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lyjen · 4 months

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Just a minute

Summary: Evan and (Y/n) are due to get married, but when an accident happens on scene during a thunderstorm, the lives of the two are completely flipped upside down.

A request by: @shauna-carsley

9-1-1 Masterlist

Taglist: ( @oliviah-25 @shauna-carsley

______

“I still can’t believe you’re actually getting married, Buck” Hen said as she bumped her shoulder against Evan’s who was sitting next to her. “Yeah who would’ve thought that..” Evan mumbled as he gave Hen a small smile as he looked down at his hands.

Their big day was coming closer with every second, minute and hour. They will get married next week. They weren’t the kind of people to throw a massive wedding, they would just invite their loved ones and some friends, and have an intimate wedding.

“Well I certainly didn’t expect it to happen for at least what, ten more years?” Chimney sounded through the headset while the truck hit another puthole on their way towards the location of their call.

Laughs sounded through the headphones as Evan was still with his head on cloud nine, even though he popped the question months ago. He still couldn’t believe he was engaged with the girl he loved desperately for these past years. They went through hell and back, from Evan getting crushed by a firetruck, to being targeted on duty by a sniper.

(Y/n) was sitting on Evan’s right side, and noticed his absent look. She placed her hand down onto his right hand, which was resting on his right thigh. When her skin touched his, he looked up and glanced at (y/n).

“Well, believe it because the proof is right here” (Y/n) said as she pulled the collar of her navy blue LAFD t-shirt forward and showed her engagement ring between her thumb and index finger of her right hand.

Her engagement ring was hanging on a small chain so she could wear it as a necklace.That was the solution if she was working, she couldn’t wear her ring around her finger if she was on shift. But she was determined to wear it, even if she was on duty. Tucked underneath her shirt so it wouldn’t get in her way as she would perform her tasks.

The truck pulled to a stop as (Y/n) placed her necklace safe and sound underneath the fabric of her shirt. She yanked off her headphones as grabbed her helmet off the floor and placed it underneath her arm, so she could easily jump out of the rig after everyone else.

She placed her helmet onto her head as soon as her feet met the wet ground.

It had been raining all day long. You’d think after a whole day with only rain, the clouds wouldn’t have any water left to send down to the ground.

But no, here they were.. in the middle of the night, getting called out to a warehouse fire, not exactly the kind of night she was hoping for, not when you haven’t slept at all in twenty four hours.

Hatches of compartments were pulled open, as she followed her captain. “Okay, Miller, Stafford, Mckenzie! Start evacuating the building!” Bobby ordered one half of his team. The three were preparing to collect everything they needed out of the truck. Such as oxygen tanks and halligans were getting snatched out of the compartment.

“Buck, Eddie and (Y/n) you are on ladder duty” he said as he pointed at the other three persons walking right beside and behind him. “(Y/n) I want you to raise the aerial, Buck and Eddie get up to that window and hit it. Let’s go!” Bobby called out as he clapped his hands together.

(Y/n) fastened towards the compartment where they stored the metal plates that go underneath the two arms on the side of the truck. She quickly grabbed two metal plates out and handed them over to Evan, as she grasped the two other metal plates and placed them on the right spot on the asphalt.

While Eddie gathered whatever Evan and Eddie needed for going up that ladder. (Y/n) and Evan expanded the side arms of the ladder truck.

As soon as she grabbed the metal side of the small ladder on the side of the truck to get on top of it and raise the aerial.

She flinched at the feeling of a hand pushed down onto her lower back. She was so focussed, she didn’t realize her fiancé - and soon to be husband - was behind her.

“I’ve got to harness up” he said as his hand remained on her lower back. His wet curls were flattened by his helmet and sticking to the skin of his face.

He softly patted his hand against her lower back, “See you in a minute” he said as he tried to make himself intelligible over the pouring rain. She sent him a small smile, which made him smile as he retrieved his hand and turned away from her.

She watched Evan walk away for a second, as she looked down to the ground. Still smiling. Making her realize that she has found the love of her life and she was really going to marry him.

This has been the happiest and blessed she has felt in years. Life couldn’t get any better than this.

A small and soft laugh left her lips, as she placed her hands onto the soaking wet metal pipe and pulled herself step by step up the ladder on the side of the truck.

When she reached the top of the fire truck, she directly turned to the left where the control panel of the aerial was placed. Her hand found the lever to raise the aerial while the other hand found the lever to extend the ladder.

A slight color change in the skies above her caught her attention as her hands were still pushing the levers.

It was like the sound of the rain was being muted and some kind of soft static sound filled her ears. She turned her face towards the still pouring clouds above her.

“What the hell…” she stumbled as she saw the bright blue colors through the dark night sky and dark clouds. She stopped pushing the levers as she took a step back.

Her stomach turned. This wasn’t good. It felt like some kind of demon could enter their would any second. But demons did not exist in this universe.

The sound was growing louder and louder, basically screaming into her ears.

Within a blink of an eye she felt a roaring pain through her body and her body tumbled backwards. Down to the ground.

The electricity entered her body through the hands, making its way up to her shoulders and made its way down her torso, down to her legs.

She wanted to scream, cry, do anything to make some sort of sound as a call for help. Even if it was just a little yelp, what would’ve given her hope. But she couldn’t.

She couldn’t make a sound. It was almost like her lips were sealed, stitched together, glued together with super glue.

Evan was just securing the red webbing around his waist, but the dreadful noise of the thunder and lightning made him stop his movements.

Evan jumped back and ducked as he heard a loud thunder sound roaring through the air.

“What the-“ he cursed as the truck he was standing next to started to smoke and move back and forth like it was possessed.

His eyes were locked on the firetruck. This never happened before. The rain did of course, but lightning that struck so close to him and his team didn't. Evan’s eyes grew wide as he realized who was standing on top of the truck before it got struck.

Adrenaline entered his veins as his heart started to beat faster and faster, pumping blood through his veins along with the adrenaline. His eyes searched for his fiance, standing on top of that truck. But it was hard to see with the rain drops dripping into his face. “(Y/n)” he stumbled, as the thought of her being in danger or being hurt entered his thoughts.

“(Y/n)!” he called out louder as his eyes couldn’t find his girlfriend on top of the truck. His legs were moving faster than his mind, which made him almost trip over his own body. Almost falling to the ground, Evan used one hand to push himself back up as he quickly made his way to the otherside of the truck where the small ladder was, to get on top of the roof of the truck.

When he rounded that corner, he saw her lifeless body lying on the ground. Arms spread wide across the asphalt, eyes closed and her helmet a few feet further than where it’s supposed to be.

Her name fell multiple times off his lips as he screamed like he was being tortured. He may be not being tortured physically, but mentally this was a whole other story. He dropped onto his knees next to her body as he cried out her name.

“(Y/n) can you hear me?” he tried to say through his sobs as his loud voice became softer with every sentence he spoke as he saw the raindrops falling from the sky onto her skin. “Please” he cried, he wanted to hold her in his arms, but he was scared.

“Coming through!” Chimney’s voice said, he kneeled down on the other side of (Y/n) and placed down the medic bag he was carrying with the strap over his shoulder.

Evan felt how a shadow of Chimney’s partner was in the corner of his eyes. But Evan refused to leave. He wasn’t going to leave (Y/n)’s side, not voluntarily.

Evan placed his index and middle finger against her neck to see if he could feel a pulse. But before he could sense a pulse, he felt two hands landing on both his shoulders.

“Buck, let Chim and Hen do their jobs” Bobby’s voice said. “No” he said, determined to stay, while the tears were welling up in his eyes. He couldn’t leave her, he wanted to do everything in his power to help her. But he wasn’t a paramedic.

Hen placed her hand on Evan’s upper arm. “Hey.. it’s okay.” she reassured him. “We got her” she continued as she locked her eyes with his. Evan’s eyes softened as Hen’s hand gently rubbed up and down over his upper arm and she gave him a small nod.

Evan glanced once more at his fiancé, as he squeezed his eyes closed to make some kind of quick wish, and moved out of Hen’s way to make room for her. His legs straightened as he felt two hands grabbing his shoulders and pulling him close.

He didn’t know who pulled him close, probably Bobby but that didn’t matter right now. His eyes remained on his girlfriend, his heart was beating so quick it almost felt like it could break through his chest and pop out of his body.

Evan let his fingers intertwine with his hair. He had so many emotions going through his body now, and didn’t know how to deal with it. He was sure he was about to pull some strands of hair out of his skull while he watched Hen and Chimney work.

Her eyes slowly opened as the ammonia from the little bag Hen had put right under her nose, entered her nose and triggered her brain to wake up. A groan left her lips as she turned her head and squeezed her eyes closed.

“(Y/n)? Are you in any pain?” Hen asked as she hovered over her, trying to get her attention. “Everything-” she said as a groan took over her sentence. “hurts” she cried as she opened her eyes again. “(Y/n), can you try to wiggle your toes for me?” Chimney asked as he focussed onto her feet.

With every small piece of energy she had left, she tried to wiggle her toes as she tried to catch Chimney’s reaction. She saw his eyes turn to Hen as he gave her a worried look. “It’s bad isn’t it?” (Y/n) said as she looked up into the dark night sky which still poured the rain into her face. “Hey, let’s not lose hope okay?” Hen tried to reassure her. But how could you not lose hope when there was as possible spinal injury?

“Pushing morphine” Chimney said as he already installed the IV in an artery in her hand. “Get a backboard and a gurney over here!” Hen yelled over to some of the other 118 team members, no one in particular.

“Evan?” she cried out, she knew he was there. How couldn’t he be? “Yes? I’m here baby” Evan said as he pulled himself free from the still resting hands onto his shoulder to keep him under control. Evan fastened towards (Y/n) as he let himself fall down onto his knees again as he took place above her head, still giving Hen and Chim the space they needed.

“I’m here” he repeated softly as he placed his hand down onto her collarbone and rubbed reassuringly his thumb up and down over her turnout jacket. “I’m sorry” she cried out the second she looked him in the eye.

“For what?” he asked her while a confused look was written all over his face. “Ruining our wedding” she sobbed. Evan sighed in awe, how could she be thinking of her wedding when the number one priority right now was herself?

Just a minute.. that was all that it took for the weather to turn and throw her in some kind of bad film or her worst nightmare.

______

“That went well, right?” Evan said as he closed the door of the car and locked it with the car keys. (Y/n) didn’t answer him and took the break of her wheelchair off and rolled herself over the threshold of their home. Evan just watched her rolling away from him as he slowly followed behind her.

They had just come home from one of the appointments of physiotherapy (Y/n) has twice a week. To treat her injuries, and train her muscles, but most importantly: to attempt to walk again.

The lightning strike had electrocuted her entire body, and touched her nervous system. While the fall off the top of the truck had damaged her spine. She could move her upper body, but from her waist down to the legs she was suffering from paralysis.

He went with her to almost all her appointments, if he could and wasn’t on shift. He wanted to be the shoulder to lean on or to cry on if she had to. He wanted to be a part of this journey, even if this was going to be hell on earth.

“Hey you okay?” Evan asks when he steps inside the house and closes the front door behind him. His eyes fell onto his fiance who was taking off her special gloves, which she got to protect her wounds and blisters, but also to give her more grip to push the wheels herself. Having everyone pushing you everywhere wasn’t going to make her happy.

She stayed silent as she put the gloves onto her lap, with her back still turned towards him. She didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. Not after the news she received.

Evan didn’t like the silent treatment, he never did. She only did this when they were fighting, or when she was upset. (Y/n) looked at the healing wounds on the palm of both her hands, as she softly let her fingers glide over the palm of her right hand, tracing the electrocution wound.

A sigh left his lips as he slowly came closer to his girlfriend. He stood in front of her as he kneeled down so he was on the same level as her. “What’s wrong?” He softly asked, his voice sounded almost broken.

Her eyes remained onto her wounds, as she emotionless kept tracing the same wound over and over again. He could sense that with every touch over those wounds, the spark in her eyes became less and less. As if she was losing herself.

Evan tries to make eye contact with her as he places his right and left hand onto her knee, folding both his hands over one another. “Please…” he sighed, knowing damn well what was going on. “Talk to me?” he begged her.

Her eyes kept being locked onto her hands. “What if.. all of the effort I put in to be able to walk again, won’t work..” she spoke silently, with a broken voice. Evan let out another soft sigh as he let both his hands wander and placed them carefully on both her thighs.

“All this work, and there still aren’t any results..” she said as he could hear her voice break, she was on the verge of breaking down. Evan went silent for a bit as the words she spoke broke little pieces off his heart. He wanted to react to it so badly, he wanted to tell her it was all going to be okay. But he didn’t want to give her false hope either.

“You just have to be patient.. and give it time, your ability to walk will come back. Im sure of it.” Evan tries to motivate her as he still keeps on trying to make her look at him, by using only his eyes. (Y/n) scoffed at Evan’s motivational speech. “Well, you may be the only one who thinks it will return.” she mumbled as she tried to look away from Evan.

Evan’s eyes narrowed at her reaction. “Okay, did something happen today? During your appointment?” he asks as he still tries to get her to look at him. Evan went with her, but wasn’t allowed to actually be in the room during the appointment. So he went and read some awful magazines -which probably didn’t get renewed much- they had in the waiting area.

“(Y/n).. look at me.” he said one more time. It took her a second, but then she found the courage to look her soon to be husband in the eyes. “And don’t even think about lying to me” he continued in a strict tone, as if he was talking to a child.

(Y/n) swallowed as she mentally prepared herself to tell Evan what happened. “We ran some tests. And he told me he wasn’t happy with the results.” her voice was trembling as if she was nervous to tell him the truth. ”He said he was doubting if I could walk ever again or hell even go back to work.” a tear slipped over her cheek as she quickly wiped it away with the side of her hand. She didn’t want to cry over it, but it was devastating news. How could she not cry over it?

“Oh baby…” the words fell off his lips like a whisper. He wanted to encourage her, but right now she needed to vent so it was best to just give her a shoulder to cry on. His thumbs gently rubbed up and down her thigh. “And.. I’m starting to think that he’s right.” she said as a voice crack took over her sound. “Maybe I’ll be stuck in this wheelchair forever, and we’ll never be able to do our first dance. Not the way I dreamed of all these years.” she cried as tears were running down her face.

Before Evan could think of what he was doing, he pulled her closer and locked his arms around her back. (Y/n) put her arms around his neck as she desperately sobbed with her face buried into his neck. She cried until there weren’t any tears left to cry. Evan could feel the fabric of his shirt sticking to his shoulder as a wet spot was created by her tears. “I’ll never be a firefighter ever again” she sobbed.

As soon as Evan heard her say that, he broke free from the state he has been in for the last few minutes, just letting his girlfriend cry onto his shoulder. His right hand wandered from her back towards her shoulder as he placed his left hand onto her cheek. “No.. You can’t think like that!” Evan said as he let his thumb cleared the wet strokes of tears from her cheek.

“I can’t do this..” she cried as she closed her eyes and shook her head. “But I’m tired Buck, it’s like i'm running towards the light at the end of a tunnel, but whenever I take a step, the light moves with it. It goes further away. ” she continued as she tried to help Evan imagine what it felt like, being stuck to that chair. (Y/n) placed her hand around Evan’s wrist of the hand that was connected to her cheek.

“Hey..I know it’s hard but we have to stay positive” Evan said. “Being a firefighter is my life! But I can’t do that while I’m stuck in this wheelchair! I want to do our first dance at our wedding, but not like this Buck!” she started to speak up louder. “And I know that, but that's why I said we have to stay pos-” Evan couldn’t even finish his sentence as he felt his hand being pulled down by hers, which was resting around his wrist. “Ugh! Would you stop saying that!” her loud voice echoed through the space of their home. She held her hands up as some kind of stop sign for Evan. ”You’re not the one who’s stuck to this wheelchair twenty four seven!” she said loud and clear as she tried to keep Evan on a distance from her.

She rolled herself backwards as she turned away from him. Arguing and being mad at him was easier if she wasn’t looking at him. “You are not the one who needs to constantly ask for help or the one who has been electrocuted or fell off a ladder truck!” she said, trying to calm herself down.

A silence filled the room as Evan got off his knees and stood up straight again. He has been where she is now. He knows for a part how much it sucks to not be able to do what you love the most, and being stuck at home. But she was right, he didn’t know what it felt like to be stuck to that chair, or not being able to walk no matter how hard you try and how much you want it.

Evan swallow was audible through the house, that’s how silent it was in the house. You could even hear a pin drop. “No, you’re right. I’m not that person..” he sighed as he leaned with his hands down onto the kitchen island in their house. ”But I am the one who almost lost my fiance when she was in the OR” he said as he looked her way, trying to get her attention.

He could see her head tilting to the side a little bit. She was still listening, even though she wasn’t looking. “You coded on the table.” he said as she could hear his voice practically breaking. A silence filled the room. “I was in that waiting room for hours, you were in the OR for hours. And when I saw that face of your doctor when he came through the doors, I almost thought I lost you.. again.” (Y/n) could only sense by the tone of his voice that he was struggling.

“And I didn’t tell you that, because I didn’t want to upset you. But I wanted you to have hope, because if you survived that.. I’m sure you can survive this too.” Evan tried to explain as he pushed his body from the kitchen counter.

Another silence.

Evan was ready to stop this conversation, to just.. walk away from it. But he didn’t have the heart to do it. He was sorry for her, that she has to go through all of this. Sorry for mother nature choosing the ladder truck as its target, with (Y/n) on top of it. It was just bad luck.

He could hear her breathing and hear her arms move, followed by a click of (y/n) taking the brakes off her wheels. (Y/n) turned the wheelchair so she was facing her fiance again. “You should’ve stopped me before I went up that ladder” she said, blood cold as she looked him in the eye.

Did she really still blame him for something he didn’t do? He understood she was angry, with herself, mother nature, physics, and Evan. A scoff left his lips as he let his hand run through his short curls.

He was thinking of what he should say next. He had so many words to say, and yet.. there weren’t any words popping up in his head. So he decided to go with the words he had already written.

A soft sigh left his mouth as he dropped his arm next to his body. “You want to know one thing that was written in my vows?” he asked carefully as he felt the tears trying to push their way out of the tear ducts.

(Y/n) looked him in the eye, an expression filled with confusion. She just blamed him for everything and he wants to talk about the wedding? About his vows?

“That no matter how hard life would get, I’d still be here.“ he said as his eyes connected once more with his, something that didn’t happen a lot during this conversation. Evan slowly moved forward, towards (Y/n). ”Whether you like it or not, I’ll be here in the good times and the bad ones.” he continued as he reached her wheelchair, and kneeled down in front of it.

Without breaking eye contact, he reached her level and took a breath. “You can try to push me away. But I’m not going anywhere. Because that’s what you do for someone you love so desperately.”

______

(Y/n) felt the sunshine kissing her skin as she leaned with her head against the window of Evan’s Jeep while she was sitting in the passenger's seat.

“Where are we going again?” (Y/n) asked with an annoyed tone as she glanced at her fiance. Evan could feel her eyes burning into his skin, his eyes remained on the road as he quickly glanced at her in the corner of his eye. He just smirked, as a reaction and continued his focus on the road.

She rolled her eyes as she let her head fall against the window again, just to see the sidewalks and buildings around her flash by. She hated surprises, and not knowing what was planned. Evan didn’t ask her to come with him, he commanded it.

“Hey I’m back! How was your doctor's appointment?” Evan said loudly as he closed the front door behind him. He shrugs off his jacket as he places his jacket onto the backrest of one of the chairs, which were placed by the dining table. When he doesn’t receive an answer, he calls out her name again. “(Y/n)?” he repeated as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

No answer, again.

Once more, he called out her name and slowly entered the living room. She couldn’t have left the house, right? That was something she hated to do these past few months, especially now because of the wheelchair. When his eyes fell onto the wheelchair being parked next to the couch, his eyes wandered back to the couch which was in use by his girlfriend.

She looked like a corpse, lying completely silent.

Step by step Evan came closer to the back of the couch, his eyes burning into her back as he was trying to see if she was asleep or just staring into the deepness of their home.

“(Y/n)?” His soft voice called out her name, trying to see if she would react to him. The only sound running through his eardrums were her breathing sounds.

Evan reached the back of the sofa as he stood on his toes, trying to get a look of her eyes. Only to realize that they were wide open. She was zoned out. Her arms crossed over one another, looking like she was hugging or comforting herself.

“Baby?” his soft yet concerned voice sounded through the living room as he placed a hand down onto her arm. “Are you alright?” he continued. He knows she isn’t fine. She hasn’t been in weeks. Since she lashed out at him, it’s like some kind of switch has been flicked.

She hasn’t been to any of her physiotherapy sessions as she did before. Normally, she would’ve had appointments twice in the week. On Tuesday and Thursday. But at some point, she just stopped going. She wouldn’t answer the calls and texts of her friends and colleagues, and people were getting concerned. Buck was getting concerned.

It was like she was falling into a well and he was trying to keep her up with his strength, but he wasn’t strong enough. He never let go of her, but she did let go of him. Instead of holding on and locking her hands onto his wrists, she just suddenly let go. As if she was sick and tired, and was fine with everything.

Evan walked around the couch, gently placed her legs closer to the back of the couch and sat down on the sofa. “What’s going on (Y/n)?” he asked as he placed his hand onto the side of her thigh.

He waited patiently for an answer. “Have you ever thought about how life would’ve been if we did get married months ago?” she sighed. Part of him wanted to smile, he could already imagine seeing her walking down the aisle, reading their vows and saying their “I do’s”. “Everyday” he whispered as he slowly rubbed his hand over a small piece of her thigh.

“I just… wish my legs would start working with me instead of against me.” she said as she kept on looking into the deepness of their home. A sigh leaves his mouth, as an idea crosses his mind.

"Okay, that's it. Get up.” Evan says as he shoots up and points at her to get up. “What?” she says as she only moves her head to look up at her boyfriend. “Get up.” he commands her, but he gets nothing but an annoyed scoff back from her.

Evan places his hands on his hips as he waits for his fiancé to push herself up from the couch and move herself into her wheelchair. But she just goes back to the position she has been in for the last few minutes, maybe even hours.

A small okay fell from his lips as he placed his left arm on her lower back and his right arm under her knees, carrying her into her wheelchair. “Buck! No, no, no!” she groaned as she felt his arms underneath her body and before she knew it, she was being placed into her wheelchair and he was pushing her towards the front door.

“Where are we going?” she sighed annoyed, like a child that doesn’t get what she wants.

“We’re going for a ride.”

“Keep your eyes closed” Evan’s voice sounded through her ears as she was being pushed in her wheelchair. “Buck I really don’t-” she says as she gets cut off mid sentence. “Just wait for my sign” is the only thing Evan says as he keeps on pushing her wheelchair, maybe even going over a few thresholds. She could hear one of their favorite songs playing softly in the background.

“Okay and… open your eyes.” he says. (Y/n) uncovers her eyes and lets her eyes adjust to the lights that finally make their way into her eyes again. Evan smiles as he moves towards the middle of the space they were in.

They were in the ballroom where they were supposed to have their first dance in, filled with light strings, lighting up the room.

“Buck, what are we doing here?” she asks him, not amused.

He decides not to answer her question, at least not yet. He walks towards (Y/n) as he simply holds out his hand in front of her. “Take my hand” he softly says as his eyes connect with hers. “What?” she stumbles, unsure what to say.

Was he out of his mind? He was actually asking her to stand? After all these weeks of no sessions, and practice? “Am I speaking spanish? Take my hand.” he tells her again. He wanted her to try so bad. But he could see in her eyes that she was afraid. Afraid to fall.

She shook her head, “I…can’t” she says as she looks down to the ground. Evan squatted down so he could look her straight in the eyes. “Come on, I’ve seen you standing during the sessions. You can do this.” he tries to motivate her.

She shakes her head again as she starts looking around in the room they were in. There was no one else. “Hey, hey, hey… I’m here” he reassures her. Evan places his hand down onto hers as he softly squeezes her hand.

Her heart was beating like crazy, “Im scared” she whispers softly. “I’ve got you” he reacts as he pushes a lost strand of hair behind her ear again. Evan places his hand down onto her cheek. ”I won’t let you fall, I promise.” he continued.

Evan stayed at eye height, crouched in front of her. Hesitantly she looked at his hand which he was holding out to her again. A sigh rolled off her lips as she closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the sudden nerves.

She placed her left hand into his right hand, as a jitter made its way up her arm. Evan quickly got her feet off the little steps her legs and feet were resting on. Her feet were on the ground now, as he gently assisted her to stand straight upon her feet.

Her face was completely focussed onto her feet as soon as she was standing up straight. She couldn’t trust her legs, that’s why she keeps on looking at her legs. Evan smiles bright as he looks down and carries the weight she pushed down onto his hands.

Evan brings her hands towards his shoulder, as a sign for her to put her arms there and lean on him, like a real dance. When she gets the hint and places her hands onto his shoulders, his hands wander down her body to her lower back.

This whole time, they didn’t say a thing. (Y/n) places her head down onto Evan’s chest as she clung onto him like she could fall any moment. He places his warm red lips onto the top of her head and leaves a warm comforting kiss. “I’m so proud of you.” he whispers as he reeled her in. “I know it’s not the first dance you imagined..” he sighed.

“It doesn’t matter, as long as I’m with you..” she said as she kept her head tight against his chest. “I’m not the best dancer, so maybe it’s for the better that we do it this way” Evan said as a grin was spread across his face. He could feel her body shaking because of the laughs she was letting out.

Evan pressed his lips into a thin line to suppress his laugh and swayed both their bodies from side to side to the rhythm of the music.

They were going to get through this, together.

#911 #911 fox #911 abc #911 imagine #buck imagine #buck x reader #evan buckley imagine #evan buckley x reader #evanbuckley #imagine

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loveshotzz · 1 year

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All I Really Want Is You

older!neighbor!widower! steve x fem!reader chap three/ten - a slow burn series of blurbs - updated every wednesday

Mr. Fix It

summary: when your kitchen sink breaks, you ask your new ‘friend’ for help.

wc: 2.8k

warnings: 18+ series for future chapters. lots of pining, and steve opens up a little about his past.

authors note: this chapter was a struggle for me, lots of overthinking and rewriting. I hope you guys like it though 💗

🌇 chapter one | chapter two -> chapter four

Series Masterlist/Playlist/The tune:

Early June - A Thursday

Your first week as a waitress at The Whale was a whirlwind, long hours on your feet leaving you exhausted every time you climbed your staircase each night. Dishes and laundry piling up around your apartment, so when you finally have a day off it is dedicated to playing catch up. The smell of coffee fills your apartment as you stretch looking out your living room window. New curtains ready to be hung leaning against the wall.

His car is gone, the normal work day in full swing for most of the city. You haven’t seen him since that night in the alley, your schedules seeming completely opposite now. Part of you hopes maybe today you’ll at least catch a glimpse of your new friend and his cute dog.

Most of the day is spent going up and down your stairs to the shared laundry room in the basement of the building. In between loads is filled with distractions of things to do in your room and whatever you left playing on your TV. Your eyes actively avoid the dishes that have piled in your sink while you actually fold your laundry. It is only when you don’t have any more excuses that you finally drag your pink fuzzy slipper covered feet over to the one chore you’ve been dreading all day.

“I gotta get better at washing as I use,” you grumble like every other time you find yourself here.

You only get two plates and a bowl deep when the sink starts to clog, groaning annoyedly you flip the switch of the disposal only to be met with the sound of metal grinding against metal. A smell resembling burning plastic hits your nose and you’re quick to flip it off, the water still refusing to drain. Slamming down on the faucet handle, you wait a couple of minutes before daring to reach in to see if a piece of silverware got stuck in there. When your fingertips meet nothing but warm water, panic starts to set in.

You flip the switch one more time out of curiosity, and the same unbearable sound drowns out your TV. You huff turning it off, hands finding your hips as you look around for a solution you know you aren’t going to find without calling someone. Bandit’s bark catches your ears, and you hate that all your frustrations seem to disappear at the thought of seeing him.

You pad over to your window, eyes going big and head dropping at the sight that’s waiting for you.

Of fucking course.

It’s obvious he barely got home from work by the black slacks that still cover his long legs, but the dress shirt is missing. Instead the white tank top he wears underneath is all that’s there. Tucked in so it fits tight across his torso, his dark chest hair peeks out the top with a silver chain shining against his bronzed skin. His forearms flex tugging on the tennis ball trapped in Bandit’s tight grip, his sock and slide covered feet plant on the ground for added balance. The smile on his face you swear is brighter than the sun that isn’t hidden by any clouds today and you didn’t realize how much you missed it.

It’s somehow even hotter than it looked outside, and you immediately regret not changing out of your warm slippers, but he’s already spotted you with an offering of a friendly wave with his big hand. He gets the ball away from Bandit, losing his footing surprised, shock painting his features before the dog starts jumping on him. Steve raises it over his head, keeping Bandit too distracted to see you at the gate that he’s signaling for you to let yourself in from.

Your hand shakes a little when you unhook the latch, nerves from never being at his house before and not seeing him for the past week try to get the best of you. He smiles when he looks at you from over the rim of his sunglasses letting Bandit win finally but it’s too late for toys when he spots you. Bounding over with big paws, Bandit wastes no time jumping on you, making you stumble back a little before catching him in your arms.

“Bandit! Come on, don’t knock her down,” Steve scolds, but those pretty giggles that he loves so much come out when his dog starts licking your cheek and it tells him all he needs to know.

“Hi buddy, I missed you too.” You grin, your animal voice coming out only a little when you feel Steve’s stare fixated on you.

Bandit wags his tail jumping down satisfied before grabbing his ball again bringing it back to you to continue the game you interrupted.

“Hey tough girl.” Steve smirks shoving his hands in his pockets watching you accept his dog’s invitation. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

You play with Bandit’s ears to try and distract him as you do your best to get the rubber ball out of his iron tight bite, completely losing focus on why you came over here in the first place when you succeed and throw it towards their front door.

“Oh my god, my sink!” You gasp, your hand covering your embarrassed grin.

Steve’s eyes widen, his eye brows marrying together in the middle with concern.

“Is it flooding?!” He asks incredulously as Bandit trots back over carefree.

“No, not flooding.” You assure him going back in for the toy, and you can tell your nonchalance is getting to him. “My disposal is making sounds and it smells like plastic burning every time I run it, so the water won’t drain.” You get the ball away from Bandit cause he lets you, only continuing your explanation after you throw it again.

“I was hoping my good friend and neighbor could come check it out?” You try to lighten the mood with a smile but the concern never leaves his face, the pink that dusts his cheeks tells you he’s not unaffected by your ‘charms’ though.

“It’s probably something stuck in the pipes, let me get some tools and I'll come back with you.” He speaks like he’s sure he knows that’s it, snapping his fingers at Bandit to get him to wrap it up.

“Are you sure? I’m not interrupting anything tonight?” You hope he doesn’t pick up on the hidden ulterior motives in your question, but the smirk he gives you tells you he does.

“No honey, I’m all yours.”

It’s strange having him in your apartment again, and god you wish he had put on a real shirt when he got his tool box. The tops of his shoulders are covered in even more freckles, the tint of redness from the sun becoming obvious in your harsh kitchen light. The muscles in his arms twitch in the cold air of your AC that works harder with the heat of two bodies in your small space.

His gaze falls on your full sink and you immediately regret going to get his help. Silently cursing your hormones for getting the best of you.

“Sorry, obviously I was trying to do them. It’s been a long week, I started a new job serving and-“ embarrassment makes blood rush to your cheeks as you go to move past him in an attempt to clean some of it up.

“Hey, you’re fine.” He grabs your arm before you can make it, long fingers wrapping around you in a firm grip but still soft enough for you to pull away if you really wanted to. “I’m not judging you.”

His lips tug into a warm smile when you don’t try and break away, the gold specs in his eyes lighting up while his thumb brushes against your heated skin in a soothing motion. It only grows wider watching how your shoulders give in to his whims with a slump.

“Just know I was about to do them!” You argue weakly with a point of your finger and he just nods, the corners of his mouth twitching in an effort not to laugh at your distress.

“How else would you know your sink is broken?” His voice wavers when he tries to play along with a straight face, but it becomes impossible when he catches the roll of your eyes. You do that a lot to him. He likes it.

“Better watch yourself Steve,” you warn with a grin wrapped around your words that hold no real threat, but it’s hard to fight it when he still hasn’t let you go.

He’s closer now, and you notice his five o’clock shadow is as dark as it was the first day you met. Salt and pepper covering his sharp jaw. The faded fresh scent of his deodorant mixes with the spice of his cologne, and the sweat that kissed his skin outside. You want to bury your face in his shirt and inhale.

“You shouldn’t threaten the guy that’s here to fix your sink honey. That’s not very smart,” he tsks looking down the edge of his nose at you with squinted eyes, “you’re lucky I’m so nice.”

You immediately feel the loss when he drops your arm and if it wasn’t for the wink that followed, you would have missed it more.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” you tease trying to play off how flustered you are but the slight shake in your voice doesn’t go unnoticed, confidence smoldering in his stare before his teeth come out in a blinding smile.

“Let me go take a look, see what I can do. Your dishes aren’t offending me, I promise.” He does his best to ease the last bit of self consciousness still hanging onto the way you look over at the small mess before walking away with tools clanking in the metal box loudly behind him.

It had been almost an hour with him like this.

He’s on his back, long legs extending over the small space of your kitchen tile. Slides kicked to the side, white sock covered feet wiggling with his movements under your sink. The top of him is hidden, the tank top that was tucked in now loose and pulling up, giving you the hint of his happy trail. You try not to stare at the way the muscles in his arm harden with each twist of his wrist, or the grunts that leave him every now and then.

You find out he works in marketing for The Cubs and used to play baseball himself in high school, laughing when you confess how much you don’t like sports. He promises to take you to a game sometime saying he knows you’ll have fun and you try not to think too much into it. He knows you're rolling your eyes again when you answer “sure” with a smile in your voice. He lets you complain about your first week as a server, surprising you when he asks questions because he’s actually listening.

Metal clanks loudly, cutting you off and drowning out the playlist you chose to fill any empty gaps in conversation that never seemed to happen. An “I’m fine” coming out from under the sink just a little too even to really sound ‘fine’.

There’s a beat before you see him reach for the pliers at his hip, readjusting like he’s set his sights on the culprit.

“Wait, I don’t think you ever told me - hmmpf - what - come on - restaurant you work at?” He readjusts again.

“The Whale,” you give him an answer, hypnotized by his ability to multitask like this.

“Oh, my wife loved that place.” He says it casually like he didn’t just drop a Hiroshima sized bomb on you, or maybe he does and that's why he chose to do it hidden from sight.

You're thankful he can’t see the way your jaw drops, or the disappointment that fills your eyes. There’s a beat of silence before you answer, trying to hide the shock in your voice.

“Wife? I didn’t know Bandit had a Mom.” You look up at the ceiling, mouthing the work ‘fuck’ into the void.

There’s another clank of metal followed by a ‘there you are.’

“Erm - I mean - umm, technically I got Bandit after - I didn’t want to use ex wife, I just don’t know the proper term to say I’ve been widowed for five years.” He grunts one more time before he starts shimming out. “I do think I found the source of your clog though.”

Your favorite stray clings to his forehead when you get to see his face again, a pleased smile pushing his cheeks up despite the new information he just told you as he holds the ring you thought you lost during the move.

“My ring!” You gasp, jumping off your couch, the opal stone catching in the setting sunlight.

“Clearly, you do, do your dishes.” He wiggles his eyebrows at you laughing when you shove his shoulder lightly snatching your jewelry back.

“You’re hilarious Steve.” The tightness that had formed in your chest relaxes, his smile becoming contagious.

He likes the way you say his name and the way your lips twist up every time you do. It’s sweet enough to ease the guilt that he’s fought with since the day he met you.

“I know,” he huffs as he pushes himself up, reminding you how broad he is when he’s back on his feet. “You should’ve seen my speech at the Legends of the Ball gala last year.”

He gets that eye roll he didn’t get to see earlier, and god he doesn’t want to leave yet but when you slip the ring onto that finger he knows it’s time to go. For now.

He clears his throat before turning around to test his work. Flipping the switch, the sound it’s supposed to make returns, the water in the sink draining quickly.

“Annnd, all back to normal.” His grin is proud when he turns it off. “‘Now, let me clean my mess up and I’ll get out of your hair.” Mirroring his own words he finally pushes his back and you see the dusty pink that covers his ears when he slips his feet back into his slides.

“I feel like I can’t let you leave without offering you a drink or something?” You know all you have in the fridge is some rosé you got on sale at Aldi, but you needed a reason for him to stay.

“How about this, you can bring me back some of those fish tacos one night this week and we’ll call it even.” He can’t look at you when he suggests it, hoping his ploy to see you again wasn’t obvious while he busies himself with putting all his tools away.

“I think that’s more than doable, I need to thank you for finding my favorite ring too, maybe you should pick a dessert while we’re at it.” You bite your bottom lip when his eyes meet yours with a lopsided grin.

“I’m a big fan of cannoli’s.” He snaps the clasps of his tool box closed before doing a once over to make sure he didn’t leave anything behind. Not that, that would be a bad thing if he did, you’d have to bring it back to him.

“Consider it done. Seriously, thank you Steve.” All your teasing from before is gone, making his face soften at your sincerity and he wants to tell you that’s enough for him.

“Anytime, that’s what neighbors are for right? It’s always just me and Bandit anyway. It’s nice to feel useful again.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal, like he wouldn’t help you with anything you asked of him despite how he hardly knows you.

You walk him to your door where you both stand on either side of the threshold, toe to toe. Neither one of you is sure of the proper way to say goodbye.

“Give Bandit an extra treat from me for letting me steal his Dad for a few hours.” You break the ice leaning against the door frame, crossing your arms making the decision easy.

“I’ll be sure to tell him it’s from you.” Steve’s eyes gleam from the evident admiration you have for his dog.

“You better.” The threat is empty, the smile on your face to prove it.

“Have a good night honey. I’m always just next door if you need anything else.” He loiters a little bit unsure of himself before finally turning to make his way down the stairs.

“I’ll try not to lose any more jewelry down the drains!” You call after him, relishing in the laugh it gets you that echoes down the narrow hallway.

You wait till he’s out of your sight before you shut your front door. Your mind racing with everything you’d learned about him tonight, sleep was going to be impossible.

---

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beta’d by @superblysubpar & @newlips 💗

dividers by @newlips 💗

chapter four

#my writing #all i really want it you series #steve harrington #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington slow burn #steve harrington series #steve harrington fanfiction

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yanderederee · 5 months

Note

Baji with 12 if it hasn't already been requested for the writing event

Event prompt12:

“We’ll burn it down and then we’ll build the world again.”

a/n:using the full context for this prompt; this is JD’s way of expressing how he intends to kill the guys who bully Veronica for spreading false rumors about her… and I want in on that👹

got a little too lost in the sauce and couldn’t find a good time for this as a line of text though; so please accept this instead.

cw: extreme bullying, toxic solutions, murder

Baji seriously had enough.

On the first day of school, Baji noticed your pencil drop under your desk, and decided he’d retrieve it for you in passing. You were so grateful for his assistance, completely over the moon with gratitude. It would have been unnerving, had you not been so sincere.

Usually, he wouldn’t give a normal person like you a second thought. But that sweet smile of yours captured him.

Ever since that day, Baji’s had his eyes on you. You were careful in the way you moved and talked, doing your best not to get in anyone’s way, or say the wrong thing. Soft spoken to a fault, but always kind and considerate.

Baji made an effort to talk to you more in class, soon after. You relied on him occasionally, enough to eventually call each other friends. But your relationship was only began to develop… He couldn’t have known about the bullying you experienced whenever he wasn’t around.

You never told anyone about the extent of your mistreatment. You thought it’d go away on its own— that ignoring it and paying it no mind would eventually make you less entertaining to mess with.

It wasn’t so bad… at first. A teasing here, being shoved there.

And Baji had no idea…

—-Until today.

It was just another school day. Cruelly early, bustling with students who were unusually chatty about the latest gossip hanging in the air.

“Are you serious?! That girl from Class-3?! I never would have guessed...”

“It’s always the quiet ones, I guess. Slutting herself out for attention though? How pathetic.”

“She’s not even that cute, you know Takeru just did it with her out of pity.”

“He told me she’d kept begging him for it! How disgusting!”

“Gross! I hope I never have to sit next to that whore ever again~”

‘Jeez, girls these days are so harsh’ Baji thought to himself in passing. Who were they even talking about? Some girl in class-3? That was his class. Well, he doubted he’d know who it was either way.

Oh, how wrong he was.

Upon entering the threshold of his class, Baji was frozen in shock.

It was routine for him to seek you out and chat with you for the first few minutes of class, before the bell rang.

However, instead of being met with your greeting grin, all that remained was a completely destroyed, empty desk.

Your desk.

His blood was boiling.

That was it. He’d seriously fucking had it.

Immediately, Baji looped his arms through the straps of his school bag, and made a B-line for your desk. He picked it up, and held it upside down by the metal bars underneath.

He wasn’t sure if you’d already seen the damage or not, but he decided right then and there no one else fucking would. It was fucking cruel. And he was pissed beyond measure.

“Baji-san! Just where do you think you’re taking that desk?” His teacher hollered after him. “I’m throwing it away!” He yelled back, a seething rage evident in his tone. If the teacher said anything after that, it didn’t even register to Baji.

Baji had a feeling you were aware of the rumors going around. You were always on time to class, so he was sure you’d also seen your classmate’s cruel defacing.

First and foremost, he was throwing this fucking desk away. Then, he’d go looking for you.

He wasn’t sure where to find you, though.

Possibility 1; you never came to school to begin with.

Possibility 2; you went to class as usual, saw the desk, and ran away. It was a toss up between if you went home or stayed on school grounds.

Those were the most likely possibilities he could think of.

Having finally made his way to the school’s dumpster, he took a moment of rest before tossing it in.

If there was one thing to beware of about Baji, it was his blinding hot rage. He’d practiced composing his tempter while in school. He couldn’t let himself lose his cool so easily. Calm down. He had to calm down, especially before he went looking for you…

However, fate had other plans…

Two wanna-be delinquents could be overhead chatting while ditching class behind the dumpster.

“You mean Y/n, right?”

“Yeah that’s the one! Takeru said she almost drew blood with how bad she was at sucking dick!”

“Poor guy. She probably wasn’t any better in bed…”

More Fucking Rumors…

Baji quickly untied his hair, and slipped his glasses into his school bag. If he couldn’t control his tempter, he could at least try to maintain face.

Baji stalked up behind the two punks, the desk dragging behind him in an eerily tight grip. He soon came close enough in distance to lift it single handedly, and slam it over the back of both of their heads.

Before they had time to react to their sudden assault, Baji just kept wailing.

With both hands, he kept swinging the desk up and down.

When they moved to dodge, he swung against the side.

When they tried to move away, he crushed their kneecaps.

When they begged for mercy, he hit harder.

Over and over, until he began to spin out of control. Wild with disgust and hate, the lies they would have spread were eating up all the sanity he had.

Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.

Fuck.

Every.

Last.

One.

Of.

You.

“Pl… se…. … op… st��op—“ whispered out one kid, his last words sputtering past his broken teeth.

Wait, what happened?

Baji had a sudden moment of clarity. Two kids, beaten maybe a little more than half to death, laid motionless before him.

Shit, did he go too far?

When was the last time he blacked out like that?

But the rage circulating in his fists had yet to subside. “You conscious?” He asked his begging victim. The poor boy’s crocodile tears were response enough. “You ever, fucking dare, say another word about Y/n, ever. And I swear to god. I will fucking kill you.”

The punks were left there, barely alive.

Baji felt thankful he hadn’t gotten any blood on his school uniform, before discarding of the bloody desk at the very bottom of the large dumpster container.

He honestly felt a bit grateful to those two. He’d managed to blow off a good amount of steam thanks to their insolence. He took a deep breath, and began wandering the school in silent deliberation over where you may be.

Where were you… home, or school?

He’d figure he’d try his hand at looking over the school first. Careful to avoid any of the hallway monitoring teachers during classes, Baji checked every floor throughly.

Eventually it came down to the roof, or you’d ran home. Usually, the door to the roof would be locked at a normal school. However, Ryusei broke that lock long ago so he’d have constant access to the roof whenever he needed a nap.

Running up the stairs and through the roof door, he searched the area. Lo and behold, there he found you, huddled into yourself with your back against the wall. You were crying, not caring about how loud you may have been.

Finally…

Even though he’d been searching so hard to find you, now that he was actually there… Baji had no idea what to do. What to say. But he had to say something. His heart was breaking just looking at you.

Slowly, Baji made his way closer. You looked up when you heard footsteps, expecting to have been caught by a teacher. Yet you were surprised to instead see Baji, holding back a bitter expression. Quick to wipe away tears, you looked away right after. “S-sorry, I’m not feeling really well… could you please leave?” You asked shakily.

Baji pressed his lips into a line. “I know… I’m sorry I didn’t know sooner,” he said quietly, dropping to his knees in front of you and pulling you into a hug. “It’s okay to cry. Let it out.”

He made sure to hold you tight. Though, even if you had tried to escape his grasp, the overwhelming urge to cry kept you in place, clinging to him even. There, you cried for a good ten minutes or so, unable to suppress the feeling of being so humiliated and hated.

“I-I didn’t… I didn’t do anything t-that they’re saying I d-did… it’s all lies…” you sobbed into his chest. Baji knew that. He knew it. Hell, even if it was true, he’d still feel this same way.

“It’s okay, I know. You won’t have to worry about that anymore.” Baji spoke clearly, lifting your face to look him in the eyes. “I’ll make sure they apologize, and take back everything they said about you.”

“I promise, they’ll pay for the things they’ve said and done to you. No one will ever think of you in that way ever again.”

Baji promised you with fire in his eyes. While his expression would be scary to most, you couldn’t help the way your heart beat out of its chest at his words.

You were quiet for a while, wide and doe eyed under Baji’s meaningful gaze. “How… do you plan to do that…?” You asked.

Happy to see his declaration helped ease the sadness in your heart, he smiled, and kissed the crown of your head. “Don’t worry about that. Just know by tomorrow morning, everything will be back to the way it was.”

You weren’t sure why, but those words comforted you deeply. You didn’t really believe he was capable of something like that, but his intentions were enough. You smiled back at him, and nodded. “Sure,” you agreed absentmindedly. “Thank you.”

Baji felt as though for the first time since he’s met you, things felt right. You in his arms, smiling, relying on him, holding him back. This feeling he had been unfamiliar with, this whole time, was Love.

As soon as he came to the conclusion, that he loved you. Something in Baji shifted. A creature he had no idea lived inside him suddenly started making itself known.

How could they do this— to someone so undeserving of their malice? Who would ever dare to hurt someone as sweet as you?

It was an extraordinary wrong that they’d committed against you. One that couldn’t go unpunished. He hated them. Wanted them dead. Would kill them. That was the only way to make things right, he began to think.

“Come on, let’s go.” Baji said softly, helping you to your feet. You looked up at him inquisitively. “We’re ditching.” He clarified, offering you a mischievous grin.

Normally, skipping school would be against both your wishes. However, given the circumstances … You grinned back with puffy eyes. You took his hand, and together you snuck out of the school with no trouble.

Having snuck out to a nearby diner, you both enjoyed each other’s company. You two always got along well, his sarcastic remarks were somehow easy for you to read, and kept you fueled with engaging conversation.

Baji seemed like he could be the awkward sort around girls, but in truth, he simply had no interest in getting close with anyone. Only you.

It made you feel better, feel special in a way.

The day had started off in the worst way possible, but now, laughing to the point of tears with the person you liked the most, everything felt like it really would be alright….

Baji glanced at the clock, noticing how many hours had passed by so quickly. “We got one more stop to make before I walk ya home, sound good?”

You nodded at him simply, smiling wide.

… So why were you walking back towards the school?

“Uh, Baji? Where are we going..?” You asked nervously. Baji squeezed your hand reassuringly, throwing a grin your way. “Don’t worry, just trust me.”

And so you did. You took a deep breath to settle your nerves, and put your trust in the person you liked so much.

Standing off in a nearby alleyway just a few streets over from the school, Baji told you to wait behind as he stood at the alleys entrance, scanning students as they passed by, not giving him a second glance.

Soon, a familiar group of voices made your throat close up with anxiety.

“I still can’t believe you actually slept with Y/n! You sure you ain’t infected with her creepiness?”

“Hahaha! As if. It’s nice not having to see her gloomy face at school anymore though.”

“You’re the man, Takeru! Next time, invite me, Kay? I’d—“

Suddenly, there was no more outspoken foul voice speaking. “Mm? Suiren? Oi! Suiren!”

Quiet for a moment, Takeru could hear an unfamiliar thudding should come from the nearby alley.

Baji’s first punch was enough to knock the boy out cold, yet one after the other, Baji’s fist threw punches more fierce than the last.

Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die—

“Wh-what the hell..!”

Baji’s head turned eerily slow, as he watched his friend get beaten in horror. Blood and hair stuck like glue against his cheek. Before Takeru could run or scream, Baji dropped the unconscious boy, and wrapped one large and bloody hand across his face.

“Shut the fuck up. That is, unless you want to die right now.” Baji threatening voice cut deeper than bone, dragging the two boys deeper into the alley and away from prying gazes.

Takeru doesn’t dare take his chances. Obediently, he nodded vigorously, putting his hands up in defense while holding back tears. Whiling scanning the area for a means of escape once his chance came, he quickly spotted a small form not too far off, frozen and wide eyed.

You.

Oh shit, he began connecting the dots.

“Takeru Izukura, right?” Baji asked. His victim wasn’t eager to confirm this. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t a smart move. Tightening the death grip he had on Takeru’s skull, Baji shoved him against the wall, and began ramming his fist into his stomach.

How could someone be strong enough to crack a person’s rib in just one punch? Takeru couldn’t help the pathetic yells that ripped through his throat. As desperately as he wanted to cry his apologies out now, it was impossible to so much as breath with all the air being knocked out of him with every one of Baji’s outrageous punches.

All the pent up rage Baji had been saving was finally making itself known. The events of the day began flooding his mind with white rage. The desk. The rumors. Your tears. All of it. He gritted his teeth so hard he could feel a molar chip.

All because of this asshole. Only a few minutes ago he was laughing about your severe mistreatment, and only now wanted to apologize? Even if he did want to hear his excuses and sputtered sorrows, it wouldn’t be honest. It’d have been reactive.

You stood frozen at Baji’s brutal assault. You had half a mind to step in and stop this whole mess, but after catching a clear glimpse of Takeru’s face… you gulped.

“B-… Baji.” You called out quietly. Upon hearing your voice, Baji immediately stopped. Blood soaking his knuckles and face, he looked your direction, an unreadable expression on his face.

Should he feel shame for letting you see him like this? Maybe he should, but nothing like that came to surface. After your call, all he felt was attentive. He waited for you, as you moved closer, looking his victim in the eyes.

“I want… to hear what kind of apology you have to say.” You combed through your words carefully. You felt hatred for him, but had he given a sincere apology, maybe you could forgive him.

Takeru looked at you, warily. “It’s your fault I’m in this position in the first place—“ he tried reminding you, but a heavy fist broke his nose in response. “Try again asshole.” Baji warned.

Your bully sobbed. “I’m sorry! I fuc-cking sorry, okay! I won’t make shit like that up again!! I swear!”

You felt bile rise in your throat. “That’s it?” You asked, waiting only a few moment for a response. When he looked at you expectingly, you grew angry.

“You don’t even remember the half of what you’ve done to me, do you…” you chocked on tears you didn’t want to surface. “How about a sorry for tripping me down the stairs the first time we met? An apology for ‘jokingly’ pushing me against the desk, and flipping my skirt up for all your buddies to see?” You began listing ways he’d fucked up. His face went pale, now under two sets of hostile eyes.

“That so?” Baji’s deep tone only sent the beaten boy into a cold sweat. “W-wait! I’m sorry for that too, okay! R-really!”

But he wasn’t. Not really. He was just sorry he was caught.

“I don’t give a damn what happens to you. Whatever happens is what you deserve.” You swallowed hard, and took a step back. “Baji…” you drew your gaze back to him and his blank eyes. You didn’t know what to say.

But he understood just fine. “Leave this to me.”

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thewriterg · 1 year

Text

𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠

pairing(s); johnny cage x fem!reader, kenshi x fem!reader, johnny cage x kenshi

summary; You’d do anything to keep them safe if you need to sing your song to get through war so be it. —angstober day; 12—

word count; 1.5k

warning(s); violence, weapons, siren coded reader, blood, injuries, kisses, and language

playlist; wet by dazey and the scouts

A/n:—GIFs; @mortal-kombat-1— played mk1 and don’t know how to act

“You sent them on a mission without my knowledge or and experienced supervision” You hissed your eyes leering into Liu Kang's pale glowing one as he sighed gently looking upon your angered expression that leered holes into his powered body

“You underestimate them Y/n the group consists of strong warriors if they weren't prepared to be sent to accomplish this mission then I would have no desire send them but they were” The sensei tied to reassure you yet it wasn't visibly enough to ease your troubles

“I'm going to aid them by the sound of it the mission at hand should have not taken this long they should have been back days ago” You stated stepping to put your swords on your back your eyes flickering that glowing black that your rivals and enemies feared the last thing they’ve seen before they were put to rest finding peace elsewhere while the brunette said nothing to stop you deep down somewhere in his subconscious he knew that your concerns were valid

“Y/n!” The warrior called out as you opened a portal black fog spilling out of it your eye now completely black in response you looked over your shoulder not making a single move to step back or back down

“Be noble in your bloodshed, I would like to be able to step foot into the realm again”

“With all due respect Liu Kang they shall be lucky if their head stays intact with their bodies let alone if their realm is still liveable” Without another word you you stepped through the portal before you were across the tower of Shang Tsung laboratory you didn't have time to linger the probability of getting caught high if you stayed in one place too long

Stealthily you snuck passed the guards after throwing an empty elixir bottle at a wall the sound of the glass shattering causing them to rush to the scene allowing you to wipe pass the entrance without much fuss you let you instinct guide you to the brick wall closest to the forest of the building pressing your palms against the rough material as you mended yourself into the cold basement of the building

The sound of footsteps bounced of the walls and you sucked in a sharp breath trying to think of something quickly scanning the hallway with the speed of light until you found a solution bending your knees and locking your feet into the ground to give you a power boost before you jumped you fingertips clinging to the little basically nonexistent space to hang onto swinging your legs up to kick in the grilles as it clashed open downwards its dividers now sitting with a bend in their metal

You quickly slipped into the vent as the sound of rushed footsteps approached your location you legs slithering behind your torso before you stuck a hand out of your temporary hiding spot pulling the cover up back in its place you watched through the metal slots Shang Tsung looked around to find nothing you would laugh at the fact that he look up directly at your peering eyes if you were in the mood

You waited until the footsteps started up once more to start moving behind the perpetrator making sure that you made no sound or shuffling noise there was a slant downward inside the cool dark vents the same time the sound of a door unlocking was heard you were in the right place

Your heart dropped as you inched closer toward the laboratory like dungeon the muffled groans of Johnny and the even worse whimpers of Kenshi you fought the urge to burst out the ceiling swords up thoughts down

“This process I call it electric love, after your done with it you'll learn to love the chambers the most… they hurt the least” Shang Tsung voice rang out in the cold hollow basement like room the sound way carrying through the vent clear for your ears while you perked up at the source of light in the predominantly dark ceiling

“Make sure they're withered to nothing, they should be a easy session for the tarkata” This was it if you wanted a chance to capture the adversary it had to be quick and it had to be now you waited until the footsteps approached the exit gate before kicking through the grilles landing in front of Tsunes with a hand positioned to your side one knee to the floor the other directed up towards the air

“Siren, see you've come to join your peers” His voice littered with a dark chuckle and you stood to your full height starting bullets into sorcerer

“No but you shall join your brother in the under realm” The mans face dropped at the mention while Kenshi perked up at the sound of your voice having to rely on his hearing to get past without his ability to see

You charged towards him with a punch landing directly towards his jaw taking a blow not only at his mandible but at his vulnerability when you went to swipe your feet under the sorcerer he grabbed you leg tripping you up you head hitting the cold concrete floor with a sickening thud before you could get on your feet there was a rough impact on your shoulder as your head was forced to look at your lovers captured the electricity having ceased on their bodies you noted Kenshi's masked eyes making your eyebrows furrow and Johnny's protest as he shook the bars of his enclosure you were forced to the ground with a knee in your back

“Your lovers courage and loyalty is honorary yet the execution is pathetic” You you heavily breathed through your teeth your fist clenched against your side

“Tell me Siren, can a heart still break if it stops beating?” A man dressed in green armor approached your line of sight about to open the cage you red masked love slouched in the keys jingling in his slightly shaken hand

“Can your brain still pump blood if it's in my hands?” You muttered taking all your strength to propel your body up from under the sorcerer's hold your taking swords from your back the once silver blade wielding black before your fingertips you sliced the at the mans back him hissing in response

“I'll end your misery quick and precisely” You stated voice void of emotion before Shang ran at you while you blocked his attacks swiftly a black fog falling over the room making it difficult for him to maneuver his senses were overloaded he was at his full charge yet had nothing to force it on causing him to burn out your attacks came silently and stilly he was running himself dry exactly what you wanted him to

The voice of desire called out to him your silhouette shined through the gloomy dark fog your voice promised him everything he could conquer in the biggest dreams and most wealthy realms he followed the sound your form getting closer until he walked into the blade of your sword a grunt resetting on his lips as he kept walking pushing it further into him until his torso met with the base of black reflective piece yearning for the promise of his desires the source being the song that fell from your lips until he dropped to his knees unconscious

You didn't waste a lasting second running towards the cages Reptile unconscious from the poisoned smoke Johnny and Kenshi along with the reaming earth realm team was trained to withstand it become immune to a certain point you felt your body weakening but ignored its call to rest it had been days since they left since you had

“Oh Kenshi” You whisperer after taking the gate from its hinges off the swinging cage his body fell into yours as you gently lowered yourselves to the floor a more prominent black trail of smoke tracing to Johnny's enclosure wailing him free as he rushed towards you both you opening your arms making room for him to fit your eyes scanning over their bodies the Hollywood stars body you deemed fine apart from a couple battered bruises Kenshi on the other hand the red mask on his eyes made your heart pick up as your fingers inched towards his face rubbing your thumb against his cheek as he grunted holding back a whimper at the pain you gently pulled the red cloth from his eyes sucking in a sharp breath at she sight of his gouged eyes tears brought to your own as you pressed a shaky kiss to his forehead

“I'm here, I'm gonna find a way to heal you, I'll find a way”

“We’ll find a way” Johnny mumbled into your armor clothed shoulder as you rocked the three of you back and forth. It would work, you'd find a way.

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the-ninja-legacy-whip · 4 months

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What are some core childhood memories of the cast? Good or bad? Maybe some with Kai and Nya, something about they're childhood?

Kai's most pleasant memories of his youth are all almost entirely related to Nya's accomplishments, and how proud he is of her firsts and her general progress. ...Meanwhile, some of his lesser moments are when he grows too frustrated to keep running the Four Weapon shops and almost walks off (but he PERSISTED)

Nya's childhood is almost a complete blank, save for a few key sibling moments between her and Kai (such as figuring out creative solution to their problems, huddling for warmth on particular cold nights, the day Kai revealed he made twin metal fans for her to match his katanas—). Doesn't even "remember" that she used talk to fish as a kid—Kai's the one that brings up that she, once insisted she could (and she CAN)

Jay probably has the most easily recallable memories (if that makes sense?) as he spent a lot of time with his parents, working on inventions, building things, visiting garage sales, racing in the desert, "treasure hunting" through their junk heaps...Jay could hardly sit still as a kid, yet could be kept busy for hours when distracted by a big project. Can't ever really recall a "bad" time, except whenever he'd been bullied.

Cole's core childhood memories were all played on a movie screen in his father's theater, what do you mean—Just kidding he's also got some ones of tending to the estate's back garden with his mom and that's why he's so easily endeared with flowers (which I totally didn't absorb into the Royal!Legacy AU—)

Zane: *speedruns B2Ch30 all over again* :')

Lloyd: Living my core childhood experience rn and gotta say, I'm not impressed

#ninjago #ninjago headcanons #legacyverse #info tag #kai smith #nya smith #jay walker #cole brookstone #zane julien #lloyd garmadon

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shentheauthor · 20 days

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It’s thinking about the pale king hours. Ooouuhhhhhhhh

Headcanon time!

Wyrms don’t really do names. That’s just not a thing. If a kingdom they conquer assigns them one, so be it, but they’re not particularly attached

The pale king is a little odd though. He was never assigned a name, and he’s dogshit at choosing names himself, so he literally just goes by “the pale king”

Or Wyrm if you’re his wife (or if you wanna be rude)

He’s like if an accountant decided to call themself “accountant,” or guys named “guy”

He is way weirder and less dignified than bugs think he is. He definitely tunneled through the white palace, and covered the holes with trapdoors or sealed them off. If you hit the walls in certain places, they sound hollow. You know whose fault that is

He’s picky about the rocks he eats. Wyrms need rocks and metals for nutrition, and he tries his best, but he’s SO bad at existing as a person. Sir please eat the wyrm equivalent of your veggies. This is why you’re a weak ass wyrm.

He ate the radiance’s old body. She tasted like dust. 0/10 experience

He would’ve cannibalized his own old body, but eating the radiance actually put him off of that practice

If Hallownest had miniature models, he would build those all day.

He was just not cut out to be a ruler, rip. He certainly did his best, and I wouldn’t say he was terrible, but he probably hated it. He was practically a recluse!!! Generally, recluses don’t like to have jobs that literally force you to socialize all the time. You know, like political positions.

Desperation makes him do horrible things, as we see in game. When he’s backed into a corner, he tends to go completely scorched-earth. He panics and gets stuck in one solution, and he will not change it, even if he knows it’s doomed to fail. After all, if he gives up, then all of the sacrifices he made were for nothing

Bonus:

Hornet is equally bad at names. In the godhome ending, she is forced to give the hollow knight a name, since they refuse to pick one, and calling them “vessel” is bad for their mental health

She goes with “Vess”

She kicks herself for it every day, but hey, Vess seems happy with it, so that’s a win

Vess would also love miniature models

#hollow knight #hk pale king #hk the hollow knight #hk hornet #Shen’s rambles #I love them so much guys #I like making the pale king a sad little man

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stardustmorozov · 10 months

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I have been completely consumed by brainrot, but hear me out;

Not being surprised when Dottore seeks you out, shoving you against a wall without regard for what you were doing or holding just moments earlier and kissing you senseless before you can make a sound.

You've had this arrangement for a while, yet the force and speed with which he moved you always took you a little by surprise. Not that the famed doctor minded; He always liked seeing the effect he had on you and if that came in the form of quiet and surprised gasps, he wouldn't complain. In fact, every touch he gave you seemed to be reaching for that goal. To once again surprise you with yourself. To discover how truly depraved you've become for him.

And today was no different. His mouth was heavy on yours and his fingers mercilessly stretched you open as he kept you pressed against the wall.

Part of you wanted to question what had happend for him to be in such a desperate need for you, the other knew better than to ask as he lifted you of the wall and kept you up on one arm while his other felt around for something.

It was another thing that you never got quite used to. That despite his frame and build, he was exceptionally strong and absolutely not afraid to use it to show you just how easily he could overpower you.

After rumaging for a bit, he seemed to have found it as you could feel him reach for your wrists, binding them together with... something.

"You've been away from me for far too much recently," he said darkly when he finally broke the kiss, "what excuse could you possibly have for that?"

Your mind was reeling from the kiss and any other thoughts than those of the man who was holding you were quickly dispelled, while you tried to stutter out an answer.

"How pathetic, a simple kiss has stolen all of your thoughts? tsk. But, I suppose that Banker had a need for you? He really should realise you're of better use as a fucktoy and leave you to me. Good thing I have just the solution for that."

A whine left your throat as he teased his fingers around your entrance again. His mocking about how you got off to his insults only making you wetter as he walked towards the middle of the room.

The tip of the metal toy against your heated core made you gasp as Dottore slowly eased you down on the first inch. Depite your lust filled brain, you quickly realised which of his many toys he was going to use today. You kicked your legs in reflex when the stretch became bigger, which Dottore seemed to take as his cue to let go of you entirely, making you scream.

The cold tip suddenly teased against your cervix, the slight curve pressing it firmly into that spongey spot that made you see stars and you felt so painfully full. The stretch at the bottom of the toy burning through your lower region between pleasure and pain while you kicked your legs around, trying to find some purchase to relieve the stretch to no avail.

All you could do was to weakly buck your hips, only to be pressed down onto the unyielding metal again by gravity. Dottore chuckled at the sight of seeing you so helpless, only giving featherlight touches to your clit to add to the desperate moves of your hips.

"Perfect. Now you can't slip away from me again," he murmured as he mouthed at your neck, diposing of what remained of your clothes with a knife his fingers now working against your clit in a steady pace.

"You look so perfectly desperate like this," he mused, your pleas for him to go faster falling on deaf ears. "And I am sure the Banker would agree once I show him how much of a whore you are."

#dottore #il dottore #dottore genshin #dottore x reader #dottore smut #disaster bi writes

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bloodandthestars · 1 year

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𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐔𝐏, 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐇, 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐌𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇.

touchstarved. ais.

wc :: 1.4k

tw: mentions of blood

a/n :: i am going off of 7 hours of demo play and the studio's tumblr so YEAH. loving this game and the people who created it sm that i’ve posted to tumblr for the first time.

You were found where you usually were if asked: the Seaspring. At first, it was a place you searched for a cure when your options seemed fleeting. But it was there where you two met. He wanted your eyes on him and you told him to fuck off. Introductions were as lovely as ever.

At that moment, the man told you the truth. The honest, deranged explanation of the blood pool in front of you both. It was more than you ever expected from a stranger, and if you were completely honest, the rectitude put you at ease of his company. When he wasn’t trying to provoke a reaction, that is. When he wasn’t, being alone with him was never a fearful encounter. It happened once again on the very same day, the moonlight ever potent in the dark alleyways of Eridia. The two of you sat atop wooden crates, shoulders brushing together, speaking in and out of comfortable silence. He told you of the one that rests in his head, with a hand stained with fresh blood and worn knuckles. Even then, you felt safe.

There would be comments that would pique your curiosity about what was underneath the nonchalant demeanor he had given you. Asking if your curse was really that bad made you wonder what he thought of the aliment on your existence. You’ve seen faces twist into madness, your life greeting death on its doorstep countless times because of it. You could think of nothing worse, but with the way his eyes shifted away from you, it seemed he had a few ideas. The Seaspring was a solution, a nontraditional one at that with side effects that could eradicate your very sanity. But there were possible dots to be connected, and you did so with him by your side—with the solace of each other’s company, and neither with anything to lose.

This is what drew you closer to Ais, and how you found yourself frequenting the Seaspring, even when there was nothing to go off of.

You sat on the wooden deck on the side of the crimson spring, while he stayed to the rafters across from you. The soulless remained vigilant after greeting you with nudges of their forms, demanding touch from your bandaged hands. It would be like a flipped switch, from adoring your company to watching the wooden doors of the antique building. You never understood when or why they began to do so. A dog-like one enters the room that you’re all the more familiar with.

He catches the way your eyes light up, turning his gaze away reluctantly. “She’s always looking around for you. Whenever you're not here.”

The information causes you to form a small smile. “Well, of course, she does.”

His thick brow arches, taking a drag of cigarette sitting comfortably between his fingers. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

You roll your eyes. Even with your head turned in Princess’s direction, you have a feeling he somehow caught the action. “Because she likes me, and I’m perhaps her favorite.”

Ais huffs with a trail of smoke escaping his lips. You turn your head in his direction at the sound. “What?”

His lids are low when he looks at you. Without a slight in his balance, the man jumps from the rafters. He lands with a hard thud of his thick boots and the tiny clink of metal from his necklaces. His body rises, leaning his back against one of the wooden pillars. Ais’s voice is straight and teasing in its tone. “She lives with me at the end of the day.”

Your eyes squint as you tilt your head. “Everything is just a competition for you… isn’t it?”

“Isn’t it for you, too?”

You slowly smile, and he’s quick to hide his own in another drag of his cigarette. You put your attention on Princess, who eagerly spots your presence and comes to you. Her head pushes into your palm with eagerness. Your smile grows bigger, happily obliging to the creature’s request for touch. It was there that he stares at you. Again. He did it too often than he’d admit— not like he ever would. At least, not in a way that hints to you of something under the surface.

But the words simply slip off his tongue. “I’m trying so hard to hate you, little sparrow.”

A brief laugh escapes you. You don’t notice how his voice goes serious and remains that way. “Why?”

“Because if I do, it’ll make this bearable.”

A certain word from him causes you to freeze. You turn your head from Princess and arch a brow. “This?”

Silence falls over the Seaspring. Your hands slip from the soulless pet and she imminently wanders elsewhere. You take a deep breath, trying again. “What do you mean by that, Ais?”

You wonder if he’s blinked in these past minutes with the way he looks at you. Nothing was said between you both for a while. There was patience that grew within you ever since the two of you met. He was honest sure, but that didn’t mean some answers came with difficulty. Words constantly made piles against shut teeth and a hardened jaw. It was in his nature to let them out, be as plain as the morning sky— say for the exceptions where the voices in his head plead to interject. Yet you are willing to wait for an answer, however long it took. He wanted to hate that about you too.

You waited in the quiet with bated breath, one that releases the tightness in your chest. Your shoulders begin to relax, easing into turning your thoughts into action.

“Well,” You slowly rise from where you sit with a swallow. “Allow me to guess.”

“A feeling.” The words were spoken as if they were that simple. You step further, and he allows you to do so— evident in how his eyes stay locked on you, despite his body being still against the wooden pillar. Crimson eyes bore into your own, never wavering in the way you come closer. You glance at your bandages, checking for their full coverage before layered fingertips brush against his inked forearm. Even then, he still doesn’t move. His gaze goes to the contact, watching as your touch goes up his arm. Even through pristine cloth, you can feel the surface of his veins, the curve of his muscle. It only makes you wonder what his skin could truly feel like— you’ve never wanted a cure so badly than in this very moment.

But for now, you were content. You reach the beginning of his upper arm when the words fall from your mouth. “An insatiable pull, want turning into need.” Your fingers travel up, slowly feeling the hill of his bicep, a paintbrush to the turquoise color that daubs his skin. Your eyes stayed to your movements, higher and higher they go. Past the texture of his straps, down the valley of his shoulder and jacket lapel to the lithe of his collarbone. “Desire…and yearning.”

It’s here where your gaze goes back up to his face, where you find his eyelids softly shut. His expression was unreadable, but you can tell it wasn’t anything of malice. You step closer, now feeling the heat from his body. The pads of your fingers run against the thick of his neck, hand going to the back of his head. Your digits rest into the locks of his hair, guessing its texture. You got an idea as you shifted closer, its whipped ends tickle the height of your cheeks.

Your words felt ever-present at this moment. And as your breath ghosts over his face, you finish your thought with a tilt of your head and a soft mutter. “Am I wrong?”

Both of you were still in your melted presence. Silence falls over the Seaspring once again. You were completely surrounded by him. Your nostrils were hit with an increase in the smoky scent you knew him so well for. Your eyes are stuck to his eyelids, trying to read anything that could convey his answer. They flicker, once, twice, but remain shut for an awfully long time. He took an inhale, and your heart was cautious about what’d be next. But, there was nothing.

You sigh, fingers loosening from their hold. They leave the maze of his hair, as does your body from his. You felt a lot colder all of a sudden, and a low feeling begins to sink into your stomach. You’re taking a step away but that didn’t last too long, not when a grab of your wrist desperately pulls you back.

#drabble #ais #ais touchstarved #touchstarved demo #touchstarved game #writing #ais x reader #touchstarved #ais touchstarved x reader #potential fic????????#yeah had to blue ball you guys sorry (i am not)#i can write more #i have soooo many thoughts on this man and a potential story #do the devs read the fics #fnaf 2 side eye sound effect #if you see me repeatedly editing the layout no you don’t and stfu #[🕷️] — blackfire’s work

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chronotsr · 5 months

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No. 1 - G1, The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief (July 1978)

Author(s): Gary Gygax Artist(s): Erol Otus, Dave C. Sutherland III (cover), David A. Trampier Level range: Average of 9, preferably 5+ players Theme: Standard Swords and Sorcery Major re-releases: G1-3 Against the Giants, GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders, Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff, Dungeon #197, Tales from the Yawning Portal

I'm not sure if G1-G3 are the most remastered adventures of all time, but it's gotta be competitive. I think Tomb of Horrors might have it beat, but I haven't counted. The 4e conversion [the Dungeon #197 one] is really weird in particular because…4e feels like the edition least interested in the legacy of DND? It was boldly doing its own thing. A good quality, actually.

Anyway, it's time to slag off* on a beloved adventure. Note, I am using the earliest copy of G1 I can find, which is from waaaay later when D3 was complete. I apologize.

*And by slag off, I mean "be critical of at all". In practice, this module is actually showing some unusual acumen compared to its contemporaries.

EDIT: I forgot to mention a rather important thing when this was made live -- note the title there! We are officially in ADND land now, so put away your little brown booklets and switch over to the fuck-off awesome player's handbook with the iconic Moloch statue!

Somehow I had gotten my whole life at this point never really…understanding what this structure was supposed to look like? It looks like this.

I honestly think exterior shots of dungeons are critically underrated. Handouts are amazing and being able to flash the back cover art to safely show the party "like this" is actually great, I deeply wish that….any? of the previous modules had done that? I think the only one that did was Tsojconth. Weirdly, the interior drawing is very subtly different. Look at how the logs face:

Not a huge deal but, a kind of weird inconsistency that top one looks like a stockade and the bottom one looks like a log cabin. Side note, we know that the long dimension of this is using 210 feet tall logs, which is to say, the size of an average redwood. These are some big fuck-off trees -- which could be a very interesting detail about the local area.

Now the setup is pretty simple. You were hired to go beat up the giants because they've been raiding the local humans, figure out why they're raiding, and comeback posthaste. The locals have kitted you out with horses, guides, maps, et c -- but no compensation, they have simply omitted a finder's fee (cheap bastards). Also, if you fail, they'll execute you. With friends like these, who needs Giants?

Gary starts with some mild railroading (you accepted the job already, you are already kitted out, you already walked to a nearby cave, you waited til dusk to approach, you notice two guards are missing, and the cave is guaranteed to be moderately hidden. Sure, whatever, I'm going to ignore that if I run this tho. Gary notifies us of a few critical details:

Don't run this stock, that's immoral

Any surviving giants will flee to G2 if they have the opportunity (which, kind of inherently punishes clever play that avoids combat?)

There is a 2% chance per round that the wooden structure will be lit on fire due to chronic rain (why is this a dice roll??)

If you will permit me a tangent, player arson is truly the bane of interesting scenarios everywhere. Whenever a player wonders, "why are all the GM's dungeons underground or in stonework buildings?", it's because doing anything else invites arson as the default and best answer to all problems. Magic items are fireproof and most metal items will not get hot enough to be destroyed, so very often the best solution is to burn the place to the ground and loot it the next day. So, yeah. No wood buildings. Gary's fix is to have all the giants flee into the basement, then waste a week of the PC's time for daring to use arson. Kind of sucks!

Tangent complete.

Here's some random interesting bits:

Gary explicitly states that you can pass yourself off as hill giant kids, which is extremely funny. Minus the implicit child murder.

Naturally there are giant moms doing giant housemaid shit in several rooms. Presumably they have giant curlers too.

The secret door is, literally just a doorway covered by a pelt. I have to hand it to them, that'd trip up most players in 2024 AND make them feel stupid for not figuring it out!

The big reveal that Eclavdra the Drow is secretly behind it all is so lightly teased that it feels downright tasteful.

A giant that uses a ballista as a crossbow (based) and spears for arrows (also based) -- between the prevalence of lightning spears and greatarrows, one starts to think of a certain famous video game. Genuinely I think it'd be a fun exercise one day, for someone who is more knowledgeable than me about Japanese fantasy roleplaying culture, to talk about how anglophone fantasy works made their way into Japan and were interpreted.

One of the cloud giants has hidden a sentient giant slaying sword that speaks all the giant languages, it feels like there's a hell of a story going on there that is only alluded to!

To my knowledge, this is the first official depiction of an orc in DND? Which implies that Gary is team pig-orcs, which is cool. Frankly, I love porcine orcs, or even better just pigfolk in general, they're great.

I think it is actually a rather bold early stance for Gary to hold that, even here in 1978, Chaotic aligned creatures are not automatically friends. Granted, that's how it is in Elric, so it's not THAT bold, but clearly everyone else missed the memo. The orcs are willing to side with you at least in the short-run, and in our previous modules it was very rare to have groups of chaotic-aligned creatures fighting one another. It was always just personal beefs. In fact, the overall theme of G1 so far is that despite the boxy-ass dungeon design, there's already a command of naturalism that even modern dungeons really struggle with. Factionalism truly is the gift that keeps on giving for the GM!

So the big reveal internally to G1 (just think of that -- a reveal internally to G1, and externally to the GDQ supermodule -- we're already getting pacing!) is that the orc slaves have rebelled. And -- hey -- good for them. There's also a kind of…built-in companion refill system going on here? So in oldish DND the way it works is, the expectation is the party is not just 5 guys with swords. You've got companions to help fight, and you've got hirelings to do other stuff (test suspected traps, if you're evil). And you can only hire so many of these guys from town, but attrition is going to happen. So the modules simply provides, automatic replacements should you negotiate worth a quarter of a shit. A dwarf slave here, an orc slave there. Maybe a giant dissenter if you're really clever. One of the potential "rewards" you can get is more dudes to throw at problems.

More interesting bits

There is, what I can only really call an abortive idea going on here where there's a scary temple in the basement? But no one worships there and no information is provided. It is merely a fucked up altar. I think I vaguely recall that it's retconned Tharizdun in one of the remakes? They always retcon things to be Tharizdun. Busy man, Tharzy.

Gary, Gary no. Stop it. Stop this 78 guys bullshit. I thought we had established that giant rooms of giant clumps of guys was bad. I know you have terminal Napoleonics brain but stop.

Wait, Steading is a noun? I always thought it was a verb. Yknow, like "Steading those hill giants", taking 'em down a notch. Apparently, a Steading is a small farm -- same etymology as Homestead. I guess mark that as our first Gygaxism?

Our second Gygaxism is gill, which is "a quarter pint of an alcoholic drink", which is to say a few mouthfuls

Always end your adventures with weird, ominous non-diegetic text. On the flip-side, absolutely do not do what the adventure does, and end on a teleporter that takes you to the next dungeon. That is the worst option.

Anyway, that's the whole Hill Giant situation. Honestly, it's better than I remembered, but in proud module tradition up to this point it gets weirdly filler-y in the basement. There's just something about basements that makes dungeon designers stop giving a shit, I swear. I do need to give the man his due, even though he was a shitass person: Gygax wrote an 11 page module that is of noticeably higher killer-to-filler ratio than any of his contemporaries. G1 is better than any of its predecessors, pound for pound. It is way, way shorter which is I suppose a plus to me and a minus to others, but -- there is a clear internal logic to this place that is tragically missing from (say) The Dwarven Glory. And that internal logic is the beginning of good adventure design. Anyway, we have two fun tidbits to discuss before we end for the day.

First up, we have an of-the-time account of events in Dragon #19! It turns out that in Origins '78 they played G1-G3's prototype. The account is of the winners (mostly West Virginians, a few Michiganders), who used their magic extremely liberally to hide what they were doing as well as to scout. They did opt to light the place on fire, good for them! If you want to check this out, it's on page 3. I will mention G2 and G3 here as relevant later.

Second up, there's a weird interquel hiding in Dungeon #198! Hanging out as an informal G1.5 is "The Warrens of the Stone Giant Thane!" I will not review it in full because my understanding of 4e is, basically just skimming the PHB and reading the DMG, but essentially the Stone Giants are hypothetically aloof and not particularly loyal to their Fire Giant superiors, but someone gave them The Rock That Makes You Crazy and so now they are. Smash the rock!

Man, map design in the 4e era was so fucking bad. It looks fine, but like, this is four circles. And downstairs is, of course, cave as far as the eye can see. Aren't stone giants supposed to be skilled carvers? Anyway, If you feel like G2 would be too big of a jump mechanically compared to G1, this exists. I'm sure you could use it if you liked, and certainly there is a Genre of Grognard who would be kinda tickled at the thought of finding "lost content" for el classico GDQ.

Next week, we cover G2, which was also in July. So was G3! They're triplets!

#1e #chronotsr #dnd #dungeons and dragons #tsr #ttrpg #g1 #against the giants #gary gygax #adnd

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maxroof111 · 28 days

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Purlins Manufacturer in Pune | India

The metal panels in a standing seam system are often big and flat, with vertical legs (sometimes called ribs) at each panel's ends. The metal panels are fastened to the underside of the sheathing using a concealed clip system in order to be attached to the roof. One aspect of the panels' design is automatic locking.

#Z and C Purlin Manufacturers and Suppliers in India #Metal Deck Manufacturers #Structural Roof Decking #Standing Seam Roof Manufacturers and Suppliers #Steel wall Cladding #Roofing Services and Solution Providers #Complete Metal Building Solutions

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lacedinweb22 · 1 year

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You're... Spider-Man (Miguel O’Hara x reader)

🕸️ Entangled series 🕸️ ch. 8 - prev parts: ch. 5, ch. 6, ch. 7

You've figured him out.

✰ ✰ ✰

I ran out of my apartment building, dragging my bike beside me. The front of the building was completely surrounded by reporters, cop cars, news station vans, and Spider-Man fans, cosplaying and shouting, waiting to catch a glimpse of their hero in action.

Umbrellas filled the scene; red and blue flashing police lights reflected in the puddles I stepped into.

The news anchors stood in a row, all reporting in front of my building.

“It’s almost 9:30; we should be seeing our favorite hero very soon!”

“Why this block? We’re asking ourselves the same thing!”

I pulled my raincoat hood over me, pushed through the crowd, then hopped onto my bike and headed for Miguel’s apartment.

***

I stood on his doormat, my knuckles resting against the door, hesitant to knock.

What if he rejects me? What if I’m insane and wrong about him? What if he’s done with me and turns me away?

I took a deep breath and knocked.

No answer.

I knocked again.

Still no answer.

He programmed my prints onto his door knob’s recognition algorithm weeks ago, allowing me to enter his apartment if necessary. This felt necessary.

I wrapped my hand around the door knob. It glowed blue then pushed in, opening the door and revealing his dark apartment. The windows and blinds were all closed up, the apartment was lit only by the orange glow that peeked from his bedroom, the door ajar.

I slid my shoes off, tiptoeing and looking around for Miguel. He wasn’t here. His motorcycle helmet was still here and his car keys remained on his kitchen counter. Where is he? Out being Spider-Man?

I walked towards his bedroom, slowly pushing the door open, the light glowing brighter on me. This feels wrong. But in the end, this will be worth it. Miguel will trust you, the lying will be over, and you’ll … live happily ever after.

I walked into his room. It looked the same as when I saw it last. His desk covered in gadgets and scribbled notes, his bed neatly made, books littered across the comforter.

I sat at the edge of his bed, realizing that Miguel wasn’t here, and wasn’t using his car or motorcycle, confirming my suspicions.

He’s probably on my block, at my apartment. He’ll be on the news anytime now. Maybe he’ll come back early because I’m not there. My stomach dropped. Things will never be the same after this.

“Okay so Miguel is Spid— no. It can’t be you. Was it fucking obvious? Right in front of me all along? How could I not see it?” I whispered as I stood back up, panicked, pacing back and forth in his bedroom.

I stood at his desk; the orange hologram lit up my face as it all dawned on me. I looked down at the clutter, giving attention to the detailed gadgets he must have engineered, and piles of sketches of prototypes I’d never seen before. This isn’t physics. I traced my fingers along his handwriting, beautiful scribbles spread across his notepad. He’s so smart. I guess if anyone is Spider-Man, it would make sense that it’s the genius geneticist that is the arrogant, annoying, bratty Miguel.

A photograph poked out of his journal. It was us; Lizzie took it during a study group in the spring. That’s Spider-Man? This competitive son of a bitch is our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man? The Miguel who will rematch me one million times until he wins? The Miguel who won’t shut up about my physics solutions being off a decimal? This stubborn, arrogant asshole?

My laptop bag was hung across his shoulder. Always holding my shit. If he knew my bag was heavy, he’d steal it from me, using his height advantage to dodge my grabs. Stubborn asshole.

But,

Sweet, generous Miguel.

…

Shit.

It’s adding up.

The noise of metal clashing disrupted my memories, booming from his bedroom window, causing me to turn sharply, my stomach dropping, my heart beginning to race. I watched the fire escape stairs rattle, anxiously. I stepped back, waiting to see him. This is it.

Red webbing wrapped around the metal followed by a figure quickly pulled up onto the fire escape, the huge crash making me jump. It was him. Spider-Man. The man who saved me in the alleyway and walked me home. Massive, tall, and muscular, in costume, just like I’ve seen on the news, right in front of me, the side of him he’s kept from me. The side of him I met that night, but

hadn’t truly met.

I gasped, catching my breath as he pulled the window up then stopped suddenly as he looked up to see me through the glass. He paused then slowly slid it further up. I helped lift it up, our hands against each other on opposite sides of the glass. I crawled through the window before he had the chance to come in. I stood in front of him, the rain pouring down on us.

“I have to be dreaming,” I whispered, backing away as his tall, glowing figure towered over me. The adrenaline began to hit. “Y/N,” “It’s you. The guy that saved me last month, right? That’s who you are, right? God, how could you keep this from me?” I shouted against the beating rain, exhausted.

“Jesus christ,” he grumbled, dragging his hand over his mouth and down his chin.

“¡Lo sabía! I knew you’d be here. You weren’t at your apartment, and I still had to deal with the whole crowd following my every fucking move,”

I ignored him, picking up his arm, my touch interacting with the nanoparticles.

“I could hear your heart racing from a mile away,”

I looked up at him, my anger put on hold.

“And smell your perfume from a mile away,” he muttered, looking down at me analyzing his nanotech.

I dropped his arm sharply, pushing him away.

“You’re– I mean I was right! You’re a liar and you’re… Spider-man,” I said, nodding to his get-up.

“Why are you here, Y/N? I had one simple rule for you to follow! Just. One. Not to visit me at night,” he scolded, his mask furrowing down at me. Shit, forgot about that.

“You and your fucking rules! You’ve broken more than I can count and you’re worried about this one? I mean this lie— it breaks all of them. Look at you, Miguel, you’ve won, you’ve outdone yourself,”

My eyes glossed over every mezzo detail. His suit was unbelievably detailed.

He was this mesmerizing figure of crimson red glimmer and dim dark navy towering over me, glowing onto me, as I stood under him, his loyal shadow.

“Miguel, you’re Spider-Man,” I breathed out again, in shock, hearing my voice confirm my most outrageous theory.

“Really? Had no idea—” he muttered, looking down at his suit, “Why. Are. You. Here?” he asked, slower and quietly.

“I figured you out, Miguel. I want to hear the truth from you now… but first— you— you’ve been lying to me all along: your brother knows how to fix a fucking car, you didn’t bang up my soda breaking up a fight, you weren’t interning late, you’ve been out… being Spider-Man.”

His head hung low, his mask emotionless, a barrier between us; my reflection in his eyes looked back at me.

“Miguel, to think you could’ve been hurt, seriously hurt, or been taken, I— I could’ve lost you any fucking second, and I wouldn’t have even known! I wouldn’t know how, or where … I wouldn’t have even said goodbye! How, Miguel… how could you keep this from me?” I yelled, looking up at him through my tears, the rain drenching my hair, blurring my vision. I looked up at the glowing figure; I knew Miguel was under there, or just a stranger I thought I knew.

“I was trying to protect you! I didn’t want you to get entangled in my messes, with the shit I have to deal with!”

“I’m already entangled! I thought you trusted me—”

“I do but this isn’t about that! This is your life! This is so much bigger than petty fucking lies!” he exclaimed, rain glazing his suit.

I wiped my drenched face. Miguel reached his hand up to me, but I pushed it away.

“This is your life too! These are lies you’ve told me that– I wouldn’t have known that I lost you! Lost. Do you fucking get that? You’ve been in harm’s way this whole time and I didn’t even know! I’ve also– I mean god, do you even know how fucking crazy you made me feel? All these mixed signals? I’ve been fucking delusional about you being gone for hours at a time thinking you’ve just come back from a— a fucking quickie! I mean— I even thought it was the girl from the bookstore!”

I sighed, my burning heart coming to a simmer.

“I thought… I just— It could’ve saved me so much confusion and… maybe we would’ve been together by now, maybe we would’ve made sense,” I breathed out, wiping the rain and tears from my face. I looked up at his mask; I hate that I can’t read him.

“Together,” he muttered, his head hung low in thought.

“Nevermind that. Let’s go back for a second, so you’re ‘protecting’ me… is that why you’ve been surveilling my apartment this whole week? You don’t want me to get entangled yet you’re there crawling up and down my building? Is that why you were there the night of the attack? You’d rather stalk me then just tell me the truth?”

“Well maybe if you let me speak every once in a while, I would’ve already told you!” he exclaimed, looking down at me.

I collected myself.

“Can you just take off your mask, please?… I came here to tell you, okay? To show you, I connected the dots… finally, about us and about your second life, I figured it out. And I want to be mad at you so bad right now, for keeping this from me and lying to me, but— you’re right, okay? I’m sorry. I’ve been so selfish and… oblivious, and I’m sorry,” I finished quietly, looking up at his masked gaze.

He deactivated his mask, his face finally confirming the Earth-shattering truth I thought I was prepared to face.

I exhaled, seeing the truth for myself.

He hovered over me; the street lamps lit up the side of his face. I looked down at his suit then back up at the bruises and cuts on his cheeks. The rain began to soak into his waves, his hair dripping down onto his face.

It made sense. The sudden splash of maroon in his eyes, late nights at Alchemax, the new frequent bruises on his knuckles. All of it.

“And I’m sorry I lied… a lot,” he whispered. My lips fought a smile. He looked at me the way he did at the party, surrounded and drowning in all of the noise. It feels the same.

“How did this happen?”

I lifted my hand to his lips, tracing my fingers on his sharp fangs.

He put his hand on my hand, “Alchemax,” he whispered back, still staring down at me. I grabbed his hands, the suit glitched away exposing his bare hands. I held them in my hands, tracing the bruises on his knuckles, and his nails, where I knew his claws hid under.

I traced my fingertips along his suit then noticed black peeking from his suit collar. I pulled it out; it was the necklace I gave to him.

“You… wear it when you…?” I whispered.

He nodded, looking down at me, “Never taking it off,” he muttered, softly smiling down at me.

“I thought you were too stubborn to want to talk to me again. What… changed?”

I grabbed our notebook from the windowsill, and quickly turned to the sketched page. I hovered over it, trying to shelter it from the rain.

“You… you drew this. It kind of opened my eyes, helped me realize that I— that you—”

“I want you?”

He looked down at the page then back up at me. “Glad you finally see how fucking oblivious you are,” he scoffed, grabbing the now drenched notebook and tossing it back inside. He filled in the gap between us, our bodies pressing against each other.

“Let me set things straight, Y/N. I wasn’t flirting with you because you were the only girl around at the party. It wasn’t me being lonely, or bored,” he explained desperately, his eyebrows knit together. He pushed my wet hair out of my face.

“And it wasn’t the alcohol that made me say all of that or act that way with you, it was you. It was you,” he breathed out, nodding, his hypnotizing crimson eyes latching onto mine.

“You want me?” I whispered, smiling up at him. He put his hands on my waist, pulling me into him.

He nodded, his lips right in front of mine, “Of course I want you.”

I wiped his wet face, my hand slipping against his soft skin.

“I really really do,” he whispered.

His thumb caressed my cheek, his lips brushing against mine. Our bodies pressed tightly together, slippery against one another. He combed his fingers through my drenched hair, brushing the mess back. He slowly pressed his lips against mine, his warmth spreading to my stomach, triggering butterflies and sparks of electricity throughout my body.

And suddenly, it all made perfect sense.

✧༺♥༻∞

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voidopod · 1 year

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A Garden Break ||Fluff|| Viktor x Reader

Cross posted on AO3 but thought I should post here too :) Apologies if my formatting is silly, I’m learning.

Viktor is getting noticeably frustrated with his work and you insist he take a break for a while. He protests but eventually gives in and you two share some oranges in the academy gardens.

——

“I just can’t seem to get the claw to focus on the movement of the gem right.” Viktor sighs as he sits back in his chair, staring at the in-progress Hexclaw with an exasperated look.

It was only days before Progress Day. Viktor and Jayce were both scrambling about to complete each of their prototypes to show off to Professor Heimerdinger on the day of so that they may get the approval they need to proceed in proper production of their respective creations that they are building. Jayce is making steady work on the Atlas Gauntlets, currently clanging away across the room at testing its durability. Viktor, on the other side of the room, is trying to practice the precision of the Hexclaw laser. Though, for some currently undetermined reason, it’s not following the gem attached to the glove properly which is causing the aim to be off completely. Viktor is getting noticeably frustrated with the Hexclaw as you notice the way his leg is tapping away with more speed and that the hand fidgeting with his hair is subconsciously tugging a little more. He’s glancing between the Hexclaw and his notes with a glare, not doing anything more with his hands, but you know he’s trying to formulate in his head what’s going wrong and how to fix it. He puts his hand on his face as he rubs at his temple, hoping the solution will come to him.

“You know I don’t think stressing over it for hours is going to get you anywhere Viktor.” You quip, his mildly annoyed gaze shooting towards you at your words.

You had been working at the academy since just before the birth of Hextech as an archivist and not long after Hextech got the funding it needed and proper research and production began, you were transferred to begin archiving any Hextech research that was at a point that it could be stored away in safekeeping. Though with the small scale work environment, you were left retrieving various archived works more often than archiving things yourself. You were also quite frequently an assistant of sorts, largely just fetching little things here and there or holding a sheet of metal in the exact angle that one of the boys needed it to be held in. It was an easy job that you enjoyed due to the relaxed environment (though I suppose that’ll happen when there’s usually only a max of four people in the room at a time) and because you had quickly become friends with Jayce, Sky, and, most notably, Viktor. You weren’t sure if it was because of how he could quickly captivate anyone by proving with even just a few words that he was the smartest in the room at any given time, the way his drive for his own work made you want to be a better and more attentive person, or if it was the how he looked at you when you had first both met. You didn’t realize at the time that he was analyzing every word you said and how you reacted to various different things but it was an intense first day with him that stuck with you for days.

“And how do you propose I figure out the solution? This has to be stabilized in just a few days and right now, it is the exact opposite.” His words come out a little sharp but you know how he gets when he’s frustrated by his own creations, you’ve seen it time and time again. His ungloved hand moving about as he speaks, coming to an abrupt downward halt when he’s done.

“I think your best option right now is to take a break.” He looks at you like you’ve just suggested he could fly to the moon right now as he processes your words. You smile at him, despite how he’s looking at you, as you lean against his desk.

“Just to be sure I’m hearing you right, you want me to stop what I’m doing so I can do a better job at getting this done? No, I need to get this done, now.” He turns to look back at the Hexclaw, choosing to ignore your idea.

You wave your hand in his face and he quickly looks up at you again with an annoyed look. “Viktor do you hear that?” He looks confused and shakes his head at you. You point your finger towards him with a cheeky smile. “Exactly. There’s no loud clanging anymore. You know why that is? It’s because this entire time that you were getting frustrated with your own work, you didn’t notice that Jayce had completely left to go take his own break. He noticed he was getting frustrated that the gauntlet wasn’t doing what it was supposed to and instead of stressing over it, he chose to take a thirty minute break so he can clear his head and come back to it.”

His expression changes a little as he glances back at the Hexclaw and then back towards you, crossing his arms, his foot tapping a little faster. He seems a little bothered but judging by his expression, he’s realizing you might be somewhat right. “What I’m saying is, Viktor, you need to take a break to clear your head or I honestly think you’re going to explode with how upset you’re getting.”

“I think exploding would be easier than figuring this out.” He says bluntly and it causes you to laugh a little bit, a small smile appearing on his own face at the fact that you found it funny. You place a hand on his shoulder as you pull yourself away from his desk, he instantly looks from your hand to your face as you move, a little surprised at your touch. He watches you with a slight curiosity as you walk back towards your own desk.

You walk over to your desk retrieving a small bag that you sling over your shoulder. “Have a small lunch with me?” You ask as a suggestion for a break. You’ve had lunches and breaks with him before so this wasn’t anything new but you had never offered it as a stress reliever.

He hums a little as he considers the offer. “Mm alright, but only because I feel like if I refuse you’re going to drag me away anyways, just give me a moment.” You smile as teases you a little bit and you roll your eyes at him. He smiles and turns back to his study notes for the Hexclaw before you place your hands on his shoulders from behind and you lean towards his face, he jolts at how quickly you had shown up behind him before calming down again. “Okay, okay, I’m going, I’m going!”

——

You both had made your way to the academy gardens where you both frequently took your breaks from Hextech at. You let Viktor talk about the different ideas he had for why the Hexclaw wasn’t working on the way there but he had paused when you arrived at the gardens. The gardens were a lively contrast to the steel environment you both spent most of your time in. They were mostly quiet, free from anybody asking questions or hammering away at something. The only sounds being that of buzzing bees flitting from flower to flower and birds singing and chirping away in the trees, it was serenity for the both of you. You had been making your way to one of your favorite places to sit, stopping to look at all the butterflies that were moving about. Viktor leaned against his cane as he watched you become completely distracted in staring at all of the different insects and flowers. It wasn’t until a blue morpho butterfly was flying away that you had turned back towards Viktor since it had gone in his direction. He smiled at the face you made when you remembered that there was a task at hand, he almost laughed at how silly it all was.

“I mean I could go sit and wait for you but it is fascinating how quickly your attention changes when you see something you enjoy.” Your attention is back to him as you’re trying to deduce if he is joking with you or is genuinely intrigued but you brush him off as your face goes red at the fact that he’s right. It’s hard not to focus on something you enjoy, even if it's brief, you just have to pour out your love and adoration for whatever it is.

You both wordlessly take in the views as you make your way over to the bench you both enjoy. Your attention on the small things you notice in the garden, his attention on you as he’s analyzing the different things that catch your attention and seeing how your expressions change at each new thing. He smiles softly at how much all these things make you smile, it’s like your happiness is contagious. You arrive at the area where a well-worn wooden bench is slotted, almost entirely surrounded by purple lilac bushes. When you’re both seated on the bench, Viktor rests his cane on one side of him and you place your bag on your side, making it so you both have to sit fairly close, your knees bumping each other. Neither of you mind this though, it’s comfortable at this point in your friendship.

“Thank you, by the way.” Viktor speaks, breaking the silence. You turn to him, slightly confused, he notices this immediately and continues. “For making me take a break. We haven’t even eaten yet and I’m already starting to feel better.”

You smile as he speaks, appreciating his thanks. “Well, taking a break isn’t just about getting something in your belly, you know. It’s about departing yourself from stress. I could’ve given you something to eat and left you with the Hexclaw and you’d have cooked your food with how hot you were.” Viktor’s eyes widen and his face gets a little red as you speak and you very quickly realize your mishap in words. “I mean like when people get all warm and angry. I could practically feel the heat of your blood pressure rising from a foot away.” You joke with him as you know he was just messing with you with the face he made, though, what words you initially said weren’t entirely wrong either you admit to yourself.

“I suppose you’re right about that. Getting out of the lab sometimes helps more than I seem to remember any time I get frustrated with my work. It helps, spending time with yo- outside. Spending time outside.” He speaks quickly, hoping you don’t notice what he almost said. “What, um, what did you bring for lunch anyhow?”

You remember your bag next to you as he asks about what you had brought. You turn to grab from inside your bag, pulling out two oranges. “I have two more in my bag. Don’t ask me why I brought oranges in my bag for lunch this morning, I was in a rush to get to the lab on time and I didn’t exactly plan ahead.”

He chuckles as he takes the orange from you, his fingers brushing over yours as he does. “You know you can be late if it means bringing a better lunch, Jayce won’t mind and I certainly won’t. Oh well, at least you brought lunch. I usually don’t plan a lunch break in my day so I don’t bring one.”

“I’m sorry, you what?” You look at him, dumbfounded, and he looks at you as though nothing is wrong.

“I’m very busy! I don’t plan lunch because that’s more time away from my work.”

“You mean to tell me that the smartest person I know doesn’t bring lunch because he needs to focus on his work?” He looks at you as though he doesn’t quite get the point. “For being the smartest, you should know that you need to take care of yourself more often. I will bring you something if you won’t.” He opens his mouth to speak, furrowing his brows and raising his hand a little. “Don’t even try to argue with me about not needing to do that for you because I know you will.” He closes his mouth and puts down his hand, focusing his gaze back to the orange in his hands.

“Alright, fine.” Knowing he can’t win with you he starts trying to peel the orange you gifted him. He looks over at how quickly you make do with the peel and he’s trying to figure out how you’re doing it so well but all he does is nearly squirt himself in the eye with orange juice when he attempts it. “How are you doing that?” You notice that his accent is a little stronger when he sounds extra confused and it makes you smile when he looks at you as you quickly eat your orange slices.

“Viktor, do you? Not know how to peel an orange?” You ask him, genuinely, having never met someone who had a hard time peeling oranges.

“I suppose I do not.” He looks back at his orange. The poor thing is mutilated with juice dripping from it in various spots and there’s some patchy spots where he had peeled it but not enough so only the white pith of the orange is showing. He looks at you as you look at the orange with an exaggerated frown.

“Wow.” You say, astounded at how badly he has tried to peel the orange.

“Yeah.” You both stare for a moment longer before he asks if you could teach him.

“I get to teach wonder boy something?” You say with a joking smile. He nudges your shoulder with his own as you mess with him. “Alright let’s just set.. that.. over here.” You grab the now sticky orange from him and you set it next to you, out of sight. You grab another one from your bag and you place it in his hands. “Okay, show me what you did the first time, but slowly so that we don’t kill this one.” You both chuckle a little at the possible fate for this orange but he does as you ask. He puts his palms on either side of the orange and adjusts his thumbs as though he’s about to push his thumbs into it and when he starts to you quickly stop him.

“Hold on Vik, you do that and you’re going to squirt juice in your eyes.”

“But you pushed your nails into it to peel it, why can’t I?” He looks confused as he looks towards your orange peels next to you and then back at the orange in his hands.

“Because the way that you’re currently going about it is going to be too much all at once and it’ll end badly. I know you’re used to working with metal and the Hextech crystals but this is something you need to be softer with. Can you do that for me?” Your tone is a little bit softer as you speak to him, going to show him that being softer with things is easier sometimes, even with speaking to him.

He blushes somewhat at your tone. He adjusts how he’s holding the orange. He’s no longer squeezing it slightly in his hand and is now holding it carefully. He gently punctures the peel and is surprised when he’s not shot in the face with juice. He smiles at you, clearly proud of himself until he tries to peel away at it and then he ends up with a peeled flake instead of a continuous peel away like how your orange was done. He frowns and you take the orange from him. You wordlessly show him how you pull the peel up slowly away from you, in case it does decide to have juice come out, and how you push your thumb underneath the peel instead of pulling it away so that it can more easily come off in bigger pieces. You get a good peel going and then he tries for himself and again he seems like he’s doing good and when the peel breaks he makes a slightly annoyed “hm” sound.

“Viktor it’s okay, it happens, you’re learning. You’re not always going to have a perfect peel and that’s okay.” You take the piece he pulled off as he tries to peel the orange again. You turn the piece of orange around in your fingertips, it’s something to fidget with as you keep looking back to see how he’s doing with the orange. You turn the peeled piece in a certain direction and notice a shape and you hold it out for Viktor to see. “Hey look, it’s a heart! See the orange likes you after all.” You both smile, a slight snort of air coming from his nose as he’s almost wanting to laugh at the idea of the orange loving him even if he doesn’t know how to go about peeling it the way it should be, he’s trying at least. He wants to get this right, if not for him getting a good snack, then at least for making you smile at getting to teach him something so simple.

Eventually, he gets the orange peeled and well it’s not exactly pretty this time either, it’s actually edible this time. Viktor immediately begins to eat his slices, enjoying the fruit of his labor. Literally. You smile as he gets to enjoy something he worked hard for, knowing he deserves small successes like this. He watches you peel the final orange with ease and split it in half, handing him one half as he finishes his orange. “I’m sorry I’m still not very good at peeling oranges.” He laughs.

His laugh rings through your ears, making you smile wide. “I think you’re doing great and until you figure it out, I don’t mind peeling them for you.” You both bite into your respective slices, sharing this fruit together.

You secretly hope he never learns how to peel oranges and he tells himself he’s never going to peel an orange around you if it means getting to spend this time together.

“I like sharing this with you.” He speaks lightly as you both finish your orange slices, he glances at you before looking forward again.

“Me too Viktor, me too.” Whether you’re speaking about the fruit or the time shared, it doesn’t matter. You’re both content either way.

——

Oranges by Jean Little

I peel oranges neatly.

The sections come apart cleanly, perfectly in my hands.

When Emily peels an orange, she tears holes in it.

Juice squirts in all directions.

“Kate,” she says, “I don’t know how you do it!”

Emily is my best friend.

I hope she never learns how to peel oranges.

#viktor x reader #arcane #viktor #league of legends #arcane fluff

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