least as far as Adrian could tell.

“I just wanna talk about the other night-”

“Alright everyone, let’s go get this over with.” Harcourt called out from the back door.

You gathered your stuff, and followed the group outside.

Adrian sighed, grabbed his bag, then followed you out.

He made sure to leave your usual seat next to him empty, but it remained empty when you opted to sit instead next to Chris. Harcourt took the seat next to Adrian, after giving you a weird look.

On most trips for missions you and Adrian would sit together, having little conversations about random things, usually whatever was on Adrian’s mind as of late. While he’d get criticized by Harcourt or even ridiculed by Chris for things he’d say, whenever he talked to you, you always gave him your full attention, and often encouraged him to tell you what he was thinking about.

The ride was long, well Adrian felt like it was long, and after Harcourt told everyone about what they were doing and where they were going, the only thing to be heard was the music Chris had told Economos to play.

Adrian kept stealing glances at you throughout the drive, a part of him hoping you were looking at him. You weren’t though, to his disappointment. You could be looking at your hands, or the ceiling, or out the front window, but you kept your eyes away from Adrian.

Once at the site, you got out of the car with Chris, Harcourt, and Adrian. Adebayo and Economos were going to stay in the van, unless backup was needed. It was decided that you would be paired with Adrian, while Harcourt was paired with Chris.

You were meant to sneak in, find a hard drive, and sneak back out. If all went well, no one would even get hurt, and you’d have more information on your target.

You and Adrian snuck in the back, guns raised in case of a threat. You could practically feel him, standing as close behind you as he possibly could.

Economos guided you through hallways, past various rooms, and eventually to the one you were looking for. It was a large office-like computer room, filled with different screens and computers.

“Alright, the hard drive should be somewhere there.” You heard through your ear piece.

“Of course it’s in the most cluttered room here.” You sighed, looking through drawers.

Adrian started brushing through the contents on the desks.

“Guys, be careful, we took down some guys on the east side of the building, who knows how many more there are.” You heard Harcourt’s voice say.

“Copy that.” Adrian replied.

He looked up from the desk he was currently standing at to see you brushing your hand against the computers.

“So about the other night-” Adrian started.

“Now’s really not the time.” You interrupted him.

“But we’ll talk later, right? Promise?” He asked.

You turned to look at him. Even with the mask, you could picture the expression on his face. He sounded sad? Desperate to have this conversation with you?

You nodded your head. “I promise.” You turned back to the computer and continued looking for the hard drive.

Eventually you found it, and shoved it into your pocket.

“We found it.” You said through the comms.

“Let’s go.” Adrian nodded toward the door.

The two of you snuck out of the computer room, and quickly made your way down the halls again.

You stopped abruptly when you heard voices approaching. You pushed Adrian into an empty room, and ducked down. You put your finger to your lips, telling him to keep quiet.

You pulled your gun back out, and slowly rose to your feet. Adrian did the same, and followed you back out the door.

You didn’t make it very far before someone had shouted at you, and footsteps were suddenly chasing you down the hall. The two of you shot at the men following you, speeding down corridors in search of an exit.

You found another large room, and ran in, hoping to escape the seemingly never ending hallways.

A few more shots from your guns, and the men following you were down. You clipped yours back on your side, and looked around for a door. You found one on the farthest wall from you, it looked like it led outside.

“Thank fuck.” You sighed. You patted your pocket to feel for the hard drive, then followed Adrian to the door.

You were nearly there when you heard a soft click behind you. Apparently you had missed a guy, because one was standing about 20 feet away from you, his gun raised.

The next few events happened so quickly, it almost felt like everything happened simultaneously.

As soon as you saw him, you pushed Adrian out of the way, slightly shielding him with your body. You could hear the gunshot, then feel the bullet pierce through your right shoulder. You fell to the ground, just as Adrian shot the man several times.

Adrian dropped to the ground, and pulled you up, so that your upper body was resting on his knees. He tore his mask from his face, his eyes scanning your body, quickly finding your injury, and pressing into it with his gloved hands in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“Why-why did you do that?” He asked you, eyes wide.

You coughed, blood starting to spill from your mouth. “Because I’m expendable.”

“No, no, you’re not.” He said, more to himself than you.

You reached a hand into your pocket, and pulled out the hard drive. You pushed it to his chest, attempting to get him to leave.

“Hey, I’m not leaving you. Absolutely not.” He said.

“If you w-wanna have that talk, I think n-now is the time.” You gave him a small, bloody smile.

“What I said- it wasn’t true. I was just mad, and I was a dick. I’m gonna pick you up, and take you back to the van, and then we’re going to go to the hospital.” He said, already moving his arms under your legs and back.

“Why? Adrian, I don’t think-”

“Because I care about you so god damn much. Now shut the fuck up, and let me help you.”

You groaned as Adrian scooped you up in his arms. He kicked the door open, and found the van outside.

Everyone else was standing there waiting for you. As soon as they saw you in Adrian’s arms, blood starting to coat the white on his suit, they sprang into action.

Economos got in and hopped to the drivers seat, starting the van, ready to speed to the hospital. Adebayo moved bags off one of the benches to make some space for you. Harcourt found a first aid kit, and started to take out supplies. Chris helped Adrian get you in the van, and laid you down on the bench.

The drive to the hospital was quick, the van swerved around cars, through lanes, to get to the hospital as quick as possible.

Adrian pulled his mask back on and carried you into the emergency room lobby. A doctor came in and took you from his arms, laying you down on a gurney, and speeding you back into a room.

Adrian stood frozen in the lobby, staring at the doors you were taken through. Thoughts of earlier clouded his head.

This is all your fault. They thought they were expendable because of you. You weren’t paying attention, and they got hurt because of it. They’re hurt because of you.

His thoughts were interrupted by Harcourt’s hand on his shoulder.

“They’re gonna be okay.” She said. “You should go home and change though, just so the nurses don’t call the cops on Vigilante.”

Adrian nodded, and left with Economos and Adebayo back to HQ after making Harcourt and Chris promise to call him with any updates.

As soon as they got back in the office, Adrian bolted to his car. He sped as fast as he could, blatantly ignoring the speed limit signs as he drove. When he got home, he ran inside, and tore his suit off. Pieces of kevlar were thrown in various places, still coated in your blood. He’d pick them up later. He got dressed in his regular clothes, then sped back to the hospital.

He had only taken about 45 minutes to get home and back. He sat with Harcourt and Chris and waited for news from the doctors.

After about two hours Chris and Harcourt left, telling Adrian to text them if anything happened.

He sat in the waiting room the rest of the day, and gave the nurses at the front desk his information before they made him leave after visiting hours.

He was back bright and early the next day, and the day after that. The others came in once in a while, bringing him food, checking in to make sure he hadn’t lost his mind from sitting in the same chair for 48 hours.

Adrian assured them that he was fine, and that they should be worried about you if anything. Adebayo tried to get him to go out to eat somewhere with her, Chris tried to get him to go out on patrol with him, but Adrian knew he was going to stay and wait for you until he was forcibly removed.

You woke up three days after you were shot. The lights from the ceiling were a little too bright, causing you to squint. You sat up, but felt a pressure on your shoulder. You had a white bandage wrapped firmly around it.

A nurse had come in, and was surprised to see you awake.

“Ah, Y/n L/n, welcome back to the world of the living.” She joked.

“Did I die?” Your voice was a little hoarse.

The nurse grabbed a cup of water and handed it to you.

“No, you didn’t die, now if you were hit on the opposite side, that would’ve definitely been a possibility. What happened?” She asked.

You were shot because you pushed Adrian out of the way.

“I was mugged.”

“Well, that explains why the Vigilante brought you in.” She told you.

You hummed in response.

“There is a man who’s been waiting for you for three days now, an Adrian Chase? Would you like me to send him in?”

Adrian had been here for three days waiting for you to wake up? You nodded your head at the nurse, who gave you a smile, then walked out the door.

Only a few minutes later Adrian came stumbling in. He seemed out of breath, like he ran to your room?

“Y/n.” He sighed out, then sped to your bed. He wrapped his arms firmly around you, pulling you into his chest.

You flinched away from him when he brushed against your shoulder, causing him to pull back, a worried expression on his face.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” He said, wincing.

“It’s okay.” You said, glancing at the bandage.

“Why the fuck did you do that?” He asked you, his voice sounding almost tense. You opened your mouth to answer, but he continued talking. “And don’t give me any of that ‘I’m expendable’ crap, because that’s exactly what it is. Crap.” He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. “You scared the shit out of me. I thought-I thought you died, and it was all my fault.” His head hangs down in shame, his eyes looking down at his shoes.

You attempt to stand up, but wires pull at your arms. Adrian moves to make you lay back down, not wanting you to over exert yourself. You move to the side of your bed, and pat the space next to you. Adrian lays down beside you, careful to avoid your shoulder.

“Your blood is still on my suit at home.” His voice is quiet. “I didn’t know-I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you died, and I had to go back home to that.”

You reach for his hand, and intertwine your fingers. Your thumb brushes the back of his hand.

“I’m okay, I promise.” You tell him softly.

“I care about you so fucking much.” This time he turns to face you. You can see the tears forming in his eyes. “It was fucking hell not being around you, and then you were just gone. I mean, you were here, but you were unreachable.”

You wipe the tears that slowly fall down his cheek with your thumb. “I’m okay, I promise. And I will never leave you again.” You place a soft kiss on his cheek.

You curl up, closer against him, your head on his chest, and let sleep slowly take over your body.

He keeps his fingers laced with yours as he wraps an arm around you. Adrian is certain now-

He’s never letting you go again.

#adrian chase #adrian chase x reader #vigilante #vigilante x reader #peacemaker vigilante

657 notes · View notes

lemons3ason · 4 years

Text

Vinsmoke Brothers React To You Coming Back After Their Father Took You From Them!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ICHIJI VINSMOKE

“How dare you bring that vermin here with you.”, Judge growled scowling down at his only living grandchild.

Once again he attempted to marry Ichiji off to some spoiled princess from a random kingdom but instead Ichiji would use his infant daughter Asami as an excuse to get out of the engagements. The red haired father simply scoffed as he made his way to the Phoenix Kingdom’s dining hall where the family waited. The princess looked so excited when he entered the room until she noticed the small baby resting his arms, her mood suddenly turned sour. Ichiji sighed and sat across from the girl as he cradled his sleeping daughter against his chest as the parents began to speak amongst themselves. The Queen seemed extremely interested in Ichiji’s daughter, something seemed so familiar about the small infant.

“Pardon me asking but Prince Ichiji does that child have a mother?”, The Queen asked.

“She did unfortunately she passed away due to some unforgivable reason after child birth. It’s been two months since I lost her and in all honesty I don’t intend to remarry so this is a waste of time.”, he admitted much to his father’s disgust.

The story furthered the Queen’s suspicions on the child, she stood up and walked over to him taking in the child’s complete image, she smiled for a brief moment and gently tussled the little girl’s soft (h/c) locks. “H-her mother didn’t happen to be a girl named (Y/n), did it?”, she asked her voice cracking as your name escaped her lips. Ichiji’s reaction was enough to tell her the truth, he tried to soften his body as quickly as he could but he had already been caught.

“You said she passed away, how?”

Ichiji bit his tongue not sure of how to truly word it without making himself cry, “My Father ordered her execution.”, he sighed. The Queen smiled and stood back up to her feet, “Would you like me to reunite you with my first born daughter?”, she asked softly as her husband came to her side.

Ichiji stared at them puzzled, how could they bring back someone dead? He quickly noticed red flames erupt from the Queen’s back and she smiled as her grandchild reacted to her abilities, her own little pair of flame wings flapping softly behind her. Ichiji stared down at his child in awe, your mother smiled and ordered Ichiji to follow along down to some chambers that seemed to be piled up with ashes. One room in specific held one small pile of ash, “It is said that the Phoenix bird was born a female, in our land there is a story that a Phoenix fell in love with a human and bore a child that would later become the first Queen of our land. All the females in the Phoenix kingdom are born with the abilities to be reborn, no matter how they die their body becomes ash and returns home where they choose to stay dormant or be reborn into a new life. These ashes appeared about a month ago and I knew that they belonged to my (Y/n), our kingdom was raided and she was kidnapped by pirates, for years I waited for her return but now I see she’s still needed. (Y/n) left behind a daughter and a man that loved her so that should be more then enough to bring her back.”, she took little Asami from his arms and kneeled down before your ashes. Asami’s little wings touched your ashes igniting them into flame, Ichiji watched in shock as Asami was lifted into the flame, he was worried but then he heard something. Your laughter, your laughter resonated from the flames, he watched them disappear and you remained with your daughter in your arms and tears falling from your beautiful (e/c) hues.

“My beautiful little girl. I’m so sorry you had to wait so long to meet mommy.”, you smiled kissing her small face.

“(Y/n)?”

Your heart skipped a beat to his voice, you looked up to see Ichiji staring at you in shock. You tears spilled faster as you raced to his arms, you cried into his chest emotionally overwhelmed to see him again after what felt like an eternity. His shock was quickly replaced by his urge to hold you tight, his arms wrapped around your shoulder holding your head closer to his chest as he cried your name into your head softly kissing your (h/c) locks until you looked up to kiss him on the lips. Your mother smiled seeing you so happy with your family, at least now she knew you were safe and sound with someone who loved you dearly.

“I’ve missed you so much Ichiji. I’m so sorry.”, you apologized feeling stupid for letting yourself die and leaving him to suffer parenthood alone.

“S-shut up. Don’t you dare apologize for this, it was my fault for not keeping you close. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry but I’m so glad you’re back.”, he sighed kissing your face desperately as if he’d lose you again. Your hand cupped his cheek softly as you deepened the kiss making up for lost time. Little Asami started to cry from being crushed between you both, you apologized and softly cradled her in your arms softly hushing her back to sleep. Ichiji smiled, he was finally complete, you were back thanks to a miracle. Once you had all returned to the dining hall Judge spat out his wine seeing you alive. He dared to say something but Ichiji quickly wrapped an arm around you and activated his raid suit, “You will not take her from me again. She is my wife and I don’t give a shit if you approve or not.”, he growled receiving a kiss from you that made his anger quickly disappear. You moved back to the Germa Kingdom and everyone celebrated your return. A huge party was held for you and everyone drank till they passed out, with Asami in her crib next to your bed you stood in front of your huge window and looked out over the night sky and sea. You hummed feeling his lips press against your cheek and turned to kiss his lips once more, “I’ve missed this, I’ve missed you.”, you smiled staring up at your husband.

He picked you up in his arms and laid you in the bed, for once he’ll sleep happily in your warmth that he’s missed all this time. You felt safe in his arms and slowly drifted off to bed happy to be back home with your family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Niji Vinsmoke

Niji was already the cruelest of his brothers but now that he lost the only woman that mattered to him his heart was frozen solid and broken. Even as he killed all these innocent fishmen he didn’t feel a shred of pity or remorse, yet when he was just about to finish off the elder of the group he was quickly stopped by a voice that only his heart could react to.

“Niji, stop don’t!”, you screamed.

He scanned his surroundings for the source of the voice and found a single woman with short (h/c) hair gasping for breath, “Child no run away.”, the old fish man cried out.

“Niji stop please. Not these people.”, you cried just feet away from the blue haired Vinsmoke.

He released the old fish man from his grip and stumbled toward you, the old man begged Niji to take his life instead of yours but when he came to a stop just in front of you he understood what was going on. Niji couldn’t believe his eyes, you were supposed to be dead and yet here you are. You didn’t fear him in the slightest, you opened up your arms to him for an embrace but he stayed where he was. Just a few feet out of reach taking in your appearance. Scars littered your skin, your hair now cut short, but still you smiled at him as if nothing had happened.

“Child get away from him!”, your grandfather yelled pulling you towards him with his shark tail.

Niji quickly snapped his neck towards your new position and growled at the old man for taking you from him. You calmed your grandfather down and he stared into your eyes looking for a hint of fear or lie in your words but he found nothing but love and let you go. You stepped towards Niji once again opening your arms for him, he raced towards you wrapping one arm around your waist and the other over your back burying your head in his shoulder with his hand as he whined your name.

“Y-You’re supposed to be dead.”, he stuttered.

You nodded your head gently pressing kisses against the skin of his neck that wasn’t covered by the scarf of his neck, “I know but I’m not. I should’ve been but my grandfather found me in the waters and patched me up and I didn’t drown because I’m a fish man hybrid.”, you explained.

He couldn’t believe it, he thought he lost you, he hugged you tightly even as you pulled down his goggles to look him in the eyes and gently brushed back his blue hair so you could enjoy his expression. His teeth gritted into a scowl as Niji tried to fight back his tears but the little kiss you pressed against his lips broke what little restraint he had. He kissed you roughly even through his tears, if you pulled away he chased your lips for more cupping your face in his hands to keep you in place. The battle had come to a standstill as everyone watched you both kiss away the minutes in your own little world.

“I thought I lost you.”, another kiss.

“All this time you were alive, I should’ve looked for you.”, another kiss to your cute plump lips.

“I thought you had died hating me for our fight. I’m sorry.”, another long passionate kiss until you had to pull away for breath.

“If you forgive me for being to afraid to go back then I’ll forgive you for the stupid fight. I can’t blame you for judge wanting to kill me it was obvious from the start that he hated me.”, you sighed resting your head against his chest smiling at the sound of his racing heartbeat.

He nodded kissing your face sweetly, he scooped you up in his arms like a princess and started carrying you away until your grandfather demanded he stopped, “Can’t you see I’m taking my wife back home.”, Niji growled in annoyance.

You smiled at your grandfather over Niji’s shoulder and reassured him that it would be alright, your grandfather allowed you to go. Niji’s troops quickly repaired all the destruction they had caused and respectfully buried the people they had killed while he returned to the small Germa ship with you. As soon as he had you in his quarters he sat you on his bedside and opened a drawer to return something to you, you smiled as he placed your necklace that Judge had taken from you back into your hands.

“I’ve been without you for a year, do you know how hard that was?”, Niji sighed resting his head against your knees.

His hands softly rubbed over your scars as he counted each one that he’d kiss as soon as you were home and safe. You smiled and leaned your head down until your forehead pressed against the top of his head.

“I’ve missed you, you jerk.”, you sighed.

“I love you.”

“I know Niji, I love you more. Come on get up here.”, you ordered opening your arms for him to rest in.

He smiled at you and tackled you into the mattress kissing your face, you had a lot of affection to catch up on but this time he wouldn’t let anything happen to you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sanji Vinsmoke

The wedding was nearing but Reiju knew her brother wouldn’t be happy without you, after she had pulled your corpse away from his grasp she realized that you still had a weak pulse. You were alive! She quickly rushed you to the laboratory to let the doctors heal your wounds, she paid close attention to them to make sure they didn’t try anything funny with you, now as the day neared she watched your naked form in the healing tube softly breathing in the green liquid.

“Please (Y/n) don’t let Sanji go. He’s a good man with a good heart so please save him even if we die.”, she begged deactivating the machine so she could release you.

She quickly dried and clothed you before scooping you up in her arms and flying you back to the Thousands Sunny. Everyone was ecstatic to see you alright and to have you back, as their mission plan finalized you realized that no matter what you had to save Sanji. As everyone prepared for the wedding Nami presented you with short (f/c) backless dress that would stop just at your mid thigh. You put it on and quickly fixed your hair, you had to look decent since it was a wedding after all. You smiled finding the room that the Charlotte Children had locked away the weapons in and grabbed two handguns that would last you a bit until you had to use your devil fruit powers. As soon as the action began Sanji noticed your head of (h/c) hair and gasped, you were alive. From his place at the top of the wedding cake he screamed your name making it echo over the crowd, you smiled and blew him a kiss before returning to fighting the Big Mom pirates. Once everyone was on Bege’s fortress Sanji tackled you, your giggles quickly erupted in the room as the emotional blonde kissed your lips hungrily.

“S-sanji wait I can’t breathe.”, you whined playfully.

“You can breathe again when I’m done getting my fill of you, I thought you died.”, he sighed holding you carefully as if you were a fragile doll.

You smiled and held his face in your hands before slamming a kiss to his stupid lips, “I’ve missed you so much you idiot.”, you cheered smothering his face in your lipstick.

Sanji smiled, his eyes forming into hearts due to your affection but the fight wasn’t over yet. Until Luffy was back on the ship it was a battlefield on the sea, you worried until Sanji was back on the deck with Luffy. Once they were sailing away from Big Mom territory Sanji cooked an extravagant feast for all of you, his food was delicious as always and he looked so happy to be back in a kitchen. After dinner he found you staring out over the ocean and noticed the scar from your stab wound poking out from the top of your tank top he sighed and wrapped his arms around your waist before softly kissing the sensitive skin.

“Sanji.”, you called sweetly.

He smiled at you and pressed a kiss to your cheek before resting his chin against your shoulder. You laughed at the feeling of his goatee against your skin but calmed down once you felt content. You don’t even remember how long you had been out but you were more then happy to be back at Sanji’s side.

“I’m glad you’re back and safe honey.”, you admitted leaning your head against his.

“As am I darling. Don’t scare me like that ever again though.”, he whined.

You nodded and moved in his arms so you could see his face, and once more placed a kiss to his lips before returning to your quarters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yonji Vinsmoke

You really were just a puppet, Yonji was so heartbroken by your experimentation that he couldn’t even bring himself to look at you. Every time he stared into your dead eyes he was reminded of how he failed you but his brothers loved to play around with you. They’d take you on missions and would return with you cut up or bruised from the fights, but today as they walked to the dining hall Niji had decided to pick a fight with you and you simply nodded your head in agreement. Yonji’s body froze the moment Niji’s knee connected with your head sending his Henry’s Needle attack through your skull, blood poured from your ears and nose from the shock as your body was thrown into the wall. Yet despite your injuries you listened to Niji’s orders to stand up. Yonji’s stomach lurched in pain watching his brother’s fist meet your stomach but your killing instinct kicked in, you held his wrist tightly and pulled a blade from your belt thrusting it into Niji’s neck. The blade shattered of course due to his hardened skin but your attempt to kill him angered him, he slammed his hand against your face shoving your head into the wall over and over again until you fell unconscious. Niji chuckled once his hand was stopped by his younger brother, he let go both of them listening to the sound of your limp body hitting the floor, “A broken toy is no fun, guess we’ll have to get a new one.”, Niji laughed taking Ichiji’s side as they continued onto the dining room.

“You idiot!”, Reiju growled kicking her brother in the head.

Yonji took the hit he didn’t care if his sister was mad because nothing could beat the rage he had inside his heart, he picked you up in his arms holding you close as he walked back to his room. He ordered one of the doctors to come and heal your injuries immediately but the impact to your head was likely to cause a concussion if not a coma. Yonji held your hand in his remembering the good old days when you’d wake him up with kisses and cook for him but now it was all just a fading dream.

“Damn it (Y/n), please just say something.”, he sighed tears threatening to feel from he cold eyes.

“Y-Yonji my head hurts.”, you sobbed pulling him out of his train of thought.

The green haired man looked up to see you in tears with your free hand holding the side of your head because of the pain. Yonji gasped seeing the light in your eyes and smiled. He gently leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to the side of your head before stealing a kiss from your lips. He wanted to scream and yell that you were back but if you were in pain then he had to keep himself quiet to avoid making your pain worse. Yonji quietly hushed you, he ordered for a servant to bring you pain medication before taking up the other half of the bed.

“Oh (Y/n) you’re back.”, he chuckled softly rubbing circles against your head in hopes that it would help the pain.

“Where...where have I been?”, you asked.

Getting to hear your voice again made Yonji so happy, Niji’s electricity must’ve reversed the effects of your experimentations. Why couldn’t he have been a jerk earlier?! Yonji insisted that it wasn’t important, for some odd reason you couldn’t remember anything but that morning when you baked him cookies but it was probably for the best because now you didn’t suffer. Once you had eaten the pain medication he pulled you right back into bed spooning you, Yonji was never this affectionate but you certainly weren’t complaining when he started peppering your head and face with kisses.

“I love you Yonji.”, you hummed triggering something in him.

“Say it again.”

“I love you.”

“Again.”

“Yonji, I love you.”, you giggled kissing his rough lips.

He made you repeat that phrase over and over again until a new spark lit up inside both of you. Yonji wasn’t seen the rest of the day, it didn’t bother anyone really but Reiju was curious. The next morning she went to check on Yonji only to see you both passed out in bed and a new ring glimmering on your finger. Looks like everything had turned out for the best.

#x reader #one piece x reader #sanji x reader #sanji scenario #sanji vinsmoke #ichiji x reader #vinsmoke ichiji #yonji x reader #vinsmoke yonji #vinsmoke niji #niji x reader

468 notes · View notes

creativeashproductions · 4 years

Text

Elysium // Luke Patterson

Summary: The boys of Julie and the Phantoms need a hail Mary to dethrone Downslide from opening for Panic! At the Disco. While Willie is done to help his blue eyed crush and his friends there’s one issue: Willie can’t drive the bus. Moving a bench is one thing but driving an entire tour bus? There’s only one person who can and Willie’s not sure where she is after year of no communication

Warnings: Swearing, angst, talk of death (it’s a ghost show, why is this a warning??), mention of assault, violence, and fluff.

Words: 11.5k

A/N: This is why I haven’t posted much in the last week. I’ve been writing this massive fic that I refused to turn into a series. My god, 11k words. I don’t think I’ll be doing this again. Enjoy and comment if you figured out who Rudy is!

Masterlist

There wasn’t much in the afterlife that you enjoyed after time spent in the limbo between the living and dead. Listening to songs before they were released lost its appeal just as much as dancing on stage with the ballet companies around the world, of being an unseen extra in shows and films being filmed.

Then you found a purpose a couple, well it could be more than a couple, years ago when you found a lost soul. William Young, Willie to his friends, had been sitting on the curb staring at the pavement entirely still as he had for two days.

The time from the last breath you took to walking the streets of Los Angeles was a blur in all honesty. The years bled together as you stayed stationary in a world that kept on spinning and changing, growing up. You had watched your friends hit new milestones you could only daydream about. Friends that graduated college and built new lives on the ashes of memories that included you.

Today’s walk was an attempt to escape your friends’ greying versions standing in front of a once vibrant sculpture. It happened every single year, but this one hurt the most. Listening to your friends recall stories of all the adventures you did together.

From being drunken idiots jumping off cliffs into that one lake the summer of freshman year. Or making a bonfire on the school’s roof with all the entryways blocked, rather stupid with the exits being blocked as well. Sneaking into concerts and stealing that one car that came close to sending you to boarding school.

The rebellion that still lived in you had mellowed in the five individuals with the adult responsibilities of family and work. Martha had removed all piercings but her lobes while Chase quit dying his hair colour. Jordan now had three children and a bought house.

Seeing the group no longer young had made your feet swiftly move from the memorial for a walk. The only thing that stopped you in your tracks was tripping over something in front of you.

“Ouch.” You hissed rolling onto your back with a moan of pain that faded with the sniffles.

Curled into his knees, sitting on the curb was a teenage boy about your age. Long hair curtaining his profile you found your eyes grasping the cracked helmet that spoke for itself abandoned by his side.

“Your kinda a hazard there.” You simply spoke sitting down next to the distraught teenager, “Heads up, I suck at comforting people.”

At his silence, you spoke once more, “I’m digging the tie-dye. Did you do it yourself?”

“This is some kind of stupid coma dream right?” The boy’s voice was husky from crying and disuse, “I’m probably in some kind of hospital with a tube down my throat.”

“I’d say yes, but it would be a blatant lie.” You spoke twirling a loose thread on your jeans while the stranger gazed at a spot on the street.

His dark brown eyes bloodshot as he remembered the car honking mere seconds before he heard the sound of a thud. He recalled struggling to breathe with his broken ribs and his screams being illustrated with bloodstains.

He remembered thinking how he had just bought that board a week ago with his allowance.

“Am I really dead?”

“Yes. We’re are a couple ghosts in a lively city.” You informed him with one handheld in the space between your ethereal forms. The teen hesitantly placed his hand in yours with a firm shake.

“William but call me Willie.” He softly told you, catching sight of the patch on your jean jacket—one of many from both when your grandma owned it and then when you did.

“I’m Y/N. Let’s blow this disappointment. I’m gonna teach you everything you need to know.” Brushing off the invisible dust on your jeans, you held your hand out to him, “We’re about to make the afterlife our bitch.”

A stark contrast to his former hesitance he immediately grasped your hand to tug himself off the curb. The forlorn skater didn’t question the board in your hand or how he could possibly even touch his own board. He didn’t wonder how it wasn’t in pieces like it had been when he first got hit.

That rebellion that ended your life flared again in the presence of your best friend with crashing Justin Bieber’s house. Of rearranging items in classrooms to freak teachers out and sitting in the cars turning the radio on and off. Haunting the living until the friendship fractured under the influence of a powerful ghost.

Caleb Covington had bewitched the skater with promises and extravagant gifts until Willie had taken the offer.

“He’s not like you said he was! I think you should give him a chance!” Willie cried following you around the place you had taken to be home.

“Willie he’s a bad guy! He butters you up until you give him what you want! That’s when you see his true colours. All he wants is your soul to power his magic and spread his reach!”

“I got to talk to my sister!”

“Your sister is five years old! It’s not Covington that gave you the opportunity. She won’t remember the experience as anything other than an invisible friend!”

“There are so many people at the Club that we can talk to. Aren’t you tired of the same routine and people we see?”

Willie’s pleading brought your full attention to the skater avoiding your gaze, “William Young…you took his offer.”

Willie tore his gaze from the art on the wall to find yours blatantly glaring at him with a bucket of random colour in your hand.

“The Club is going to France to tour around the country for a while. I’m dead, so I might as well make the best of it. Besides who gets to skate through the Louvre!” Willie beamed, watching as a small smile, found its way on your face at his excitement, “I’m sure Caleb would let you come to the Club tonight!”

“Willie, you are my best friend, but I’ve already seen the Club. It’s not my style, and I want nothing to do with it.”

That interaction was one of the very few speckled through the years when Caleb discovered who you were. No matter his offers, you never took the deal and when he saw how close you and Willie where he kept the skater busy. The Club didn’t appear in Los Angeles for a long time until Willie’s distance seemed too great to bridge.

“So, you need a way for the slot to be empty?” Willie asked the trio of ghosts all spread around the area.

Unfortunately for Luke, the only person they could get help from was from the very guy that placed them in a predicament. While Alex was the one spearheading the conversation with the long-haired skater Luke was glowering in his direction.

“The Orpheum was the thing we never got to do. We spent hours practising and performing with one goal-“

“Play the Orpheum and get distance from our parents. Well, at the time that streetdog and becoming legendary was my main focus.” Reggie recounted the feeling of suffocating in a house filled with fighting. A home he wished still stood, now dead all he wanted was to see his parents.

“We almost did it too.” Luke pouted relaxing his glare at the skater who openly sent apologetic gazes at Alex’s bandmates.

“So, we need to get rid of the opening band.” Willie nodded to himself, thinking about ways before he caught sight of the abject horror on the band. The skater’s eyebrows raised, “I know I deeply fractured the trust, but I’m not suggesting murder.”

“Okay. Good.” Reggie whistled relaxing his tense posture while Luke grumbled under his breath an insult that in turn got Alex’s arm into the guitarist’s ribs.

“Your best bet would be getting the bus out of LA. The band will probably celebrate the upcoming gig.”

“Could you make the bus disappear?” Alex hesitantly questioned shifting in his now vintage sneakers. The blonde-haired drummer flushed slightly under the endearing smile from the skater. The feelings create a confliction within Alex under Willie’s issue, leading them straight into a madman’s hands.

“I can move a bench, turn sirens on, but a bus is outside my paygrade.” Willie openly admitted showing his hands deep in his pockets, “The only person other than Caleb that has enough power-“

“-is he just as evil?” Luke demanded crossing his arms to glare at the male that had unfortunately caught the interest of Alex.

However, Luke couldn’t blame Alex for falling for this guy because well, Luke saw the teenage ghost’s appeal. Willie was attractive, but he wasn’t the type of person Luke would fall for. Plus he had initially made Alex incredibly happy, and Luke would never blame Alex for that.

“She is as different from Caleb as one can be. She uh…she taught me everything about being a ghost. Actually, found me where I died.” Willie cleared his throat as the guilt and sadness reared its head from deep within him. The guilt of leaving his little sister to grow up without him and the sorrow of not growing up with the girl.

It wasn’t often Willie allowed himself to remember the little girl, barely five when he died, who was always dancing. His little sister adored the colour purple and anything shiny and more than once Willie had let her dress him up. Willie’s greatest regret is that he’d never have that interaction with her. God, she’d be around his age now and in high school.

“Okay, so where is she?” Reggie clapped his hands, bringing the skater out of his thoughts and back into the present.

Luke saw the hesitation in Willie, “There’s a catch, isn’t there?”

“Kinda?” Willie trailed off bouncing on the balls of his feet, “I haven’t seen her in years now. Last time I saw her we fought about the whole joining Caleb thing? I’m not even sure if she’s still in LA.”

“Of fucking course,” Luke grunted shoving both hands in his hair taking a few steps away from the other ghosts.

First, he dies, then he gets caught up in some bullshit revenge plot, then makes a deal with the devil without realizing it, and now their one chance is going up in flames. Luke Patterson was livid with the universe and the shitty hand he had been dealt, but at least he had his friends with him.

“It can’t hurt to look for her?” Reggie innocently offered with a shake of his shoulders, “It’s not like we have any other option.”

“Did we ever even have options?” Luke hissed, causing Willie and Alex each to flinch with the different guilt they carried.

Alex was guilty of going to Willie for help when getting back at Bobby was the biggest thing. Willie was guilty of ignoring his instincts on keeping Alex as far from Caleb as he could be he just wanted to impress the drummer. It’s not like Willie had many options for dating, and well, Alex was the first to get his entire focus.

“Dude. Stop. No one saw it coming.” Reggie bumped his hip against the annoyed guitarist, “Let’s find this ghost and get our shot at playing.”

The quartet of dead guys didn’t have high hopes of finding the girl in question, but it seemed the universe took pity on Luke Patterson. Just two hours into their search on the edges of the city limits an individual was walking.

The person’s stature leaned against a smashed concrete wall of the skeleton of where a building once was. The only thing the group could make out was a faded jean jacket with splotches of colour. Her ankles crossed as her back leaned against the cement, oozed laid back confidence. Coming closer, Luke noticed the sunglasses perched on top of her head and the lips painted dark.

“What do you need Willie? I heard you were looking for me.” The husky voice drew Luke in the most. The lead guitarist of Julie and the Phantoms enamoured with the girl.

“How’d-“Willie’s question was cut off as you simply tapped your right index finger against your temple.

“How do you think you managed to get here?” You inquired pushing off the cement to stride over to the group. To Willie’s surprise, he was tugged into your embrace before swiftly pushed away, “Come on. We should head in before someone catches us.”

In the dark as much as the other three ghosts, Willie dutifully followed you past the pieces of cement littered around the area. Gasps of surprise sounded as the once empty space became filled with buildings. It was not as extravagant as the hotel the Club worked out of, but it was hidden from the living and dead eyes.

“Where did this come from?” Reggie gasped astounded by the people once hidden from his view, moving around the area.

“This is Elysium. Don’t judge the name I lost the right in a poker game with Susie and Rudy. I’m Y/N.” You informed the group leading them to the gate where two people stood stoically guarding it, “Rudy was hellbent on calling it Valhalla.”

“This is Luke, Reggie and Alex.” Willie gestured to the awed trio of musicians only lingering on the blonde. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see the attraction between the skater and the blonde; finding a date in the afterlife was a lot harder than the living.

Nodding a greeting to the two ghosts, you lead the group to a building painted a pretty turquoise blue colour. The sign above the double doors a stark white with calligraphy writing simply stating Elysium Management. It was a building set up like an administrative office of three stories, and you led the group right up to the top floor.

“Just a heads up…Rudy is a little suspicious of people.” You admitted standing outside a door with a nameplate the only descriptor, “He’ll come off a little gruff and rude, but when you get passed that he doesn’t shut up.”

“I can hear you through the door dumbass.” The words were called out from the office door opening.

The man standing in the entry wore a crisp white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His honey-brown eyes lit up with a teasing look before it shuttered at the sight of four strangers behind you. Rudy had valid reasons to not fully trust people after the shitshow in his hometown when he was alive.

“And you’ve brought strangers.” Rudy deadpanned with a sigh concluding his sentence as he stepped back into the office. It appeared like the world repositioned itself on the young man’s shoulders once more.

“I should be done within the hour. We can go over everything.” You informed your business partner and friend. Receiving only a nod from Rudy, you closed the door to his office, cutting off the view from your guests.

“He’s..uh.”

“Standoffish? Rudy keeps his past to himself, all he’s ever revealed is that he’s from a town a few hours away.” You spoke, opening the door to your own office decorated differently from Rudy’s more sterile black and white aesthetic.

Your office had splashes of colour with vintage posters of both music and film framed on the walls—a plush couch in the corner with a basket of blankets next to it. Instead of sitting behind the dark desk, you chose the couch instead. As you settled in the corner, you flicked one finger bringing an extra seat over.

The motion shocking the three boys accompanying Willie who had seen the abilities himself.

“Okay so why did you want to search for me?” You questioned the skater leaning back in the seat.

“When did this all happen?” Willie countered gesturing to the office in a building settled in the middle of a ghost town. A literal ghost town.

“There’s an empty lot in LA that used to house an abandoned apartment building that Rudy and I both called home. Of course, it was torn down, and we kinda knew that there’s wasn’t a place that didn’t have the threat of being annihilated at some point.” The memories of those unknown days trickled into your mind among the more positive ones, “We wanted a home. A place to call our own.”

“A week or so later a skittish pixie of a brunette crashed into us full speed. Susie had a certain ability that Caleb desired to have under his thumb. There are so many ghosts he had manipulated into selling him their soul. Rudy and I both wanted to stop Caleb from having that chance for everyone.” You continued, “Can I show you?”

The moon shone through the light clouds as a duo wandered LA’s streets in different mental states. The only home you had known had been unceremoniously ripped down with no future plans in place. Your entire life had been in that apartment in a building you had once thought only you inhabited. You had been unaware that on a separate floor, Rudy had been dwelling.

The two teens in starkly different clothing grew close with each other through the whole being the dead thing they shared. The mission was to find another place too, use but the feeling of home being ripped away tore at their hearts. The apartment was a place Caleb Covington hadn’t been aware of.

Your thoughts threatened to turn darker as a force knocked you onto your bac—aA short brunette groaning in pain to the left of you. The girl was Gwen, who would become very important to both Rudy and you.

I’ve always been a little different than most people. I can move things short distances, but I developed a specific talent. I can get inside people’s minds to plant, remove or alter memories or simply talk and read their thoughts.

The sound of your voice in their heads freaked them out more than they would like to admit. The intrusive tickle of something in their brains unsettling as you made a more present entry so they could feel it.

“What?”

“This is why I can’t be anywhere near Caleb. The whole reason he gives people stamps and takes their souls is because of me.” You fully admitted clasping your fingers in your lap, “He couldn’t cope with the fear of another ghost leaving so added a stipulation to joining his Club.”

“How did you come to create Elysium?” Alex inquired leaning forward in his seat to rest his elbows on his knees. Luke and Reggie followed his posture as the anticipation built.

“Everyone deserves a safe place. A place as far away from Caleb as possible and we do so for free. No fee is required, and ghosts are free to come and go as they please. They are welcome as long as their unfinished business keeps them in this plane.”

It sounded like a sweet deal to the group of teens, but they had other commitments, “You can tell us more, but we need your help.”

The pleading in the messy-haired brunette tore at your heartstrings like the one time Willie brought you to his house. It had been shortly before your friendship fractured, a few years ago. He had brought you to a suburb for low-income families and straight to the backyard where a twelve-year-old year danced.

The dead skater boy and the rebel sat in the patio chair on the tiny porch nestled in the postmark sized backyard. A quintet of pre-pubescent girls danced on the lawn to some bubblegum pop song. The Young girl was submissive to a more confident girl even when the venue was the Young girl’s home.

“The girl to the left is my little sister Kayla. She’s twelve now, it’s been seven years since I died.” Willie’s brown eyes saddened at the dancer who had a spark of maturity in her eyes, “I check in every once in a while. These are Kayla’s friends. The bossy girl is Carrie, and while the band is a group, she is the unofficial leader of the band Carrie’s Constellations.”

“She looks happy.”

“Kayla’s always been bubbly in personality, but she had questionable friends.” Willie outright admitted keeping his eyes pinned to the girl that had grown up in a blink of an eye. Her dark hair concealed by the gaudy purple wig; the colour assigned to the teenager.

“It’s nice that she still enjoys dance.” Willie finished reaching out to grab your hand in his and just like that Willie transitioned back into carefree, “I found this really cool skatepark I think you’d like.”

“We don’t have a lot of time.” Alex winced as the three musicians flinched as a sudden purple spark of colour lit up their midsections.

Like a tentacle, your mind reached into the quiet raven-haired boy with the leather jacket. Beyond the imagery of docile golden retrievers and steaming plates of food, you found the regret and fear in the boy. Stepping into a recent memory, you watched their experience at the Hollywood Ghost Club.

“You’ve met Caleb.” You sighed roughly pushing your index finger between your brows feeling the familiar ache.

“It was a stupid decision,” Luke spoke up, tearing his focus from the mysterious girl that ultimately had the power in her hands. The entire plan was weighing on the decision you would give, “Either we join his house band, or we don’t exist.”

“Hm.” You spoke as the kaleidoscope of colours in Luke’s eyes glittered under the sterile lights of the room. It was difficult to look away from the enthralling teenage ghost, but the emotion wafting off Willie was concerning.

“They died before they could perform at the Orpheum. We’re banking that getting the opening slot with giving them the push into crossing over.” The long-haired skater leaned closer, “I know we haven’t talked in a while, but I can’t do much.”

“So, you want to pull ’09 incident again?” You completely ignored the trio on the couch staring directly at the sheepish skater with raised eyebrows, “Only this time without the train?”

“Train?” Alex whispered, looking between the two long-time friends with interest and then next thing he knew Alex was in the backseat of a van crushed between Reggie and Luke equally confused.

Chicago, Illinois 2009

William Young and Y/N Y/L/N were complete hellions in the ghost world, creating havoc that fascinated the living population. The recent event being the highjacking of a van filled with drunk teenage boys. These boys had been the sole reason a young girl was recovering in a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The scene changed to a hospital room with Willie and Y/N watching a girl with massive bruising laid.

It had hit both Willie and Y/N hard catching the tail end of the new report, Willie thinking of how that could have been his sister. Even if Kayla was only five years old, having a sister set things more in perspective. For you it was a flashback to when you were alive and thus led you to the ICU room for the girl.

Slipping into her unconscious mind was easy but while the injured teen appeared peaceful to the hospital staff, she was anything but. The poor girl’s mind replayed the traumatic incident over and over like a movie; keeping in the shadows, you gently repainted the portrait with lighter and brighter images.

For Willie, he watched as you wavered on your ghostly feet and smoothed out the features of the girl. The heart monitor subtly changing as the injured girl relaxed, and suddenly your interference heightened her chances of survival.

“I got it.” You spoke to Willie with a heated glare on your features and when the ghostly musician trio blinked they were back in the van.

Your hands gripped the van’s steering wheel with Willie turned in the passenger seat to watch a group of living boys scream. To the living eyes in the van, no one was in the front seats but whispered words spoke into their minds.

You’re going to go straight to the police and tell them what you did. You’ll hand over the photographic evidence and demand the worst punishment. You’ll leave the girl alone, or we’ll come back to finish our job. You will pay for the hospital bills if the family agrees.

The boys trembled with the putrid scent of urine permeating the enclosed vehicle. The distant sound of a train echoed in the distance as the van stopped on the tracks. No matter how much the living boys moved the doors refused to open, and the windows remained unbreakable.

“WE promise!” The ringleader cried, slamming his shoulder against the door with the train’s bright lights illuminating the van.

“Let us go!” The other screamed, slamming his bruising hands on the window.

Alex was flinching at each slam of fists on the glass, leaving smears of blood. Knuckles broke from the window. At the very last second, your foot slammed the gas pedal taking the van millimetres from the train screeching on the tracks.

You and Willie stared at the stationary train lit up from the van’s headlights with the rhythmic flashes of the red and blue police lights. The van’s seat arrangement was different with the ringleader in the driver’s seat.

The three ghost musicians standing unseen behind the duo but in the real world out of the dreamlike memory you knew.

Elysium, Present Day

“Holy fucking shit.” Alex cussed out of breath, leaning back on the couch with shaking limbs and fear in his bloodless veins.

Luke’s eyes blinked owlishly at the boy that he had once thought could never do something as terrifying and torturous. He was afraid to even ask the outcome of the life-threatening incident you did on the assailants.

“That is the reason for the train.” You barely glanced at the shaken trio to stare at who had once been your partner in crime, “Willie, I have responsibilities here. We just opened a new division for the children we house here.”

“It would take a few hours.” Willie pleaded, positioning his hands into a pleading position turning on his charm. The puppy eyes you had always struggled to say no to as if you weren��t the type of person easily capable of staying strong.

“We’ll do anything.” Luke pleaded just as much recalling the countless times he had charmed himself out of situations, “Please help us.”

“I’ll have to make arrangements with Rudy and Susie, but I might be able to pull some strings. I’m really sorry Willie, but I’m gonna need to erase your knowledge of this place. There are too many people depending on this setup.”

Outside the Orpheum

Outside the legendary venue, three out of four band members for Julie and the Phantoms walked up to the marquee. Hopefully, the letters for Downslide would be changed into their band name just under the main act. Everything was riding on Willie and Y/N’s capabilities. Trusting the skater was challenging to do and more so someone they didn’t fully know.

“Look, don’t worry, guys. Willie said he’d get us on that marquee.” Alex soothed his friends on each side of him. All three wearing concerned expressions at the place that hopefully was their last stop before crossing over.

“This is gonna work, right?” Reggie questioned with his hand confidently sliding into the pockets of his black jeans. The relaxed posture a juxtaposition to the anxiety and nerves on his flushed face.

“It has to.” Luke’s lips pursed into a pout with his words tinged with a dialect different from his best friends. The faint souvenir from the place he spent a few years growing up before moving to LA.

Luke’s words were highlighted by the groans of pain as that flash of purple courtesy of Caleb’s death stamp appeared. All three hunched over clutched their chests breathing through the pain; Luke was the first to unfurl his form.

“Whoa!” You gasped flashing underneath the marquee beside Willie. Rushing to give Luke support without even a second thought.

When the aftershock faded, the guitarist stood straight up with a thankful smile that boarded on adoration.

“Are you guys, okay?” Willie asked, keeping back with the swell of guilt that happened, seeing the familiar symptoms of post-shock. He had felt them a time or two in the time he had sold his soul to his unfortunate boss.

“Yeah, it’s nothing we haven’t felt before,” Alex replied, rubbing his hand over the baby blue shirt he had chosen today. His blue eyes doing their best to avoid looking into the puppy-like ones of the skater, “How’d it go?”

“Well, when that opening band wakes up, they’re gonna find their bus 200 miles outside of Vegas.” Willie proudly announcing turning on his heel to show off the Downslide jacket he took from the lead singer. His fist extending to bump yours instinctively before he did so with Luke.

“With no chance of getting back in time.” You snickered in response living on the adrenaline and nostalgia of the rebellion. With Elysium, you had turned around your life, “Meaning-“

“-there’s probably a promoter upstairs right about now freakin’ out.”

“Nah. This is Hollywood, man.” Willie scoffed with a wave of his hand matching the one you supplied, “I’m sure he’s being very professional.”

As Willie finished his sentence up in the promotor’s office out of earshot of the ghosts stood a very pissed adult. His finger-wagging his finger with teeth clenched, his flushed skin a juxtaposition to the cheery blue Hawaiian style shirt. Frank Wolfe couldn’t believe how stupid his once opening band was.

“What do you mean the bus drove itself into the middle of the desert?” Frank questioned progressively growing more and more frustrated. His assistant Tasha casting concerned looks to her typically collected boss, “BUSES DON’T DRIVE THEMSELVES!”

Tasha flinched at the sudden loud growl of the sentence but more so as Wolfe starting slamming the phone into the cradle. Her fingers halting on her keyboard, going over the list of frequent acts. Unfortunately, the five acts had other commitments causing Tasha to fear tonight. The blonde lady was worried Wolfe could have a breakdown once more.

While Willie snickered to his own words, your eyes, not your mind, could read that Alex wanted to talk to the skater. With only a teasing jab of your elbow in Willie’s ribs you shuffled around the drummer to join Reggie and Luke away from the ‘will they won’t they’ couple.

“So, can you do me a favour?” Luke hesitantly questioned you with his inquisitive eyes a greener colour in the sunlight. His attractive eyes took your full attention with a simple tilt of your head, “Julie’s family means a lot to us, and could you keep an eye on them?”

“And Carlos,” Reggie interjected rocking on his polished pleather boots he had spent ages on finding for his rocker aesthetic back in the ’90s.

“-Julie’s little brother.” Luke supplied at the confusion painted clearly on your pretty features. His green eyes scoured your face as he always did that flushed both his and your faces red.

“Yeah, of course, I can.” You firmly told the two dead boys each standing tense in front of you.

You could easily see the love they held for the living family that had come to mean so much in such a short amount of time. Since first meeting them you had always gotten the feeling that their living years weren’t the best. For Alex, it was living in the ’90s as a young gay teenager during a terrifying time for the LGBTQ+ community. Reggie flinched at the raised voices, and Luke had longingly stared after the happy families milling around the Elysium.

“Did you ever find out what your unfinished business was?” Reggie inquired fixing a strand of his dark hair that had fallen onto his blemish-free skin. Your smile faltered at his question; nonetheless, you answered.

“I did.” The two words carried a sense of pain with them. Your eyes unfocused recalling the euphoric feeling of seeing the breathtaking white light of the peace exuding from the beyond and the agony of denying crossing over.

“How-“

“Hey! Y/N!” Willie called out to the young denim wearing ghost with his beaming grin, “Don’t go stealing buses without me!”

Luke swore he could see your laughter in the air, just as endearing as the smoky quality your voice carried.

“Don’t go glitter bombing criminals.” You returned as your best friend dropped his board to skate off to wherever he was needed. It was bittersweet to reconnect with him knowing that it could be the last time.

When Caleb found out, not an if but a when Willie had a hand in helping his desired band it was high chance Willie would be gone. Caleb was all too powerful, and when he was betrayed, it never ended well.

“I need to get back to Elysium. Susie’s arrival is tonight. Good luck with tonight.” Your words were accompanied by a hug for each of the boys. The one with Luke lingering the most, “I wish you could play for the kids.”

“Yeah. Me too.” The brunette, messy-haired boy’s words carried a hidden desire simply to be in your space more. The teenage ghost helps those in limbo while wearing a jean jacket with patches from many decades. The jacket creating an unknown time you had lived.

“Goodbye, boys.” You told the trio before you poofed away from the busy streets of Hollywood where the band had come full circle in death.

“Are you guys, okay?” Reggie inquired his best friends, forgoing his casual personality for the layers underneath. His blue-green eyes filled with only concern.

Alex and Luke shared a lingering look, “Yeah. We’re okay.”

The dining hall was filled with long tables and chairs populated by the ghostly forms of everyone currently living at Elysium. It was reminiscent of a British book turned film series of youth with magic abilities. The series had been a favourite of a former resident.

“Incredible.” Susie breathed staring at the joyful people having a place to call home. Making the limbo between life and death more bearable.

“We’ve done well. You smiled, wrapping an arm around her waist, “It’s so nice to have you back.”

Elysium was so much more than you could ever hope for. It kept growing and growing with more ghosts. Since the founding of the haven, new developments continuously happened with one resident’s unique ability.

Harvey had joined the haven a year into the founding bringing the ability to gift the residents with the capacity to eat. During his life, Harvey had been a renowned chef and the dream to make food it carried into his death. As long as Harvey cooked the food with his volunteer staff ghosts were able to eat it.

“Harvey has outdone himself again,” Rudy announced his arrival at your side with his arms crossed, displaying his corded muscles. The constellation of moles on his face standing on his pale creamy skin.

“Rudy!” Susie squealed, throwing herself into his arms with the same glee that came each time. Susie and Rudy since their first meeting had a special bond as chosen siblings who bonded over heartache.

Rudy had died, leaving his best friend and his strawberry blonde girlfriend in the living world back in their dark hometown. It was just one tidbit he had revealed throughout your friendship. The only physical connection to his living friends was the three picture on his desk of a group of people.

The first picture had a lean version of Rudy with his arms thrown over a Hispanic boy with a crooked jaw and glimmering brown eyes. The Hispanic boy had his arm around a pretty brunette girl with deep dimples and wavy brown hair. The two boys wore a sports uniform of some kind holding lacrosse sticks.

The second picture had Rudy and the Hispanic teen again but with a beautiful petite strawberry blonde. Along with them was a brunette with blunt chin-length hair and hardened features besides a shorter blonde male with blue eyes.

The last picture was of Rudy with the same Hispanic boy wearing graduation caps and gowns with two beaming adults. The male adult wore a tan shirt adorned with a star on his left pec and dark brown pants. He had to be Rudy’s father with similar features. The woman was of Hispanic descent with laugh lines, and thick dark curly hair pulled into a half do; obviously the Hispanic teen’s mother.

The pain in Rudy’s face each time he saw the pictures closed off a desire to ask him about the people.

“Hello, Susie.” Rudy chuckled, wrapping his arms around her small stature, “How was Europe?”

“Why don’t you ask the five newcomers I found before Caleb?” Susie teased gesturing to the ragtag of new ghosts immersed in conversations.

“Family?”

“A boarding school had a fire. Those five were in the fire when it happened and the only victims out of seven that didn’t cross over.” Susie’s tone faded into a melancholy tone with her small arms wrapping around her middle. Faded brown eyes staring at the younger of the five seeing herself in them.

“That’s terrible.” You whispered, staring at the table with one finger picking the patch of a band from the ’70s, “I can’t imagine how scary that could have been.”

“Yeah.” Susie softly spoke, pushing a strand of her hair off her temple just as equally sad for the way that death had no qualms of how it took.

The youngest ghost in Elysium had been a three-year-old toddler who passed over quickly when he was found by the deceased mother. The two had been separated at death and luckily shared the same unfinished business of finding each other.

“Miss Reynold’s has twelve spirits that finished their business.” Rudy softly informed his two partners. Soft smiles formed on their faces at the happy news of Elysium’s goal being accomplished again.

“May they find everlasting peace and serenity.” Your words intertwined with Susie in perfect sync of the motto coined after the first crossover, “I suppose the Serenity will begin planning?”

“Have the Serenity ever not performed their duty?” Rudy raised one dark eyebrow with a rhetorical question. E/c and faded brown met recalling the countless times Elysium had hosted a celebration for those who found their unfinished business.

“That is-whoa.” You gasped stumbling at the scream echoing in your mind accessorized with the vintage sound of a band.

Calloused hands grasped your shaking form from collapsing onto the ground from a proverbial psionic shove. Agony slammed your brain flickering into an old fashioned club filled with people in both colour or black and white attire. You caught sight of baby pink, deep royal blue and bright red suits. The pained screams of a skater in a dark room overtaking the music in the Club.

“No.” You whispered clenching your hands on your head, feeling the dread building in the pit of your stomach.

The joyful voices in the hall muted while your body flickered with the deep instinct to leave the haven for the one place that utterly terrified you. It was the familiar touch of Susie and Rudy that kept you from finding the one person that meant the world. Willie’s soul was on the cutting board, and Caleb obsession with performing was the only reason Willie still existed.

“Willie.” You whimpered tears rolling down your flushed cheeks, feeling the panic in the skater’s mind.

“Susie help me.” Rudy stonily spoke ushering the distraught girl from the busy hall into an empty room.

Your shaking body finding purchase on the plush sofa with Susie holding one hand in hers and Rudy brushing the sweaty hair from your forehead. It wasn’t often your psionic abilities left you in such a state, but the distance proved difficult.

“Shit.” Rudy grumbled frowning, “This is bad. Y/N, we need to get you to Willie. You’re flickering, and the distance isn’t helping.”

“You want to take one of Elysium’s strongest ghosts straight into Caleb’s domain? You know how much he wants her in his Club.” Susie hissed to the co-founder of the haven they had to take extraordinary measures to protect, “It won’t work! You’re throwing her to the dogs!”

“Susanne I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t necessary. Besides, we always have a plan.” Rudy retorted narrowing his whiskey eyes at the younger girl, “I’ll take her to get Willie, but you need to stay here to make sure everything runs smooth.”

“Are you sure you can-“Susie cut herself off with a nod as Rudy displayed the reason he could do it, “Okay, yep, you can do it.”

Rudy came back into her vision in his signature position with one eyebrow raised, and his arms crossed. The reason why Elysium worked so well was Rudy’s ability to erase an object from the view of anyone. He could make himself invisible to anyone and in practice, developed it to hide items and location. With his ability, Elysium was permanently hidden to anyone outside of his power. Illusions were his unique ability.

“You aren’t the first person to doubt my capability.” Rudy informed the other ghost reaching one hand out. With his fingers caressing your temple, he snapped his fingers, transporting you and him away from Elysium.

The empty room of Elysium’s dining hall was exchanged for the business streets of Los Angeles, bringing an improvement in your body. Pushing away from Rudy, your eyes frantically scoured the unfamiliar area for any hint of Willie.

“He’s close.” You exclaimed closing your e/c eyes to focus solely on your sixth sense kicking in. Rudy’s gasp snapped your eyes open to see his eyes pinned on your feet where a glowing neon purple smoke wisped.

“What is that?” Rudy demanded crouching to touch it, but it was like nothing was there. His whiskey brown eyes meeting your confused gaze.

“I have no clue, but I feel like I have to follow it.” Robotically your feet started walking following the smoke through the streets.

Rudy was silent as you came upon a park swallowed by the darkness of the night with the moon barely showing through the clouds. The odd purple smoke the only offering of light so far from the path with street lights.

“Of course we have to go through a park.” Rudy grumbled, “Nothing good ever happens in wooded areas at night.”

Lifting your eyes from the smoke, you looked at a deeply unsettled Rudy lost in the past only he knew. His mind recalling traipsing through the forest with his asthmatic best friend in the middle of the night. The last night before the unknown took over his life. Oddly enough dying and returning as a ghost was the most normal with everything that happened with his friends alive.

“You can go ba-“

“We’re not splitting up,” Rudy growled plainly scowling at your hesitant features. Rudy’s slammed the door closed on his past life.

Sensing unease Rudy’s calloused hand reached over to slide into yours in platonic support. You continued your mission, unaware that three certain ghosts in breathtaking suits were searching for you.

Alex, Reggie, and Luke, affected by the purple jolts, failed to find the one place where their plan B could work. What Julie hadn’t known was that the guys had a plan just in case the Orpheum wasn’t their unfinished business. The three would go to Elysium to accept their fate and ensure Julie believed they crossed over.

With no Elysium in sight, the boys returned to the Molina garage hoping that one thing would go their way: Julie would go straight to bed.

The glow purple smoke trailed through the city park into an older part of Los Angeles before it stopped. Where the smoke stopped was a vast empty space surrounded by trees.

“Well, that’s a little anticlimactic.” You grumbled crossing your arms, “Willie’s somewhere here. Do you think Caleb has an underground lair?”

Rudy cast an unamused expression at you, “From past experience. No, that’s not likely. He probably has an apartment downtown. An underground network of caves in the woods is more shapeshifter style but still not true.”

“One: You’re rambling. Two: What the hell kind of life did you have?” You questioned furrowing your eyebrows at his rather odd piece of information.

“An old one.” Rudy spoke, staring ahead, “Besides, I think we should check out whatever building is hidden from our sight.”

“Hid-“Your mouth halted when Rudy roughly gripped your shoulders to twist you to face the empty space.

“Close your eyes. Trust your senses.” Rudy spoke softly, “Or pay attention to the slab of concrete in the middle of an empty space with well-kempt grass.”

Your palm slammed your forehead with a resounding thump in the night with distance lights from surrounding buildings. Rudy squeezed your shoulders as he stepped to the side once more in turn, closing his eyes.

“Walk in my mind.” Rudy stated for the first time in your friendship, allowing you to look in his mind. Your hesitance was met with another squeeze of comfort in his calloused grip.

Your tired eyes closed as your mind timidly stepped into the rather breathtaking mind of Rudy, who felt guilt the most. While Susie’s mind was like a summer day spent at a lake with brightness and gorgeous field of flowers, Rudy’s mind was different.

It was dark in Rudy’s mind but not as if evil, but as if he had been touched by the darkness and painted permanently. There’s was the odd whisper of childlike laughter intermingled with the full adult laugh of a woman; the laughter overshadowed with the sound of funeral music. You felt the lose near that memory. Rudy’s mind was painful to be in and drowning in the feelings he had.

Your breath caught seeing a door you assumed was of his childhood room with a name you couldn’t pronounce for the life of you.

“My parents named me after my mom’s dad.” Rudy spoke through his mind with a soft smile on his face, “I couldn’t say it, so I called myself Mischief. I stopped using it when my mom died, and I went by a shortened version of my last name.”

Your eyes watched as the door disappeared, and the reason you were in his mind came back to the forefront. Your eyes watched the image forming of a vintage hotel rippling in the air before it solidified. The size reminded you of a castle, and it felt like you were storming it.

Without any more mental interaction, you stepped out of Rudy’s mind back into the real world. The very same hotel in plain sight to both Rudy and your surprised elation.

“Honestly didn’t think that would work.” Rudy breathlessly laughed, staring at the hotel once hidden to them. A dark comparison to Elysium.

“How do we play this, Rudy?” You inquired looking over at him, “This is very different from stealing cars and scaring teens.”

“Easy. We blend in.” Rudy responded, holding one hand out to grasp yours in which you noticed your attire had changed, “Perks of illusion? I can alter our own perception of ourselves.”

“Oh, wow. That looks expensive.” You replied, staring at the diamond bracelet on your wrist matching the necklace you wore.

Rudy’s attire had changed from his normal button-up with the sleeves rolled to be layered under a charcoal grey vest and jacket. Sleek matching pants to his coat and the dark black-tie matching the elegant black dress you wore. He had taken pity on your footwear to fit your ability to walk and for the fancy place.

He even had diamond cufflinks that matched you, but the wedding rings on your fingers took you aback. Your widened eyes staring at him.

“Tonight we’re Mr and Mrs Martin,” Rudy spoke choking on the last name he gave as it was the upscale name toppled from his lips.

“Okay. This is a test of our abilities.”

“This is if our plan A of being invisible doesn’t work. The one thing we know for sure is that Caleb has never seen either one of us.” Rudy soothed your nerves with a half-smile,” Let’s get Willie out.”

Your arm slipped into the crook of his to walk to the front door, “I feel like a spy. I feel like that Naomi Roma-“

“It’s Natasha Romanoff. Have you ever seen one of the marvel movies?” Rudy demanded walking up the entrance with a pained smile, “You’re like my best friend and when he wouldn’t watch Star Wars! Never caught one of my references!”

“Okay! Sorry, we can watch the movies when this over.” You grumbled as your heels clicked in the foyer of the hotel. The inside made you feel like you were sent back in time to the roaring ’20s.

“Oh damn, this is nice,” Rudy whispered, staring at the chandelier in the extravagant lobby of the last place you wanted to be.

While on the outside the two ghosts appeared cool, calm and collected they were anything but. Both a wreck inside from the perilous errand they had done that could very well be the ending of Elysium. Rudy nudged you to begin finding Willie with your mind, but you didn’t need to.

That same glowing mist was on the ground pulling you in the direction of a dark hall away from the route to the Club. Rudy kept his eye out, a characteristic carried into the afterlife from his time with the FBI, as you followed the mist. The hall continued to get more and more dark as the walk continued.

Finally at the end was a blood-red door.

“I swear to god if he kills his Club members, I’ll lose it.” You hissed to your arm candy, “What if he’s really H. H. Holmes disguised as a former magician? His door is blood red!”

“Have you been using your serial killer colouring book again?” Rudy demanded stuttering his steps to place his whiskey brown eyes on you. The sheepish expression on your face was enough of a response to gain the look of disbelief could have sent you into hysterics had the time not been too serious.

With a grin belying the situation, you twisted your wrist to open the door to hopefully where Willie was being held.

“What a cliché. He’s keeping Willie in the basement?”

“Will you shut up!” Rudy hissed right back with a clenched jaw entering the somewhat unfinished basement. It was cold even to your dead standards where the cold didn’t bother that much.

At the bottom in front of a desk with only a small lamp as illumination sat a vacant-eyed Willie painstakingly detailing a fabric. The lush purple velvet fabric was bougie, to say the least, and rather outlandish for the skater.

“Willie.” You softly coaxed the teen to glance up from the fabric you found to be something Caleb would wear. Willie’s brown eyes barely met yours before they returned to the sewing needle in his hand and the tiny beads in the bowl.

“Caleb is actually forcing him to be his personal seamstress?” Rudy scoffed,d stepping right up by your side to look at the work.

Both trying unsuccessfully to coaxed Willie out of the stupor he was engaged in the sudden poofing wasn’t heard.

“Mrs. Young taught both Willie and Kayla how to sew. She’s quite the seamstress, reminds me of my old one.” Caleb wistfully responded with a smarmy smile on his face, “Well if it isn’t little Y/N and whoever she brought. Nice threads.”

“Let him go.”

Caleb’s index finger caressed the corner of his mouth so gently to ensure the stage makeup didn’t budge. His clear ocean blue eyes turning thunderstorm navy as his lips parted in such a bone-chilling sinister grin.

“Let him go? He tried to take my new house band from me. He thinks that those boys not crossing over is his punishment. I think that adorable but so very wrong.” Caleb shrugged, dragging his finger down the bicep of his puppet.

“What can we do to- “

“You see after he’s done fixing the tuxedo jacket I’m going to tie him up on the table and slowly strip away his soul piece by piece. No, Willie won’t get the quick and easy zap erasing him. I’ll personally see it’s the most painful thing he experiences and I’ll do so happily.”

“Willie! Wake up!” Rudy shouted, shaking the skater’s shoulder frantically with his focus never entirely leaving the mad man. The whiskey brown eyes panicking at the odd displaced feeling of reliving his living life.

“That won’t work.” Caleb chuckled crossing his arms, “It’s rather amusing you think you can beat me. I’m Caleb Covington! I’m persuasive enough for hundred of memberships to financially benefit the Club.”

“And I’m Y/N Y/L/N bitch.” You snarled viciously throwing your mind into the nefarious narcissistic mind of the washed-up magician.

Caleb Convington had started to bore his audience with the same tricks at every previous show. The lack of interest depleting the attendance numbers and severely hurting the financials. So Caleb decided to broaden his talent by copying the likes of Harry Houdini.

He had a knack for both the dramatics and swindling his audience to be tricked by the illusions he created. The heightened popularity increased Caleb’s thirst for status and fame, so he overestimated himself.

Surrounded by adoring fans and journalists, Caleb had his assistant lock him in a safe with no key, to the audience’s knowledge, and push the safe into the river. Unfortunately from the infamous magician and escape artist the safe warped due to the material it as made out of. Caleb Covington died drowning in a safe at the bottom of the river.

You flinched feeling the emotion at the time Caleb had died and the feeling of disappointment at not leaving a legacy. Your continued your trek in the struggling mind of a man who viewed himself as invincible. You caught glimpses of a young Caleb with his family and the moments of tragedy that shaped him.

You saw his first taste of power in death and the content since the first time he erased a ghost from existence. It sickened you more as you reached the point where Willie came into Caleb’s path.

I’m unique, Caleb. Unlike you with the illusions and empty promises, I have real power that you could only dream of. Hearing your thoughts and planting my own words is just the tip of the iceberg.

Caleb screamed in response holding his aching head as you cruelly ripped every memory of Willie from his mind. The screams echoed not only in the basement but through the hotel the Club worked out of.

“Stop!” Caleb pleaded, shaking his head back and forth. The anguish was un-fazing to both the lucid people in the room. Rudy too busy trying to wake your best friend from the trance he had been placed in.

“I can alter memories. Remove them and even plant memories of my own design. You may take from people, but I give to people. I refused to give you anything.” You circled the man seeing double from outside and inside his mind.

I’m everything you wish you could be.

Your last action in his mind was searing a burn that flashed across his entire body from a nerve stroked. With the heat equivalent to magma in his veins, you burrowed to where Caleb controlled the souls. With a smear of your fingers, Willie’s soul was released from Caleb clutches.

“C’mon. Get Willie.” You told Rudy sending Caleb into an empty trance as if he was no more than a wax figure. Rudy eased the skater up from the desk while you exchanged Caleb to sit on the chair holding the needle, “We need to leave. I’ll get rid of any speck of Willie in memories.”

“I didn’t even get to punch the guy.” Rudy pouted, dragging his feet up the stairs away from the magician.

“That’s a good thing. I’m sure Caleb would be more pissed about his nose being damaged than losing Willie.” You scoffed helping the man urge Willie to walk up the stairs and then down the hallway to the entrance.

As you walked you brushed the minds of every individual in the building, all members in attendance, you gently removed all traces of Willie. By the time you reached the edge of the park, you had relaxed.

“We should get him to Alex, they didn’t crossover. I can still feel their imprint.”

“He’d be safer at Elysium to lay low.” Rudy replied, keeping on eye on the skater and on anyone he could see.

With only a nod, you ushered the ghost to teleport both the skater and himself back to the safe walls of Elysium. As he did so, you reached out with your mind to the blonde-haired sweet male in adoration with your best friend.

Clicking his place was easy enough for your draining power after the taxing bond with Willie’s absent presence. Instead of walking as you would generally choose you poofed on the cement pad in the backyard of a home. The surrounding skirt of the backyard encased with plants and flowers.

“Hello?” You called out in the darkness. The soft, mumbled words had your feet moving in the direction.

Standing in a circle mesmerized at the purple tattoos lifting off their skin was the boys of Julie and the Phantoms. The teenage beautiful Puerto Rican girl stood across from Luke with Reggie and Alex on each side.

“Alex?” You called out to the boy wearing a baby pink vintage tuxedo that complimented his skin and hair exquisitely. The outfit definitely screamed that Caleb had something to do with it, especially with the missing fanny pack.

“Y/N?” Luke gasped turning to see you in incredibly fancy attire matching his gorgeous blue suit modified to having no sleeves. The anticipation of eating at you to find Reggie rocking a red suit with butterflies on the fabric.

“I’m sorry you didn’t crossover.” Your words soothed the sad teenagers that had accepted their fate only to have no control again. An introduction was brought between you and Julie when the living girl elbowed Alex.

“Not that we mind but what are you doing here? How did you get here, and why are you dressed up?” Luke inquired, pushing his hands into his suit pockets, engrossed with your gorgeous appearance.

“Well when you crash a fancy Club with a narcissistic founder…any means to blend in is necessary.” You responded, “As for your second question.”

Your finger tapped your temple before continuing to speak, “I’m here because Alex deserves to know. You all do.”

The boy in baby pink frantically stepped forward, “What happened?”

“Maybe it’s best, I just show you?” Your brows furrowed to your own question accompanied by your lower lip being bitten by your teeth. The red lipstick not budging as it was an illusion as well.

“Hu-“Reggie grunted as he spiralled with his two dead bandmates into the scene that had sent you on your determined mission.

The rough action of being drawn into your memories as jarring as the first time and just as scary. The maniacal magician pacing the dark basement simply to heighten his dramatic speech. Alex’s heart clenched at the vacant look in the skater’s eyes with the faintest tinge of purple in the gorgeous brown.

“I feel like I got carsick.” Reggie moaned leaning over to clutch his midsection once you released the ghostly trio. Reggie would often gain a look of disbelief and horror from the blonde drummer, but his entire brain was centred on Willie.

“Rudy took Willie back to Elysium where he’ll be safe. If you want, you can join us.” The words were offered to both the dead and living currently in the room.

Opting out, Julie retired to her bedroom to calm down from the rush of performing at the Orpheum of all places. Besides she felt like going to Elysium was best for the three boys, and maybe they would move there. Julie would miss them, but she knew they’d always come back.

Susie was quick to hug you tightly as you stepped through the gates with the dead members of Julie’s band. The boys changed out of the tuxedos they had dropped off at a donation centre, Reggie had wanted to burn them. After living on the streets for a short while, Luke understood the need for clothing, so the clothing was taken to shelters.

“I’m so glad you’re okay. Rudy told me you overexerted yourself again.” Susie spoke with a deeply furrowed brow oblivious to the puppy dog look from the bassist in red flannel.

“If I didn’t, Willie would be gone.”

“You’re pale yet flushed cheeks. I can see you have a fever. You need to rest.”

“I need to soothe Willie out of the trance that psychotic prick put him in.” You scoffed shaking Susie’s hand off your shoulder to sidestep her, “I’ll rest when he’s fine.”

“I-“

“At least gab something from the cafeteria for energy.” Susie’s brown eyes dimmed at your typical brush off. The same routine of overusing your powers and not recharging correctly, “He’s in Cottage A!”

The boys were on your heels as you power-walked through the streets of the ghost city with one location in mind. The living streets with homes of all style and colours appeared passed the bakery, the school and the clothing stores.

“You can eat?” Reggie whispered as a little ghost girl licked an ice cream cone walked by.

“Harvey adored cooking for people when he living, so he continued in death. Harvey can make food for ghosts, and so can his staff if they work in his kitchen. His pastry chef provides baked goods to Flora’s Bakery and makes the best ice cream.”

“Oh my god.” Reggie practically squealed wholly flabbergasted by the almost perfect place you created, “How do you pay for things?”

“We don’t. What Harvey doesn’t grow in his garden, he can make ingredients out of thin air. We all have some kind of job we do. Everyone has a role in fulfilling to keep Elysium running.” You simply spoke keeping your eyes on the cottage with the robin’s egg blue door.

As if he knew Rudy flung the door open elated to see you standing there. Both of you still wearing the illusioned attire. IN milliseconds he wiped the illusion away, returning you back into your street clothes.

“How is he?”

“No change.” Rudy replied, following your steps in the living room. The skater was staring blankly at the wall.

“Willie!” Alex cried, rushing over to kneel beside the boy that had so swiftly stolen his heart without him realizing. The emotion in his word didn’t get a microscopic flinch from the formerly so-called enemy.

“Everyone be quiet.” You demanded forcibly staring each person in the room down for a mere second. With the desired silence continued, you ignored the headache forming in your head to step into the skater’s mind.

William Young was screaming to be released by the prison of his own mind Caleb had forced him into. He had felt the restriction on his soul lifted and the mist of purple leaving his brain, but he was still stuck.

He could barely breathe with the weight on his chest. Willie didn’t like feeling stuck in one place as he was a wanderer at heart. It was a reason why he had joined the Hollywood Ghost Club with the promise of travel.

Willie come back

In his mind, the sound of your voice firstly grounded the young man as a mirage of your form flickered. Your eyes screamed worry while the smile was one of relief.

Caleb can’t hurt you anymore. Come home.

The spectators watching see your flinching wavering expression and the tensing of Willie’s facial muscles. Everyone sat on the edge of their seat as the two pairs eyes opened in synch of the yells of hurt.

What they didn’t expect was your eyes to roll into the back of your skull and you to collapse onto the floor.

“Y/N!” Willie cried, stumbling off the couch onto the cold floor where your body lay prone, “Wake up!”

It seemed everyone forgot the little detail of being dead.

“She’s fine.” Rudy remarked, shaking your arm with such gentle care matching the four guys’ care in the room.

Your eyelids fluttered open under the bright lights of the unused cottage still waiting for an owner.

“Susie was right.” You grumbled allowing Willie to help you sit up against the blue velvet couch. Your mussed hair adorable in the eyes of the guitarist utterly enamoured with everything about you.

“She usually is.” Rudy mused, thinking of the many times she had proven everyone wrong, “She punched me for not bringing you home.”

“Gotta love her.” You snorted turning to face the four ghosts awkwardly gazing around the room. It was barren of personality with the lack of inhabitants. The yearning quickly found in the boys’ eyes, “You know this isn’t the only cottage in need of people.”

“What do-“

“You’re welcome to live here. I know you three live in that studio, but here you can have a real bed. You can eat and having your own place. You can come and go as you please.” You offered without looking, Rudy.

“I don’-“

“If you don’t want to live here, it’s okay, but the option is always there. Willie, we make plans for a skatepark-“

“Oh, you had me from the start.” Willie beamed tugging you into his arms, “I missed this. I missed you.”

“Me too.” You murmured into his warm embrace equally relaxed at knowing he was safe again. Your eyes clashing with the soft blue had Ideas songwriting already filled with lyrics of a pretty girl wearing a jean jacket with patches.

The lyrics turned into songs both in the studio and the cottage that Luke, Reggie and Alex accepted in Elysium. It had been a spirited discussion with Julie on moving to Elysium, but the boys were always there when she wasn’t in school. Often Elysium hosted a concert for the residents with the visitation of Julie.

Your reciprocated attraction with the messy-haired hazel-eyed guitarist flourished into a serious relationship. Luke took on the role of teaching how to play the guitar and songwriting. Alex took of mediation while Reggie worked with Harvey.

Willie quickly took on designing the skatepark he taught at while also taking a position at the ghost school.

“Morning.” The soft whisper roused your sleep into the golden glow of the morning light and chirping birds.

The growling aspect of his voice coming from only just waking up. The sight of Luke’s bleary eyes was heartwarming.

A year into moving into Elysium, Luke had asked if you’d like to move in as he was the only one in the original house. Alex had moved into the little cottage with Willie three months into the relationship while Reggie was going back and forth between Susie’s room and his own place.

“Morning.” You hummed leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

“You know I thought my life ended when I died. That I could never find someone and have a family. That I couldn’t share my music with the world. I was wrong.” Luke murmured as he cupped your cheek in his hand, “The band is growing more and more each day. I found the love of my life, and we have a family with everyone. I haven’t felt like I had had home for so long, but I get it now. You’re my home. I love you.”

Your cheeks warmed up at the adoration Luke displayed in his expressive hazel green gaze just as it had since day one. The awe fell from his lips before you pressed a kiss to his lips, only one of the many in the eons to come.

Tag List (PLEASE SEND AN INBOX TO BE ADDED! I CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE ON THE LIST VIA POST COMMENTS!)

@safehavenmuse @siennanoelle01 @whiterose291 @mell-bell @blackhood5sos @ficrecsideblog @ifilwtmfc @deadpoolgirl23 @crappy-unicorn @sunsetcurve-h @elioelioeli0 @lovesanimals @popcrone818 @lolychu @deepsleepnat @tenaciousperfectionunknown @aunicornmademedoit @just-a-writer-here @simp4reggie @merceret @faithiebrock01 @overlyhypedup @differentsoulrascalsalad @aesthetic-lyss @versaceapa @carleywhittaker @lostgirl219 @itsalexx21 @elllaoo4 @merxxleighann @mediocremunge @fantomlovesjuke4ever @dpaccione @oswin05 @kaylinfayezink @aberette13 @faithie-brock-gillespie01 @eharvey0218 @overlyhypedup @benstormy @auriandthepussicats @sarcasticsagittarius1998 @whothefuckstolemykeds @siriuswvrld @princessvader15 @xoxbloodreinaxox @heimdoodle @joshy-obx @lovesanimals @oopsiedoopsie23 @am3l1a-24 @flying-solo-without-you @jaskiers-sweetkiss @lostrandomfangirln @must-be-a-weasley-92 @jatp-holland @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch @dxlanhxlland @dasexydevitt13 @ifilwtmfc @arianagrandes-things @kinda-really-lost @marinettepotterandplagg @ssprayberrythings @morgandamrose @thedarkqueenofavalon @zukoshonourr @crybabyddl @spooky-season-bitch @kcd15 @morganayennefertyrell @magnet-girl @all-in-fangirl @kinda-really-lost @tenaciousperfectionunknown @badwolf00593 @blowakissbabe @talksoprettyjjx @thesweetestsinner @kaitieskidmore1 @writerinlearning @aiofheavenandhell @sageellsworth05 @link-102 @thesweetestsinner

#luke patterson imagines #luke patterson x reader #julie and the phantoms imagines #luke patterson x y/n #julie and the phantoms #luke patterson #alex mercer x willie #jatp fanfic #jatp luke #charlie gillespie imagines #sunset curve #jatp au #caitsy and ash productions

217 notes · View notes

giorno-plays-piano · 4 years

Text

Rotten

Pairing: Steve Rogers x princess!Reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, captivity, forced marriage, brief mention of child abuse, allusion to death of minor characters.

Words: 3950.

Summary: "The princess will marry the very first beggar who comes to the castle gates," the King said.

P.S. This was inspired by König Drosselbart fairytale.

_______________

Staring at the enormously huge black gates separating the castle from the outer world, you pulled the grey cloth over your head, covering your beautiful shiny hair. Before this morning you wore a tiara of your mother, and your dresses were made from brocade, silk and cashmere, not this rough wool that itched so badly and irritated your gentle skin. But now the only posession you were allowed to keep was that little cameo of your mother laying in the pocket of your simple grey dress.

The princess is obstinate, capricious, the King said. She thinks too high of herself. She rejects and ridicules all honourable men coming to ask for her hand in marriage. She is rotten to the core. She doesn't deserve to be the crown princess of the kingdom.

Locked away, abandoned by your teachers, refused to be engaged to any decent prince or lord, you were kept confined to your chamber for several years. Occasionally, you were allowed to visit the celebrations and balls held in the castle only to be laughed at your lack of manners and education by the children of the King and their entourage. You considered them your friends once, but those times had long passed.

You were the only child of the Queen, the true ruler of these lands, who got married the second time after an unfortunate death of her first husband, your father. She didn't give the new King an heir, but he had a handful of his own children from his past marriages. All of them, except his oldest one who stayed to rule the country of his father under the watchful eye of royal advisors, were brought to your kingdom. They are your sisters and brothers, the King said.

They were the ones who would take your place once the King found an opportunity to get rid of you, the true successor to the Queen.

All the men who came to ask for your hand were told you had no desire to meet them, and then, after the brief encounter with the King, they were sent away. You watched them, enraged by this unfair treatment, and their corteges to leave in haste, disappearing behind the black gates. You were never allowed to leave your chamber at these times, forced to look out the window at those princes and lords. If only they knew.

"Bow your head in front of your lawfully wedded husband." One of the guards demanded harshly, and you snapped out of your thoughts, looking at the huge man with wide shoulders, dressed in rags, his face hidden by the hood he wore.

The stranger was twice bigger than the guards surrounding you, and you felt rather intimidated in his presence. Despite his dirty clothes and wooden shoes, he didn't look like a beggar to you. If he was truly so poor, how come his body was so big and strong? No, the man wasn't a beggar. He was a bandit.

It would only make sense for the King to get rid of you, but you hoped he would keep his word as he promised to give you to the very first beggar who came to the castle gates. Apparently, he decided against it. The bandit who stood in front of you would either kill you or sell you to a brothel. If he was paid to end you, you hoped he would at least do it fast.

You bowed your head in front of the stranger who was now your husband and moved forward when the guards pushed you to him. The man said nothing, heading to the gates as if he didn't even care whether you followed him or not. Biting your lip, you came after him, watching your ugly wooden shoes.

However, once you stepped behind the gates, you saw there were dozens of people, their clothes dirty, tattered, and heavily patched, their faces grim - many lacked teeth and some even an eye - their expression turning wicked when they saw you coming after the stranger. Who were they? Beggars? Bandits? Villagers? You didn't know, but feared for your life as they started shouting loudly upon seeing you, and then you saw them throwing something rotten and smelling badly at you.

Why were they doing it? What have you done to them?

"WHORE!" The crowd yelled. "ARROGANT BITCH!"

A boy no older than ten threw a piece of rock at you, and it struck your arm painfully, making you yelp. He was encouraged loudly by the others, and you realized they would beat you to death. Why? What have you done to be so hated? You were a prisoner in your family castle. No one loved you. No one cared for you. No one came to console you even in the darkest of days. Why did you deserve to be punished for something you had never done? Why were you the rotten one when the sons and daughters of the King were spoiled beyond imagination?

Before the next rock hit your head, you saw the stranger shielding you with a big piece of wood he had taken from some man. Holding it like a shield, your husband grasped your shoulders with the other hand and started fighting his way through the crowd as you clinged to him, afraid to raise your head. All you heard were angry shouts and screams of pain as the man crashed their bones with the shield in his hand, the sound of cracking disgusting and frightening. People tried to clench your dress, beat you, snatch away the cloth covering your head, but the stranger was quick to push people away, and soon you two were running somewhere, your vision clouded with tears.

He held your hand in his until you reached the forest behind the meadow, far away from the castle and all those scary people who dirtied your simple woolen clothes and coloured your arms black and blue. Luckily, you were mostly unharmed just like your saviour, the man who hadn't uttered a single word still. At this point you guessed he might be deaf or lacking his tongue - you heard maids talking about the soldiers of the King cutting tongues of the ones who talked against him. But maybe the stranger just didn't want to speak to you. He probably thought you were an arrogant princess, humbled by your pride and haughtiness.

"Thank you." You whispered to him, and the man turned face to you, his beautiful blue eyes watching you intently. "Thank you for saving me."

The tears had long dried out on your face, but your eyes were still a bit red, your voice raspy. Running in the wooden shoes made your feet hurt so bad as if you were running barefoot at all.

When your newly wed husband came closer to you, you flinched involuntary and made a step back, staring at his strangely attractive dirty face, his dark blonde disheveled hair and beard.

"You're safe with me."

You blinked, unsure what to say to him in return. His low husky voice made you tremble a little, but if he told you the truth, he was going to take care of you. You hurriedly averged your eyes and bowed your head again, waiting for him to continue walking. You didn't dare to talk to him once more.

Your had been travelling by foot for what felt like hours, and you felt grateful for the dress you were given as it was lighter with just a few layers of fabric. Your wooden shoes, however, bruised your skin so much that they were slowly filling with blood. Nonetheless, you kept walking even with blisters covering your feet as your husband moved forward without a stop through the forest. Was he living here? Otherwise you didn't know how he navigated through the woods.

"You're slowing us down." You winced when you raised your head and saw him furrowing at you, standing a few feet away.

"I am sorry." You muttered, knowing you could hardly speed up with your legs hurting so much as if you walked into the fire.

The stranger squinted, coming closer, "Take off your shoes."

You complied without saying a word, showing him your bruised feet. Was he going to complain you were a shirker, unable to even walk? Maybe he had it on his mind, but he stayed silent, ripping the hem of your dress when you gasped and wiped the blood away. Then he had you seated on a falling tree and bandaged your feet so gently you gawked at him openly. You felt tears shimmering in your eyes at his kindness. He cared.

"I will carry you from here." Your husband said, wiping away the sweat from his dirty forehead. "We'll make a halt soon."

"I can walk myself." You said when he loomed over you, his strong hands gripping your under your lower back. "Please!"

"No, you can't." He grumbled, shooting you a look that forced you to keep your mouth shut. "You are my wife now, and you are going to listen to what I say."

You squeezed your eyes shut when the man lifted you in the air and hurried forward, moving carefully so you wouldn't get struck by the branches. Your body ached, your legs hurt so hard you were ready to cry, your eyelids growing heavy. Oddly, the man's presence wasn't as intimidating as before, his body heat slowly warming you and lulling you to sleep since he slowed down a bit and kept going forward cautiously. You decided to close your eyes just a little bit...

__________________

When you opened your eyes next time, you were tucked in a bed that smelled like old sheep wool - your maid, a girl from the village, had the same scent when she returned after visiting her parents. Even though this bed was three times smaller and tougher then yours, you enjoyed laying there under the dark warm blanket - or whatever it was - and listening to the cracking fire inside the stone oven. Your poor feet were terribly sore, and laying on bed brought you so much comfort.

However, when you were fully awoke, you shifted on the bed nervously and glanced over the house, finding the stranger sitting near the crudely made wooden table, a clay pot in his hands. He lifted his hood, and now you could see his matted blonde hair and dirty face covered in mud and what looked like ashes. Was it his house he brought you to? It was very small and looked like it was abandoned some time ago, but you couldn't be sure. He had no servants to take care of his house, so maybe it always looked like that.

"You're awake." He said, turning his face to you. "Don't stand up. Your legs are no good."

"I'm sorry." You mumbled, knowing he was perfectly right since it still hurt you to move.

"Next time you need to tell me when you're in pain."

"Why?" Curling your lips in a grim smile, you got under blanket again, covering yourself up to your chin. "Why does my pain bother you?"

The man narrowed his eyes down at you and set the pot aside, putting his elbows on the table tiredly.

"You are my wife. Your pain bothers me, and my pain should bother you."

"I see." You averted your eyes from his face lit up by the light coming from the oven. You didn't know much about marriage since no one considered you to be ever wed. It was like this, then? Or was it because your husband was a peasant and not an honourable man? There certainly was differences, but you had never expected a beggar to be so kind.

He wasn't a beggar, though, of that you were sure.

"What name do I bear now?" You asked him, watching his face growing confused. "Do you... do you have a name, sir?"

"You bear the name of Rogers." He sounded oddly proud, but you only sighed - now you lost even the name your father gave you.

You were the beggar's wife, not the princess living in high castle - you would work hard till your hands bled; give birth to unfortunate children forced to live in poverty, who wouldn't know how to read or write; you'd starve and beg, and then die young. This is what your maid told you how the people of her village lived - despite being farmers, the lands they worked on were poor, and most of the harvest was taken away to feed the ones living in a castle.

You didn't even have the land to work on as you saw the forest through the crack in the door. This hut was in the middle of the woods, probably.

"I made a salve for your legs. Let me put it on."

When he stood up from the bench, you shivered and took your eyes elsewhere, moving higher on what you supposed was an improvised pillow. The stranger sat on the other side of the bed and moved your blanket, showing your dirty feet with dry blood covering them. Then, as if he remembered something, he went somewhere behind the oven and pulled a jug with a slightly cracked neck, soaking a rag in it. Once he squeezed it and brought it to your legs, you winced in pain, but stayed silent.

The stanger had been kind to you beyound your understanding.

"So, were the rumors true?" He asked once he wiped your feet cleen and took a little jar with what you assumed was the salve.

"Forgive me, but there are too many rumors for me to remember."

"The one that says you are so arrogant you don't want to meet any of the men who come to ask for your hand in marriage. Watching them being sent away, you sit in your room in the high tower and ridicule them all."

You wanted to laugh bitterly at his words, but the knot in your throat didn't let you utter a sound. Was this what the King and his children had been telling to your people, feeding them lies for years? The princess whose spirit was too high to look at those she deemed lower than her. The one born with a silver spoon in her mouth who didn't care whether her people starved and died from diseases. What a perfect little picture the King had constructed in the minds of others.

"If you believe it, did you take me as your wife to teach me a leason, then? To punish me?" You whispered and clenched your teeth - every touch to your legs made them burn as if the man's fingers were covered with flames.

"No."

His ridiculously beautiful blue eyes bore into you with such intensity it made you want to grab the blanket and pull it over your head to hide from him. Oddly, you thought his face looked noble behind that layer of dirt on his skin. He didn't look like any of those who you met behind the castle gates.

"In truth, I've seen you up there in the tower once, looking out the window. But you didn't laugh at us. You cried."

You raised your head and stilled, watching the man anxiously. No, he wasn't a beggar. They had never been admitted to the castle.

"How could you see me up there? My room is too high." Your hands trembled a little, and then you let out a hiss of pain when the man rubbed some salve onto your skin.

"I have a good eyesight."

"How did you know it was me, then?"

"Because I've seen you before."

Your heart was pounding loudly in your chest at his words. Who was he? Who was the man sitting on your bed?

"Were you a part of a cortege of a man who came to ask for my hand?" You asked nervously, glancing at him rubbing more of that medicine that smelled like herbs into your feet.

The stranger nodded. "Then... where have you seen me? Was it before I was locked in the castle by the King?"

"Yes. I saw you when the old King, rest his soul, had been alive."

"I see. I must have been a child, then." You gave him a weak smile, remembering those times when you were still the lovely little girl, your mother always keeping you close to her despite the royal etiquette. It was the time when you still travelled, sometimes even outside of your own country. He probably saw you during one of your trips with your parents. "Have you been a part of the court? Maybe the one who served it?"

"Yes." His answer was noncommittal, and it only steered your interest. Did he lost everything just like you? Was he stripped of his titles? It must had happened quite some time ago since his big hands were rough, work-weary. Maybe he was the knight or someone who belonged to the army.

Knowing he was becoming agitated, you decided to stop there. You had no desire to test patience of the one who had only ever been kind to you.

"I only have one question left, sir. How should I call you?"

He smirked, tilting his head to the side.

"Steve. My name is Steve Rogers."

Steve Rogers. This name rang a bell. He could see you growing confused, wracking your brains, desperately searching for any memory that could give you the answer. Steve Rogers. Steve...

Stevie. Prince Steven Grant Rogers. The little boy who was so unhealthy pale he looked like a ghost. He was skinny and small despite being older than you. You knew his mother had been sick for many years, confined to her chambers, and, sadly, her boy took after her. You remember the whispers behind your back when you visited him for the first time as he laid in bed, watching you with his enormously big blue eyes.

"It can't be." You gawked at the man who was bigger than anyone you had ever seen, his arms musculed, his shoulders wider than the ones of the King's executioner. Little Stevie could never grow so big - you remembered his thin, strange body well. "You can't be prince Steve."

"I'm not. I am King Steven now, little girl."

Oh, you remembered you called him a little boy that made him pout at you. There was no one standing close to you at the moment when you bended over to him and talked quietly not to tire the prince. But how could he become so strong? Even his father wasn't as big as him now. Why was King Steven dressed like a beggar? Why did he take you in the middle of the woods, pretending it was his house?

"When I reached the age of 18, I've met a wandering mage who cured my illness. His charms changed my body, made me what I had to become if my mother didn't fell sick before giving birth to me. Do you like what you see?"

You felt your cheeks burning when you realized you were staring at him shamelessly and averted your eyes.

"You look stronger than any man I've seen, Your Highness."

"I know, little bird." Smirking, he finally finished rubbing the salve into your skin and set the jar aside, caressing your feet. "As I fulfilled my promise to you, I came to claim what's rightfully mine."

"What promis- AH!

His gaze grew dark as you stared at him wide-eyed, and his hand gripped one of your feet painfully, making you yelp as he pressed his finger to the blister. He didn't like you forgetting about something important, but you could swear you remembered nothing of a promise.

"I gave you my word one day I'd become better and then come to ask for your hand, my dearest. You said if it were to happen, you would choose me among the other suitors. Do you remember now?" There was something dark in his voice as he spoke, and you nodded immediately to make him ease his grip on your leg. Steve sent you a satisfied smile, caressing your foot gently with his calloused fingers. "I've came to you several years ago, but you refused to see me and sent me away. I caught a glimpse of you in the window, and then I realized something wasn't right. I've sent a few of my people to become the servants in the castle to learn the truth."

Strangely, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted. King Steven knew you weren't rotten to the core. He knew you weren't a spoiled princess who refused to leave the castle to see her miserable people, suffering under the heavy taxation laws imposed by the new King. Steve took you here not to make you learn a lesson how to be behave, but to hide you from prying eyes.

As he wiped the tears streaming down your face, you realized he sat much closer to you now - King Steven smelled like sweat and pine trees.

"When the King ordered to give you to the first beggar who would come to the castle gates, I had already sneaked into your lands, my beloved. If not his order, my people would take you away soon." He dropped a kiss to your forehead, touching the locks of your hair with his fingers.

"But the King would find out who stole me." You whispered. "He'd demand you to bring me back."

"Five thousand soldiers are waiting for my command to march to the King's castle. Why would I leave him the kingdom that belongs to you, sweetheart?" Steve smiled, and you saw something dangerous lingering behind his eyes, something that made you shiver and draw a shaky breath from you. "If I gave you such an army, what would you do with it?"

For a second you felt like your body was thrown right into the fire, burning your flesh to the bones. The tears stopped as you clenched your teeth.

"Burn the castle to ashes. Kill the King. Kill his children. Kill their entourage. Kill all of them who had abandoned and humiliated me."

You didn't know when the anger rose in your chest and took a hold of your tongue, make you spit venom and imagine your brothers and sisters scream and plead for their lives, but you enjoyed it. You enjoyed every second of it when you thought of their heads on spikes for the crows to peck and the entire kingdom to see.

No one had come to your rescue for years when you prayed to be saved, taken away from a place that became your prison. No matter how much you asked God to answer you, he had been silent, and your learnt you were left alone in the world where no one wanted you to be treated fair. Then so be it. If no one took pity on a little miserable child pleading for help, you wouldn't show mercy to the ones who had been torturing you for years.

You hadn't seen how King Steven face changed as he watched you, his expression growing more sinister and poisonous, but you felt his lips on yours when he claimed your mouth possessively and his fingers clawed at your shoulders.

"I will cut the King's head off and tie it to the mane of your horse, my beloved. Would you like it to be your wedding gift?"

"Yes. Yes!" You cried as he shushed you, pressing your head to his chest and caressing your hair like a lover would.

"Then it's as good as done."

_______________

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin @void-hoechlin @abyssaint @navegandoaciegas @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @heeeyitskay @lovelydarkdaydream

#dark steve rogers #dark steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers #yandere #captain america

860 notes · View notes

solohux · 3 years

Note

Could you please write something about pregnant Hux having some complications?

In the silence of the medbay room, Kylo sighs. One leg bounces nervously as he rests his elbows on his knees and keeps his shaking fists pressed against his lips in a futile attempt to calm his rapid breathing but nothing can stop the worry coursing through him as he stares at his unconscious Grand Marshal in the small bed.

His skin pale and his hair tousled, he breathes steadily with the help of the respirator over his mouth and nose as a medical droid hovers over him to take vitals and study his body, taking great care with his eight month pregnant bump.

Hux has always been prone to dizzy spells as a result of his poor diet and lack of sleep but he has never collapsed before. Kylo had been meditating in their chambers when the disturbance had brought him out of his concentration with a terrified gasp and a frantic search through the Force for his pregnant lover, only to find his mind foggy and empty of thoughts. Without even dressing, Kylo had sprinted to the bridge in just his black harem pants, finding that Hux had fainted on the bridge and hit his head. His officers were by his side, Mitaka taking off his jacket to fold it underneath Hux’s head whilst they waited for medbay to arrive but Kylo hadn’t wanted to wait.

The officers soon moved out of the way once Kylo came skidding to his knees beside Hux, taking him into his hold and trying to wake him but with a bleeding head wound and a potentially hurt baby, Kylo had simply picked Hux up and carried him to medbay, hoping that he wouldn’t lose either of them.

“Supreme Leader Ren?” The droid chirps, bringing Kylo out of his thoughts. He shivers, silently grateful that he’s been given a regulation shirt to cover himself against the chilly air of medbay.

“Report. Quickly.”

“The Grand Marshal is stable, sir. A bacta patch has been applied to the head wound. His blood pressure is showing an abnormal reading, intravenous medication is being administered. Fainting likely a result of hormones and blood pressure.”

Kylo bites his lip, “And the baby? What of the baby?”

The droid’s motor’s thrum as though analysing, “Foetus is smaller than average for the 32 week mark. Signs point towards premature labour.

Kylo runs his hands down his face. “Labour?”

“Yes, sir. Our analysis shows that the Grand Marshal has experienced preterm pre-labour rupture of membranes and is experiences contractions as we speak. He is 32 weeks pregnant and the normal gestation—”

“I know,” Kylo snaps, yelling. “I know what’s normal! What can be done to help him?”

The droid’s LEDs flash. “No solutions at present. Stopping labour is not an appropriate solution at this time. It must progress as it would if the Grand Marshal were at full term. Babies can survive at 24 weeks, sir. We will do what we can to help your daughter. We will prepare for the birth now, sir.”

“Go.”

The droid hovers silently out of the room, leaving Kylo alone with his pregnant lover. As soon as the door closes, Kylo moves from the chair in the corner to the side of Hux’s bed, kneeling down and taking hold of Hux’s limp hand.

“Armitage,” Kylo whispers, bringing Hux’s knuckles up to his lips to kiss. “Please. Please wake up.”

But the taunting sound of the respirator is all that Kylo’s begs are met with. He keeps kissing his lover’s hand, over his knuckles and on his palm. It’s another few painful moments before the Grand Marshal stirs.

Hux’s fingers grasp weakly at the oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose so Kylo removes it quickly, pressing a quick but desperate kiss to his lips before allowing them both to take deep breaths.

“It hurts, Ren,” Hux says, gasping as his hands go to his belly and he clutches it tightly, crying out with the discomfort of the contractions.

“I know, my one,” Kylo says, getting up from his kneeling position and sitting on the bed, never taking his gaze from Hux. “You’re in labour.”

“Labour? I can’t be. It’s not time,” Hux shakes his head but the reality of his pain sets in quickly. “No. No.”

“Hux—”

“The baby?” Hux asks, panicked, trying to sit up. “Are we going to lose her?”

“Ssh, Armitage. Everything is fine,” Kylo says, cupping Hux’s cheek to help calm him. “It’s…it’s going to be fine.”

“You don’t know that,” Hux says, voice cracking as he lowers himself back down to his pillows. “She…she might not be.”

“She will,” Kylo says, taking Hux into his arms and holding him close, kissing his forehead. “I’ve seen our future and she is in it. The Force has gifted me with a vision of our daughter and she will be fine, Armitage. My love. I promise you.”

Hux doesn’t reply. Instead, he grabs a fistful of Kylo’s shirt and buries his face against his chest as he begins to cry quietly, small frame trembling. Kylo holds him, rocks him gently, and closes his eyes. In the front of his mind, he sees the image of Hux holding their daughter, bouncing her on his knee as they celebrate her first birthday in their palace.

It’s their future, he knows it.

#kylux #mpreg #pregnant hux #m:writing #the baby and hux will both be okay!

77 notes · View notes

asscandles · 4 years

Note

Hey thanks for clarifying before now can I have some friendship(maybe secret crush)headcanons for Fuyuhiko, Peko, and Toko with a friend(reader) thats llike your generic dumbass but they are just like a soft dumbass, they are just too cute to get mad at no matter how stupid they are. So basically a giant cuddly dumbass that just radiate baby energy. Like they(reader)just run up to them saying they want to show them something cool and its just a pretty rock but they look so happy. gender neutral.

ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴋɪɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ʟᴏɴɢ, ꜱᴏ ɪ ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴜᴛ ɪᴛ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜᴛ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ ᴏꜰ ꜰᴜɴ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ, ꜱᴏ ɪ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ɪᴛ! ʙᴜᴛ, ɪꜰ ɪᴛ ɪꜱɴ’ᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ, ɪ’ᴍ ꜱᴏʀʀʏ!

ɪ ᴀʟꜱᴏ ꜰɪɴɪꜱʜᴇᴅ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴀᴛ 3:26 ᴀᴍ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋꜱ ʟᴀᴛᴇ, ɪ’ᴍ ᴀʟꜱᴏ ꜱᴏʀʀʏ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜱᴋᴀʟꜰꜰᴅᴊᴋꜰᴀʟ

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: ʟᴀɴɢᴜᴀɢᴇ

Peko Pekoyama

“I--What are you doing?”

You stand on the counter, arms extended straight out at your sides. You continue staring ahead with an expressionless face. “I see no god up here… other than me!”

Peko sighs, and you immediately look down at her with round eyes. “Oh, but you’ll always be my queen, Peko! I want you by my side forever!”

Since Peko is always wielding/cleaning her sword, you carry around pastel-colored bandaids and a small first-aid kit in your backpack.

You’re usually by her side, so your absence is always noticed quickly, if not immediately.

You once fell asleep somewhere you shouldn’t have, leaving Peko to ravage the island, searching every nook and cranny until she finally found you curled up in a corner of the airport. All she could do was sigh and crack a tiny, relieved smile. She transfers her sword to her hands before easing you onto her back. Her heart swells when you mumble something and wrap your arms around her neck. All the way back to your cottage, she chides you quietly.

“It’s not safe to be so vulnerable out here. If you’re going to fall asleep out here, do it while I’m with you. Then, you can sleep as soundly as you want.”

M A T C H I N G B R A C E L E T S

You excitedly gave Peko a card to celebrate the anniversary of your friendship. Peko snorted upon seeing that all of the drawings inside were either stick figures or poorly colored. But you just looked so happy… she couldn’t even bring herself to tease you about it.

You both refuse to speak of this, but one night, Peko woke up to the flickering of a faint light and feverish whispering. She had switched into attack mode in a fraction of a second, only to stop dead in her tracks. You had been standing in the middle of the room, doing the renegade by the light of your phone. You froze upon her reaction. Both of you sat there, staring at each other for a solid twelve seconds. You then proceeded to finish the dance, looking her dead in the eye. Peko may have be tired, but she’d be damned if she let you do it alone. So, she does it while standing on her bed, but clearly lacking energy and motivation.

Ambushing Peko with affection is not uncommon for you. It happens rather often, you clinging to her waist and pleading with her, “Hey, tell me that story again! You know, the one where Fuyuhiko was being held captive and you swooped in with your sword and saved the day!”

When you found out that Peko loved fluffy things, you were ecstatic. You bundled her into your cottage immediately, showing off a small collection of stuffed animals that you had managed to cram into your backpack before your arrival at the island.

Peko selects a white cat plushie as her favorite. From that point on, it is your child. No arguments.

You tend to get lost, so Peko sarcastically suggested tying a balloon to your wrist so that you would be easier to find. But, you totally caught her off guard when your eyes began to sparkle and you shouted, “Can I pick the color?” When she doesn’t answer immediately, you grab her hands and hold them close to your own chest endearingly. “Pretty please? With marshmallows and cookie crumble and whipped cream and sprinkles on top?” Peko obliges. When the balloon is finally secured around your wrist, you are absolutely fascinated by it.

You often fawn over Peko’s skills; but when you do, you use interjections and sound effects because you aren’t able to convey your excitement with just words.

Okay, but she’s actually worried about you lmao

“You have… a lot of mosquito bites. What happened?”

“What? They’re not bites! They were giving me kisses, silly!”

You’ve tried multiple times to surprise her with tickle attacks, but they never work. The only time it went according to plan, you managed to get your hands on her for exactly 0.7 seconds before she turned the tables on you.

Platonic dates? Platonic dates.

You’ve 100% made her flower crowns whose petals match the color of her eyes.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu

“So… I saw some sour candy in the supermarket. If you lend me the money, I’ll give you half of the rocks I found.” :)

“Considering the fact that you get an adrenaline rush from successfully flipping a pancake, a single piece would kill you immediately.”

Everyone who discovers you two are friends is immediately suspicious. When I say suspicious, I mean, “(Reader), whatever blackmail he’s holding over your head, you don’t have to be scared. We can take care of this together.”

But after witnessing a few of your interactions, they learn of one irrefutable fact.

The embodiment of rage and vulgarity bottled up in human skin does indeed have a weakness.

And that weakness is you.

It didn’t take long for Fuyuhiko to become aware of your appreciation for stickers and your tender heart. That being said, when you’re upset, he won’t object too severely when you request to smooth stickers all over him. He would prefer to keep this interaction private, but if someone does happen to catch him with giraffe stickers on his cheeks and rainbows on his jacket, then he’s going to wear them proudly, goddamnit.

And if anyone has anything rude to say about it, then I hope they can speak sign language, because all they’ll be seeing is hands.

You’re aware of his insecurities, and you can understand why he feels the way that he does. But that’s where you come in. You always seem to approach him at the right moments.

By now, you’ve figured out that he doesn’t always need words to reassure him. It’s enough if you’re just there, ready with open arms and a glass of water. Fuyuhiko doesn’t cry often. But when he does, he ends up dehydrated more often than not.

Let’s be honest. After Fuyuhiko lost his eye, his depth perception was most likely shit. You were always at his side, one hand on his arm as you gently guided him from room to room. You watched over him.

Accidentally knocking over a drink? You were ready to wipe it up. Searching for something he lost? You were there, helping him look. Tripping or bumping into things? You were there with a first aid kit to patch him up.

You try to match his level of sass, but you’re highkey too nervous to swear and you usually stutter the last word of whatever witty comeback you manage to come up with. Fuyuhiko secretly thinks it’s adorable, and he doesn’t want you to lose that part of yourself. That’s why he always defends you when it comes to verbal beatdowns.

You once drew a face on an egg, and when Fuyuhiko questioned you about it, the only thing you could offer was a deadpan “our son.”

“What the hell--that’s an egg.”

“No! His name is Linguini and he’s our child!”

Fuyuhiko is exhausted bro.

You’ve approached him countless times, eyes glowing with awe and insisting that you need to show him something really cool. It’s usually just a rock or a piece of glass, though. He always has the urge to poke fun at you for it, but it fizzles away when he sees how utterly bewitched you are with your find.

One time, he had walked into the room to see you standing on the arms of an office swivel chair, knees bent and arms extended as you fought to maintain your balance. You seemed to be fairly steady.

Still, that didn’t prevent him from nearly falling into cardiac arrest on the spot.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

It had startled you, and the chair rolled out from underneath you. Fuyuhiko rushed to catch you. You both tumbled to the floor in a knot of limbs, lying there in varying degrees of pain. You were laughing. Fuyuhiko was absolutely most fucking not.

“Thanks for breaking my fall!” You had chirped, gesturing to the arm lodged under the small of your back to protect it.

“You little--” Fuyuhiko’s voice had been strained, but his tight-lipped grimace dissolved into a sigh at the sight of your smile. He disentangled himself from you and pressed the pad of his index finger into your forehead. Your lips formed a small “o” shape, your eyes crossing to try to keep track of his finger. “You need to be more careful from now on. I won’t always be here to catch you.”

“But, you’ll still patch me up afterward, right?” You poked his forehead back.

He huffed and pulled away from you. “To the best of my ability. But don’t push it.”

Toko Fukawa

Initially, the only reason that Toko set aside her natural distrust and suspicion of people in order to befriend you was because she thought that you were simply too innocent and simple-minded to ever think badly of a friend.

She thought that having such a sweetheart glued to her side would disperse her dubious reputation and make her seem less suspicious during class trials.

Yep… That’s the only reason she keeps you around...

Not because of the way her heart feels all fuzzy when you embrace her… Or because of how your eyes sparkle whenever she offers to let you read one of her new works… Or because of how relaxed she feels when you weave her hair into intricate braids…

Not at all…

Hahahashutuphahaha…

She often scolds you for being such a pushover when people disrespect you, but she means well. You insist that it doesn’t bother you, but she’s an expert on human emotion. She is a writer, after all. She knows that it haunts your thoughts for a while afterward, and she hates seeing you like that.

You’ve noticed that Toko bites her nails when she’s stressed, so you’ve decided to combat her habit by applying nail polish to her nails. That way, you figure, the taste of the nail polish will deter her from tearing at them with her teeth. She also has the option of picking off the nail polish, which is probably less harmful than chewing on them.

You also kinda sorta... believe that video game cheat codes work in real life, so you’re often moving around and jumping, shouting the combinations as you go.

“Right! Right! Left! Up! Left! Down! Right! X! Y! Now, confess your sins!” You command during a class trial, pointing vaguely toward the accused. Toko just quietly shushes you, dark circles rimming her eyes as she pats your head.

You’ve adopted the habit of narrating the things you do, like whispering “wiggle, wiggle, wiggle” when sliding your feet into your shoes and “shimmy, shimmy, shimmy” when slipping your charm bracelet past your hand onto your wrist. Coincidentally, Toko has also subconsciously started doing the same thing, and she cannot think of anything more irritating.

She once jokingly told you to stop being so dependent on her. You promptly flushed scarlet and snatched the box she had been carrying out of her hands, insisting that you were more than capable of taking it to storage yourself. You had marched indignantly out of the room and headed left, only for Toko to call out, “Uh, storage is the other way.”

You reappeared a moment later, now stomping in the opposite direction. “I knew that!” You huffed.

You’re aware of Genocide Jack, but you aren’t afraid. You whole-heartedly trust that your friendship is enough to outmatch Genocide Jack’s bloodlust, as naive as it may be. Your only response to Toko’s confession of having a split personality is to gift her a cherry-flavored lip balm with a bright smile. At first, Toko is confused. You explain that whenever Genocide Jack makes an appearance, their tongue is always lolling out of their mouth. You’re concerned that their lips will get dried out, and you want to do your best to prevent it.

Did Toko’s heart just burst? Maybe.

Toko shares her romance novels with you, but only the ones without sexual interactions. She believes that you’re far too pure for those. Plus, she would really not rather answer your questions about anything of that nature.

Toko is determined to preserve your purity. She’s very protective whenever someone shows the slightest bit of sexual or romantic interest in you, and has even referred to you as her baby before.

Whenever Toko gets insecure or anxious and covers her face with her hands, you gently remove them from her face with a soft giggle of “Peekaboo!” Toko doesn’t fight you as you carefully pull her into your arms and rest her head against your chest. In fact, she finds herself surprisingly close to tears when you inquire, “Hey, you want to hear a lullaby? I can’t remember who sang it to me first, but it always helps me calm down. So, I want to share it with you!”

There will be times when Toko is too busy writing stories to pay you any attention. But no matter! After a moment of consideration, you have an idea. You gather blankets and pillows and settle onto the floor beside Toko’s seat. Your arms loop themselves around her leg, and your head finds its way onto her thigh. It isn’t long before you doze off, Toko watching you in silent shock, face rosy with bashfulness and eyes wide.

Toko is very adamant about covering up her legs due to both the tally marks scored across her skin and the quote-on-quote “sturdiness” of her thighs. You, however, have an entirely different outlook. You reason, “the bigger your thighs, the more snacks you can hide under them!”

#danganronpa #danganronpa headcanons #danganronpa imagines #danganronpa scenarios #toko fukawa #danganronpa toko #trigger happy havoc #danganronpa fuyuhiko #danganronpa fukawa #danganronpa peko #peko pekoyama #toko fuwaka #fuyuhiko x reader #fuyuhiko headcanons #fuyuhiko kuzuryu x reader

150 notes · View notes

jubesy · 4 years

Note

so much angst in those i cannot..... but can I throw 3 for you?

Because your writing is so amazing, I'm curious what you're gonna do with them. No pressure ><

4 for KagaKuro

37 for MidoTaka

47 for AkaFuri

Thank you for the ask, dear Anon! I tried to keep them short, but they got progressively longer with each one, haha. (Two of them are mirrored on ao3 for length, haha)

KagaKuro #4 “Is that my shirt?”

MidoTaka #37 “Because I love you, damn it!” - Ao3 mirror

AkaFuri #47 “Go on, I dare you.” - Ao3 mirror

KagaKuro #4 “Is that my shirt?”

“And then Tatsuya had this stupid idea to--” Kagami stopped mid-sentence, mid-story, as he walked into the bedroom. He and Kuroko had rushed back to their dorm after the sky had opened up, drenching them instantly. And Kagami had been reminiscing about a time when he and his brother had gotten caught in a similar situation.

But all thoughts of an interrupted game of one-on-one fled from Kagami’s mind as he took in the sight before him. He’d seen Kuroko in various states of undress since they’d become roommates. It made sense, considering they attended the same college in L.A. and, the more obvious reason, they were dating. But this was new.

“Is that my shirt?” Kagami asked, gaze roaming his boyfriend’s form. Kuroko’s hair was still damp, stray droplets falling from the tips and plopping onto the soft cotton of Kagami’s oversize shirt, which was hanging off of one of Kuroko’s shoulders.

“I was cold and I opened one of your drawers in my haste,” Kuroko explained, blinking up at Kagami with large eyes. “Are you upset, Kagami-kun?”

Was he upset? A warm flush bloomed on Kagami’s cheeks, spreading down his neck to his chest. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze from where it had gotten stuck on the pale skin just above Kuroko’s collarbone. “Nope. All good.”

Request a drabble here!

More drabbles below the cut :D

MidoTaka #37 “Because I love you, damn it!”

“Ouch!” Takao hissed and placed a hand over his eye. He was helping the underclassmen get more ice for their water bottles, when a kohai opened one of the bags rather overenthusiastically and sent a shard straight at Takao’s face.

“Senpai, I’m so sor--”

“Takao!” Midorima was suddenly right beside him, gripping his arm to keep him upright. “What happened?” His voice was high and panicked. Takao had never heard him sound like that before.

“It’s okay, Shin-chan,” he assured him. “I just got some ice in my eye,” he explained. It did burn though.

“I’m taking him to the hospital,” Midorima informed their coach and captain. “Please excuse us.”

Takao didn’t have a chance to argue, to say he was fine with just going to the school nurse, because he was being whisked away, thrown in the back of the old rickshaw and brought to the Emergency Room.

Several routine tests and a visit from the doctor later, Takao was finally free to go. He hesitantly walked back out to the waiting room, feeling a bit self-conscious about the patch over his left eye.

Midorima jumped up the moment he spotted him, a pained look on his Ace’s face.

“It’s just for a couple weeks,” Takao explained, gesturing toward the patch. “The ice scratched my cornea,” he went on, afraid to meet Midorima’s gaze. “They gave me some drops and--” He was cut off when Midorima engulfed him in a tight hug.

“Thank God,” Midorima breathed, squeezing him tight. “If you’d been blinded, I--”

“Would be pretty bummed, huh, Shin-chan?” Takao finished for him. “Losing your precious partner and all.” He bit his lip at the thought of it. Of how, without his eyes, he was worthless to Midorima. How could they stand on the same court if he had nothing to offer? “So, you’ll have to put up with some lousy passes until I heal--”

“Takao.” Midorima’s voice was suddenly cold. He pulled back, glaring down at him. “You can’t think the reason I was--”

“Wasn’t it?” Takao interrupted, his voice cracking. He was tired and his eye burned. He blinked back tears. He probably shouldn’t be crying, but it was hard. If only he’d been more careful. “Aren’t you angry because I nearly ruined--”

Midorima hugged him again, gripping his back. “You didn’t ruin anything,” he said. “And I’m not angry with you, Takao,” he added. “I was worried.”

“Worried?” Takao questioned against his chest. He gave a watery, self-depreciating laugh. “Because you’d have to find a new partner?”

“Because I love you, damn it!” Midorima shouted, clearly not caring that they were in the middle of the E.R. waiting area. “Is it abnormal for someone to worry about the person they love?”

Takao blinked and then the tears he’d been holding back started to fall. He’d misunderstood. He shouldn’t have doubted his Shin-chan. “Sorry I worried you,” he whispered. But Midorima didn’t answer. He just held him tighter.

AkaFuri #47 “Go on, I dare you.”

Despite being on a team that had taken the Winter Cup and giving his all on the court no matter what, Furihata was not a competitive person. Well, in everyday life, that was. Basketball was one thing, but when it came to things like friendship and, ahem, dating, Furihata was happy to go at the other person’s pace.

But then Akashi came into his life and turned everything upside down.

Now, it wasn’t as if Furihata could one-up the great Akashi Seijuurou. There was no way. Akashi had resources and connections. Furihata had...friends. And they were great friends, mind you! But it wasn’t like Kawahara could lend him his helicopter to take Akashi on a sky tour of Tokyo. And Fukuda didn’t have a spare hundred grand to lend him to buy something that Akashi might not already own.

Even so, Furihata didn’t want to be the only one on the receiving end.

But what did someone get for the guy who had it all? What could Furihata surprise him with that Akashi hadn’t already experienced? What could only Furihata do?

“You’ve been awfully quiet tonight, Kouki,” Akashi said from his spot across the table. They were having dinner on the rooftop of the tallest building in Kyoto. It had a lovely view. And their dessert had been brought to them by a professional skydiver.

“I’m just thinking,” Furihata replied with a weak smile.

“What about?” Akashi cocked his head to the side. He looked completely calm and collected, the only tell that he was worried being the slight crease in his brow. “Is the cake not to your liking?”

Furihata chuckled. “It’s perfect, Sei,” he assured him. “Everything is perfect.”

“But…?”

He couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips. “But…I just wish I could do something more for you,” he admitted.

Akashi raised his glass to his lips, his intense crimson gaze never leaving Furihata’s as he drank. “Just being able to meet is more than--”

“Sei,” Furihata interrupted and then sighed. “I love spending time with you, as well. I just meant...I want to give you something.”

Akashi set his glass down. “Gifts are not necessary, Kouki.”

“You give me gifts all the time,” Furihata pointed out.

“Only when we’re celebrating,” Akashi tried to argue.

“You just gave me a designer watch,” Furihata said flatly. “Because it’s the anniversary of the first time we used each other’s given names.”

“Well, that’s--”

“And it’s the fifth one,” Furihata continued. “I only have two wrists, Sei,” he sighed and then, with a snort, added, “You want me to look like Bananas Gorilla?”

“Who?” Akashi furrowed his brow.

Darn Furihata’s older brother and his love of old American cartoons.

“Anyway, it’s hard to compete.” Furihata rubbed his temples.

“It’s not a competition, Kouki.”

“Says the guy who’s winning.” Furihata sighed again. “Sei, I just want to surprise you with something wonderful. Like you do for me.”

Akashi looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke. “Then do it.”

“Sei?”

“Surprise me,” Akashi said. “No matter what it is, if it’s from you, Kouki, I’m sure I’ll love it.”

Furihata blinked. He hadn’t considered that. Furihata had loved every gift he’d received from Akashi. Not because it was something he necessarily wanted or needed. But because it was from his loving boyfriend.

“All right, then,” Furihata said. “I’ll take that challenge.” He reached across the table and took one of Akashi’s hands in his. “Get ready to be swept off of your feet.” He swallowed. “If that’s okay.”

Akashi laughed and brushed his thumb over Furihata’s knuckles. “Go on,” he urged. “I dare you.”

Request a drabble here!

#kagakuro #midotaka #akafuri #knb #kuroko no basuke #answered #anon #quote drabbles #thank you!!

78 notes · View notes

saoirse-1887 · 3 years

Text

Thought I'd try my hand at posting a fic. Hope you guys like it!!

I recently wrote a fic about John seeing Sherlock's scars for the first time, so I thought I'd share with all of you. It's nowhere near finished, but it's good. I think... (maybe if I write a few thousand more words I'll post it on my Ao3)

Enjoy!

“John, I said that I’m fine, okay?” The case had gone fine, really, nothing too out of the ordinary: go to the scene, get berated by the Yarders (and berate right back), track down the bad guy, chase the bad guy, and go right home for the post case-celebration. Of course there was a bit of a hiccup in the ‘chase the bad guy’ bit. Sherlock, the injury-prone man he is, got in a skirmish with one Nolan Heulwen and slashed in the process.

“You’re not okay Sherlock, you’re paler than usual, you got slashed in the back, and you’re bleeding pretty bad, let me look at it!” the doctor in John taking over was not uncommon after cases like this.

“John, please, I’m okay, really,”His voice began to crack, not good for fending off Dr. John H. Watson of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers.

Being cut in the back brought memories of his torture to the forefront of his mind, flashes of blood splattering around him, hit after hit, slavic interrogation being yelled from all angles, a time he would rather not relive.

“Sherlock Holmes, sit down right now,”he pulled a chair from the kitchen table and gestured indefinitely for the injured man to sit, whether he liked it or not.

Sherlock did as instructed, hissing as his back stretched a bit,”Now what?”

“Shirt off,”He crossed his arms from behind the detective, John’s voice stern.

“John, I hardly see why-”

“It is bloodsoaked, torn, and I can get to the cut easier, now take your shirt off before I rip it off myself.”

“Okay,” there was no way he was getting out of this situation, so his only option was to face the music and let John see his one painful souvenir from his two years away. He undid his buttons with shaking hands, nerves… a laughable example of how human error held its grip around Sherlock’s heart, no matter how hard he attempted to shake it with his self-proclaimed sociopathy. He finally unfastened all the buttons, and shrugged the cloth from his back and shoulders.

The detective squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could when his bare back was revealed to John. Sherlock expected an outburst, some kind of argument as to why he never told John about it, or how careless he was. He prepared himself, steeled his mind to the potential onslaught of pain that he was sure to be imminent.

"Sherlock,” All at once, his fears evaporated upon hearing John’s soft voice,”I’ve seen many things in my years as a Doctor, especially as an Army Doctor. I’ve removed bullets, sewn up stab wounds, put entrails back in a man’s body, even taken shrapnel out of my friend’s arm, but none of that could compare to putting someone back together after being tortured. Tough skin that was torn apart from god knows what, bits of metal and other debris getting lodged into their already tender muscle, having to stop because they were shaking so much from the trauma. I also know what torture scars look like after they’ve been properly treated, and what they look like if treatment wasn't an option.” During his speech, he traced the lines on Sherlock’s back, gentle, but firm enough to be reassuring,”You don’t owe me any explanation, or any information about this at all. Though I’m always here if you need to talk bout it, or if you need a shoulder to cry on. All you need to do is tell me.”

“John, I-” he didn’t realise before, but he had been crying, his throat raw from his cries. Sherlock wiped the back of his arm across his eyes.

“It’s alright Sherlock, let me patch you up and you rest,”John placed his hand on Sherlock’s shoulder,”Let me take care of you."

He could only nod, not trusting his voice. John was going to help, he trusted John with his life. He barely registered the needle going in and out of his body, the surgical thread pulling taught across his skin, the dabs of a wet flannel.

"Alright, go take a shower, get changed, I'll order takeaway," John rubbed circles on his back,"Shout if you need me." Sherlock found himself nodding again,"Also, try not to get your back wet while that's healing."

He slowly made his way to the washroom. Not sparing a look in the mirror, he stripped the rest of the way, turned on the taps and stepped in, careful not to get his back in the steady flow of water, just like John said. The hot water felt nice, a rhythmic pattern gently massaging his aching muscles. He wet his hair and lathered his lavender honey shampoo in, soon following with conditioner in a similar scent. He finished his shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, still not looking in the mirror.

That was something he'd avoid more often, looking in mirrors, especially after his first big panic attack post-death. It was the first night of being at 221b again, and he went around the flat, just to make sure everything was still in order before settling back in. He got to the bathroom and everything seemed to come back all at once. That bathroom mirror was the first he had really gotten a look at himself since his death two years ago, and he barely recognised the face that looked back. He looked exhausted, broken, hollow. It led to a big panic attack, there on the bathroom floor. Trying to make sense of what exactly happened to Sherlock Holmes, but it all came out as a muddled mess of memories. After the event, he'd even gone as far as to remove the two full-body mirrors in his room.

Once he was dressed in a good pair of pyjamas, he padded back into the kitchen, John on his usual side,"Feel better?"

"Much, thank you,"He shifted in his seat, unsure of where to go in conversation. Should he elaborate about what happened? No, John didn't expect that from him. Tall about the case? No, it was hardly eventful and there weren't even any notable happenings.

"What're you thinking about in there?" John was now leaned forward, elbows on the table and hands propping up his head.

"Oh, just, well, what to say really…" He felt embarrassed to admit it, but it was the truth.

"That's fine, it's all… fine," The warm smile on his friend's face said it all 'you don't have to say anything, I understand'. John cleared his throat,"I ordered our usual Thai, shouldn't take long to get here."

"Thank you."

#sherlock #saoirse says things sometimes #sherlock holmes #john watson #221b #johnlock #johnlock fics #original writing #Sherlock's scars #medical tw #mentions of gore tw

31 notes · View notes

tatwaffel · 4 years

Text

100 Remadora headcanons!

1, when Tonks arrived at headquarters for the first time, she tripped over the troll leg and Remus was the one to help her up

2, Tonks charmed the socks off him - literally! once she wanted to warm his feet after a winter mission but set fire to his socks

3, Tonks has developed a habit of sitting on the kitchen counter and watching Remus when he's reading the papers

4, Tonks caresses his scars when they're alone

5, he's drowning in self pity sometimes and she hates it

6, Tonks wore her boots when she married and Remus found it lovely

7, since his hair often hangs in front of his eyes, Tonks usually wipes it off his forehead

8, he loves pink hair on Tonks since it's her happy colour

9, Remus has not once asked her to change her appearance for him

10, lots of cuddles! they're literally always cuddling

11, Remus loves kissing her forehead

12, Tonks wore one of Remus's sweaters when he was with the werewolf pack... because he coincidentally left her favourite at headquarters

13, Tonks usually is the one to patch him up after full moons, tho it took some time to convince him she doesn't mind doing it

14, they love hugging each other

15, after the Battle in the Department of Mysteries, Remus stayed by Tonks's side in St Mungo's until she woke up - he was absolutely distraught

16, Tonks once slapped Remus across the face: that was when he wanted to get rid of the baby when Tonks told him she was pregnant

17, Tonks can fall asleep anywhere, preferably with her head on Remus's shoulder on guard duty... not that he minds, of course

18, they're equally stubborn, but Tonks usually wins arguments

19, Remus usually makes her tea because she just isn't capable of doing it properly, for Merlin's sake!

20, Remus loves Tonks's giggles

21, Tonks, on the other hand, loves the way Remus's lips curve when he smiles

22, they fell for each other around Christmas of 1995

23, Tonks can be incredibly clingy, especially when she's sick

24, tho she'd never admit it, Tonks has learned to love Remus calling her "Nymphadora"

25, Remus gets genuinely terrified when Tonks's hair turns red

26, he makes a huge fuss about every yet so tiny bruise she's got

27, Tonks is a horrible dancer, Remus isn't... their wedding dance was hilarious

28, Tonks appreciates very much that Remus takes her seriously and sees her as an adult

29, Remus usually cooks because Tonks is prone to burning things

30, Tonks sometimes shares Remus's cup of tea - well, she takes it and he has to deal with it

31, they complete each other perfectly, that's why they match so well

32, Remus is the only one to calm Tonks down when she'd anxious, he offers her the safety she craves for - this is her first real war to fight and she needs someone by her side

33, Remus couldn't go on without her at some point anymore, she keeps him going

34, their boggarts changed into each other's corpses after they fell in love

35, Tonks loves her new patronus

36, Remus can be incredibly jealous

37, he's also pretty over-protective, Tonks acts like she's annoyed by it but she finds it kinda cute

38, they both had nightmares during the war, but had a hard time opening up to each other about it

39, glances across the room

40, he marvels at how well her small hand fits into his large whenever they hold hands to apparate

41, whenever Remus reads a book, Tonks lays her head in his lap and naps - Remus sometimes trails his hand through her hair when (he thinks) she's asleep

42, Tonks is one for cheek kisses

43, he proposed to her

44, when Remus returns home after full moons and they go to bed, he usually rests his head on her chest, needing to be near her

45, Tonks had a hard time convincing Remus that he was indeed worthy of love

46, during long over night missions, Remus sometimes kept guard so she could nap a little

47, Tonks wrote letters to Remus when he was with the pack, but he rarely responded - what he did indeed was keep them all safely stowed

48, Remus was heartbroken when he found out Tonks suffered from depression, but yet it only made him believe that she deserved better than him

49, they trust each other with their lives

50, they share their love for chocolate frogs

51, one day, Remus unconsciously rolled up his sleeves in her presence because he didn't really mind her seeing the small silvery scars on his arms

52, no matter how cold it is, he'll always lend her his cloak when she's freezing

53, he loves taking care of her when she's not feeling well

54, Remus once did a sketch of his wife when she was asleep

55, they both cried at their wedding

56, Remus actually never wanted to hurt her... he didn't really succeed tho

57, when looking for Tonks at Grimmauldplace, Remus usually isn't far

58, he sometimes watches her over the brink of his tea cup

59, he's one of the few people Tonks feels completely comfortable around with her natural body form

60, he always keeps his hand on the small of her back when he sees her to the door

61, she hugged him first - that was when she noticed him feeling anxious for the first time

62, he kissed her first - that was after a mission they almost died, somehow his heart took over

63, they reunited shortly before their deaths

64, Remus died a few minutes earlier, Tonks was killed while weeping over his corpse

65, the entire Order of the Phoenix knew about them long before they did - Sirius, Mad-Eye and Kingsley even did bets

66, Tonks managed to get Remus to open up and have a cry on her shoulder after Sirius's death, but after that he distanced himself from her completely

67, Remus saves her some of Molly's food when Tonks returns from work late

68, he always waits until she returns from late missions

69, they renovated Remus's old cottage and made it their home

70, he's one head taller than her

71, after they married her called Tonks "Mrs Lupin" at times, not to tease her but because he was hella proud that she was his wife

72, he had to stop himself from being clingy around Tonks after bad full moons because he thought himself to be a monster

73, he always held back her hair when she had to throw up during her pregnancy

74, they call each other "sweetheart", "darling" or "love" - but never things like "babe"

75, Tonks likes to listen to Remus telling her old stories about the first Order or his year as Hogwarts professor

76, Remus drinks whisky when he's upset or sad, Tonks usually goes for gin

77, they had a few arguments about Tonks's sleeping habits since she's a workaholic sometimes and "forgets" about going to bed

78, Tonks adores the wrinkles at the corners of Remus's eyes

79, she's always cracking jokes, Remus often chocked on his tea when she did

80, despite Remus's trust issues, he never had a hard time trusting Tonks

81, Mad-Eye Moody paired them on missions not so much by incident but rather because Remus was a good influence on Tonks

82, however, Mad-Eye was furious when Remus started to reject her

83, they both remembered the day the other told them that they loved them for the first time

84, Tonks never intended to fall for a bookish, calm ex-professor... but here she is

85, being away with the werewolves, Remus realized how much he actually loved Tonks - the amount of love his heart held for her scared him

86, he visited her late night on Christmas day 1996 tho she didn't want to celebrate at the Burrow - but he just couldn't stand the thought of her being alone at Christmas Eve

87, Molly yelled at Remus several times for breaking Tonks's heart

88, Mad-Eye actually had to comfort Tonks and hug her one time when she had reached the rock bottom of her depression

89, Mad-Eye too yelled at Remus for breaking Tonks's heart

90, they had some mild arguments about Tonks's taste in music

91, Tonks fell asleep in the parlor every now and then - whenever Remus was around, he tried his best to not wake her while covering her with a blanket

92, they're an absolute dream team on missions together

93, Kingsley was the one to find their corpses and bring them down to the Hall

94, they spent New Year's Eve 1995 on the rooftop of Grimmauldplace watching the firework, Remus conjured a pink one from his wand

95, Tonks sometimes got ink on her fingertips and Remus, whyever, thinks it's cute

96, they notice the tiniest details about each other, such as a fresh scar on the wrist or a bruise on the elbow

97, he takes over writing the reports after a mission because he knows she hates it

98, she's best a stunning spells, he's best at the patronus charm

99, they shared a bathroom at Grimmauldplace and things got very awkward

100, it's about touch with the two of them: a tight hug when he's anxious, a loving embrace when she returns from work, linking arms when they walk together at nighttime, a gentle kiss on the lips when he wants her to know he loves her, a tender peck on the cheek when she returns from work, a light kiss on the forehead when she falls asleep next to him, holding hands when they apparate, locking fingers when he actually wants to hold her hand, hands tracing and lingering when they walk past the other, the slightest touch of a fingertip on his hand when she wants to comfort him during an Order meeting...

109 notes · View notes

legolaslovely · 4 years

Text

It Can Wait

A/N: Hi friends! This started as something to help me get rid of my little Fíli block (which SUCKS because I LOVE him with all my heart????), and I ended up really liking it! I hope you guys do too! :)

Pairing: Fíli x Fem ! Human ! Reader

Word Count: 2,847

Warnings: Fluff, talk of violence and injury, talk of blood, major character with a minor injury, nakedness (?), but like, respectful nakedness

Summary: Fíli runs to (Y/N)’s rescue at a rather inopportune time. ;)

“Lay down your packs. We’ll rest here for the night.”

Before Thorin even finished his sentence, the company of dwarves and their hobbit dropped their packs as if they were full of builders’ bricks. The resounding thump of bedrolls and clinking of weapons falling to the ground would have been enough to wake the nearest orc pack if it hadn’t already attacked the travelers earlier that day. Luckily the enemies were somewhat defeated and mostly evaded by the comrades. The skirmish did come with its casualties, but besides a few ripped packs with one gone and lost to the wargs, the injuries were survivable and would heal in a few days, according to Oin’s gruff but medically sound opinion.

(Y/N) walked to the far side of the rising camp and joined Thorin and his nephews instead of piling herself near the dwarves of the company who couldn’t bear to take another step. It seemed they’d rather plop where they stood, even if that meant sleeping on top of each other.

“Move over there, Bofur,” Bombur said. “Give a dwarf his own space, will ye?”

“Ye have plenty of space, what with ye losin’ yer pack to the warg’s mouth,” Bofur answered.

“Which wouldn’t have happened if ye didn’t run so slow!”

“Oi!”

And thus the bickering began.

(Y/N) dropped her pack on the ground where she could have some space to herself. Once freed, her aching arms stretched up over her head and her creaking back bent from side to side like a reed in the wind. She inhaled deeply, hoping to refresh her senses with some clean forest air but what she got was nothing of the sort.

That smell!

She coughed, she waved, but nothing completely dispelled the thick stink. One more sniff to make sure… and yes, that stench was her. Well, not exactly her. It was the black orc blood covering her tunic, the dirt under her nails, the sweat sliding down her skin and whatever the company shared for supper the night before. Nevertheless, that smell was indeed coming from her.

“I need to bathe,” she muttered.

“There’s a shallow river to the east. Not far,” Thorin said from behind her. She hadn’t realized he’d been setting up his bedroll so close to her as she complained about her… filth. “Go now,” he said. “Before it gets much darker.”

She nodded, going through her pack for some of her belongings. If she went now, she could wash her soiled and smelly tunic, fill her canteen, even wash her hair and still be back in time to share supper before it disappeared.

“Where are you going?” Kíli asked as (Y/N) loaded a smaller bag of hers with her washing utensils.

“To the river. I won’t be long.”

“You’re going alone?” Fíli asked, standing from his half made bedroll and wincing from the effort. Even he hadn’t been spared by the orcs today, having taken quite a blow to his knee. (Y/N) was convinced his limp was the reason Thorin called for camp before dark.

“I’m going to bathe so yes, I’m going alone,” she said.

Her fond teasing always left the tips of his ears stinging red.

“Do you think that’s the best idea?” he asked.

“I won’t be far. And I always have a dagger on me,” she said with a wink as she slung her bag over her shoulder and made for the river.

Kíli leaned to his brother’s ear, eyeing the weapon that hung from (Y/N)’s hip. It caressed her leg like a friendly cat with every step she took into the woods. “Always, always?” he asked. “Where does she keep it?”

“Use your imagination, Kíli!” she called over her shoulder.

Fíli saw the wheels chugging to life and wildly churning in his brother’s mind and smacked him.

“Oi!” Kíli barked.

Fíli listened to (Y/N)’s distant laugh and shoved his brother’s shoulder once more before returning to his bedroll. He flattened it out over a patch of long wildgrass which made for the softest sleeping place he’d had in weeks.

Moving himself to sit was a challenge with his throbbing knee, but it was one that came with a just reward. He kicked his leg out in front of him and leaned back on his hands, not in a rush to dig the crumbs of dry food out of his pack for his supper. No, he’d sit for a moment and let his mind go blank for the first time since the night before.

“Ye expect me to sleep on that little sliver of roll?”

“Yer lucky I’m sharin’ me roll with ye at all! Yer the one that lost yer pack!”

“ ‘Cause I was watchin’ out for ye!”

“Oi!”

Fíli cracked one eye open and rolled it at the spectacle. As the rest of the company spread out from their lazy pile, the grassy area dwindled, leaving mud moats and pebble piles as the only free space on the edge of the camp. Fíli had marked his territory, as had his brother and uncle. (Y/N), however, ran to the river so quickly she’d barely dropped her pack from her back, never mind set out her blanket.

“Kee,” he whispered. “See that little sliver of grass there?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Unroll (Y/N)’s bed for her, will ya? Right there. She’ll be left in the rocks otherwise.”

Kíli lolled his head and looked behind him, hair brushing the ground with his movement as he leaned back on his elbows. “S’too far away, Fee.”

“It’s right there!”

“You get it, then!”

Fíli had a trademark glare he saved for his little brother. Wide eyes threatened while thick brows sat like soldiers braced for battle; thinly lined lips could snap a command at any moment though his jaw seemed still and hard as stone. The glower wasn’t often unsheathed but even after seventy-odd years together, it was a weapon that still made Kíli tremble. Even now, he glanced again to the pack in question in order to avoid his brother’s steel gaze.

“What?” Kíli squeaked. “She can do it herself!”

“She’s not here.”

Fíli pushed himself to stand. The pain shot through his leg like an fiery arrow through his veins, exploding its target in the middle of his knee and sending shrapnel throughout. He winced, face scrunched up tight, as he limped to unclip (Y/N)’s bedroll from the top of her pack.

“You don’t have to baby her,” Kíli said.

“I’m not,” Fíli said as he rolled the thick blanket over the grass near his own. “I would rather not listen to her complain of her sore back all because you didn’t save her a place.”

“I wouldn't have to if she didn’t take so long washing her pretty hair.”

Fíli patted his handiwork and leaned close to Kíli to say, “Good thing you didn’t get up off your rear, then.” He dodged Kíli’s flying hand and chuckled at his little brother’s faked outrage. Then he stood, adjusted his belt and looked to the sky to judge the time. The sun was low, shining in the trees ahead and painting the leaves golden, the same way it shone at the crown of (Y/N)’s head as if she were a royal.

“She does have pretty hair,” Fíli said.

Before Kíli could shoot back an answer, his attention was pulled to a sharp cry echoing in the near distance. He caught Fíli’s eye and saw panic there.

“What was that?” he asked.

Fíli unsheathed his dagger and listened. Nothing.

“Stay here.”

Fíli disappeared into the eastern woods and made for the river. His injury was forgotten as he rushed through the trees, on guard for any lagging assailants waiting for him to approach. With each twig crunching step, he willed himself to slow down, make a plan, take in his surroundings, so as not to sprint full force into an enemy attack on his own. But the thought of (Y/N) in danger spurred him on. He rushed forth- forgot his training, his pain, his fear. His heart pounded in his chest as if attempting to break free from its cage and act as lieutenant.

His steps were mechanical, automatic. Green and brown whirred around him until he reached a clearing and saw blue. Then a shining dagger glinted in front of his chest.

“(Y/N)! Wait!” he said, arms shot in front of him.

“Fíli! What’s wrong?”

The land all around was empty except for the two of them. No enemy stood in sight and there was no evidence of a fight before he’d arrived. No blood, no weapons, and the only footsteps in the dirt were (Y/N)’s own. Her bare feet, tiny compared to his thick boots, led to bare calves, bare knees and mostly bare thighs, only the tops of which were covered with a clinging, wet tunic. Back to her feet his eyes went and he backed away, sheathing his dagger and looking anywhere except the soaked woman before him.

“Mahal, I’m so sorry. I thought I heard a scream and you were out here alone- my mind went to the worst. I really didn’t- this is no ploy to- I swear.”

“I believe you, Fíli.” She picked her dagger’s sheath from the ground and replaced her weapon. For a moment, he watched the soaked tunic adhere to her chest. Her hair shone with soap that slid down her neck, the bubbles making their way down over the dips of her collarbones and adding to the translucency of her covering.

She straightened. “I heard it too, but it was a fox. The pack made a kill just over the bank and celebrated so loudly I thought they were actually dwarves.” The corners of her mouth wriggled as she tried not to smile.

“You’re funny.”

“Thank you.”

She watched him. For his reaction? To pressure him into keeping his gaze to himself? To thank him for risking his life for her safety? He wasn’t sure.

“I’m also shivering and covered in soap, so if you don’t mind-”

“I’ll leave.” He turned back to the way he came, leaning a bit too far onto his sore leg. Despite his best intentions, he hissed in pain but the spare air vanished when a damp hand landed on his arm.

“What did Oin say about your knee?” she asked.

His hand clamped onto hers. “I’ll be crooked for a few days, but it should heal just fine. Nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to run through the woods on either.”

A breeze blew between them. She shook with a chill that ran down her spine and took her hand away from his.

“You are shivering,” he said. “I’ll leave you as you asked.”

“Actually, I just meant to ask if you’d turn around so I can rinse off. Then we can walk back together. Wouldn’t want any foxes to attack you in your weakened state,” she said, biting her lip to stop from laughing as he shook his head.

He watched her back into the water, expertly dodging slippery, sharp rocks, until the little ripples reached her knees. She never took her eyes off his, but cocked a brow as she fiddled with the hem of her wet tunic.

“You should probably turn around now.”

“Right.”

He dutifully and respectfully spun, holding his breath to listen to her laugh. Her tunic landed on the rocks near his feet with a wet slap while the river water splashed and encased her in its embrace. If he closed his eyes, he’d be able to see her leaning her head back into the waves, revealing her neck and the swell of her breasts until her flesh disappeared below the surface. If he closed his eyes, he had the chance to imagine things he shouldn’t be picturing about his comrade.

So he looked up into the trees to count the birds or the leaves or the branches- something that would take his attention away from the completely bare woman right behind him. Then he saw her extra tunic hanging dry, still stained dark grey and maroon from their skirmish with a small orc pack that afternoon.

“That’s your only spare tunic up there?” he asked.

She hummed. “I can’t seem to wash the orc stench out of it, but it seems I’ll have to wear it for the night as my other one won’t dry in time.”

“I have an extra you can wear.”

“Oh, no, I’ll make do.”

“Nonsense,” he said, retrieving the wet tunic-ball and hanging it over a branch. As he sniffed the stained one and winced, he said, “Rip this one up for rags. You’ll need some for cleaning and mending as we go on. This wet one will dry, but until we can get you another spare, you can take mine.”

He dropped the rags-to-be by her bag and slid out of his outer layer. As he shed his clothes, he started to regret his decision. But asking her to choose between freezing overnight and sleeping in orc funk wasn’t an option. His fingers shook as the rustling of the water grew higher in pitch and her steps turned from small splashes to light pats over the dirt.

“That’s generous of you. Thank you.”

He pulled his tunic over his head and held it out, only seeing her by his side when he ran a hand through his braids and set them to rights. She’d slipped into her trousers and though she’d squeezed the water from her hair, stubborn droplets ran down her smooth skin and over freckles that were newly formed from long hours in the sun.

“You’re welcome,” he said, turning away as she dressed.

It wasn’t long before she landed before him, long tails tucked in and bunched in her trousers and laces tied under her neck.

“Well, then,” she said. “Ready to fight off some foxes?”

Fíli chuckled as the sleeve she’d pushed up to her elbow fell back down and over her wrist. “Indeed. Maybe we’ll find something for supper on the way,” he said as he neatly rolled the extra fabric up her arm the way he knew she liked it.

“Anything would be better than whatever your brother caught for us last night.”

“Not a fan of mystery meat?”

“Not when it smells like that,” she said.

When the pair grabbed everything they’d brought with them to the river, they started their way back to the camp. The sun had set but there was still a residual light radiating from the sky and through the trees. The purple twilight illuminated the path which Fíli had made much more prominent with his previous run through the woods. Mighty bear jokes were passed back and forth as (Y/N) noticed the broken branches and large bootsteps left in the dirt.

Fíli wrapped an arm tight around her shoulders and pulled, making her topple into his chest and giggle even more.

“Knock it off,” he said, words warped by his wide grin.

“Fine, fine. But seriously, Fíli. I’m honestly quite offended by what you’ve done tonight.”

He stopped her in the path, eyes wide and deep with regret. “(Y/N), I promise, I was not at all trying to sneak some sort of peek. I really thought you were in danger-”

“No, not that. All this time I always thought I had a rather pleasant voice. Now you say I sound like a yowling fox. It hurts me a bit.” She headed back to camp without him, leaving him stunned into place in the middle of the woods. “More than a bit, actually,” she continued. “I think you’re going to have to think very hard on how to make this all up to me. If we want to stay friends, that is.”

Two giant, limping steps later, he was close enough to take her in his arms and kiss her, as he’d wanted to do for months. And unexpectedly, magically, thankfully, she returned his embrace. Her fingers were cold on the nape of his neck but his tunic was warm around her body. Up her back and into her hair went his thick fingers, opening her to him and pulling her lips even closer. He sighed, a mix of her scent and his, her hair oil and his soap, and every bit of him swelled to capacity with pride and affection. Finally.

He drew away just enough to take in her face. Her eyes were still closed, and slowly, a smile grew on her pinked lips. She hummed and looked at him.

“That’s a good start,” she said.

“I’m glad you think so.”

Her smile spread into a bright and beautiful grin and Fíli could only return it. He shifted against her and felt her arms wrap further around him in support.

“We should get you back for some rest. Your knee-”

“Can wait,” he said, taking her chin in his fingers and running his thumb just under her lips. “It can wait.”

He kissed her again, pain and worries gone.

***

Taglist: @emrfangirl @misslongcep @raindancer2004 @ladybugg1235 @xxbyimm @burningcoffeetimetravel @fire-flv @nerdbirdsworld @dashesofink @teagarages @dreams-of-wander @winchesterandpie @bluebellcotton @tumblinglringlring @fxngsfogxarty @specialagentsnark @afeistyfairy12 @queenofmankind @karlthecat15722 @sagabriar @marymegger @aidan-kili-mitchell-forever @c-s-stars

#fili #fili x reader #fili x human!reader #fili x fem!reader #the hobbit #the hobbit fandom #the hobbit fic #the hobbit fanfic #the hobbit fanfiction #dean o'gorman x reader

266 notes · View notes