#HE IS SO OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER AND YET HE WON’T LEARN

[brainmuncher]

A mis-text-derstanding

After a long night of patrolling around Amity, Danny damn near collapsed onto his bed. His back ached from a stray ectoblast and his eyes felt heavier than a mountain. Technus had done something to the technology around the town. At random a piece of technology would suddenly go rogue with a virus the ghost implemented. The virus would make the item try to capture anyone in the vicinity using any means necessary. So Danny had been doing regular patrols around town to catch anyone who needed help.

That also means that his sleeping time had been radically reduced. Without even the energy to lift his head, Danny patted around for his phone. Once he finally found the device he hefted himself on his side with a groan. It was a new phone since he was the first casualty in Technus’ plan. Thankfully, Sam had given him another so his parents wouldn’t try to make him one. (Who knows what kind of ‘anti-ghost’ protection they would’ve put on it.)

Tucker had promised that he was working on fixing the virus going around. Hopefully, he had some kind of good news to share. As soon as Danny went to message him he realized he hadn’t downloaded their chat app to the new phone. With a sigh he knew that he would just have to use normal texting but with careful codewords.

Putting in Tucker's number with a yawn, Danny sent the first message.

‘It’s your undead bro. The night out tonight was killer. Any news on the techie progress?’

Danny smashed his face into his bed with a sigh after hitting send. Knowing Tucker he was probably face first in his laptop and won’t notice the message for a bit. He could probably just close his eyes and…

Before he could even consider taking a nap there was a generic jingle from the phone. He should really get to fixing that. Tuck deserves a much better ringtone than some bells.

‘Nothing noteworthy yet. It's harder to crack than normal but nothing I can't handle. Do you need me to take over for tomorrow?’

‘Also why aren't you using our chat?’

Danny squinted at the screen with a slight frown. It had been a while since Sam or Tucker tried to go out in his place. They learned pretty quickly that it made Danny way too anxious to have them out there without him. Something about not being there to protect them if they got over their heads made Danny’s chest ache. 

And of course, Tucker noticed that he wasn’t using the app he made. It was a bit glitchy at times, but what tech wasn’t when it came to Danny? Not only was it secure, but it became an easier way for them to establish a timeline for filing. Jazz had been the one who realized that they didn’t have steady information on not just the rouges but the events of the fights. It became a staple to write out what happened and what went wrong after hearing her lecture about it.

‘Don’t have it on this phone yet. And you know how I feel about you being out there.’

Danny watched the screen for a bit, waiting to see if Tucker would reply immediately again. His mom probably caught him on his computer all day and was forcing him to separate himself from it for a while. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for Ms. Foley to do.

‘Yeah yeah, Mr. Possessive. Do you need me to walk you through how to get it again?’

Snorting at the pun, Danny easily replied. If Tucker was feeling sassy enough to joke about that, then he would push some buttons back. It was a simple banter that they sometimes fell into.

‘You know how I get with technology. I’m more likely to break something. Especially since this phone is so new. Whatever happened to flip phones?’

Danny snickered to himself at the message. Tucker had an ongoing war between new and old technology. While he loved his PDA he also admired some of the top-of-the-line devices. It was like the past and the future mixed in his friend's room. He would gush about the new devices but also gush about the older ones that still had functions that the newer ones lost. But flip phones? That was the only technology he knew that Tucker hated. It was the worst of both worlds for him. He’d been so excited when Danny’s flip phone was bricked by Technus’ virus.

‘I’m going to ignore that you said that.’

‘Also there’s going to be trouble in the park near you tomorrow. I’m already planning on going. Do you want in?’

Scooting up from his lounged position, Danny started to write back his reply.

‘Of course, I’ll be there. Don’t need you to go in alone and join the dead. Unusual for him to leave his plans there though. That’ll be fun to write in the report.’

The image of Jazz reading about that brought a smile to Danny’s face. She always found it interesting when one of the ghosts would change a long-time behavior. The fact that Technus was able to keep this rather on the down low would guarantee her interest. He was always one to blatantly announce his plans to the world to hear. Even though it’s a bit of a pain that he’s learning to keep things to himself it would peak Jazz’s curiosity, which made it bearable.

‘It is weird. And don’t remind me about the report. I still have the one from last week to write and I don’t want to do it.’

That made Danny laugh to himself a little. Last week the lunch lady tried to embrace the Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian life. In the overflow of food, Tucker had gotten trapped in veggies. He was visibly green from having to eat some to escape. Sam had been excited about it at first before she saw how much food was being wasted. She ended up getting attacked for trying to explain the damage overconsumption and food waste could bring.

‘You looked like you wanted to vomit afterward. Well, at least we are prepared this time. We don’t always get that chance.’

Danny stretched out his stubborn limbs, feeling himself try to sink into the darkness. He’d have to end the conversation sooner rather than later. At this rate, he wouldn’t have a choice on whether he was taking a nap or not. At the familiar sound of bells, he looked back down at the conversation.

‘Unfortunately. Well, I’ll be finished by the time we meet at the park. I know you usually like to sleep after a long night.’

The reply made Danny’s core feel fuzzy with happiness. Tucker always knows him so well. He doesn’t know what he did to get such a fantastic best friend. It was at times like these that Danny knew he was so glad that they were in this together. With two of his best friends at his side, it made being a vigilante so much easier to bear. 

‘Thanks. Remember that not just the dead get to sleep. Don’t push yourself. Goodnight.’

With that, Danny felt comfortable with setting his phone down to get changed into pajamas. It ached on his back to take off his shirt, but Jazz would be disappointed in the morning if he didn’t. She always got that pinched look on her face when he didn’t take care of himself to her standards. Her standards weren’t exactly high up either so it made him feel extra upset when he missed the mark.

Being careful to not lie on his back, Danny got back into his bed. He curled himself into the blankets with a small smile. One last chime of bells rang out in the room, probably from Tucker saying goodnight back. Picking up his phone, he opened up the lock screen and looked at his messages.

Instead of a goodnight, his stomach dropped as he realized a different number messaged him. A very familiar number.

‘Hey dude! I know you had to get a new phone so this is me. Not only did I figure out how it’s spreading, I think I finally found a way to get rid of the virus.’

Practically throwing himself off the bed, Danny got to his feet. Both his back and his mind screamed at him as he looked over the message. He tapped back to the one he’d just been replying to, finding his heart stopping at the string of numbers. One of the area code numbers was a six instead of a nine. He’d been messaging a stranger this entire time.

Looking back at the messages he convinced himself that it was fine. He was vague enough to not be recognized. It wasn’t like this person was from Amity. They won’t recognize the correlation between him and Phantom. Surely the other person wouldn’t take his words at face value. 

Worst comes to worst he can have Tucker take over his phone for a bit and make sure the other person can’t find out who he is. He hadn’t bought the phone or had it under his name in any way, so they could only find out from the conversation alone.

Breathing out a breath of air he kissed his night of sleep goodbye.

‘I’ll be over in a sec Tuck. I think I just made a mistake.’

[ms-scarletwings]

I’m totally playing Devil’s Advocate for Gaz here but every time you think she’s being an absolute demon to her brother and it’s uncalled for, recall the full extent of Dib’s most insufferable and jerkass behaviors, and imagine being under the same roof as that guy every day. Sharing a fridge and pantry with that. Sharing a common living space with that after you’ve already spent a school day with it. You’re like, 11 and just want to play video games and do normal childhood stuff, and you live with Dib Motherfucking Membrane.

Yeah yeah, he got what he deserved for the Pork Taster thing, but I’m pissed off on sis’s behalf just watching how often the dude straight up shows negative amounts of consideration when it comes to someone else’s food. What the hell.

Use me as a guinea pig for dark magical arts and curses? Well, nobody’s perfect bro. We all make mistakes.

Drink the last soda unnotified like that? Fucking yoink my pizza slice out of my own hand??? You are catching some freaking hands you audacious little twerp.

[lemonlover1110]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬

Satoru Gojo

[Chapter 24] The Truth

← Previous Chapter - Story Masterlist

Pairing: Satoru Gojo x f!Reader

Discord +18 - Twitter - Ko-Fi

“What are you going to do with him again?” Satoru asks as you get ready to meet up with Suguru. He talks as if he has any right to know. You’re finishing up your makeup in your room while he stands in the doorway.

“Does it concern you?” You look back at him. And he sighs before shaking his head. He guesses it doesn’t. He can’t argue with you about it, yet he stands there, leaning on the doorframe. You finish putting on your lipstick before looking back at him and raising your eyebrows, “Aren’t you going to Ren? He’s waiting for you to talk about his birthday plans.”

“Right…” Satoru answers, turning around and going to Ren. He finally leaves you alone with your thoughts, finally not having to listen to his stupid comments. As much as you don’t enjoy his presence at the moment, you still have to tolerate him because of your son.

Slowly you are seeing his point of view, but that doesn’t mean you forgive him. Satoru was young, easy to manipulate– Well, you aren’t exactly focused on his age but more about the fact that Satoru was recently grieving the loss of his father and in a way felt threatened that he would lose everything simply for not following orders. What hurts you the most right now is that he didn’t even try to explain the situation to you, he assumed you were better off going your own separate ways.

“Mommy!” Ren comes running into your room, disrupting the peace that you were just granted. You look at the puppy eyes that adorn his face, and you already know he wants something. You allow him to speak first, not wanting to accuse him of something that he might not even do. But you’re proven right, “Can I get a puppy for my birthday?”

“Remind me how old you’re turning, Ren.” You tell him, and Ren holds up five fingers, a grin on his face as he shows off his big age. You fight back a smile, trying your best to remain as serious as you can possibly be. You won’t be easily convinced by him. “Five. Such a big age, right? But not enough to take care of a puppy, plus you’re starting school soon.”

“School?” Ren asks as if it’s the first time he hears of it. You’ve been preparing for him, telling him about it daily.

“You know, the place where you’ll be going to learn and make friends for the next thirteen or so years of your life.” You answer, and his mouth turns into a circle when he remembers. “Who’s going to take care of the puppy then? I still have to work.”

“Granny.” Ren answers, and you chuckle as you shake your head. Your mother isn’t exactly a big pet person, if you were to give her the responsibility of taking care of a puppy, she might just kill you. He puts his hands together and begs, “Please, mommy, please! I want a puppy!”

“Ren, we both know that–” You begin, but you realize you’re just wasting your breath. You look at the time, realizing that if you don’t finish up soon, you’ll be late. “Talk to your father about it, I have to finish getting ready.”

“Daddy!” Ren yells as he walks out of your bedroom. Maybe you made a mistake since Satoru loves to spoil Ren, and Satoru doesn’t like to think of additional responsibilities since he’s not the one that’s at Ren’s side at all times.

You’ll deal with it when Satoru attempts to get Ren a puppy, for now you’re going to focus on your own problems. Your own problem being your meeting with Suguru.

You wait for Suguru at the café near your apartment. You have a beverage in your hand, taking an occasional sip, making sure you don’t finish it before Suguru finally decides to show up. Your eyes are glued to the door, waiting for him to finally make his grand entrance. 

You feel the nerves creeping through all of a sudden, and you have no idea why. Maybe it’s because you lied to him about Satoru, or maybe it’s because you’ve been avoiding his calls. You take a deep breath to calm your nerves, looking at the time. If he doesn’t get here within five minutes, you’ll leave. He’s running late, and you have no intention of waiting for him all day.

In reality, you’re just looking for an excuse to leave. You want to avoid this confrontation as much as you can, but you know you have to face him eventually. Suguru has been one of Satoru’s closest friends, and you were close to dating, the least you can do is give him one last conversation. You can’t avoid him forever.

Your eyes shift back and forth between the time and the door, mentally praying that he doesn’t show up. However, your prayers go unanswered when he walks through the door, his eyes immediately landing on you. He gives you a soft smile as he approaches your table.

“Hi, Suguru.” You try to return his smile, but it looks awkward. Suguru points at the counter, telling you that he’s going to get his beverage before sitting down with you, to which you nod in response. You take another deep breath, trying to calm yourself. He looks fine, and you hate to ruin his day– Perhaps he won’t care, but you doubt it. You told him a very serious lie about his best friend, you doubt he’ll be too happy with you after finding out.

“It’s so nice to see you after… So long.” Suguru sits across from you. You shift in your seat, adjusting your posture before focusing on him. You nod with an awkward smile on your face. At that moment you know, this is going to be a long hour.

“It is.” You agree before a long awkward pause ensues. You clear your throat, about to ask him how he’s been holding up, but Suguru has other plans when he speaks up before you,

“Why have you been avoiding me?” He goes straight to the point. There’s a reason why you two are there, and it isn’t for small talk. Maybe you can get to more fun matters later or another day, but not right now. 

“I’ve just been busy with Satoru and figuring out this whole parent thing, that…” You begin with an excuse but you can’t finish the sentence. You bite down your lip before you take a deep breath. You have to say it, if you keep dragging it you’ll feel worse. “I partially lied to you. Satoru never suggested an abortion at the thought of me being pregnant, I didn’t tell him because he didn’t give me the chance to, and then I couldn’t tell him because… His mother didn’t want him to know.”

And he chuckles. Suguru lets out a laugh, which makes you furrow your brows. You expected many different reactions, but not a laugh. You chew on the inside of your cheek, anxiously waiting for him to say something else.

“Is that why you haven’t been answering my calls?” Suguru asks, and you hum in response even though it’s not all. He lets out another laugh, and you want to ask why he laughs but you decide against it. You wait for him to finally say something else, although time feels as if it slows down. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” You sound utterly confused. What the hell is he talking about? How would Suguru know?

“I knew. I asked Satoru what he would’ve done if you had gotten pregnant and he said he would’ve stayed by your side.” He answers, and you let out a sigh of relief knowing that the situation won’t be the big mess that you were expecting. You do still feel guilty about it. “I mean sure… Satoru could’ve lied to me, but I don’t think he would have.”

“Why didn’t you say anything about it?” You’re curious as to why he decided to remain silent about this of all things. It’s a serious matter, which you would’ve expected him to furiously call you to berate you about. But you guess the man that sits across from you isn’t that type of person.

“You lied to me to protect your ass, and I can’t really blame you for it.” He shrugs, and he could’ve left it at that and it would’ve ended up perfectly fine. The conversation could’ve ended there and you would switch the topic and talk about more lighthearted stuff. But Suguru makes sure to add, “Plus Satoru also lied to you so you’re even, I guess.”

“Do you know?” You question, wondering why he brings up the fact that Satoru lied to you as well. You watch his cheeks turn pink when he realizes his words.

“Know what?” He stutters, which says all you need to know. He knows. For how long has he known? He realizes immediately that he’s messed up. He gave himself away.

“For how long have you known?” You immediately ask, and Suguru tries to play dumb, he claims he doesn’t know what you’re talking about, making a fool of himself. You’re clearly mad, but you try to not let it show through your tone. You try to take deep breaths.

“You can say we’re kind of even…” Suguru scratches the back of his head, but that’s not enough. You’re not even because the situation with Ren had nothing to do with him, at least in your eyes. Yes, you lied to him, but it was your business, something that had nothing to do with him.

“Does Shoko know too?” You scoff, and it’s merely a joke, but Suguru bites down his lip before commenting,

“I mean, considering the fact that she’s sleeping with his wife, probably.” Which makes your eyes widen. It’s shocking, but it makes a lot of sense. You’re still speechless. “Satoru told me… A while ago.”

“I guess we’re even then.” You let out a chuckle, but it’s not humorous. You’re clearly… Annoyed. “But I think… I had different plans for us, and so did you. But we should remain as friends.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” He asks, confused why you say that. He knows you’re mad, but what you’re making is a rash decision. “You don’t mean what you’re saying, you’re just upset because–”

“No, I know what I’m saying. Suguru, I lied to you so I guess I shouldn’t be too mad but I am. And I lied to you about Satoru, and… We shouldn’t be together, I feel like we started this off wrong.” You respond, and it almost hurts to say. 

“But we can start over again without lies and–” He begins, and you cut him off.

“Let’s try to give it some time before even thinking about that. I’m not really in the right headspace for a relationship.” You answer truthfully, and he furrows his brows. He doesn’t know why, but that ticks him off.

“I bet you’ll end up choosing Satoru again.” He sounds bitter, and you can’t help but roll your eyes. Of course he says that, he assumes you’re so in love with Satoru that you can’t have a relationship with him. Suguru thinks too mighty of himself. “Explains why you so adamantly ignored my calls, and why you were on vacation with him–”

“I have a son with him, Suguru. Of course I’m going to do shit with him.” You interrupt him, standing up from your seat. He has his arms crossed, looking almost like a pouty child because he isn’t getting his way. He almost reminds you of Satoru. “I told you we should give it time before we even begin to think about it. Don’t make your case worse.”

He keeps silent while you walk away, deciding that you’re right. He isn’t going to make his case worse. 

“How did it go?” Satoru seems as if he has been waiting by the door for you the entire time. 

“He knew?” You immediately ask, and he nods in response which makes you roll your eyes. “Everyone knows shit except me.”

“I can say the same about Ren.” Satoru argues, which is a great point, but you won’t admit it. You hand him your purse, as if he were your own little butler, and he proceeds to take it to your room.

“Where’s Ren?” You half-yell, and the man shushes you, which earns a weird look from you. There’s no way he actually got Ren to fall asleep… But for what other reason would Satoru shush you?

“He’s asleep.” Satoru informs you when he walks back, and you want to question what kind of sorcery the man is doing to make a boy that hates taking naps, fall asleep. You do appreciate it though, so you won’t complain.

You two awkwardly stand around, not sure what to speak about next since Ren is asleep. There’s something that comes to mind, but you’re not sure how appropriate the question is. Ren is asleep, so there shouldn’t be an issue, however, you don’t want to overstep any boundaries.

You still clear your throat though, “Did you know that Shoko was–”

“I know.” Satoru chuckles. “Right when we got back, Shoko dug her claws into her– Or Sayo did.”

“Were you upset when you found out? I mean, when we first saw each other again you called her love.” You bring up, walking over to the couch to take a seat, and he follows behind. Satoru takes a moment to think, and properly formulate his answer. He sighs before speaking up,

“I guess, for a moment I thought I loved her. I’m very fond of her, and I confused my adoration for her as love. She knew what I was going through, and she was always sweet to me, we could make each other laugh. Overall, we got along.” He explains, and you listen attentively. You’ll do anything to gain a little bit of perspective into his mind. “We just had each other, and that was that. But then you came into my life, and I remembered what love felt like.”

You feel your face get warm, and you look away from him. Maybe Suguru is right– You can’t let him be right. Satoru still committed a lot of bad actions. 

You stay silent and let a minute pass before speaking up again, changing the topic, “It’s not just Ren’s birthday coming up, but also yours. What would you like?”

“I already have everything I could ever want.” Satoru answers, which makes your task slightly more difficult. You’re still going to get him something for his birthday, even if it’s just a pair of socks. “How about Ren? I heard he wants a puppy.”

“He’s not getting one. Nope.” You tell him, and he laughs before nodding in response. You’re not sure he’s gotten the message yet, but you’ll make sure to remind him.

[nomadwrites]

bubblegum pink ⋆˚✿

gojo satoru

summary ⋆୨୧⋆ in which you've managed to convince the greatest jujutsu sorcerer of your time into getting pink highlights. what could go wrong? a lot, you learn.

contents ⋆୨୧⋆ spoilers!, pure fluff & rusty writing

notes ⋆୨୧⋆ let's start off easy, shall we? feedback is most certainly welcome & would be much appreciated! enjoy ₊˚ෆ

"come on, it's only temporary!"

"not a chance! do you know how much time and effort i put into caring for these lustrous locks?"

"it'll grow out anyways," you huff, setting down the contents of the hair dye kit on the bathroom counter. "and here i thought you were the adventurous type."

"adventure is one thing, but this? this would be an act of vandalism," satoru feigns a look of betrayal, silver lashes framing his wide blue orbs, "like defacing the mona lisa."

you gasp in exaggeration, clasping a hand over your mouth. if there was one thing on the boy’s long list of things he loved about you, it'd be your ability to keep up with his personality.

"sure. but don't you get tired of always having the same old hairstyle? maybe it'd be nice to switch it up every now and then, yknow?"

"i hardly doubt anyone could ever get tired of this." he gestures to himself, standing tall, a smirk gracing his features.

“you’re insufferable.”

“and you love that about me.”

you do your best to hide the smile that threatens to break free, chewing on your bottom lip. “oh but you’d look absolutely gorgeous,” you plead, voice dripping with honey as you cross your arms over your chest, leaning against the countertop. you bat your lashes at him, round doe eyes peering into sparkling azure pools.

the look you give him makes his heart do flips and his gaze softens ever so slightly. he can't say no to you, not when you're gazing up at him with those puppy-dog eyes of yours. you’re perfectly aware of the effect you have on him, but that’s not to say you’d ever take advantage of him. if anything, you’re just as smitten.

satoru adores gratifying you, answering to your every beck and call, no matter the request, even if they can be a little odd at times. who was he to deny you anything when you looked so entrancing?

he pretends to ponder, drumming his fingers along the cool ceramic of the sink counter. if you're quiet enough, you might hear the way the gears in his head shift as he puts on a show of overtly dramatised deliberation. it almost makes you snort, but after a minute or two of silence, he caves in, shoulders slumping.

"if it makes you happy," he breathes, flicking his gaze back to you as you perk up with excitement, light practically radiating off of you. he might come to regret this in a few hours, but when he sees the way your eyes sparkle with a radiance that seems so pure, he thinks it won’t be so bad. after all, it is only temporary.

"just so i get to hear it again," he pauses, slender fingers intertwining with yours as he guides you over to him and plops down onto the closed seat of the toilet, long legs splayed on either side of you. "you think i'm gorgeous?"

“not quite yet,” you say, running your fingers through his silver locks, admiring the soft lavender undertones. his glasses are sitting just above the tip of his nose, brilliant sapphire depths on full display. no matter how many times you’ve looked him in the eye,, it always manages to knock the air out of your lungs. “i’ll see what i can do.”

“aren’t you a sweetheart?”

“i am.”

he exhales, humming in agreement as he relaxes under your touch and relishes in the scent of your skin, not the fragrance of perfume or shampoo, but you.

this is nice, you think. free time has always been hard to come by, even more so for gojo than you. things had changed after the star plasma vessel incident. he had changed, and although he did his best to hide it, you knew better. you were there to ground him, to remind him of his humanity and his purpose for becoming a sorcerer. you were there to keep him afloat.

"so!" you clap, startling him enough to knock his glasses askew, "let's get started!"

"booo," he pouts, like some child. he likes to think you're like this because of him, that you've spent so much time with him you've essentially become a miniature satoru gojo. the thought of it makes him feel all warm and mushy inside, something he really only feels with you, despite how popular he is with people.

you get to work, skimming through the pamphlet of instructions. satoru attempts to help you, mostly by staring whilst seated on the toilet, questioning if you really knew what you were doing. you stick out your tongue at him as did he, tugging on his lower eyelid.

you manage to end up with a bowl of bright pink sludge, the scent of chemicals wafting through the enclosed space of your bathroom. satoru grimaces, both at the smell and how awfully pigmented the dye seemed, cautiously eyeing the mixture held between your gloved hands.

“no turning back now.”

“you’re sure this is temporary?”

“mhmm!” you say, throwing a towel over his shoulders to shield his black linen shirt from any stray drops of hair dye. contrary to popular belief, the all-powerful jujutsu sorcerer doesn’t make use of his infinity when there was no real need to, his reasoning something akin to him wanting to experience moments of normalcy with those close to him.

“i’m great aren’t i? strong, handsome with a heart of gold,” he’d said, standing in akimbo.

“in an alternate universe, sure.”

you smile at the memory, recalling the way he tutted when you responded, earning chuckles from both shoko and geto.

“y’know on second thought–” satoru’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts, “maybe blue would be a better option? make my eyes pop and all that,” he stalls, turning to look at you.

“it’s not gonna be this bright toru, it’ll be a lot lighter once we rinse you off. besides, i’ve only got pink right now–“

“great! so we should–“

“but you already said we could–“

and you’re both tugging, trying to grab ahold of the bowl. “toru stop it! you’re gonna–“

splat.

"ah," he blinks.

silence falls between the both of you, letting the sound of droplets hitting the floor echo loud in your ears. you’re wide eyed in disbelief, and it takes you a moment before you press your lips together in a futile attempt to conceal the snort that bubbles from your throat.

———————-

“don’t you look pretty?” geto teases, snapping a photo of satoru’s lifeless body as he sits limp at his desk, looking as if his soul had left his body. you’re sure it did last night after rinsing him off in the shower, fully clothed, the sight of him drenched in fuchsia finding a permanent home in your brain. shoko echoes after the raven-haired boy, resting her head on a closed fist.

satoru’s once moonlit hair now a splotchy mess of soft pink, the hair dye staining his eyebrows an even brighter shade of bubblegum. you had to practically drag him out the bathroom by the feet afterward.

“what have you done?” he whined, voice breaking.

“me?!” you gasped, “you had a part to play in this too!”

it was a miracle he’d even changed out of his wet clothes, albeit it taking around an hour or so. you’re sure he laid on the floor for the rest of the night after you’d left, geto being the first to find him in the exact same position this morning. thankfully, you hadn’t had to drag him to class.

at the very least, this would be another fond memory you’d share together.

[sc0tters]

In The Break | Mat Barzal

summary: the Barzal house is at its breaking point without their key member their to save the day.

request: yes/no

warnings: swearing, grammar that I think a four year old would use.

word count: 2.09k

authors note: this is officially probably one of my favourite (soft) things that I’ve written. Like I can’t get over how cute everyone is. But like weirdly enough I can’t tell if I acc like this so I’m just going to how that it had the luna stamp of approval.

You didn’t think would had ever been more excited to have Mat back home as you were in that moment.

Tilly had been teething and James wanted his father at every waking moment.

Your energy was practically nonexistent as your one year old wasn’t sleeping through the night and that meant that you weren’t either.

It seemed that all three of you were at your wits end and as both kids were sat in the playroom with Tilly sporting her red swollen cheeks. James had gone on about how he couldn’t wait to see his father you knew you were being stupid but it hurt you hearing his praise as he had done nothing but spew the negative words that were in your four year olds Arsenal.

You tried to brush his hair wanting to get him ready for the day “I’m home!” Mat called out as he opened the front door making both kids turn their heads in the direction of him.

Before you knew it you were shoved to the ground as they both seemed to finally behave as they stopped their negative moods “hi baby!” Mat cooed as he crouched down and wrapped his arms around the boy.

Tilly waddled after her brother causing her father to gasp at her improved abilities at walking “where is mama?” The hockey player’s eyes lit up as he saw you tuck your hair behind your ears.

A smile formed on Mat’s lips as he so effortlessly held the children to his sides “hi pretty lady.” It seemed that he didn’t take note of the dark circles that lay under your eyes “was thinking we could go get ice cream with them?” His words cause the kids to cheer as Mat kissed your lips.

That was honestly the last thing you needed to hear. Both kids had won the battle of avoiding nap time until their father got home “Til hasn’t had her nap yet.” You pointed out with a sigh.

You weren’t expecting any shut eye during this time as Mat had been gone for two weeks and you did miss your husband. But you knew that if both kids didn’t try for their naps you would be the one to truly pay the price later on “they won’t be that bad.” As all three sent you a smile you couldn’t help but sigh as you nodded conceding defeat.

It was almost like you could have been a fortune teller. Tilly had cried herself to sleep as she was so grumpy without her teddy that not even Mat’s arms could put her mind at ease.

And your sweet little James had been sat on his fathers lap with every chance he could get.

So now you were not only sleep deprived but you were also feeling neglected.

Mat loved seeing how his kids looked up at him but as he held James in his arms and had Tilly in the carrier as you walked ahead of them to the front door.

Getting Tilly to sleep was easy as you simply placed her in her cot where Mat offered to take over in changing her into her pyjamas. James on the other hand began to have a fit as he realised that his father was nowhere in sight as you sat down on his bed with a book “daddy daddy daddy!” He complained kicking his legs “J daddy is with Tilly right now.” You sighed opening the book.

Yet that seemed to aggravate your son further “I want daddy not you.” Again you knew that James didn’t know the gravity of his words but in that moment you wanted to just break down.

You tried to ignore him as you began reading “I hate you momma where’s daddy!” Having children was another moment of learning how to bite your tongue and you had been doing so much better “you think I want to be here either!” You yelled back finally letting your anger go “I’m tired and for the last two weeks you have treated me like I’m not here!” As James flinched your eyes went wide.

Not once in the four years of being his mom had you ever raised your voice “J I’m-” before you could reach out to apologise Mat walked in “daddy!” James cheered.

Mat sent you a look of concern as you got up “think he wants you to read this.” You mumbled shoving the book into his hands as you let the door shut behind you “momma always said this was a book huh?” Mat smiled as he nestled into the mattress as James rested against him.

Guilt drowned you as you sat with your hands around your knees letting the warm water from the shower land on your back before the droplets slowly dripped down your skin. Tears painted your cheeks as you so badly just wanted to wake up and see that this was all just some bad dream “baby?” Mat called out as he walked into the bedroom.

It didn’t take him long to realise that you were in the shower “shit y/n!” Your husband didn’t care that he walked into the shower with all of his clothes still on.

In one quick movement Mat helped you up before he pulled you into a hug “Mat!” You cried as the hockey player reached behind you to turn the shower off.

Your tears soaked his shirt as you realised all the things you are frustrated about, not being able to make Tilly feel better as she teethed, James deciding that he hated you and how you let it get to you. But most of all how Mat came in and ruined the schedule you set with the kids.

Usually you wouldn’t have cared if they missed a day but you were tired and felt unloved and for that you let it irritate you today.

So you pushed Mat away as he handed you a towel “baby?” He was surprised to see the glare you sent him as you wiped your eyes.

Mat stood there with wide eyes “you went against me today.” The only rule you had about being parents was that you two had to remain united and that’s kind of hard when he ignores your scheduling.

He remained silent as you continued “how am I meant to keep it together here when you come in and play god or some shit becoming their favourites all over again.” You knew you were being stupid but it made you want to cry as you thought about it when your throat grew tight.

The hockey player scoffed “sorry that when I don’t see the kids for two weeks I want to go do something fun with them!” He felt like your statement was beyond aggressive as it quickly turned into a screaming match “Mat I told you that they needed to sleep and you still went with what you wanted!” Before he could even think about his rebuttal the baby monitor went off.

Tilly’s cries pulled your attention away from your husband “I would go but I’d hate to fuck with her sleep schedule.” Mat’s words had you rolling your eyes as you wrapped the towel around your body “fuck off Mat.” You spat shaking your head as you walked out of your room and down the hall to hers.

Her eyes grew full as she turned her head to see you “hi my love.” You cooed picking her small body up letting her head rest against your shoulder.

Usually you weren’t one for picking her up and rather just showing her that you were there but tonight you needed a hug from someone who seemed happy to see you.

So you two stood like that for fifteen minutes as your gentle swaying of your body caused her to finally settle “good night my girl.” You placed her back into her crib before you brought your fingers to your lip kissing them before you let them press softly on her forehead.

The darkness of the hallway back to your room reminded you of the state that of chaos that you had left Mat in.

You nervously chewed at the inside of your cheek before you took a final deep breath and pushed the door open.

Mat seemed like a shell of himself as he had the baby cam in his hand as he replayed the footage of you humming some random rhyme as Tilly fell asleep “I never know how you do that with her.” Mat blurted out as you were always the one to save them when the kids woke up in the night.

It was a taken that Mat could never even fathom as he tried everything but most of the time their own tiredness would come back and bring them into a deep sleep.

Wanting to discard the towel you found one of Mats shirts that you had folded that morning so you put that on instead of your own clothes. You remained quiet as you brought the towel to the bathroom unaware of how Mat followed you “I don’t mean to always play good cop with them it’s just that I’m not always around in the season and-” Mat rambled on as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Now your guilt about lashing out at him came out “it’s fine babe.” You shook off his thoughts as you turned to face him “no it’s not.” It was clear that the hockey player wanted you and the kids around more than he got to see you “you’re their great mom and an even greater wife to me.” His hands wrapped around your neck as you hugged him.

Somehow that contact felt different to the one from thirty minutes ago. This time it was with love and care as he watched you smile when his lips pressed against your head “you deserve to be treated better than you are.” Mat had tried coming up with the lecture for James but he didn’t know how to do it without getting angry at his son.

Sure two years ago James was a total momma’s boy who refused to be with anyone who wasn’t you but Mat knew that if James spoke to him the way he had spoken to you, Mat would have lost it.

Maybe it sounded stupid but you had both gone through your insecure moments with the kids and you were now realising that “can we go to bed then?” You yawned finally wanting that sleep that you had waited so long for.

Mat laughed as he nodded “let’s go.” He watched as you pulled him out of the room back into your bedroom where your bed was a sight for sore eyes.

The next morning you woke up to the sound of giggles and Bluey blaring through the speakers of the tv downstairs. Mat wasn’t next to you so he had obviously woken up to spend time with the kids.

You yawned stretching out as you smiled to yourself letting your back comfortably rest on the mattress “momma?” A soft voice came from the door causing you to look up.

James stood there with his plushie that Tito had brought him back from Vancouver over the summer “hi J,” before you could say anything more your eldest was running into your room as he jumped onto your bed and quickly into your arms.

The sight warmed your heart “what is it my baby?” You cooed running your fingers through his hair “I love you,” James looked up at you with tears in his eyes causing you to frown.

Your finger wiped at his cheek “I love you so much love why are you crying?” You didn’t mean for your words to come out confused as you tried to soothe the boy.

James fiddled with your bracelet, a habit he picked up watching you do it when you were nervous “sorry I yell at you in room.” Your mom had told you that you were going to have moments where you knew you were a good parent and this felt like it was that.

You gave the boy a squeeze as you kissed the top of his head “I’m sorry too.” You mumbled with both you turning to the door as you heard someone walk up the stairs “you two got room for two more?” Mat asked as he pressed a kiss to Tilly’s cheek drawing a giggle from her lips.

The sight gave you so much joy as your heart felt full “always.”

[alexa-fika]

Fists for Family (Rayleigh x gn!child!reader x Shakky)

A/N: Here we go! Originally, this was going to be just Rayleigh with Shakky just having one line or one action, but we need that grandma action. Who do guys want to see interacting with a child next?

Dividers by @saradika

Rayleigh sat in the Shakky’s Rip-off bar, sipping his drink and speaking with his wife, when his attention was pulled away from her to a newcomer.

“Oh Dear, What did you do now?” He asks as he sighs, setting his glass down.

“So-rry Grandpa,” the small child drawls

Rayleigh raises an eyebrow.

“Reader, Did you get into another fight?”

“…yeah,” they mutter.

Rayleigh is quick to give them a quick slap to the back of the head.

“Ow! Grandpa, what was that for! Grandma Grandpa is being mean!”

Rayleigh gives them a hard look.

“To knock some sense into you, you always get in trouble like this, yet you never learn!”

“He’s right, Honey; you’ll get really hurt one day if you keep this up,” Shakky says exhaling the smoke in a thin wisp.

“But Grandpa, Grandma, they deserved it!”

Rayleigh shakes his head, looking at the child.

“It doesn’t matter if they did deserve it! You need to learn self-restraint! You don’t walk around beating people up whenever they wrong you!”

“Why not?!” they yell at him.

Rayleigh delivers a second slap to the back of their head.

“Ow! Grandpa, that really hurts! Grandma!” they call again, hoping she will save them.

She simply gives them a smile and shakes her head, holding the cigarette between her fingers.

“Good! I hope you remember that when you think of getting into another pointless fight for no reason again.”

They pout, rubbing the back of their head.

“I hope that attitude sticks around. Now, what was this fight about hm? Or should I find out later from an angry mob again?”

“That was one time, Grandpa! He was insulting you! And then went crying to his dad, who happened to be the mayor.” The child protests, crossing their arms.

Rayleigh raises an eyebrow.

“What was it this time?” the old man says, waving his previous statement off.

The child fidgets slightly at the question.

“Hm?” Rayleigh presses, clearly noticing the child’s reluctance to answer.

The child mutters something under their breath.

Rayleigh leans in, placing his hands together and resting his elbows on the table as he stares at the child with curious eyes.

“What was that?”

“…they were insulting you again.”

The old man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“That’s what started this?”

They nod, rubbing their arm nervously

He sighs, motioning Reader to come closer

They step towards him, still avoiding his eyes even as he picks them up, placing them on his lap.

Rayleigh gently puts a hand on their cheek.

“Look at me, reader.”

They glance at him.

“Do not let them get to you, Reader. I am not fragile, and you do not have to defend me every time they make a snide remark.”

“I know, but it’s not fair how they talk about you, Grandpa!”

Rayleigh smiles and hugs them tightly.

“I know it isn’t fair, but you must remember that people like that are not worth your time and energy. Let them babble nonsense about me and come to me with it instead. Do not let their snide remarks get to you, though. Okay..?”

“Good..and promise me you won’t go around hitting people when they say something you don’t like?”

“I’ll try”

“Hm, better than nothing.” The old man sighs and pats their head.

“Now let me see,” Shakky says, gesturing to their arm.

“But it’s gonna hurt!”

Rayleigh sighs and ruffles their hair.

“Stop whining; listen to your Grandmother.”

They groan, showing her their arm where a new cut adorned their skin.

Shakky humed as she examined the cut. It wasn’t a bad one, but it was still enough to require at least some sort of care-taking.

Rayleigh looked back at Reader and spoke softly.

“This is why you shouldn’t just attack people blindly just because you don’t like what they say.”

The woman looked at them for a moment before sighing and picking them up from her husband’s lap.

“You’re coming with me, and we’re going to properly treat that.”

“Rayleigh, could you pass me the rubbing alcohol? It’s on the cabinet over there.”

Rayleigh swiftly stands and walks to the bartender’s side of the bar, opens the cabinet, and grabs a bottle of alcohol, handing it to his wife.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you, Dear”

“Now don’t you worry, Reader, if you behave, then this won’t hurt at all,” she says as she puts her cigarette in her mouth and inhales.

Rayleigh nods and smiles before Shakky starts pouring the alcohol over the cut, and he places a small bandage on it. Reader winces at the pain but tries to remain still.

“There you go, dear. It’s not a big cut, so it will be good as new in a few days, As long as you don’t get into any more fights.” Rayleigh comments

The old man turns to shake a finger at the child sternly, but the scolding is just an act as he tries to hide the soft chuckle.

The child giggles at his grandpa’s antics.

“Thank you, and sorry.”

Rayleigh laughs and ruffles their hair.

“Just don’t let it happen again, sweetheart. I do not enjoy fixing you up after a fight.”

He remembers something and glances toward the child in his wife’s hands.

“So, did you win?”

“Of course I did; I’m your grandchild, after all,” she grins, giving him a peace sign.

He laughs and gives them a quick kiss on the forehead,

“That you are. I expect nothing less from my grandchild.”

Shakky shakes her head with a smile on her face, kissing their forehead as well.

What should I try next? I really like these child!reader scenarios, do you guys like them or would you prefer other scenarios? Romantic maybe? Or maybe platonic friends?

[caliburn-not-calculator]

I ramble about: VR-LA’s Character Arc

I feel like I’m just saying loads of the obvious with this but I still wanna say it cause it’s in my head and won’t leave.

Anyway, heads up for mention of: Suicidal Ideation and Tendencies

VR-LA’s story starting from a place of absolute aloneness and even suicidal ideation, but ending with so many families, friends, and homes and a promise made in the maze of life to keep on going… It has me feeling things

He begins with nothing but flimsy phantom feelings from his past and his strengthening relationship with his friends keeping him stable. And, as seen with the Zuggtmoy madness and the despondency well, without them he ends up right back in that spiral. Right back in that trap of wondering it it would better to have not woken up on the ship.

Later, his isolation through his wish and utter dedication finding his old crew puts a slight wedge that relationship. His drive to find his past nearly breaks his present, and he ends up having to reconstruct both his bonds with them (though minorly) and his old crew. It’s the thing that leads him to try and leave his past in the past, and focus on what he has now. He tells Dani that when he dies it’ll be on this ship, that he isn’t going anywhere. He picks this life over the old one. That connection to his family and home that has kept him going, now stronger… but not yet healthy, not yet healed. The stubborn refusal to leave his past comminuted to be put to rest through season 4 now he’s learned how unhealthy it was to dwell on it. Killing Endellion, proclaiming to his old crew that the old him is gone, being willing to give up the ship to Dani. Being willing to give up and leave behind the home he once pledged to die on. All of that showing how his outlook has progressed from the Then, to the Now, setting up the lead in to the Later he comes to look forward to in season 5.

But at this point, VR-LA’s pledge to die on the ship is still standing, until all of sudden that declaration is thrown into question by his promise to Maxim. An unexpected moment, maybe considered quietly in the back of his mind for awhile, but now coming to a head at the wake up call that is Maxim’s constant refutes to VR-LA risking his life. Maybe it wasn’t fully true at the time, maybe it was part desperate ploy to win him over and part the first realisation that the future he had always thought inevitable didn’t have to be. Whatever it was, that first promise set him on the path to looking not just back, not just around, but forward.

An episode later, VR-LA is lost in the not so metaphorical maze of life. He knows his past and how he feels about it, he knows his present and all the new bonds he’s formed in this second life. But the question of what comes next looms before him, despite his gripes with what happened before, this is the major decision he faces. And it isn’t the death on the ship he always thought would come, the death he once considered accepting while adrift, but rather… life. What he finds and chooses at the end of the maze is a long life, well lived. The exact opposite of everything he thought he had always been moving toward.

I was not expecting to find a story about coming to heal from suicidal ideation in my silly autism robit but oh boy… oh fucking hell is it there.

AND THEN, how he literally ends the series with a proclamation that no longer is he going to “die on this ship” or “wonder if it would be better to not wake up”, but that he’s taking dying of old age a challenge. How he refuses anything less than that. How despite his new dangerous position, despite stepping up and not back, he is not looking for anything less than that future he found at the end of the maze.

VR-LA starts too focused on the past, moves on to trying to focus on his present, then eventually the future. And if that progression wasn’t good enough, by the end he manages to have them all. His memories and old crew, the crew of the Per Aspera and a life of adventure, his increasingly pivotal role as magister and his aim to grow old.

Like, when I first heard the silly “Hello! I am VR-LA :D” and “Will you be our captain?” robot, I was not expecting a story about overcoming suicidal tendencies and growing to accept and combine all aspects of yourself. Like, fucking hell WHY IS HE LIKE THIS HSJDBDKDBDKFB

It’s such a well done arc for an improv show, and yeah there’s the little awkward unclear points but overall it’s so fulfilling and complete, while leaving further room to settle and heal. Right from season one he proclaims it’s the fight against entropy that makes life worth living, and the the whole show he fights that fight with himself. He goes from someone willing, and perhaps even on some level wanting, to die, to someone actively fighting for the opposite. He goes from empty of will to live and memory to, in his own words, “overflowing”.

Anyway, I love this silly robot, he makes me feel too many things, and I can’t wait to see what new stories come to pass next campaign.

[one-idea]

Part three of shanks raising ASL

First - Previous - Next

This time with some Mishanks.

Going back in time a little, while Shanks was away looking for the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Mihawk made his way to the East Blue to visit his old rival turned…something more.

It’s been a while since Mihawk had seen Shanks. He knows that Shanks went to the East Blue to look for something and wouldn’t return to the grandline until he found it. But going from seeing Shanks once a week (at least) to not seeing him at all for a few months has been…trying. In short he misses him. Though he’d never admit it to the younger man. So he sets off. He’s been bored and needs a good duel. (And to kiss his boyfriend but that’s neither here nor there)

He meets up with Shanks as he’s looking for the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Just after Shanks vowed to come back for Luffy. Mihawk is shocked to see his lover without his treasured hat. He knows how much that hat means to his lover and he is more than willing to go slaughter whoever took it from him.

Shanks has to quickly explain to him that, no the hat hasn’t been destroyed, he just gave it to someone. And Mihawk is shook because Shanks would rather die then separate from his captain’s beloved hat. Who could possible be important enough that Shanks would part with his hat?

So Shanks tells him about the precious little boy on Dawn island. The little boy he’s adopting. And it didn’t occur to him until this very moment that Mihawk might not want to be involved in this. He loves Mihawk and doesn’t want to lose what they have. But he won’t break his promise to Luffy. So if this is a deal breaker he’ll understand. Mihawk didn’t sign up to have a kid with him. Shanks made a decision that will effect both of their lives without consulting Mihawk at all, and while he feels bad about it he doesn’t regret his promise to Luffy. “That kids going to change the world. I just know it”

Mihawk is shocked. He never thought about kids. He knew Shanks never wanted a kid running around the Red Force. His own childhood on the Oro Jackson might have been filled with love but was also so dangerous and chaotic and he knew Shanks didn’t want to give his own children such an upbringing. This Luffy had to be something amazing to make Shanks change his mind in that stance.

“I’ll have to meet this Luffy. See for myself if he’s as special as you say.”

Mihawk isn’t agreeing to raise Luffy (not yet) but he’s not saying no. Honestly Shanks couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome. Mihawk isn’t walking away. In fact it’s as close to a yes and he knows Mihawk is willing to give him. And now he gets to introduce his two favorite people. And Mihawk’s going to stay with them until they go see Luffy! This is great.

It takes a few months before they find the Gomu Gomu no Mi. It was great for their relationship, giving them the time to reaffirm their commitments to each other and strengthen their bond. While also giving Mihawk the chance to process that he might have a son soon. There’s no debating that Luffy is Shanks’ son. Not with the way the man talks about his baby, nor the fond way the crew talks about him. But Mihawk has time to learn about Luffy from the crew and search his own heart on what sort of role he’d be comfortable having in this child’s life. He doesn’t want to lose Shanks but a kid is a lot. It changes everything and he deserves time to process that.

He’s excited to meet the kid (though he’s not showing it on the outside) as they approach Dawn Island. But Shanks can’t sense the kid and puts himself into a panic. A panic that only worsens when they arrive at Party Bar and Makino has no idea where Luffy is. That Garp the Fist, hero of the marines, took the boy and is apparently his grandfather? (Shanks sure knows how to get them into trouble)

They start searching the island for the little boy and Mihawk hopes that they find him. He doesn’t want to think about how Shanks will react if they can’t.

Everyone regroups at Party Bar empty handed. Everyone but Shanks, who has yet to arrive. Mihawk can feel Shanks approaching the bar, but he’s not alone and Mihawk can only hope that one of the three strange presence with Shanks is Luffy.

Little did he know that Shanks would be walking up to this bar with not one, not two, but three little boys. He can safely assume that the littlest boy, who is being carried in Shanks’ arms and talking a mile a minute is Luffy. It helps that he is proudly wearing Shanks’ old straw hat. But the other two boys who are trailing close behind are a mystery. The blond one has his eyes on Shanks and Luffy, watching them with the same intensity Mihawk watches marines, a prey object that is one mistake away from losing its life. The third little boy is trailing behind, his head on a constant swivel. One moment he’s watching Shanks, the next the trail behind them, in front, to the sides, and back to Shanks. A protector is Mihawk had ever seen one, however scrawny the boy maybe.

Mihawk and Benn approach them quickly. With a quick glance at each other Mihawk can tell that Benn does not recognize the other two boys either. But that doesn’t matter once they reach them.

All three boys have been roughed up. Shanks calling for Hongo as soon as he is in range. Mihawk is quick to look the boys over. The blond seems the least injured, but the little protector and Luffy have obviously suffered a beating. A bad one. And one look at Shanks tells him his lover is about to lose it.

Hongo arrives quickly and goes to grab Luffy. Shanks instinctually pulls the little boy closer making the little protector and the blond behind him tense up.

“Let Hongo do his job.” Mihawk is quick to step in. Luffy and the other boys need care and Shanks needs to calm down. All three boys are reading and responding to Shanks emotions. If he doesn’t trust his doctor in this moment the boys won’t either.

Shanks locks in to Mihawk and calms. He knows he’s being ridiculous but in his defense he just found out Luffy has been kidnapped and beaten TWICE since he was away. It’s hard to let go, but he trusts Hongo. He lets the doctor take Luffy from him and introduces the other two boys, Ace and Sabo, telling them to go with Hongo and get checked out.

Once the boys are gone Mihawk and Benn are ready for answers. Although they are asking different questions.

“Who did this?” Benn asks wanting to know who hurt their boy.

“And are they dead?” Mihawk has spent less then five minutes in the boys presence but he can see the way the boy effects his lover. How much Shanks loves Luffy. Anything or anyone who thought they could hurt Mihawk’s loved would die for their insolence. (And isn’t it terrifying to think that that small circle is about to grow by not one but three people. Mihawk knows Shanks. Knows that the other two little boys are likely to get swept up by him as well. And what does it say about Mihawk that he’s already making room in his heart form them? What has Shanks done to him?)

Shanks explains the situation to them. That a pirate crew had attacked Luffy twice for stealing treasure from them. He doesn’t know the whole situation (At this point he doesn’t know that Sabo’s father was involved) just knows that some noble was involved and was trying to take Sabo while beating Ace and Luffy.

The crew is furious. Yasopp and Lucky Roux had come over to join them at some point and they are furious.

The two pirates are staring to shout plans for revenge and Benn is on board but wanting to hear what Shanks has planned. But Mihawk cuts them all off. “You didn’t answer my question.” He levels Shanks with a hard look, “Are they dead?”

“No.” Shanks sounds angry, he is. “I knocked them out with conquers haki.” Mihawk makes a noise that sounds unimpressed but Shanks knows he’s questioning why that was all he had done. It’s been a point of contention between them before with Shanks avoiding bloodshed when he can and Mihawk cut first and if its strong enough to survive, then ask questions later mentality. “I wasn’t about to traumatize those kids by slaughtering those men in front of them.” Shanks defends his decision but Mihawk has already turned his attention to the path Shanks had come down.

“They’re up this path?” Is all he asks. He agrees with Shanks’ decision to not traumatize the kids more. But he’s not going to say that out loud. Shanks knows. Knows from the way Mihawk is moving on with the conversation that he agrees with Shanks’ decision. 

“Ya head up the hill and take a left when the path splits can’t miss them.” Shanks responds easily enough.

“Then let’s go handle this.” Yasopp is ready to go when Mihawk starts walking.

“That won’t be necessary.” He’s already making his way up the path.

“Hey it’s our kid they hurt.” Yasopp argues. He knows Mihawk cares for the captain, and the crew to an extent but he’s never been good at reading Mihawk. No one really is except for Shanks and Benn. But Mihawk doesn’t have the same relationship they do to Luffy. This isn’t his fight.

Mihawk doesn’t even break his stride. “Which is why he will be far more comfortable with all of you around. I’ll go deal with the rift raft. You stay here and take care of the kids.” He’s right. Luffy will be far more comfortable and more importantly Save with their crew around. The boy doesn’t know Mihawk, yet, so he would be less likely to stick around in the swordsman’s care.

Plus Mihawk has been feeling the need to slice something in half since this morning, when they arrived to this island and Shanks had entered panic mode. He hadn’t been able to calm Shanks (nothing would until Luffy was found) he is not the one who found the boy, and he’s more than a little over feeling useless. This he can do. He can remove anyone who dares to harm what’s his. Plus Shanks can stay with his boy and crew and relax in the knowledge that Mihawk will take care of it. (And isn’t it nice to know that Shanks trusts him with this. As his lover isn’t calling out or trying to stop him)

Later the island shakes from his attacks. It’s over quickly but he’s quite happy with the fear he struck into these low lives hearts before he cuts them down. The noble might lead to future problems but for now his corpse brings Mihawk joy. If the Navy asks he can always deny his involvement. A noble wondered to the wrong side of the island and got cut down but pirates. How sad.

He starts to make his way back to Party Bar content that the danger is gone and he can now meet the boy Shanks adores without interference. And they can figure out the other two little boys and their parental situations. (He’s not already thinking about adoption that’s Shanks thing okay)

What he is not expecting is the pandemonium he walks into of

One very distressed red head

One cursing little boy saying things that would make marines blush

One little blond trying to not have a panic attack

And one stretchy boy sobbing on the floor about never being able to swim again

Mihawk will never know peace again.

[awoogayanderes]

WHO DOES MY HEART STAY WITH ?

➪ request : “what would be the last reader's reaction when dazai left the mafia? Would she stay with aku and mourn or would she go with him?” - anonymous

➪ other notes : this is kinda not a request but i loved the idea of it so i’ll give you both options, anon is also talking about “our hearts are never meant to be”

SCENARIO ONE : BETRAYING THE MAFIA AND LEAVING WITH DAZAI

you stared at dazai as he held his hand out, waiting for you to accompany him. he wouldn’t leave you, he wasn’t capable to. he explained what happened and what he planned to do in order to honor oda’s last wish. “are you ready to accept your consequences?” you asked looking at him in his eyes. “yes, i’m ready,” and with that you took his hand, officially leaving the one home you had, the port mafia.

when akutagawa found out that not only his mentor but you also betrayed and fled the mafia, anger and disgust surged through his body. he was angry at you, knowing that you knew you were the first person to show him a dime of kindness. he was disgusted at himself for not being enough for you and dazai, for not being a reason for you to stay. yet he always took any mission against other organizations, hoping that one day he’d see you again.

he does eventually find out that you work for some detective agency along with his old mentor. coincidentally both of you were on a mission against each other yet you can’t help but freeze when you see the young man you previously knew as timid and small. “ryūnosuke,” you say, your voice the same kind of soft as four years ago on that hill. he slowly retracts rashomon when he sees you.

after that, he simply leaves, hatred flowing through his veins as an old feeling starts panging in his heart. he hates you. he hates that you became a better person without a second glimpse at him. he hates how you look at him with pity and sadness in your eyes. the worst part is that there’s nothing he can do to stop craving that kindness you always held. he hates himself for feeling this way towards you.

SCENARIO TWO : STAYING IN THE MAFIA WITH AKUTAGAWA BY YOUR SIDE

you stared at mori frozen as he told you that dazai would no longer be working in the mafia. the older man looked at you condescendingly, your relationship with mori was confusing to say the least, he had warned you about dazai almost immediately after he took you in. yet here you are now, for the first time not smiling in years, dazai actually left..?

you didn’t talk to anyone weeks after that, even the coaxing from chuuya didn’t help. you were in shock, you weren’t sad, you weren’t angry, you were just surprised. you hadn’t seen akutagawa in that while but you wondered how he took it. now sitting on the same hill as the sun rose, blurring out the previous night sky. you felt someone sit next to you on the grass, the same man you sat with months ago.

silence enveloped both of you, but this time it wasn’t comforting, it was suffocating. “i didn’t expect him to leave,” you say breaking the silence. akutagawa stays silent as do you, sharing this quiet moment. betrayal comes easiest from those who you think will stick by you through good and bad. that’s what you learned in the mafia, yet it hurt regardless.

akutagawa keeps to his word, not trying anything on you, but still pining for you, even more now as you rose through ranks. four years later, and you’re still the only person he’s had such feelings for. even if you still look at dazai with admiration the few times you saw him after his betrayal, he won’t hold it against you. he knows he’s only supposed to pine for you, never try anything else. but at least you’re here.

[justjensenanddean]

Jensen Ackles Solo Panel | JIBCon 2023 (June 17, 2023)

(NuttyForAckles)

Jensen was headbanging to Smells Like Teen Spirit with Jason, then mentioned that he has that "writer‘s strike hair flow". (x)

jensen will be at the monday concert (x)

‘Take the guitar away, I’ll just sing on Monday!’ (x)

Monday‘s band will be called "No Rob". (x)

Jensen has always wanted to go to Brazil. But when he finally got there, they had so much work to do that he had to stay in the hotel and he never left. He didn’t get to meet locals or see anything. In his mind he hasn’t been there yet. (x)

His prep for Beau Arlen & Ben? Since he didn’t have the history he had with Dean, he had to dig into personal feelings. (x)

Jensen has a major short term memory to learn lines but his long term memory isn’t as good. He has intense scenes and then purges the feelings. (x)

As Beau, he took what he’d feel if the things were happening to his daughter and then tailored it a bit. A lot of Dean was him. As Soldier Boy, for the scene with Butcher about his dad, he dove into Dean and John, because he has a good relationship with his dad. (x)

And in the end he just pretended. Some people can do it and some can’t. Some can paint, some can write, some can do Math. He can’t draw a stick figure, but he can *play* (x)

Dean and Soldier Boy were both just looking for their father’s approval. Jensen jokes that he wondered if he was being type cast. Ben had an opportunity to make it better with his son & grandson, but in the end he reverted back to his DNA. (x)

jensen said that for emotional scene he filmed for soldier boy (about soldier boy's father) he leaned into dean's relationship with john (because jensen has good rs with his own father) (x) he joked about getting type casted for characters with basically daddy issues (x)

Jensen and Jared have both been invited to Hot Ones and wanted to do it years ago, but they couldn’t work it out. And now they have stars so big, he probably won’t get invited anymore. (x)

someone asked about the rumors about batman and jensen was like “i don’t know” “even i know about it i’m not telling you” and he started laugh. (x)

What about being in a top 3 list to play Batman? He doesn’t know, but even if he would know, he wouldn’t tell us. Could he do it? Sure. Does he want to? Yes. (x)

‘When I’m Batman, does my voice have to be… much different?’ (x)

Musical interruption. Jensen is confused and wants to keep answering questions. (x)

The music indicated that he had to spin the wheel. It lands on “drink” and he hugs the wheel, “it’s like it knows me”. He doesn’t actually pour one though but goes back to answering. (x)

(NuttyForAckles)

There were many scenes surrounding the Impala where Jensen had to become Dean and he’d yell at the team when they were driving it or when Jared banged against the car or fart in it. “Not on the seat, she’s been through enough.” So he knew he had to own the car. (x)

One of his old friends got offered Eric Brady on DooL and he called Jensen before accepting. Jensen said “great, knock it out of the park.” (x)

Apparently Mr Rhodes, his first job, was a multicamera sitcom. It was the best schedule he’s been on so far. Soap Opera is next because they have 40+ actors. They will shoot all 80 pages his character has consecutively, shoot an hour or two. They produce one episode in 1hr (x)

You start by 9 am and get a few short breaks, end of the day, 7:30 pm, 80 pages done and he can go home. Daytime actors don’t get enough credit for having to jam in so much story in a short time. On The Boys they get 15 days for 1 episode. (8 on SPN). (x)

One of the actresses on DooL told him first day „hit your mark, say your lines, stay out of my light“. He said „yes ma’am“, earned her respect and she took care of him big time later. (x)

When he went to lunch with Alison Sweeney, who played his evil twin sister, she got heckled and Jensen defended her immediately. She told him to stop because if people hate her, that means she‘s doing her job. (x)

Rich tells us that Jensen is a sitcom and he has his own catchphrase. He plays Jensen entering the set at morning or any room late. "What are we doing?" He has developed a special greeting with Richard out of it. (x)

(NuttyForAckles)

Jensen spend several birthdays in Brad Creasser‘s house, with his wife cooking him dinner. He‘s a good friend of Richard‘s too. Rich acts out a scene on set one day and Jensen is in tears. (x)

When Jensen walked on set of Big Sky, he also went "What are we doing?" Nobody answered, so he repeated it louder. (x)

(Julie_Fleming)

[ezdotjpg]

Supply Run

Hello here's a fic I wrote about Loft taking a trip back to Skyloft, pre the plot of bonus links. 1381 words!

Link’s favorite errand, head and shoulders above the competition, is making the trek up to Skyloft for a supply refresh. It’s why Zelda continues to ask him to do it, despite the fact that he always takes roughly 6 hours longer than he’s strictly meant to, and forgets at least one item on the list more than half the time. He should remind her, for the millionth time, that he loves her very much. 

“Thanks again, Luv!” he calls behind him as he makes to leave her stall, satchel full of all the necessary elixir ingredients they’ve been running low on. He double checked the list this time. Triple checked it, even. 

“Fly safe, now!” Luv shouts back, and even with his back turned he can imagine her shaking her comically large ladle after him. “I see you out there pulling stunts, you’ll give us all a heart attack one day!”

Link thinks he flies perfectly safe, thank you very much, but he promises to be very careful, and makes his escape from the Bazaar. Sunshine warming his face against the chill, he continues down the ramp, over the bridge, and into the residential quarter of the island. Few of the island’s older adults have agreed to make the move down to the surface yet, so while the area’s quiet, there’s still life in the buildings. He makes his rounds, popping in to each home to say hello and listen to the latest news, often several times over. 

“You’re looking thin again,” Henya frets, giving him a once over with a shrewd eye. “Are you sure you kids are growing enough food down there?”

He assures her that this year’s harvest was the best one yet, but she sends him off with several flasks of soup anyway, enough that he has to wedge them haphazardly in the satchel to make it all fit. 

“You look tired,” Batreaux tells him. He’d been overjoyed by the somewhat wonkily carved Keese Link had made to dress up the windowsill of his new home on Skyloft proper. Now, his brow is furrowed as he putters through his kitchen cabinets. “I’ve got a tea that might help, where in the world did it run off to?”

The packet of tea takes the Keese figure’s place in Link’s pocket, and as the door closes behind him, he tries to remember how many minutes Batreaux told him to steep it for. He never gets it quite right.

With all his visits finished, he lingers in the village square, pointedly not looking at the docks. He walks back to the neighborhood and checks on the island’s pumpkin crop, which looks fine. He catches a few sky stag beetles, and then lets most of them go. He sits by the waterfall and munches on a stamina fruit, kicking his legs over the side and getting his boots all wet. 

He’s half finished formulating a plan to break into his old academy room for no reason in particular before he finally, painfully decides that actually, it’s probably better to return home. Before the sun sets, and Crimson won’t fly anymore, and he’s forced to spend the night. Again. What a tragedy that would be. 

Back at the docks, he makes sure the satchel is buckled securely, briefly laments the ache in his knees, and takes off at run. At the last second, he twists his body around, launching off the edge with his arms out and his back to the land below. 

Link closes his eyes against the glare of the sun, and lets himself enjoy the freefall. His stomach swoops, his body weightless. Crisp air fills his lungs, the same air that tugs at his clothes and tickles his face with his hair. Falling on the surface is never quite this peaceful. Over the course of his quest, he learned what it meant to truly hit the ground, to feel flesh bruise and bones crunch. He made enough wrong footed steps, took tumbles off edges so high he thought they’d be the end of him, scrambling for the sailcloth.

Down below, there’s no failsafe, no guarantee that someone will catch you. The ground rushes up to meet you so fast. But here in the sky, he knows no one will ever let him fall too far. 

Speaking of, the couple of knights that still circle the island are probably getting antsy by now. He gives himself two more counts, taking them slow in his head, before bringing his fingers to his mouth. He whistles one sharp, clear note, and flips himself over into the proper position. It’s only a few seconds more before a familiar call answers. 

He grabs onto Crimson’s harness easily, though the rapid change in speed as she pulls up sends a painful zap up his bad arm. Crimson clicks her beak in apology, like she knows. He pets the soft fur of her back to soothe her. It’s his own fault, really.

It’s getting late. Batraeux was right about one thing: he is tired. He really shouldn’t do much besides simply flying home. 

But he sees Crimson so rarely these days, and her joy is a warm flare in the back of his mind. They circle around the islands scattered around Skyloft, making twirls and loops until he’s breathless from a combination of laughter and exertion, and the sun is beginning to hang dangerously low. Crimson begins her reluctant descent. 

As she hovers high above his front yard, Link gives her a hug around her neck, careful not to squeeze too hard. 

“Thank you,” he says. “See you next time.”

The jolt that runs through him as the sailcloth catches his weight certainly doesn’t help his arm, and he grits his teeth against it. Like always, Crimson stays in sight until his feet touch the ground. He stays rooted to the spot as well, waving after her until her form disappears over the treetops. 

It’s like a spell has broken. He lets his left hand drop, and all of a sudden, his limbs feel so heavy. It’s possible he’s overdone it a little. Every muscle in his body has a complaint it would very much like to lodge. The altitude change sticks in his lungs, makes the air feel thick enough he almost wants to cough. But he’d still call it the good kind of exhausted, the satisfied kind. With any luck, he’ll sleep so well tonight he won’t even dream. Dead on his feet, he shuffles his way onto the porch and inside the house. 

He kicks his boots off by the door, dropping the satchel as gently as he can manage it. Zelda looks up from where she’d been writing in a notebook on the couch, eyes crinkling as soon as she spots him. The house is full of warm, spiced smells and sizzling sounds, which implies that Groose is busy making dinner in the kitchen. If Link listens close, he can almost hear Groose humming.

“Welcome home, love,” Zelda says, setting her notebook aside. She doesn’t comment on his lateness, her smile knowing. He thinks, maybe, that it looks a little sad, too. That he misses it so much, that he lingers so long every time he gets the chance. Everyone on the surface misses Skyloft, but it’s different for him, isn’t it? It’s different. He can’t hide anything from her. 

Pushing the thought out of his mind, he makes a beeline over to the couch with the last of his energy, and flops over to join her. His head lands in her lap, and he can feel her body shake as she laughs at him. 

“That good, huh?” she teases. He makes a vaguely affirmative noise, curling up comfortably as her hand comes to rest on his head. He feels every ache and pain acutely now that he’s no longer standing, but it’s easy to ignore with Zelda’s fingers combing through his hair.

“Did you get everything on the list?”

“Mhm.”

“Double checked?”

“Mhm.”

“Hey, was that Link just now?” That one is Groose’s voice. It sounds closer when he speaks next, like he’s poked his head around the corner. “Babe, no sleeping yet! Dinner’s gonna be ready soon!”

“Don’t worry,” Zelda says. He’s already failing at Groose’s request. “I’ll wake you.”

[thee-horny-thicky]

Hi, I absolutely adore your work and was wondering if you could do another Gyutaro merman fic. NGL they are so addicting but in the fic could he be a siren and leads you in with his trance.

best regards and thank youuu!

Thank you so much! Merman Gyutaro was so fun to write, and his fine ass being a siren makes sense. So, I present Love Song, an SFW siren Gyutaro fic. Enjoy!

Love Song

When he first saw you, Gyutaro thought you’d make for easy prey. You were a newcomer to the small island smack dab in the middle of his hunting ground, unaware of the dangers that lurked in the dark depths. Unlike the locals, you didn’t know better, didn’t know that venturing on the beach at night was a death wish. If you did, you wouldn’t wander out of the old bungalow you’d purchased to stroll around the sandy shores, every night at midnight.

He watched you for days before making his move, deciding to learn your habits before luring you away. You were admittedly pretty, and that made him more determined to devour you.

Pretty girls always taste the best.

Yet, when he finally made his move, he encountered an issue he’d never had. His song did nothing. In fact, it did the exact opposite of what he wanted to do because instead of wandering into the water so he could get his webbed hands on you, you fearfully looked around. When you found no one, unable to see him from his hiding spot in the water, you ran back to your bungalow and didn’t come back for four entire days.

It left Gyutaro baffled. He knew his song wasn’t as strong as other sirens; the male songs were always weaker, but it was effective enough. He was able to hunt without the aid of his sister, and often secured food for them. But dammit, you shook his confidence.

So, when you came back, he tried again, wanting to remedy his mistake. The same result, but this time, you spoke.

“This is some horror movie shit,” you said under your breath while looking around, quickly getting to your feet when you saw no one around.

Your words were meant for your ears only, but his superior hearing allowed him to catch them. He would’ve laughed, had the comment not been a sign of your resistance to him.

As you began to walk away, he started to sing again. It was an echoey, haunting sound, an eerie version of the genre humans call opera. He never used words, instead mimicking a melody only he could hear. He’d brought many tears with his song, but you just walked faster.

“Okay, ghost, I’m leaving,” you yelled as he grew louder, breaking into a run and dashing to your house. “I won’t come back, promise!”

Dammit, that isn’t what he wants!

He went silent, trying to brainstorm before you retreated for goods. He decided to play into the delusion your mind had created.

“If you leave, I’ll kill you,” Gyutaro boomed in response, making you stop in your tracks.

“I’m losing my goddamn mind,” you whispered, looking all around in search of a figure that wasn’t there.

Well, he was there, just where you couldn’t see.

He grinned and held back a snicker. “No, you’re not, now come back.”

Slowly, you returned to your previous spot, trembling. It both amused and annoyed Gyutaro. Ghosts did exist, but he wasn’t one, nor did he appreciate a misty dead man being scarier and more realistic than his species.  Yet, he always enjoyed playing with his food, and you wouldn’t be an exception. No, he suspected that the challenge you presented would make your flesh the sweetest of them all.

“Why can’t I see you…am I dreaming?”

He huffed a breath. “You’re awake, human, and you can’t see me because I don’t want you to.”

“What do you want?” you asked, with a boldness you lacked moments ago.

To eat you.

“I just want to sing to you.” If it was the last thing he did, he’d make you succumb to his song. “May I?”

“Do I have a choice?”

He shook his head, though you couldn’t see. “No, not really.”

With that, he began to sing, changing his tune. Perhaps, his voice wasn’t the issue, and it was what he was singing that was the problem. Maybe all he needed to do was experiment, and you’d fall prey to him, just like countless helpless women before you.

This time, the tune he sang was lighter and less haunting in nature, often sung by elders to put the young at ease. He hoped it would have a similar effect on you.

It was obvious that the more soothing tune didn’t intimidate you as much, but you still looked ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. When he was done, you gave polite applause but showed no signs of being under his spell.

“Beautiful, Mr. Ghost,” you said as you clapped, your nerves bleeding through. “Can I go now?”

He tsked. “You make for an awful audience.”

And a very difficult creature to hunt.

“Sorry, but it’s time for me to feed my…plant. Venus flytraps need to eat once a week, you know.”

Your words were a blatant excuse, irritating him further. “Your plant?”

“Yeah…I named it Cow, and I’d be really sad if Cow died.”

Gyutaro was insulted that you thought him so ignorant. But he’ll play along.

“Fine, go feed ‘Cow.’ But I expect you to be back here tomorrow. Don’t think that you’re safe in that house, human.”

Your expression became fearful. Truth be told, he hadn’t dared to venture out of the water in ages, his abilities being much weaker and his inhuman appearance making him a target. He wouldn’t break his streak just for you, but that was information you didn’t need to know.

“Of course, Mr. Ghost.”

You scurried away before he could blast you for the nickname, leaving him to brainstorm ways to make his voice more enticing.

******

The next time you came, Gyutaro had formulated a plan. To lure you into the water, he’d need to sing a song designed to appeal to what you adored most. Therefore, he’d have to go to the mundane task of getting to know you. It was more effort than he usually put into hunting his prey. But you’d hurt his pride, and he was determined to redeem his faith in his abilities.

So, when you nervously shuffled onto the beach and plopped down into your usual spot, he demanded, “Tell me about yourself, human.”

You blinked. “W-what?”

“Are you deaf?” he barked, annoyance surging through him. “Tell me about yourself.”

Humans can be so simple at times.

“O-okay…what do you want to know?”

Gyutaro paused, then decided to go with something simple. “What’s your favorite color?”

Many songs existed with color being a core component of the lyrics. He didn’t usually sing any words, but if it’d get you in his grasp, he’d make an exception.

With furrowed brows, you tell him the shade you’re most fond of, and Gyutaro chooses a song that correlates. He sang with passion, hoping his extra effort would be worth it.

******

It wasn’t worth it, because after he was done, you gave your applause and then scurried to your house the moment he gave permission. He couldn’t help but gawk at your retreated form and punched the rock to relieve some of his frustration, creating an indent.

He’d get you eventually.

******

The next night, you returned, no less antsy than before.

“I’m back, Mr. Ghost,” you announced, tightening the shawl wrapped around your shoulder. “Actually…are you a ghost?”

Maybe you weren’t so dumb.

“I’m not a ghost, human,” he confirmed, contemplating showing himself.

“Oh…what are you?”

The corners of his lips quirked up. “Guess.”

“…A voice in my head?”

He heaved a breath. A fish swam by him, and he grabbed it and then tossed it at you. You screamed as the flopping fish landed in your lap, then quickly threw it back into the ocean.

“YOU’RE A FUCKING FISH?”

His jaw went slack. Perhaps his initial accession of your intelligence was accurate.

“No, you damn dumbass!” He swam into view, emerging from the rock that’d been shielding him from you. “Guess again.”

Your eyes went wide as you took in his grey skin dotted with black spots, the damp mass of green hair that cascaded down his shoulders, and his golden, glowing eyes. A blush crept onto your face as you eyed his toned stomach, your shameless appraisal making him cock a brow. When he splashed his green-black tail to regain your attention, you gasped.

“You’re a mermaid!” you exclaimed, before shaking your head. “Merman.”

“A siren,” he corrected.

A toothy grin spread across his face when your eyes returned to his chest, your pink tongue darting out to lick your perfectly shaped lips. Stupid prey you were, it was flattering that you couldn’t keep your eyes off him. He often heard he lacked the attractiveness his species was renowned for, but you made him feel like a beauty.

If only you could keep your mouth shut.

You blinked. “But…you’re a guy.”

“And?”

“Sirens are women.”

“Humans think sirens are only female,” Gyutaro corrected with a glare. “But they’re wrong because your species is dumb. Take you, for example.”

Your jaw dropped. “I’m not dumb!”

“You thought I was fish.”

Your cheeks became redder. “I mean, I wasn’t exactly wrong…you have a fishtail.”

“You know,” he began, swimming around lazily. “I heard before that you should never argue with stupid people, because to argue with a fool is to make him your equal.” He scanned you and smirked. “Or her, in your case.”

You glared at him, then stood up. His grin slipped away.

“Hey, come back here!”

“I did not come to be insulted!” you called as you stomped away.

Shit, this isn’t what he wanted!

He growled, then swallowed down his pride. “Dammit, okay, I apologize. Come back know.”

You stopped in your tracks, and thought it over for a second, before returning to the sandy indent you’d created.

“Good girl,” he crooned, holding back a cackle when your breath hitched. Someone’s got a kink. “Now, human, tell me something about yourself.”

“Uhm…I like plants,” you provided after a moment. “I’ve been gardening since a child, and I really do have a Venus flytrap named Cow, by the way.”

Huh, so you hadn’t been lying to him.

He racked his brain for plant-related songs. Few existed among his people, but humanity had many plant theme songs. He heard many drunk tourists sing about them. However, he didn’t know if it would have the same effect as a traditional siren song. Yet, you were resistant anyway, so what does it matter? His mind made up, he began to sing The Secret Life of Plants by Stevie Wonder, a song from the 1970s.

You were visibly awed as he sang, boosting his confidence and giving him hope. But when he belted out the last line, you just applauded with vigor, making him want to throttle you.

“That was-”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he snarled, tiring of his efforts being for naught.

“What?’ you squeaked, your eyes going wide. Then, you must’ve had a realization of sorts because your shocked expression transformed into a glare. “You’re trying to lure me in to drown me!”

He was truly confused about how to classify your intelligence. Perhaps, you were simply an idiot with moments of smartness. Or maybe, he shouldn’t overanalyze you, should it impact his brain cell count.

“Yes, I was,” he confirmed, seeing no reason to hide the truth. “It’s what sirens do.”

“You asshole!”

“Oh, shut up!” he snapped. “You’re alive, so stop throwing a fit.”

Unfortunately. He’d make your death a slow one, just for putting him through all this trouble.

“It’s the principal,” you shot back, then smirked at him. “And I guess you’re a defective siren since I’m still alive.”

You said the insult in a singsong voice, pissing him off to no end.

“You’re the defective one!” he snarled, wanting to come onto land and claw you to pieces. “Normal humans don’t resist my song.

You shrugged. “I’m not resisting, I’m just built different.”

You giggled at your words, a pleasant chime that lessened his anger.

“I just haven’t found the right song yet.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.” You stood but didn’t walk away. “And just so you know, I’m not dumb enough to come to a beach where a creature is actively trying to kill me.”

******

You were indeed dumb enough to come back to a beach where a creature is actively trying to kill you. Three days later, you were back for your midnight stroll, barefoot in a tight little dress. He was happier than he wanted to admit seeing you again. A part of him feared that you’d keep to your words and shun the beach for good. The idea wasn’t one he relished; he still had to prove himself to you, after all.

“I thought you weren’t coming back,” Gyutaro said when he spotted you again.

He gnawed on the fish he’d been snacking on, smirking when you cringed at the sound of his teeth biting through flesh.

“This is the best beach on the island, and I literally live right next to it,” you explained with a glare. “Besides, your raggedy songs don’t work on me anyway. Must be a vocal issue; you should get that checked out.”

Gyutaro’s humor quickly evaporated. A siren’s power was in their voice, and to insult their vocals was a grave affront.”

“My voice is just fine, thank you,” he hissed, throwing the half-eaten fish at you. Your scream relieved some of his anger. “You’re the weird one.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night…or day.” You cocked your head to the side, your brows furrowing. “When do sirens sleep?”

He sniffed. “Why should I tell you.”

“You’re literally trying to kill me. I’m at least owed an answer to a simple question.”

He couldn’t figure out if your bravery stemmed from genuine valor, the emptiness in your head, or cockiness from your apparent immunity. Maybe, it was a cocktail of the three. Either way, it was both amusing and irritating.

But he’d play nice for now. 

“Most sirens are nocturnal.”

“Like sharks!” you exclaimed.

Your excitement took him aback, as did the fact that you knew that piece of information. He couldn’t help but smile at you. Instead of flinching away at the show of his sharp teeth, you returned the grin.

He decided to ignore the fluttering of his heart, and just nod. “Yes.”

Silence befell you. A gust of wind passes, allowing him to pick up the scent of alcohol that clung to you. Your eyes were glazed, and your cheeks were pinkened, exposing that you weren’t sober. After some minutes, you grow dissatisfied with the quietness. And truth be told, it was starting to bother him, too.

“So, you going to try to hypnotize me again?”

You again cocked your head to the side, and he refused to admit how cute he thought you looked when you did that.

He had a reputation to maintain, after all. Those who knew of him were aware of his brutality, and he wasn’t going to let a gorgeous little human soften him.

“Naturally,” he said with a scoff. “I’m a siren. It’s what we do.”

“Okay,” you replied, plopping into the sand, uncaring that your striking black dress was getting covered in sand. “Go ahead.” 

His eyes went wide. Never had prey just offered themselves to him.

“What?”

He was positive this was a trick of some sort.

You rolled your eyes. “I said go ahead. Try.” You grinned at him. “Let’s see if you’re successful.”

A part of him admired your fearlessness, but another found it idiotic. If you were like this with everyone, another being could take you out before he could have you, and that’d be a real shame. But you weren’t with another being right now. You were with him, so he’d play your little game.

“Okay, human,” he hummed, tapping a claw against his chin as he thought of another question that might entrap you.

“I want to be a writer,” you revealed.

He let his hand drop. “What?”

“You always ask a question before you sing,” you explained. “So, I’m giving you an answer to one.”

“I haven’t asked anything.”

“Thanks to me. Now sing.”

Such a cheeky human. But he obliged, singing a ballet about a hopeful poet that set off on an ill-fated voyage. It was old, used by his people to hypnotize the sailors of old.

Gyutaro sensed that you were moved by the lyrics he belted out, and he couldn’t help but smile at the attention you’d given him. You were properly entranced, and he hoped that this would be the song that’d get you.

It wasn’t.

When he went silent, you just breathed out, “Wow,” and gave your typical applause. Then, you had the nerve to demand he sing another song as if your refusal to succumb wasn’t an insult to his very existence.

However, his hurt feelings didn’t stop him from singing to you until the sun began to rise, at which point you stumbled to your little bungalow.

******

Gyutaro was a realistic siren. He knew he wasn’t the most attractive out there, but he was aware his body had some appealing spots, i.e., his muscles. He knew his siren’s spell didn’t hold the most strength, but he knew what to sing for max efficiency. He knew his territory wasn’t the largest, but it kept him fed. And he knew that falling for a human wasn’t expressly forbidden, but it certainly wasn’t acceptable. 

Humans were supposed to be nothing more than prey, victims of the songs they sang. At best, they were to be used for temporary fun, but not to be made mates. Sure, it’d happened before, but the stories rarely had a happy ending.

But, even knowing this, he still found himself anticipating your visits. Not because he wanted to finally lure you to a watery grave, but because he enjoyed your company. Worse was the fact that he’d begun to fantasize about you.

The night when he’d sang to you until the sun rose had altered your relationship. You’d reveal bits about yourself to aid Gyutaro with his ambitions of conquering you, giving him a wealth of information with him. Now, you two were more akin to friends who’d make snarky comments, as opposed to hunter and prey. Even with him longing to render you spellbound, he could no longer just see you as a future meal.

As the game you two were playing continued, he found his goals changing. He still wanted to feast on your flesh when he had you in his grasp, but in an entirely different way, one that’d leave you alive and moaning. Instead of consulting you about the topic before choosing a song—there was no need to, he knew enough about you—he’d sing about love and lust, tales of grand love stories and erotic flings.

Some songs would be in the language of sirens, others in your human language. He wondered if you’d begun to feel differently about him, too, if you noticed the shift in the songs he’d sung to you. If you did, you gave no indication, but he noticed how the lyrics he sang held your attention. He was on the verge of a breakthrough; he was sure of it.

******

 Weeks passed with him singing of love and lust. He noticed you responded to songs that spoke of great, passionate love. Your eyes would become glazed over, your mouth agape. You still retained some wits—hence why you weren’t his yet—but he could feel your resistance lessening. It made sense. People often responded best to what they cared most for, and if the romance novels you’d occasionally bring with you were any indication, you were a romantic at heart.

He also hadn’t forgotten the way you’d first looked at him when you revealed yourself. Lowkey as you might’ve been about it, you were attracted to him.

“Do all sirens live alone?” you asked one day, out of the blue.

He shook his head. “Many live within a group.”

You tilted your head to the side, a signal of your curiosity that he found adorable. “How come you don’t?”

Once upon a time, he hadn’t been alone. His sister had been with him, but the beauty she was, she had many vying to mate with her. The siren she happened to choose was one he respected but lived far away from his territory.

“I used to, then my sister got mated, and now it’s just me.”

“Mated?” you repeated with furrowed brows. “Like…married?”

“I suppose that’s the easiest way for a human to comprehend it.”

“But it isn’t exactly the same?”

“No, it isn’t,” he confirmed. “Mating pairs don’t separate, due to the unbreakable bond that is forged between the two.”

An extremely simplified version of things, but he’ll explain it all to you in due time.

 Your eyes with wide wonder. “Woah…is it like a ritual or something? Or do you just see someone and know?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, we don’t have pre-destined soulmates. We chose who we spend our life with, based on who we’re most compatible with.”

“Like humans,” you stated, then nodded before he could respond. “Makes sense, since you’re, like, half fish, half human.”

He growled at that. “Sirens are our own beings, thank you.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night…or day,” you amended after a second of contemplation, before shaking your head. “Anyway, what’s the ceremony like? You said a bond is forged and they can’t separate, so a ceremony must be had, right?” 

You were getting smarter, and Gyutaro couldn’t help but feel pride. It was his relationship with you, after all, that aided in increasing your intelligence.

 “Correct. A spell, akin to human wedding vows, is said, then blood is consumed while the pair consummate the relationship. Some even eat the flesh of their lovers, but either works, as long as a part of the other’s body is consumed.”

Mates had always been a point of interest for Gyutaro. There was a time he’d feared he’d never found one, so he observed and learned the behaviors of every mated pair he’d run across to increase his chances of finding love. Now, he wondered if his closed mind had been the issue because he only considered others of his kind worthy of mating with him.

Then, he’d fallen for you and realized how wrong that notion had been.

You shuddered at his explanation, your expression turning queasy. “Uhm, ew…do you have a mate?”

He looked you over, then shook his head, a small smirk on his lips. “No, not yet.”

******

“Hey, Gyutaro,” you asked, lounging on the beach in a pair of shorts and a tank top, your latest romance novel in your grasp. “Do you still want to kill me?”

He was taken aback by your question. “W-what?”

You sat straighter and cast the book aside. “Like, you still try to hypnotize me. So, do you still want to make a meal of me?”

Yes, but not in the way you were thinking.

“I don’t want to kill you, no,” he admitted with a sigh, then looked away, slightly embarrassed by the confession.

A siren not wanting to kill a human is an anomaly. Homo sapiens were food, not friends.

“So…why sing to me?”

“To see if I can lure you in…it’s a pride thing.”

Your brows furrowed. “So, you’d just see if you can get me under your spell, then…release me?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly.”

“But you don’t want to kill me?” you asked, quite confused.

Another head shake. “Correct.”

“So…what do you want to do to me?”

A lot, much of it involving nudity, fingers, and tongues.

“That,” he began, smirking at your confusion. “Is for me to know and for you to find out.”

“Ominous,” you hummed, picking up the book again. “As long as I’m alive, I’m down for whatever.”

You had no idea what you were signing up for, poor human. He snickered before a thought occurred to him. His laughter died down, and he narrowed his eyes at you.

“You were letting me try to hypnotize you…thinking I was going to kill you eventually?”

You shrugged, then nodded. “Yeah. It’d be a cool way to die.”

“You damn dumbass!” he snapped, a pit forming in his stomach at the thought of you dying. How ironic. After spending so much time plotting your demise, it now pained him to think of a world without you in it. “Why would you do that?”

Another shrug, making him scowl at him. “Why not? It’s not like my death would affect anyone; I only have myself. Plus, death would allow my student loans to be canceled.”

Gyutaro’s heart ached at your words. He was aware that humans were social creatures, not programmed to be alone for too long. Not having anyone was dangerous for your species.

But, instead of lecturing you or prying for information you might not be willing to give, he simply said, “You’re wrong, you have me now.”  

You went silent for a moment, and he feared he may have said the wrong thing. Then, you beamed at him, and all his worries went away.

******

After finding out how little you cared about living, Gyutaro began to grow more desperate to claim you. Your recklessness didn’t stem from stupidity but was sourced from your lack of will to live. While it might allow you to have an easier time accepting him, it was a direct danger to your life. Thus, Gyutaro decided to stop fooling around and pull out the big guns. The next time you came to him, he didn’t waste time singing to you, nor did he have to contemplate. He determined that it was time to end the game you two had been playing and began officially courting you.

Well, kind of. He was skipping several steps and going straight to the mating song. It was the most intimate part of courting and was often the deciding factor.

So, when you settled into your family spot and stared at him expectantly, awaiting the sound of his voice, his heart pounded against his ribcage. If this didn’t hypnotize you, he didn’t know what well. It was selfish and underhanded for Gyutaro to use hypnosis instead of honesty, but he had a fear of rejection. It was the reason he’d been unable to accept your resistance to his song.

“I’m waiting,” you said.

Shit, he hadn’t said anything.

He nodded and took a breath and began singing the most important song of his life. As he sang, he noticed how your breath quickened, how your pupils dilated and eyes glossed over, the parting of your lips. You stood from the sand and began to wade into the water, finally traversing the depths to make your way to him.

 Gyutaro doesn’t think he ever grinned so broadly. At long last, you’d succumbed to his voice. Most importantly, you were now in his arms, and he had no intentions of letting you go anytime soon.

A/N: This turned out a lot fluffier than I thought it would, and I apologize for the lack of smut if you were looking forward to it! However, a second part detailing the mating ritual may be done, and that would definitely be spicy 🤭

[ghostedghouls]

make it hurt

✢ in an attempt to save himself from more hurt, dew decides to hurt swiss the only way he knows he can.

✢ pairing: Swiss x gn!reader / Dew x Swiss (not romantically)

✢ genre: angst

✢ warnings: manipulation, dew is an asshole, trauma, swiss has a dark past, mentioned murder, hurt/no comfort, dew has issues i dont blame him

✢ a/n: the romantic pairing is reader x swiss, but the story focuses more on dewdrop/ dewdrop x swiss because I wanted to explore this dynamic (and also hurt swiss whoops). Also this got way longer than i wanted it to be so maybe i’ll have to do a part 2 bc i cant stand bad endings :( | not beta read sorry

Dew was known for being the most difficult of the ghouls. He was known for his temper and anger, the heated arguments and the venom in his words.

Dew was known for his low blows.

The other ghouls knew that Dew hardly meant the things he said in a fit of anger and rage. At first the words had stung. The fire ghoul had a talent for finding the most hurtful words and digging deep, reaching for things he knew would provoke a reaction from the others; preferably anger or hurt. And oh boy, was it hurtful at times.

But the better the ghouls got to know him, the more they learned not to take the words to heart, no matter how hard it was at times. They knew it was his way of protecting himself, his way of making sure the other person stopped digging into him, stopped prying open old wounds. It was his way of making sure nobody would ever break down the walls that he so carefully had built around himself.

But even though the ghouls tried to not let the words get to them, they always eventually did. Dew knew how to get under their skin, tear open their wounds so his own could stay closed. A low blow from Dew would usually end the argument, the other ghoul too angry, shocked or hurt to continue the conversation.

But not with Swiss. Not today.

Swiss stood his ground as the fire ghoul spat insult after insult at him. His arms were crossed in front of his broad chest as he listened to the never-ending stream of words, carefully picked out by the smaller ghoul to dig into Swiss’ insecurities and worries. But Swiss saw through Dew easily. He knew that he was trying to deflect from his own worries and traumas. So he stood there and took the verbal abuse because he knew Dew didn’t mean it. Never did.

Swiss was by far one of the hardest ghouls to truly anger. He was very forgiving, especially with the smallest ghoul. He tended to laugh things off or talk things out right away as to not leave an argument unresolved. If the other ghoul thought about it, he had never seen Swiss even remotely angry. There were times where he seemed pissed off but never really angry.

“Are you done yet, firefly?” The nickname sounded sour on Swiss’s tongue and Dew almost visibly recoiled. But he knew better than to show a reaction. He had to be indifferent, hide that he was vunerable. But the comment had thrown him off and his brain short-circuited long enough for Swiss to finally get a word in.

“You stand here and go about your little spiel like you always do, Dew. But we both know you don’t mean it. You can curse and scream at me all you want; it won’t change a thing. There wasn’t even a real argument to begin with. You got your fragile ego hurt and now you’re foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal.”

Dewdrop growled at that. Low in his throat as his tail swished angrily behind himself. It was true, and that was what angered the fire ghoul the most. Satanas, Dew had already forgotten what the whole argument was even about. He was only arguing for the sake of getting Swiss off his tail. To hurt the multi ghoul so that he wouldn’t end up being hurt himself. The other ghoul was entirely too calm for his liking and it scared Dewdrop. It scared him that he didn’t have control of the conversation. It scared him that Swiss knew exactly what he was trying to archive. Scared him that he was so fucking vunerable in front of someone after he had sworn himself to never be open like that again. He opened his mouth to say something he knew would hurt Swiss, but the other ghoul was faster to speak.

“Do you know what I think? I think you’re getting so defensive because you know I am right. You know you don’t even mean a single thing you say to us all the time. Because you’re scared to let someone - for once in your goddamn life - into that head of yours. Because you’re so fucking scared that if you let someone in, they will tear you down from the inside. Because you know you couldn’t take that again.” Swiss’s words seemed harsh but he was calm, somewhat encouraging even.

But Dewdrop was seething where he was standing. He felt like he was vibrating with anger. His fists were balled up so tightly, he could feel the sharp claws dig into his own flesh. His fangs were clenched so tightly, he was afraid they would break off under the pressure. If he’d had just a little less self control, he would have launched himself at the multi ghoul and ripped into him with claws and teeth. Copia and the clergy be damned. They would send him back to the pit for killing another ghoul, but he couldn’t care less in that moment.

Where did the multi ghoul get the audacity to dig into Dew’s head like that? Rip him open piece be piece and present him with his own thoughts. It sent him into a frenzy.

In that moment Dewdrop felt truly lost. There was no thing he could say to Swiss to make him stop, to make him leave. Dew nearly choked on his own spit. His throat felt tight as he tried to swallow. It became apparent that the fire ghoul wasn’t the only one who knew how to hurt others deeply.

Dew bared his fangs at Swiss and hissed. It wasn’t intentional, a leftover instinct from the pit that was generally considered bad manners by the higher clergy members. Swiss stood calmly but his tail jerked once, showing that he wasn’t immune to the feral display of agression from his bandmate.

And with a last growl, Dewdrop turned on his heel and left Swiss standing in the hallway. He felt humiliated and hurt. He was never the one to leave an argument, had never lost to the others. In his mind he was thinking of a thousand things he could do to hurt Swiss. The argument might have been over, but he wouldn’t - no, couldn’t - let the multi ghoul get away with this. He had to do something that would truly and utterly destroy the taller ghoul.

-

He was still seething as he stumbled through the clergy hallways. A few siblings he came across had fled once they saw him. Good, he thought, at least he was still respected by the siblings. They would never dare to talk to him the way Swiss did. Would never dare to pry into his head like that. They knew they couldn’t because he would rip them to shreds if they tried. Just like how he should have done with dear Swiss, he thought angrily, his fists clenched again.

He marched through the hallways for a little longer before something caught his eyes. And suddenly it felt like he was presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity sent by the hellish father lucifer himself.

You.

How had Dewdrop not thought of that before? Swiss’s little romance he had going on with you. It was still fresh, long months of ‘will-they-won’t-they’ finally turned into little kisses and shared nights. And that turned into actual feelings. Swiss had never officially told you how he felt, Dew knew that, but he could smell it on the multi ghoul. And he could smell it on you too. With renewed vigor (and anger) he walked up to you. 

Should he grab you and hurt you? Should he leave your body bloodied with bitemarks and drag you back into the ghoul den? The smell of your blood would be so overwhelming it would surely sent the multi ghoul into overdrive. A perverted satisfaction spread through Dew’s body at the thought. The satisfaction of truly hurting Swiss in the most horrible way he could. To finally make the multi ghoul snap. Because with anger Dew could work. Anger he knew how to handle. But no, he thought. That was too risky. It would get him a ticket straight back to hell from the clergy. And it wouldn’t hurt enough. Wouldn’t dig deeply enough into Swiss’ heart.

It was like a light went off above the fire ghoul’s head as you turned around, smiling at him as he approaced you. He tried to keep his face stoic, to not let a toothy smile shine through as he finally decided how to wreck Swiss.

“Dewdrop.”, you said warmly, “Is there something I can do for you?”

“No. I just wanted to check in how you were.”, he said, feigning worry.

“Oh um.. thank you, I am fine- why? Is there something I should be worried about?”, you asked confused.

“I just thought after the whole thing with Swiss... y’know. That you might be hurt...” Oh satanas, it felt so incredibly good. Dewdrops eyes nearly rolled back into his skull as you very clearly took the bait.

“What thing with Swiss? Did something happen?” you were starting to grow worried and Dewdrop nearly laughed at how pathetic it was.

“Oh no... he didn’t tell you yet, then. I’m sorry, I just thought he would have told you by now. Seeing how you two are pretty serious now I assumed he did tell you.” He let out a dramatic sigh. “But I guess he will tell you when he’s ready.... I just hope that’s soon - wouldn’t want you to get into a relationship with him under false pretences, right?”

You eyes grew wide with confusion and worry and as Dewdrop decided to slowly turn around and act as if he was going to leave, you quickly grabbed his arm to make him stay.

“Please.” you breathed out “What is going on? What do you mean with ‘false pretences’?”

“It’s not my place to tell you. He should tell you himself. It is a pretty big thing after all.” Dewdrop knew he already had you. He was only trying to make this even worse once shit hit the fan. He had to make sure you would talk to Swiss about it, maybe even end things with him. Oh satanas, how priceless the look on his face would be. He’d deserve it.

“I’m begging you to please tell me what you mean.”, you anxiously begged the fire ghoul who sighed in return as if he was doing this against his will.

“I thought he trusted you enough to tell you himself but maybe he doesn’t quite yet. It’s only understandable given his past, of course.” You were eating everything up Dewdrop was saying. And the best thing was, he didn’t even need to lie. Didn’t need to make things up about the multi ghoul because it was all true. Dewdrop leaned against the wall next to him before starting;

“Swiss wasn’t actually summoned with the rest of the ghouls. Not many people know this because he worked in the shadows most of the time. I just saw him occasionally while I was still working with Terzo.” The words tasted bitter in his mouth. The hurt still there, still fresh. “He didn’t eat with the other ghouls, didn’t spend time with the other ghouls. It was like he was kept away from the rest of the clergy at all times. I always wondered what his job was. There are no ghouls in the clergy that serve no purpose, so I was curious. I, myself, only got to know the truth recently.”

It was true. Dew thought back to the evening that Swiss had confessed. He had never seen him cry like that before. Had always assumed Swiss had no baggage, no hurt inside of him. But that evening, Swiss had sobbed as he told his mates about his jobs before the band. Explained how he had done the dirty work, had killed siblings and ghouls alike. Without ever questioning anything. How he had been the perfect killer all along. The other ghouls had been taken aback and the following days - even if they didn’t mean to - they had avoided Swiss. Those days had wrecked the multi ghoul horribly, to the point where he didn’t leave his room, not even to eat.

In the end they managed to talk things out. Nobody was truly mad at Swiss or scared of him. For fucks sake, they all were ghouls. They had all killed before. They just hadn’t expected something like this from chill, laidback Swiss. Swiss hadn’t asked them to keep it a secret but given his reaction the first time he confessed, it was pretty clear he didn’t want anyone else to know. This is why Dew knew his plan would work. He knew it would absolutely obliterate Swiss to be confronted with this part of his past again, especially if it came from you.

“Well it seems-... oh, I really don’t know if I should tell you this. You’re gonna be hurt.”, Dew tried to sow worries and it worked. “I need to know.”, came from you in almost a whisper.

“Well, there were certain ghouls that... did the clergy’s dirty work. I mean, it only makes sense to summon ghouls to do it, don’t get me wrong. And it just so happened to be our dear Swiss.”

“Dirty work?”, you asked, more in disbelieve than in not-understanding.

“Getting rid of unwanted people. Outside and inside the clergy. The perfect killer. Ghouls leave no traces behind as you know. Swiss does have some chompers on him, I will not lie...”

You gasped and Dew watched carefully as you stared in disbelieve. “But don’t worry. He would never hurt you!” Dew hesitated for a bit. “Probably, anyways. What do they say again; you can take the ghoul out of hell but you can’t take hell out of the ghoul?” He faked a laugh at the lame joke. A real smile crept on his lips as he watched you stare into space with furrowed brows, clearly worried about what you had just learned about your lover.

Dew knew he had to make the finale count, so he faked a worried face as he gently grabbed your shoulder. “I do need you to be careful though. Swiss was dangerous in the past, following orders blindly just because he was told to. He killed ghouls and siblings, some of which he worked with. He had no morales. I’m just confused that he hasn’t told you about this yet... I’m worried about what that means. He is a ghoul. You can’t forget that. A demon from the pit, summoned to fulfill a task.” Dewdrop stood taller as his hand fell off your shoulder. “He’s in the band now but we can’t be sure he isn’t still following some of his former orders.” That was the only lie. Swiss had promised that he had been released from that position ages ago, had sworn to his mates that he was telling the truth. And Dew knew it had been the truth... but you didn’t need to know that.

The guitarist left you standing in the hallways, your eyes shimmering with unshed tears of disbelief and sadness.

-

That evening Dewdrop sat in the common room. He listened to the muffled voices behind Swiss’ bedroom door. You two had been talking - arguing - for close to two hours. Dew was the only one left sitting there, all the other ghouls had left at one point, the atmosphere in the den too suffocating to bear.

When you had stumbled into their den a few hours ago, your energy had immidiately alerted all the ghouls. They had raised their heads as they watched you walk into the common area. Swiss was the first to approach you - of course he was. The energy you gave off must’ve been excruciating for the multi ghoul. The fire ghoul still felt the anger deep in his chest, barely any less than before. He wasn’t like Swiss, he didn’t forgive that easily. And Swiss deserved this. Deserved to be hurt just how Dewdrop had been hurt.

The multi ghoul knew something was off, so he lead you into his room without a word. You hesitated for a bit, worried. And Dew almost smirked as he watched you stand in the doorway of Swiss’ room. You looked back over your shoulder to the small ghoul.

-

You entered your lover’s room, closing the door behind yourself gently. The multi ghoul approached you slowly, gently reaching for your hands, encouraging you to tell him what was wrong. But as his hands brushed yours, a jolt rushed through you. Not a jolt of excitement, lust or happiness. No, this felt different. This was fear.

Hurt flashed across Swiss’s face as you moved your hands away from his reaching ones. And as you took a step back to increase the distance between your bodies, he felt like he would die right then and there.

“What’s going on, sweet cheeks?”, the taller ghoul asked, concern lacing his soft voice.

You didn’t speak for a second. Your head hung low, facing the floor, but Swiss could see the lines between your brows nontheless. His stomach twisted itself in knots as he just observed you for a second. Your hands were fidgeting with the hem of your shirt and your posture was defensive, closed-off. And the way you smelled - it felt like a punch to the gut to Swiss. Fear, concern, worry, hurt.

“You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong right now, but is there anything I can do to help y-” - “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Swiss was the one to take a step back this time. “What do you mean?”

“I deserved to know!” You raised your head and there were tears in your eyes. Not yet spilled but they were there and Swiss felt helpless.

“What are you talking about? Did I do something? Did you change your mind about... us?”

“No! I mean yes- no... I just-”, you stumbled through the words clumsily, not even knowing what exactly you were trying to say.

“When were you going to tell me you killed for the clergy?”

Swiss felt the breath being knocked out of him, his heart stopped for a second, a searing pain rushing through his chest before the organ stumbled into a rushed rhythm. His mouth hung open, his ears ringing. It was like his worst nightmare came true, and it was happening right now in front of him. He watched as the first tears fell and you whispered “So it’s true.”. The multi ghoul felt like he needed to throw up, his chest heaving and his tail erratic behind him.

Your eyes truly took him in then; The claws at his sides, the tail behind him, the grey skin, the tiniest peek of his fangs, the sharp ears and the golden eyes that shone through the slits of the silver mask. Those hands - those claws - that had caressed you many nights, had softly ran through your hair or across your skin, were the same ones that had the blood of so many people on them. His teeth, usually nipping you gently, had ripped out throats and limbs before. Had hurt and killed. murdered.

You swallowed thickly as a new wave of fear rushed through you. What were you doing? In the room alone with a killer and confronting him about it? If the things Dewdrop had said were true, then there was no way of knowing that he wouldn’t do it again. Your investigation in the library about those ‘special ghouls’ just before you got here, didn’t help either.

Swiss felt the instant shift from hurt to fear in you. He felt it deeply in his body and it itched at his insides. Satanas, he wanted to claw at himself, get rid of that feeling, rip it out from his insides.

He only recently had told the other ghouls about his past and the days following had been excruciating for him. It had created a rift in their relationship for a while. And even though everything seemed alright now, he knew they still thought about it from time to time. But they had been understanding, because they were also ghouls, because they had done similar things. He couldn’t expect the same understanding from you. A human.

Swiss watched your form shake as you cried silently and in that moment he wanted to die. He wanted to rush to Copias office and have himself be sent back to hell. Either by ritual or by a dagger to the heart.

As he started speaking, his own tears fell, his body rocking with sobs as he watched his relationship crumble in front of him.

-

Dew had felt a sick satisfaction as he listened carefully to what was being said. The two of you weren’t screaming at each other but the door did little to stop the fire ghoul from listening in on the conversation. The other ghouls sat strewn around the common room. Their own conversations had died down shortly after the smell of fear, hurt and sadness had crept through the cracks of the door.

The longer the argument went on the more suffocating the energy in the ghoul den got. Mountain had been the first to leave, excusing himself to his greenhouse to escape the all-consuming smell of a multi ghoul in distress. The girls had left together without a word. They didn’t need to say anything. Everyone knew.

One after another the rest of the ghouls left the den as the sounds of sobs grew louder from the bedroom. Phantom had scurried after the girls. Being a quintessence ghoul meant he felt everything even harsher than the other ghouls. And he couldn’t take it. Rain took his leave a little later after he couldn’t bear hearing Swiss cry anymore. It hurt too badly to stay.

The anger Dew had felt until just minutes ago was almost non-existent now. Instead, the ugly grasps of guilt had a tright grip on him, threatening to pull him under and drown him in it. He tried to tell himself that Swiss deserved it. That he didn’t do anything wrong. You did deserve to know what Swiss was, after all. But Dew knew it had not been his place to tell you. And not in the way he did. Using you to get a reaction out of Swiss. To manipulate you into thinking a certain way about the multi ghoul. His chest felt heavy with guilt, suffocating him from the inside.

He didn’t blame the other ghouls for leaving the den. The atmosphere was devastating. The smell of distress thick in the air. This was even worse than when Swiss had come clean with them a few weeks prior. And suddenly Dew wasn’t so sure what this would do to Swiss. He had been a wreck last time, there was no way of knowing what would happen this time.

Aether was the last to leave. He sighed as he got up from the sofa, turning to leave the den like the others had before turning back to Dewdrop with a snarl. It was so entirely unlike Aether, that Dew felt himself recoil at the gesture.

“You told them, didn’t you?”, he asked, disappointment in his eyes. Dew didn’t say anything but that was answer enough for the quintessence ghoul.

“You’ve said fucked up things before, Dewdrop. But this was a real low blow, even for you.”

And with that, Aether left the den without looking back at the fire ghoul still sitting on the couch. Dew’s own eyes stung with tears as he felt everything he had done crashing down on him. The tears didn’t fall though, because before they could, the door to Swiss’s room opened.

Your still crying form walked through the door and into the direction of the den’s exit. Swiss followed slowly, not daring to be too close to you. He stopped in the middle of the common room and watched with heavy sobs as you closed the door behind yourself. His eyes were transfixed on the door as if he was waiting for you to open it again. Open it and run back to him, leap into his arms and hug him, kiss him. Telling him everything was going to be alright.

But the door never opened.

Swiss turned to Dewdrop and when their eyes met, the fire ghoul felt like he was being pulled down into the pit. He had never, not even then, seen Swiss like this. Completely and utterly gone. Dew waited for Swiss to snap at him. To launch himself at the smaller ghoul and rip him to pieces. He wouldn’t have fighted back, he would’ve let it happen. He knew what he did was not excusable.

But the attack never came. Instead there was a shaky breath from the multi ghoul as he mustered up a bitter smile. “I hope you got what you wanted, firefly.”

He left the den as well. Where to, Dew didn’t know.

But the feeling in his stomach was so incredibly painful, he didn’t dare to move off the couch. And Dew had never hated himself more than in that moment.

[animezinglife]

I think what draws me in and completely captivates me with Once Upon a Broken Heart is the sheer, unapologetic fantasy of it all and the equally unapologetic appeal to the hopeless romantic in so many of us.

I actually find it refreshing that Evangeline is a little naive, but that that naïveté comes from that wish for and willingness to find a happily-ever-after. She IS very much that fairytale heroine who gets tossed into one scenario after another, but there’s always a very genuine (in my opinion) sense of love and hope flooding through her.

She won’t appeal to everyone, but she’s also not the ditzy, helpless protagonist I think some would make her out to be. She’s a believer in love. She’s getting a rather tumultuous crash course in what love is through her misguided deal with Jacks.

It’s not the fairytale romance with a prince or a first love.

It’s not something that ends once she has it.

Happiness is something she constantly has to work for. It takes gambles and risks. It’s messy and not always easy to understand. It’s a double-edged sword. It can both uplift and betray you; warm your heart and break it.

She’s learning. She’s growing. She’s figuring out what she wants; what it means and feels like to fall in love and fight for it.

I love too that Jacks genuinely is a trickster. He’s downright diabolical at times and Evangeline is never naive enough to think she can change that. She holds herself accountable for feeling too much for him or expecting him to act like her friend, husband, or lover. He’s not an easy person to love. He’s very obviously not fully human and can be hard to understand.

Yet she’s genuinely seeing that other, more human side of him when he doesn’t retreat from it. That side that’s capable of love and has fallen in love with her (which the readers can see much more clearly). She’s not misguided in her conflicted feelings. She just keeps moving forward with the directions her life takes her. She still believes in love. She still wants to believe in happily ever afters.

She’s learning that none of those things are easy and that they can constantly evolve.

I think a lot of women regardless of age can probably relate to just how much she’s learning about herself through this all.

I know I can.

Evangeline is a softer kind of heroine. She has a gentler strength and resolve. She doesn’t always make good or smart decisions, but she also doesn’t claim to.

She’s not a complicated protagonist. This isn’t going to win any awards for the most complex, intellectually stimulating, insightful narrative of all time or any esteemed awards in terms of craft.

But honestly? I love Evangeline, and I love these books. She’s kind of the embodiment of optimism and hopeful love, and she refuses to break. She’s kind and caring.

She’s that part of so many of us I think we tend to push aside or bury as we get older and more jaded on love.

A certain quote comes to mind about being old enough to read fairytales again. I think sometimes, that can also mean being gentle and nonjudgmental towards our own hopeless, inner romantics and that wish for something better that somehow keeps us going.

[just-jordie-things]

no surprises - okkotsu yuuta

word count: 4.5k warnings: themes of depression, light swearing summary: (y/n) learns she doesn’t see the world the way Yuuta does.  She also learns she doesn’t see herself the way he does. - based loosely around no surprises by radiohead more info: aged up characters! ___

[ a heart that’s full up like a landfill / a job that slowly kills you / bruises that won’t heal ] ___

The world of Jujutsu was fairly small and only shrinking.  Sometimes it was cool to be a part of a unique society.  Most of the time, it was lonely.

(y/n’s) classmates were nice enough, but she had yet to make a real connection with any of them.

Maki was great to train with, and she could be fun.  But she was so intimidating that when they were alone together, (y/n) tended to keep her head down and mouth shut.  You couldn’t say anything wrong if you didn’t speak a word, right?

Then there was Panda, who was very kind, but he could be rambunctious, and a bit of a prankster.  Besides, he tended to partner off with Toge anyways, so there wasn’t a point in trying to reach out more.

And Toge only spoke in rice ball ingredients.  It was a little hard to form a friendship around that.

(y/n) tried not to let herself be too affected by all this.  It wasn’t fair to be upset that they’d all formed a bond before she had come to Jujutsu Tech.

Eventually, she grew to accept that she wouldn’t be joining the strong familial bond they all shared with each other.  She thought this to be a good thing- at least that way if something were to happen to her, no one would lose someone they cared about.  And in this field of work, risking your life was always an asterisk on the mission form.

But risking your life to save others? That had to be one of the most selfless jobs there were.  So if the price of exorcizing curses was a little loneliness, then so be it.  She’d still choose this life if she had another chance.

At least, that’s what she’d tell herself when she’d stare at the sky late at night, recalling the days before she’d discovered her cursed energy.

[ you look so tired, unhappy ]

“You don’t really think that, do you?” Yuuta asks her one night.

(y/n) glances over to the boy next to her, his eyes a dark blue that rivals the night sky above them.  She can’t quite place the look on his face… despair?

“You don’t ever wonder?” She mumbles, her eyes returning to the constellations.  “What if… what if I wasn’t born like this?”

Yuuta swallows.  Sure, all the time, he thinks, but something tells him that’s not what he should be telling her now.

“I suppose,” He answers her quietly.  “But there’s a lot of stuff I’d hate to miss out on”

(y/n) laughs, which wasn’t the reaction he was expecting at all.  His brows furrow in her direction while she shakes her head.

“What?” He asks.

“You,” She answers, still staring at the sky.  “In what world is this life best case scenario?”

“You hate it that much?”

“Hate doesn’t begin to convey what I feel for this life,” She shakes her head.  “But it would be selfish of me to say that, wouldn’t it?” Finally she looks at him again, letting him process the question before continuing.  “Knowing what I know now, it would be selfish to walk away- for what, something better? Something that brings me happiness? Could I really choose something like happiness over protecting people?”

Yuuta is silent for a moment, leaving her to stare at him and try to pick apart each and every emotion behind his eyes.  She assumes he must feel the same.  If given the chance to go back and change the course of fate, much more than trauma could be restored.  A real, normal, life could have been had.  She wonders if that’s what he’s thinking- what life he could have had for himself had he not been dragged into this one.

She’s wrong.

While he sits beside her on the creaky old wood planks that made up the deck outside of the dormitories, Yuuta can only think about the present, the only life he’s ever known, and the only life he’ll ever have.  Her words hurt him, not because he’s offended, but because… it makes him sad for her.

He’s known (y/n) for quite some time now.  When they first met last year, she was very reserved, curiously enough though, he found she wasn’t shy, she just tended to keep to herself.  After a year of spending whatever free time he had, he tried to understand her better.

(y/n) tended to give him scraps- only last week he learned that her favorite color was blue.  “Like at midnight.  Or the ocean” She’d said.  He didn’t mind that it was taking more time to get to know her than the others, in fact, he found that he enjoyed her quiet presence.

He’d grown very fond of her, so much in fact that when he’d come back from long days or weeks away, it was usually her he gravitated towards to catch up with first.  He’d spend the following day joking around with Toge, and training with Maki, and getting thrown around by Panda, but that first night belonged to (y/n).

And it was typical to find them sitting on this deck, staring at the stars.

With these thoughts in mind, Yuuta takes in a breath before asking her the question he’d been biting back.

“You don’t think you can find happiness… here?”

Slowly, her eyes fall from the stars, but she can’t bear to look at him, so instead she keeps her vision blankly ahead.

Why must he be this way? She curses internally.  Why does he have to… care? Why can’t he leave me alone like the others? He insists on being involved… why?

She can’t look at him, because she knows if she does, she might just grow a little closer to him, and she couldn’t accept that.  He was too good.  And it was safer to keep a distance, to never really be attached.

When you’re attached to things, you grow weak.  And this wasn’t a field where she could allow even a shred of weakness.

Her teeth gnaw on her bottom lip.

“You ask me that as if my happiness holds any importance,” She says.  “I don’t think it’s fair to weigh that against human lives”

“You don’t have to pit the two against each other,” Yuuta declares.  “Both can be equally important to you.  They’re important to me”

Her head snaps before she can remind herself why she wasn’t looking at him, and she’s reminded as soon as their eyes meet.

He’s smiling at her.  He has the warmest, most comforting expression on his face, and she doesn’t understand why, but she knows that’s simply who Yuuta is.  Warm, and comforting.

“Why?” She whispers, afraid if she’ll ask any louder, the shadows will hear, and they’ll mock her for her vulnerability.

“Because you’re my friend,” Yuuta shrugs like the answer is simple.  “And I care about you,”

She blinks at him, her eyes wide with bewilderment.

After all this time of forcibly keeping him at arm’s length, he still considered her a companion?

The hot sting behind her eyes let her know that her heart was betraying her mind, but no matter how strongly she willed herself to bottle it up and force it away, the feeling remained.

“The others care about you too, you know,” Yuuta continues.  “Trust me, I’ve learned they have weird ways of showing it, but they do,”

(y/n) swallows the lump in her throat.

“Even when you try to push people away, the ones that matter have a way of sticking around,” There’s a small smile on his face as he speaks, ducking his head as a rosy tint colors his cheeks.  “But that’s a good thing, right? Without friends you love and who love you, what’s the point?”

“Being strong,” Her voice is raspy, but she has yet to let a single tear fall.  “Holding your own.  Looking out for yourself.  Y-you have to.  It’s the only way”

Slowly, and maybe for the first time ever, Yuuta was beginning to understand her.

He turns his body to be facing hers, letting her know that she had his complete and undivided attention.

“You wanna know something funny?” He asks, and she doesn’t respond, but he speaks anyway.  “You’re reminding me of Gojo-Sensei,”

Her nose crinkles in mild-disgust and confusion, and Yuta chuckles.

“When he first found me, he told me this weird thing that made no sense.  But I was so broken up about Rika, and so scared all the time of what was coming next.  I did everything I could to keep people away from me… I just never wanted to hurt anyone- well, ah, you knew that I guess, huh?”

Bashfully, he rubs the back of his neck.

“Well, he told me that love was the most twisted curse of all,” He said.

(y/n) blinked, a bit shocked that her goofy, sweets-loving sensei could say something so dark… and profound.

“And at first I guess I thought I understood what he meant.  It means it holds you back, right? It makes you weak, or lost.  And that’s all I was feeling at the time…”

He trails off for a moment, lost in his memories.  Surprisingly, he smiles at her.

“And then I met you guys… and I understand what he meant now”

(y/n) blinks, waiting for him to continue.  But he just sits there and smiles at her, and she realizes he’s not going to tell her.

“Well?” She pressed.  “What’d he mean, then?”

Yuuta laughs, before placing his hands on the ground and hoisting himself up.

“It wouldn’t be fair to just tell you, dummy,” He teases, reaching his hand down to her.  “You gotta figure it out yourself”

She stares at him for a moment, still calculating what he was getting at, what was the point of all this? And then her eyes fall to his outstretched and helpful hand.

Her heart drops to her stomach, and she fears it’ll launch back up to her throat and be regurgitated.

Cautiously, she raises her hand, and sets it in his.

Yuuta beams as he helps her to stand, firmly clutching her palm in his to keep her steady.

“So- so what,” (y/n) shakes her head, her brows drawn together.  She pulls her hand out of his hold almost instantly, wrapping her arms around herself defensively.  “All that nonsense about love and letting people in, I just have to accept that?”

Her voice cracks and she lets out a humorless laugh.

“Because it’s the most ridiculous, selfish thing I’ve ever heard,”

Yuuta’s face falls, a frown pulling on his lips while she spews out her interpretation of Gojo’s words, and it wasn’t what he’d intended at all.

“See, you can love people all you want.  You can care about them, and- and look out for them, and get to know them.  But at the end of the day, when you die and they’re left loving what’s left of you, that’s on you,”

She does her best to ignore her own sniffling, and the way her voice breaks and rasps as her throat constricts, but it’s all too noticeable.  Yuuta watches as she completely crumbles in front of him.

“Love makes you weak,” She mutters, aggressively wiping at her eyes before any tears could fall.  “It makes you overthink, it trips you up when you need to be on your highest alert.  Gojo-sensei was right about one thing.  Love is a curse.  It’s no gift at all.  It’s a damnation to weakness.  Love is a waste of energy, and- and it’s a waste for you to pretend like you care when you barely even know me!”

Yuuta shakes his head, stepping towards her with his hands out.

“No, no (y/n) that’s not true-”

“It is,” She seethes, stepping back before he could touch her.  “Aren’t you bothered? Don’t you despise me?” The question is exaggerated, and she’s just waiting for him to admit it.

“Of course not!”

“Well then why?” She gasps out.  “Why do you keep coming back to me- seeking me out and trying to get to know me? Can’t you tell I don’t want you to?”

“We’re friends, (y/n), we’re partners.  I care about you whether you want me to or not-”

“That’s unfair-!”

“That’s love!” Yuuta cuts her off this time before she could argue with him any longer.  “Like it or not you don’t get to choose who loves you! Okay!? It just happens!”

Shockingly enough, she doesn’t have a response for that, so Yuuta seizes the silence himself.

“You’re wrong,” He tells her, stepping closer again.  “You can push people away all you want- it won’t work.  Not with me.  I won’t let you,”

A tear escapes one of her eyes, making a break down her cheek, before sliding along her jaw.

“Be angry with me if you have to, I don’t care.  You mean more to me than your anger could get in the way of”

“I don’t understand,”

She sounds defeated, her voice quiet and still breaking as she attempts to fight her feelings.

“I don’t understand,” She repeats.  “Why? Why go through the trouble?”

Yuuta chuckles, and takes a bolder step forward, reaching out to brush his knuckles over her jaw, collecting the stray tear.

“You’re wrong again, (y/n/n),” He says fondly.  “It’s no trouble at all to love you,”

A knot forms between her eyebrows as her eyes flicker between his, desperate to read the thoughts behind them.

If only there was a way he could convince her that he was telling her exactly what he was thinking.

“It sucks sometimes,” He admits with a chuckle.  “When I’m gone and I miss you, or when you want to be a brooding jerk.  But it doesn’t make me love you any less,”

He really loves me? She wonders.  Or is he just saying this?

“Actually, I think that stuff just makes me love you more”

Oh.

Now her tears are falling down her cheeks in steady streams.  She shakes her head at him, the action small, almost pathetic, she thinks.

“Can’t you see I don’t want that?” She all but whimpers out.  “I can’t- I just can’t have that”

“You don’t get to choose that for me” Yuuta shrugs a shoulder, giving her a small smile.  He does his best to hide the way she’s shattering his heart.

“It’s not fair, it’s not fair to me,” She continues, lips trembling as she tries to form the right words.  “If- if something happens and I’m dying I can’t-”

She hiccups and Yuuta finds himself shushing her, cooing softly as his hands cup over her cheeks so sweetly, brushing away her tears as they fall.

“You think too much about everything, yaknow?” He hums to her.

“I can’t carry that weight,” She mumbles.  “I can’t- I can’t die knowing I’m leaving people to grieve for me”

She sees him smile and she just wants to fall to her knees and break down.  She doesn’t understand him, not in the slightest.  How could he stand there and comfort her while she’s trying to reject him?

“Like I said,” Yuuta sighs while he carefully dries her cheeks.  “You don’t get to choose that for me”

“Yuuta…”

“You don’t get to choose that for anyone,” He corrects himself.  “That’s what isn’t fair.  People will love you whether you want them to or not.  You will love people whether you want to or not.  It’s not a choice at all”

She stares at him for a moment, ignoring that voice in the back of her mind telling her to push his hands away and retreat to her dorm.  Instead, all she could think about was a short conversation they’d had a week or so ago.

There’s a shift in her demeanor, or so Yuuta thinks.  He thinks that when he looks into her eyes, there’s something there that wasn’t there before.  A glint, a shimmer of hope.  He gazes at her (y/e/c) fondly, hoping whatever it was he was seeing would reveal itself.

“Last week you told me your favorite color was green, like the leaves in summer,”

Her words were murmured, anxiously so, but she willed herself to keep talking.

“And I told you my favorite color was blue,” Her cheeks began to feel warm.

Was this bashfulness?

“I like… I like the blue of your eyes,” She was nearly choking on her words, but this was much different from before.  “That’s my favorite color,”

Yuuta’s blushing too, so much so that he wants to tug at his color to relieve the heat creeping up his neck.

“On the nights that you’re gone, I sit out here and… and hope you’re okay,” (y/n) confesses.  “I hope that we’re looking at the same stars and that when I ask them to look out for you… they do.  I look at the sky and it’s just so beautiful I can’t stop myself from being reminded of you… even when I don’t want to.  I can’t help it… it’s the damn blue…”

Her tears have stopped falling, yet still somehow she looks distressed.

Still, it’s different than before.

“Is that love?” She mumbles, and Yuuta isn’t sure if she’s asking him or talking to herself, but he answers anyway.

He drops his hands from her face so that he can wrap them snugly around her waist, drawing her close to him so that he could hug her.

At first, she just lets him.  She stands there frozen, trapped by the action, trapped by her thoughts.

This must be, she thinks.  It must be.  Because what other feeling could have her so… lost in another person.

A shiver goes down her spine, and at the same time she feels so warm it’s almost uncomfortable.

All at once, she falls against him, throwing her arms around his neck, embracing him as tightly as she possibly could.  She buries her nose into his shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut tight before any other tears could fall.

He returns her vigor right away, pressing her close to his chest.

(y/n) melts.

“I’m sorry,” She mumbles into his jacket.  “I’m sorry for everything-”

“Don’t apologize,” Yuuta cuts her off, a hand cupping the back of her head, before carefully tangling his fingers in her hair.  “There’s no need”

Yuuta hears a quiet mumble against his shoulder.

“You’re so good and I don’t understand it sometimes,”

He chuckles, leaning back and pulling her away from him just enough that he can look down at her.

She’s smiling now, but even still, Yuuta can see there’s a sadness behind it.

“I do… care about you, you know?” Her voice was quiet, eyes darting between his, hoping to find a flicker of trust.

She found much more than a flicker.

She could have sworn that his irises held more color than she’s ever seen before.  The perfect swirl of love, and blue.

“I know,” He smiles and it’s warm, and it makes her feel every pleasant emotion.  “But it’s nice to hear it” He teases.

She cracks a little, her despair melting away.  She couldn’t tell what did it exactly, the sweet words or bright smile, maybe his thumb brushing over her cheekbone being the most soothing thing she’s ever felt- or maybe it was all of it.  

But now with her brain a mush and her life’s philosophy being burned to ashes, she was considering that maybe… maybe it was just him.  Maybe this was just the Yuuta Effect.  Maybe it was his charm that seemed to have it’s own gravitational pull.  Maybe it was his dopey smile and nervous way he talks paired with that sweet look in his eyes.  Maybe it was the fact that it was so fiercely loyal that he wouldn’t leave your side even when you were begging him to.

Am I an idiot?

“Yuuta,”

His name came out in one small breath, and he’s reminded just why he was so infatuated with her.

He was always hanging onto her every word, eager to hear what the next one would be.

“I don’t… I didn’t realize…”

She cuts herself off, wincing and shaking her head from the embarrassment of not even being able to form a sentence.

Rolling her eyes, she looks back up at him, staring at him seriously.

“I never realized you felt that way,” She finally said.  “And I’m sorry I… I never told you… how I felt”

He raised a brow, playfully.

“You didn’t realize, huh?” He asks.

She shook her head.

“I don’t believe you”

“What?” (y/n) scoffed.  “What do you mean you don’t believe me?”

“I don’t believe you,” He chuckles as he repeats himself.  “It was too obvious.  You’re the secretive one”

“Obvious?” She asks.

“Uh, yeah, it was pretty obvious,” He’s still laughing, pretty nervously, but it’s cute.  “You’ve caught me staring, I know you have”

“So? You zone out a lot” (y/n) shrugs her shoulders.

“Okay, well I also try really hard to get close to you”

“How was I supposed to know that you weren’t just trying to be my friend?” She fired back.  “These aren’t exactly solid arguments”

“How? You’re seriously trying to tell me that you haven’t noticed?”

She tries to stifle a laugh at how worked up he’s getting over this, but she fails and giggles spew out uncontrollably.

“Okay then, since you just want to laugh it up at my feelings, how is it you feel anyways?”

Her giggles halted immediately, eyes wide and darting up to his.

“Well?” He asks, impatiently.

“Well.. I’m… fond of you”

“You’re fond of me?” He asks in a posh accent.  “What are you eighty?”

“Shut up” (y/n) mutters while he continues to laugh and tease her.

“Are you hoping to win my favor? Perhaps court me?”

“You’re not making this any easier you know,” (y/n) says, doing her best to scowl at him.  But it’s difficult to not smile at him when he’s smiling like that.  “I could always just walk away.  Go to bed and sleep for a loooong time and wake up and pretend this never happened-”

“So you’re in love with me?”

He has such a way of making her freeze, that she thinks he’s doing it just for his own amusement.

“Maybe” She mumbles.

Yuuta grins.  He grins so wide that all of his teeth are on display, and his skin crinkles at the corners of his eyes.

“I can work with maybe”

(y/n) scoffs, her lips turning upwards against her will as she drops her head to stare at the ground.

“Come on,” Yuuta hums, heading back towards the dorms.  “I’ll even walk you back to your room.  You know, to prove what a gentleman I am”

(y/n) giggles, and nods her head softly before following next to him.

They walk in silence, side by side, back inside.  It’s comfortable.

He walks her to her dorm, they say goodnight, and maybe they linger in the doorway a few moments longer than necessary, maybe (y/n) closes her door and leans against it for a few minutes while she hopes that her heart would calm down in her chest.

As she lays in bed that night and stares at her ceiling, she realizes that she had gotten it all wrong.  Perhaps her whole life, but… definitely this last chapter.  She had blinded herself for so long that she hadn’t even been able to see Yuuta was in love with her.

And she was absolutely in love with him.

[ no alarms / and no surprises, please ] ___

3 months later ___

“He’s late” Maki scoffed.

“It’s been two minutes, I’m sure he’ll be here soon” Panda comforted.

“Tch,” Maki rolled her eyes, turning to Toge to shake her head.  “That’s still late” She muttered.

“Salmon” Toge replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

The cursed-speech user turns to (y/n) next to him, raising his brows in a way that she understood exactly what he meant.  Maki.

(y/n) gives him a small smile in acknowledgment.  She can’t see him smile back, but the crinkles at the corners of his eyes told her all she needed to know.

And then the car pulled up, and her timid smile turned into a face-splitting grin.

Ijichi gets out first, scrambling to the back of the car to open up the trunk.  (y/n) ignores the luggage he pulls out as the passenger door opens.

Yuuta steps out, and he looks tired, disheveled.  Understandably so, it was a long flight from Paris to Tokyo, followed by a long drive from the airport to Jujutsu Tech.  It was nearly sixteen hours of traveling when the day was done.

And yet, as he’s stretching his back as much as he can, his eyes land on her, and he forgets all about his achy muscles.  He jogs off to his friends, ignoring Ijichi who was struggling to carry two duffel bags, a backpack, a sheathed katana and a suitcase.

“You waited up for me?” He asks excitedly, quickly hugging his friends.  Panda, Maki, Toge.

“Of course” Panda said warmly.

“Toge made me” Maki snarked, but it was impossible to miss the warm smile on her face.

“Salmon” Toge grins as he gives his best friend a welcome hug.  

Yuuta’s grinning too, patting Toge’s back affectionately before pulling away.  He turns to the last of the bunch, still grinning like a madman.

“Your turn” He says, tugging on (y/n’s) arm and pulling her into a hug before she could refuse.

She wouldn’t, of course, and he can tell by the way she throws his arms around his neck and reciprocates the embrace happily.  He squeezes a little tighter.

“Missed you, you know” She mumbles into his ear so the others can’t hear.

(The others are playing ‘Tackle Panda’, but she doesn’t notice of course)

“Had a feeling,” Yuuta hums.  “You did write a lot”

(y/n) scoffs, pulling away so she can punch him in the arm.

“Don’t make me regret it” She teases back.  

“Too late now, I’ve already saved ‘em all,” Yuuta replies, his hands grasping onto her wrists before she could attack him anymore.

She rolls her eyes, but when he tugs her closer, she steps in anyways, leaning up to meet his lips in the middle, kissing him softly.

His hands drop hers, so that he can cup her face and kiss her again, properly, deeply.  Luckily their friends are still too busy wrestling on the ground, so they had a few extra moments of privacy.

When they part, he leans his forehead against hers.  His hair had gotten longer in the month and a half he’d been away, it hangs in both of their faces rather annoyingly but neither bother to move it.  She can see his sapphire eyes just fine.

“I missed you too,” He tells her softly, before bumping his nose against hers.  “I’m glad to be home”

“I’m glad you’re home,” She hums back.  “I love you”

His beam only brightens, and he pecks her lips in a quick kiss before their friends could see.

“I love you too” ___

xoxo ~ jordie

[cheesemonky]

Chapter 1: Lesson Learned... Or Not?

Pairing: bsf!hyunjin x reader (college au)

Series Masterlist

Word count: 1.05k

Summary: Boys come and go, but you don't know how long this has been going on. You date, you break up and then you're running back to your best friend for support. Little do you know, it's more than support he wants to give.

Honestly, you saw this coming. You didn’t want to admit it but you did. And you blame yourself for falling for it again.

As you sat in the serenity of your apartment, you couldn’t help but feel that there was something wrong with your upcoming dinner date. It was completely out of character for your boyfriend to randomly make plans. Surely… surely he can’t be doing what you think he’s doing? You’re too invested in this relationship for him to break it off now, so obviously not. Right? 

No time to dwell on that. The clock kept ticking, ticking, ticking closer to 7:00 and you knew you had to prepare for it sooner or later. So getting up, you reluctantly go to choose your outfit for this godforsaken evening. ‘If I wear something nice, he’ll stay’ you thought to yourself, but honestly, even an 8 year old would know how untrue that was. You decide on something nice after all, something a bit expensive, only because it’s likely that after this, you won’t be dressing up like that for anyone else anytime soon. Grabbing your purse and sliding on your shoes, you finally make it out of your home. A sigh. “Let’s get going then…”

☆:｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

“Y/N, look… it’s not you that’s the problem, it’s me.”

There it is again. That annoyingly cliche line. It’s not just that everyone knows what it really means, but the number of people that have said it to you is just pitiful. ‘You prepared for this Y/N, just say something’. Breathing deeply, you said nothing but one word.

“I-... okay.” 

“...what? I’m not sure if you understand. I’m breaking up with you.”

“No, no, I understand. I just… how do you want me to respond?”

You couldn’t stop yourself from spilling all this random bullshit, only realising what you said after it came out. The adrenaline was really taking a toll on you, and at the worst time. You watched as he stared at you, eyebrows furrowed, eyes scrunched and lips parted.

“I-I don’t know..? I thought you’d like, beg me to stay or something… did our relationship not mean enough to you for you to do that?” 

Looking down at your lap, you tried not to let the tears welling up in your eyes fall. You couldn’t afford to let him see you vulnerable, not now, not when you decided to take this well, especially after all that preparation. 

“Well… it did. That’s why I don’t know what to do. Didn’t think it’d come to this. Didn’t want it to come to this. What about you?”

“...W-What do you mean..?”

“Did you even love me?” You can’t help but ask. It’s a thought that has been stuck in your mind since the start of this break-up date. Always claiming to love you, but then he goes and pulls this. You wouldn’t call it quits with someone you love. “Sorry, that was a bit too sudden… but please, answer it truthfully. Or I’ll leave this place, not knowing whether what we had was real.”

“At first, I guess there was something. Like, you were hot and all that, plus you get good scores on assessment pieces. But honestly? No. Not really.” He said so very calmly, as if he wasn’t just in the middle of breaking up with you. How could he be so nonchalant right now, especially about something of such great importance? As you processed what he just said, you realised now how stupid you had been this whole time. For him, it was always ‘bros before hoes’. For him, parties and drinks looked a lot more interesting than a dinner date with you. For him, any social gathering was better without… well, you. Yet, you never seemed to pick up on the signs. Or rather, you subconsciously chose not to. You chose to cling onto him, to keep him by your side, but now he was finally admitting how he had felt since the start and there was nothing for you to hold onto anymore. The gears began to turn in your head, the waterworks started flowing and that dam of resilience you had so carefully built up was finally broken.

He sighed, leaning forward onto his arms and onto the table. 

“Sorry, but could you continue crying… elsewhere? Like, at home? We’re in public, and I really would rather if people didn’t see me with you right now. You look like a mess honestly…” An incredulous look painting your face, you look up at him with disgust for his words right now. He really doesn’t give a shit about you, you realise. ‘Fine. If he wants me to go, then go I will’ you decided, ruffling through your purse for some cash before shoving it in front of him.

“H-Here. For the trouble I’ve supposedly caused you just by wanting your affection. D-Don’t bother paying me back, I-I’d rather not have to talk to you again. Bye.” You spat back at him, barely managing to get the words out. You shot up from your seat, clutching tightly onto your purse and phone, and stormed out the nice restaurant. Only thing you regret tonight is not buying anything from it. Sat on a bench nearby, you hail a taxi as soon as you can, and you’re already on the way home. Just… not your home. Being by yourself right now is probably the worst decision you could make, so where else could you go? 

You wished for it to rain, so you could feel more like a drama actor rather than a heartbroken idiot, but no, the moonlight only shined brighter as each second passed. Pulling up to the curb of an apartment complex, you paid the driver and rushed into the building, practically flying up the stairs. ‘If he’s not home, I’m going to kill him…’ you thought to yourself, the tears only falling harder at the idea he might be out right now. Finally. You’re here. You knocked as hard as you could onto the wood door, the last obstacle between you and peace. Feet rustling, footsteps getting closer, the door opening and then-

“What do you want now- oh shit. Again?”

You nod. He stood there, concern contorting the normally beautiful features of his face.

“Get inside, it’s too cold out here.”

“... Thank you Hyunjin…”

taglist: @2minstan @yangbbokari (i didn't know which acc to tag, so this one it is) send an ask to be on the taglist!!

leisel's note: god this was just me spitting randomn bullshit along the way, but its your problem to deal with pookies 😍